Chapter 94 (Previously Chapter 93): The Hunter's Training: Becoming an Excellent...

To be or not to be

"Don't make a sound, I'm grilling."

Zhuge Tongzhi, whom Morofushi Kagemitsu had picked up from the mountains, sniffed, put on a thick coat, and sat by the grill under the starry sky, watching Uncle Ishikawa skillfully slice the hanging prey into pieces.

These fresh game were hunted by Ishikawa Taro and Ishikawa Jiro, but unfortunately they can't participate in this barbecue party now; the Chiba Prefecture detention center has become their home for the night.

Those who will be operating the sewing machine alongside them include the bald, scarred man and some local police stations.

But the credit wasn't entirely due to the Junior Detective League's report.

The listless black-haired girl looked at Ishikawa Yu, who was silently cutting meat. It was this man who provided a more detailed and complete transaction chain, which allowed the police to successfully follow the clues and investigate further.

Whether it was his two sons' illegal smuggling dealings or his youngest son's clandestine breeding of pangolins, this astute hunter was always aware of it all.

Judging from the evidence he submitted, this silence seems to be a prelude to staking out the person behind the scenes of the transaction chain.

But if everything was discovered long ago, why didn't he stop his two children from committing crimes, instead of so righteously turning against his own family?

Uncle Ishikawa once again caught the black-haired girl's silent gaze. After a moment of eye contact between the rugged-faced man and the girl whose cheeks were flushed from a cold, he put down the dagger in his hand.

After washing the blood off his hands under the tap, Ishikawa Yu asked, "It's chilly in the mountains at night, would you like some cold medicine?"

Actually, she also wanted to drink some Banlangen (a traditional Chinese medicine), but it's best not to take any medication, including vitamin pills and other health supplements, within two hours of taking the APTX4869 antidote.

Therefore, Zhuge Tongzhi simply raised the steaming cup to the hunter uncle and said, "Drink more hot water, and you'll be fine."

“Yes, training the body’s own immunity is also very important.” Ishikawa Yu washed his hands, picked up a basket of red wild berries and started washing them. The rough sound broke the melodious chirping of insects.

"It's good that your uncle found you; the mountains at night can be very scary."

Actually, experiencing the feeling of your heart about to explode is quite terrifying. If they hadn't planned to kill her beforehand, she would have taken the children and fled into the mountains to survive for one night.

The first toast is to myself, as I am about to achieve the legendary status of the King of Pain Endurance, on par with Shinichi Kudo.

The girl silently toasted herself in her heart, but her face remained listless. She simply watched as Uncle Ishikawa sat down beside her with a bamboo basket still dripping water, and sighed softly.

"Young lady, you want to ask why I didn't stop my two sons from committing such a heinous act, right?"

The bamboo chair creaked as its worn bamboo legs shifted back and forth on the ground.

The black-haired girl blinked, took a sip of the hot water in her hand, and tacitly agreed with Ishikawa Yu's words.

"Because I left this mountain a long time ago, I only returned here about half a year ago. Before that, I was hospitalized in a hospital in town, and Taro often came to visit me."

The hunter, having removed his deerstalker hat, had the wrinkles on his face illuminated by the moonlight. The remaining water trickled down his rough palms, gathering at his fingertips, and dripped silently, adding a dark brown spot between his feet.

“I became suspicious on the first day I got home. The two boys’ methods are still not sophisticated enough. Their old man caught them red-handed.” Ishikawa Yu sighed with a smile. “It was too late to persuade them. I know all too well where the money was spent.”

He pointed to his left chest and said to the girl next to him who was quietly drinking water, "There's something wrong here, and it'll cost a lot of money to treat it."

"I see. In the end, it was all because of money." Zhuge Tongzhi nodded, understanding but unable to agree.

"But I'm not exactly a fair and just person either. Those are my children, and ultimately, I want the best for them." Ishikawa looked up at the exceptionally bright moonlight tonight and said, "I was collecting evidence to persuade them to hand it over themselves so they could turn their crimes into acts of merit, but I never expected this..."

Unexpectedly, the old classmate you arranged to meet on a whim brought a bunch of troublemakers with him, and they just happened to run into the line of fire for poaching and smuggling, didn't they?

Sigh... Zhuge Tongzhi put down his water glass, reached out from his thick coat, and patted Ishikawa Yu on the shoulder reassuringly.

Little brother, if you go to Beika Town Hospital for hospitalization, your whitewashing plan might just succeed.

Ultimately, they don't understand the urban legends of Tokyo today.

This message is dedicated to all the victims and murderers who invited "Sleeping Kogoro" to go out and solve cases.

It is also given to all the criminals who try to steal the treasure from the Junior Detective League or try to wipe them out.

I hope that next time you make a decision, you can do some research beforehand (hands clasped together).

Ultimately, Ishikawa Yu has fully recovered and returned to hunting in good health, while these two are still engaged in smuggling. It's their own fault for being caught by the Junior Detective League.

Zhuge Tongzhi, who hadn't uttered a single word throughout, comforted Uncle Ishikawa and picked up his hot water cup again. He realized that he might have been influenced by the detectives, and that he actually felt somewhat happy after uncovering the whole truth.

The girl with black hair from before probably wouldn't have cared about other people's troubles at all. She narrowed her eyes slightly, gazing blankly at the forest partially illuminated by the courtyard light.

Since returning to the size of a primary school student, that hallucinatory voice has never sounded again.

"The woman who took care of Taro and the others will be an excellent hunter."

Uncle Ishikawa, who was standing next to me, suddenly started talking about a very unexpected topic: "She was able to subdue three big men all by herself. She was agile and her moves were swift. The way those three kids described her holding the gun was also correct."

“She wasn’t in a group fight.” Zhuge Tongzhi slowly popped a wild fruit into his mouth and mumbled, savoring the sweet and sour taste, “The statement says that all three were taken by surprise attack.”

"So what?" Uncle Ishikawa leaned heavily against the back of the bamboo chair, and said amidst the creaking of the bamboo strips under the weight, "As a hunter, if you want to hunt your desired prey, whether it is a powerful black bear or a weak rabbit, learning patience and waiting in ambush are essential courses for beginners."

"Only by suppressing the urge to crush the prey's throat can you fire that crucial bullet."

Zhuge Tongzhi glanced at the old man who seemed to have a hidden meaning in his words, then naturally pretended not to have heard anything and blatantly drifted off into his own thoughts.

What crucial bullet? I only recognize silver bullets.

Whether you're looking for the big one or the small one, please turn left and go to 2-21 Beikacho, Tokyo. The house with the address marked "Kudo Family" is the one.

“I’ve been a hunter my whole life. Putting aside everything else, I’m pretty good at judging whether someone is competent or not.” Ishikawa Yu turned his head to look at the girl who had become much quieter after coming down the mountain, and smiled. “So that masked woman is definitely a good hunter.”

What are you saying, old man? I don't understand, I don't understand.

Zhuge Tongzhi's eyes began to dart around the courtyard. When he noticed the team returning from fetching well water in the distance, he jumped off the bamboo chair as if he had been granted a pardon.

The courtyard lights gradually illuminated the figures of the three little ones and Morofushi Kagemitsu. The man, who had taken off his thick coat, now rolled up his sleeves and walked steadily toward them with a large bucket of water in each hand.

The warm yellow light shone on his freshly disguised face, and having witnessed firsthand the kind of disguise ideas that originated in the cosplay community for the first time, Zhuge Tongzhi couldn't help but be deeply impressed by human creativity.

These students are no longer at the level of taking postgraduate entrance exams; they have already begun pursuing doctoral studies.

The fact that Morofushi Kagemitsu could use all kinds of makeup tools so skillfully was truly terrifying.

The three little ones beside Morofushi Kagemitsu were also holding a bucket of water together, but the light mercilessly shone on the water waves they splashed out while stumbling. The three children below were probably already soaked to the bone.

Thankfully, as a semi-patient, she didn't have to do any physical labor. Zhuge Tongzhi sighed, then threw off his thick coat to take the large bucket of water from Zhu Fujingguang's hands, while also taking the opportunity to tease the three little ones.

Behind him, Ishikawa Yuya stood up and said slowly, "Your uncle must also be a good hunter. I saw ambition, patience and extreme decisiveness in his eyes."

The black-haired girl, who had already run down the steps, stopped and looked back at Ishikawa Yu. Her dark eyes were like an unfathomable deep pool when backlit, but when she tilted her head back and the light shone in, they became as bright as obsidian.

"Uncle Ishikawa, what does 'also' mean?" she asked sweetly, her syllables clear and crisp like pearls falling onto a plate, carrying a subtle coolness.

Noah's Ark has already investigated the Ishikawa family. Apart from the information about their illegal activities of poaching and smuggling, they are just ordinary people and should have no connection with the organization.

Seeing the girl finally revealing her tail, Ishikawa Yu laughed heartily: "Because nephews resemble their uncles! You and your uncle have the same hunting potential, so you'll probably be a good hunter."

"Alright, it's time for dinner." The sharp-eyed old hunter felt much better after scaring the child, patted his thigh and stood up. "I'm going to check on the professor in the backyard. He's fixing that furnace again."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a loud bang came from the backyard, followed by thick smoke that even the moonlight couldn't penetrate rising from behind the house.

Ishikawa Yu: ...

It's been decades, but your skill in setting up explosions hasn't diminished at all.

"Professor Agasa!!" Ayumi Yoshida and Genta Kojima saw the thick smoke coming from the backyard and immediately dropped the wooden buckets they were carrying and ran towards Professor Agasa.

"Hey! You two!" Left alone, Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya suddenly lost his two helpers. He barely managed to take two steps while holding the wooden bucket before finally collapsing to the ground. The bucket, which had been raised high, splashed out the little well water that was left, which was poured directly onto his head.

The boy with the heart-shaped haircut instinctively closed his eyes. The icy well water splashed onto his face the next moment, but the wooden bucket didn't hit his head.

"Are you alright?" A gentle voice sounded from in front of him. Tsuburaya Mitsuhiko, who had just opened his eyes, was pulled up by Morofushi Kagemitsu and took back the wooden bucket that the man had temporarily freed his hand to catch. "Go back and change your clothes quickly, don't catch a cold."

"Oh, oh! Okay, Mr. Midorikawa." Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya carried the wooden bucket and ran towards the house. When he passed by Kirito, who was walking in the opposite direction, he couldn't help but turn around and glance at him.

The black-haired girl was bending over, carrying a bucket of water with both hands, and walking back with her guardian who had arrived unexpectedly.

Midorikawa Hikaru lowered his head, while Zhuge Tongzhi raised his head slightly. The two seemed to be having a pleasant conversation, with an indescribable sense of tacit understanding.

"They have such a good relationship," Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya thought to himself, before heading back to his bedroom to change clothes with Professor Agasa, who was being helped over by the two children.

The actual scene of their "pleasant conversation" was:

Looking at the thick black smoke rising from the backyard, Zhuge Tongzhi smiled and said, "Did it explode? Looks like we can't have barbecue tonight."

That's true, because it seems that Professor Agasa was researching both the old and new barbecue grills at the same time, and they probably both got blown up together.

Zhuge Tongzhi raised his head to look at Zhu Fujingguang and said, "Hmm."

Morofushi Kagemitsu, who received the extremely concise reply: ...Who is this child now, or is he nobody?

Although he and Elju are allies, and he and Zhuge Tongzhi have the pretense of being family, he now inexplicably feels that his favorability rating has been reduced to zero.

"...Well, then let's just cook some normal dishes tonight. What would you like to eat, Kiri-chan?"

"Hmm, whatever."

It's confirmed; this child is really difficult to deal with right now.

-----------------------

Author's Note: hiro sama: *facepalm* and a helpless, bitter smile.

Xiaotong (belike): I won't laugh anymore (not really)

OuO

She's just a bit confused right now.

Plus, getting bigger and smaller really hurts.

So I'm a little listless.

But it didn't completely turn into ale; it was more like something Tong had a premonition about.

…

The next chapter will involve going up the mountain to inspect yesterday's trap!

There will probably be a barbecue feast!

Prepare some snacks! OvO

…

Mwah!