CH 231

Chapter 231 – Tree From the Other World

Hearing what Kaza said, I was greatly perplexed.

“Hey, what’s wrong? You aren’t feeling well or something?” (Shakuhara)

Shakuhara, who was standing behind me, called out to me in concern.

I was surprised that she was worried about me. She’d really softened up a bit.

“U-Um, would you like some water?” (Saniwa)

Saniwa handed me a bottle of water.

“No, I’m fine. Thank you both though.” (Torimoto)

“I-It’s not like I’m worried about you or anything. I just didn’t want you to cause any trouble for Founder-sama.” (Shakuhara)

Yeah, yeah. Tsundere. I was just saying it for jokes, but you know… she really might be a big tsundere.

“Are you really okay? There’s sweat on your forehead.” (Saniwa)

Perhaps noticing this exchange, Sayuri turned to me and asked me if anything was wrong.

Ah, she noticed.

“What, you not feelin’ well, Torimoto? Did’ja not get anything to eat? I gotta eat something every morning to keep my strength up.” (Kuzuhara)

“Right, right. Saito-san always gets in a bad mood if he doesn’t have his dessert for the day.” (Chake)

“Hey Chake, don’t say anything unnecessary! You baldy!” (Kuzuhara)

“I’m bald because I shaved!” (Chake)

As always, an entertaining duo.

“I’m not you, so I wouldn’t feel bad about something like that.” (Torimoto)

“But if you really aren’t feeling well, why don’t you just excuse yourself for now?” (Otaka)

“Otaka-san… Thanks, but without me as an intermediary, who’s going to stop you guys from coming to blows?” (Torimoto)

“T-That…” (Otaka)

“If you start fighting here, avoiding the war with the yakuza would have been meaningless, no?” (Torimoto)

To be frank, I didn’t want to lose such big business partners, so I wished that they wouldn’t fight.

“But Torimoto, we can’t allow them to continue hunting men. You’ve been acknowledged by Tanaka-san and the others, so you’re safe. But that isn’t true of the targets of their hunts.” (Otaka)

Well, I understood what Otaka was saying. Of course, my heart was on his side. But now was not the time to be fighting. I was the only person who knew this, and it was really frustrating.

…Ah, right!

I suddenly came up with an idea and once again reached out to Kaza to ask him to do something for me.

Then, one of the Apostles of Peace looked down at the [Writing Mirror] in his hand and called out hurriedly.

“O-Otaka-san! There’s contact from Enjou!”

Naturally, everyone’s attention was turned towards him, and Otaka checked the [Writing Mirror].

“Let’s see, let’s see… ‘Strange occurrence at the jungle, investigation right away’…? What’s this?” (Otaka)

“Boss, what did Enjou say?” (Kuzuhara)

“Hm? Ah, there seems to be something strange going on at that jungle. He says to check it out.” (Otaka)

“Hah? The jungle? Could it be that the remnants of the Hosen Group have made some kind of move?” (Kuzuhara)

Hearing those words, the look in the eyes of Sayuri and her followers changed. They had said that they would destroy them if they moved, so perhaps this was a natural reaction.

Alright. With this, the murderous powderkeg atmosphere between them is gone.

“Sayuri-san, how about you send some people to the jungle to see what’s going on?” (Torimoto)

“Torimoto-san… Right. Would you please?”

She turned and asked Kagaya, who respectfully complied and left the room.

“We should have people go out and investigate too. Can we leave that to you?” (Otaka)

“Yes, as you wis—”

Right as one of the comrades from the Apostles of Peace responded…

“Boss, boss, look outside!”

One of Otaka’s comrades cried out after entering the conference room.

Kagaya, who had just left, also came back in a panic.

“Founder-sama!” (Kagaya)

“W-What’s the matter, Kagaya-san?” (Sayuri)

“Not good! Go outside and check right now!” (Kagaya)

It seemed that everyone realized that something unusual was happening, and they all left the mansion and went outside.

Everyone looked in one direction with wide eyes.

“…The hell is that…?!” (Kuzuhara)

…Whoa, whoa… It’s that gigantic?

I had been informed by Kaza beforehand, but I still couldn’t hide my shock.

I could see it clearly even from here.

There was a giant tree towering over the surroundings like a mountain. It jutted out from the center of the city, establishing its massive presence.

“When we came over here, it wasn’t like that…? What happened?” (Otaka)

“That’s the direction of the jungle, huh…? Boss, is that the strange occurrence that Enjou was talking about…?” (Kuzuhara)

“Yeah, without a doubt. But why all of a sudden…? Is that also a type of dungeonization?” (Otaka)

His guess wasn’t far off the mark. It was a type of otherworld transformation.

The sense of intimidation coming from that giant tree was incredible. So this is the Tree of Gluttony…?

“Yes. It is a type of S-Rank monster that exists in the tropical region of the other world.” (Shiki)

Shiki spoke in a foreboding tone. It seemed that he had seen it before too.

I had no idea that it was this gigantic. We were quite a distance away, but it was definitely as big as the Tokyo Sky Tree.

“It is still not that big. It will suck up the nutrients from the surroundings and grow even larger.” (Shiki)

It was unnerving to hear that it was still growing.

Now that I had seen it firsthand, I knew that it wasn’t something that could be left alone.