Yaji seems to think it's a pity, looking as if he's not quite satisfied, but personally, I feel he's just waiting to see me make a fool of myself! —After all, he was smiling the whole time he was teaching me!
Hmph! ╭(╯^╰)╮
Forget it, let's leave it at that.
PS: By the way, I heard that March 3rd is the ancient Chinese Shangsi Festival. Is it based on the lunar calendar or the solar calendar this time?
(1) In the Third Dimension, Kudo Shinichi was indeed running for Parliamentarian.
It's already reached one hundred chapters, so let's have a Non-responsibility side story.
..
Thank you to the Little Angels who cast Overlord votes or provided Nutrient solution~
Thank you to the Little Angel who provided Nutrient solution:
Morin 10 bottles; Snare "Suo Bu Zhu Si, Gongjun Wangshu" 1 bottle;
Thank you all so much for your support, I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 101 Chapter 96 I am the Osaka Prefectural Police Chief Kudo Hattori..
Obviously, this suggestion would not be so easily accepted by the Hotel owner.
Upon seeing the blood splattered across the Room and the Middle-aged man lying face down in a pool of blood, the Middle-aged man who ran a motel and appeared malnourished let out a scream that was inconsistent with his frail frame.
Akai Shuichi shrugged his shoulders.
Gin frowned slightly, both at the piercing, ear-splitting scream and at the Hotel owner's obvious state of panic.
Her temples throbbed incessantly, the exhaustion from consecutive days of fatigue surged into her brain all at once, crashing over him like a tide and causing her vision to go dark.
Gin closed his eyes with restraint. "Aren't you going to call the police?"
The Bar owner snapped out of his daze, instantly feeling as if he had found his pillar of strength. He nodded repeatedly and rushed out to grab the landline at the hotel reception to call the police.
Gin observed the back of the man, who looked like a startled rabbit, for three seconds. "Doesn't he have a mobile phone?"
He was still holding it in his hand.
Akai Shuichi gave an indifferent smile, his tone carrying a hint of understanding: "Perhaps he was too nervous, so he forgot?"
Gin sneered, "Perhaps it's because they suspected the two of us were the killers, they couldn't wait to escape."
This guess was quite reasonable, yet it didn't quite make sense. Akai sighed helplessly, teasingly asking, "Do you have persecutory delusions?"
Gin gave him a cold glance. "I don't think you should compare me to a mental patient."
"My mistake," Akai conceded, raising his hands in a gesture of surrender.
Gin gave a light huff, which could be considered an acceptance. After a moment, he spoke indifferently again, "It could also be that he was simply too terrified, which is why he was so desperate to leave."
It was a compromise.
Akai Shuichi froze for three seconds, then burst into laughter.
He didn't dare laugh too loudly—lest Gin grew enraged and dealt a lethal blow—so he turned his back, pretending to examine the corpse, though his shoulders continued to tremble slightly, the intensity of which caused Gin to frown.
..
It was hard to say whether it was because the Police were too inefficient or because news traveled too fast. Before the police could even arrive, many people in the hotel already knew, to varying degrees, that a murder case had occurred in the hotel.
So, after being thoroughly shaken, the overwhelmed Bar owner had to face the panicked customers' incessant shouts of "Refund my money!", "What on earth happened?", "Is the killer among us?!"
The small man was surrounded by the aggressive customers, looking quite pitiful, like an innocent rabbit caught in a pack of wolves.
“I.. I don't know either,” the Man said guiltily.
"This is your Hotel!" Seemingly seeing the cowardice that matched the Hotel owner's frail physique, the Woman became even more aggressive, his golden hair carrying a heat like the intense summer sun.
I.. I..
The shop owner's attitude undoubtedly intensified the suspicions of the already panicked Onlookers, their voices grew increasingly loud, as if they were about to tear this poor man apart.
The thin shopkeeper leaned slightly backward, one hand resting on the table in a defensive posture. His Index finger pressed against the counter turned a faint white, as if manifesting his helplessness.
In the end, another customer nearby could no longer stand it. This man looked as though he had come here to travel with his wife and child, he spoke up to intervene, "Everyone, please calm down first."
Amidst the skepticism of the crowd, he announced his identity: "I am Hattori Heijizo, the Superintendent of the Osaka Prefectural Police. Please rest assured, we will certainly provide an explanation."
The slightly strange Kansai accent carried an unquestionable firmness and severity, which, amidst the chaotic scene, actually provided a sense of reassurance.
The dark-skinned youth beside the man had a piercing gaze. He looked to be no more than a junior high student, yet he showed no sign of fear regarding the murder case. He ran toward the shop owner with purpose and asked, "Where is the corpse?"
"Heiji!" a gentle and dignified Wife scolded softly from the side.
Hattori Heiji flashed a confident smile, "Leave it to me!" His words were filled with the pride of a newborn calf that fears no tiger.
Gin: ………………
He wanted quiet.
Not the Jingjing of Hattori Shizuka.
..
Having a member of the Police, one of the high-level members who is quite prominent within the Police, put everyone in the Hotel at ease.
Gin also felt much more "at ease." It seemed he wouldn't have to take the spotlight after all, allowing him to coast along and head straight home once the case was resolved.
He had to wash his hands with yuzu leaves to get rid of the bad luck!
Such a coincidence caused even Akai Shuichi to slightly raise his eyebrows. He knew nothing of the investigative abilities of the father and son, but he also knew that avoiding attention was the best choice right now, because—
"Be careful with the wound on your shoulder." Gin's gaze fell upon his black-haired companion's wound; his tone seemed indifferent, yet he inconspicuously blocked any potential gaze from Hattori Heijizo.
Regarding this, Akai Shuichi expressed his gratitude: "I will."
His wound was a genuine gunshot wound; if it were ever exposed, it would be the ultimate example of a catastrophic failure.
After a long day of being both exhausted and hungry, coupled with the misfortune of a murder case occurring, Gin was feeling quite impatient.
He was cold and ruthless by nature, naturally indifferent to whether strangers lived or died; he threw himself into darkness and cared even less for justice; his hands were stained with blood, so naturally, he felt no fear of any potential Killer.
So when the Hattori family appeared, the last shred of interest Gin had in the murder case vanished like snowflakes in the spring sun, disappearing almost instantly.
His green eyes wandered listlessly, like a light breeze gently swirling up green leaves, Gin felt a sudden urge to find something to eat.
The green leaves, swept up by the wind, landed on a little boy.
The little boy looked to be only about ten years old. He was small in stature, with slightly messy, cropped hair, wore a worn-out denim jacket and blue shorts. His small face was faintly stained with grime.
Gin recognized it as bloodstains.
He walked toward the little boy in a few strides, a hint of interest rising in his green eyes.
The little boy had been staying quietly to the side, appearing very unwilling to be noticed by others. When Gin had just taken his first steps, he had not yet realized that something was wrong—
It wasn't until the Silver-haired youth approached him with a clear target in mind that the boy's expression turned to one of panic.
He instinctively turned to leave, but Gin grabbed his shoulder.
An adult's strength was far beyond what an ordinary child could resist. The well-trained Assassin casually placed his hand on the boy's shoulder, but his large hand gripped the child like an iron vise. The latter could not break free, appearing as if he were about to burst into tears.
However, even at this moment, he did not cry or scream like an ordinary child, nor did he make even a single sound.
Gin raised an eyebrow slightly.
“You were the first witness to the corpse, weren't you?” the Silver-haired youth guessed with a half-smile.
The boy shuddered, a hint of panic appearing on his youthful face before he immediately regained his composure, earning a silent word of praise from Gin.
The Child looked at him cautiously, admitting in a low voice, "Yes."
“Why not say it out loud?” Gin tilted his head slightly, his gaze shifting toward Hattori Heijizo. “Shouldn't a child trust the Police?”
There was a hint of mockery in his tone.
However, this hint of mockery seemed to put the boy at ease; he clearly relaxed quite a bit, even his muscles were no longer so tense: "I don't trust the Police."
“Since you are so wary—” Gin lowered her head, her condescending gaze sweeping across the boy's face, completely indifferent to the boy's unusual reaction, "Why did you admit to me that you were the first one to find the corpse?"
The boy stammered, "Because.. you've already found out.."
Then, whether I admit it or not.. it won't make any difference, will it?
Gin let out a light chuckle. For the first time, he studied the Child intently, feeling a strange sense of familiarity; the boy's hedgehog-like cautiousness was somewhat similar to Nana's back then.
Although he didn't know what the boy had been through, this slight similarity made Gin's gloomy mood improve for once—not excluding the influence of finding new entertainment—as he casually leaned down.
“You still don't want the Police to know, right?” Gin stared into the boy's eyes, his voice seductive.
The Child nodded with a faint smile.
So Gin lifted the Child's hand, his fair, slender fingers touching the boy's cheek; the boy's skin, which was much coarser than that of an average child, did not cause Gin to frown.
The Silver-haired youth applied pressure with his fingertips, causing the child's cheek to deform slightly as he wiped away the faint traces of blood that might expose the boy's condition.
After finishing all this, Gin straightened up, pressed his thumb and index finger together a few times, then casually ruffled the boy's hair:
Go play.
Under the other's subtle expression, Gin said indifferently.
..
Amidst the ongoing clamor of the onlookers, Gin's actions were not particularly conspicuous; even if someone had seen them, they would likely have assumed he was merely comforting a Child.
However, these were clearly impossible to hide from Akai Shuichi by his side.
The latter's gaze held a hint of doubt, but Gin had no intention of hiding anything, so he simply picked through the details and told Akai what had happened.
"I see.." Although he did not agree with the boy's choice, Akai Shuichi was not going to make things difficult for a child only in his teens, what concerned him even more was Gin's attitude.
However, the boss had no intention of saying anything, it wasn't convenient for him to ask, so he could only make a mental note of this matter, storing it within the exclusive files regarding Gin—files he had specially created for him.
Gin was completely unaware of this.
However, what was most important right now was not this, but—
"Where did you put that.. thing you brought out?" Akai Shuichi glossed over the most critical word, "corpse," as he questioned his companion.
Compared to his own gunshot wound, the corpse that Gin insisted on bringing out from the Underground Secret Room was a far more inexplicable existence.