NOVEL WEB Chapter 7: Seeking the People Behind that Man
A few weeks later, the results of the soil investigation from the university laboratory arrived at Hiroki’s office by mail.
He didn’t know what the detailed numbers and such stuff meant though, so he called the lab, and Researcher Ishida personally gave him the seal of approval.
[It’s completely clean. There is absolutely no contamination whatsoever. There is no problem with the groundwater either. You can even use it as farmland as it is. What kind of technology did you use to have the land treated like this?]
[No, well…… That’s a trade secret……]
When Ishida asked about the waste treatment technology used with great interest, Hiroki had no choice but to cover it up with a wry smile.
Anyhow, Hiroki felt relieved and confident after receiving the results of the lab’s investigations.
Apparently, no contaminants were leaking out from that hole.
This meant that he didn’t have to worry about his health and well-being.
[I think I can take on a bit more garbage. I suppose it should also be alright to take on some of the high-unit price waste……]
The high-unit price waste means the waste that is highly toxic or difficult to dispose of.
This includes the ones the yakuza had offered Hiroki, medical waste and radioactive soil.
[I guess we can handle twice as much now, right?]
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Two to three dump trucks a day bring garbage to Hiroki’s waste disposal site.
Hiroki’s job is to have them dumped on the conveyor and then shovel them into the hole in the yard.
Each of those trucks handles 10 tons of waste, so even with the help of his rickety conveyor, it used to take several hours of hard work, but Hiroki has gotten used to work and can now do it in an hour at most.
Moreover, Hiroki enjoys the sound of the garbage grazing against each other, crying out “Gyaaooo” every time he pushes the garbage deep into the hole.
He needs to keep throwing more and more garbage into the hole.
He has to do it.
Carrying a shovel on his shoulder, Hiroki went to dispose of the 20 tons of garbage piled up in the yard, stacking up to a 5-meter mound.
It was just the right amount of work for him to work off the pork ramen he’d eaten for lunch.
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[How mysterious…… Really mysterious.]
The money-lending tortoiseshell glasses refrained from contacting Hougi after the hooligans sent were easily defeated.
He realized that he couldn’t compete with simple violence.
[When Tsuchiya-san introduced me to him, he seemed like an amateur who could be easily cajoled……]
Introduced as a recycler with a hidden route where he disposes his trash, Hiroki’s first impression was nothing more than that of a common loser.
He’s just a dull garbage collector who lost the competition for success as a salaryman in Tokyo, and left the city.
But by some stroke of luck, he has found a good route to collect industrial waste without the government finding out.
In short, he should have been a sitting duck.
He was supposed to be nothing more than a tasty bait that would be useless after he spits out his secrets after scaring him a bit.
However, the duck struck back with his surprisingly strong strength.
[I guess he really has backers behind him……]
The tortoiseshell glasses didn’t believe the nonsense that Hiroki had “beaten five hooligans by himself”.
Perhaps, he had foreseen that Hougi would attack him and hired a skilled bodyguard.
It’s common sense in this world that a goose that lays golden eggs should have a guard dog.
Knowing this, the tortoiseshell glasses changed plans.
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First, he decided to investigate which family or organization was behind Hougi, before making contact with them.
To start with, for the past few weeks, he has been using his extensive experience as a real estate agent to hire a detective agency and his subordinates to watch Hiroki’s industrial waste site, but the results weren’t good.
[Their operations start at 8:00 am. Accepting 10-ton trucks of industrial waste. License plate number 〇〇ー××…… 12:00 pm, operation stop. Lunch break, having pizza delivered to him. 1:00 pm, operation resume. Industrial waste trucks delivery. License plate number △△ー〇〇…… 6:00 pm, operation ends. 12:00 am, lights out……]
He threw the investigation report on the desk.
[In other words, what? The man wakes up in the morning, takes care of the garbage on his property, and never goes outside? He’s doing that all week long!?]
[Huhh…… It seems like it.]
The detective agency’s chief replied with a shrug.
[That doesn’t make any sense! He hasn’t been out? He’s having his meals delivered? Well, being a single man, that certainly is likely. However, how many trucks do you think have brought in waste in that past week? How many is it?]
Kaneda banged on the desk with such force that his tortoiseshell glasses almost shook.
[……27 trucks.]
[Yes! Twenty-freaking-seven 10 ton trucks full of industrial waste! If he brought in that much waste, it would have piled up in that poorly equipped dumpster of his! However, there’s no sign of that happening at all! Those trash would pile up like a mountain, but in the morning, they’re all gone! He must have taken them out somewhere during the night!]
In a muffled voice, the detective agency’s chief tried his best to rebut.
[……Even so, we have our own experts tailing him and even use nighttime surveillance cameras. There’s no indication that they were removed from his property.]
That’s right. The detective agency’s chief had discussed the surveillance plan with the tortoiseshell glasses beforehand, and Kaneda himself had agreed to it.
Hearing their plan so far, Kaneda hadn’t found any problem.
That guy really is hiding some secret.
[……It’s quite mysterious, isn’t it?]
[Quite so. It’s as if we’re being deceived by a fox.]
[Alright. I’ll take care of this myself.]
Perhaps, there really might be some secret about that land.
He can’t beat him up. If one can’t even monitor him, he might as well have someone probe into the property directly and perhaps, elicit a response from the man.
Of course, the tortoiseshell glasses had no intention of being the one going within that property himself.
He had plenty of people “that he can use as sacrificial pawns” after all.