Chapter 15 – Gathering Information
Main Story 1, Chapter 5, Part 3
Novel Title: 獣はかくして交わる (The Beasts Intertwine This Way)
Author：沙野 風結子 (Fuyuko Sano)
Illustrator：小山田 あみ (Oyamada Ami)
Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)
Protagonists: 鹿倉 陣也 (Kagura Jinya -MC) & ゼロ (Zero -ML)
*Please read at knoxt.space, the original site of translation. TQ*
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The face of his cousin, whom he hadn’t seen in two years, was now gaunt, her cheekbones jutting out. Her hair had turned a corn-silk colour with a brittle texture.
There were numerous needle marks on her arms, and the autopsy had confirmed traces of drugs in her system.
The suspect―――a man―――had thrown himself in front of a train and died. The cell phone he had on him contained messages exchanged with Haruka, and it was discovered that they had been negotiating amounts of money. She had been engaged in prostitution.
The suspect had been posting on social media about his desire to die. He’d often written that while he wanted to die, he couldn’t bear the thought of dying alone.
It appeared Haruka had become entangled in this man’s selfish desire for death.
The case was closed without charges due to the suspect’s death.
To the public, it probably seemed like just another case of a drug-addicted woman who got involved in prostitution and met her inevitable fate.
But to Kagura, it was far more than that.
Just as she was starting to move forward after her parents’ deaths, she had fallen in with bad people who preyed on her vulnerabilities.
Kagura once again reached out to her acquaintances, pressing them for information. Perhaps due to their awareness of Oishi Haruka’s tragic death, and Kagura’s relentless demeanour, her acquaintances tried hard to recall and shared more details than before.
This was when a name came up――― ‘Toono’. Toono was said to be the leader of a group that the expelled classmate’s boyfriend was part of, and he had apparently taken a liking to Haruka.
“She used to go with him to a club in Roppongi. He often took her there.”
Using that tip, Kagura went to the club several times until he finally spotted Toono, who had a lizard tattoo on his left neck. His hair was ash-grey with blue highlights.
According to a girl he befriended there, his name was Toono Ryoji, twenty-four years old, a former member of a biker gang. Although he wasn’t affiliated with any yakuza groups, he was close to some foreign criminals and used those connections to acquire various illegal drugs.
It seemed likely that Toono had gotten Haruka hooked on drugs and forced her into prostitution.
At the very least, it was clear that Toono was deeply involved in her disappearance and death.
Yet, Toono was still free, continuing his actions without consequence.
―――I’ll bring him down… him and his group. No matter how long it takes, I’ll take them down.
With that vow, Kagura chose the path to join the police, determined to make that a reality.
Later, Toono Ryoji would go on to form the Eastern Alliance and become its leader.
***
Whenever time allowed, Kagura went to Ichikawa.
The store where Xuan worked closed at 7 p.m., and after that, she would dress in an ‘ao dai’ and be taken to see clients. There were five other girls in similar circumstances living above the store, all sharing meals and sleeping quarters.
Using his interest in ‘bánh da lợn’ as an excuse, Kagura had already approached her four times.
Xuan had opened up considerably to this man who was earnestly trying to speak to her in Vietnamese, and they’d started exchanging messages on their smartphones.
She said, “I like working at the store. Being surrounded by things from Vietnam makes me feel protected.”
Then, with a shy smile, she added, “I also like people who like Vietnamese things.”
What could a 15-year-old girl mean when she told a man in his thirties, “I like you”?
Since her father was thirty-three, maybe she saw him as a father figure.
Or perhaps it was a simple, innocent expression of affection.
Either way, compared to the other men around her, ‘Jin’ must have seemed like a ‘very good Japanese man’.
Through conversations and messages with Xuan, Kagura had started to form a picture of her life.
She was from a small village in the Mekong River region. It had once been a fierce battleground during the Vietnam War, but now it was a poor farming area. Xuan was born there as the eldest of four siblings. When her father contracted tuberculosis, her mother, working alone, struggled to make ends meet, leaving Xuan with the heavy burden of supporting her family. This happened when she was thirteen.
At that time, a rumour reached their village that one could make a lot of money in Japan.
Her parents were very worried and opposed the idea, but Xuan wanted to earn money for her father’s treatment and give her younger siblings a proper education.
And so, she came to Japan.
She never explicitly used the word ‘smuggling’, but it must have been something like that. She probably took on a large debt from a broker.
“It cost a lot to come to Japan, but I can still send money to my family while paying it back. It’s not much, but it’s still much more than we’d have in Vietnam. My dad can use good medicine now, too.”
Her eyes shone with pride as she spoke, but then her face clouded over as if reminded of reality.
“They said I could make enough to build a nice house soon, but that doesn’t seem possible… Lately, I feel this terrible heaviness. I thought I’d get used to it, but I guess I won’t.”
She murmured these words, almost to herself.
She was likely talking about the work forced upon her at night.
The broker who visited her village must have lied, saying it was just a ‘technical internship’ or something similar, without disclosing the real nature of the job.
As an undocumented immigrant, Xuan couldn’t ask anyone for help, and her debt bound her tightly. If she failed to repay it, her family back in Vietnam would be forced to bear the burden.
That Sunday, Kagura talked with Xuan until the store’s closing time. As 7 p.m. approached, her demeanour visibly darkened.
Tonight, too, a harsh night awaited her.
…Even so, the fact that she was allowed to work in the store during the day probably made her better off than the other girls. Kagura had seen girls being pulled by the arm by men out of the store’s back entrance in broad daylight more than once.
Since he’d come by train that day, Kagura left the store and headed heavily toward the station.
The information gathering was progressing smoothly.
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*Translator’s Note: God forbids anything like this happening to people close to me, Amen… -K
Next update: -To be Announced on Discord-
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☝🏻Bánh da lợn. This is just one of the many shapes to this.
