Tokyo Detective Chronicles

"Name?"

"Has your Special Affairs Division ever considered changing its name to the Corpse Collection Division?"

"age?"

"Since my name and age aren't in the report you have, it must be the menu for tonight's late-night snack, right?"

In the interrogation room, Fushimi shook the handcuffs on his hands and put his feet up on the table:

"Would you mind preparing one for me too? Pork chop rice would be best."

Fushimi clearly wasn't going to give these tax evaders a friendly look. He was already aware of the department's past practices, but given the magnitude of the commotion today, their arrival was still surprisingly slow.

That means they were focused on cleaning up the mess from the very beginning.

Looking back now, Fushimi realizes that saving lives was never the top priority for the Special Affairs Division.

Sitting opposite Fushimi was Yasuo Itō, the head of the information department of the Tokyo branch of the Special Affairs Division.

The pen I'm holding right now, if I apply a little force...

"Click."

The pen broke.

He threw the pen, now broken in two, onto the table, took a deep breath, and stared at the seventeen-year-old high school student in front of him.

There were only three people in the interrogation room. Besides the two of them, there was a staff member who looked like an assistant standing at the door. The room was brightly lit, making people's faces look pale.

The clock on the wall pointed to 4:17 a.m.

"Fushimi Iori," Ito Yasuo began.

"As a registered psychic in the Special Affairs Division, you have a responsibility to cooperate with the investigation."

"If I died there today, would you let my corpse accompany you during your questioning?"

Fushimi laughed: "If you can investigate the victim whether they live or die, why do you need my cooperation?"

"Bang!"

The sound of a fist slamming onto the table rang out.

The two looked at each other.

The air in the interrogation room seemed to freeze.

A few seconds later, Yasuo Ito suddenly sighed.

He stood up, walked to the door, opened it, and said something to the young clerk who was waiting there.

The clerk, who was originally prepared to play the good cop/bad cop role, paused for a moment, nodded, and turned to leave.

Clearly, this kind of boring trick wouldn't fool the high school students in front of them.

Yasuo Ito closed the door and returned to his seat.

He did not sit down.

Instead, he took out a cigarette case from his pocket, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it.

Then he threw the cigarette box in front of Fushimi.

"Want one?"

Fushimi looked at him.

The cigarette pack lay beside his slouching feet, but he didn't pick it up.

Ito Yasuo took a drag of his cigarette and slowly exhaled.

Then he reached out and picked up the body camera on the table... In front of Fushimi, he pressed the power button, and the red indicator light went out.

He tossed the recorder onto the corner of the table and sat back down in his chair.

Tired eyes looked at Fushimi's excessively young face.

"Little brat."

His voice was much calmer than before.

"I must tell you that from the tram incident a few days ago, which damaged public facilities, to this incident today, you have violated at least seventeen laws of Yingzhou psychics and more than seven international psionic conventions."

He paused.

"If you really want to take this seriously, you'll be burdened with debts you can never repay in your lifetime, or you'll spend your next life in that northernmost prison."

This is all true. If it were an ordinary person, even if they weren't begging for mercy, they would definitely show some degree of panic.

His earlier act of turning off the body camera was undoubtedly a message to Fushimi that there was still room for negotiation, as long as he was willing to cooperate.

This, of course, also carries a hidden warning connotation.

"..."

Fushimi tilted his head and looked at him, smiling but not responding.

He didn't even put his feet off the table.

The next second, a shadow rose at his feet, and a name tag appeared in Fushimi's hand, which read "Information Department Supervisor, Yasuo Ito".

"A senior-level IT specialist..."

It was only then that Ito Yasuo noticed that the name tag that had been hanging on his body had somehow ended up in Fushimi's hand...

"So you don't actually have the authority to interrogate me, right?"

She ignored the man's warning.

He tilted his head, looking at the document that had been blacked out so much that almost no useful information could be seen.

Fushimi said unhurriedly, "Let me guess what's written on the file in your hand..."

"Hmm... Fushimi Iori, seventeen years old, a second-year student at Kiyosumidai Private Academy High School, with excellent academic performance. She runs her own detective agency and has an excellent reputation for her work..."

Listening to Fushimi's incessant mutterings, Ito Yasuo felt a throbbing sensation in his temple.

Fushimi's rubbish continued.

His deliberate act of breaking the curtain tonight is undoubtedly a disaster for the Information Department.

In the past hour and forty minutes, the way the creature died, which was full of religious significance, like a monster executed by a god, has been reposted more than 100,000 times on the Yingzhou Ordinary People's Forum.

This means that even if the Information Department works overtime all night, they won't be able to finish deleting everything. Tomorrow, they will receive countless complaint calls from the Psychic Covenant organization, as well as questioning from the highest-level decision-making department of the Special Affairs Division.

This also means that he, as the supervisor, won't be able to get a good night's sleep for the next month.

In truth, Fushimi was thinking too badly of them.

Logically speaking, when a monster of level one disaster actually appeared, their reaction speed shouldn't be this slow as it is today.

The reason why things happened today was indeed because of the veil that was set up by someone, which delayed the investigation and the journey.

Even until the signal of Miyazawa Rin returning to the real world reached the Special Affairs Division.

Only then did they become aware of what was happening in Chiyoda Ward.

But there's no doubt that such a thing can't be said aloud; that would be a serious dereliction of duty and incompetence...

Turning from bad to stupid is obviously not something to be happy or proud of; in the end, it may even evolve into being both bad and stupid.

Ito Yasuo tapped his hand lightly on the table. In this kind of situation, when his subordinates made a mistake, he, as the supervisor, was naturally responsible for cleaning up the mess. His knuckles turned slightly white.

Then he closed his eyes.

A few seconds later, he opened his eyes, a faint purple light flashing in them.

It is a spiritual ability.

He planned to take the risk and use his abilities to find out something, acting first and informing later.

Just then.

The shadow in the room moved.

Yasuo Ito's pupils contracted.

He saw that the shadow at Fushimi's feet suddenly began to writhe and swell, as if something was about to crawl out of it, and the shadow slowly rose...

The two looked at each other.

The atmosphere in the interrogation room was as tense as a fully drawn bowstring.

Just before it was about to collapse...

"Knock knock".

There was a knock on the door.

The psionic fluctuations subsided abruptly, and the two looked towards the door at the same time.

"Enter."

The door opened.

Kuroda Sousuke walked in.

He glanced at Ito Yasuo, then at Fushimi, and finally his gaze settled on the shadow that had returned to calm at Fushimi's feet.

They didn't say anything.

She simply walked up to Ito Yasuo, leaned down, and whispered a few words in his ear.

Yasuo Ito's expression changed.

He gave Fushimi a meaningful look, his gaze complex.

Then he stood up, pushed open the door, and left the interrogation room.

Only Fushimi and Kuroda Sousuke remained in the interrogation room.

Kuroda Sousuke walked to the opposite side of Fushimi and sat down.

He was still wearing his field operations uniform, which was stained with blood and dirt, indicating that he had just returned from the scene.

Then he took something out of his pocket and put it on the table... it was the key to the handcuffs.

Fushimi raised an eyebrow.

Kuroda Sousuke didn't say anything, but simply pushed the key in front of him.

Fushimi was somewhat surprised. He had never met this commissioner before and thought they still hadn't given up on that foolish charade of playing good cop and bad cop.

Thanks.

Kuroda Sousuke leaned back in his chair, picked up Ito Yasuo's cigarette case from the table, took out a cigarette, and lit it.

He took a deep, relaxed breath and then spoke.

"On behalf of the head of the Special Affairs Section's Field Operations Department, I would like to thank you for saving our second-level agent."

Kuroda Sousuke continued, "And their intervention tonight to control the Level 1 disaster... they really helped us a lot."

He took another drag of his cigarette, the smoke rising slowly in the pale light, blurring his expression.

Fushimi remained silent.

He is waiting.

Wait until this person reveals their true purpose.

Kuroda Sousuke seemed to have realized this as well.

He flicked the ash into the ashtray on the table and began to speak:

"To Miyazawa Rin, the Level 2 Specialist."

Kuroda Sousuke said, "She has already been severely punished for helping you tonight; she has been suspended from her duties for three months."

Fushimi's brows furrowed slightly.

"Severe punishment?"

"right."

Kuroda Sousuke said, "Unauthorized actions, assisting unidentified psychics, unauthorized theft and driving of civilian vehicles... any one of these would be enough to get her into serious trouble."

To be honest, this punishment is a bit too harsh.

But it was undoubtedly a way for Kuroda to protect his subordinates, and it also satisfied Miyazawa Rin's demands to some extent.

Fushimi remained noncommittal, unsure why the other person wanted to tell him this.

"so."

Kuroda Sousuke stubbed out his cigarette: "Let's get down to business."

He leaned forward, his eyes, which had seen too much, fixed on Fushimi.

"I know you have no obligation to cooperate with our investigation, and I also know you don't have a good impression of the Special Affairs Section."

"But we can make a trade."

Fushimi raised an eyebrow.

"What exchange?"

"Let's exchange the information we have so far..."

Kuroda Sousuke said.

"Tell us everything that has happened at the Creation Cult during this time, and I will answer any questions you may have."

Fushimi was silent for a few seconds, then smiled and nodded.

"Of course, I'm a law-abiding citizen."

For the next half hour, Fushimi said everything he could.

From Takeda-sensei's request to the white leech monster, to the discovery at Katsushika Ward Third Hospital, to the experiences in Tokoseri...

Only the parts about Shiruri River, the River God, and Kohoshino were omitted.

Even if the Special Affairs Division didn't ask, he would still expose this matter today. After all, the matter of the Creation Cult is far from over. If he wants to destroy this cult's presence in the world, he will need to use the Special Affairs Division.

This was his initial goal, and now that he can also obtain some intelligence in return, it couldn't be better for him.

Only now can this matter truly be considered to have come to the forefront.

Even the Special Affairs Division had to mobilize a large amount of resources to resolve this matter.

Kuroda Sousuke listened, his gaze constantly shifting between Fushimi's face and the pointer in his hand.

That was a psionic tool for detecting lies.

Human emotional changes can distort the expression of psychic energy to some extent.

Fushimi told not a single lie from beginning to end.

Kuroda Sousuke did not interrupt him. He nodded after Fushimi finished speaking.

"Has that entrance to the mortal realm disappeared?"

"Disappeared."

Fushimi said, "At least from that level, it's impossible to go any deeper."

Kuroda Sousuke remained silent for a few seconds.

"What do you want to know?"

Fushimi thought for a moment.

Then, the first question asked was completely unexpected by Kuroda.

"How are the other three comrades who entered the mortal realm doing?"

Kuroda Sousuke glanced at him.

How did you know there were three more?

"That's what Miyazawa Rin said."

Kuroda Sousuke did not press the matter.

He simply said:

"One is disabled, one is seriously injured, and one is slightly injured but mentally broken."

Fushimi's brows furrowed slightly.

"As soon as they entered the mortal world, they fell into the trap set by the cult of creation."

Fushimi remained silent.

He realized that the trap was probably set for him all along...

They lured him to the Eternal World by issuing a countdown warning, and Fushimi, being both skilled and daring, chose to enter the Eternal World alone.

The Creation Cult's plan was originally considered a success.

But no one expected that someone with Fushimi's fighting prowess would only fall into the first level of the Eternal World.

While thwarting their plans.

Instead of the trap they had prepared, the three combat-specialized first-level agents from the Special Affairs Division fell into it.

According to Kuroda Sousuke's account, the three of them worked together to wreak havoc on their level, with one crippled and another seriously injured... but at least they all survived.

At a critical moment, they barely managed to escape from the mortal world by activating their spiritual ability called "Window".

Because of the random landing point, he was in mid-air when he returned to the real world and almost fell to his death.

In a way, he inexplicably helped Fushimi avoid disaster...

"What about that level?" Fushimi then asked.

Kuroda Sousuke glanced at him.

"What do you want to know?"

"How many people are in the Creation Cult? How many monsters are there? What exactly is this so-called 'Master of Life'?"

Kuroda Sousuke remained silent for a few seconds.

"What exactly is the Living Lord, and whether it is the same entity as the one we killed twenty years ago, is still uncertain."

Then he shook his head.

"But according to intelligence they brought back, the base area of ​​that level might be larger than the entire Tokyo metropolitan area."

Fushimi remained silent.

A world-class stratum larger than the entire city of Tokyo...

"Fushimi Iori".

Kuroda Sousuke's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"I would like to formally appoint you on behalf of the Special Affairs Section's Field Operations Department."

Fushimi looked up, somewhat surprised.

"A commission?"

"right."

Kuroda Sousuke said.

"We are temporarily entrusting you to cooperate with our investigation into matters related to the Creation Cult, as well as to cooperate with our subsequent actions."

He took a document out of his briefcase and placed it on the table.

"This is the contract. You can take a look at it first. It can also be considered as compensation for what happened tonight."

It seems the other party was prepared... Fushimi picked up the document and opened it.

The offered reward was so generous that he could completely disregard all the financial losses he would suffer tonight... and might even make a profit...

And there's another one:

"The Special Affairs Department will bear all responsibility for any damage caused by the Creation of Life Religion."

Including his house that was destroyed by that monster...

Fushimi's opinion of the Special Affairs Division changed slightly. After carefully checking the documents and finding them correct, he closed them.

"make a deal."

Kuroda Sousuke nodded, seemingly unsurprised by the result.

He was getting up.

"etc."

Fushimi's voice made him stop: "I have one more question."

Kuroda Sousuke sat back down in his chair.

"What's the problem?"

Fushimi looked at him and asked a crucial question.

"How did the Special Affairs Division accurately locate the coordinates of the Creation Cult in the mortal realm twenty years ago?"

Kuroda Sousuke paused for a moment.

The interrogation room was silent for a few seconds.

Then Kuroda Sousuke spoke.

"I was told this by an anonymous whistleblower."

Fushimi's brows furrowed slightly.

"An anonymous whistleblower?"

"right."

Kuroda Sousuke said.

"To be precise, it was in late June seventeen years ago when an anonymous whistleblower provided the Special Affairs Section with the exact location of the Creation Cult headquarters, its defense layout, a list of high-ranking personnel, and the coordinates of their research base deep within the Mortal Realm."

He paused.

"It was because of this report that we were able to find the Creation Cult so easily."