The Umami Land Needs a New Manager

"Dilemma, a situation wherein there are two choices are extremely difficult, both with its consequences," stated from the dictionary I am holding.

I am Enomoto Chiaki, your hot and intelligent main character for this story. Oh~ Perfection is the best adjective you can say towards me and I'll take it wholeheartedly. Everything is going to be smooth but the thing is…I AM POOR!

Let me be clear, we're not that poor since I can still eat 3-4 times a day. I mean, the luxury isn't an option for us. Anyway, I do not need any of that. I'm actually contented with what we have, for now. In fact, I am living alone in an apartment half a kilometre from my college. Convenient, right? I am also working at a computer store to earn my own money for my expenses. You all can feel the independence here, right?

The reason why I am living alone is that my home has been pretty far from my school and another is that I am annoyed to my dad since we've been moving for already seven times in 4 years. I still do not know what triggers him to change addresses.

What important is that I am free from any huge problems! The only trouble that I should worry about is if I still have spare underwear for use tomorrow.

<As I danced carefree, someone knocked on my door.>

Oh, a visitor this early?

"Sorry, but I didn't register to the daily newspape-"

"So the address was right, boys. This is Enomoto's son!" said by a grown man who suddenly entered my apartment.

"W…WHO ARE YOU ALL?!" I asked.

"We've spent the past 4 years finding for your dad. We got bored so we decided to look for you." said the guy. "Looks like the intel was right, you were living by yourself, eh?"

I…Is this the crime that has been spreading across the other countries?! I've heard this in the news, it is called the water bottle crime. Some thugs will enter the house of an unwary victim, usually males. The victim said was tied tightly, then a water bottle is going to be used to penetrate the a**! What a horrible crime! And that thing is going to happen to me now?! I should have had sealed my a**hole beforehand!

NO!! WHY AM I THE ONE GOING TO BE PENETRATED?!

"Now, let's talk properly, boy," said the guy as he reveals a water bottle from his bag.

A…A water bottle…. Plus, it's a 1 liter variant! That's too large!

"P…Please, no! My hole is not that glorious!" I shouted.

"W…What are you talking about?" asked the guy in confusion.

"Aren't you going to stick it on my behind hole?"

"You've got some weird fetishes, dude," said the guy. "It's creepy."

You guys are the creepy ones since you entered my house! And why did it sound like I am asking for it?!

"W…What's the deal, then?" I asked.

"It seems you do not know your family's situation, eh?" said the guy. "Your dad has not been paying his debt for a few years. We need to settle the score now, since my boss hasn't been happy about him."

D…DAD?! DEBT?! WHAT IS THIS?!

"Tell him that if he can't pay soon enough, the gasoline inside this bottle will scorch your apartment while you are sleeping," said the guy. "Then, we'll kill him after we have eliminated you."

I…Is this a threat?!

"And oh, don't you call the police since he was the one at fault here. If he pays us soon enough, then we wouldn't do anything." said the guy. "By the way, call me Matsudaira."

I didn't ask for your name, sir!

"Here's my calling card, if you have any plans on how to pay the debt," added Matsudaira. "Goodbye, kid. I hope our next meeting would be the last."

Ah, they finally left.

I need to phone my dad about this.

"Hello, Dad." I spoke.

"Yes, Chiaki. Something the matter?" answered my old man.

"Something the matter, my butt! Dad, why didn't you tell me that you have this kind of debt or whatsoever?!"

"Oh, so you already know," he answered.

"Well, some debt collectors threatened that they'll kill us both if we didn't pay it!"

"What?! They knew your location?!" he answered. "Y…You should move out!"

W…What a coward.

"No, we will not run this time," I said. "We should face it."

"B…But…!" he answered.

"No buts, Dad. We'll solve this problem," I said. "For starters, how much was it? The debt, I mean."

Knowing Dad, it shouldn't exceed five zeros.

"Ten million yen, Chiaki," he answered.

Mom~ Guess I'll be following you soon in the heavens~

"TEN MILLION?! What the hell were you doing, old man?!" I said.

"Don't be so mad, Chiaki," he answered. "I used it for our own good."

"F…For our own good? How?"

"This dude offered me that I should invest money to him and it will increase by 30% in the span of three months," he revealed. "So…I did it."

"Ever heard the word scam, dad?!" I screamed. "My goodness, this is a disaster. Mom's soul will eventually come back just to scream at you!"

"Well, I'm sorry. I got baited by such a good offer," he answered.

"How much did you even invest in the first place?" I asked.

"About 60% of it," he answered.

AH, WE ARE SO DEAD. Should I fight but I would have a stressful life? Or should I just give up and be buried instead? Ugh, this is a dilemma to me!

"D…Dad, we should just commit seppuku now. We are ultimately dead."

"C…Calm down, Chiaki," he replied. "Using the 40% of it, I constructed a family restaurant that should have been our main business but…"

A family restaurant? I haven't heard of this either.

"The earning hasn't been good, according to the one who I assigned as manager there," he said. "It's almost close on being shut down."

Is my dad being chased by bad luck?

"Now, I don't know how to pay them so I'm just running away," he said. "I'm sorry, my son."

Then it came to me, the idea of utilizing on what he invested for real.

"Dad, there's still hope," I said.

"E…Eh?" he answered.

"Our restaurant, I'll run it," I declared. "If I can run the business at perfection, then we can pay them consistently, am I wrong?"

"C…Chiaki, my son!!" he cried. "I…I'll leave it up to you, then."

Wow, he's really sobbing.

"Yeah, I got this," I said. "Just send me the address later."

"Yes, son. Apparently, it's somehow close to your apartment so you shouldn't have any trouble going there," he said.

"That's good, then." I replied.

He ends the call with his tone from being discouraged to being slightly optimistic.

Aagh, this is going to be troubling.