Chapter 97 So, you really just wanted to show off, didn't you? ...

The moonlight remained bright, its gentle glow softly bathing the two figures. It outlined the silhouette of the hang glider high in the sky and illuminated the city streets below, which sped by like miniature models.

Morifushi Kagemitsu instinctively looked down, the buildings and streets rushing past beneath his feet. The streets were luminous rivers, the vehicles were moving specks of light, and the perilous abandoned rooftop was left far behind, disappearing from sight. The intense feeling of weightlessness and the dizziness of high-speed movement sent a shiver down his spine. No, perhaps it wasn't the high-speed movement that made him dizzy, but rather the powerful impact of escaping death.

The view from above, free from the pull of gravity, made Morofushi Kagemitsu feel like he was in a dream, but the presence of Nekono Ikuya beside him kept him firmly in the human world.

Just minutes ago he was struggling to die on the rooftop, and now he's soaring through the Tokyo night sky...

Morofushi Kagemitsu exhaled a long, trembling breath. The air high above was chilly, and the cold air filled his lungs again, yet it made him feel, with unmistakable realism, that he was still alive.

“Ikuya, thank you so much,” he said sincerely, his voice still slightly hoarse from the shock of surviving the ordeal.

"You're welcome!" Nekono Ikumi replied loudly, her tone light and cheerful.

“This…this is truly…” Morofushi Kagemitsu’s voice was broken by the wind, but Nekono Ikuya, who was close by, could hear it clearly, “It’s the most thrilling evacuation I’ve ever experienced in my life, bar none. Ikuya, you really are…”

What was it? Even Morofushi Kagemitsu couldn't explain it. He couldn't find the right words to describe the unexpected rescue and the sudden appearance of Nekono Ikuya.

Upon hearing this, Nekono Ikuya laughed even more heartily, with a hint of mischievous smugness: "Really impressive? Haha, didn't expect that, did you? Support doesn't necessarily have to be on the ground, it can also come from the sky!"

He skillfully maneuvered the hang glider, turning it nimbly in the air: "But to be honest, I really have to thank our little Kaito this time. If he hadn't taught me how to use a hang glider, I wouldn't have been able to steal you away from the organization so easily today."

It seems that the childish behavior of enjoying playing with other children can actually bring benefits, can't it? Nekono Ikuya chuckled to herself.

Morofushi Kagemitsu, whose identity was "stolen": "..."

"...Kaito kid?" Morofushi Kagemitsu heard the two words, which sounded similar and somewhat cute together (Kaito kid, kid kid?), and felt a sense of familiarity.

He racked his brains and quickly recalled the elementary school or kindergarten friends that Nekono Ikuya had made in high school.

Morofushi Kagemitsu was somewhat dazed, feeling as if his thoughts had instantly shifted from the oppressive and tense period of the organization to a relaxed and pleasant past era, and he relaxed considerably.

"Looks like I'll have to treat this Kaito kid to a big meal when I get back to thank him properly," he chuckled softly.

“Oh,” Nekono Ikuya said with a smile, as if she had just remembered something, “Then you must remember not to treat me to fish, or you’ll be repaying kindness with enmity.”

Kaito doesn't like fish? Morofushi Kagemitsu carefully noted this down.

The flight continued for a while, and I don't know what Nekono Ikuya did, but the coolness brought by the night breeze was dispelled by a warmth that seemed to come from nowhere.

Morofushi Kagemitsu gradually relaxed from his tense state. He looked at the increasingly distant scenery below, then at Nekono Ikuya who seemed to have no intention of landing, and couldn't help but ask, "Ikuya, shouldn't we... find a place to land?"

Although flying in the air feels great, it's not a good idea to stay in the air all the time.

"Landing?" Nekono Ikuya paused suspiciously for a moment, then looked down at Morofushi Kagemitsu, speaking in a relaxed tone as if they were discussing what to have for dinner.

"Oh... but I haven't learned how to land yet." He calmly dropped a bomb.

Morofushi Kagemitsu looked at Nekono Ikuya in shock.

Nekono Ikuya blinked innocently at Morofushi Kagemitsu.

Morofushi Kagemitsu: "!!!" He instantly grabbed Nekono Ikuya tightly, his heart nearly leaping out of his throat.

What do you mean you haven't learned how to land yet?! How dare you take off, let alone fly so high, if you can't land?!

However, it seems that one must learn to fly before learning to land; without taking off, there is no way to land. Morofushi Kagemitsu's thoughts were in complete disarray.

Then he suddenly realized something was wrong.

Wait, if Yuya can't land, how did he steal him from the rooftop? Skimming over the rooftop with his toes so close to the ground is practically landing, isn't it?

From this perspective, the fact that Yu Mi could swoop down from the sky at high speed, nimbly skim over the rooftop and easily steal him away, getting so close to the ground without falling or crashing into the wall, is the best demonstration of Yu Mi's superb gliding and landing skills.

There were even smoke bombs obstructing the view on the rooftop!

He slowly opened his eyes, incredulous.

I've been... tricked in a long time?!

Morofushi Kagemitsu's cat head looks confused.jpg

Catching the incredulous expression on Morofushi Kagemitsu's face, Nekono Ikuya, whose wicked intentions were aroused, couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Just kidding! Don't worry, I've practiced landing, you won't fall."

He gave a playful smile, then happily adjusted his direction, letting the glider trace a smooth, flowing arc in the air.

"I just felt that since it's a rare opportunity to fly, I might as well stay in the air a little longer. Don't the winds at high altitudes really help blow away bad moods?"

Realizing he had indeed been tricked, Morofushi Kagemitsu... Morofushi Kagemitsu was exhausted.

Seeing Nekono Ikuya's completely unashamed expression, he slowly revealed his crescent-shaped eyes.

Compared to the wind from above, Morofushi Kagemitsu felt that what was more effective in dispelling his bad mood was the fright that Nekono Ikuya had just given him.

Morofushi Kagemitsu: A weary laugh.

After relaxing his tense nerves, Morofushi Kagemitsu finally had the energy to review the scene on the rooftop.

Suddenly, he became a little concerned. He slowly frowned, somewhat bothered by Lai Yi's gaze.

Ray's eyes didn't seem like the kind of eyes that wanted to kill a traitor... Was he trying to say something to him back then?

“Ray…it seems he didn’t fire in the end,” Morofushi Kagemitsu said slowly.

In the end, they did not fire in the direction they flew away into the sky.

Lai was a perceptive person. At that time, he was so close to Lai that even if Yumi moved very lightly, Lai should have noticed it to some extent.

But he did not fire.

Lei Yi... Morofushi Kagemitsu guessed uncertainly, was Lei Yi hesitating about whether or not to let him go?

So what is the reason?

Was it because he had a good relationship with Ray within the organization? Or was it because Ray was also...?

He seemed to have seen a child who looked like Rae at the train station.

Morobuchi Kagemitsu fell into deep thought.

Nekono Ikuya blinked.

Then he blinked again.

"Oh, I see." Nekono Ikuya said honestly, "That's because I tampered with the smoke bombs and Ray's gun. I added a colorless and odorless sedative to the smoke bombs, and I blocked Ray's gun muzzle with lightweight clay, so he couldn't fire."

The drug would impair senses, making people easily ignore nearby sounds. If Rye realized there was a drug in the fog, he would be tempted to shoot—whether it was to shoot the traitor in his memory of Scotland, or to shoot himself to stay conscious, there was a high probability he would shoot. And shooting would cause the barrel to explode.

So of course they weren't worried about Ray's bullets when they flew away.

Otherwise, why wouldn't he use regular smoke bombs? Regular smoke bombs have a very strong, irritating smell, and inhaling them will inevitably cause coughing.

The moment Morofushi Kagemitsu coughed, Nekono Ikuya made a big commotion by taking him away. For someone as perceptive and skilled with a gun as Ray, blind firing was no problem.

They were so close together back then!

"I see." Morofushi Kagemitsu's beady eyes were instantly interrupted as his guess, which was about to get close to the truth, was unconsciously interrupted.

"But... but I also inhaled the smoke, so why didn't I...?"

Morofushi Kagemitsu was puzzled. He had also inhaled the smoke, so why didn't he feel like he was going to fall asleep?

"Of course it's because I sprayed the antidote on you while I was pulling you up! Don't underestimate the hand speed of someone who has loved dressing up since childhood and has also studied magic!"

Nekono Ikuya wore a proud and self-righteous expression.

"Your hand speed is indeed very fast," said Morofushi Kagemitsu, looking at Nekino Ikuya, who seemed calm but whose eyes and brows were filled with the emotion of "Praise me, praise me quickly."

In the instant he swept past and took him away, he blocked Ray's gun barrel and sprayed him with the antidote. "Impressive," Morofushi Kagemitsu praised.

Nekono Ikumi suppressed the upturn of her lips with a reserved expression and said nonchalantly, "It's nothing, it's nothing."

She was clearly happy to be praised.

Morofushi Kagemitsu's eyes lit up with a smile; he knew that Ikumi liked praise and had a somewhat flamboyant personality.

A gentle breeze brushed against his cheek, carrying a cool sense of freedom. Seeing his friend's deliberately mischievous, childlike smugness—intended to relax him—Morofushi Kagemitsu felt a little more at ease to joke around.

He raised an eyebrow slightly: "Haven't we been flying for quite a while now? Ikuya, why are you so reluctant to land? Are you trying to show off?"

"Huh?" Nekono Ikuya looked left and right, then mumbled, "Well, well..."

"So you were just trying to show off, weren't you?"

Nekono Ikuya tilts her head: (/≧▽≦/)

"you guess?"

...

Let's go back to the moment when the mysterious man had just plundered Scotland.

The moment the grayish-white smoke began to billow out, Shuichi Akai instinctively held his breath.

His reaction was astonishingly fast, yet a wisp of mist still managed to enter his nasal cavity.

Was it a contact from Scotland? Shuichi Akai felt a slight sense of relief, but his vigilance remained.

It would be ideal to save Scotland without revealing one's identity, but it would be absurd to be mistakenly killed by "friendly forces" due to carelessness.

Those who want to rescue undercover police officers will not hesitate to shoot the most heinous criminals if given the chance.

This smoke... has no pungent smell? A hint of doubt flashed across Akai Hide's eyes, followed by a sudden, intense wave of dizziness.

Oh no, there's a sleeping potion in the fog!

"Whoosh!"

A very light rustling sound of a garment fluttering past rang out. Akai Shuichi instinctively turned his gun, but his intuition told him that Morofushi Kagemitsu's position was already empty.

So fast? Shuichi Akai, who had intended to hold back without making a sound and therefore hadn't fired immediately, was slightly surprised—this moment of hesitation saved him.

Then I felt my thoughts grow heavier, and the gun in my hand seemed to grow heavier as well.

Damn it, is the quality of the sleeping pills really that good?

Shuichi Akai turned his gun on himself, intending to shoot himself, but a strange sense of crisis suddenly arose.

He paused for a moment, then switched to a dagger.