Volume 1 Chapter 2 (1/2)
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I'll be blunt
I don't like rural areas thatalone in the city while going to a college prep high school It also has a lot to do hy I joined the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Depart, dead end position I went as far as to use the old branch fa unes No matter how bad for your health it's supposed to be, I wanted to live in the city and die in the city
The thing is…I hate Youkai
I don't kno things were in ancient Edo, but Youkai don't appear a the asphalt and concrete of a city The only exceptions are places that thoroughly prepare the scenery like Nara or Kyoto That is why I had always longed to live in Tokyo
But the funny thing is that Tokyo has rural areas too
And when certain pain-in-the-ass incidents crop up, I have to head there
”…So this is the third victim”
Zashou Island was a lone island close to the Ogasawara Islands but just far enough away to not be considered a part of the World Heritage Site And that is exactly why a lot of businesses wanting to use its abundant resources for business purposes financed the creation of one of the country's leading Intellectual Villages even though the island technically fell inside the Tokyo metropolitan area
At first glance, the blue sea looked like so out of a docu like buoys floating at fixed intervals They used sunlight and buoyancy to generate enough power to constantly en and plankton in the seawater
Apparently, fisherers smoothly across waterproofed and salt-proofed tablet computers when they fished
I was standing on a s pier that was (made to look) run down On that pier that was held in place with concrete sat a metal drum you could just barely reach your arms around
The outside of the dru in the ocean
A police officer in a soaking wet navy blue uniforave me a report in a bewildered tone The officer had likely pulled the drum out of the sea with the help of a local fisherman
”We tried to deal with this on our own at first, but this is the third in a week To be honest, this has gotten to be e I know it is a bother, but we have been forced to leave this with your department”
”Don't worry about it This is my job But…this is a rather unpleasant corpse”
”Is there such a thing as a pleasant corpse?”
”Well, no But this one is off-the-charts levels of unpleasant He wasn't just killed They didn't end there They gave it reater than that of a siives the same sort of fear to anyone who sees it”
I suppose I should thank the a blue tarp over the body, I thought as I peered down into the drum
Inside was a single adult man, dead
He had likely died two or three days prior Due to floating on the sea, he had no ots or flies on him, so he was in a better state than a nor
He certainly did not look like a decent Tokyo citizen though
The thickness of his neck wasface Also, I could glih the collar of his shi+rt Western tattoos had become pretty common, but this looked like the ”real deal”
The s had been severed and blood covered the insides of the drum
”The other tere the same,” said the uniformed police officer ”The limbs seem to have been forcibly severed with a dull blade such as a machete Also, wires were tied around near the point of aly to prevent as much blood loss as possible”
”So the cause of death was…?”
”You will need to ask the medical examiner for the details, but it does not seean failure due to dehydration …In other words, it is highly likely he died of starvation”
Tch
This was exactly the method used by the pirate mafia near Okinawa I believe ”exile”[1] is the ters chopped off, was put inside a barrel or a drum, and then set afloat in the sea The poor victims would either flip over and drown or be dried up after days of direct sunlight Ruulls also existed, but there was no saving you either way
”What a pain”
”I know”
I had no idea if this was really a job for Department 1 If the piratefor the anti-organized crime depart prootten stuck with a horrible job once again
”Just to ner as involved with some pirates, is he?”
”He is most likely japanese His nationality may be hard to tell from his looks, but the implant in his front teeth seems to have been done in the japanese style And no ht have been, he would have mummified if he had floated all the way from the open sea”
”And he seeanization is involved”
”It could have been forcibly given to him before he died or even after he died”
”True But a tattoo is basically a type of injury The medical examiner will be able to tell”
I , but that was s, so it couldn't be helped To be honest, I had no interest in corpses themselves When there was a murder, I of course wanted to catch the criminal, but that was only for the sake of the victim's family and to prevent the next crime In other words,humans
That said…
This did seem to have the possibility of future crimes, so I did have some motivation Some
”Now then…”
There was one more annoyance I had to deal with
I turned ruesome drum and to the pier
”Hey, mystery freak”
”What?” said a girl in response
However, the voice came from lower than you would norht you would expect of so on a beach chair placed on a pier
Oh, that is no analogy
A irl with ain a yelloo-piece swimsuit
”What are you doing here?”
”How rude I was here before you were, detective I' to make the best of my summer break”
”That's not what I mean!! Look! See this tape!? You're inside it!! You're supposed to keep out of here!!”
”Give that a rest and just let yourself be enchanted by my lovely body”
”Quit writhing around creepily like a snake shedding its skin and get out of here Move, move”
I picked up the entire beach chair and carried the kid named Enbi outside of the yellow tape
Why didn't someone else kick her out already?
”Oh, that's because of my bold presence”
”You may have the aura of a Dosojin, but you're just a irl”
Unlike me, she was interested in the corpses Unless there was a murder, she had no interest in other people As such, she had no discretion However, this actually brought excess benefits along with it, so I suppose society was fairly well balanced
It did see police officers ere always focused on deh
Afterthe beach chair away, I started to head back to the crirabbed at the collar of my suit
She then whispered into my ear
”…You don't really think this was the work of the pirate mafia, do you?”
”What?”
”Once you're done here, I'll tell you”
The way she set that up was incredibly noncommittal
That mystery freak then pulled out a leather memo pad hooked to her swimsuit bottom No, it was actually a smartphone with a cover thaton the beach chair, she er smoothly across the screen to operate it She seemed to have completely lost interest in me
She was happily sunbathing next to the corpse froirl had held complete control of her conversation with a police detective fro the boundaries of how things nor with her mind, but I was a bit jealous of how she could do that That said, I had no interest in walking down the same path as Enbi
Mine h of an attach to completely abandon it
I did not have the guts to quit and open a ra
Of course, it was possible that lack of guts was exactly how I had ended up in this dead end anyway
I reentered the taped off area and the uniformed police officer asked me a question
”What should we do now?”
”Good question”
If the man had been both killed and stuffed into the druh search of the entire island Unfortunately, he had floated here
This was not the kind of crierprints
If the victi over every stone on the island would not even turn up his identity
Of course, the island would be investigated, but there was not s you had to do but could not expect results fro away at your motivation
This had been sent up to a larger investigation headquarters since it was a case of serialmyself, the forensics team, and the others who came only added up to about 20 This was because of how unlikely it ould find anything on the island The nearby islands also had to be investigated, the records of the shi+ps that had passed by had to be checked, and the coe known as Zashou Island had to be investigated Since it was unknohere the actual criation had to be spread wide This had lowered the nu at each individual place
”For noe can go with the standard practice Call in the islander who first discovered the drum and the one who helped you pull it out of the water so I can question them”
”I can do that much You're a Depart a little…y'know…flashi+er you can do?”
The uniforesture on the word ”flashi+er”, but I'et across He was a surprisingly absurd person It was possible he had gained atoo many police dramas In reality, if a Department 1 detective went off on his own in a ”flashy” way like on TV, he would only end up being shot by the killer he was trying to catch The power of the police was the power of an organization Going off on your oas the saanization, so it was quite dangerous
If you wanted that kind of thing, you would be better off going to that mystery freak
Or perhaps Enbi's older sister
At any rate, it was true there was one thing I had to do as a Department 1 detective
”I guess I'll go get our rooms at the inn”
”Hah?”
”I need to roup, so that can be surprisingly difficult”
The department chief yelled at ht When I argued that the price was quite reasonable for a high class Intellectual Village inn and asked if it would be good for the ie of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Departave approval a It likely would not have been so easy had a director or official intervened
It goes without saying that all the others cheered at otiation
The value of tax money could become a bit unclear when it made its way to those who used it
And then…
”…Why are you here, you damn mystery freak?”
”As I said before, I a to make the best of my summer break I was here before you Also, this inn is the only lodging facility on the island”
Tch
The police could hardly reserve the entire inn, so there wasn't much I could do about it I decided I needed to speak in hushed voices when discussing the case with my coworkers
For the present, I desperately searched for so else to complain about
”By the hat's with that English gentleuts to use that in front of a police officer, minor”
”Non, non This is just mint, detective A little bit of deduction should have told you that The people of Intellectual Villages practically deify the branding of ecology and health, so I could very well end up being ganged up on and beaten if I was puffing on an actual pipe and disposing of the ashes just anywhere”
As she spoke, Enbi put the e of her swimsuit Her two-piece swimsuit had no pockets to store ss like her lass to her swimsuit bottom (She did not have a wallet, but she likely used electronic )
But with all that hanging there, the weight isn't going to pull her swimsuit down, is it?
”I have it calculated out to ensure no accidents like that happen …But if you're hoping for one, I could always arrange one to happen”
”Mh!? Cough cough!!”
Did she just read my mind!?
”Girls put a lot more effort into their looks than it looks Should I tell you how much of a pain it is each and every day to irl'? I calculate everything out for my entire body”
I did not like the direction that conversation was headed
In an all-out attee the topic, I focused in on Enbi's items
”…Is there ever any situation where you actually need to use that lass?”
”It'seaht state of mind Of course, once they h to carry around, most cases will probably be solved that way”
”As a ht you would laation techniques”
”I just think of it as the shortest course to solving the case If it can be solved easily, nothing could be better We have no duty to go along with the cried to a light one as if she were invitingI want to speak with you about, so will you join me?”
”I'm on duty”
”You left the questioning to the local police and are just waiting for the results Also, this is the third death, so the speed of the initial investigation is of little importance”
Don't act like you knohat you're talking about
Even if you're right
Somewhere out there was a ruesome way That meant we had to work hard to stop the next murder However, each additional corpseexcited
I left the inn with Enbi and we entered a s a promenade that crossed the terrain that swelled up like a hill, the irl next to me pulled out her smartphone that had a memo pad cover
”You always have to ask for my help, you cute detective, so what questions do you have for me today?”
”Sorry, but it doesn't seem to be related this time”
Unlike the incompetent police detectives fro to her because I did not know the answer
There were problems in this world that you were not allowed to solve even if you knew the answer
”And it doesn't look like the investigation will reach a dead end due to diplomatic reasons either So I also don't need your help in creating the setting of 'the police investigation is stalled due to international pressure but a certain civilian happens to solve the crime on her own'”
”Even though this is a co toto be the pirate mafia?”
”…Pretending to be?”
”After all, they have no reason to do this” Enbi lightly waved her index finger ”What were the coh information on the third victim as just found, but the other till do”
”Adult ood health japanese From the mainland and with no connection to this or any other island They had their ar stuffed into a drum and set afloat in the sea”
”And one other thing” cut in theup soation ”The victi”
”…Plant hunters”
”A bunch of grapes froe costs 30,000 yen It isn't unusual for people to try to sneak into the village to steal the brand naenetics”
”So were the victi to sell the seeds to the pirate otiations broke down so they were eliminated?”
”Um, hello? Don't you think the piratethe ires after severing their ars, I think they would at least check theroup would have no reason to want this brand name rice”
”Why not? It's froe”
”Mainland rice only tastes so good because it o best with their local cooking Their primary customers are the Chinese but the Taiwanese japanese food boo your life over With fruits or other things you eat as is, things would be different There are a lot of people that go to the effort of having those kinds of things shi+pped in by air to avoid using preservatives”
”Are you saying we can eli involved based on that alone?”
”I can't , so feel free to waste all sorts of effort looking into that if you want”
damn, do I hate her
”…If we do rule out the pirate mafia, are there any other possibilities left?”
”I can't be absolutely sure, but I do have one guess”
”The stage here is Zashou Island Nohat is its primary industry? Yes, Uchimaku-kun”
”Pearl and oyster cultivation It's a bit ironic that the cultivated ones are more valuable than the natural ones”
”Technically, the ter it in a completely isolated area, they leave the hatched fish in the ocean as they grow A quite high-level s the fish grow and then taking thee number of baby fish are used to interfere with the base of the food chain That way, rown The amount of certain fish and which there will be ram” Enbi operated her s this up as she spoke ”Mariculture is their prion fruits and e andoff of tropical fruits”
”And how does that tie into your guess?”
”Well,” said Enbi with a grin ”Where exactly did those plant hunters steal the brand name rice seeds they had?”
On the way back from our walk in the bamboo thicket, we chanced across a bizarre phenomenon
”Gh!?”
I suddenly felt a weight on my back
The weight felt as great as 3 or 4 pickling stones
As I groaned at the burden of that weight on my back, two slender arms wrapped around my neck from behind The arms felt rather damp and moist
Noooo!!
The Intellectual Village's faun!!
”What is this!? A Konaki Jiji!? It feels a bit wet!”
”Hmm From the looks of her, I'd say she's a Nure Onna”
”What kind of perverted name is that for a Youkai!?”[2]
”Eh? She's a Youkai that drags anyto down to the bottoht suck your blood”
”Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!?”
That certainly sounds deadly! So does that ht now!?
This danger came completely out of nowhere
This is why I hate rural areas!!
”Since she's on your back, you probably can't tell, but…”
”Wh-what?”
”She looks like a GAL of about 20 A GAL That's a pretty rare appearance for a Nure Onna Detective, you'll be a Youkai freak once you e to consider yourself lucky in a situation like this due to the fact that she isn't just a giant snake with a woman's head!”
”I don't want to be anything like that…!! It was because there were soup that I headed out to the city!!”
She hasn't said a word!
I'd rather avoid having to deal with an overly familiar Zashi+ki Warashi+, but this total silence is creepy!!
”Basically, you just need to not approach the river and ht?”
”So I have to waste all that energy and I get nothing in return? What did I do to deserve this!?”
”…Isn't that basically the job description of a police officer?”
I knew there was no way I couldon my back
I would definitely collapse partway there And then I would be dragged back to the river
Isn't there anything I can do?
With that thought, I pulled out es was that their coh despite the area looking quite remote
”hello? Could you bring the car around!?”
”No fair!! You're supposed to win out with your own strength!!”
When the car arrived at the bao of my back and left Apparently, she was the type to quickly retreat when faced with a battle she could not win As a police officer, a young wo wet clothes (and a closer examination showed those clothes had beco off into the depths of a ba I could just overlook, but this was not a human She was a Youkai, and a deadly one at that Rather than protect her, I needed to keep away froer Someone with a dead-end police detective job like me had a very minor role Someone like that would soon find hionist, so I had to be careful
Our investigation produced no real results that day
We worked until the sun set and returned to the inn once it did
Even if ere investigators from Department 1 of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, we could not resolve a case in 60 minutes like in a police drama Since it was likely more victims would turn up, we had to solve the case as quickly as possible, but the police were hardly all powerful
”The wind sure is blowing,” said Wajiator who had come to Zashou Island with us
We were gathered in the reception hall for dinner, but Wajima-san must have had even less to do than a detective likefor him to do without a crime scene or any pieces of evidence
”They say a typhoon is co about before We were right to fly the body out by helicopter as soon as we could”
”Ugh, really?”
The maximum wind speed in the storm zone was 30 m/s Apparently, Zashou Island was in its direct path, so it was likely no shi+ps, helicopters, or airplanes would be usable in the area
”We can't leave the island for 2 weeks because of our job anyway I'one by then”
”It still givesto know all forms of transportation will be down”
”Have you been watching those 2 hour suspense dramas?”
”I'oods we need”
I sighed
Intellectual Villages ell maintained, so there would likely be no issue with the water pipes or the electricity
”If it co but the Umbrella Jizo to rely on”
”That's not a Youkai story And it seems the only Youkai around here are Nure Onna”
”I like the sound of that Youkai And according to the local fishermen, Funa Yuurei come out at those times”
”Hehh That does see”
”I grew up in the city, so this Youkai thing is still new to me”
”I'm jealous”
I had left my home town because I wanted to live somewhere like that, but it never see our white rice, itched over to talk of our hich was less fitting for a meal
For example…
”This is just a thought I had, but this ht not be a case of serial murders”
”You too, Wajima-san?”
”Three bodies have washed up in drums, but at different times However, that does not mean they were set afloat in the ocean in that order And since they were still alive at the time, we can't rely on the estimated time of death”
”You're saying they were set afloat all at once from a shi+p or another island and they merely washed up in this order?”
”Many different currents collide here,this a complex area But that raises another question”
”Yes, was it just those three ere set afloat?”
”Itup on any other islands, but they could have flipped over and sank into the ocean It's also possible so out there As I said, the currents here are complex”
”It also seems they are plant hunters”
”Yes All three of them had brand name seeds”
”But…” I started, but the wo the inn approached
She offered us some sake, but I politely declined and asked for another bowl of white rice instead
”Do you use special rice here?”
”No, we have a deal with Akita for that They say local is best, but the subtropical environment of the island is not suitable for japanese rice”
”Thank you,” I said as I took the rice bowl and the wo to Wajima-san in a low voice ”There you have it The victiet it fro it?”
”They don't make rice on the island, so it likely was not stolen on the island so they could take it elsewhere So was it brought in from outside so it could be cultivated on the island?”
”But she said the environment here is not suitable for japanese rice Otherwise, they would have startedbrand name rice on their own No matter how excellent the seeds they had, there is no point if they cannot cultivate it”
”So it is unlikely they were taking it fro it in here That means…”
”Yes”
After eating, I left the reception hall and entered my room There, I called the chief of Departh a director or er even if I had not, but he seemed to like to receive infored information, but it indeed see useful in the first few days
Nothing suspicious had been found on other islands or shi+ps
It was unclear where the drums had come from
After my call to the section chief, I calledto do with my job I wanted to ask about the typhoon It was just one of a few different typhoons, but it was h the islands They had likely already received the typhoon's baptism there
”Cough, cough…Uncle? Did so happen?”
There was so odd about my nephew's voice It was not simply poor reception
”Do you have a cold?”
”W-well, this Yuki Onna I met recently has been a bit overzealous, so…wait, no!! I don'tan ice pillow! No, wait…you idiot!! I didn't mean you should crawl inside my futon to cool me down directly!!”
I heard sounds of a struggle on the other side of the phone
”It seems Youkai are as fond of you as ever”
”Don't they tend to hate you, uncle?”
”I can't stand Youkai The law doesn't apply to thee, you can only arrest the human criminals behind it There is no lahich to punish the Youkai Even if so killed by so Nothing could be worse for so al standpoint…”
”…U and saying she used to avoid you because of the peculiar look in your eyes when you stared at the back of her neck as a teenager”
”Wahh!! Wahhh!!”
daain!! This is why I hated my home town so much!!
”It sounds like you have a bad cold, but if that's the biggest news you have, theretoo bad I take it the typhoon didn't blow the roof off the house or anything”
”This isn't the Three Little Pigs, so don't worry Things in an Intellectual Village may look old and run down, but it's all artificial Not to mention that I've heard this house has been quite durable for ages It must be sturdy to have lasted hundreds of years An apart made of reinforced concrete would probably have a harder time”
”True Well, that's all I wanted to ask about”
Old japanese houses were so sturdy because the roof and walls were made to be easily repaired The entire roof could be redone in a single day With reinforced concrete, you just had to let it deteriorate
”You watch out too, uncle I've heard you don't have to deal with Youkai once you leave these rural areas, but Youkai aren't the only dangerous things in this world”
”Yes, and I'ht now But that co with a Nure Onna or Funa Yuurei would be more fun”
”Oh, those Youkai that sink shi+ps? I've always lived inland, so I's sink an entire tanker?”
”Co don't apply with them If they can sink shi+ps, they can sink any shi+p It doesn't matter if it's a luxurious cruise liner or an aircraft carrier But I's more than I do Say hi to your dad for me”