The Lying Counselor’s Eloquent Reasoning - Chapter 31
“Your statement just now is nothing but evidence that you regarded Naoharu as a pet or some other kind of object. Yes, keeping a leash around his neck all the time, so that you can keep him with you. Of course, he has no freedom. You prevented him from working outside the home, and yet he receives very little money per month. Even though his asthma is improving, staying at home would be the only option for him. That’s exactly what you had in mind… Aside from the fact that he started to be violent towards you.”
“Ah…”
Uroma’s remark seemed to snap Nobuko out of her reverie.
“Are you trying to tell me that Naoharu’s violence was my fault?”
“Of course it is. To him, you were what he called a toxic parent, and you were probably incredibly exasperating. He would have wanted to strike you.”
“Of course not! I’m always there for Naoharu with his asthma??”
“Haha. Whenever someone pointed out a sore spot to you, you always brought up your son’s asthma to justify your actions.”
Uroma no longer made any effort to conceal his mockery.
“Perhaps, for you, consulting a counselor regarding Naoharu’s violence is akin to sending a pet dog with a biting tendency to a trainer to be corrected. However, obviously, Naoharu is by no means a dog. He is a human being, and the counselors will treat him as such as well. And after listening to each story from you and him, you soon realized that the problem lies in the way you behave. You are a truly clear example. I bet they all said the same thing to you, in a distant way, while looking at you. ‘I think you’re being a little too involved with your son. He is already an adult. He is already an adult. Even though you are his mother, you don’t have to be concerned with everything. If it’s your son’s asthma, you don’t have to worry so much. He can be fine on his own now’. What do you think? Am I imagining things right?”
“T-That’s??”
Nobuko appeared to be shocked. Her reaction was that someone had just hit the nail on the head.
“And you must have been furious with their very reasonable advice. In your mind, you must have had a great sense of absolute justice that you were the only mother who could support your son who was critically sick. So long as you have that solid shield, their words will never penetrate to you… Well, in the end, it ended up being only your selfish assumption.”
“It’s not… an assumption…”
Nobuko was now gasping for air; it seemed difficult to even refute him.
“I’m certain that you have never once properly contemplated Naoharu’s feelings. Yet, I have a feeling that I know precisely why he has committed such a spiteful and criminal act. You told me this yesterday. You told me yesterday that you have always been bad at computers. So to him, the Internet world represents a sanctuary where you, a computer illiterate, can’t interfere with him. Therefore, he had no choice but to earn his own income there. In fact, you have no grasp of what he was doing with the computer while living under the same roof.”
“I-I am Naoharu’s mother! I understand him much better than you do!”
“If that’s the case, how come you didn’t discover his criminal activities until today? Yesterday, simply by listening to your story, I immediately recognized what he was doing. After all, he was tearing apart a magazine that he had just bought. This was clearly for the purpose of scanning the contents of the magazine into the computer. If that’s the job of a web designer, there’s only one thing I can assume. These days, there are stricter regulations on such things, yet people still do it.”
“You mean you knew all this, and that’s why you pushed those sugar cubes on me?”
“Yes.”
It was Uroma who replied indifferently. Tomomi was horrified. What a prick.
“However, I’m not imposing anything on you. I merely provided you with an option. It’s up to you, Mrs. Kikuchi, to choose and execute it. Had you listened to the good counselors before you approached me, or had a proper discussion with Naoharu, he would never have been arrested.”
“You are saying that it was my fault that Naoharu was arrested!”
“That’s right. In general, it is absurd to assume that parents are responsible for the criminal acts of their adult children, but in his case, I would say that this is exceptionally true. You drove him to that point.”
“Don’t screw around!” Nobuko stood up, slammed her hands on the office desk, and exclaimed. Tears were welling up in her eyes, and her body was trembling.
“Mrs. Kikuchi, I expect that Naoharu will be released soon and will be able to return home. It won’t be long now. By that time, you should cool down a little and reflect on what you’ve done to him as his mother. That’s all I can say to you as a counselor for now.”
“What counselor are you! You’re nothing but a fraud!”
Nobuko’s face turned red and she yelled at him, and then she just stumbled out…
“Oh dear. She left without thoroughly listening to what I had to say. I wonder for what purpose she came here for counseling.”
“Doctor, your wording is harsh, by all means.”
From the middle of the discussion, it seemed like Tomomi was simply trying to stir up the counselor.
“Well, that can’t be helped. Even if I were to put it softly and indirectly, she would never understand. She will forever not grasp that she was in the wrong. That is why she overcame the dead bodies of innocent counselors and made it to me. I am truly grieved for them.”
Uroma laughed gleefully, “Hahaha”. After destroying someone else’s home, this was how he smiled.
“And consider this. The future of the girls and their parents may be in jeopardy, but thanks to me, a criminal is now firmly in the noose. For the publishers whose copyrights were being violated, I did a wonderful service. Heaven’s net has large meshes, but nothing escapes. It’s really refreshing to think of it that way!”
“D-Doctor, are you a demon or a devil or something?”
Tomomi’s head started to feel dizzy. She wondered if it was really safe for her to be working for such a person.
T/N:
Heaven’s net has large meshes, but nothing escapes – Idiom, Heaven’s vengeance is slow but sure