CH 62

Chapter 62 – Women Seeking Salvation

As thoughts of the past flashed through my mind, I shared some sake with Chake. Ever since Ryudou had framed me, it felt like my life had changed drastically.

Or rather, I should say that it was from the time that Tomoe died… After she died, it felt like my world had become dyed a hue of gray, completely tasteless.

I felt annoyed at everything I did, and I would keep picking fights with other people… That became my day-to-day life. And in the meantime, Ryudou would come at me at every opportunity he got, and we even got into near-death brawls several times.

I knew he hated me. Of course he did. I took the woman he loved and let her get killed.

I… broke my promise to him.

“But forreal Chake, you’re a real loyal one, aren’t you?” (Kuzuhara)

“Huh? What do you mean by that?” (Chake)

When I really thought about it, I had known this guy for a long time. I met him in middle school at a video game arcade after I saved him from getting tangled up with a bunch of punks.

At the time, he wasn’t nearly as tall as he was now. To put it another way, he had pretty much been a bean sprout back then. For some reason, after that time, Chake―Chagashira Kensei, began to follow me, and we’ve been good friends ever since.

“I told the other guys already, but this fight might literally cost you your lives this time… You can sit this one out if you want.” (Kuzuhara)

“Saito-san… Please don’t say something so standoffish! After all… I admire you a lot…!” (Chake)

“If you’re still thinking of repaying the favor for that time, you’ve already done more than enough. You’re the only one… After I went and served my time, you were the only guy who didn’t leave me.” (Kuzuhara)

“But that…! That was because you were… covering for Ryudou, weren’t you?” (Saito)

“Covering for him, huh…? It wasn’t like that. It was… my atonement.” (Kuzuhara)

Indeed, I had been framed by Ryudou. Ryudou had avenged Tomoe’s death, and then he blamed me for the crime. That phone call to me was surely a trap that he had devised in his plan to frame me. All of it was because of his resentment towards me.

And yet, I couldn’t find it in myself to deny it either. I wanted to bear the sin of not being able to protect Tomoe in some way or another.

“But I’m still not convinced! Saito-san didn’t do anything wrong! Tomoe-oneesan… wouldn’t have wished for any of this!” (Saito)

“…I’m sure.” (Kuzuhara)

There was no way that she would have wished for this situation to happen… where Ryudou and I were at odds with each other. She wouldn’t have wished for me to selfishly bear that crime.

“But at the time… I thought that I was doing the right thing.” (Kuzuhara)

Plus, if it would make Ryudou feel even a little better…

“Ryudou is no longer the Ryudou that you knew… Saito-san,” Chake said, his body slightly trembling as if he was scared of something.

“…Hey, Chake. In the end, you really should sit this one out.” (Kuzuhara)

“Saito-san!?” (Chake)

“You have a girlfriend now, don’t you? Then… we can’t have you dying, can we?” (Kuzuhara)

“……No! Even still, I swore that I would be by your side! Ever since that time!” (Chake)

He really was an upright and faithful man. He was really the only person that I could fully trust.

However, that was exactly why I didn’t want to lose him. I… was already sick of losing people that were important to me.

“Saito-san, I’m not doing this because I’m trying to fulfill my duty or anything like that.” (Chake)

“Chake…” (Kuzuhara)

“It’s because I like you! It’s because I admired the figure of that wide, impressive back of yours that I want to stay by your side!” (Chake)

“….Hahah, you’re seriously such an idiot.” (Kuzuhara)

“Yes, I couldn’t stand next to you unless I was this much of an idiot, Saito-san!” (Chake)

There was still a person that I could trust. It just showed that as long as you lived on in this world, it would offer you things to live for.

Ryudou, how about you? Ever since that time… have you been lonely?

He was the one who I had once called my best friend. We loved the same woman and experienced the same despair. And then our bond was severed, never to be repaired again.

Now, we were just enemies, tied together only by anger and hatred, pity and pain.

It would all be settled tomorrow, regardless of the end result.

Though I’d like to pray to go back to the relationship we used to have, as expected, that probably would be a bit too much to hope for.

In that case, we had no choice but to fight until one of us fell. And I couldn’t die yet. I still had to take care of Chake and the others.

So tomorrow―

“I’m going to win, Ryudou.”

I was sure that Tomoe would have wished to stop him too, so―

—

―At the Sifrur Love Hotel.

There was a room in the basement of the love hotel that was the base of the group led by Ryudou. It was referred to by his men as the ‘prison’, and it was the place where the women kidnapped by Ryudou’s men were imprisoned.

Although it was called a ‘prison’, it was just an ordinary room, so it didn’t have a strictly guarded atmosphere or anything like that.

However, the room was locked and women were not allowed to go out. The atmosphere in the room was miserable.

That wasn’t all. All of the women locked in this room were all of those who were scheduled to become Ryudou’s playthings at his command. As a result, all of them were dominated by fear. They were just on standby, waiting fearfully for the moment they would be summoned. Once they left the prison, they would never come back the same.

They would naturally have to entertain Ryudou, but at the same time, he would use stimulants on them. And when Ryudou got tired of them, he would hand them over to his subordinates to let them have their fill.

By the time it was all over, most of the victims’ psyches would already be broken. Some of them even committed suicide as a result. Even if they survived, they were locked up and left in a room somewhere as if they had already exhausted their purpose and were no longer needed.

For these women, this prison was no different from the entrance to hell, with their judgment by Enma awaiting them on the other side. As a result, there were many who were unable to bear the crushing pressure and ended up vomiting or sobbing.

Today as well, there was one slender woman who was crying in the corner of the room. Another woman quietly approached her and asked her in a worried tone if she was alright.

Hearing her gentle, comforting words, that slender woman began to sob even harder. The name of the woman gently holding that slender woman in her arms was Tanaka Sayuri.

Just the other day, her face was burned by acid after she was attacked by monsters, but her beautiful original appearance had been restored by Torimoto’s medicine. However, in a twist of horrific tragedy, Ryudou’s subordinates had attacked her home, killing her husband and child.

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At first, she mourned, vomited, and surrendered herself to grief like the other women. But as she watched the women who came in one after another, she started to feel a sense of duty to support them as the oldest woman there. Thus, she had stifled her emotions and began to encourage them and keep them hanging in there.

“Sob, sob… S-Sorry…” (Slender Woman)

“No, no, don’t worry about it… Are you feeling a bit better now?” (Sayuri)

“….Yes.” (Slender Woman)

Even though there was no way she could be feeling better now, she still said that she was okay. And Sayuri knew, by the pained expression on her face.

“What’s your name?” (Sayuri)

“…My name is Ueda Miyu…”

“I see. I’m Tanaka Sayuri.”

Ueda Miyu was brought here recently. At first she had been tough, but after the past few days, she became this way from the anxiety and fear. At this time, Sayuri came over and began to ask her questions, as if she was trying to continue to hold a conversation with her to distract her from all this.

Ueda Miyu was still a university student, but she was holed up in the apartment where she lived alone ever since the world had transformed. However, she ran out of food. When she went out to go find food, she found herself surrounded by several men.

But at that time, a man saved her and went around with her to help her find food.

“…Were you two perhaps dating?” (Sayuri)

At Sayuri’s words, Miyu’s cheeks suddenly flushed red with embarrassment.

Apparently, it was through that turn of events that Miyu and that man ended up in an intimate relationship. She said that despite the world being like this, she was happy to have that man in her life, and every day was filled with fun.

However, that happiness was shattered one day by Ryudou.

She and her boyfriend were kidnapped by Ryudou’s subordinates, and she ended up being brought here alone.

“….What happened to your boyfriend?” (Sayuri)

Miyu shook her head. His whereabouts had long since been unknown.

“I see. I hope he’s okay.” (Sayuri)

But despite saying so, Sayuri had a complicated expression on her face. After all, these guys killed without any hesitation. There was no need to keep her boyfriend alive.

Most likely… Miyu herself was already aware of that fact, and that was why she was being tormented by despair.

“….I really want to see him…..” (Miyu)

Those words almost seemed to speak themselves, sounding as if they came straight from the depths of her soul.

“Then first, you have to survive,” Sayuri said as she gripped her hand tightly and looked directly into her eyes.

“This world is full of outrageous, unfair situations. There are more of those situations than we can count. But you know, as long as you stay alive, good things will come to you eventually.” (Sayuri)

She must have been saying this because she had actually experienced it herself. The injury on her face was completely hopeless. And yet, she ended up being cured by some profoundly mysterious power.

“These people who do such things will be punished one day.” (Sayuri)

“….I-Is that so…” (Miyu)

“We’re completely helpless, so we can only wait for someone else. But you know, if you give up too easily, it would be a shame for the people who love you, wouldn’t it?” (Sayuri)

For Sayuri, that would be her dead child and husband.

“That’s why I don’t want to die until the day I see the people here with looks of regret upon their faces.” (Sayuri)

“Tanaka-san…” (Miyu)

“You can just call me Sayuri. Miyu-chan, let’s hold onto hope together.” (Sayuri)

“….Okay.” (Miyu)

“Everyone else as well! It’s still too early to give up! I’m sure… this definitely won’t last much longer. These people who’ve kept us trapped in this place will receive their due punishment one day! So let’s believe and keep hanging in there!” (Sayuri)

Sayuri’s strong, encouraging words touched the hearts of the women in the room. However, there were still some who could not believe. It wasn’t surprising. Her words were completely lacking in evidence.

Still, Sayuri’s words should have given them some will to live to the next day.

And at that moment, a woman’s scream cut through the air from the outside. Almost instantly, anxiety and tension spread throughout the room that Sayuri and the others were in.

But at the very least, they weren’t going to be chosen that night. Although they had complicated feelings about the other women that had been sacrificed, they felt relieved that they had survived.

“….God, if you’re watching, please save us…” (Sayuri)

Sayuri folded her hands and uttered a prayer.