Tokyo Detective Chronicles

"Did you do it?" he said.

The river god did not answer the question.

"She can't leave yet." His tone was serious: "This young girl is the fourth caretaker here."

Fushimi remained silent for a few seconds.

"When did this happen?"

"Her mother, who is one of the high-ranking members of that church, has administrator privileges at this level."

The river god said, "In order to break free from her control, when she left the mortal world, I used every means to transfer the role of administrator from that woman to this child..."

On his young face, there was no remorse, no excuses, only the statement of facts.

"I need an administrator."

He said, "Otherwise, this land will fall back into the hands of those filthy people. And she was the only choice at that time."

Fushimi remained silent.

His hands hung limply at his sides, his knuckles white.

"So those injuries on her body."

"So, in the end, it was all your doing?"

"Yes, I can no longer let that woman get close to the child, so she has lost her food supply from the outside world."

The river god did not deny it, and his expression was quite serious.

"She went out alone to find food and encountered those monsters... I did everything I could to save her life, but some injuries were unavoidable."

This is not a lie.

After all, if Hoshino, the administrator, dies, then He won't even be able to protect that last little place.

She even allowed Hoshino to temporarily exchange her language skills, which were basically useless for ordinary life, for the ability to avoid misfortune and control the entire path of the ordinary world.

It turns out that it wasn't Dr. Hoshino who abandoned the child...

They were simply unable to see her due to the interference of the Lord of the World, and consequently, they were also unable to obtain food and other resources.

The suffering this little girl endured in this space all stemmed from Him…

Even Fushimi's encounter with Kohoshino after entering the Mortal World was deliberately arranged by Him...

That map...

The little girl's unwitting choice to take Fushimi to see Tokoyo-no-Nusa...

It seems that from the moment Fushimi stepped into this place, he fell into His scheme.

He used Hoshino and Fushimi only to get them to help him escape.

At this moment, Hoshino has formed a deep bond with Tokoyomi, and she has obtained more than one-twentieth of the River God's authority.

In other words, she too became part of this mortal world and the river god, a subject of the White Heron River, a kind of non-human being...

Non-human existence...

Aside from the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, it is impossible to return to the present world at any other time.

Even if they return, it will only be a brief descent using some kind of ritual.

Just like the four monsters that attacked Fushimi on the train before, if they hadn't been killed by Fushimi that night, they would have been forcibly dragged back to the depths of the Eternal World when the time came.

Now, Fushimi has no way to take this little girl back to the real world.

And this bastard, when he said he would open the door and let them go back, only meant him and Miyazawa Rin from beginning to end, and did not include Kohoshino.

Fushimi looked at Him.

long time.

Then he reached out, grabbed the river god by the neck, and pushed him towards the wooden house behind him.

"Bang!"

The river god's back slammed against the door frame, sending wood chips flying.

He placed his palm on His slender neck and then tightened it.

"cough……"

The river god coughed softly.

He did not resist.

It didn't even try to break free.

He simply raised his hand and gently covered Fushimi's hand with it.

"Calm down... Son of Man..."

Fushimi looked at Him and said in as calm a voice as possible:

"Remove those powers from her now and let me take her away. I can temporarily let bygones be bygones for what happened before."

The river god remained silent.

"I can't do it."

"That power has been separated and now belongs entirely to her. Even I cannot take it back unless..."

Fushimi ignored His attempt to keep him in suspense and continued to increase the pressure in his hands.

"An administrator is needed here to take over that authority."

His face began to turn red... because he was suffocating.

Fushimi's hand was too forceful; his knuckles turned white, and spiritual energy condensed into a tangible pressure in his palm.

The river god offered no resistance.

He did not use any of the authority of the eternal Lord to break free from his hand.

She simply let him choke her, letting her breathing become increasingly difficult.

Saliva dripped uncontrollably from the corners of his mouth, and his pupils rolled upwards.

He felt he should appear more sincere, so he didn't resist and tried to make an apologetic expression...

But in Fushimi's eyes, it was a completely different scene.

Fushimi's eye twitched; he noticed that this guy's expression at that moment... was quite enjoyable...

His face was flushed, and the corners of his eyes were tinged with red. His green eyes were misty, yet he was still smiling.

A very awkward laugh.

Like a child caught doing something wrong, but pretending not to want to admit it, her purpose is actually to force the adult to punish her physically.

His hands grasped Fushimi's wrists, gently stroking them without applying force.

Looking at Fushimi's face, her feminine features became even more pronounced... as if she had made up her mind about something.

That expression seemed to say: I know you're angry, so take it out on me.

"Why don't you stay and become the administrator in her place...?"

Her voice was broken and intermittent, but her trembling pupils never left Fushimi's face, and her complexion became increasingly flushed.

Feeling the pressure of the hand choking her neck, she really could hardly breathe...

Pain, suffocation, nausea.

But... why am I so excited?

Could you... could you push a little harder...?

She even felt something wet uncontrollably leaking out from beneath her... A wave of shame washed over her...

Not here... there are other people watching...

Fushimi did not move.

She looked at him.

Looking at that face so close to mine.

"Your name is... Fushimi Iori, right...?"

The beauty mark at the corner of her eye, made even more striking by the bloodshot appearance, was prominent. Her lips were slightly parted, revealing a glimpse of her teeth. Saliva trickled down the corner of her mouth, sliding across her chin.

It dripped onto Fushimi's hands and the chest of her black dress.

"Stay with me, I really... like you, and I'm willing to..."

Fushimi naturally couldn't stay; he had many other things to do.

Before He could finish speaking, he spoke up:

"No, I think you should have another way..."

He released his grip on the river god's neck.

But in his other hand, a sword had appeared in his palm at some point.

The sword was about three feet long, its blade as clear as water, with intricate runes engraved on its spine. The runes shimmered with a faint blue light, like the ripples of a river under the moonlight.

The hilt of the sword was wrapped with dark rope, with a piece of green jade hanging from the end.

Bailuchuan Town Fajian.

Born from the rules of Shiruri River, this sword can unconditionally kill any living being except the Lord of the World at this level, including even the Lord of the World of Shiruri River, whose strength is only one or two tenths of its peak at this moment.

"Cough, cough cough cough..."

"Hooray... Ah... I'm finally saved..."

The river god drooled and trembled, clutching his neck, which was swollen and red from being choked. He coughed violently for a while, and then his excited, climax-like smile froze on his face.

He looked down at the sword, at the tip of which was pressed against his chest.

Through the thin black fabric of the dress, one could feel the chill emanating from the sword tip and the terrifying power it contained.

It's so big... I'd die if you shoved it in... No...

"...Are you serious?" He said.

The voice was still so flippant, but the smile was gone.

Fushimi did not answer.

Just quietly watch Him.

The river god remained silent for a few seconds.

"No, no..."

He raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"I was just kidding... I really was just kidding..."

He shrank back, but the sword remained pressed against his chest like a shadow, refusing to yield an inch.

"Listen to me..."

He put away all his frivolous expression, and his green eyes became more serious than ever before.

"I sincerely advise against taking that child out; it's not good for anyone... Please believe me..."

"Although I hid some things from you before... I've never lied to you... right?"

He paused, then looked at Miyazawa Rin, who stood to the side at a loss.

"You made that little girl reenact that evil god's descent ritual..."

Fushimi's brows furrowed slightly.

"You watched until the end too."

"The river god said."

Do you think that ceremony... was ultimately completed?

Fushimi remained silent, understanding His meaning; that is to say, until this moment...

Kohoshino remains the target of the evil god known as the "Master of Life".

"Although I believe that with your strength you can protect her in the real world, can you guarantee that you will keep her by your side at all times?"

It's much safer for her to stay with me than outside. I can assure you I'll take good care of her.

"Besides... the current flow of time is synchronized with the outside world. I will give you access to this place, and you can come here to see her anytime."

"..."

silence.

A long silence...

"Bang!"

Fushimi raised his hand and plunged the sedative sword into the wooden plank behind the river god, less than a centimeter from his neck...

The river god obediently stood up straight, his hands awkwardly placed in front of him, his fingers twisting together.

"It seems it's time to renegotiate our contract..."

"Is it one of those master-servant contracts?"

Fushimi: "..."

He swore he really wanted to chop that bastard to pieces right now...