Chapter 61: Defrauding a Blind Person.
Within ten minutes, the wail of police sirens and the blare of an ambulance horn sounded simultaneously. Tatsuro was currently lying on Shura, waiting. The woman—no, to be precise, it should be a girl—lying on the ground showed no signs of waking up.
The three police officers in the leading police car spotted the child waiting by the roadside and quickly stopped. They picked up their police caps from the side, put them on, opened the car doors, and got out.
Several medical personnel also got out from the ambulance following behind.
Tatsuro also got up and faced the approaching group, saying, "Hello, this girl lying on the ground is the injured person."
"Understood."
One police officer took out a notepad and pen and walked over, while his two colleagues headed towards the woods nearby. The medical personnel behind them ran over with first-aid kits.
Tatsuro and Shura were taken aside for questioning.
The officer asked, "Was this car involved in an accident or something else?"
"Speeding. And I'm blind, I can't see anything," Tatsuro said, taking off his sunglasses and opening his eyes, then waving his left hand a few times in front of his face.
The officer looked at Tatsuro's lightless eyes, his tone laced with apology, "Is that so? I'm sorry, kid, my questioning was too direct. Uncle will ask one more question: how was that girl rescued?"
"My Shura rescued her. He's a Tibetan Mastiff, you know, very strong. He's my guide dog now."
As Tatsuro spoke, he patted Shura, who was squatting beside him.
"Uhh... a Tibetan Mastiff as a guide dog..."
The officer's hand, holding the pen, paused for a moment. It was truly the first time he had heard of a Tibetan Mastiff serving as a guide dog. Which Japanese dog training institution had training this? It was quite absurd.
"Ahem!" The officer cleared his throat and continued, "Please provide your name and address, and then you can leave this to us, kid."
Tatsuro replied, "Okay, my name is Tatsuro. I currently live at Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu High School. As for my old home address, it's at... I won't be going back there recently."
"Alright, understood. You can leave now, kid."
The officer nodded and waved, signaling Tatsuro could depart. Tatsuro put on his sunglasses, nodded, and, riding on Shura, mentally commanded, "Go slowly, don't use cursed energy."
"Woof woof! (Okay, Master!)"
Watching the pair leave, the police officer's entire worldview felt like it had been shattered and refreshed. Tibetan Mastiffs were famous for their ferocity; for one to be so obedient and also a guide dog was already outlandish. And it could carry a person while running?
Once he sensed no one was around, Tatsuro patted Shura's shoulder, signaling him to speed up. It was already past three in the afternoon; if they didn't hurry up and go play, it would be evening, and what fun was there at night?
"Awooo~!"
Shura howled and began to accelerate, crimson cursed energy enveloping its body, its tongue lolling out of its mouth as it experienced the thrill of speed.
Tatsuro, meanwhile, gripped the dog leash tightly, like riding a horse, except the bumping was a bit of a pain in the 'family jewels' and he had to protect himself with cursed energy.
Entering the city, Tatsuro walked on the street, holding the leash, with Shura leading the way. Their turn-head rate was one hundred percent.
"Look, look, what a big doggy! What breed is it? It looks so well-behaved, and it's even a guide dog! Hubby, how about we get one too?"
Faced with his wife's coaxing, the man felt immense pressure. He seemed to recognize the dog's breed but wasn't entirely sure. He took out his phone from his pocket, searched for a bit, then made a comparison. His face turned even uglier, and he said with some difficulty:
"Ho-honey, this dog... we can't raise it."
"Why?"
The man swallowed and said, "This... is a Tibetan Mastiff! One of the fiercest dog breeds. Although I don't know how this young man trained it, if we were to raise one, there'd be a dismemberment case in minutes."
Hearing about such consequences, the woman said no more, just looked at it with awe and fear, thinking to herself, "Kids these days are so intense... raising a Tibetan Mastiff..."
Wherever Shura passed, people would definitely make way for at least ten meters ahead. Its presence at that moment was no less imposing than a lion's. If it weren't for the young man holding its leash behind it, they might have already called the police and run away.
Shura glanced around, smelled a particularly fragrant aroma, and barked at Tatsuro, "Woof woof woof! (Master, I want to eat!)"
"Takoyaki, huh? Let's go over."
Tatsuro also smelled the fragrance in the air and, led by Shura, walked over.
"Holy crap, what a huge dog!"
The stall owner, seeing a dog half as tall as a person approaching, was almost scared enough to abandon his stall and flee, but Tatsuro called out to him in time, "Don't be afraid, he doesn't bite. This is my guide dog. Can I have five portions of takoyaki?"
"Th-this... is that so...? Young man, your guide dog is truly special..."
The uncle selling takoyaki wiped the sweat from his forehead and began to skillfully prepare the takoyaki.
Tatsuro just stood there waiting, but Shura apparently couldn't wait any longer. Smelling the rich aroma wafting towards it, it drooled.
At this, Tatsuro could only lightly tap its head, signaling it to wait patiently. This made the uncle nearby feel a chill in his heart, but seeing that nothing happened, he gradually relaxed and asked, as if making small talk:
"Young man, what breed is this dog? How did it get so big?"
"Tibetan Mastiff. Usually, I just feed it beef bones, beef, that sort of thing. It's quite friendly, just that its intelligence needs improvement."
"Ti-Tibetan Mastiff, huh? Tibetan Mastiffs are good, eat heartily and grow strong."
The uncle chuckled a few times and said no more. These were clearly people from different worlds. He handed over the five completed portions of takoyaki and said, "That'll be 3000 yen in total."
"One moment."
Tatsuro took out a 10,000 yen bill from his pocket and handed it over, saying, "Here's the change."
The uncle looked at the 10,000 yen bill in the young man's hand, and a flicker of greed arose in his heart. He muttered to himself, "Anyway, he's blind, and this dog scared me. Why not take an extra two thousand yen as compensation? Yes, just compensation, definitely not taking more."
"Alrighty, just a moment."
The uncle took the 10,000 yen, handed over the five portions of takoyaki, then took out two 2,000 yen notes and one 1,000 yen note from his pocket and handed them over, saying, "Here's your Seven thousand in total."
Tatsuro lowered his head towards Shura, his originally amiable face gradually turning serious. He turned his head and said, "Uncle, would you mind changing these for new notes?"
"These notes are new, young man. You can feel them."
The uncle looked at the young man's serious expression, feeling a bit suspicious. "Isn't this kid blind? If he could tell by touch, I'd accept it. But he didn't even touch them. Looks like he's used to being cheated and is trying to intimidate me. Sorry, but I'm not easily scared. Who knows where I'll be selling tomorrow?"
Although Tatsuro was currently blind, it didn't mean Shura was blind. Though Shura couldn't read words, it could recognize numbers!
It could distinguish a few numbers clearly.
"Heh heh..." Tatsuro chuckled coldly, scratching his hair with his left hand, and said with exasperation, "Honestly, can't you just let me enjoy an afternoon in peace? You just had to make me angry."