The Man Called Demon Lord in Another World Has Returned! - chapter 18

Chapter 18: Land Shark 1

As I walked past Namioka Junior High, I saw a large vacant lot surrounded by corrugated iron sheets. A single house stood amidst this vacant land.

Wait, isn’t that Uncle’s house? The vacant lot surrounded Uncle’s property in a U-shape.

Several workers were on the lot, with cars parked on thick iron plates. Probably their personal vehicles. I could see a large construction machine that looked like a pile driver. A prefab building stood in the corner, likely serving as an office.

A dump truck was parked in front of the house’s gate, clearly violating parking laws. It would be difficult to enter or exit through the gate. How can they do something so blatant in a residential area? Don’t the police do anything? Surely they’re not in cahoots.

Knock knock.

The truck driver was yawning and reading a weekly magazine in the driver’s seat. The truck’s side helpfully read “Morimoto Industries.” I thought Morimoto Industries was a yakuza outfit, but apparently they do regular work too. If it’s Mori-chan, this should be easy.

Bang bang.

Roll down the window, will you?

Telepathy? Maybe not. The window lowered.

“Hey! Driver, parking there is a nuisance! They can’t get out through the gate. And leaving the engine running stinks of exhaust!”

“Who are you?”

“Driver, you’re from Morimoto Industries, right? Don’t you remember the guy in the rider suit yesterday? Doesn’t he look like me?”

“What? No way a kid like you could be him. He took out our managing director with one hit.”

“That tough-looking old guy? Come to think of it, I just lightly tapped him when he suddenly swung at me. Want to try it yourself? I warn you, if you swing your fist around when you’re weak, it’s dangerous. Just two or three days ago, an amateur hurt himself swinging his fist around.”

After provoking him a bit, the driver got out of the truck.

“What? Don’t act so high and mighty, kid!”

“You call me a kid? Then what are you? Can you look me in the eye properly?”

I took off my fake glasses and brought my face close to his, peering into his eyes. As expected, he averted his gaze.

“Well, that doesn’t matter. As I said earlier, parking the dump truck here is a nuisance. You shouldn’t inconvenience others. Didn’t your parents teach you that? Hm? Want to try hitting me with that hand? Go ahead.”

As usual, I thrust out my face, making it easy to hit.

“Are you mocking me?!”

The driver’s face turned red as he punched me. A good, forceful punch. As expected of a professional.

Crack!

A sound that shouldn’t have been heard. He must be in considerable pain, breaking out in a cold sweat. Seems he didn’t faint though. Unexpectedly tough.

To avoid causing a scene, I lightly cast “Sleep” on the driver, putting him to sleep, then grabbed his collar and tossed him into the driver’s seat. You only have two fists, take care of them.

I went around to the back of the dump truck, grabbed the bumper, and pushed it forward. The running engine made the exhaust stink, and the awkward hand position made it difficult, but moving the dump truck was a breeze for me.

The brakes must have been engaged, as black tire marks appeared on the gray asphalt, but I moved it about 20 meters. This seems to be the entrance for construction vehicles. My hands got filthy from the dirty bumper. Clean your work tools properly, will you?

The men working in the vacant lot, now blocked off, started making a fuss. If you have time to make noise, get back to work.

A middle-aged woman passing by while I was moving the truck stared at me with wide eyes. Living 40 or 50 years, you see all sorts of things. So, don’t mind!

“Clean.” After removing the dirt from my palms,

Ding dong. Ding dong.

I rang Uncle’s doorbell, and through the intercom came,

“Who is it?”

A refined woman’s voice responded immediately. It’s Aunt Sakiko.

“It’s Seiichiro, Auntie. The dump truck in front of your gate was in the way, wasn’t it? I was passing by and moved it somewhere less obstructive.”

“Eh? Seiichiro-chan?”

I heard rustling behind the front door, and Aunt Sakiko, in her mid-50s, appeared.

“Hello, Auntie. I happened to be passing by and saw a dump truck blocking your gate. So I told the driver to move it. When he refused, I moved it myself.”

“My, my. Well, well. Thank you, Seiichiro-chan. Those land sharks, was it? They’ve been such a nuisance. Seiichiro-chan, it’s not good to chat standing up. Come in and have some tea and snacks.”

Aunt had always been the type to overlook small details, and this time too, she didn’t seem to notice the oddity of me moving a dump truck.

“I have some errands to run, so I’ll head home without intruding. By the way, what are they planning to build on that vacant lot?”

“Apparently, it’s going to be a high-rise apartment building. They want us to move out too. When we refused, they started harassing us, like blocking our gate with dump trucks and throwing garbage into our yard.”

“So, Uncle and you don’t want to sell this land, even if they offer a bit more, right?”

“Of course not. We both say we don’t want to move to an unfamiliar place at our age.”

“I understand. I’ll take care of it. Don’t worry, leave it to me.”

“Are you sure? Seiichiro-chan, you just started high school, right? Don’t do anything dangerous.”

“It’s no problem at all. I’m sure they’re reasonable people if we talk to them.”

“???”

“Well then, Auntie, goodbye. If the harassment continues, please give me a call or contact me somehow, okay?”