CH 24

Chapter 24 – Negotiations Settled

In the meantime, I opened the window.

“Sol,” I called out in my mind.

Sol noiselessly flew over and landed on my shoulder.

“Thanks for keeping a lookout, Sol.” (Torimoto)

“Yessir! No abnormalities detected.” (Sol)

“I see. Speaking of which, I told you to make contact with Kanna, but how did it go with her?” (Torimoto)

“She was a good girl! She was always concerned about her father.” (Sol)

Without a doubt, she was a good girl.

“The business negotiations will be over soon.” (Torimoto)

“Yes! Then I’ll be on standby outsi―” (Sol)

“No, you’re fine here. It seems they’re going to treat me to a feast. I figured I might as well introduce you, too.” (Torimoto)

“A feast!? Is it okay for me to…!?” (Sol)

“Yeah. You worked hard the entire day, so I’ve gotta reward you. Besides, from now on, I want to maintain a relationship with this family. Get along well with Kanna, alright?” (Torimoto)

“Yessir!” (Sol)

“Ah, but no speaking in front of others, okay?” (Torimoto)

“Of course!” (Sol)

Then, a knock sounded at the door, and at my reply, Jouichirou came in with an expensive-looking pouch in his hands.

“Thanks for waiting…Huh? An owl…?” (Jouichirou)

“Ah, sorry. I used to keep this owl back in my hometown. She’s now my travel companion.” (Torimoto)

“I-I see. It’s quite elegant, having an owl as a travel companion.” (Jouichirou)

Elegant…?

“Anyway, I have my bank book in here, but what should I do with it?” (Jouichirou)

“Can I borrow it for a second?” (Torimoto)

“I don’t mind. Just the bank book, or? As I said before, the banks are…” (Jouichirou)

“It’s fine, that won’t be necessary. You have quite a few bank books there…” (Torimoto)

“Yeah, it’s because I use several banks. It’s not just for me, I’ve been saving for Kanna’s sake as well.” (Jouichirou)

“Let’s set aside the bank books that are for Kanna then. Would it be alright for me to check them?” (Torimoto)

I picked up a bank book and looked inside.

….!? A-Are you kidding me…? ¥70,000,000…! And this one has ¥65,000,000. This one has… Huuuh!? Over ¥100,000,000?!

It was truly a sum of money that embodied wealth. The numbers were so unrealistic that they didn’t even feel real.

Did doctors really make this much money…?

Come to think of it, Jouichirou had also published several dozen books, and each of them had quite a few copies in circulation. On top of his main job, he was earning royalties from those. That saying that God never gave someone two gifts, well, that appeared to be a lie.

“…Let me ask you a question. How much would you pay for this treatment, Fukuzawa-sensei?” (Torimoto)

“That’s quite the difficult question… I’m sorry… I don’t have the slightest clue. If you had told me that I had to pay you everything that I owned in order to save Kanna, I’m sure I would have done so.” (Jouichirou)

“I see…” (Torimoto)

In that case, I didn’t need to hold back.

“Then… would you mind giving me these two bank books?” (Torimoto)

“? …That’s no problem, but…?” (Jouichirou)

His face had a curious look on it. Well, that was to be expected. Normally, you couldn’t get money with just bank books alone. Even if you could use the bank, you would need the PIN and a seal. Yet I didn’t want any of those things from him, so it was natural for him to feel curious about my actions.

“Well, please take a look.” (Torimoto)

I quickly put the bank books into the <Box>. As expected, Jouichirou was surprised at the sudden disappearance of the bank books.

“T-They disappeared!? Was that a magic trick, perhaps?” (Jouichirou)

“Haha, then let me take them out again.” (Torimoto)

I once again took out the bank books that I had stored and handed them back over to Jouichirou.

“Please go ahead and check the contents.” (Torimoto)

“Eh? Ah, okay…….Huh? The balance is… zero?!” (Jouichirou)

I had only deposited the balance inside of the bank books, then taken the bank books themselves back out.

“That marks the end of our negotiations.” (Torimoto)

“W-Wait a minute! What in the world did you do just now?!” (Jouichirou)

“That was one of my abilities. I moved the balance on those bank books to my own.” (Torimoto)

I took my own bank book out of the <Box> and showed it to Jouichirou. Etched on the balance line was―a figure that was over ¥100,000,000. It was an outcome I couldn’t help gloating a bit over, but I desperately maintained a poker face.

“…Just who are you…?” (Jouichirou)

“Haha, well, that’s a secret.” (Torimoto)

“I guess that means I shouldn’t pry. No, I get it. You’re my daughter’s benefactor. I swear that I’ll never tell anyone about this.” (Jouichirou)

“Thank you for that.” (Torimoto)

Jouichirou vowed not to pry too deeply into my powers. That was why I had judged him as a worthy person to continue doing business with from here on out. Besides, he was a doctor. He had a lot of connections, and that intelligence network was something that I could take advantage of as Torimoto Kentaro.

“Right. If there are any other tight-lipped individuals like you that are in a similar situation as you, please introduce me to them. Of course, I would prefer wealthy, talented individuals.” (Torimoto)

“Hahaha, you’re an honest one. As a doctor, I’d like to ask you to distribute the Restoration Medicine for free to help the innocent citizens, but…” (Jouichirou)

“Sorry. There are some risks when it comes to making Restoration Medicine.” (Torimoto)

“Hmm, I suppose that would make sense with such a medicine. It truly deserves to be called a medicine bestowed by God. And that’s exactly why it shouldn’t be mass produced. So I understand where you’re coming from. Being able to make such a medicine, a lot of people would have definitely tried to bring your relatives over to their side. Powerful people especially would have tried to use whatever means possible… In the end, I have a feeling it would have turned out tragically.” (Jouichirou)

After all, as long as one had an [Elixir], they couldn’t die except by running out of lifespan. That was something that greedy people with high statuses and positions of authority would do anything in their power to obtain. They wouldn’t hesitate to take hostages, kidnap people, or get rid of anyone who got in their way, forcing them to do whatever they commanded.

Even though I could change my appearance, I had to be very careful from now on. If I felt the circumstances even slightly worsening, then I would have to put the identity of Torimoto Kentaro on hiatus for a while.

But until word of Torimoto Kentaro’s name spread, I planned to make as much money as possible out of this.

“Anyway, today is a happy occasion! Come to think of it, you said you were traveling, right? If you’d like, you can rest for a while in this house. I’m sure Kanna would be happy to see you.” (Jouichirou)

“Are you sure? I might have to take you up on that offer.” (Torimoto)

If he’d provide me with meals, that was money saved on my end, so it was all for the better. Through this sequence of events, I came to stay at the Fukuzawa residence for a while.

—

It was 1 AM.

I was lying on the bed in the guest room that the Fukuzawa family had prepared for me. In my original appearance, by the way.

I was the only one in the room right now. Where was Sol, you might ask?

She was probably sleeping in Kanna’s room. At dinner, Kanna was naturally surprised to see me with Sol.

When she found out that Sol was my pet, she immediately became enamored with Sol because she wasn’t potentially dangerous anymore. I also told Sol to become her playmate, so Sol would probably have her hands full with her for a while.

That said, she seemed to enjoy playing with Kanna. At any rate, the party was truly a grand affair. It seemed that Kanna often helped out with cooking, so the food was quite elaborate and tasted delicious.

All of the maids and butlers who worked for their family also gathered, and it definitely was a lively evening. But to be honest, the one who was most excited was Jouichirou.

Perhaps because all of his efforts had finally paid off and his reservations had been lifted, he drank like a fish and got absolutely plastered. It ended up being quite the interesting sight, watching him get carried away from the scene by the servants.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve had such an entertaining night…”

At the very least, I’d had such an experience since my father passed away.

I used the <Shop> and once again checked today’s harvests.

“The remaining balance is over ¥160,000,000… Hahah, I really got this freaking rich in just a single day.”

The almighty [Elixir] was truly expensive. It cost ¥100,000,000.

Well, you might think that’s pretty cheap considering the fact that it could literally revive the dead, but go ahead and tell that to the person setting the price for these things. Besides, if you think about it, it was still very difficult to afford with an ordinary household’s income.

However, this time, I had purchased an [Elixir・Mini].

At ¥15,000,000, it was not cheap. But much to my delight, it was on sale and was 50% off. Well, that was the reason why I had come up with this plan in the first place. Even still, it had cost me ¥7,500,000. Frankly speaking, I wasn’t sure at the time whether I should buy it or not, but I had ended up buying it, anticipating that it would surely reap me a far greater return.

It was a waste to use it on Ryosuke, so instead of an [Elixir・Mini], I gave him an [Essence of the World Tree], which was a weaker recovery medicine that wasn’t as versatile. It was still more than enough to cure him.

Even so, at ¥2,000,000 apiece, the [Essence of the World Tree] had a pretty hefty price tag. My remaining balance at the time had fallen to ¥500,000, but the returns were far, far greater.

With this, I could buy some handy goods that I had given up on buying because they had been too expensive. Of course, they were all fantasy items.

“But a lot of it this time was just luck. I somehow managed to happen across two houses in a row with people that I could talk to.”

It just so happened that Jouichirou was a perfect fit for my plan. Still, it was his character that made the deal possible.

“There’s no guarantee that things will continue to go as well as they did this time. I have to stay on my toes.”

I scrolled through the Shop and made a list of what I would need for the future.