I don’t have too much hope for you, the man said as he left. Can’t really blame him, Kousaka thought. Because this job really was a heavy burden for him. He disliked interacting with other people as it was, but he was especially bad with children and old people. The reason, of course, being “they seemed dirty.” But that said, he couldn’t just give up from the get-go. If he couldn’t fulfill this request, Kousaka wouldn’t just be unemployed, he’d be unemployed with a criminal record. Apparently, the kid’s name was Hijiri Sanagi. Kousaka wasn’t given any information beyond that. His blackmailer also gave his own name: Izumi. Izumi’s instructions were simple. “At 5 PM tomorrow, go to Mizushina Park. Near the park, there’ll be a kid feeding swans. That’s Hijiri Sanagi.” Kousaka didn’t quite understand the situation, but nodded for the time being. “Your first duty is to become Hijiri Sanagi’s friend.” Then Izumi appended a brief explanation of what the payment for success would be. The amount he specified was pretty big money to Kousaka at the moment. Once Izumi left, Kousaka went around his room cleaning like mad. Just thinking about the possibility that someone