Kikanshita Yuusha no Gojitsudan : Chapter 14

Chapter 14 The Hero is a Hero? First Part

Translator’s Note :

Warning Cliffhanger

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　In a dimly lit apartment building.

　There, a group of men were facing each other with expressions of some kind of contemplation rather than seriousness.

“How’s the preparations?”

“It’s all done as instructed. But more importantly, what’s happening with the ambassador’s schedule?”

“No change in time or location. Everything is on schedule.”

　Checking that much gives the man in the center a little bit of leeway.

　There are seven men in total.

　The room is not that large, but it feels much smaller than it really is because the men are stuffed into it.

　There are almost no things in the room, and it doesn’t feel very lived in. However, some wooden boxes piled up in the corner of the room and piled up garbage bags are reminiscent of the fact that people lived here.

　The man in the center, who may be the leader of the group, continues the conversation.

“I’ve heard it’s a peaceful country, so I thought it would be easy, but it’s taken more work than I thought.”

“I didn’t think it would be so difficult to get weapons. And I didn’t realize it was so inconvenient that bribes don’t go over well at all.”

　Another man responded.

“I guess the politicians are incompetent but the bureaucracy is solid. It’s a far cry from our country, where both are incompetent.”

“It’s no laughing matter. Furthermore, foreigners are conspicuous in this country, plus there’s a lot of police, and they’re all very diligent.”

“Thanks to that, the number of firearms we’ve been able to assemble is minimal. To be honest, I’m a little nervous about it.”

“This operation is just a ‘negotiation’. There are no armed civilians in this country. This country is overly averse to people dying, so it’s not like they’re going to blow up the whole hostage situation.”

　After confirming that all the opinions have been expressed, the man who seems to be the leader of the group says,

“The operation will be carried out as planned. However, this country has many supporters in the Middle East and African countries. Unnecessary civilian casualties may have a negative impact on our organization. Avoid meaningless massacres as much as possible.”

“It’s ok if it’s not meaningless, right? I don’t care how many of those infidels die.”

“It’s more like a saving grace. But the success of the mission is all that matters. For that, our lives are the least of our worries.”

　The man looks around at all the faces and speaks again.

“The proceedings will take place tomorrow morning at 11am. The place is the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. The target is the ambassador of ‘I’ country and a high-ranking Japanese government official.”

　Everyone nodded at the man’s words.

　There seemed to be some madness in their eyes.

---

“Thanks for your help. That’s about right.”

　Saito smiles with satisfaction as he finishes checking the whole thing out.

“Are we done? Can I take this off?”

“Yeah, it’s done. Can you take it off by yourself?”

“I’ll be fine. I’m used to it.”

　As I say this, I unzip the zipper on the underside of my neck and take off the thing on my head.

　I look at it again.

　It’s unmistakably a mask of a Ka*en Rider. I think it’s a guy called “Wi*ard” or something. And, of course, the other costumes other than the mask I’m wearing now are also Ka*en Rider costumes.

　Why I’m dressed like this, of course, is not because I’m a former hero who uses magic, but simply because it’s a part-time job.

“Kashiwagi-kun’s body shape has changed so much that it was hard to adjust.”

“Oh, my bad. I’m a little addicted to strength training.”

“Not that I can’t handle this, though. Thanks to that, your movements were pretty sharp, and I think they seemed to accept it.”

“Do I really have to do that?”

“Of course! No one is going to pay attention to you nowadays if you’re just dressed in cosplay!”

“Hee~~. Oh well.”

“Kashiwagi-kun’s rider has a good reputation. Of course I’ll pay you as much as I can.”

　Saito said to me with a look on his face that indicated he was looking forward to it.

　By the way, what I’m talking about is my part-time job, as I mentioned above, which is to dress up as this Kamen Rider at an event held twice a year, in summer and winter, and to go to my friend’s booth (can we call it a store?) and performing to make the event more exciting.

　In other words, it’s what they call a cosplayer.

　Normally, it would be more exciting to have a girl do such things, but in Saito’s case, it’s better to have a guy do it because he specializes in tokusatsu (special effects).

　Well, girls are indispensable in tokusatsu (special effects) and I think they’re cute, but it seems that the main character is a male cosplayer.

　That’s why I’m the one who gets sent out to work part-time almost every time.

　　Moreover, sometimes, I had to imitate the movements and poses of the model hero.

　Even though I would be suffering from a great deal of embarrassment and mental shame, the 20,000 yen for about 6 hours a day, transportation expenses not included, and two meals a day is too tasty for a poor student, so I hesitate to say no.

　After the first semester examinations, which will start soon, it will be summer vacation. Right after the examinations start, the club training camp is scheduled.

　To be honest, I’m very grateful for this extra income in the middle of August, considering that the training camp will cost a lot of money.

　It’s not enough with just the salary of a part-time job at the family restaurant, and the online sales of the silversmiths, which I started recently, have only sold a total of 10 pieces, with sales of about 80,000 yen.

　Twenty percent of this was decided to be Ayumi’s share, so the gross profit was a little over 60,000 yen.

　Subtracting the cost of the tools I had prepared for camouflage from that, I was left with only about 20,000.

　However, for Ayumi, who is still a junior high school student, was delighted with this amount of money. For me, I had only just recovered the cost.

　In addition, the mess after Leiria’s visit the other day and her return, I was in complete deficit.

　My wallet is in a critical condition.

　Incidentally, after Leiria left, Akane and Ayumi made me promise to treat them to a dessert buffet at a hotel in Tokyo to humor them. I bought some fruit after that, but not only did they not forgive me, but for some reason they became even grumpier.

　It seems that it was a bad idea to buy melons after repatriating Leiria. Why I chose melons is a secret.

　That’s why, at this point,  I’ve no choice but to ignore all the mental stuff. And give up.

“I’ve always wondered why the main costume is not the new one, but the one from a little while ago. I know you’ve got a costume for your latest work, and you’re using that one for your booth.”

“That’s because in the cosplay hall, the most popular works of high quality are more popular than the latest ones. Also, it’s more likely that the other cosplayers with lesser quality will be jealous of the newer works.” (TL : not sure about this part)

　The guy giving me this explanation is my friend, Yosuke Saito. He’s a tokusatsu otaku and my employer at the event.

　We were in high school together and he’s currently enrolled in the same university’s Department of Fundamental Science.

　He has a wide range of knowledge and is already earning a good living as a game creator despite being a student.

　He seems to have a wide range of knowledge of games, anime, and other subcultures in general, but according to him, “tokusatsu heroes are number one!” he said.

　As I recall, we knew each other when I was talking about tokusatsu (special effects) with another classmate, and Saito answered a simple question that came up.

　And the costumes that the wealthy otaku have worked so hard to make are often at a very high level of perfection.

　The quality is so high that it’s hard to believe they’re handmade, and the booth this guy sponsors seems to boast of extraordinary sales for a tokusatsu-related booth every year.

　It seems to rival any other tokusatsu-related company’s booth.

　That’s why, Saito always hires me, who has always been a bit short of money because of motorcycles, every year.

　It’s a little shameful to be hired by a classmate, but my small pride is powerless when it comes to money.

　Saito stops the DVD for movement reference and pulls it out.

“Would you like a cola? You can change first, though.”

“Thank you. I just need a break for now.”

　I complied, and Saito went to the kitchen to get a drink.

　The TV screen switched over to the news.

—The next news,

A 35-year-old self-proclaimed unemployed office worker was arrested on suspicion of violating a metropolitan nuisance prevention ordinance for exposing his lower body while shouting ‘Hokuto Premium’ in a downtown area of Tokyo yesterday evening.

The man stated to the interrogation, “I was made fun of by my girlfriend, so I did it because I wanted to make the world know”, and the witness who was there testified that “it was more like a ‘white beech shimeji’ than a Hokuto Premium, or rather white asparagus in a can”.

In response to this, the spokesperson of HOKUTO Corporation said, ‘It is very regrettable that our product name has been used for such an incident. In addition, there are no canned asparagus in any of our products and our products are not covered in skin.’ The spokesperson of HOKUTO Co. commented.

The Metropolitan Police Department will conduct further inquiries into the man’s situation and the resulting charges.—

　What the hell is this news…

　This guy can’t come back to work the day he gets this much press. I’m sorry for your loss.

　I couldn’t help but make a tsukomi to Saito while drinking the Coke he offered me.

　I was watching the news without looking at him when Saito spoke to me.

“Oh, by the way, I heard you brought an amazing beauty to the university the other day?”

“…Where do you hear this from?”

“I got a Line from Ayumi-chan.”

　Come to think of it, this guy was close with Ayumi.

　It seems that although they don’t go out together; they text and call each other occasionally.

　Well, it’s a concern, but Saito shouldn’t be into loli, and his tastes (breast size) are quite different from those Ayumi have, so he should be fine.

　Of course, if he shows the slightest sign of touching her, I’ll make him disappear.

“Thanks to that, I have to take her to a dessert buffet.”

“Hahaha. Ayumi is the same as always, isn’t she? Speaking of which, how is Ayumi-chan today?”

“Oh, she went out with Akane in the morning saying she was going to go to this ‘Persian Art Exhibition’ or something like that. I heard that Akane got a ticket from her dad.”

“Now that you mention it, I’ve heard on TV they’re doing that exhibition.”

—This is the news that has just come in.

There was an explosion at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum at around 11:00 today, and a citizen who was there reported it to the police.

Immediately after the explosion, several men, who appeared to be foreigners with what appeared to be small arms and rifles, entered the museum.

It is believed that they took the ambassador of Country ‘I’, an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Minister Sasakawa of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, who were inside the museum and attending the ceremony, hostage and holed themselves up.—

“Isn’t the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum the place where the Persian art exhibition is held?”

“What?! Seriously?!”

　I ask in surprise, and Saito quickly checks it on his tablet.

“There is no doubt about it. The first day of the exhibition is today, and the reason the ambassador was there is because of the celebration.”

　I click my tongue when I hear that.

　I immediately call Ayumi, but I can’t get through. Akane, too.

　It’s not clear whether it’s because they’ re being held hostage or simply because they’re in a museum, but either way, the power seems to be off.

　Anyway, I can’t stay like this.

　I’ll do my best to confirm that Akane and Ayumi are safe.

　If they are being held hostage, I’ll do whatever I can to rescue them.

　Now, though, what should I do?

　I don’t need to think about it if the situation is urgent, but I still want to do it with my identity hidden if possible.

　When I unconsciously looked around, my eyes caught sight of the rider’s mask that I had just taken off.

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