Chapter 24

Kunikida Doppo was once again plunged into despair.

After a whole day of being bombarded with irrelevant information, running around aimlessly without any results, and being mistaken for a kidnapper, Kunikida Doppo was completely turned gray.

"So that's why the president said you're not suited for intelligence gathering, Mr. Kunikida, right?" Kenji Miyazawa scratched his face, looking at the pale-faced Kunikida Doppo with an innocent expression—"That's basically the norm, you know."

"No, rather, why did the president say that Miyazawa is suited for this kind of scattered information gathering..."

Is this the norm? Miyazawa, what kind of dire situation do you usually live in...?

Just as the ashen-faced Kunikida Doppo and Miyazawa Kenji were walking on their way to the detective agency, Kunikida Doppo suddenly stopped.

Kenji Miyazawa turned his head: "Mr. Kunikida?"

Pushing down his glasses, Kunikida Doppo strode into an alleyway by the roadside.

Unaware of what was going on, Kenji Miyazawa jogged to catch up.

Kunikida Doppo stopped not far after entering the alley.

"Miyazawa, was this here when we came?"

Looking at the huge circle on the ground, about two meters in diameter, Kunikida Doppo frowned seriously.

Kenji Miyazawa's answer was firm: "Absolutely not."

"This circle was cut out of the ground."

Kunikida Doppo's expression became even more serious. He squatted down and reached into the crack in the circular border.

"You can't reach the bottom with your fingers; it's at least ten centimeters deep."

As he spoke, Kunikida Doppo's fingers traced along the edge of the crack.

"It was very smooth, and the cutting instrument cut the ground very smoothly."

Withdrawing his hand, Kunikida Doppo's expression changed from serious to rather unpleasant.

"It was probably done by someone with superpowers."

Like Kunikida Doppo, Miyazawa Kenji squatted down at the edge of the circle and began to study the strange circle.

Beside him, Kunikida Doppo was deep in thought.

"What is this mark for?"

"I don't know, maybe... huh?"

Kenji Miyazawa suddenly uttered a sound of confusion.

Kunikida Doppo immediately turned his head: "What's wrong?"

Kenji Miyazawa, who was still squatting, took two steps to the side and pointed to a spot on the edge of the circle that was not smooth.

The abrupt gap in the smooth, rounded curve was quite noticeable. However, Kunikida Doppo's attention was drawn to the circle itself, so he didn't notice it for a moment.

"I feel like this place is a bit like..."

Kenji Miyazawa reached into the depression and then grabbed the circle in the middle of the ground with his other hand.

"A grip."

While speaking, he exerted force with his hands.

Kenji Miyazawa and Doppo Kunikida had been traveling all afternoon without rest and were currently hungry.

Kenji Miyazawa's "Undeterred by Sudden Rain" is also in action.

In an instant, Kenji Miyazawa easily lifted the cement block, whose connection to the outer layer had been severed.

Kunikida Doppo glanced at what was revealed after Miyazawa Kenji lifted the cement, his expression strange.

What is this?

The cement that was lifted up was a round piece, not the cone shape that Kunikida Doppo had originally imagined.

Beneath this cement block, where there should also be cement, was a strange, enormous red sphere.

It was a bright red sphere, with a smooth, reflective outer layer and no discernible material. It only had a slightly glassy feel, which made it seem quite eerie.

The cement covering it is about two meters in diameter, while the exposed part of the sphere is about 1.6 meters in diameter.

However, it seems that part of it is embedded in cement, so the exact size cannot be confirmed.

Kunikida Doppo reached out and tapped the ball, making a clanging sound.

"It's very hard."

Kenji Miyazawa placed the cement slab beside him and tapped it with his own hand.

However, he used the force of "not fearing a sudden downpour" to knock on it.

Unfortunately, apart from making an even louder clanging sound and the sphere seemingly sinking a bit, nothing was gained.

Knowing how terrifying Miyazawa Kenji's superhuman strength was, Kunikida Doppo subconsciously pushed up his glasses: "It seems to be extremely hard."

"Miyazawa, can you get it out?"

Kenji Miyazawa rolled up his sleeves.

"I'll give it a try, but it doesn't seem very easy to catch."

This sphere looks perfectly round and has no point of contact with the ground.

After staring at the sphere in frustration for a long time, Kenji Miyazawa ran to the side of the sphere and, after discussing it with Doppo Kunikida, decided to try kicking the sphere out of the ground.

To prevent accidental injury, Kunikida Doppo consciously stood by the wall.

Looking at the round ball embedded in the ground, Kenji Miyazawa took a deep breath, preparing to step on it...

Then Kenji Miyazawa was hit and thrown into the air by a car that came flying from the side.

— Both the words "car" and "flying" are descriptive.

Somewhat bewildered, Kunikida Doppo watched as Miyazawa Kenji was suddenly smashed by a car that had crashed into him. He instantly snapped out of it, pulled out his notebook from his pocket, and looked warily toward the alley entrance.

There, the little girl who seemed to have pigment deficiency, whom we had just met, was still in a throwing motion, with a young man behind her wearing a wry smile.

“Mary… I did say I would stop him, but did you really have to throw a car at him?”

Mary withdrew her throwing arm and looked at Robert with some displeasure.

"But this is the only one I can throw away nearby!"

Robert scratched his head: "Yeah, right."

Looking again at the wary Kunikida Doppo, the gentle young man's smile remained as warm as ever.

"As expected of the Armed Detective Agency, their observation skills are impressive."

Most people wouldn't notice what's in a side alley when they're walking down the street, right?

Especially these marks left on the ground.

The young man sincerely praised this observational ability.

"However, please do not damage this sphere. If you dismantle it, it will cause us a lot of trouble."

Mary nodded vigorously beside her: "Then it can't be filled back in! It'll be a real hassle!"

After glancing at the two people, Kunikida Doppo gritted his teeth: "Who are you people?"

"Huh?" Robert and Mary tilted their heads in unison, seemingly not understanding why Kunikida Doppo asked that question.

"Don't you know?" The young man pressed down on Mary's hat, suppressing her enthusiasm—"But it doesn't seem like there's any rule against revealing the organization's name... Well, it's just politeness."

"We are the UN."

You're being too harsh. How can you just say something like that?

“I thought the UN was an organization whose mission was to remain hidden.” Kunikida Doppo placed his hand on a page of his notebook. “After all, you hid so well before, everyone thought you were just an urban legend.”

Upon hearing this, the two people on the other end, who were clearly not on the same wavelength as Kunikida Doppo, simultaneously showed embarrassed expressions.

"Um... actually, the UN doesn't have a rule about hiding things."

Mary covered her face, feeling a little sorry for herself.

"It's just that the establishment time is too short and the popularity is too low, so it has been regarded as an urban legend."

The truth is an unexpected reality.

The UN, which has never done anything outstanding or claimed responsibility for any incident, is considered an urban legend... It's really just because it's not famous.

Most people have heard of this vague organization but don't know the details, which has led to it becoming a strange urban legend.

The atmosphere suddenly became awkward.

"Let's not talk about that."

Robert was also speechless, so he decided to avoid the topic.

Before that... Robert looked at the car wreckage that had been silent for a while.

"However... first, please get up, Mr. Miyazawa. This position seems quite uncomfortable."

"Although Roland didn't gather much intelligence from your armed detective agencies, all of your information has been registered in the Special Abilities Division's files."

The subtext is that they know all about Kunikida Doppo's and Miyazawa Kenji's special abilities.

Kunikida Doppo's expression darkened further, and the wreckage of the car suddenly rose into the air.

Kenji Miyazawa lifted the exploding, burning car with one hand, his smiling face turning serious.

There was a barely noticeable abrasion on his face.

Looking at this person over the years, the young man's gentle and soft voice remained unchanged.

"Can we talk now?"