Chapter 147

Obey laws and regulations, and be aware of safety.

It was late at night, and as the automatic door of the convenience store slid open, Fuyuki was still excitedly discussing with Maeda Toushirou what to buy.

She was wearing a loose, warm sweatshirt, and the young boy next to her was dressed very similarly.

The smile vanished the moment he looked up, and his grip on the dagger tightened instantly.

Behind the cashier stood a familiar blond man, wiping the coffee machine with his head down. The warm light above cast a small shadow under her eyelashes, making him look unusually gentle.

—?

She squinted, pondered for a moment, and then continued walking inside.

Why is Bourbon working the night shift here? Isn't the organization's salary enough for him?

Hearing the noise, Bourbon looked up, his smile impeccable, showing no sign of being surprised by the sudden appearance of his colleague: "Welcome."

His gaze swept over the little girl's empty hands, and when he saw the identical young boy next to her, his pupils contracted almost imperceptibly for a moment.

New intelligence.

This doesn't look like a normal child.

The smile at the corner of the mouth has increased by two pixels.

Maeda Toushirou tugged at his collar, gave him a wary look, and then turned to the side to block Bourbon's view.

He recognized this person; he seemed to be a member of the mission with considerable status, and also an undercover agent. By conventional standards, he should be a righteous person, but he seemed to exude an air of ill intent.

Be extra vigilant!

Ignoring her, Fuyuki slowly found the oden counter and used tongs to pick up a perfectly cooked daikon radish.

The rising steam blurred her face.

"What would you like to eat?" she asked Maeda Toushirou in a low voice. There was someone in the shop, someone she barely knew, and she felt a little awkward about it.

“Just choose what you like, I’m not hungry yet,” Maeda Toushirou whispered back to her.

This is not about being modest.

Thinking of the dinner he had slept through, Fuyuki could only guiltily and quickly pick up two pieces of radish.

It was already nighttime, and there wasn't much hot food available, so she found two more pieces of bread at the convenience store and put them into the basket in Maeda Toshiro's hand.

I slept all afternoon, so I probably won't feel sleepy tonight.

The long night ahead will be unbearable with an empty stomach.

A short while later, the convenience store door opened again, and three people, two men and one woman, walked in.

One of the men, who looked slightly younger, had a look of fear on his face and was shrinking away from the two men beside him.

"Welcome, welcome." Bourbon extended a warm welcome as always.

"Eat, eat, eat! All you do all day is eat! What else can you do besides eat?!" The older man ignored his welcome and suddenly started shoving the younger man.

His face was full of impatience.

The young man said to shrink back, looking terrified, but he pursed his lips and didn't reply, his eyes darting away.

"Alright, alright, stop talking about him, he's such bad luck. Buy what you need quickly, I'm exhausted, let's go home early." The woman stepped between the two like a peacemaker, but her expression and words clearly favored the older man.

The older man snorted, then asked Bourbon for a cup of hot water. Before he even got the cup, the scalding hot water spilled out and splashed onto his hand during the exchange.

"Ouch—what are you doing?! It's burning me!" He screamed and jumped up on the spot. Bourbon nervously took the cup away and handed him a bottle of ice water.

He subtly blocked the older man's view of the younger man.

However, this incident caused a sudden uproar throughout the convenience store.

Dongshu glanced at them, but couldn't see anything, so he just frowned and looked away.

They looked like overworked office workers, their faces full of resentment.

She had little interest in people whose character had been distorted by work and relationships, and looked up to continue searching for bread.

The convenience store had a wide variety of items, almost everything, but he could only pick out a few that he wanted to eat.

She sighed helplessly, when a sudden scream startled her.

? ! !

Her outstretched hand reflexively recoiled, grabbing Maeda Toushirou's clothes. Her body was shielded behind the tsukumogami. Only after the screams subsided did she cautiously peek out and look towards the source of the sound.

"Don't look." Before she could see clearly, warm fingers had already covered her eyes. The spirit explained, "It's something bloody."

Dongshu blinked, but still pushed his fingers away: "It's okay."

Under the influence of Mr. Ke's power in this world, bloody things are nothing more than red cartoon patterns in her eyes.

These things won't scare her.

Maeda Toushirou followed closely beside her, carrying a basket filled with goods.

Next to the refrigerated display case containing drinks lay an older man who had just reprimanded someone, blood trickling from the back of his head onto the floor, his suit stained dark with blood.

It looks like he accidentally bumped into a sharp object.

Difficultly deducing the true appearance from the blurred imagery of cartoon patterns and mosaics, Fuyuki's eyes darted around before he hid behind his short sword again, pondering quietly.

The woman standing next to the victim was trembling uncontrollably; clearly, the sharp scream had come from her mouth.

She trembled, her words failing her to form coherent sentences, only uttering meaningless utterances: "Dead, dead... ah..."

Bourbon immediately pulled out his phone and dialed the only remaining number, his movements as practiced as if he frequently handled murder cases—considering this was his highest-paying job, this wasn't just speculation.

As Fuyuki tried to discern the corpse from afar among the various cartoon figures, she heard Bourbon at the counter say in a trembling voice, "Yes, no one left, they're all here..."

The spiritual energy was arrogantly and directly stuck to the phone, and Fuyuki could hear the police officer's response clearly.

Bourbon looked exactly like a good citizen who was startled by the unexpected but tried his best to remain calm.

After all, he is no longer Bourbon, but a law-abiding citizen—Toru Amuro.

If you ignore the small, subtle gesture he made while simultaneously glancing down and kicking something into the corner with his toe.

For a fleeting moment, his expression showed absolutely no fear.

The police arrived quickly, and none of the six people in the convenience store had left.

The younger man sat in the corner, his head bowed, his hands clutching the hem of his shirt, clearly resisting any interaction.

"You're a very strong child. Don't worry, you'll be home soon. Don't be afraid." A police officer noticed that Fuyuki was gripping Maeda Toushirou's clothes tightly, his fingertips were white, and he was trembling slightly.

The poor little girl was cowering, looking completely terrified.

“…Okay, thank you, Uncle.” Fuyuki forced a smile but dodged the other man’s attempt to pat his head.

The police were conducting a well-organized investigation of the scene when suddenly a man claiming to be a detective, wearing round-framed glasses, burst in.

Then Fuyuki watched in astonishment as the other person quickly gained the police's trust and then excitedly began to examine the body.

Fuyuki: "?"

This guy doesn't look like a forensic doctor or anything like that. We just let him do it? He's not afraid that this is the murderer at all. Is he coming back to destroy the evidence?

She felt dizzy.

She still couldn't understand the rules of this world.

After examining the body's sleeve, the other person suddenly raised their face, turned around, and pointed sharply at Amuro Tooru's sleeve: "There is only one truth, and the murderer is you!"

All eyes turned to him. Amuro Tooru was startled. He raised his hands, and there were indeed dark red marks on the cuffs of his white sleeves. He hurriedly explained, "It's ketchup. Something was spilled, and it got on me by accident."

lie.

Dongshu squinted.

It's obvious that he smeared it with ketchup to cover up the blood that was actually stained in the fabric.

With the help of the police, the only two children present managed to sit down on the chairs. Bored, she took Maeda Toshiro's hand and played a childish counting game with him.

She had no interest in watching this guy act like a panicked, innocent convenience store clerk any longer.

Upon closer inspection, even the trembling of a person's fingers and the sudden appearance of cold sweat when they are nervous are perfectly captured.

It's a real shame that someone with such talent isn't an actor.

Dongshu ate while talking, feeling regretful, and then suddenly ate another bite.

Then, her gaze slowly shifted to Amuro Tooru, instantly becoming intense.

[Author's Note]

[Empty bowl]