Tokyo Unnatural Forensics

Chapter 595, A Year in England, A Lifetime of Love for England
"As expected of the department head, even the souvenirs are so classy." Kai Toru joked with a smile.

Nango looked at Okada and handed him a box of Hagi no Tsuki: "Section Chief, how was your trip to London?"

“I watched the rain for a few days, walked around the British Museum, and spent some time daydreaming by the Thames.” Okada continued, speaking calmly: “They say London is so great, but after going there, I didn’t feel anything special, but… it was very quiet.”

"No way, hasn't the department head met an English rose yet?" Kai Tō asked jokingly, "Want to have a romantic cross-cultural romance?"

"...No, the only impression I got was that things were very expensive." Masayoshi Okada shook his head frantically, a black line appearing on his forehead. What he didn't say was that he chose to go abroad because he was afraid his family would arrange blind dates for him.

“Huh? Speaking of which, I almost went to study LBS in the UK. If I had actually gone, I would probably be working in London now.” Nango Yui said with a hint of regret, half-jokingly, “Otherwise, I wouldn’t be in a place like the Metropolitan Police Department now. But to be honest, many people in the financial industry that I know have studied finance, economics, and business in the UK. After they returned to Japan, they missed my great Britain every single day.”

"There's nothing we can do, that's just how the Japanese are," Kai Toru said, arms crossed. "New York Syndrome, Paris Syndrome, London Syndrome..."

As mentioned earlier, many Japanese people suffer from the New York-Paris syndrome, always regretting that they were not born in New York or Paris, but in a rural place like Akita.

If that's the case, then London, Milan, and Los Angeles would also count.

"Oh, really? I doubt these people have actually been to Paris, New York, or London?"

Just then, Uesugi Muneyuki walked in through the front door and casually chuckled. Behind him, Erena, now dressed in a suit, trousers, and leather shoes, was half a step behind carrying several bags of Karuizawa specialties. Watanabe Minami, now in a full police superintendent's uniform, chuckled and said, "What British romance? It's just a glamorous, classical dream without needing to make money, eh~"

"Manager, Chief Executive, you're back too?...Indeed." Masayoshi Okada couldn't help but complain, "Everything in London is incredibly expensive..."

Masayoshi Okada shared his experiences in London with everyone.

Living in London is really expensive! Just to give you an example, a decent shared room in Zone 3 of London costs £1000 a month. Then there are various utilities, phone bills, and transportation costs that will cost at least £200 a month. Buying daily necessities and changing clothes will cost another £200. Add to that the cost of cooking for yourself, which can be reduced to about £300 a month. So, the basic necessities alone will cost £1700 a month.

Then there's the high cost of living in London. A beer costs £6-£8, a meal at a typical restaurant costs £20-£30 per person, and a movie ticket costs £15. Even with just two basic social engagements a month, £200 is easily gone, not even counting miscellaneous expenses!

So, in London, a monthly salary of £3000 (around £2400 after taxes) is really just enough to survive! All expenses must be kept to a minimum!
So, how much is a monthly salary of 3000 yen?
It's a monthly salary of 600,000 yen!

In Japan, a monthly salary of 600,000 yen would be considered middle class in any statistic!

Even in Tokyo, where the cost of living is the highest, a monthly salary of 600,000 yen can provide a very comfortable life. In London, 1000 yen can only find a single room in a typical shared apartment in Zone 3. However, 200,000 yen can find a very nice 1LDK (one-bedroom, one-kitchen) apartment in one of the 23 wards of Tokyo, outside of the six central wards!
In contrast, a good studio apartment in Zone 2 of London costs around 2000 yen per month, which is equivalent to 400,000 yen. That's enough to rent the 3rd floor Sakatabashi Tower in Bunkyo Ward where Uesugi Muneyuki currently lives!

In London, the cheapest fast food meal costs at least 10 yen (unless you eat leftovers from a blind box or McDonald's or KFC), and it usually consists of just a sandwich and a cup of coffee. In Tokyo, you can have a decent fast food meal for 1000 yen, and a very luxurious meal for 2000 yen.

If you still don't understand, here's an example: 3000 is roughly equivalent to a monthly salary of 27000 RMB in a certain country across the sea!
According to official data, in a certain country across the sea, only 2% of the total population earns more than 20000 yuan a month! Assuming the middle class comprises the top 15%-3% of the population, a monthly salary of more than 20000 yuan undoubtedly places one in the wealthy class, while 27000 yuan in London is merely enough to survive!

Even the Japanese can't afford the prices in London, let alone those in a certain country across the sea.

"Moreover, London has a bad reputation for security." Masayoshi Okada shook his head with a wry smile: "I only went there for a few days and encountered a burglary and a robbery."

“That’s normal. It’s not like every place is Japan.” Miss Minami smiled and placed Karuizawa’s specialty jam, Maruyama coffee beans, and Karuizawa tarts on the table.

“The security situation overseas is far worse than in China, so everyone must be careful.” Uesugi Muneyuki shook his head, suppressing a laugh: “London is, Paris is, Madrid, Berlin, and Milan are all like that.”

Everyone nodded.

The security situation in Europe and America is generally not very good. Take London for example. If you watch the Premier League news regularly, you will find that almost every Premier League player's home has been burglarized, and some of them were even burglars who broke into their homes and robbed them.

These are Premier League players who earn tens of thousands of pounds a week! They all live in wealthy neighborhoods!

"No, when Yuezi and I went to Hong Kong this time, the security was very good. The only problem was that there were too many people, it was very crowded," Kai Toru casually complained.

"Yes, the security across the sea is indeed quite good." Uesugi Muneyuki fully affirmed this point.

The safest countries in the world are the three East Asian countries of Germany, Japan, and South Korea (and maybe Singapore). Some people have complained that in only these three countries, if you are eating in a decent restaurant and feel unwell in the middle of your meal and go to the restroom, leaving your phone on the table, it will almost certainly be back in the same spot when you come back.

Don't try this in other countries!

Therefore, it is recommended to travel to Europe in a group.

However, Germany only began to focus on improving its security situation after Berlin won the bid to host the 2008 Olympics in 2001. This effort continued until just before the Games, when the country's security truly improved. Similarly, Japan's security situation only began to improve in the mid-1980s after a crackdown on organized crime. London's high cost of living means that an annual income of at least 50000 yen is needed to barely maintain a middle-class lifestyle. Converted to yen, this equates to an annual salary of 10 million yen. Only about 4.6%-5% of Japanese people earn this level of 10 million yen annually. In a certain country across the sea, the percentage earning over 500,000 yen annually is even lower, at only 08%. Even including landlords and self-employed individuals who are not officially counted, the figure is less than 1.2%.

"So, I've discovered that central London is full of white-headed people, especially in Zone 1. Almost all the real estate, service industries, and properties owned by wealthy British people have been sold to Middle Eastern capital," Masayoshi Okada complained. "London has become a white-headed London."

“Yes, wealthy British people basically live in Paris, New York, Australia, New Zealand, or Canada,” Nango Yuya complained. “The whole family is abroad; they only collect rent in China.”

"Hahahaha~" Laughter filled the Special Missions Department.

"The tuition for a Master's degree in London starts at 25000 per year, with no upper limit. There's no such thing as British romance, British gentlemen, or the dream of Blue Bridge. It's just a London fantasy of a bunch of people who have never earned money or eaten shit." Uesugi Muneyuki concluded, "Not having to earn money and only spending my family's money, of course, I'd love to experience the beautiful British romance and my British dream~ Now, it's afternoon tea time!"

"Hahahaha~"

After everyone finished laughing, Uesugi Muneyuki looked around and noticed that someone was missing: "Where's Date?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Date Chomune, with his hair disheveled as if it had been tossed around by a fanatical fan, rushed in like a gust of wind, carrying two enormous paper bags: "Sorry, sorry! Akihabara was too crowded this morning!"

He slammed the paper bag down, and a whole bunch of merchandise poured out—Akasaka46 photobooks, YKC48 support towels, Akane Moriya's photoshopped badges, Sakura Miyawaki's folders... a dazzling array.

"You...you emptied out the entire concert merchandise store?" Igarashi stared in disbelief.

"This is spiritual nourishment! Much more important than beef tongue and black tea!" Date panted, his face flushed with satisfaction. He picked up a towel printed with Sakura Miyawaki's radiant smile: "Here, one for everyone! Feel the purification of Sakura's smile! And there's also Ms. Moriya's exquisite badge..."

Okada looked at the towel that was shoved into his hand, his expression somewhat subtle, but he silently accepted it.

Nanxiang shook his head with a helpless smile.

Kai Kyou and Igarashi looked through it with great interest: "Wow, that's a lot! You didn't spend all your prize money, did you?"

"I sold all my inventory! Isn't that what bonuses are for—spending?"

The office suddenly became lively.

Nango unwrapped the beef tongue pancake, its savory aroma filling the air; Kai Ten brewed Hong Kong-style milk tea, its rich tea and milk fragrance mingling; Igarashi distributed sweet and sticky Hakone onsen manju (steamed buns), while Okada slowly brewed black tea in his exquisite porcelain cup, its elegant aroma subtly permeating the air; and Date was excitedly showing Igarashi and Kai Ten to the stunning moments he had captured at the concert.

Different regional flavors, different voices, and different experiences blended harmoniously in this office where, after enduring immense pressure, one could finally breathe. There were no urgent phone calls, no gruesome crime scene photos, no suffocating pressure to solve a case, only the joy of sharing and a long-lost sense of relaxation.

This is the atmosphere of the Special Missions system.

Erina took a bite of the beef tongue pancake, looked at the noisy scene in front of her, and whispered to Uesugi Muneyuki, who was sipping tea, "Muneyuki, it seems that everyone has recharged quite well during this ten-day holiday."

Uesugi Muneyuki picked up his teacup, the rising steam blurring his gentle and refined features.

He glanced at Date and Igarashi, who were arguing about "who is cuter, the second young lady or Sakura," and then at Kaito, who was showing off his new watch bought in Hong Kong. He took a sip of his rich black tea.

"Hmm." He uttered a short syllable, but his eyes held a hint of barely perceptible gentleness: "Let them make a fuss for a while longer. Starting tomorrow, things probably won't be so peaceful."

He noticed that at the end of the corridor, two public security police officers had been watching the situation. After seeing Uesugi Minami Erena and the others arrive, they quickly confirmed their presence and left immediately.

It seems something big is about to happen.

Uesugi Muneyuki narrowed his eyes slightly and remained silent.

Meanwhile, inside the descending elevator at Sakurada Gate, two public security police officers were reporting to Onoda.

"It's confirmed that Uesugi has returned to the Special Missions Division!"

"Excellent, Project Shadowmoon, officially launched!"

(End of this chapter)