Escape - 6

< Machine Translation Version >

Visitor

The assailant, Takagi, got into his mini-car and drove away without saying a word, but he seemed to have had voluntary insurance, so Takeshi was thinking of contacting the insurance company to make sure they would handle the situation well. Grandpa's words in the dream had bothered him, so he was going to handle the situation without being distracted. I immediately contacted the maintenance shop to have the car moved and a loaner car prepared so that I would not be in trouble for the time being. I was now able to commute to work in a loaner car, hoping that the Silvia would return to its original beautiful form. The replacement car was a white Skyline Japan, but unfortunately it was not a GTR. It is not as beautiful as the Silvia, but it is a very popular car. Because of its large size and the fact that it was an AT sedan type car, I felt that the acceleration was a little slow. However, it is a popular and good car. I drove it home.

It was a different place, a local snack bar that night. Takagi is drinking in a good mood, surrounded by girls. He seems to be trying to gain the attention of the girls by turning the accident into a convenient story. He seems to be a man with two sides to him.

"Mr. President, come in."

"Hi, there. I had a little accident recently. It was tough."

"Oh, you were hit?"

"Just a little. Well, it was a little bit my fault too, so I had to pay for it with my insurance, but they were charging me a lot. They're asking for 600,000 yen. Really."

"Oh, so the guy's car is a wreck?”

"No, not at all. It's just a slightly dented door. It's not much of a car."

"Wow, that's vicious."

"Yeah. He's a terrible guy. You know, there's a laboratory up on the hill, and there's this young guy."

"Oh, my God! Mom, he got hit by a car."

"I donate a lot of money to the institute, so I can do whatever I want with that kid."

"Wow, that's great, you're kicking him out?"

"Well, I can't help it if I act like a fool to a young man, so I've decided to forgive him for once."

"You're very kind, Mr. President.”

Bar's Mama is behind the counter, dealing with the customers in front of her. She bows lightly to Takagi, who is standing next to the girl who approached her. Mama dose not speak to him.  Because it would be rude to the customer in front of Mama who is drinking quietly by himself. The person sitting behind the counter drinking alone is actually the director of the research institute on the hill. He quietly spoke to Mama.

"Do you come here often, Mr. Takagi?"

"Yes, Mr. Takagi often comes here alone and goes home bragging to the girls. Mr. Takagi spends a lot of money here, which helps us a lot. But, you know."

"But what is it?”

"It's rumored that the company that Mr. Takagi runs is quite dangerous. That's why I'm worried about the bill Mr. Takagi is accumulating. As for me.... Anyway, is it true that Mr. Takagi donates a lot of money to your laboratory?”

"Well, that's not a lie. When we planted the trees around the institute, we got donations from the people in town to pay for it. I think you were one of them. Didn't you also donate money for that?”

"Oh, you mean that? You're talking about the 10,000 yen per unit.”

"Besides, what he's talking about is the exact opposite of what I'm being briefed on. Why would he distort the story so much to make it up?"

"I knew it was true. I thought there couldn't be anyone terrible working for you. I'm sure he's just trying to impress the girls. I'm sure.”

It seemed that Takagi's company was trying to expand its profits from the gas station in order to diversify its business, and he had invested his company's stock in an overseas investment company. The investment didn't go well and most of the shares were being taken as collateral. This caused a rift between him and his wife, who was also the daughter of a wealthy family and his sponsor, and he had been living in his mistress's house. The mistress was also running a snack bar, which was rather profitable, but since Takagi had invested in the opening of the business, she seemed to be exploiting the sales for whatever she could, and the bar mama had heard rumors that the mistress was losing her affection for him. The world is a small place, and you never know where people are connected.

The next day, Takagi came to the laboratory where Takeshi was staying. The receptionist contacted Takeshi's boss and they decided to meet in the lobby. The lobby was large, but there were not many people there since it was not a facility where customers usually came. The three of us sat in a row, with Takaki sitting across from us. It was the first time for Takeshi to have a real conversation with Takagi, and he was preparing himself for what he was going to say when Takaki opened his mouth to his boss. He seemed to have a lot of dignity, a far cry from that night.

"Well,I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused the laboratory."

"If you're going to say that, shouldn't you apologize to Takeshi Ohara first?" Takeshi's boss urged, looking at Takeshi sitting to his right.

"Oh, no. I'm sorry. Ohara-san, I apologize."

Takagi's head dropped a little at the same time as his words. If only he had apologized to me honestly when we met at the police station, it would have been nothing, but the way he was acting like he had a dual personality, it was hard for him to be honest. When I kept my mouth shut, my boss continued.

"His car will be repaired properly, won't it?"

"I'm not sure about that. I think the repair cost is a little too high. Can't you at least cut the cost in half? The insurance company said that they are charging more than the normal repair cost."
"Mr. Ohara, what do you think?”

Grandpa's words came back to Takeshi's mind.

Don't pull out at this point, he said.

"Yes, I don't think it's outrageous at all. A regular partial paint job would certainly be cheaper, but that would obviously change the color of just the doors. I just want it to be beautifully restored to its original state, as it is my most prized car. So I need to have the whole car repainted to make me feel better.”

"What do you think? Mr. Takagi, why don't you come clean and admit it? You left this young man at the scene of the accident and ran away, didn't you? He alone was in charge of dealing with the police after that. What do you think about that? Mr. Takagi seem to be talking about Mr. Ohara as if he is in the wrong, but why don't you think again about who is right?"

"I understand.  I'll pay you then. Then, I will leave now.”

Takagi quickly left. At this point, Takeshi was surprised by his boss's attitude. He had not expected him to be so supportive.

"This accident happens because you use a car to commute to work.You should clean up after yourself."

I had expected my boss to say this, but it was a moment when I realized that this is how a boss should be.

However, Takeshi felt a little uncomfortable. The person who visited him was rather arrogant, but the person he saw on the night of the accident was quiet, downcast, and had few words. He also thought that he did not see the person's face clearly, partly because it was dark at night at the time of the accident.

I had no idea or suspicion that it was someone else. But he did not overlook the fact that he had only seen his boss's face from the beginning. Maybe it was because they knew each other, but he wondered if it was because they were seniors together and Takeshi didn't know which one it was, and he had to start the conversation by looking at his boss, who he knew well.

"Not the same person?　No way."

☆　☆　☆

日本語版(原作)は、kindleで販売中です。
The original (Japanese) is on sale at Amazon kindle

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#小説 #逃走 #機械翻訳 #Escape