The Man Called Demon Lord in Another World Has Returned! - chapter 25

Chapter 25: Razed to the Ground 1

After cashing in the betting tickets, it was past noon, so I parted ways with old man Morimoto and left the racecourse. I immediately stashed the 30 million yen in my item box. I was hoping someone might follow me for the money, but disappointingly, no one did.

I haven’t decided what to use this money for yet, but in this world, everything costs money. Even these horse racing winnings are supposedly taxable. It would be nice to win the tax-free lottery, but that’s beyond even my abilities.

There were various restaurants and fast food places inside the racecourse, but feeling unsettled, I decided to return to my neighborhood for lunch. I’d told my family I wouldn’t need lunch at home today, so I had to eat out.

Back in my area, I entered a ramen shop near the nearest station and ordered char siu ramen and fried rice. Despite the time, it wasn’t a weekday, so I could sit down normally.

After finishing the lunch, which wasn’t bad but wasn’t particularly delicious either, I returned home to find the front door locked. Thinking there might be a message, I checked my smartphone in my pocket, only to find the battery dead.

I unlocked the door, went to my room, and started charging the phone. There was a message from Mom:

“Your uncle in Namioka was injured and hospitalized at Unabara Hospital, so I’m going to visit him with Midori. We’ll be back in time to prepare dinner.”

It seems Uncle was injured. Since Unabara Hospital is nearby, I should at least show my face.

Leaving my smartphone in the room and checking the locks, I decided to visit Uncle at Unabara Hospital. It’s a general hospital about a 10-minute walk from our house, with a fairly good reputation locally.

Come to think of it, I remember hearing the name Unabara somewhere?

As I walked, pondering “Unabara? Unabara?”, I remembered.

“…Even if there’s a problem, we’ve asked Dr. Unabara to handle it, so it should be fine.”

That’s what Kageyama from Kanemura Construction said. Is there a connection? The spider I attached to that guy is still over there, right? It hurts that I forgot to check recently.

Wait a minute, I heard something about Mob A, who hurt his fist punching my face. What was it again? Oh right, Mob A’s family “has a grandfather who runs a large hospital, and a father who’s a prefectural assemblyman.”

Isn’t that exactly it? It doesn’t mean much for now, but I should keep it in mind.

For now, putting that aside, I asked at the hospital reception for Uncle’s room.

The patient rooms at Unabara Hospital are on the third floor and above. Uncle’s room was a short walk from the elevator. It was a four-bed room, with Uncle lying in the nearest bed, his right leg in a cast and suspended. He seemed to be sleeping, with Aunt sitting alone in a chair beside him. It looks like Mom and Midori had just left to go home.

“Aunt Sakiko, what happened?”

Uncle was sleeping soundly, so I spoke quietly to Aunt, not wanting to wake him.

“You came all the way here, Seiichiro-chan? Thank you. It was terrible. A dump truck from the construction next door crashed into our house. The entryway to the living room is a mess. And your uncle broke his leg. He just finished a detailed examination. We can’t go home today, so we’ll be staying at your place tonight, if that’s alright.”

“That happened? How awful. It’s good there was no danger to his life, but it could have been much worse than just a broken leg, right? What happened to the truck driver?”

“The police came and took him away, so we don’t know much right now.”

“I see.”

“With the house in such a state after this incident, we’re starting to think about moving somewhere else.”

“Is that so? It might be unavoidable.”

After some small talk, I parted ways with Aunt and left the hospital.

Now, as I walk, I’m listening to the audio from the spider I attached to the Kanemura Construction guy. This spider can continuously monitor the target from a distance, which is very convenient. Once attached, it hides itself autonomously, so it’s rarely discovered.

“We had one of our young guys drive the dump truck into the house. We’ve instructed him to say it was due to falling asleep at the wheel during police questioning, so there shouldn’t be any problems.”

“Mr. Hanabishi, thank you for your hard work. We were in trouble with Morimoto Industries being useless, so this helps a lot.”

“Please contact us if you need anything else. With Morimoto Industries’ managing director recently hospitalized, they’ll probably be short-handed. If anything comes up, our Hanabishi Group can handle it like we did this time. Well then, please arrange the payment for this job.”

“Yes, I’ll transfer it tomorrow. I’ll be in touch if anything comes up. Thank you for your time.”

Hmm. The “Hanabishi Group,” huh?