Chapter 77: A vague terror.

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Translated and Edited by: luccayn.

Common Honorifics:
-san: A polite suffix, but not excessively formal.
-kun: A common suffix among friends and younger people.
-chan: A common suffix among people you're close with, mostly used for feminine nicknames and girls, since it's cutesy and childlike.
-senpai: A common suffix and noun used to address or refer to one's older or more senior colleagues in a school, workplace, dojo, or sports club.

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“This is it.”

Room 609 was just ahead. It seemed to be a private room for special treatment.

I walked down the hallway, carrying a fruit basket for the visit. In the end, I hadn’t been able to figure out the truth behind that woman’s eyes, but it wouldn’t do to meet the moneylender while still dwelling on it.

Only bowing my head when borrowing money and then spitting resentment when repaying it—that kind of attitude would obviously piss them off. I needed to handle this with a clear and respectful approach. If I was sincere, they might ease up on the debt collection a little.

With that in mind, I stepped into the hospital room.

“…Yo, Shinji. It’s been a while.”

“…U-Ukai-san?”

Unless my mind had completely snapped, the man lying in the hospital bed before me, his body emaciated, clad in a knit cap and hospital gown, with tubes running through his nose and arms, barely clinging to life with feeble breaths—was Ukai-san from Torikai Loans.

There was no way I could forget. He was the one who gave me memories with my grandmother. And yet, here he was, in such a weakened state. He was barely alive.

“Y-you’re really Ukai-san, right?”

“K-Kaha… I didn't want to show you this pathetic sight. I wanted to stay a cool guy to the end… cough… at least, that's what I hoped.”

“What happened to you? You’ve gotten so thin… When we last parted, you were in perfect health.”

“It’s a chronic illness. I’ve been frail since birth. I forced my body to burn through its life force, and now the fire’s finally died down.”

…I almost shut my eyes.

What the hell is this?

“Cough…!“

What the hell is this supposed to be?

“Wheeze… wheeze…“

That fragile, dying breath—what is it? The faded, lifeless tattoos—what do they mean? Is this really the same Ukai-san? The man who helped me, who listened to me when I didn't know how to depend on others, who always showed me his strength?

The man I admired, the first man whose way of life ever moved me—has ended up like this?

“So, what brings you here? How’d you find me?”

“W-well, boss passed away. In his will, he wrote down your apartment's address…”

“Ah… I see. So that's how it is.”

Saying that, he gazed quietly out the window.

“So, that old man's dead, huh?”

I couldn’t tell what emotion lay behind those words. Eventually, he reached out his trembling hand toward the letter I was holding, so I handed the wrinkled stationery to him without a word.

While he read, I remained silent. I watched as his eyes traced the words, my mind swirling with thoughts. But at some point, one particular question surfaced within me.

—Was this man the one who killed Taisho?

“I see. That old man… always doing unnecessary things.”

“Did you lend him money?”

“Yeah. But as you know, the debt's already gone up in smoke… No, wait. If I remember right, my woman was still listed as the beneficiary of his life insurance.”

“Did you push Taishō to the brink of death?”

“That's my job.”

I clenched my teeth hard. The grinding sound echoed through the hospital room.

“You knew about my connection to him from the start, didn’t you?”

“Yeah.”

Damn it!

“Then why!? Why didn't you tell me!? If someone had just talked to him, maybe he wouldn't have been pushed to the edge!”

“If I did that, you would’ve taken on his debt, wouldn't you?”

“Of course I would! I have no reason to live except to repay my debts of gratitude! That's the only reason I have to exist in this world!”

Breathing heavily, I slammed my hands against the bed. Ukai-san wasn't fazed in the slightest, nor did he sneer at me. He just stared straight into my eyes.

“I told you about my grandmother, didn't I!? I said I never wanted to regret something like that again! So why…!? Why didn't you give me a chance to save Taishō!?”

“…That girl at Tsukino's place—she was a real beauty. Now I get why you said she was the best in the whole town.”

W-what the hell is he suddenly talking about?

“Her little brother must be in elementary school by now. He's probably a good-looking kid too.”

“What the hell are you saying, you b*****d!?”

“That dumbass president at Tsukino's place likes pretty kids. I figured he might've taken both of them in. He's probably showing them off all over the place.”

…The realization hit me like a comet streaking across my mind.

The events up to now flashed before my eyes like a revolving lantern, and the heavy walls of logic that had blocked my understanding began to crumble.

The kind of insincere romance I despised. The ultimate fate of a harem—women gathered and left unspoken, their endings hidden in the shadows.

A vague terror had now landed before my very eyes.

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