Chapter 21 021
A week has passed since Romain Rolland stormed the port's Mafia and Vladimir blew up the streets, and Yokohama has returned to its usual tranquility.
Yes, this calm includes, but is not limited to, terrorist attacks, gunfights, and heinous murders.
It doesn't happen every day, but it happens every few days.
As for the UN... it's on the government's radar, but it's not actually very well-known in Yokohama's media circles.
After all, in most people's eyes, the UN just went to the port mafia and stole a bunch of data.
Vladimir was not considered a member of the UN, and his story has been widely circulated in Yokohama during this time.
After all, this story, which included elements such as a cross-dressing man, fighting against a powerful force (the Port Mafia), an industry celebrity (an internationally wanted criminal), and a massive explosion, spread like wildfire within Yokohama.
—But what does this have to do with the peace-loving UN?
UN can just sit back and watch the show.
Because of the UN's mysterious silence, the government and the Special Abilities Special Investigations Group (SAS) took no action for the time being. Meanwhile, the Armed Detective Agency received a request.
The investigation revealed a criminal, a rather strange one at that.
"A serial killer who doesn't kill anyone..."
Junichiro Tanizaki, who seemed somewhat like he was just there to make up the numbers, sat in the meeting room for people with supernatural abilities, quietly reading the subtitles projected on the screen.
"Can that still be called a serial killer?"
"To be precise, he should be called a serial killer who was constantly being stopped." Standing at the front, Kunikida Doppo pushed up his glasses and began to explain at a rapid pace and with very clear enunciation—"Most of the victims had their blood vessels and tendons severed, and the remaining wounds on the few bodies that were found were the same as those on the victims. But the difference is that most of the bodies had holes pierced through their necks or hearts."
“Some of the victims had an eyeball gouged out or some organs removed, and there was also the only body that died from excessive blood loss due to numerous wounds.”
"The first one was discovered four days ago, and by yesterday... there were already forty-seven victims."
Jun'ichirō Tanizaki nearly dislocated his jaw.
"Do you kill more than a dozen people a day?"
This is a terrifying number of deaths in a single day, even by Yokohama standards.
It was done by one person.
The expressions of Yonosaka Akiko and Miyazawa Kenji also changed to varying degrees.
"The number of victims includes those who are injured."
Kunikida Doppo's further explanation brought a slight sense of relief to everyone, but they still couldn't quite exhale.
"Fifteen of them died."
That half-breath was stuck in his chest, unable to be exhaled.
"The death toll is still quite staggering."
She took a deep breath; Yoshiko Nosae's expression was quite unpleasant.
"The slightly better news is that no new victims have appeared since last night, and the reason is currently unknown."
Kunikida Doppo's expression wasn't too good either, but he still diligently read the documents.
"Most of the victims were members of the Mafia or local thugs. Only six cases involved ordinary residents as victims, and all of them occurred in alleys. It is unclear whether the difference in the number of victims is due to local thugs occupying alleys and other places where ordinary people dare not approach, or whether it is due to the criminal tendencies of the perpetrators themselves."
Kenji Miyazawa suddenly spoke up: "If it's his own wish, wouldn't that show he still has some kindness?"
"Neither way is good." Yonosaka Akiko pursed her lips and crossed her arms—"The fact that he killed so many people is the problem in itself."
Having overheard their conversation, Kunikida Doppo paused for a moment, waiting for them to finish speaking. He then looked around to make sure no one else wanted to speak before continuing:
"Another special point is what I mean by 'stopped killers'—the victims who did not die were not let off the hook, but were prevented from doing so."
"In almost all the surviving victims' accounts, the perpetrator was a middle-aged man dressed in a neat suit, carrying a knife or dagger; while the one who stopped the perpetrator was generally a tall man wrapped in a dark gray trench coat."
Kenji Miyazawa noticed the problem: "Why is your tone so uncertain?"
"That's what I wanted to say too."
Kunikida Doppo looked up and glanced at everyone.
“There is a special note here—given that all the victims were in a state of incoherence, this information is questionable.”
"All of them?" Jun'ichirō Tanizaki raised his hand—"It's impossible that everyone was so traumatized that they lost their minds, right?"
“Of course.” Kunikida Doppo waved his hand and changed the slide. A large number of victim records appeared on the screen—“All of them have varying degrees of amnesia, auditory and visual hallucinations, and emotional instability. According to the current identification, the perpetrator used some kind of neurotoxin.”
"Although there may be some issues with the details, in almost everyone's account, the perpetrator ran away immediately after seeing the tall man who suddenly appeared, without stopping at all. That should be correct."
"The victims were discovered because the man who appeared later used their phones to make calls and then put the phones to their mouths so they could call for help themselves. Because of this, no sound was collected, and because they were wearing gloves, no fingerprints were collected, so their identities remain unknown."
"So cautious... Why does the one who's saving people seem more cautious than the one who's killing them?" Jun'ichirō Tanizaki felt a bit speechless.
"Could this be the difference between a normal person and a murderer?"
Dazai Osamu's sudden use of the word "murderer" drew everyone's attention.
Dazai Osamu returned an innocent look.
"Huh? Is there a problem? This level of crime can't possibly be committed by an ordinary murderer, right?"
As he spoke, Dazai Osamu slumped into a chair.
"So, intentionally letting a murderer kill you doesn't count as suicide, right...?"
Dazai Osamu suddenly exuded the smell of pickled mackerel.
Kunikida Doppo really wanted to beat this scumbag up, but he held back because they were discussing serious matters.
As for Edogawa Ranpo... he had been munching on chocolate and lost in thought since earlier, and the other members of the Armed Detective Agency didn't pay any attention to him.
Without evidence, even the strongest reasoning ability is nothing but wishful thinking.
—And now all they need to do is look for "evidence".
"As the president suggested, we will split into two groups this time."
Kunikida Doppo quickly flipped to the page with his notes, then continued speaking while holding the notebook up.
"I'll team up with Kenji Miyazawa, you'll team up with Osamu Dazai and Junichiro Tanizaki, Dr. Yono and Ranpo are not suitable for being dispatched and will stay in the detective agency, while the president will stay behind to keep things under control."
"This is a serious and heinous incident. The authorities require intelligence to be gathered as quickly as possible. They can selectively cooperate with the police but do not need to report everything. This time, the detective agency has been given a lot of freedom."
In short, the faster the better.
Pushing up his glasses, Kunikida Doppo looked at everyone with a serious expression.
"Let's start the operation now!"
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