Chapter 19 19 Being Pulled Away
I never expected that the head of the detective agency, and the leader that my father, Tatsuya Hongo, feared, would be such a person.
He didn't look menacing, with some unshaved beard on his chin. He seemed gentle when he smiled, and he looked suave and elegant in his white coat, without the sinister air of some doctors in TV dramas.
Especially since there was a little girl with blonde hair and a red dress following him, laughing and playing with him, if I were to be approached on the street, I wouldn't feel weird or pressured at all.
But I am now in the enemy's base camp, and I was kidnapped.
"...I thought the Hongo family matter was over."
"What Hongo Tatsuya did has nothing to do with you," Mr. Mori nodded readily. "But this time, the psychic's disappearance is somewhat related to you." He propped his chin on one hand and looked me in the eye across the table. "According to my people, more than one person saw you near the scene of the psychic's disappearance."
"……ha?"
"Oh, of course, I don't think you're the one who did it."
"First, while many members are eyewitnesses, there's no actual video evidence," Mr. Mori said, pushing his cup forward on the table. "Second, all of the missing individuals are psychics, some of whom have extremely dangerous abilities. This contradicts Miss Jiu Jing's goal of a peaceful life. Frankly, I don't think you have the need or the ability to kidnap a psychic on your own."
He was right. It was only just now that I realized someone had actually seen me at the scene of the kidnapping. But how is this possible?! I'm always in school during the day, and I have swords to accompany me home at night. Even if I were sleepwalking, I couldn't do something like this, right?
And why would I kidnap people with special abilities? I don't even know how many people are missing!
"Then why did you ask your subordinates to bring me here?"
It has nothing to do with the kidnapping case, and the matter of the Hongo family has been settled... You can't say that he wants to go against the detective agency, right?
"It's very simple, because I'm very interested in Miss Jiu Jing."
“…”
"Ah, please don't get me wrong. My favorite is only Little Alice. I'm interested in other things."
Although, this sounds even more wrong!
However, the girl named Alice didn't react much. Even after hearing all this, she was still concentrating on painting with a box of crayons.
By the way, this girl named Alice... who is she to Mr. Mori? Daughter? They don't look alike.
"After negotiating with the Hongo family, I looked into your resume."
The man's voice brought my thoughts back to normal.
"My mother died after giving birth out of wedlock. Although I never publicly returned to my Hongo family, I was supported by them throughout my early years. Due to poor health, I lived in a nursing home and entered boarding school in junior high school. After my biological father remarried, custody of my child was transferred to my mother's family and I was transferred to another school."
That's my personal experience, for sure.
"However, this resume was altered by a government agency."
My heart skipped a beat and my whole body froze.
"Miss Jiu Jing did live in a sanatorium for a period of time. However, after a major fire at the sanatorium in Hakone, your resume states that you were transferred to another hospital. In reality, no one at that sanatorium recognized you. This means that no one has known your true whereabouts since then."
The smile on Mr. Mori's face remained unchanged, but I felt the temperature around me getting colder and colder.
"How interesting! He's not a superpowered person, yet he's inextricably linked to the government. Even I or the detective agency can't get to the bottom of this secret."
In fact, it was mainly due to the special nature of the Time Government. In order to prevent the course of history from being disturbed, all the truth was sealed in top-secret archives by the government's counterpart departments. Even within the government, not everyone knew about the existence of the Shinsengumi.
"Now, someone is using Miss Jiu Jing's identity to fish in troubled waters, trying to disrupt our investigation. How can we keep such an interesting matter from you, as the person involved?"
Why does this sound... a bit like watching the fun?
"So what does Mr. Prime want to know?"
"Hahaha, I'm past the age where curiosity kills the cat, don't worry."
Oh, it turns out it’s not a curious secret.
"Then let me ask this another way. Sir, what does the Chief want me to do?"
The smile on his face widened a little. I think I guessed right.
"It's very simple. Since the other party wants to drag you into this, we will go along with it and set a trap for him."
"…So I'm the bait?"
"Absolutely."
Then you are really evil-minded. I can understand why the detective agency and Cheap Dad are so afraid of this leader.
"Miss Jiu Jing doesn't look scared."
I'm used to it after all. "Having been kidnapped three times in six months, I guess I'm experienced."
"Hey, there's another time besides our organization?"
"Wasn't it you guys who did it the first time? When I was in the same school as you."
He waved his hand. "Miss, you've wronged us. Your kidnapping was due to Tatsuya Hongo's connection to the Hongo family. And you weren't in Yokohama at the time, were you?" Mr. Mori put his finger to his mouth again. "Well, I understand. I'm afraid the information that you were a member of the Hongo family was also leaked that time. That's why the surname change and even the transfer to another school went so smoothly."
It was exactly as he said, but the problem was——
"Why do you know so much?"
"Haha, thanks to you, Miss, I get along pretty well with the old gentleman from the Hongo family. He has a lot of praise for you."
My grandfather basically ignored me. He was talking about the "Monster of Showa" from the same family. He gave my stepfather to them as a ransom, hoping they wouldn't keep thinking about me. But he didn't expect them to go after the most powerful person.
"It's probably because some wicked people in the Hongo family were afraid that their inheritance rights would be affected, so they attacked you at that time."
It's very likely... Tsk, the real world is really too troublesome! I don't have to worry about so many troubles in Honmaru.
Suddenly I want to go back.
"However, regarding this case of the missing psychic, is it true that nothing unusual happened around Miss Jiu Jing?"
“…” Actually, there is.
"It seems like you guessed it right?"
Seeing that the man still looked calm, I pursed my lips and said, "A few days ago, I saw a very strange girl at school." She was wearing a black kimono and standing on the playground. Passersby ignored her figure as if they couldn't see her.
"Oh? Just a few days ago?"
I nodded. "Since that day, I've been having strange dreams."
"Specifically? Do you remember what you dreamed about?"
Of course I remember, but these don't seem to be related to the disappearance of the mutant.
"I know this may seem rude, but for the sake of the investigation and the safety of my subordinates, we can't let go of even the smallest clue." The oppressive feeling that had previously emanated from Mr. Mori disappeared. "Ms. Jiu Jing also has a very important family. I think you understand this feeling, don't you?"
"It's a place completely unrelated to the modern world, and the girl from my dream is there too." We were like old friends, going to school and taking exams together, inseparable. "Later..."
"later?"
The head that had fallen to the ground reappeared in his mind. "In the dream, I killed her."
There was a slight clicking sound in the room. It was the little girl named Alice who broke her crayon while painting.
In the dim light, the red looks like blood.
For no apparent reason, I suddenly felt dizzy and chest tightness, so I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down.
"I can't imagine how this is related to the disappearances."
"No, there is." However, Mr. Mori denied my statement, "The specific time you saw the girl was this Tuesday?"
"Huh?"
His expression became a little serious: "In fact, the time you were seen at the scene was also Tuesday."
My heart beat faster and faster, and I suddenly felt a little nauseous.
"The girl in the dream, do you know her?"
"I haven't seen her before." That tight feeling in my chest returned. "But, she's not unfamiliar. She even called my name in my dream, and I... I think I said her name too."
"Oh? What's her name?"
I still remember that I said a lot of words in the dream, but I couldn't hear any sound. I felt like a bystander stuffed into someone else's body, able to see, touch, and feel, but unable to speak or express my wishes.
When I was talking to that girl, I could feel my mouth shape changing constantly. "That girl's name is..."
I touched my lips subconsciously, as if I was back in a dream, and her smiling voice rang in my ears.
"Humura, let's go to class together?"
How did I answer her?
"Okay, Oboro...Tsuki...?"
At this moment, my head felt as if it had exploded and I felt a sharp pain!
"Miss? Miss Jiujing?!"
My ears were buzzing, and I thought I was hearing someone's voice. I opened my mouth to breathe, to answer, but a sweet, fishy feeling welled up in my throat.
My chest was squeezed, my bones made a mournful sound, something flowed out of my nose, and all I saw was white light, and I couldn't see anything.
Longyue...such a gentle name.
But why am I so sad?
The author has something to say:
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The black-hearted boss successfully established a relationship with the boss of a large conglomerate. In fact, he was quite happy about it (?), and as the article said, he found that the heroine's personal resume had been modified, so he had some tentative thoughts.
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