"Yes? What is it, Makoto?" Sakura turned to me. She blushed, thinking it was another lewd request. But when she saw how serious my face looked, she became serious as well.
"Um… you want to become a doctor, right? I heard you took a loan." I began.
"Erm… yes."
"100k for a house is quite cheap, don't you think?"
"Well, yes. But I don't have to start paying until five years later, so…" Sakura muttered.
"Erm… well…" I stuttered.
How should I approach this calmly without accusing the moneylender? Victims of scammers often didn't know—or didn't realize—that they had been scammed. Moreover, if it came from her family or someone close to her, I wasn't sure if I should interfere.
Was she really being scammed?
What if it was all just a misunderstanding and this friend of hers was actually a good guy?
"Makoto?"
"I heard there have been scammers lately. Um… my friend, who is an adventurer, told me about this scam. So I wondered if you might have gotten caught in something similar."
"Oh. How did she get scammed?" Sakura asked.
I would have been intimidated if she had said something like 'it's not your business' or insisted that the lender was completely trustworthy, but Sakura actually listened.
"You see, my friend owed a debt. But when he paid it, the creditor denied receiving the payment."
"Oh. So she had to pay the creditors twice, huh?" Sakura asked, and I nodded. "Well, that's tragic. But I wonder if the same could apply to me. I just need to be careful when I pay the debt back, right? And, it's not like you knew it was the debtor's fault, right?"
Sakura nodded, seemingly reassured by her own reasoning.
"I'll keep this in mind. Thank you, Makoto." She nodded.
"Um… have you met with a lawyer regarding your loan?"
"Yes, of course. We signed the loan agreement in front of a lawyer." Sakura nodded.
It seemed like she had covered all the bases. I breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe this was just me overreacting. But somehow, I felt a tug in my chest.
"Could you at least meet with my lawyer? We could probably get a second opinion." I lounged on the sofa. "Can I see the contract?"
"Huh? Why? do you want to see the contract?"
"I just want to know why he's being so nice to you."
"As I said before, he's my aunt's friend. Well… if you want to know that much, I guess I could show you. But I'm not paying for the lawyer, okay? I need to save up. This loan might cover my tuition, but it doesn't cover my living expenses while I study to become a doctor," Sakura said.
She seemed annoyed that I insisted on reviewing the contract. Was I being too meddlesome?
"Yes… I'll cover it." I nodded. At the very least, this would give me peace of mind. I'm an adventurer now. Heck, I just got 500 dollars yesterday. I can splurge a little.
The next morning, we rode a bus through the busy streets. It had been a long time since my father's death, yet somehow this lawyer still had the same office.
His office was not a desolate place like those in movies. It was a normal office inside a skyscraper. He rented about a quarter of a floor there. I guess business was stable—not too exciting, but not too quiet either.
When we entered the office, I was greeted by an old receptionist. I recognized her. She had helped me after my father's death.
"Greetings, Mr. Makoto. May I help you?" The lady, despite her advanced age, seemed to have remembered me as well.
"Can we meet with Mr. Jack?"
"Of course. Is it related to your inheritance assets? Now that you are 18, I suppose you can finally claim your father's inheritance. You have grown into a fine man. He must be proud to have a son like you. Is this your girlfriend?"
Sakura blushed when the receptionist assumed she was my girlfriend.
She is not. She is my sex slave.
But I guess I couldn't tell her that. Anyway, with that aside, let's meet with the lawyer.
"No, it's not about the inheritance. I came here to consult about something."
"Understood. A legal consultation, then? I shall phone Mr. Jack now." The receptionist bowed.
A few moments later, she returned.
"Please come in. Mr. Jack will meet you shortly."
"Thank you." I nodded as I plopped down on the sofa while the kind old lady served us iced lemon tea.
It didn't even take a minute before Mr. Jack came to meet me. I wondered if business had slowed down. He seemed to have plenty of free time to see me without an appointment.
"Yo, Makoto. How's life?"
"Nice. I think I found a gig I like."
"Good. There's no such thing as starting too early when it comes to earning money. So, I heard from Jacqueline that you wanted a legal consultation. Is this related to your new gig?"
"No. I want you to review a loan contract my friend signed," I said while Sakura showed him the loan contract on her phone.
"Hm… just a photo? Wait a minute. Could you send me the photo?" Mr. Jack put on his glasses as he took out a tablet. I sent him the image through his messaging application.
"I heard there are scammers around, so I wondered if this agreement might be too good to be true."
"Okay. The consultation fee is 500 dollars. You might be John's son, but I need to maintain professionalism, boy. I'll give you one piece of advice: don't trust any lawyer you didn't pay. You never know whether he works in your interest or someone else's."
"Understood." I nodded.
The receptionist then brought refreshments—some butter cookies and a pot of lemon tea in case we needed more.
"Well… the contract seems solid. There is nothing—"
Jack paused as he swiped through the document. He then glanced at Sakura. His eyes suddenly glinted with a dangerous light.
I saw his hand tremble as he stared not at me but at my companion.
"…I assume you're Sakura?"
"Yes. Is there something wrong?"
"…Do you have the written document? Have you received the money?"
"Erm… no. I signed it several days ago. Mr. Alex said he would give the money sometime this week."
Mr. Jack grinned.
"Well, you are in luck, Makoto. I will handle this case pro bono. I don't need money. Let me handle it," Jack said.
"Huh? That's not what you said earlier. Is there something wrong with the contract?" I asked.
His words sank in moments later. A case? I had only asked him to review some legal documents. Why did it suddenly become a case?
There really was something wrong with the contract!
"There is nothing wrong with the contract," Jack said flatly. "But I recognize the name. If you go to another lawyer, they will likely say the same thing."
"Name?"
"Yes. Three years ago, I lost a case against this man," Jack said. "My client was an earnest man. I had known him for nearly a decade. He claimed he had already paid the debt. But neither I nor the judge could prove that he had paid it correctly."
"This man denied ever telling my client to pay into that account. So the court ruled that my client had been swindled by another scammer. That scammer was never caught. The account was just a shell account and such, the court ruled that he was to be given leniency about the loan, but he had to repay the debt again."
"I see. Are you saying this is the same case?" I listened carefully. That was exactly like Yuuno's case.
My heart raced at the thought of my girl being scammed. Yuuno's crying and sullen face overlapped with Sakura's in my mind.
If Sakura wasn't an adventurer, she would suffer much more because of this kind of scam.
"No. The modus operandi here is completely different from before. I just recognize the name," Jack said.
"So…"
"It might just be a coincidence. He might not be a scammer," Jack said bluntly. "So we will run a little test. Sakura, you said that you haven't received the money, right?"
He said he might not be a scammer, but right now, none of us believed it.
"Yes." Sakura nodded. "I haven't received the money."
"Good. First rule: don't touch the money. If he gives you the money in cash, you must refuse it. Say something like you're afraid of handling such a large amount of cash. All money must be transferred through a bank account. That way, he will leave a record behind, including his bank account. If he is a scammer, the sender's account might have a different name, or he might ask you to pay a to an account that isn't his—or even an overseas account where it can't be traced."
"Understood." Sakura nodded.
"Jacqueline, could you give me one of those body cams?"
"Here you are, Mr. Jack." Jacqueline handed him a small, pocket - sized body cam.
I was surprised at how quickly she moved. As expected of professionals. She was a cut above those other receptionists whose only strength was their looks.
"Um… is this okay?" Sakura asked hesitantly as she took the body cam.
"Don't worry. If this turns out not to be a scam, no harm will be done. After all, you did nothing wrong, right? All you want are records and evidence," Jack said. His eyes glinted with a dangerous light.
At that moment, I understood. Somehow, this had become personal.
Sakura took the body cam with a trembling hand and nodded. I rested my hand on her shoulder.
"We will get through this together."
"I can promise you that if you follow my advice, no injustice will be done to you." Jack nodded. "Please report everything that happens with that man to me, alright? I'll give you both my number. Keep me posted on everything he does."
"Yes." Sakura nodded.
"I never thought this would turn out to be a real scam. This world sure is dangerous." I lounged on the sofa, breathing a sigh of relief. Whoever was scammed before Sakura, I thank you, nameless victim. Thanks to you, we can identify this scam. What luck! To find a lawyer that has experience.
"We're not sure this is a scam yet, Makoto. Let's see where this goes first, alright?" Jack smiled.
With our business settled, we returned.
"Um… I'll be going home. Alright. Sorry, but I don't think I want to play today."
"Of course. It must be nerve-wracking. I never thought you'd get involved in an actual scam like this either, Sakura. I thought I was just being paranoid. But better safe than sorry, right?" I said.
She nodded and we waved to each other at the bus station. Then my phone rang beside me.
Oh yeah. I had lunch with Yuuno and Noelle today.