Chapter 184

Chapter 184

We finally arrived at the Kyoto Continental Hotel.

It only took about ten minutes to get here, but it felt like almost an hour because we received a lot of curious glances from people wherever we went.

“Let’s park here and walk.”

The Vice President glided into the public park across from the hotel and turned the handlebars towards the bicycle parking area.

Clunk!

After locking the bicycle securely, the Vice President adjusted his attire.

Since my clothes were also disheveled from pedaling the bicycle, I also straightened my outfit.

After restoring my tie to its original position, the Vice President spoke with a determined expression.

“Shall we go?”

“Yes.”

We left the park and headed for the crosswalk right in front of us.

“But what’s the Vice President’s plan? There will be a massive security force for an engagement ceremony of two conglomerate families.”

“I expected that, so I planned an infiltration route in advance.”

“Infiltration route?”

“The place where the lady’s engagement ceremony is held is the grand ballroom on the 20th floor of the hotel.”

The Vice President said that and took out his smartphone to show me a map of the hotel’s interior.

“We can pass through the entrance with my invitation, but only family members of the two families can enter the engagement hall. As an outsider, you can’t enter.”

“So what do we do?”

“First, take the guest elevator to the 21st floor. There’s an elevator there only used by hotel staff. Take it to the staff room behind the grand ballroom. Wait in the staff room until I give the signal, then enter the ballroom and secure the lady.”

I nodded quietly to his plan but then suddenly thought of something.

“But is it okay to go in looking like this? I feel like my identity will be revealed immediately.”

“That’s why I prepared something in advance.”

“Something else?”

The Vice President reopened the briefcase he had shown earlier.

Originally, it held a watch, ring, and sunglasses.

Click!

But when he lifted the bottom, a black cloth outfit was revealed.

It seemed to have a double-layered bottom.

“It’s a ninja stealth suit and mask. With this, Kim Yu-seong, you can hide your identity well.”

“...”

This time I thought he would give me something really high-tech, but here we are again with ninjas.

“Take it.”

I couldn’t refuse what he was giving me, so I took the briefcase in my right hand.

It was heavier than expected, and when I asked what it was made of, he said it was also a bulletproof bag.

Following the anti-stab suit, it seemed I’d acquired another piece of helpful armor.

“Let’s go.”

The pedestrian light turned green just in time, and with everything ready, we headed to the place of our showdown.

The Kyoto Continental Hotel looked even bigger up close, befitting its five-star name.

“How many floors does this building have?”

“30 floors. They originally wanted to build it higher, but it was rejected for ruining the cityscape. And the construction company for this hotel is Fujiwara Heavy Industries.”

The cylindrical building soared high into the sky.

In terms of height, it was almost on par with Kyoto Tower.

“This way.”

The Vice President, having visited many times, skillfully guided us.

The hotel’s parking lot, visible along the way, was already full.

All sorts of supercars and luxury vehicles, seen only in media, were lined up.

‘If I accidentally damage one of those, I’d have to work like a slave for life.’

Thinking such humble thoughts, I headed to the hotel entrance with the first-floor front desk.

“Where are you from?”

“We’re from the Saionji family.”

The Vice President answered the question from the security guard at the entrance and showed something.

The security guard then said, “Excuse me,” and stepped aside.

I followed quietly behind the Vice President with my mouth shut.

After walking for a while, the Vice President spoke.

“You can talk now.”

Ring, ring, ring, ring!

“It’s me.”

[Boss, it’s Code Beta. We need permission to lower the internal barriers to repel the intruders.]

“Code Beta? How many intruders?”

[Just two.]

“Two?”

[Men in suits. According to Miss Ayame’s testimony, one is a high school student who recently inherited the secrets of the Fuma clan, and the other is a close aide of Saionji Kumiko.]

“...I understand. But I can’t allow lowering the barriers. We can’t show an ugly scene in front of our esteemed guests.”

[But 20% of our security team has already been wiped out. We can’t stop those two with just the riffraff!]

“Then I’ll personally–”

“No, I’ll go.”

Hattori Hanzo looked at Koga Izumo, who suddenly interrupted the conversation with his subordinate.

“You?”

“One of the two you just mentioned is my student. As a teacher, I need to lead my student down the right path.”

“...Do as you wish.”

With permission from Hattori Hanzo, the head of security, Koga Izumo stood up from the sofa and said, “Thank you.”

“I’ll bring good news.”

“As long as it doesn’t affect the young master’s engagement ceremony, I’m satisfied.”

In the past, the two, including Fuma Kotaro, known as the Three Absolutes in the underworld, briefly looked into each other’s eyes before parting ways.

Hattori Hanzo spoke to his subordinate on the other end of the line.

“Koga Izumo has been sent as reinforcement. She’ll arrive soon, so hold on for a bit.”

[Yes!]

Putting down the phone, Hattori Hanzo looked out the window and muttered.

“It’s been ten years since you disappeared. How long do you plan to keep hindering me, Fuma Kotaro?”

“Over there! They just went that way!”

Thud, thud, thud, thud!

Hearing the sound of security guards rushing past the desk we were hiding behind, I asked the Vice President.

“How many more floors do we need to go up?”

The Vice President, out of breath, took a moment to catch his breath, looked at his phone screen, and answered.

“Nine more floors.”

“So we’re halfway up.”

“Only half left now.”

“Sorry, but I can’t really empathize with your positive words in this situation.”

Contrary to the Vice President’s original plan, we were immediately identified on the first floor, and we had no choice but to fight the security guards.

No matter how strong I was, I couldn’t withstand a flood of opponents.

And since I couldn’t commit mass slaughter, it was even harder to restrain my strength.

Slowly, our stamina was being depleted, and we were cornered.

I still had the Ghost Pill that Senior Fuma gave me.

This was literally the ace up my sleeve.

A last resort for the ultimate emergency.

The pill’s effective time was only five minutes, so I had to use it cautiously.

Eventually, the Vice President broke the silence.

“I’m sorry. It was my misjudgment. I thought you alone would solve the combat part, but I didn’t expect this many security personnel.”

“It’s more my fault. I didn’t even know we were being bugged.”

“No, even if the original plan had succeeded, we wouldn’t have escaped with this many guards inside. We needed at least one more strong ally at our level.”

“Don’t blame yourself too much. It’s not like we could suddenly find such a person–”

At that moment, someone came to mind.

“Wait, wait.”

I hurriedly took out my phone and searched through my contacts.

And made a call.

Click!

[Hello?]

“Where are you right now?”

[Me? I’m on a date with Maiya right now.]

I closed my eyes tightly and made a request.

“Ryuji, I’m sorry, but I need your help.”