* * *

“Explain… You want me to explain!? Itchamon-san… since you asked me to, I’ll explain… However, what I’m about to say is largely conjecture. Please forgive me for that.”

Akashiterika, saying that, tilted her head cutely and smiled, and then… turned a calm, piercing gaze towards Itchamon.

“Itchamon-san… you probably have siblings, right? And those siblings are currently… selling Borooberries at a stall, just like you, in this Nigyakka Grand Market!”

She suddenly revealed that conjecture!

“Ugh!? How did you!? U-U-Ugh!?”

Itchamon, his face pale, confirmed Akashiterika’s conjecture!

And he fell on his bottom, and groaning, crawled backwards, away from Akashiterika!

“I saw them, on my way here. Two Borooberry sellers, with the same curly, green hair as you. Now that I think about it, their faces looked very similar to yours… and it was clear from their sales pitches that both were related to the Tsukeer Trading Company.”

“S-Siblings… So what!? Is there something… strange about that!?”

Itchamon shouted, his face as pale as a Borooberry!

But his voice lacks its previous force.

His mouth is dry, and his tongue is heavy!

“No, there’s nothing strange about that. But I was wondering… why? Because people from the same trading company are selling the same product, stealing customers from each other. But if I think about it this way, it makes sense… You Tsukeer siblings… were competing with each other in Borooberry sales, weren’t you?”

“Ugh!?”

Itchamon, at that remark, recoiled, clutching his chest, and groaned!

That’s the reaction of someone who’s been hit where it hurts!

“But, Itchamon-san, unfortunately… you didn’t have the ability to compete with your siblings. Since you’re selling jam Borooberries without even realizing it, weren’t you?”

“Ugh!?”

Itchamon, at that remark, recoiled, clutching his chest, and groaned!

That’s the reaction of someone who’s been hit where it hurts!

“But you didn’t want to lose! So you picked a fight with Emi-san… and pretended to be a victim of ‘a cursed child stealing your food’!”

“Ugh!?”

Itchamon, at that remark, recoiled, clutching his chest, and groaned!

That’s the reaction of someone who’s been hit where it hurts!

“In other words, your goal… was to get rid of all your Borooberries, and run away from the competition with your siblings! Isn’t that right!?”

“Ugh!? AAAAAAHーーー!?”

Itchamon, at that remark, recoiled, and finally slammed the back of his head on the ground!

This is… the reaction of someone who has been completely defeated!

“Because… because… it’s not fair…!!”

And then Itchamon, mentally damaged by Akashiterika’s deductive prowess, lay sprawled out on the stone paving of the market, beginning to yell as he looked up at the blue summer sky!

“I… I’m the eldest son!? Normally, I would be the second-generation president!? But… what’s with this ‘competition’!? ‘Prove your qualities as a successor’!? I don’t care, IDIOOOTS!!”

Thrash, thrash, thrash!

Shamelessly, Itchamon started thrashing his limbs on the ground, yelling selfishly!

“Hey, you…! Your carelessness almost ruined Emi-san’s life! Don’t you even have a single word of apology!?”

“I don’t care, I don’t care, I don’t caaaaare, IDIOOOTS!! I don’t care about the life of a cursed child!! I don’t caaaaare, IDIOOOTS!! I don’t care, I don’t care, I don’t care, I don’t caaaaareーーー!!”

Akashiterika’s scolding didn’t reach Itchamon… He just thrashed around like an overturned stink bug, crying, and shouting unbearable words.

Seeing and hearing that, some of the onlookers involuntarily looked down.

‘I don’t care about the life of a cursed child’—

They were disgusted by the ugliness of those words, and ashamed of their own behavior earlier.

“AAAAAHーーー, AAAAAAHーーー!!”

Itchamon continued to cry loudly, no longer even uttering any meaningful words.

Intimidated by his terrible attitude, no one, including Akashiterika, tried to approach him.

But it was at the next moment.

“Ah!?”

A large shadow blocked Itchamon’s view, which had only been reflecting the blue sky.

The shadow reached out to Itchamon’s body, and forcefully pulled him to his feet.

“Hmph!!”

“AGAAH!?”

He slammed his fist into Itchamon’s head!

The force of the blow made Itchamon’s eyes roll back, and he collapsed on the ground again.

“Ah!”

“That person…”

“No way!”

And the onlookers started murmuring, seeing the man who had suddenly pushed them aside, approached Itchamon, and punched him.

The man is a huge, muscular man.

His gaze is sharp, and his head is completely shaved.

However, despite his intimidating appearance, he’s wearing a cute, frilly apron.

The apron is decorated with lots of vegetables and fruits, and in the center, appliqued in large letters… are the Tsukeer Trading Company’s logo, and the word ‘President’!

In other words, this person is!

“Kai Tsukeer… the president of the Tsukeer Trading Company…!”

Someone in the crowd, gulping, muttered that, in a tense voice, at the sudden appearance of the big shot.