Chapter 24: Director, It's an Emergency

Shizuka Hiratsuka was left speechless.

This guy was using all of my own lines against me!

Minazuki didn't stop for a moment, forcing Shizuka to lengthen her stride to keep up.

"What kind of high school student are you? High school is the time for young people to enjoy their youth. Don't you want to look back after graduation and have at least a few fond memories of your three years here?"

"At least join a club, like the soccer team. It’s a waste to have such good physical fitness and not spend your youth sweating alongside your peers."

Shizuka continued the campaign she had been waging since his freshman year, though it had yet to yield any results.

Minazuki stopped in his tracks, looking thoughtful.

Shizuka’s face lit up. Had she finally gotten through to him?

Minazuki turned his head slightly toward her and said, "I think you make a very good point, Teacher."

"Right? See!"

Minazuki nodded, then beckoned to the captain of the Kendo Club, who was walking ahead with his head down nearby. His tone was indifferent.

"Could you come here for a moment?"

"Yes!"

Under Shizuka’s puzzled gaze, the burly Kendo Club captain walked over, bowing his head in a display of extreme respect and trepidation.

"Hiratsuka-sensei wants me to join a club, and I think the Kendo Club sounds good."

"Thank you for the honor!"

"So, give me the position of captain."

"Yes!"

"But I’m quite busy, so I’ll probably only visit once every three months. You’ll look after the club in the meantime. If there are any incidents, I will come to provide 'personal' instruction."

"Yes!!"

Watching the Kendo captain, whose waist was bent almost at a right angle as if he were about to perform a full *dogeza*, Shizuka helplessly pressed a hand to her forehead.

She really shouldn't have had any expectations for this kid.

Minazuki just smiled faintly.

"See? Problem solved perfectly."

So that’s how he solves things... As if!

Having achieved his daily goal of driving Shizuka crazy, Minazuki felt quite good for the start of his day.

Not far away, the five Nakano sisters watched this exaggerated scene and couldn't help but click their tongues.

"Is that the Kendo Club captain? Is Minazuki-san really that intimidating?" Ichika, the only one with short hair, remarked as she watched the giant still bowing in place even after Minazuki had walked away.

"He is the 'Tyrant,' after all," Nino said, her eyes sparkling.

Yotsuba, the most sports-oriented of the five, began to share what she knew: "I heard that the captain originally wanted to bully Minazuki-san, but the very next day, he showed up with his head bandaged and his right arm in a cast to apologize to him."

As for how he got injured... the stairs were so long, and his eyes were so small, he must have tripped himself.

Are you really going to ask the school to disturb the top student’s peace of mind over a minor thing like a student tripping and getting hurt?!

Answer me!

Although this rumor sounded a bit brutal, considering the other party had provoked it first, and there were no other negative reports about Minazuki besides his confrontations with delinquents, he didn't seem like the type to bully others for fun.

Listening to her sisters' voices, Miku covered her mouth and yawned, the faint dark circles under her eyes standing out against her fair skin.

Ugh, so sleepy. Last night, something kept making noises—like the sound of people talking—and it kept her from sleeping well all night.

————

Tokyo, Nakano Ward.

This ward is primarily service-oriented, and the abundance of employment opportunities has drawn more and more people to settle there, eventually forming the most densely populated low-rise residential area in Japan.

It is hard to imagine that over 310,000 people live in this 15.59-square-kilometer area in western Tokyo.

"Damn it, that bald old man. He cut my bonus and still expects me to run errands."

The salaryman, struggling with a receding hairline, gripped his briefcase and cursed under his breath.

It is a proven fact that the plight of the salaryman is equally miserable in every country.

While cursing, he turned into a narrow alley to take a shortcut.

"Thud!" The sudden force sent the out-of-shape middle-aged man sprawling to the ground, and he was instantly enraged.

"You idiot, watch where you're going!"

Most of the time, the Japanese people are known for their politeness and constant bowing, but it was clear that such an image had long been cast into the depths of the underworld for this middle-aged salaryman.

Before he could finish his tirade, a hand gripped his throat, lifting him into the air.

The sensation of suffocation brought the salaryman back to his senses, his eyes widening.

What met his gaze was a tall, long red nose and a red face, dressed in the attire of a traditional *Yamabushi*, draped in a straw raincoat. Most terrifying of all was that the mouth on this face had been replaced by a long, pointed bird’s beak.

As he struggled, he caught a glimpse of the katana hanging at the monster's waist.

As a native Japanese, he was all too familiar with this getup.

A Tengu!

Looking at the bald salaryman, the monster known as a Karasu-Tengu tilted its head, sniffed, and showed an expression of disgust.

"So stinky. You humans are so stinky."

*I'm sorry I'm so stinky, please put me down, I promise I'll go take a bath right now.*

Ignoring the salaryman's silent pleas, the Karasu-Tengu simply ripped off his head and tossed it aside.

Blood sprayed, pooling on the ground.

————

In the Sobu High School library, Minazuki Bai, who was studying, blinked.

A Tengu...

To be honest, a lot of the dark energy he had scattered earlier had been directly drawn to the soaring resentment in Tokyo.

As Japan’s two major metropolitan areas, the Tokyo and Osaka regions house seventy percent of the country's population, and the resentment generated every day in Tokyo—a place where countless people fight tooth and nail to squeeze into—would be enough to overwhelm any immortal cultivator.

After all, the Japanese workplace is far more severe than the student era where upperclassmen naturally boss around underclassmen; in fact, this warped workplace culture is just an upgraded version of those student days.

He wasn't surprised at all that the black energy he released had turned into such a monster.

His earlier reaction was only because the Tengu held a special status in Japan.

The ranking of the "Three Great Yokai of Japan" is not set in stone.

Some say it is Shuten-doji, Tamamo-no-Mae, and Otakemaru.

Others feel that Otakemaru’s deeds were too shameful, so they cast him out and replaced him with Shuten-doji, Tamamo-no-Mae, and the Great Tengu.

Among them, the image of the Great Tengu is also inconsistent.

There are many Great Tengu in Japanese legends, and one cannot mention them without bringing up Emperor Sutoku, whose tragic life is said to have transformed him into a Great Tengu after death.

With such an interesting historical tale before him, how could Minazuki Bai resist the urge to stir it up and add his own decorations?

So then...

"Metropolitan Police Department, time to get to work—!"

————

The Metropolitan Police Department was peaceful.

After a busy spell, Director Hakuba wasn't quite used to the sudden quiet.

He sipped his green tea, the fragrance filling the air.

Director Hakuba admired the calligraphy of the character for "Martial" hanging in his office.

Although it might not be appropriate to say, it was a great relief that no traces of the supernatural had been found.

Watching those barbarians at Senso-ji Temple jumping around, scratching their heads, unable to enter, was a truly pleasant feeling.

Life was good.

"Bang!"

"Director, it’s bad!"