A law-abiding Organization employee naturally bought tickets and lined up properly to enter the amusement park.
However, Ritsu had clearly overestimated the Organization's problem children. No, more accurately, he had overestimated the Organization's overgrown children.
Chianti kept demanding chocolate-covered bananas, while Korn had his eyes set on a duck-shaped donut.
'Seriously, why was he so obsessed with duck-shaped food?'
Less than twenty minutes after entering Tropical Land, Ritsu had already taken out his wallet five times.
Frowning, he began to feel that something was terribly wrong.
Why had all the authority and dignity of his Augier identity completely vanished the moment they entered an amusement park? Was the saying "food is the first necessity of the people" actually true?
His gaze drifted toward a box of Calpis-themed cookies. He swallowed and reminded himself that it was merely wearing a Calpis "coat."
At its core, it was still the same sweet cookie he didn't even like.
...
Five minutes later—
Ritsu looked down at the limited-edition Calpis collaboration cookies in his hand. So why hadn't he managed to stop himself from buying them anyway?
Oh well.
The face he was currently wearing belonged to Augier.
The person he needed to avoid, Rei, had already been sent to North America by Gin on another mission.
Ding.
His phone vibrated. Taking it out, he discovered that Shinichi was calling.
Without hesitation, he tossed his wallet to the two overgrown children who were lingering in front of a takoyaki stand.
"Don't spend all the cash inside. Try to show some restraint."
As he was about to answer the call, he spotted Shinichi standing near a vending machine in the distance.
The boy looked rather anxious. Combined with the constant leg shaking, Ritsu had a bad feeling about this call.
Still, he answered. The moment he did, he realized his instincts had been spot on.
"Hehe, Sensei, you finally decided to answer! Where are you right now? Ran and I were thinking about finding you and hanging out together."
The instant Shinichi's mischievous voice came through the receiver, Ritsu became alert. Instinctively, he reached for the pocket where he normally kept his wallet. Only to remember he'd already handed it away.
Wearing a deadpan expression, he replied stiffly,
"I'm allowed to refuse, you know."
"Huh? Why? I was really looking forward to seeing what your girlfriend looks like!"
'What was there to look forward to? Wouldn't she just have two eyes, a nose, and a mouth?'
Ritsu firmly believed his future girlfriend would possess a complete set of facial features.
Yes.
Future girlfriend.
A distant, unreachable future.
"I'm an adult. Why would children like you interfere with an adult's date? So please don't disturb me."
Then he added, "I'm hanging up."
Even Ritsu felt he was drifting farther and farther down the road of elaborate lies. Under normal circumstances, he'd never say something like that.
"Eh?! Wait! Sensei, don't hang up! I actually need a favor!"
"Borrowing money again? Sorry. No."
Shinichi had been preparing a heartfelt poetic speech praising his beloved teacher in hopes of persuading him to lend money.
Instead, the call was mercilessly disconnected. When he tried calling back, the phone displayed,
"The other party is currently busy."
Then a new email arrived.
[Onizawa: To prevent you from disturbing me, I've blocked your number for today. Have fun.]
"AGGHH! Adults really are schemers!"
"Shinichi, why are you standing over here muttering to yourself?"
From a distance, Ritsu watched with satisfaction as Shinichi complained to Ran. Most likely, he was venting about the fact that his teacher had actually blocked his phone number.
Walking over to the takoyaki stand, Ritsu discovered that Chianti and Korn were treating snacks like full meals.
Under the astonished gazes of nearby visitors, both had already devoured three servings each.
Why did this make it look like the Organization never fed them? Did they really need to eat with such reckless abandon?
"Hm? Augier, you're back. Want some?"
For some reason, Chianti's opinion of Augier had improved slightly.
Perhaps because he'd willingly handed over his wallet for her to spend.
After all, nobody disliked money. Nobody disliked good food. And someone willing to spend money buying food for you was obviously a good person.
Now officially labeled a good person, Ritsu took back his wallet. Looking inside, he found only a single lonely banknote remaining.
The corner of his eye twitched.
These two could really eat.
Noticing the surrounding stares, he put on a stern expression and said,
"Don't tell me you've forgotten why we're here the moment you entered the amusement park. It's time to go, Chianti. Korn."
Yet the appearance and attire of all three drew the attention of nearby tourists.
One particularly bold girl spoke up.
"Excuse me, are you guys a new band? Are you here for a special performance?"
"Yeah! Are those guitar or bass cases? That's so cool!"
Silently, Ritsu zipped up his black jacket higher, concealing most of his face.
"No. We're just ordinary visitors."
Leaving behind that response, he ignored any further attempts at conversation and dragged the two away from the area.
"We're here to carry out a mission today, not to have fun. Understood?"
"Understood."
After looking around, Ritsu eventually settled on an open area near the Ferris wheel.
At the very least, there weren't many visitors passing through. It seemed like a suitable place to wait for Gin's message.
At this point, he could only pray that the company president wouldn't try anything stupid. Otherwise, all he could do was light a metaphorical candle for Tropical Land's investors.
'Sorry about turning your grand opening into a disastrous opening day.'
...
Meanwhile, elsewhere in Tropical Land...
Using their couples tickets, Gin and Vodka were currently sitting inside a beverage shop.
To such an extent that the shop had become the least-visited establishment in the entire amusement park.
Perhaps it was because of the couples tickets. Or perhaps Gin simply hated noisy places like amusement parks.
With both hands shoved into his pockets, he radiated villainous energy so intensely that it was practically tangible.
The poor drink-shop employee trembled as she prepared their order.
At this point, her imagination had already produced a hundred different scenarios in which she became the victim of an unfortunate murder case.
While waiting for the drinks, Vodka noticed that the employee had accidentally added syrup twice.
And unfortunately, it was Gin's drink.
Immediately, he frowned. "Hey! Why did you—"
"S-Sorry! Sorry! Please don't kill me! My meat doesn't even taste good!"
"...??"
A giant question mark practically appeared above Vodka's head. He genuinely couldn't understand why she would say something like that.
After all, someone who had long since grown accustomed to Gin's murderous aura had no concept of how terrifying Gin appeared to ordinary people.
Doing his best to produce a gentle smile, Vodka explained, "I was just trying to tell you that you added syrup twice. My boss doesn't like overly sweet drinks."
"O-Okay."
The moment she heard the word boss, the employee became even more convinced that these two men dressed entirely in black were dangerous criminals.
Forcing herself to calm down, she remade the drinks from scratch. Then, abandoning her usual customer-service smile, she adopted the solemn expression of a gangster seeing off a superior.
In a loud voice, she declared, "Thank you for your patronage, Boss! Please take care on your way out!"
"..."
Carrying the drinks back, Vodka sat beside Gin and leaned in to whisper, "Boss, the waitress at this place is really strange. She acts like she's with the Nisan-kai."
"Nisan-kai?"
Gin raised an eyebrow and cast a cold glance toward the counter.
There he saw a woman trembling from head to toe while desperately trying to make herself invisible.
He withdrew his gaze without another word.
The only thing that crossed his mind was that Augier should probably teach Vodka how to properly identify people's affiliations.
That woman wasn't a gang member.
She was simply an ordinary person who had been terrified by his killing intent.
----
bonus chapter every 20 PS
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