Chapter 26
The slums of District 49.
Inside a room where warm candlelight flickered.
“What are you doing here all by yourself?”
“Runrun.”
The blue-haired woman who had lost her sight answered without turning around.
The woman whose voice trailed off─Kanph─had withdrawn from the noisy children and was lost in deep thought by herself.
“…Nothing.”
A quiet voice drifted from her lips.
“I was just thinking how delicious the food is…. A silly thought.”
“Oh, same here. Maybe it tastes decent because it's a ‘product’ Megacorp went all-out to make.”
If someone who knew both their circumstances had heard that, it would have been difficult even to force an awkward laugh.
At Runrun's nonchalant reply, Kanph slightly furrowed her brow.
“Self-deprecating remarks aren't good, Runrun.”
“Well, it's not wrong.”
Runrun plopped down beside Kanph and dumped the crispy snacks into her mouth.
“And I don't think Kanph, who's worrying about something that hasn't even happened yet, is in any position to say that.”
“…Urgh.”
Her shoulders flinched.
After all, it might be better to act matter-of-factly like Runrun than to keep worrying like Kanph.
“…Then what am I supposed to do?”
Her voice trembled with worry.
“I've already heard all about how Rivera has been getting food from outside.”
She didn't know how flustered she had been when she heard the words ‘romance scam.’
The shock Kanph had felt at the time had been beyond words.
No, in this case it would be a ‘kid scam,’ though.
But Runrun's reaction was more nonchalant than expected.
“What's so bad about being mistaken for a kid? And the boss seems to secretly enjoy it, too.”
“……”
“No, I'm serious. These days, she's practically glued to his side and won't let go. At this point, she's even more serious about it than when she was preparing to assassinate ‘that bastard’....”
“Runrun.”
Kanph looked at Runrun.
When her already-blind eyes turned toward her, Runrun immediately hunched her shoulders.
“…I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that.”
“It's okay.”
A brief silence passed.
Kanph let out a light sigh, closed her eyes again, and turned her head forward.
The subject of their conversation returned to Rivera, who was going outside to procure food.
“Aren't you mistaken about something?”
“You mean the boss is putting on an act and throwing away his pride?”
Runrun slipped the empty snack bag into her pocket and continued speaking.
“…It's not entirely impossible. Boss Rivera has an incredibly strong sense of responsibility, after all. Hearing what you said, Kanph, that possibility does seem rather likely.”
After hearing Runrun's words and thinking it over, Kanph quietly shook her head.
“…No, actually, I don't really know either.”
She looked down at the grocery store's discarded products that Rivera had brought.
“We know better than anyone how precious salvation is when it comes to you with nowhere to turn.”
“Well, it's not like she's doing anything dangerous. We can just eat the food she brings us and thank her later, can't we?”
A thank-you, huh.
That wasn't wrong, either.
Someday, the day would come when they could tell the truth.
Thinking that, Kanph pictured Rivera struggling outside after leaving home.
‘…Yeah, nothing will happen.’
* * *
“Seriously, it's all food that was going to be thrown away anyway. Why does it matter who takes it….”
A man walking down an alley.
The android looked down at the food filling his arms and snickered.
“Those damn beggars don't even have guns.”
In the end, he had succeeded in taking the food.
The others' fierce glares followed him from behind, but that was none of his concern.
If he carried this food to the neighboring district and sold it for even a single banknote, he could make a tidy profit.
At the same time, the android saw a blade jutting out beside his face.
“……Shit?!”
Being an android didn't mean he lacked a clear instinct for survival.
He instinctively flailed his arms and turned around.
The food he had been carrying fell to the ground, and he accidentally stepped on some of it, but he had no time to worry about that now.
Thick mustard sauce spread out in the shape of footprints.
And behind the android.
“…Is no one there?”
The android wondered whether his operating system had been infected with some kind of virus.
It was a blade.
It looked like a small piece of metal, but it was sharp enough to cut through muscle and skin with ease.
Rustle.
Once again, he sensed someone behind him.
“W-Who are you?!”
However.
This time, too, he couldn't see anyone's shadow.
He couldn't even hear any footsteps.
Unless the other party revealed their presence first, the android couldn't detect the uninvited guest at all.
“…Let's calm down first. I don't have anything. I'm just an android developed for work. After the corporation went under, they tried to sell me to a junkyard, so I ran away─just a goddamn android. If you need food, I'll give you all of this. Ah, no.”
The rambling android's eyes suddenly lit up as he came up with an idea.
“I can even tell you where there's lots of free food….”
“Shh.”
A soft sound of wind rang beside his ear.
Thump. When his leg joint was kicked, the android naturally ended up in a kneeling position.
The sharp blade appeared in front of him again.
“Shut your mouth.”
“Eek…!”
He had no need to breathe, but even so, he could only let out a breathless groan at that moment.
A heavy silence began after that.
The truly frightening part was that he still couldn't sense any presence behind him.
Even though the blade remained in front of him.
Before long.
Something was shoved into the android's mouth.
“Mmph!!”
“Don't spit it out.”
Ketchup and mustard burst out, staining the android's face.
This was….
The food the android had stepped on moments earlier.
Unless they were expensive, high-performance androids, they generally didn't possess the functions needed to eat and digest food.
But cheaply manufactured androids couldn't spit out food that had entered their mouths.
Grocery store products of uncertain origin─whether sandwiches or hamburgers─filled his mouth.
And soon, he felt an irresistible pressure being applied from behind.
Thud…!
The android's face slammed into the ground.
“S-Sorry….”
“This is your final warning. Shut your mouth.”
“……”
The pressure holding his head down had only lasted at first, but the android still didn't dare raise his head.
Ten minutes, thirty minutes, and then a full hour passed before the android could finally lift his head.
Who on earth was it?
He couldn't think of anyone except someone connected to that grocery store.
Because words had been etched into the wall of the alley where he had been lying face-down, seemingly left behind by his attacker.
[Don't mess with Hotdog Man]
In a vivid crimson color, no less.
In a scene straight out of a B-grade splatter movie, the android man turned and fled without even being able to scream.
He didn't wonder who Hotdog Man was.
He simply burned that sentence into his mind.
If he had been just a little calmer in assessing the situation, he would have realized that the red letters on the wall had been written in ketchup, not blood.
Of course, if he had, he might instead have mistaken it for something even more grotesque.
* * *
One day.
Michael asked in a bewildered tone.
“…Um, does the organization Hotdog Man is part of happen to operate some kind of ninja unit?”
“What fresh bullshit is that?”
Michael looked at me with eyes full of suspicion.
“No, it's just that lately I've kept hearing similar rumors. Of course, most of the rumors around here are bullshit, but….”
Ninjas, my ass.
Was he being racist just because I was East Asian?
“I told you, there isn't even an organization in the first place.”
“…Well, I expected Hotdog Man to say that.”
Huh?
Michael sent some kind of signal to the homeless people behind him.
“…Ahem.”
“Then is it our turn?”
Several homeless people approached with awkward expressions.
They were especially known among the homeless for eating food with gusto.
“…??”
For a moment, a question mark appeared above my head, and Michael calmly opened his mouth.
“I understand Hotdog Man's desire to conceal the organization's identity.”
“…No, I'm telling you, it really doesn't exist.”
“Yes, and so we seriously considered how we could help you with that.”
Is this guy deaf….
Michael pointed at the homeless people gathered together.
“We don't know how long you can keep maintaining your stance that ‘there's no such thing as an organization.’ The Mafia Family has already caught wind of its existence, after all.”
“…?”
“We've decided to create a new group that can be presented publicly─in other words, an organization solely for Hotdog Man.”
“Wait, the flow of this conversation is getting a little strange.”
“Not at all. The group's name is still under discussion. It could simply be the Hotdog Gang, or Ketchup and Mustard. Food Fighters. We're taking suggestions from various perspectives.”
I was at a complete loss for words.
I couldn't think of anything to say.
“…Disband it immediately.”
“Pardon?”
“All I did was hand out expired food. What do you mean, an organization…. Please stop grabbing people and doing weird things, and just sit quietly.”
I was 100% sincere.
It wasn't as if I didn't know that this Michael guy had a strange talent for making things bigger than they were, but this time, it was something I hadn't even anticipated.
At my words, Michael adjusted his tie with the same expressionless face as always.
“Hmm, understood. So that's what you mean.”
“Right.”
Since he had even nodded properly this time, I thought he wouldn't blatantly ignore what I said.
That was what I thought.
* * *
“…Mister. That guy really seems to hate it. Is it okay to do this?”
“It's fine. As expected, none of you noticed the true meaning hidden in Hotdog Man's words.”
“There was a hidden meaning…?”
Michael summarized the boss's words for the homeless people gathered there.
“Yes. The term ‘indirect expression’ exists for a reason. It's a very basic euphemism. I understood Hotdog Man's intention perfectly.”
The homeless people murmured among themselves.
“W-What was it?”
“Think about it. If a ‘secret organization’ actually existed, naturally it couldn't openly announce that it exists, could it?”
“Right. Unless you're an idiot….”
“If Hotdog Man had permitted the group's creation in that situation, I would have grown suspicious instead.”
Then Michael held out his hand, fingers spread.
“But the result was as expected.”
At that, another homeless man scratched his head.
“But judging by his expression, he really looked horrified when he refused.”
“That just means Hotdog Man's acting is that good.”
“…Hmm, is that so?”
That wasn't the correct answer.
“Well, whatever, I get it. We just have to repay the kindness we've received from Hotdog Man. And now that the group has grown this large, it'll become an organization whether we like it or not.”
Anyone staying at the grocery store would have clutched the back of their neck upon hearing that conversation.
But, unfortunately, he had stepped away for a moment….
He was busy chasing away a peddler who had shown up out of nowhere.
“A fully loaded sex toy you can play with however you want for a whole day, just $300. How about it?”