Chapter 43 "You're an idiot too."...

"..." The voice on the other end of the phone went silent for a moment; perhaps Wang Ma Xiaoji was thinking about something.

"In short," Tsukino and Chiya continued, even though no one else was asking questions. "Mr. Mashita said he would ask his connections to keep an eye on this matter. After all, although the one who made the move was supposedly human, the timing was still too coincidental."

"But we can't sneak back in there now, at least not for the time being. The situation is serious, and it's been blown out of proportion. There are reporters staking out the area, investigators, and police on patrol... It'll be very difficult to get in anytime soon. If we get caught, it'll be a big problem."

"besides……"

Tsukino and Chiya still had a lot of information to say about the whole thing, but suddenly they lost the desire to continue.

No, rather... he wasn't really interested in those things; it was just that human reason allowed him to calmly say those words.

“Ohma,” Tsukino and Chiya said softly, “you said, if I…”

He had barely begun to speak when he hesitated, unsure whether to continue. There seemed to be a long silence on the other end of the line, but Tsukino and Chiya were certain the person on the other end was listening.

"No, it's nothing."

But in the end, after thinking about it, he took back the words that he had almost blurted out without thinking.

Just then, Tsukino and Chiya heard the person who had been silent for a long time on the other end of the phone sigh.

"Kazuki, you're an idiot too."

—And then, suddenly I received this evaluation.

Having not been called an "idiot" for a long time, Tsukino and Chiya subconsciously exclaimed "Huh?", while Ohma Kokichi clearly had no intention of explaining, leaving behind the words, "I roughly understand the situation, but this is not something that can be fully explained in a few words over the phone, so see you later," before hanging up.

Tsukino and Chiya only had time to say "...goodbye" a step too late.

After ending the call, the black-haired boy placed his phone on the table.

Was the timing just right?

As the person approached, a shadow fell on the table. Qianye looked up and saw the polite smile on the face of the man she had only known for less than a day.

"Good afternoon, we meet again." The person sat down opposite him. "You seem to be in a bad mood?"

"No, that's not true," Tsukino and Chiya said.

He was sitting at the back of a restaurant, with two cups of tea on the table in front of him. One cup was for himself, and the other was naturally for the man who had just sat down opposite him.

"Oh, I see. Maybe I misjudged the situation." Faced with Tsukino and Chiya's denial, the police officer with the slightly longer hair and a slouching face did not question them. Instead, he smiled and said, "If you have any problems with your studies or life, you can come to me anytime to talk to me."

Tsukino and Chiya nodded, without refuting anything like "that's really not true," and simply replied politely, "I understand, thank you for your kindness."

...It's watertight.

Kenji Hagiwara picked up the teacup, and the warm tea slid down his esophagus, relieving the thirst he had developed on the way here because he hadn't drunk any water.

For Kenji Hagiwara, who has been very good at interpersonal communication since childhood, reading between the lines is also an important skill when interacting with others.

After all, if you accidentally step on a landmine during a conversation, things could get really bad, right?

However, the habit of "reading between the lines" doesn't seem to apply as well to Tsukino and Chiya. There's no way around it; their expressionless faces and monotone delivery are just too much of a cheat, making even the content they say seem flawless.

However, Kenji Hagiwara wasn't there to interrogate a criminal, so there was no need for him to really pry into the background of a kid he had a fairly good impression of. He was just... perhaps it was just a policeman's intuition? Anyway, after arriving at the store as promised and seeing the kid, Kenji Hagiwara felt that he was acting differently than when they last met, but upon closer inspection, he couldn't see anything wrong.

The TV in the restaurant was playing a children's anime, and with that background noise, the two who had arranged to meet finally got down to business.

Tsukino and Chiya had indeed arranged a time with the two who had become acquainted through the ghost painter to discuss some things in more detail.

After all... we can't just ignore the ominous information revealed by that strange ghost painter.

After school this afternoon, Tsukino and Chiya received another message from Matsuda Jinpei, but he was giving a report on paranormal events related to preparatory courses with Kyouichi Kyouya at the time and didn't notice it.

Then, Zhen Xiaowu called.

After the call ended, Tsukino and Chiya noticed that Matsuda Jinpei, who had said earlier that only Hagiwara Kenji could make it to their appointment that day due to unforeseen circumstances, suddenly sent several new messages.

[Have you been watching the news?]

...It's that kind of opening again.

However, when Tsukino and Chiya, who thought they had already guessed what would happen next, swiped down the chat interface, they were met with content unrelated to the school massacre.

There's actually another murder-related news story that broke today, and that is—

[This refers to the incident involving Eiichiro Saiyama.]

[He has been arrested.]

Eiichiro Saiyama was the name of the first strange creature Tsukino and Chiya encountered when they collaborated with Ouma Kokichi.

Once, when I met Aurora in the school building, the Western doll asked me this question.

"Compared to the predecessor who created the 'Death Mark' game, what is the biggest difference between my game and that one?"

The answer is actually quite obvious.

In their current reality, both Eiichiro Saiyama and Yoshiko Morikawa are living, breathing people, and living people cannot be supernatural beings. Adding to this are the suspicious points: Yoshiko Morikawa, the supernatural being, died in high school, while the Yoshiko Morikawa in reality, still alive and well, is a middle school student…

It's incredible, but...

"Are those strange things from the future?" This was both an answer and a question. At that moment, Tsukino and Chiya looked at the doll girl's gray eyes made of beautiful glass balls.

"Hmm..." Aurora seemed to be thinking, and after a short while, she gave an affirmative answer, "That statement is actually not wrong. So, you got it right."

To be honest, even now, Tsukino and Chiya are still surprised by the fact that those strange things come from the future.

Although he knew that it was normal for strange beings, especially powerful ones like Aurora, to possess unusual powers, it was still quite incredible that they could do this much.

Despite their fear of Aurora, Tsukino and Chiya had to admit that knowing the future in advance allowed them to change the course of events.

For example—

"After that incident, Kojinpei and I started paying attention to the manga artist named Eiichiro Saiyama."

After putting down his water glass, Kenji Hagiwara got down to business.

Tsukino and Chiya were able to realize the problem with the timeline, and the two police officers who were also involved and knew about the ghost painter's situation naturally noticed that something was wrong as well.

Although neither of them were criminal police officers, and they couldn't just barge into Zai Shan's house to search it based on the idea that "strange things are evidence," this minor inconvenience wouldn't pose a real obstacle to these two excellent officers.

After a period of investigation, Matsuda Jinpei and Hagiwara Kenji successfully stopped Eiichiro Saiyama from committing murder again for research purposes, saving the man.

And today, the things that Eiichiro Saiyama did were reported by the media who came after hearing the news.

First, he committed a series of murders, then became a cartoonist who used murders to copy corpses, and then he carried out a massacre that wiped out the entire school... It really makes one wonder what's going on in society today.

But regardless, it's ultimately a good thing that Eiichiro Saiyama has been captured. The matter that Tsukino and Chiya have been worrying about can now be put aside for the time being.

Although he was only arrested recently and there are still some procedures to go through, the evidence is conclusive, and he won't cause any more trouble. In a sense, the whole matter can be said to have been settled.

However, aside from wanting to discuss the case of Eiichiro Saiyama, Kenji Hagiwara and Jinpei Matsuda still really wanted to see Chiya and the others again, even without any other motives.

After all, it was already early Monday morning when they finished dealing with the Ghost Painter's matter. The two unlucky kids had to go back to school, and the following weekend, Qianye and the others were also busy... As a result, they hadn't had a chance to celebrate the Ghost Painter's matter until this time of day.

However... compared to Matsuda Jinpei, who has already rid himself of the mark that brings death, it might not be time for those two high school students to celebrate yet.

"Hasn't 'that' on you guys been dealt with yet?" Kenji Hagiwara couldn't help but feel a little worried when he thought about it.

Tsukino and Chiya nodded in agreement without hiding anything. Rather than "not wanting others to worry," they were more concerned about "perhaps needing the help of two police officers when facing strange occurrences later on."

Besides, no matter how perceptive Officer Hagiwara is, he couldn't possibly hide it from her.

"Is that so? Well then... Ah, thank you."

The waiter brought over the dinner the two had ordered. Kenji Hagiwara looked up and thanked him first, and only continued speaking after the waiter left.

"If you ever encounter any situations where Xiaozhenping and I can help you, please don't hesitate to come to us."

Matsuda Jinpei and Hagiwara Kenji are both very busy with work, so it's unlikely they can help these two high school students through their difficulties from beginning to end, but there are still things they can do.

"For example, if we encounter a situation like Eiichiro Saiyama's again... Although Jinpei and I are from the Security Department, we also know some capable and trustworthy detectives, so... you know."

Kenji Hagiwara raised his glass to Tsukino and Chiya.

"Moreover, whether it's the situation of the two of you, the strange phenomenon that could continue to harm people at any time, or the story behind the strange phenomenon... we really can't just ignore it and let it go unchecked."

Tsukino and Chiya scooped a full spoonful of their grilled meat rice, and before eating it, he replied earnestly, "I understand."

"Then please continue to guide me from now on, Officer Hagiwara."

He did not refuse the kindness of Kenji Hagiwara and Jinpei Matsuda, who were not currently there.

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A note from the author: