Chapter 12 Chapter One

The rainy days that lasted for many days suddenly turned sunny, and summer came soon after.The noon news hurriedly announced that the rainy season in the Kanto region had passed, and the air conditioner was turned on for the first time this year in the office of "Nozaki Funeral Removal Company". When the sun was setting in the west, one of the company's good customers, the Home for the Elderly, called and said that a 75-year-old man had died of a cold for a long time. Well, I hope the company will send a body truck to take the old man to the home of his eldest son who lives in Kasukabe.

"Let me go." Yoji Yamamoto stood up, took off the dark blue overalls from the hanger, and walked to the desk of the company manager Nozaki who was tapping his forehead with a ballpoint pen. Hey -- all the colleagues in the office raised their heads and stretched their necks to stare at Yamamoto.After lunch, Yamamoto made a trip to Hachioji City, and returned to the company within a few minutes.Although he is a new employee who has only been in the company for two months, he is over 40 and not a few years younger than the manager. Is it necessary to be as active as a high school student who has just graduated?

Yamamoto ignored what his colleagues thought, walked out of the office without saying a word, went to the parking lot and drove the black body truck onto the highway.The off-peak time is approaching, and traffic jams begin on the road.Yamamoto lit a cigarette and smoked one after another. Except for the manager, Nozaki, no one in the company knows about Yamamoto's past.There are too many vicious cases that are so cruel and horrifying that Yamamoto's homicides committed in other cities will not be spread here, and after 13 years of prison life, his appearance has changed a lot. People who knew him probably wouldn't recognize him either.

Still, Yamamoto felt very uneasy.Usually, he tries to avoid talking to his colleagues. When people invite him to drink and play mahjong, he always finds reasons to decline. He doesn’t even join the group for lunch, and eats silently by himself.He pretended to be an enthusiastic worker and drove out one after another, in order to avoid being asked about his past experience when he was chatting with his colleagues. Yamamoto parked the car at the back door of the "Home for the Elderly", put on white gloves on his hands, and walked to the morgue where the corpses were parked.The old man died in the "home for the elderly", and trouble was inevitable.As expected, the woman who looked like the eldest daughter-in-law was yelling at the staff of the "Home for the Elderly", demanding that they pay for the funeral expenses.He said the family was too narrow to fit the old man; he said he had no savings, and he died so suddenly that he had no money for the funeral... Yamamoto saw that he wanted to arrange the old man's frozen body, but it would be midnight anyway.

In the dark corridor, Yamamoto quietly waited for the family meeting of the old man's survivor to end.A person who has killed people is engaged in the work of moving corpses, Yamamoto thought it was a bit funny thinking of this. When Yamamoto bowed respectfully to the old man with the survivors, he felt an infinite emptiness.This feeling of emptiness has been with him since he started working two months after he was released from prison. When I arrived at the company, it was pitch black, not even a single person. It is said to be a company, but it is just a wooden house built in front of the house, with less than 20 employees.The manager, Nozaki, used to be the head of the transportation section of a funeral company. He became independent from the company seven years ago, and was mainly engaged in the work of the former head of the transportation department.

"Are you back? Thank you for your hard work!" Nozaki opened the glass window, revealing a face radiant with drinking, "Where is the final arrangement?" "My second daughter's house. It's in Kamio." Yamamoto replied while taking off his overalls. "Oh, it's not too far." "Ah, it's not far." Yamamoto said, stretching out his hand to the carrying notebook on the shelf. Yamamoto was able to work in this company thanks to the help of his guardian and Mr. Chuan.At first, Nozaki heard that Yamamoto had a criminal record for murder, and he didn't want to accept it. Later, when he learned that Oikawa was the president of the city's Gold and Silver Association, he reluctantly agreed.The moving business of several "homes for the elderly" was introduced by Mr. Oikawa, which even Yamamoto knows.

It was very lucky for Yamamoto to meet Oikawa by chance.After he was released from prison, Yamamoto was first assigned to work in a furniture factory, but just half a month later, the furniture factory went bankrupt.Yamamoto, who had nowhere to go, lived in a relief center for those who were unaccounted for after being released from prison, and made a living by working part-time.Although the company is not big right now, it finally has a formal job.Before committing the crime, Yamamoto had been an employee of the company. He was able to restore his original social status and start a new life after being in prison for more than ten years. Needless to say, he was grateful to Mr. Oikawa who had lost his leg for his re-employment. Nozaki's manager is also regarded as a benefactor.but……

"Yamamoto's coming here has helped the company a lot!" Nozaki said the line repeated countless times, and walked out of the house pulling on his slippers, "By the way, someone called you, around 7 o'clock .” Yamamoto was sprinkling disinfectant powder on his work clothes, he was stunned when he heard this, he turned his head and asked, "Give it to me?" Nozaki has already turned to Yamamoto: "It's not Mr. Oikawa, although it sounds like an elderly person's voice. He hung up without saying who he is." Who is it?If it wasn't Mr. Oikawa, could it be the criminal or prison guard who educated me? "It's not someone suspicious, is it?" Yamamoto said looking at Nozaki's smiling face.

"Just kidding! I don't know you yet? How can a serious person like you associate with suspicious people?" Yamamoto wanted to give Nozaki a smile, but he couldn't smile at all, so he picked up the porting notebook and walked towards his desk. Nozaki chased after him, and chattered endlessly: "What I'm most afraid of is people asking about you. Why are you single, what did you do before... I think you should be more easy-going, and go out for drinks with everyone. What's wrong?" When he first hired this 1.80-meter-tall man with a criminal record for murder, Nozaki was worried.It is different now, and there is no need to be afraid at all.He has grasped Yamamoto's weakness, he can hold it in his hands and play with it like a docile lamb.

It's sweltering hot outside, and the record for the highest temperature in the same period of history is probably about to be updated.Maybe it was because of the sweltering heat, Yamamoto felt extremely irritable.