Chapter 210: Negotiation With Inabe (2/2)

Inabe then readjusted his expression suitable for negotiation.

“Connect me.”

“…This is Mizuha. Inabe-sama, we are really sorry about this and we are really grateful for this chance, but unfortunately-”

Inabe energetically cut short Mizuha’s long apology.

“Just listen here. Katsuya-kun, was it? I don’t really know the reason, but I heard something happened to him and that he is no longer fit for duty. I bet it has caused you a lot of trouble considering that he’s a team leader, right? If you keep that up, I’m sure Yanagisawa would no longer evaluate you as highly. Man, that must be really rough.”

“Indeed, it is exactly as you say…”

“I actually might have an inkling on how to fix it.”

“You do?!”

Hearing Mizuha’s rather exaggerated response, Inabe’s smile widened.

“I won’t say anything bad. Just arrange a meeting with him. I’ll get him back on his feet and you won’t worsen your relationship with me. I’m heading there right now, so make the preparations for the meeting.”

Inabe then closed the call without even waiting for Mizuha’s reply. After all, there was no need to wait for her reply.

Katsuya was sitting with his head hung low inside his room. He did not even remember how he got back after Sheryl had left him. As a matter of fact, it was even suspicious if he remembered anything in the past few days. The half-eaten meal next to him showed that he had also lost his appetite. Although the light was on, it was because Yumina and the other girls turned them on, worried for him. There was no doubt if he was left alone, he would just continue to despair inside this dark space.

The shock from when he parted off with Sheryl still lingered in him.

Yumina and the other girls entered the room, worried for him. When they told Katsuya that Inabe came to see him, he only glanced and showed a minimal response. So Yumina and the other girls had no other choice but to grab his arm and carry him out of the room on their shoulders. He did not even resist when they did that.

Katsuya was sitting face to face with Inabe in Drankam’s visitor room. Many young Hunters gathered around Katsuya and Mizuha, and all of them seemed gloomy.

Even Inabe felt a bit creeped out after seeing it.

[So basically, the mood of the whole team is determined by the mood of the main actor of the team, huh? A team heavily affected by the condition of its leader… I bet all of them are in Katsuya’s team. I see now, as expected, the team is not fit for duty in this condition.]

Inabe then turned to Mizuha.

“I’ll have everyone but him leave this room.”

“But he’s in this situation, so it’s not like we can just leave him alone-”

“No. This meeting includes private information for him and other information regarding the interest of City Management. So the fewer ears around, the better. That’s why I want everyone unrelated to leave the room.”

Seeing that all of them were reluctant to leave, Inabe sighed and sent an intense glare as he once again ordered.

“Leave!”

Seeing that, Mizuha and the rest finally left the room. Yumina, who left last, turned around and bowed at Inabe as if pleading to him before she closed the door behind her.

[He even acted like that in front of a Drankam’s officer and an officer from City Management, huh? As I thought, the gang is really spoiling him. This is simply abnormal even for Yanagisawa’s influence. Honestly, these guys put too much stock in him. I just can’t understand what they are thinking.]

Inabe decided to shelf that question for now. In order to start the negotiation, he then smiled and said to Katsuya.

“Now then, I’m not sure if you’re even listening or not, but before we go on to the main subject, there’s a small thing that I want to talk to you about. I heard that you got rejected by Sheryl, that must be rough.”

Inabe’s tone was obviously directed to mock Katsuya instead of cheering him up, causing Katsuya’s anger to well up. This anger turned into energy and returned the colour on his face as Katsuya who was unresponsive up until now sent a glare toward Inabe’s direction.

“…So why are you here? You have no business with a mere Hunter who has no relation to Sheryl, right?”

“That’s indeed correct, that’s why I have some business with you.”

Katsuya showed a bit of surprise. Inabe’s mocking smile shifted into a friendly one and he did that deliberately.

“W-what do you mean?”

“As a businesswoman and the leader of a gang, there are times when she has to make hard decisions, that’s all there is to it.”

Inabe’s words rejuvenated Katsuya’s hope, who had always been wishing that there was a reason why Sheryl did that. There must be some kind of misunderstanding there.

“Tell me, tell me everything.”

“If you really want to know, stop hanging your head and straighten your back. That’s not how you present yourself during a negotiation, you know?”

Katsuya flusteredly straightened his back. Seeing that, Inabe was sure that he had secured his victory.

“Sorry to start from something unpleasant, but to put it in simple terms, Sheryl has debts, or more like a loan. Well, both refer to the same thing anyway.”

“Debt…”

From that word, Katsuya immediately made a guess that Akira was trying to get Sheryl by using that debt as an excuse. So naturally, he then thought that he might be able to take that debt off from Sheryl.

“That debt, how much is it exactly?”

“I don’t know the precise number, but one thing for sure, it is not small. Let me ask you this instead, how much do you think it might be?”

Considering that it was large enough to force Sheryl to make such a hard decision, Katsuya paused for a bit before wording out his guess

“Like, 30 million… No, 50 million Aurum?”

Katsuya only guessed that it must be pretty big but not completely out of reach for him when he said that. But Inabe shook his head and replied.

“Unfortunately, it’s way more than that.”

“Way more than that? So I guess it’s not like 55 million either, so, 500 million?”

“It’s at least 5 billion. It might go as high as 10 billion or even more.”

Katsuya dropped his jaw and flusteredly exclaimed.

“A-are you serious!? That’s just way too much no matter how you slice it…”

“It’s the debt of someone who can even attend that feast, you know? 30 million Aurum? 50 million Aurum? Heh, there’s no way it’s that small. It seems that you don’t fully understand the real worth of the people who can attend that feast. People in that event can casually make deals worth billions of Aurum. Well, although, there’s a difference whether it is her debt or the debt of her organization.”

Katsuya still had not fully recovered from the shock as he listened to Inabe.

“The larger the corporation, the bigger the liability in the case that corporation goes under. And then the debt, well, investment, loan, you can call it whatever you want. It takes talent to be able to manage that much money. After all, the person loaning it out did it expecting to get something in return. That girl basically is just that talented, but then she failed. I guess that’s what happened.”

Katsuya understood that it was something out of his capabilities and frowned.

“But even so, there’s no doubt in her talent, so I bet she’s trying to get up again with the little amount of money she has. And in reality, she is doing very well considering that she’s able to attend that feast. Sheryl is actually earning money by selling relics at the moment. It is not something strange in the eastern district. I’m sure she will be able to pay back her debt soon at this rate, that’s why I’m sponsoring her relic shop as well. We did talk about business during the feast, remember? That’s exactly what we were talking about back there.”

Katsuya did not expect that Sheryl was having such a hard time, at the same time, he hated himself since he could not help her.

“Sheryl needs relics for her relic shop, that’s why she needs skilled Hunters. Fortunately, she has some connections with Akira… Now then, I bet you’re asking yourself – why would she go to Akira when you yourself are a skilled Hunter, right?”

“…Yeah.”

“You’re indeed a skilled Hunter, your Hunter Rank is pretty high as well. I myself have confirmed that you’re a skilled Hunter based on the information that I gathered about you. But, unfortunately, you’re not the kind of Hunter that Sheryl is looking for. After all, you’re a skilled monster Hunter. Most of your track records are from subjugating monsters or protecting inter-city transports. So, unfortunately, this track record can’t attest for your skill in hunting relics. But that’s not the case for Akria. He’s doing very well as a relic Hunter. He’s basically a proficient treasure Hunter.”

“If it’s only that much, not too long ago I found some old-world terminal, right…?”

“Just that one time out of coincidence, right? We can’t really expect you to keep producing that kind of result just from that one time, right?”

Katsuya could not argue back and just sat there in silence.

“Moreover, even if it’s not from coincidence but from your talent, that doesn’t change much from Sheryl’s point of view. You’re a Hunter from Drankam, the gang decides where the relics that you gathered will go, not you. I bet they won’t let you give those relics to Sheryl even if it is to get on your good side, and it won’t work even if Sheryl tries to negotiate with Drankam. The Hunters in Drankam are receiving a lot of support from the gang and it is not cheap. It’s only to be expected that the relics its members gather will go there first. They will have no relics available for Sheryl. In contrast to that, Akira is an independent Hunter, which is rare to find. So, if she can just get on his good side, she will be able to expect some relics to go to her.”

Katsuya imagined a lot of things and frowned.

“…Is he that good of a relic Hunter? Enough for Sheryl to do that?”

“I have my position to consider here, so make sure that this won’t leak outside, okay? It seems that Akria brought back old-world automata just recently. I heard that he was working as a team, so the money from that automata will be distributed to the rest of his team and Sheryl wouldn’t get anything this time. Even at this moment, there are many companies competing to get those automata. Just imagine how much it would profit Sheryl if those relics went to her instead. It won’t be strange for her to expect Akira to achieve the same thing in the future. And the more Akira likes her, the better the chance his relics will go to her. I bet that’s why she doesn’t spare any effort in order to get Akira to like her.”

Katsuya imagined even more and his frown deepened.

“She did not know that you and Akira are on bad terms. After seeing how you reacted. As a businesswoman and the leader of her gang, her options were between you and Akira, but her only choice was to side with Akira. There was no room for her own feelings, it was a hard decision. Well, it is all just my guess though. I’m not her after all, so I don’t know what exactly she was thinking at that moment. But well, I can guess that much judging from how you two were talking during the feast.”

Katsuya was hoping that there was a reason why Sheryl did that and this pretty much confirmed it for him. But what laid after was something that was out of his reach, something worse than he had expected.

“…Is there… Really nothing that I can do…?”

Seeing Katsuya hand his head low in frustration again, Inabe then said to him, as if to give him hope.

“Actually, I’m planning a large scale expedition to Kuzusuhara ruin’s inner area and I need a lot of skilled Hunters for executing this plan. So yes, I’m planning to hire a lot of skilled Hunters who specialize in hunting monsters in order to secure the area of the expedition. If we’re successful, I’m sure we can return with a lot of relics from this expedition. Of course, I will have ownership over those relics and where to send them. Normally, I will prioritize sending those relics to corporations connected to City Management, but if you perform well during the expedition, I don’t mind giving some of the relics to Sheryl. Of course, I will inform her that it was mostly thanks to your hard work. If Sheryl knows that she has other options for her sources of relics, I’m sure her evaluation of Akira would lower, and she would not have to make that kind of tough decision anymore. She will have other options besides Akira. So, What do you think?”

Inabe said so and gave Katsuya a friendly smile. But he was surprised when he looked at Katsuya’s expression, a sense of resolve was welling up from his serious face. Katsuya then lowered his head to Inabe.

“Please, let me join your expedition.”

“Of course, certainly.”

Inabe was a bit overwhelmed by the powerful determination oozing out from Katsuya that felt like physical pressure.

[So this is the real him, huh. I see. No wonder Drankam is so invested in him. I bet the people around him lost to this as well, this would explain why Drankam has broken into factions.]

In order to keep control of the conversation, Inabe deliberately let off an authoritative smile.

“We have a deal then. Don’t worry, I will keep my promise. That’s why, keep this a secret, okay? I have my position to consider here. You get it, right?”

“Ah, yes.”

“Sounds good. If they ask you what happened, just tell them that you got fired up after I offered you a highly profitable ruin expedition. To be honest, I don’t really care what excuse you make as long as you keep this a secret.”

“Okay.”

“Now then, I have nothing more I want to talk to you about. I need to go meet the original negotiator from Drankam to let her know that this matter has been settled. So, I’ll take my leave.”

Inabe stood up and walked towards the door. Katsuya also stood up, flustered, and bowed to Inabe.

“Ah, um, thank you very much!”

“You’re welcome. I’m looking forward to your work.”

As Inabe left the room, he noticed that Yumina and the others were waiting nearby. Even Mizuha was present, so he called on her to request a meeting for another time.

Inabe found Mizuha and the other’s reaction rather weird, all of them looked delighted. The gloomy mood that they had right before they left the room was nowhere to be seen. Since Katsuya was still inside the room, there was no way they knew that Katsuya had cheered up.

[Were they eavesdropping? Good grief, these guys really have no manners.]

Inabe thought so and just pushed that matter out of his mind.

In reality, they did not eavesdrop. Considering just how much that it might hurt them in the future, there was no way a Drankam officer would do something like that to an officer from City Management. And of course, she would not let Yumina and the others do that as well.

Inside the room, Katsuya apologized to Yumina and the others for making them worry. He apologized, smiled and pumped himself up for the upcoming expedition.

Everyone present was delighted that Katsuya was able to cheer up in such a short time. Strangely enough, no one found it suspicious.