“I’m sorry, that was rude of me. I meant to say, women in particular should be careful. I didn’t phrase that well. I shouldn’t talk about people’s appearances. You’re an adult woman, Ms. Sanekazura. Oh, I know. We should take this opportunity to learn the layout of Angel Town.”
Rindo quickly rambled through an apology and steered the topic away while pulling up a map of the city on his phone. It showed the dangerous areas marked in red.
“Where we’re going, public safety varies widely between districts. In some places, they’ll tell you not to cross the road even in daylight. See, the red parts are dangerous.”
Nadeshiko and Sanekazura stared at the map and tilted their heads.
“Most of it is red.”
“Rindo, that’s all red.”
Indeed, the majority of the map was marked red.
Rindo nodded. “Yes, but here, here, and here are relatively peaceful, even if they’re next to the red areas.”
He pointed at unmarked parts of the map, but all the red drew Nadeshiko’s attention.
“There’s so much of it,” she cried.
Rindo replied like it was no problem. “That’s just how this city is.”
“Don’t be ridiculous…” Sanekazura sighed, but it was all true. Mugging and other violent crimes took place in these areas.
And people still chose to coexist with the wrongdoers.
Or rather, they accepted the reality around them; they couldn’t go on with their lives otherwise.
“It really is a scary place…”
Shoot. I scared her.
Rindo was flustered by Nadeshiko’s reaction.
“It’s okay; we just have to be careful where we get out and walk. Nobody would live here otherwise, right?”
“Mm-hmm…”
Rindo was used to maps like this, since he had lived overseas for a long time, but a first-time traveler like Nadeshiko could not comprehend such a viewpoint.
Sanekazura also seemed worried. “Do they not have an agency like National Security to take care of this sort of thing?”
“…Kyokoku has police departments, but even those tasked with national security stay away from such locales. There are places like that in Yamato that you don’t know about, too… But the scale is different. You may not just encounter someone strange…but someone dangerous might kill you. The common idea over here is that it’s the victim’s fault for walking into their own death.”
Nadeshiko was flabbergasted.
Rindo’d scared her again, but at this point, he had to tell her the truth. The innocent child had to know that such places existed in this world so she would behave more cautiously.
“People will react if a crime happens, but it’s just… They don’t maintain order willingly. It’s not that Kyokoku’s security organizations are weak, but that sticking their heads into these places would entail too many losses… It’s not that they’re lazy. It’s that there’s an implicit understanding about it, so they can keep peace elsewhere.”
“It is really, really, really dangerous…”
“Yes. But there are also safe tourist spots. Like I said, so long as you keep in mind where you are and the time of day, it’s a wonderful city. We’ll be going to what they call the business district of Kashu, where there are many Yamatoan companies and even the embassy. We won’t be in danger as soon as we leave the car or anything. Don’t worry.”
“…”
“I’m here. I will protect you.”
In that moment, the electric partition moved down, and Shirahagi leaned over from the passenger seat.
“Lord Azami, a car has been following us. It’s right behind us. The white car.”
Rindo was frustrated that this issue had to come up right now, but danger didn’t choose the best time or place. He put his hand on Nadeshiko’s shoulder to keep her calm.
“Got it. Nadeshiko, it’s okay. But don’t turn around. You two, I know it’s a bulletproof car, but keep your heads down, just in case.”
“Yes…”
Nadeshiko held her head and bent down in the position she’d practiced.
“It’ll be over soon, Lady Nadeshiko. Hanakiri, you stay by our feet.”
Sanekazura looked after Nadeshiko and Hanakiri while Rindo took care of things and looked behind them.
The rear glass had a special film on it that didn’t let outsiders see much of the inside.
Indeed, a car was following too close behind them.
“It could just be road rage…”
“Yeah. There are quite a few aggressive drivers on this road. We don’t know for sure this is an enemy…”
“We’ll leave the freeway soon. If it’s still following us, should we take a detour to lose them?”
“Yes. There should be another guide car, so let’s let them take over. I’ll let the others know.” Rindo tapped his smartwatch. “Attention, everyone. Somebody is following Autumn’s car. We still don’t know if it’s an insurgent vehicle or a civilian. If it follows us once we’re off the freeway, we’ll ask the police to take over.”
He heard replies come into the earphone he’d had on since they got into the car.
“Winter, roger.”
“Summer, got it.”
“National Security, understood.”
The leaders from the other cars replied one after the other. Once the decision was made, the driver communicated through radio to the guide car on standby. They were ready to step in.
“Shirahagi, do you have your bulletproof vest on?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Nadeshiko, stay down for just a little while longer.” Instead of responding, she reached her hand out to him, and Rindo placed his hand on hers. “It’s okay.”
Then, as soon as they left the freeway, the police car on standby pulled behind the follower and turned on its siren.
The car immediately sped up and zipped past the Autumn car.
Rindo glanced at the driver, and a young, irritated Kyokoku man flipped them the middle finger. Rindo sighed.
Shirahagi looked equally baffled beyond the still-open partition. “I’m sorry, Lord Azami… Looks like it was a civilian.”
His voice was small. He regretted making a needless report, but Rindo scolded him without being discouraging.
“Don’t be stupid. That was the right reaction, no need to apologize. Attention, everyone. It appears we just came upon a bad driver. The police should pursue them to keep face, but now we can breathe easy.”
“Winter, roger. Shirahagi, don’t feel bad. That’s part of guarding an Agent.”
“Summer, got it. I want to know the driver’s name. I wrote down the plate number, so if the police let him off, I’ll take care of him.”
“National Security, understood. In any case, I’m glad that everyone’s safe. Let’s keep an eye out.”
Everyone seemed to have been listening and replied warmly.
“Shirahagi, keep pointing out anything you find suspicious. Do not second-guess yourself, got it?”
“Yes, sir.”
Shirahagi seemed more relaxed now.
Rindo looked at the women, who still had their heads down.
“Nadeshiko, Ms. Sanekazura, I’m sorry. It’s okay now.”
They both popped upright, and Sanekazura sighed in relief.
“Ahh, that was frightening. Good job hanging in there, Lady Nadeshiko.”
She rubbed Nadeshiko’s back. The girl pressed a hand against her chest and sighed.
“That was scary…,” Nadeshiko said weakly, and Rindo tried to cheer her up.
“Don’t worry. Our security is very tight, as you can see.”
“Yes. I knew that you would protect me, Rindo. But…”
“It was still scary,” he said.
“Yes…”
“You were very brave.” Rindo patted her head until she calmed down.
Nadeshiko kept her head turned toward him, like Hanakiri did to her when he was being obedient.
The exciting foreign country was now a source of fear, and she held on to Rindo’s sleeve without letting go.
The Guard later received a message saying that the car chasing them was a regular street racer.
He had been tailgating them because they were in a luxury vehicle, and Shirahagi stared in astonishment.