◇Rewinding a bit to the Temporary Facility of the Japan Dungeon Association’s Tokyo Branch

While the Tokyo Branch of the Dungeon Association was under repair, operations shifted to a temporary facility in a nearby intact building.

Decisions were being made in that large conference room.

Vice-Chairman Akuzawa: “How do you intend to take responsibility for this fiasco, Chairman Kagetora?”

Tsubaki: “Wait a moment! Why should the chairman have to take responsibility?!”

Vice-Chairman Akuzawa challenged Chairman Kagetora’s responsibility, to which Tsubaki countered. She hadn’t fully recovered from her injuries, but the healing magic had at least completed the basic treatment.

*Vice-President => Vice-Chairman

Vice-Chairman Akuzawa: “It’s obvious. Do you know how many people died? Isn’t it common sense in our country to cut off the top in such times? The responsible person is there to take responsibility, right?”

Tsubaki: “Kuh! What about you who ran away from the scene?!”

Akuzawa’s statement aligns with a traditional Japanese custom, wherein top executives resign during scandals.

Vice-Chairman Akuzawa: “Do you expect me, a C-Rank, to fight? Is that what you’re saying? Isn’t that passing the buck?”

Tsubaki: “What?!”

Chairman Kagetora: “Tsubaki, it’s okay… I get it. Then I’ll resign as chairman.”

Tsubaki: “Chairman!! You can’t! This country still needs you!”

Chairman Kagetora: “It’s not like I’m disappearing from this country. I’ll remain as a staff member of the association, so I’ll give advice and help if something comes up. Isn’t it okay since you competent folks are here for the job?”

Tsubaki: “But still…”

Chairman Kagetora: “It’s fine. Trust me.”

Vice-Chairman Akuzawa: “Let’s take a vote then. Those in favor of the chairman’s resignation, raise your hands.”

Tsubaki: “What?!”

More than half of the executives present raised their hands. They were all from the Vice- Chairman’s faction who had been slowly gathering support, waiting for this opportunity.

Tsubaki: “You all! Have you forgotten the debt you owe the chairman?!”

Tsubaki shouted angrily.

Vice-Chairman Akuzawa: “It’s not like that, Tsubaki-san. If you look at this, you might change your mind too.”

Then Akuzawa projected a document on the screen. It had all sorts of information about Kai Amachi.

Vice-Chairman Akuzawa: “Golden Cube survivor, Kai Amachi. I’ve been independently investigating him thoroughly since then. And what do you know, all sorts of shady things came up. I don’t know why he went from E-Rank to S-Rank…but look at this.”

Footage began playing from a surveillance camera, which had been installed for the Cube’s security. However, even Kagetora was unaware of this camera, secretly installed by Akuzawa.

Vice-Chairman Akuzawa: “This Cube was supposed to be commissioned and cleared by Avalon. But there’s no sign of it having being cleared. However…”

Immediately after, the Cube opens and enters a dormant state. Yet, there are no clearers visible in the footage.

Seeing this, even Kagetora closes his eyes. He understood that all the footage from the association was deleted, but Akuzawa had installed his own camera.

Vice-Chairman Akuzawa: “The clearers of this Cube, according to the application, are Kai Amachi and other Avalon members. There are more Cubes like this. If you investigate his relationships, you’ll find that he’s close to Issei Tanaka, the deputy representative of Avalon. It’s a conjecture since there’s no concrete evidence, but perhaps this boy single-handedly cleared the Cubes commissioned to Avalon? It’s easy to imagine that Issei Tanaka and Kai Amachi met inside that Golden Cube. Perhaps he has some special power that makes him invisible?”

Akuzawa’s assumption was correct. Gradually gathering evidence, installing cameras in the Cubes commissioned to Avalon, and spotting anomalies. In these sorts of undercover operations, he was quite skilled. There was no concrete evidence as the cover-up by Kagetora and Tanaka was perfect, but he managed to scrape together circumstantial evidence.

Tsubaki: “So, what do you intend to do with him?”

Vice-Chairman Akuzawa: “I could file a lawsuit according to the law, but I’ll be satisfied with revoking his qualification as a clearer in Japan. I’d prefer to handle it amicably.”

Tsubaki: “What!? You’re talking about revoking the qualification of an S-Rank!! Akuzawa-san! Do you understand what you’re saying!? You’re diminishing one of Japan’s already few forces!!”

Vice-Chairman Akuzawa: “We don’t need power that we can’t control. Doesn’t he have a problem with his humanity? He broke the association’s rules and even assaulted Arnold-dono. You want us to count such a person as a resource? Risk worsening the relationship with the U.S.? I don’t think so.”

Tsubaki: “But…if we let him roam free as an S-Rank, isn’t that dangerous?!”

Vice-Chairman Akuzawa: “If he continues to use his power for personal gain even after his qualification is revoked, I won’t hesitate to request his extermination from the U.S. Maybe Arnold-dono would step in. After all, he’s just a single S-Rank, if he becomes a criminal, so be it. We can’t change the rules just because he’s strong, can we?”

Tsubaki: “That’s…um…”

Akuzawa’s argument made some sense, and Tsubaki was momentarily at a loss for words.

This was Akuzawa’s plan.

Vice-Chairman Akuzawa: (To make me the prime minister of this country…)

In Japan, out of the five S-Ranks, four – Tendou Ryunosuke, Reina Ginno, Aya Ryuenji, and Kagetora himself — are in Kagetora’s camp. If the S-Ranks collaborate and defy him, the will of the people may also be swayed.

So, Akuzawa’s strategy was to revoke Kai’s qualification and weaken Kagetora’s power.

And yet, under the guise of amicability, they threatened to use the law if he did anything.

Vice-Chairman Akuzawa: (…There were other instructions, but I can leverage those as well.)

Akuzawa murmured to himself in his heart.

Chairman Kagetora: “There’s no need for such actions; I wouldn’t betray you. But do you understand how much losing him would hurt this country?”

Vice-Chairman Akuzawa: “Shall we ask the public? I presume the vast majority would agree, no?”

Chairman Kagetora: “Footage of the fight between Kai and Arnold has been maliciously edited and spread online. We don’t know who’s behind it, but if we were to judge based only on his actions, without knowing his character, then yes, Kai did break the rules. But there are circumstances around him, too.”

Vice-Chairman Akuzawa: “Character is about what you’ve done, not what you think.”

Chairman Kagetora: “That’s your bad habit, separating the two. You don’t see the essence of things if you only look at the outcome rather than the intent. Kai carries both justice and evil in his heart, a strong child indeed.”

At these words, Akuzawa closed his eyes, offering no rebuttal. Then, the decision was made. By a majority vote, it was decided to revoke Kai Amachi’s qualification as a clearer. The result was as expected: the Japanese Dungeon Association would now belong to Akuzawa.

Vice-Chairman Akuzawa: “Well then, that concludes this matter. Thank you for your hard work, Chairman Kagetora.”

Chairman Kagetora: “I’ll spend the rest of my days in leisure. But Akuzawa, when the going really gets tough, throw away your pride and ask for help as a representative to protect this country. Tell the ones above you the same.”

Vice-Chairman Akuzawa: “! … Heh, I understand even without being told.”

And so, the meeting ended.

Chairman Kagetora: (Well, fine. Now I’m free to investigate that matter… I’ll let Akuzawa take the heat for a while.)

Only the chairman seemed to have a different idea in mind.

Shortly after, a press conference began.

◇ Kai’s POV

Vice-Chairman Akuzawa: “We have decided to revoke his clearer’s license. The cause is his unjust assault on Arnold Alteus-dono. This decision has been agreed upon by the United States as well, but we’ve decided not to impose legal punishment, only revocation.”

Kai: “I see, it’s been revoked, huh. It was inevitable there’d be some punishment. But I’m glad that’s all it was. To an outsider, it would seem like a simple case of assault.”

Nagi: “Big brother…”

Kai: “Don’t worry, having my qualification revoked is no big deal. Rest assured.”

But I was considering what to do next. I could still enter the dungeon without permission, and with Lightning and Mirage, I likely wouldn’t get caught. But now that I’ve been revoked, I have to decide how to proceed.

Akuzawa then went on to explain the reasons for my disqualification in a matter-of-fact manner.

Vice-Chairman Akuzawa: “And finally, due to the responsibility of this commotion and citing poor health due to old age, Chairman Kagetora Ryuenji has decided to resign from his position effective today.”

Kai: “Huh!? What the hell is that…”

Nagi: “Big brother… is Chairman Kagetora really retiring?”

Kai: “There’s no way his health is bad, and responsibility… why the chairman… is it my fault…”

The Q&A session began after that, but I turned off the TV. On internet news, articles about the rule-breaking S-Rank, immediate expulsion, had already been posted. As always, this kind of news spreads fast.

I was thinking of what to do next and tried to contact Tanaka-san, but my phone was still being repaired. Should I go to Tanaka-san’s house using Lightning, or did Tanaka-san just find out about it too?

At least he didn’t know until just now.

As I was pondering over what to do…

Ding-dong.

The intercom of my house rang.

Kai: “Delivery? Nagi, did you order anything?”

Nagi: “No, nothing.”

Kai: “Who could it be… I’ll go check.”

I went straight to the intercom.

Kai: “Hello, who is it?”

Visitor: “Ah! I apologize for visiting so late. Nice to meet you. My name is Hao Yu.”

Kai: “Hao-san. (I don’t recognize that name… a black suit, maybe from the Dungeon Association?) … What can I do for you? Is it about the revocation of my qualification?”

I looked at Hao-san through the intercom. An Asian face, probably Chinese? He has an air of that sort but is neatly dressed in a business suit.

He had a very friendly smile, and I found myself slightly drawn in. If this was a professional salesman, he was truly impressive, to the point I wouldn’t mind inviting him in.

Visitor => Hao: “Ah! It seems you’ve just watched the news. Rest assured, I’m not here to revoke anything. Rather, I’ve come with a proposal that might be appealing to you. Oh, I apologize for not introducing myself earlier, I…”

Saying so, Hao-san took out a business card from his pocket and projected it on the screen.

There was a logo of a sword and spear crossed over each other. That’s the mark of the strongest.

China’s strongest. One of the top guilds in the world.

Hao: “I’ve come from China’s Battle God Guild. I’m Hao, a scout!”