The noodles, originally quite appetizing, instantly became tasteless.
Chika became surprisingly quiet, Ruri acted with caution, and Ryu took over the conversation.
"Uncle, do you like the village as it was in the past?"
"Of course I do!"
In his excitement, the owner messed up his wig. He subconsciously shook his head to straighten it, a movement that caused the corner of Ryu's eye to twitch and his heartbeat to accelerate involuntarily.
"Rather than saying I like the village, it's better to say I am the village... I was born here, and I will die here in the future, just like generations of villagers before me.
"—That was what I intended.
"But the changes that have occurred in these last few decades are greater than those of the past several hundred years combined. Unknowingly, I can no longer find the village that used to be. Even the graveyard has changed its appearance.
"The children I used to play with, the men I fought with, the raccoon dogs that stole my fried tofu... I can't see any of them now~
"I'm very scared~
"If one day I also enter the darkness and can never come out again, and I can't find my old friends inside, leaving me all alone... what do you suppose I should do?"
This uncle didn't look very old, so why did he speak like an old man with one foot in the grave? Chika was secretly puzzled, but she didn't dare to speak.
She had just searched for information online and found that the regional councilor was just an ordinary politician of the type seen everywhere—the kind who pays New Year's calls to company presidents. The entity pushing these projects was the Prefectural Assembly, and the one calling the shots there had the surname Fujiwara.
Looking at the name, he was likely of the same generation as her father... It was better not to provoke the locals in such a remote rural area.
Incidentally, that [New World Heavy Industries] is a subsidiary of Kuse Heavy Industries—for the Soba noodle stall owner, this was practically enemies sitting together.
However, Chika and Ryu were truly innocent:
With such a massive family business, who knows what every single property or relative is up to! A garbage disposal plant? Ryu wouldn't even ask about such small business deals!
In reality, the companies under his command made money fully automatically. Only when he needed to earn "[Destiny Coins]" would he divert some energy to pay attention to them.
Therefore, Chika was being uncharacteristically well-behaved. Hearing Ryu actually take the initiative to bring up the relevant topic at this moment, her large eyes immediately widened into perfect circles.
"Mmh..."
His toe was stepped on. Ryu calmly retracted his foot and continued chatting with the stall owner.
"If you live long enough, you will constantly experience these things... but you can also go out and meet new friends."
"You're still young; you can't understand my feelings. Besides, humans nowadays won't patronize an old stall like mine anymore."
The boss suddenly became serious and complained to Ryu with a straight face: "One time, I was walking on a night path and went to 'care for' a drunkard as usual. As a result, the guy actually called me a Tokusatsu monster! He even said my suit's reproduction quality was very high and wasn't afraid of me at all!
"Young man, tell me, what on earth is Tokusatsu?"
"..."
"People these days, they reject the darkness from their very bones. They use lights to illuminate the roads and their homes. Relics of the old era like me can only hide in the corners where the light doesn't reach~"
The boss shook his head: "How can I make friends with them? At most, I can only 'entertain guests' by the roadside."
"You're speaking in riddles. Uncle, if you can't adapt to current life, you can also move to other places." Chika couldn't help but speak up. "Although Japan isn't big, there should still be poor... comparatively traditional villages."
"I said, I will die here!"
The owner pointed his short stick at Chika, bursting with anger: "Don't anyone think about driving me away! This is my home!"
This action startled the girls. Seeing those pairs of guarded, large eyes, a trace of regret suddenly appeared on the owner's face.
—He didn't want to cause trouble tonight.
In this current era, there were fewer and fewer people willing to converse with him. The business at the Soba stall could only be described as dismal. Although he didn't rely on this to live, he still felt somewhat lonely.
"Boss, don't get excited yet."
Ryu stood up, placed his hand on the other party's wrist, and gently pressed down.
The owner looked at him in surprise, frowned slightly, and retracted the short stick.
"Young man, do you have something to say?"
"Yes. I want to ask, if the garbage incineration plant stops work, would it be beneficial for this village?"
"...I don't know." The owner shook his head.
He hated the foreign engineering machinery, but this project also employed many locals, making the village livelier than before. He couldn't easily say that the construction was completely without benefit.
"In the short term, that is the case."
Ryu sat down leisurely and signaled for the other party to sit as well—at this moment, it was unclear who the real boss was.
He spoke calmly and in detail: "Once humans live a convenient life, they won't want to return to the past. I think you should be very clear about this point."
"Mmh~"
"But civilization doesn't always lead to good results just by moving forward. Sometimes, if you take the wrong path, there's no way to turn back."
Ryu thought of "Night City," and his words were quite sincere, making the owner nod involuntarily—he actually couldn't quite understand what Ryu was saying, but this youth gave off a very trustworthy feeling.
"Take this village for example. If the garbage incineration plant is built, whether it's the initial engineering construction or the subsequent operation and maintenance, a large amount of manpower will be needed. Driving local employment is a certainty; this is also the reason why the councilors are vigorously pushing it.
"But based on my experience, although Japan's pollution discharge standards are high, you can find almost no one who strictly abides by them, because strict execution means losing money.
"Therefore, I dare to affirm that in a number of years, this land will be polluted. At that time, the villagers will launch a class-action lawsuit due to health reasons, and the enterprise will strive to drag out the time. As long as there are no victims left, there is naturally no compensation to talk about.
"Gradually, this land will become a place with nothing but an industrial zone... What a pity."
Thump!
The owner's fist smashed onto the tabletop, his masseter muscles bulging, wearing an expression as if he wanted to eat someone. The pot next to him also began to rattle continuously, as if boiling over.
Now, no matter how big Chika's heart was, she sensed the anomaly and couldn't help but secretly hug Ryu's arm.
Almost simultaneously, Ruri also leaned against Ryu looking frightened. Only Mieruko looked at the two of them dumbfounded, seemingly at a loss for what to do.
"However—"
Just at this delicate juncture, Ryu changed the topic: "It's not that there isn't another possibility."
"Eh? What?"
The owner froze, that violent aura instantly vanishing: "You have a method?"
"Speaking of which, it's actually simple—do you know what a 'Nature Reserve' and 'World Cultural Heritage' are?" Ryu smiled faintly, looking just like a fisherman watching his float bob.
The owner muttered: "Nature Reserve... protecting what?"
"Precious wild animals, like pandas, red-crowned cranes, and the like."
"Then World Cultural Heritage?"
"This is comparatively complex. You can simply understand it as natural landscapes or ruins of civilization that have great value."
"Umm..."
This touched upon the owner's blind spot in knowledge. He scratched his head vigorously and pulled his wig right off—that shiny bald head immediately attracted everyone's attention.
"As long as it becomes some sort of protection zone, can we call a halt to those damned machines?"
"Of course we can." Ryu curled his lip.
Protecting cultural heritage, protecting rare animals—this is political correctness applicable everywhere in the world; absolutely no one dares to oppose it.
Especially politicians. As long as they dare to stick their heads out at such a time, a wave of public opinion will slap over, and their political life can be declared dead.
—Look at the "Chang'an City" in the Great East next door. Regardless of how huge the investment was, the project stopped the moment it was told to stop!
"Forget about calling a halt to the engineering; as long as there is sufficient value, they might even put the village under protection, restore its natural environment, and strictly limit the number of people entering."
"That's great! That, that... Hiss!"
The owner scratched his ears and cheeks in anxiety, rubbing his hands together as he revealed an ingratiating smile to Ryu: "Little brother, do you know how to set up this 'Heritage Protection Zone' or whatever?"
He still didn't quite understand what it was, but it didn't matter; knowing the concept was enough.
Ryu pondered for a moment, revealing a somewhat distressed expression: "This is very troublesome..."
"Ah, this!"
The owner felt uneasy in his heart: "Can't it be done?"
"If I go and beg the elders in my family, there is still a certain possibility of getting the government to make an exception... but I never do this kind of thing."
Ryu shook his head: "I don't want to make things difficult for my family."
"Then that means..." The owner sighed. "Is there no way at all?"
"If one holds the resolve to scatter their entire family fortune, perhaps it is possible."
—The JK (high school girls) all looked sideways.
Ryu's expression remained unchanged, ignoring their strange looks.
"That won't do!" The owner shook his head. He didn't think that a connection formed merely by chatting would be enough for Ryu to go to such lengths.
"I'd better figure it out myself~"
"...Actually, I also came with resolve this time."
"Eh?" The owner was attracted by this sudden, seemingly context-less statement. "Little brother, what do you mean?"
"Boss, I won't hide it from you. That [New World Heavy Industries] which contracted the village's land development—is my family's business!"
"Ah... Ah?!"
The owner was startled and stood up subconsciously, not paying attention as he bumped into the roof of the cart.
"Ouch... hiss, who did you say you are?"
"Please don't misunderstand; we also have unspeakable difficulties."
Ryu sighed: "Land contracting is a very complex business. It's not simply you buying and me selling. When large tracts of land are sold, the government will propose certain requirements that must be satisfied to smooth out various joints.
"Take this village, for example. Actually, we have projects in hand that are far more profitable than a garbage incineration plant. But in order to drive employment, the local councilor temporarily changed the requirements after we contracted the land. We had no choice but to...
"I came this time to inspect the local situation... Honestly speaking, I don't want to destroy the environment here. But if we were to terminate the contract, we would have to pay a huge sum... we might even go bankrupt."
Upon hearing this, the three girls secretly kept their faces taut, lowering their heads and focusing solely on eating their noodles.
"Ah? There is actually such a thing? The Daimyo and Feudal Lords are truly too hateful!"
Although the owner was behind the times, he quickly understood the meaning in Ryu's words, because similar things were not uncommon in ancient times.
In Japan during the Shogunate period, the status of the nobility and samurai class was far higher than that of merchants. Yet they themselves included many who were not good at management, sometimes even going bankrupt and falling into destitution. Among them, those who entrapped merchants for their own benefit and forcibly signed unfair agreements were everywhere.
This phenomenon didn't start to change until the "Arrival of the Black Ships," when the status of merchants began to climb. Later, they even brewed up the true Zaibatsu—but those were also run in combination with the nobility.
The owner's true form was a long-lived great yōkai. He couldn't understand modern economics, but he still understood a bit of ancient economics~
"So, Little Brother, you came to save this village, to save my hometown?" The owner was endlessly excited.
Ryu nodded slowly and seriously: "Although this runs a huge risk, my conscience won't let me remain silent!"
What a good person—the owner's mind was shaken, moved by the youth's nobility.
"Of course, if we can avoid a direct conflict with the government, that is best.
"Our primary choice is still to find a way to set up a Nature Reserve. This way, the project will naturally stop, and no one will have to bear the responsibility."
Ryu muttered: "My family can also take out a sum of money to restore the land that has already been damaged."
"Thank you so much! Truly, thank you so much!"
The owner grasped Ryu's hand and shook it vigorously: "For you to be willing to do so much for a strange place and a group of strangers, it's truly amazing!"
"Oh my, you flatter me~"
Under the subtle gazes of the three JK, Ryu and the owner shook hands passionately, seemingly on the verge of drinking a toast to sworn brotherhood.
"However, we'd best have a gimmick. This way, whatever we do will be more convenient."
"Gimmick?"
The owner learned another new word.
Ryu thought for a moment: "For example, something like a UMA (Unidentified Mysterious Animal)."
"...A Tsuchinoko?" the owner asked blankly.
"That is indeed a classic folk legend... but I'm afraid it's not enough. It's best if it can touch upon spirits and ghosts, linking it to folk customs. When the time comes, we'll hype it up again, making the government feel there is hope to apply for World Cultural Heritage—Japanese people love this the most!"
East Asian countries all love this!
However, the difference lies in the fact that the Great East next door has too many good things at home, and sometimes they don't realize how precious their own items are.
Japan, on the other hand, racks its brains to bring out things from every nook and cranny to prove they are national treasures; even an old man cooking rice gets given the title of "Immortal."
The Peninsula region brings out what they consider their best things only to be disdained by others. After becoming frantic, they hold the pots and jars of the neighbor, insisting they are theirs.
The West is currently watching the fun happily, but the day the people of the Peninsula try to apply for World Heritage status for Brother Ye and the Cross, they won't be able to laugh anymore.
"Ghosts?"
The owner's tone became intriguing: "I actually have an idea regarding this... How about a Raccoon Dog (Tanuki)?"
"Legends of Raccoon Dogs exist all over Japan; it's not rare at all." Ryu shook his head. "No good, no good."
"Then..."
The owner suddenly revealed a weird smile. The streetlamp began to flicker on and off, reflecting an indescribably terrifying expression on his face.
"How about—[Master Obiko]?"
"That sounds quite fresh."
Ryu remained unmoved, not scared in the slightest by this bizarre atmosphere. Instead, he smiled faintly.
"Can you tell me about it in detail?"
The youth's eyes narrowed:
Obiko, it really is you!
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