Worthless Skill Escape (WN)

Chapter 229

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TL: ALT

Chapter 229 – The Fugitive: Yuto Kurashiki Part 1

Time goes back.

It was right after Seiji Tozaki, who had climbed to the top of this country’s power ladder, made that “great speech.”

I was on the Yamanote Line platform, still shaken by the speech’s aftermath when I called Honoka-chan.

The impact of his speech had even caused the punctual railway staff to stop working, and there were delays of over ten minutes on each line.

You could say that his speech was so shocking that it stopped the trains, or you could say that the Japanese railway system was too crazy because even with such a shock, there was only a delay of over ten minutes.

But it wasn’t the same for the passengers.

There were many people who, like me, got off the train and talked excitedly to someone.

From outside the station, you could hear excited shouts that were hard to understand.

It seems that the amount of data used on smartphones in the city center is increasing exponentially, and the signal on my cheap SIM card keeps going up and down.

I’ve been using this smartphone since before I became a shut-in, so it doesn’t have any of the fancy next-generation communications features.

Had I known, I would have bought a new smartphone.

As I made the call, I thought about this regret.

“Yuto-san!”

“Honoka-chan! Are you okay?”

“W-what should I do… my mother…!”

It’s no wonder that Honoka-chan is so worried.

In his speech earlier, Tozaki introduced Haruka-san as an elf from another world, as proof that other worlds exist and that she is alive―or rather, he introduced her to the whole of Japan or even the whole world.

It’s hard to imagine Haruka-san willingly accepting such a role.

Before that, Haruka-san was taken away by the Immigration Bureau staff on suspicion of overstaying her visa.

She was also separated from Honoka-chan at that time.

There is reason to believe that Tozaki used Honoka-chan as a hostage to force Haruka-san’s cooperation.

Of course, he wouldn’t have made a direct threat like “If you don’t do as I say, I’ll hurt Honoka-chan.”

Even if he is the Prime Minister, I would like to think that he would not be able to force the mother of an innocent girl to cooperate by holding her daughter hostage.

However, he could make all the indirect threats he wanted.

He could threaten to deport Haruka-san as an illegal immigrant and force her to leave the country.

At that time, he could grant Japanese citizenship to Honoka-chan, who was born in Japan, and prevent her from leaving Japan.

If Haruka-san is deported, she will be sent to another world, one to which it is now possible to travel.

In short, this means that Haruka-san and Honoka-chan will be separated.

Since he has the highest power in the country, he can also use bait to lure people.

For example, he could recognize Haruka-san as a refugee and allow her to stay in the country.

Of course, the condition for this is that she cooperates with Tozaki’s political appeal.

“Calm down, Honoka-chan. I don’t think they’ll hurt Haruka-san right away.”

“I-is that really so…”

“I’m more worried about you. Where are you now?”

“I just arrived in Shinjuku.”

“Shinjuku?”

Oh no, did we miss each other?

I had left the Paladin Knights guild room at the Shinjuku Association headquarters and was on my way to my hometown by train.

I wanted to meet Honoka-chan as soon as possible.

But the train I was on was delayed because of the speech.

So the train Honoka-chan was on arrived in Shinjuku first.

The Yamanote Line is slowly recovering, but the trains that were delayed are extremely crowded.

Because of the time it takes to get on and off the train, the time the train spends at each station seems to be extended.

In fact, even on the platform in front of me, people are pushing and shoving to get on and off the train, and it looks very crowded.

Perhaps because the excitement hasn’t died down, I can hear people arguing.

The crowd on the platform pushes me aside as I try to make a phone call on my smartphone, and they all stream toward the ticket booth.

The stairs are jammed, like a New Year’s visit to a shrine or a fireworks display.

“I’ll be right there! If I walk from outside, it should be faster.”

I decided not to use the train.

If I use all of my current Agility, I can run faster than the train on the Yamanote Line.

I might even be able to beat the Shinkansen in a foot race.

I also have the Muscle Fatigue Nullification skill, so even if I run for several stations on the Yamanote Line, my speed won’t slow down.

“I’m heading your way too, Yuto-san!”

“Honoka-chan, stay at the station… no.”

Honoka-chan has the unique skill of Empathy.

It was already proven that she could tell the direction of a familiar person even from a distance when Haruka-san was kidnapped by Clovis.

If she’s in Shinjuku, maybe there’s a way to have her brought to the Association and protected by Serika?

That thought crossed my mind, but both the station and the guild are places where people will be looking.

Serika, the master of the powerful Paladin Knights guild, may also be marked by the authorities.

There is also the idea that if a skilled explorer were to plan something improper, it would be a disaster―but there is also the idea that if a skilled explorer were to be caught by a ‘scout’ from overseas, it would be a loss to the national interest.

If Haruka-san was known to Tozaki, it would be natural to assume that he would also know that Serika was acquainted with Honoka-chan.

Even if Serika were to protect Honoka-chan, it’s not clear how long she would be able to resist the authorities’ demand for her extradition.

If such a situation arose, it seems likely that Honoka-chan herself would want to avoid causing trouble and would eventually give in.

“…Okay. Let’s meet somewhere between here and Shinjuku.”

“Yes!”

I looked at the crowded ticket booth and ran directly from the platform to the outside of the station.

I was worried about my electronic money card, which had a record of my entry into Shinjuku Station, but I decided to ignore it for now.

I used this card to commute to work before I became a shut-in, so I thought I’d just throw it away without any regrets.

I know many people these days have their commuter passes integrated into their smartphones, but I was too lazy to do that, so I used to load money onto my old commuter pass and use it to take the train.

If the records had been stored on my smartphone, I probably would have hesitated to skip the gate.

It seems that my state of being like Urashima Taro came in handy.

Well, since the commuter pass is linked to my personal information, if they really looked into it, they would find that I have no attendance record.

I’m not that familiar with Tokyo’s geography, but if I walk back along the railroad tracks, I shouldn’t get lost.

If there’s a street along the railroad, I’ll walk along it, and if there’s a building, I’ll walk up it.

Even if the downtown area is clean enough to walk around, if I climb to the top of a building, all I’ll find is a desolate room with air conditioners growing everywhere.

I made my way to Shinjuku, jumping from rooftop to rooftop.

Along the way, I saw people gathered in groups, talking excitedly about something, on the side of the road, in front of the station, and in front of the standing-only bars.

As an explorer, I have honed my powers of observation, and the whole city seemed to be brimming with tension.

It was as if the atmosphere of the public viewing areas for the World Cup and WBC Japan games had been concentrated and blown up all over the city.

From the roof of an apartment building, the distinctive silhouette of the skyscrapers of the Shinjuku subcenter, represented by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, could be seen in the night sky.

It was already dark, so I couldn’t see it clearly, but the light from the ground was reflected in the cloudy sky, and I could just make out a vague outline.

As I approached Shinjuku, I took out my smartphone and sent a message to Honoka.

“Honoka-chan, where are you right now?”

“Um… I’ll send you my location!”

Like a modern girl, Honoka-chan sends me her current location via a chat app.

It’s on a street not far from Shinjuku Station, and from my perspective, it’s exactly halfway between me and Shinjuku Station.

Of course, this is no coincidence―it’s probably because Honoka-chan is using Empathy to figure out my direction.

Soon, I spotted Honoka-chan from the roof of a building, looking a little lost.

There was quite a distance between us, but I had Vision Enhancement and Zoom.

Even if it wasn’t as good as Honoka-chan’s Sensory Perception, I could still pick up the characteristics of her presence.

I jumped off the roof of the building and used Sky Walk to gradually slow down as I descended towards Honoka-chan.

“Yuto-san!”

“Whoa!”

Honoka-chan came running up to me and hugged me with a voice that wasn’t muffled by her smartphone.

I held on to Honoka-chan’s slender shoulders, feeling a little nervous.

“Are you hurt or something?”

“No, I’m fine… but my mother…”

“We’ll think about it later.”

It would be better to ask Haitani-san for advice than to think about it myself.

She had said that she would find a lawyer who was familiar with illegal immigration.

When I think about it, I remember Haitani-san’s advice.

“Honoka-chan, I’m sorry, but let’s go into hiding right now. It seems that it’s not good for people to see me and Honoka-chan together.”

“Y-yes, I’m sorry for causing you so much trouble…”

“You don’t have to worry about that.”

“But even if we hide, where are we going to…”

I have a plan for that.

My thoughts are a bit scattered after hearing Tozaki’s speech, but there’s no other way.

“We’ll go to a dungeon.”

“D-dungeon?

“We’ll go through a nearby dungeon and use the Dungeon Master’s support skill, Dungeon Travel, to get there. From there, we’ll jump to the Thicket Dungeon, use the dungeon’s administrator privileges to create a backyard inside the dungeon and hide in the master’s room. That way, no one will be able to find us.”

“U-um…?”

Oops, I just blurted out what I was thinking.

This was something Honoka-chan wouldn’t understand.

“I was talking about making a hideout inside the dungeon.”

“I-inside the dungeon? You can do that, Yuto-san?”

“I’ll explain the details later. Anyway, let’s go to the nearest dungeon…”

As I was about to say this, I noticed something strange when I looked up.

All signs of life around me and Honoka-chan had disappeared.

Even the distant sound that should have enveloped the city had disappeared without a trace.

“Yu-Yuto-san?”

I shielded Honoka-chan, who let out a worried voice behind me.

As before, I couldn’t sense any presence.

However, on the mini-map in my mind, there were more than ten red light points floating around.

Some of those red light points were approaching from in front of me.

The men who seemed to have emerged from the darkness of the night were wearing black camouflage-like outfits that were bulging in various places.

It looked like the equipment worn by members of the Special Forces, with built-in protectors―no, it was the exact same outfit.

And in their hands, they held long, wood-like tubes.

As they came closer, I could see what the long tubes were.

They were rifles.

Not only the stock but also a wooden part is used to support the long iron barrel from below.

At first glance, it looked like a spear without a tip.

Judging by its shape, I thought it might be a sniper rifle, but even so, the barrel seems awkwardly long.

First of all, it seems odd to me as a novice observer that a group of people with weapons suitable for long-range sniping would appear in front of the “enemy” while holding them in a ready position.

The rifle is bolt-action, and the mechanism looks very old-fashioned, so it doesn’t seem very suitable for actual combat.

That’s right―it looks like a rust-covered rifle that was dug out of a bomb shelter during the war.

In addition to the rifle, they also have what looks like a saber hanging from their waist.

This also has an antique-like design.

There are photos of the Imperial Family from before the war wearing military uniforms and carrying swords, and this is a retro design that looks like it could have come straight out of that.

However, the camouflage uniforms, with their Special Forces-style body armor, boots, and helmets with visors that hide the wearer’s face, all look very modern.

If they were police special forces, their affiliation would be in big letters, but there are no letters or emblems on these guys’ camouflage uniforms.

Three red dots came toward me.

All of them were slightly taller than me and had a stocky build.

“Yuto-san…”

Honoka-chan let out a frightened voice behind me and grabbed the hem of my clothes.

I took out the “Crow Tengu Mask” from my Item Box and equipped it.

“Who are you?”

I asked,

“You’re Yuto Kurashiki, right?”

The man at the front asked in a low, suppressed voice.

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