TBCTW Chapter 13

Chapter 13 – SS Rank

Chapter 5, Part 1

Novel Title: 獣はかくしてまぐわう (The Beasts Copulate This Way)

Author：風結子 沙野 (Fuyuko Sano)

Illustrator：小山田 あみ (Oyamada Ami)

Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)

Protagonists: 鹿倉 陣也 (Kagura Jinya -MC) & ゼロ (Zero -ML)

*Please read at novels.space, the original site of translation. TQ*

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Monday, As soon as Kagura Jinya sat down at his desk, Sanae Suguru energetically placed a small paper bag on it.

It was a souvenir shop’s paper bag.

He must have dropped it in the hallway last night amidst the rush when Sanae showed up.

Crossing his arms as if he’d just won a great victory, Sanae said, “You went to Niigata, didn’t you? With that upperclassman from high school?”

If he made a poor excuse, he’d risk giving himself away.

“I’ll treat you next time, so don’t pry.”

“I’d like some seafood, please.”

“I know a good place for that.”

With a light step, Sanae returned to his desk across the way.

Oddly enough, his lack of usual persistence hinted that he might have figured something out in his own way.

…Well, maybe it’s fortunate that it’s Sanae, after all.

Though he could be a bit of a nuisance, in reality, Sanae had been there to help even during personal time.

Kagura noticed Sanae glancing his way, brows furrowed as he asked, “What’s up? You’re really trying to get out of treating me, huh?”

“No, not at all…”

He decided to be honest.

“I was just thinking that I actually trust you quite a bit.”

Sanae blinked in surprise, then, unable to hide his delight, his lips turned up slightly.

His expression was so much like an otter that Kagura almost burst out laughing.

***

Friday night, after finishing work, Kagura headed to the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office at Kudan Building.

He’d been summoned by Kiriyama Shungo. It seemed they were going to ‘Invincible Castle’ tonight. When heading there, Kagura had suggested they get into the car from the first-floor piloti of the Kudan building. Thanks to Zero, Kagura was being followed and guarded by members of the Enwu group. The piloti had poor visibility, so he might be able to shake them off there.

Zero had opposed Kagura’s contact with Kiriyama.

Kiriyama, the elite of the legal world, was, according to Zero, not a ‘Citizen’ but rather an elite ‘Non-citizen’. As a member of an ultra-privileged class, in some sense, he was outside the law.

“A Non-citizen’s methods are readable only by other Non-citizens. You won’t understand.”

When Zero had said this, Kagura felt a strong resistance to Zero’s assumption that ‘Citizen’ and ‘Non-citizen’ couldn’t understand each other. It left him feeling isolated—no, more like sheltered on the inside, which he found unpleasant.

…So those with SS-rank invitation cards to the ‘Invincible Castle’ really are in a different league compared to the ‘Citizen’.

Moreover, Zero was intent on never allowing Kagura to see that world.

Then he had no choice but to use Kiriyama to step into it.

“So I’ll get to the VIP section too, right?”

In the sedan heading toward ‘Invincible Castle’, Kagura asked Kiriyama, who was seated next to him. In response, Kiriyama handed him something resembling a smartwatch.

“SS rank.”

With this, he’d be able to enter the deeper parts of ‘Invincible Castle’.

As Kagura swallowed hard, Kiriyama narrowed his eyes, still expressionless.

“Don’t make that face—it makes me want to taste you.”

Kagura felt a shiver down his spine, and his face twisted, only for Kiriyama to mutter, “That’s a nice face too,” as he licked his lips.

Upon arriving at the underground parking lot of ‘Invincible Castle’, Kiriyama donned a black goat mask and handed Kagura a sheep mask.

When Kiriyama got out of the car, he didn’t head to the elevator for the lounge but instead raised his wrist to a door at the edge of the parking lot. The invitation card was authenticated, and the door opened. Beyond it were two elevators with purple doors.

When Kagura stepped into the elevator and looked at the panel, he saw buttons for floors B2 to 12. Apparently, the only floors inaccessible with an SS-rank card were B3 and the 13th floor.

“Shall we start with a meal?” Kiriyama said, pressing the button for the 11th floor.

“The restaurant was supposed to be on the 9th floor, wasn’t it?”

When Kagura asked, feeling suspicious, Kiriyama replied, “This is a VIP-only area.”

Once they arrived, Kagura understood. The 11th floor consisted entirely of private rooms. The black doors were designed to reveal patterns under a black light.

Standing in front of a door, Kiriyama pointed at the pattern.

“Memorise this well. It’s the same as the room number.”

Kagura studied it, but it was an unfamiliar, hard-to-remember shape.

“Is it a Siddham script?”

“Yes, it’s Kilik.”

The room, lit only by indirect lighting, resembled a suite without a bed rather than a restaurant’s private room. Decorated in deep red and monochrome in a gothic style, the walls and the spacious U-shaped sofa were a deep crimson, with a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The floor, a monochrome checkerboard pattern, warped slightly, distorting the sense of perspective and giving the impression of stepping into another dimension.

“A room designed for bad trips, huh?”

Kiriyama let out a satisfied rumble in his throat as if he’d just been praised, even though Kagura was mocking it.

Instead of the sofa, they sat at a dining table by the window. Surprisingly, a full French course meal was served, with a dry sherry as the aperitif.

The sight of Kiriyama, dressed meticulously in a three-piece suit and still wearing his black goat mask, using a knife and fork elegantly, was like a surreal nightmare. However, Kagura, wearing his own sheep mask, wasn’t in much of a position to judge.

Both masks had elongated noses slanting downward, which limited their visibility but didn’t interfere with eating or drinking.

Kagura would have preferred to explore the ‘Invincible Castle’ using his SS-rank card rather than leisurely dining, but he found himself reluctantly impressed by each dish, meticulously prepared to highlight the ingredients in a way suited to Japanese tastes.

So, while he enjoyed the meal, he focused on gathering information from Kiriyama.

“This private room is quite spacious. Is it restricted to SS-rank only?”

“If someone has an A-rank invitation card linked to an SS-rank card, they’re allowed in if accompanied.”

“So, A-rank and above. That’s fairly lenient.”

“The minimum cost if you try to buy one would be at least 100 million yen.”

“One hundred million… for A-rank?”

“Yes.”

“B-rank is fifty million, and C-rank is twenty million. However, each rank’s invitation cards are kept to a fixed number, so unless you have connections with the ‘gatekeepers’ of the Castle, you can’t get one no matter how much money you spend. Conversely, if a gatekeeper takes a liking to you, they might even give one for free.”

“These gatekeepers are appointed by Li Azhar to manage the Castle, right?”

“Every ‘Invincible Castle’ around the world operates on this same system.”

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*Translator’s Note: Kagura, there’s a price to pay for using Kiriyama. -K

*P/S: I’m too lazy to go back and check. So in some flashbacks, the sentences might not tally, but the meaning is the same.

*GLOSSARY: 

• Siddham script: An ancient script of North India (5th–12th centuries CE), derived from the Gupta script. It was mainly used for writing Sanskrit, especially Buddhist mantras and scriptures. The script was transmitted to China and Japan with Esoteric (Tantric) Buddhism, and Japanese Shingon Buddhism still preserves its use today.

• Kilik characters: A group of mystical or esoteric symbols/letters found in Buddhist manuscripts written in Siddham. They do not correspond to normal Sanskrit sounds or letters, but are considered secret syllables or pseudo-characters.

Next update: 2025.10.22

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☝🏻Bottom, second from the left is the Kilik symbol (written in katakana as KIRIIKU).