His level of skill that even Tamikoās Risk Counter, [Discovery], cannot see through. Without a doubt, Satou is stronger than Toroko and Boss Met, and even stronger than me, I am sure.
Is it my imagination that I feel pressure equal to or greater than that of Arato, the demon who was estimated to be level 99 even with his true power hidden? Including the harshness of his appearance, I donāt feel as if I can win even if I challenge him in a head-to-head fight. I can only imagine that I would have my head chomped even if I took him by surprise.
āNo, well, itās just that Iāve lived a long time. The greenness to always show my strength has sunk to the bottom of the water along with my old teeth.ā (Satou)
āIf you are so strong, why didnāt you just do everything yourself instead of going around and using Ms. Utsuki? When the strike team was killed, you could have done something all by yourselfāā (Shuu)
āAre you trying to ask me why I didnāt save them?ā (Satou)
He could have saved them since he was there.
He should have kicked out the Boss Met and all that group and found out what that group was up to. ā, but thatās not how my master does it.ā Utsuki said earlier, but he could do it.
āā¦I am neither a friend of men nor a friend of the beasts. Even if it started from a quarrel between human beings or some evil scheme, I would not want anything to do with it.ā (Satou)
āBut you also call yourself a hunter, Mr. Satouāā (Shuu)
āI donāt remember choosing it as a profession like you guys or carving the proof of my friends on my shark skin. The only thing I have inherited from my late friend is that it is a way of life. I eat to live and kill to eat. I will not kill anything else. That is all.ā (Satou)
When he said it like that, I couldnāt say anything else, even though I was saddened.
Only human beings think that it is right to be on the side of human beings, and the time when only human beings were intelligent beings are long gone. What he questioned was only the values based on the convenience of the human side.
Satou exhales a long breath from his mouth. He has gill rails on his neck, from which I sometimes hear a sound like air whistling, but he is able to speak and breathe through his mouth.
āDecades ago, I was a bit of a rascal on earth. I forgot myself, forgot my pride as a hunter, and became a mere beast. Since that day, I have been a lone traveler in the dark waters of the Metro. Well, now that I have an unexpectedly good assistant, I have a chance to enjoy the food and drink of the land.ā (Satou)
āHeās a stubborn old man. Heās rough on people.ā (Sou)
āNow Iām a recluse. Iām a retired shark now, and Iām sick and tired of getting involved in other peopleās messes. You humans can take care of those things.ā (Satou)
āEven if you do, I had to act too unreasonably this time. Do you want to know how many times Iāve been in a pickle?ā (Sou)
āIām sorry for your troublesā¦ā Satou said looking a little embarrassed. āWell, if thereās any possibility that something is related to the demons, I canāt ignore it if I might have more clues.ā
Iām wondering what this thing is, but Iāll confirm one thing first.
āUm, thenā¦ Why did you help us?ā (Shuu)
He rescued us from the water when we were about to drown. They didnāt leave us alone and even cared for us. What are their intentions there?
Satou scratched his shark head and tilted his thick neck slightly.
āWell, itās not like I was indebted for getting into trouble with my discipleā¦ However, even if I was there in the first place, you wouldnāt have died.ā (Satou)
āWhat?!ā (Shuu)
āIām sure youāre not the kind of person who would die just because you got stuck in a pond. Someone like you.ā (Satou)
His dull eyes looked softly down at me. The old shark could see right through me, and I just shrugged and looked away.
āIām not sure when the last time I saw someone come at me without fear, even in the face of a drowningā¦ I was a little curious.ā (Satou)
āThatāsā¦ Hurry up, you should sayā¦ Sorry.ā (Sou)
āSilky Cheeks.ā (Satou)
Sato narrowed his eyes and smiled. It looks like the most natural smile he made.
āAnyway, Iām not stingy like helping someone who has saved us even without knowing and I have to thank them for their kindness. Also, I wanted to have a little talk with you, and more importantlyā¦ Furball Girl.ā (Satou)
āWhat?ā (Shuu)
āSqueak?ā (Tamiko)
Tamiko suddenly raised her head and looked around. Satou was looking nervous.
āI have an old friend who is a big fan of the Carbuncles like you. It would do me a world of good if I could do something on behalf of them.ā (Satou)
āI donāt know about that person, squeak.ā (Tamiko)
āSilk Cheeks, even so, for that long-haired bastard, he believed squirrels as the cutest, and the reason I saved you from that pinch is that you are not something a shark as I can ignore. You donāt even have to feel indebted.ā (Satou)
In other words, he has an acquaintance who has the same proclivities as Aomoto, so he is keeping it as a favor to him. It seems that the world is still teeming with eccentrics and oddballs.
āOh, by the way, that column of water? What was that? Though, I donāt think that was Mr. Satouās work eitherā¦ā (Shuu)
The water swelled like a living creature, and the flash floods attacked. It was a very unreasonable phenomenon, but if you say that it was this sharkās ability, it seems to make sense in a way.
āNo, no, thatās a huge false claim. It had nothing to do with me, I think it was mostly a trap on that floor. I think the trigger was to ādestroy all the statues thereā. There were signs that the floor had been flooded several times, so something similar must have happened there before.ā (Satou)
āOh.ā (Shuu)
When I think back to what I was told, the anomaly began right after the last stone statue was destroyed (after busting and throwing Mujirami).
If that guess was correct, most of it was destroyed by me by going on a rampageā¦ In other words, we deserved it. Teehee~!
āI went to check it out before you woke up and found almost the entire floor submerged. Itās about time they all went back to the surface.ā (Satou)
āā¦they all got away, didnāt they?ā (Shuu)
āAt least I didnāt see any human drowned bodies, although I did see a few goat-monkeys floating around.ā (Satou)
āI feel like Glasses and Giggles are disgusting men that should be sleeping at the bottom of the river, but Iām just glad that the other kids are safe. I donāt know why those kids were acting like semi-gangsters, but I guess itās the end of the world.ā (Shuu)
As a person, I can understand that feeling a little. I only know about the girl Toroko, with whom I exchanged a few words.
I donāt want to kill her if I can help it,ā she said.
I only want to kill one person in this world,ā she said.
She was a weird and spoiled girl who said such a thing in the middle of a fight to the death, but as if to show that her words were not a lie, her blade only shaved off what would not kill me (though she was merciless about it).
Who was on the other side of her cutting edge? Is there a reason why a girl so young should be sharpened to such a degree?
I would like to know, but at the same time, I would like to avoid meeting her again in the same way. I donāt have a battle-crazed desire to settle things, and I have no reason to fight her.
(Howeverā) (Shuu)
āBecause you are too strongā¦. From now on, you will definitely get in our way,ā she said.
(I wonder what she means.) (Shuu)
Both her and that man in glasses.
I have a feeling that we will meet again someday, somewhere, even in a way we all donāt want to.
According to Utukiās pocket watch, it is now 3:00 a.m. Knowing the time, here and there fatigue and drowsiness overtake me, and I canāt even hold a conversation. Tamikoās drool slowly spreads a mark on my lap.
We decide to spend the night here, and Satou takes over as watchman. Utsuki takes the liberty of borrowing my cloak, and after a few seconds begins to snore quietly.
Not that I donāt trust Satou, but I will try to be as vigilant as possible. However, the rhythm of Tamikoās peaceful breathing lulls me into a deep sleep.
When I wake up, the light from the firefly moss has changed to a hazy white glow. It is morning.
Satou is still there, in the same position in which he last saw him. He is sitting on a rock, staring blankly into the depths of the cave. Is he awake, or is he skillfully sleeping with his eyes open?
I heard that sharks donāt sleep as humans do but rest a part of their brains while swimming. As a creature that needs to sleep, it may be enviable to hear that they can stay awake all the time, but it can be said that they are born with a black life because āif they stop swimming, they will not be able to breathe and will die.
āGood morningā¦ itās six oāclock in the morningā¦ā (Sou)
T/N: You are a naĆÆve idiot who keeps troubling your companions, Shuu. Where is Noa and her wisdom. If Noa was there, Kawataro and his ilk will be dead. Kure would probably also kill them. Heisei era morals have no place in New Tokyo. Tamiko and her foulmouthed fluffy self are a gift that should be protected. Kill Giggles and Glassesā team. All of them have blood on their hands.