Vol 2 Chapter 3 (1/2)

Chapter 3

Standing in front of the door to the rooftop, I reconfirmed the time on the liquid plasma screen of ht As I was badgered by Alice to wake up just now, so today, I have to work fro break ends, would I be able to return to the noro to school?

This rooftop was quite cramped and was surrounded with a wire fence Only a lone rack for drying clothes could be seen on the six ht, a sht

“Vice Admiral Fujishi+ma, you’re so slow”

Major didn’t even raise his head when I walked near While e in his hands, he kept his eyes glued to the telescope that was aimed doards, and used his free left hand to adjust the wheel The five sed in an arc around his feet becaht

“I went to Alice’s place first”

“Why didn’t you come here directly?”

“Because Alice made a 3D model of Kusakabe Masaya’s face with a simulation software, and even forced me to remember what he looks like from the side and the top”

As for why Alice has such a high tech-program, I heard that it’s because it was stolen from a research lab from some company

“Oh, I see That is indeed a h I’e of this”

Major finally stood up after saying that, leavingon the floor while surrounded by monitors In front of the telescope, there was a twenty four hours superhts of the neon light illuht, the flow of custo in and out did not stop

“Someone saw Kusakabe Masaya there?”

It was somewhat distant from the station, but it is still in the same district

“That’s right There were titnesses, so it’s worth a look Running away fro in this area, these twenty four hours shops are indispensable”

“But why did we get the inforive the photo to Yondaime just yesterday?”

“They distributed the photo to the NEETs in the city, and they’re usually quite free”

Howat the late night crowd though the telescope, I thought tonetwork of contacts after being handled by Yondaime

“Even so, do we have to start froht?”

“You just think fro in this area, if he wants to buy so, he would probably do so at dahen there are less people”

I was about to say: If he chose to do so at late night when nobody’s out, it’s easy for the shopkeeper to remember his face, so he would avoid it; but I didn’t want to be misunderstood that I said that just because I wanted to continue sleeping, so I shut my mouth

“Then let’s start the discussion This is a syste work of six people with just one person, and as humans only have two eyes, you’ll have to depend on your determination to increase it” I’d be a psychic if I can do that……

Major proudly explained the locations that have a spying device on it and thesoht take part in these spying jobs et used to its h tech devices personally, and I could only feel pity for him to waste his talent

“What is this string for?”

There ool threads tied to each monitor and the stand of the telescope, while the end of the strings were tied together and vanished in Major’s backpack

“Oh, that is used for packing up all the tools in an instant to run away if someone reports that there are suspicious people on the rooftop and the police appears You can just pull on this, and all of the things would pulled into the backpack”

“Wa- wait athis rooftop without permission?”

“Duh, who can you ask for permission anyways?”

That’s not wrong, but……

“But there’s only one entrance, how can I escape then?”

“If you’re in a pinch, just jump down from here Don’t worry, you won’t die if you’re patriotic”

I’ll definitely die if I jump down!

“It’s okay if Vice Admiral Fujishi+ma dies in battle, but please take care of the devices Break a leg I’ll go set up the spying devices now I’ll change shi+fts with you after four hours”

After saying a whole lot of irresponsible words, Major disappeared into the building I really feel that he’s rather active this time

So that it would be easier to contact people in an eency, I took out my phone and placed it beside the telescope stand, then erected the collar of h it was already April, it was still exceptionally cold on the rooftop at night because of the wind The light of the ht of the incident on the dawn of that day when I squatted down It happened on a rooftop as well

The words that Alice dug out frorave— the words that Ayaka left

They are still burned in my mind

I tried to focus my attention on the faces of the pedestrians, but I couldn’t do it

I recalled Ayaka’s face, the face that was devoid of happiness, sorrow or even anger, lying weakly on the bed in the hospital

I wonder where Ayaka is right now

In the depths of the eyes that were open wide, was Ayaka’s soul really in there?

It’s useless even if I think more about it No matter where she is, it’s ie to visit her now

The ht One of the umi, Major and I had to take shi+fts of four hours each; but the four hours of sitting did not get us any new infor as the winter break Drinking the canned coffee alone after changing shi+fts, its tasted like I was drinking newspapers

Even so, I really think that this job really suits me That’s because I don’t have to think of what I can do and so on

The third ti shi+fts— Tuesday, a whole day after we started working, I felt like an empty shell Not only y to move anymore, so I could only repeatedly eat and drink The plastic bag of a convenience store was stuffed full of the packaging of onigiris and sandwiches

On oing here and there were reflected fro the people in a state of blankness ht be more effective instead—

As it see

My consciousness was gradually pulled back to the rooftop before dawn, like it was struggling to slowly drift to the surface of a botto pool

I wasn’t sure how I stopped spacing out at first There wasn’t even a shadow of a person on the screens, so I hurriedly looked through the telescope to observe in e of the shop, torkers were squashi+ng a large aetable area, while another worker was behind the counter And also—

No, it’s impossible I focused my whole attention to look at the face of thehis bill at the counter, frolasses, unlike thishinification of the telescope to the el? No, is it deodorant? Envelopes, a small item placed in a plastic box, and a lot more odds and ends

Seeing thehis bill, I felt even more certain of it Other people would not notice it even if they put in more effort to see, but I was very sure of it

That man is Kusakabe Masaya

The man walked to a trash can near the shop, took out an ite and threw it; I realized at that moet it, I recall that the yakuza said that he was asking around about so on the phone

I never would’ve thought that we could really find this person by justa shop Kusakabe’s silhouette was shown on the lefth I immediately focused on him, he vanished from the screen very quickly I stood up— I can’t stay here any his trail

Sprinting out of the door and running down the stairs of the building, I couldn’t see Kusakabe Masaya’s silhouette by the tiht of the traffic light, rushi+ng in a slanted path to the slope As the lights of the store could not shi+ne on here, the streets were suddenly plunged into darkness I saw a silhouette with the corner of my eye, and I ih the road The sounds of exhaust engines beca forward on the cold asphalt road Did he really walk towards this direction? Actually, the silhouette of the one, so I could only chase him by intuition

Turning left after going past a few corners, a bone-colored wall appeared in the darkness It was the sound insulating wall of a construction site; the folding door opened merely thirty centimeters or so

I tried to have a closer look, and saw that the signboard that should have the nao, while the words on it were indiscernible

I stealthily poked ood look as it was too dark, only the uneven ground could be seen There wasn't any large machinery in the construction site, and only a teht corner of the site It looks like there was some movement at the other side of the

Is it there? Though it looks like it’s suitable to be used as a hideout…… But if that’s just ination, what should I do? Besides, is thatmore and more uncertain

Ah, this is bad! I forgot Major’s telescope, his o back

Right at that moment— a faint noise drifted over

Originally planning to leave, I stopped The sound came from the construction site, and it seemed like it came from the hut

I silently stared at the s of the hut that was shrouded in darkness A silhouette wasin it

There was someone inside

I gulped, and stepped into the construction site The feeling of the sticky mud felt like a swamp that accumulated soft darkness I lowered my body and went closer to the hut

This time, a clear voice could be heard

“…… please No, not in the country…… That’s right You probably have an account in Singapore, right…… I won’t ask for all of the two hundred ive me a hand”

The man said with a low voice

Two hundred million

It was Kusakabe Masaya I found him I actually found him!

Indeed, he hasn’t left here yet, but why? I listened closely to the contents of the conversation with bated breath He’s probably on the phone, huh?

“…… No, it’s the flight this weekend Can’t you help out with that… Yeah No, it’syou at this time”

The voice stopped, and the person in the house tutted Listening to the faint sounds in the silence, it see the buttons of his phone appeared before my eyes It’s luckier for you to have someone on the phone at this ti to do? Is he really planning to escape to another country? And he even apore too……

Unknowingly,position started to treht that I could even find him, much less how to handle it when I find him

And I can’t just barge in He doesn’t even know ht a kitchen knife Is that used for self-protection?

In the end, I could only think of calling Major or the others I could just monitor him until reinforcements come, and I’ll just let that person handle it But I only realized in shock at that ot my phone on the rooftop too

Until a long, long time after that, I could still remember the mistake that I et my phone, would the results be better? I don’t know

Anyways, I have to go back I sloalked through theposition, then left the construction site

Walking along the road that I cah the road

On the sidewalk opposite to the slope, three silhouettes alking towards this direction The streetlights dimly illuminated the purple flowery shi+rt that was overly conspicuous, and I immediately retreated behind the walls of the house behind me

It was that guy— one of the two h I’ theuy I felt that my heart als were paralyzed

“…… near here, close to the house of Kishi+wada’s old man” “Did he please his old man?” “Probably not?” “Is construction work still done on the site?” “No, it stopped for quite some time now……”

In the silence, the contents of their conversation could be clearly heard They’re here for Kusakabe Masaya, it can’t be wrong I s couldn’t h they were sealed on the spot with cement

On the other side of the road, the three passed by me It can’t be helped now It’s too late to hurry back now, even I would be noticed by them If they notice me…… If even I was noticed—

I unknowingly squatted down,violently The footsteps of the three gradually disappeared

I stood up and ran for my life I al madly down the slope, but I did not stop because of this If the three went near him at the same time, Kusakabe Masaya would probably notice it, so it’s okay, he’d be able to escape, so it’s fine even if I don’t go back and tell hiht of reasons to explain why I ran away Each time my feet stoutup

When I finally saw the lights of the twenty four hours supered a tree beside the sidewalk, coveringto puke back intoatback

As the feeling of wanting to puke gradually vanished, disgust at h my whole body

Why did I run?

Why didn’t I turn back and inforh I saw those people?

It was I who abandoned Kusakabe Masaya but it can’t be helped, right? The opposing party is yakuza What if the guy in the purple shi+rt remembers me? If I hurried back while Kusakabe Masaya had already escaped, and I was caught instead, wouldn’t that be ironic? So it is better like this, that is—

I sedpast the junction while staring at my feet The cars that drove on the road horned loudly, driving past ainst the back of my hair

When I returned to the rooftop, the ed neatly, awaiting my return The screen showed the interior of the deserted shop, feeling as though it was bla me

I held back my tears that were about to fall and picked uptime

“I didn’t think that ould have trouble so soon”

Alice said coolly The words that ca with the sounds of the cold wind from the air conditioner were extremely cold

When I went back to the NEET Detective Agency, the sun was already up Alice used her cobeside her

“I sent a lot of things to Kusakabe Masaya’s phone, accelerating the rate of battery drain This ood and bad”

So she can use this kind of trick? This girl…… you really shouldn’t make an enemy of her

It’s just that all of Alice’s elaborate planning, Major’s high tech devices and Yondaied my knees and buried my face betweenme And we found him after so much effort……

“What is it? You’ve been as quiet as an overcooked her that it’s because of you that Kusakabe Masaya was caught by the people frouht or not”

“But, if I hurried back to find him……”

Alice finally turned her head over, frowning Is she angry?

“Think about it calmly Didn’t those people accurately walk to the construction site where he was hiding at? So it’s probably the people who Kusakabe Masaya contacted who sold his hiding spot out to Tabara-gumi Even if you hurry back and tell him……”

“I know that”

“You have a higher chance of being noticed by those people So your decision was correct, it’s just that the opposing party acted quicker than us My response wasn’t quick enough, so don’t just shoulder my responsibility for the world”

My decision, is correct?

So what? Being correct or not isn’t important

It’s just that I ran away, so the end result doesn’t matter

“Who says that it doesn’t matter?” Alice’s voice was quite stern: “Why are you so duumi, how do you think the noring this to show your ht this moment Get out!”

My jaw dropped in surprise, and I stared at Alice, as so angry that her face was all red

“…… What are you doing? Why aren’t you answering?”

“Err…… I never thought that Alice was so worried about me”

“Who says that I’m worried about you?” A pillo over “Do you really think that I would be worried for your safety!”

“Well, didn’t you say that you orried for my safety yesterday?”

“I was being sarcastic, idiot! You don’t even know that!”

For some reason, Alice started to throw empty cans and remotes at me with her face red So she wouldn’t throw her dolls even when she’s that agitated…… Wait, why is she this angry anyways?

“A…… Anyways, I’ies”

I retreated to so my head

“I had enough! You’re a guy who’s so stupid that it’s unforgivable!”

As there wasn’t anything else near her that she could throw, Alice could only whack the mat repeatedly while her black hair swayed around

“I’m really sorry……”

Though I wasn’t sure if I was in the wrong, I still apologized to Alice in a srily at the screen

I collected the things that Alice threw over and picked out the trash, but Alice spoke again as I was about to place the re items onto her bed:

“If you were caught, a useless person like you would probably blab about Meo’s hiding spot and the fact that we’re helping her to investigate the matter with little effort from them You should think of how terrible that would be”

Ah…… She’s right But that made me sound really useless

Did Kusakabe Masaya really got caught? Major went to his hiding spot to have a look, but it was deserted, as expected I should’ve at least confirot away successfully, then we could plan our next actions quickly

“I requested Hirasaka-gu devices If Kusakabe Masaya has really been caught, ould know immediately”

Even though she had her back toof

Then, I finally realized the reason for my depression, and it wasn’t because of self-reproach for not saving Kusakabe Masaya

It was because I never even thought about things

What do I do if I find his?

When I met the yakuza, if I ran away because I detererous, I ht now In reality, it was just because my feet were paralyzed in fear

Yondai resolve are present, it would just increase the others’ burden

This made ht to stay by Alice’s side as an assistant

I suddenly noticed Alice gazing silently at me

“Hry, it’s more accurate to say that it’s a shy reaction “You really are unbelievably stupid, actually thinking of this kind of thing”

…… Eh? Did I just talk to

“Okay, I get it, you’re a useless person Brainless! Coward! Fish brain! Working for a detective although you have no resolve, you have no right to be my assistant— are you satisfied?”

I was scolded for no reason To Alice, the scolding that she gavespecial

“Though I don’t knohat Yondai called realization to chickens Have you forgotten e should do?”

I was completely clueless to what Alice said at first

“…… To catch Kusakabe Masaya”

“And to protect Meo You actually forgot even though you’re the one who suggested that, I’ resolve or not It’s better for you to confirless things”

My worries were denied by her in just ame to be speechless A photocopied paper flew to me, while I blankly stared at Alice for quite so to pick up the paper

“What are you spacing out for? If you want towith your eyes open, then perform outside!”

“Ah…… Mnn, sorry”

I picked up the paper, and saw that it was densely packed with a whole of what seemed like names of products, time and price

“…… What is this?”

“It’s the POS systee chain shops have the information of the items sold in the branches all over the country, so it’s pretty easy to check”

Saying that as if it’s so si the list in detail, that’s right, all of the items recorded on it was the same as the ones on the receipt of the supermarket

“What are the ones circled with red pen?”

Right after I said that, I realized the answer The iteht were: a kitchen knife, an air freshening spray, envelopes, disposable chopsticks, disposable battery, thread and needle, lighter, scissors, bandage, and cellophane tape

“This is……”

“As there was only one customer at that tiht by Kusakabe Masaya, right? Didn’t you see hi his bill?”

Alice finally turned her head over to look at s like a kitchen knife and so like a spray

“But why did you check out what he bought?”

I saw a rare scene at that moment— Alice turned her head to a side and stayed silent

She didn’t answer for quite some time, so I couldn’t help but tilt my head to look at the side of her face, then shi+fted oods on my hands What’s with this? Did Kusakabe Masaya surprise Alice with the things that he bought?

“Oi…… Narumi……”

Alice finally spoke with a faint voice:

“In this case, I don’t want to be the detective”

“…… Eh?”

I even thought that I heard wrongly But a faht could be seen from her eyes when Alice looked at the bookshelf that was alht of the machines on it

“I’ve told you before, the detective that I meant is actually a representative for the deceased As for Meo, she doesn’t need that at all Though there aren’t any deaths yet, ers have already started to search for the words that would be lost I detest myself like this, and I don’t want to do that either Actually, just thinking of the people who are alive would be enough— but I have no choice,a person or saving a person, a NEET detective could never do that”

There’s no such thing— hat I wanted to say But seeing Alice’s sorrowful expression, I couldn’t speak my mind

As for myself— what do I think about this?

Ayaka’s words that were revealed by Alice that time

Wouldn’t it be better if I don’t know about anything? I have thought about that a few times before But it’s because of Alice that I can do these things now What would happen if I was kept in the dark about the truth? In short, is knowing or not knowing better? For me, who knows the truth, this fact could never be understood

Even so, the person who pulled me out from a bottomless sas definitely Alice I didn’t knohat to say It is always at these critical ti

I continued to stay silent, then Alice spoke while looking at her side:

“Even though I auine the sound ofon the skull of the dead What was the sum of money used for? Why did Kusakabe Masaya ask Meo to run aith the money? Why did he hide hi while being buried in the ground”

Alice used the mat to wrap her body, then turned around to facesmile, but failed

“Are you thinking: Why don’t we just ask Kusakabe Masaya after we successfully rescue him? I really think that it’d be better if I could think like that, but the fate of a NEET detective is to connect with the world through death So I could only frantically collect infor what he is thinking about”

I should really interrupt, or Alice would continue to split hairs So I tried to think of so to say—

“…… Then did you find out?”

But the question that slipped out was an idiotic question like that

“I have my assumptions, but they have not been proven yet”

“Maybe he wants to escape to another country? I reht this weekend or so like that”

“I don’t think so”

“Why?”

I could not think of any other possibilities

“Think about it, he stayed in the area even though he’s wanted by the Tabara-gunificant reason So I tried to filter the information to find out the relationshi+p between the surroundings of the construction site and Tabara-gumi, hello Corporation, and even Kusakabe Masaya himself”

“The probles are located there?”

“After a thorough search of the related addresses and categorizing theram to record the data of the connections and distance, the end result appeared here”

A second piece of photocopied paper flew over froe, double circle in the middle is probably the construction site that Kusakabe hid at, and heading west fro to the scale of thestar

Eh? Isn’t this near……?

“Isn’t this the high class residential area?”

“That’s right A yakuza boss lives in this place anization called ‘Kishi+wada-kai’ It is a luxurious mansion surrounded by surveillance cameras”

Kishi+wada? Haven’t I heard of this name before?

“This gang is a gang superior to Tabara-gu of Kishi+wada-kai”

“Ah……” The three men who looked for Kusakabe Masaya see about Kishi+wada’s oldabout this

“Which means Kusakabe Masaya’s hideout is near the residence of a boss of a gang superior to Tabara-gumi This matter cannot be handled so easily”

“Wait a sec, I’ that the person who ordered the yakuza to look for Meo’s father is aumi?”

“I a the relationshi+p between Kishi+wada-kai and this case, and it is still unknown as to how deeply are they involved in the case; but they probably do have SOME connections”

Deliberately hiding near the house of a yakuza boss who’s searching for himself? Why did Kusakabe Masaya do that? It’s inexplicable

“That’s why I investigated the iteht”

Hearing Alice’s words, I again shi+fted my attention to the paper in my hands

The iteht Kitchen knife, air freshening spray, envelopes, disposable chopsticks, disposable phone battery, thread and needle, lighter, scissors, bandages and tape What are these? The things apart fro toolkit, what in the world does he want that for?

Hmm?

“Buying a kitchen knife……”

Concealing himself near the house of his eneht that be……?

“He’s probably not that stupid, that’s your prejudice towards yakuza before this”

Alice saw through hts

“Trying to assassinate the yakuza boss with just a kitchen knife, it’s ht before he even enters the house”

“I can’t say that you’re wrong…… Then what’s with these things? What did he plan to do with them?”

“There’s actually another hypothesis about this, but I’ll keep it to h this possibility exists, it’s so stupid that going on a rae with a kitchen knife would be better Anyways…”

Alice showed me a wry smile and shook her head:

“Anyhow, it’s less now Kusakabe Masaya’s objective couldn’t be achieved This is only for a detective who’s stepping on his footsteps that collected dirty rainwater to go forward for his own self-satisfaction”

Walking out of the detective agency with a heavy heart, the sun was already high up in the sky

I was still confused about a part of Alice’s words in my heart It doesn’t ht actually make me feel better if she just reprimanded me for the mistakes that I made

As I was about to walk down the stairs, I bu I was startled, and stopped while shi+ftinglike this happened— we lost news of her father that we located painstakingly This made me unable to face Meo

“Ah, Mr assistant You ca too?”

Please don’t say that! You’ll cause a

I was frantically thinking of other topics that didn’t involve Kusakabe Masaya when I suddenly saw the clothes and towels in the paper bag Meo was holding

“Having a bath again?”

“Yeah, because Min-san asked me to just train Miss Detective to take baths herself It’s like she’s her mother”

Yeah, Min-san is practically Alice’s ht now

“If I ive birth to children as cute as Miss Detective”

“What……!?”

Would that be fine? Though I ot married so and be fussy, so it would be hard to raise them