Chapter 16
Unexpectedly, the fellow inmate was an old acquaintance of this body.
Ye Yihe rubbed his wrists, which were marked with red welts from the handcuffs. He glanced around the cramped, cold stone room, which was less than ten square meters in size, and realized that there wasn't even a place where he could sit down.
The lighting here is already quite dim. The walls are made of large stone bricks and steel bars, and they feel cold and damp to the touch. There are also many scratches of varying depths, and moss grows in the cracks.
Windows were impossible to install; only a small ventilation hole, no bigger than a fist, above the head made a slight humming sound, ensuring that no prisoner could easily escape.
The cell contained only a single hammock fixed to the wall with an iron chain, a makeshift toilet, and a crudely made sink.
With his cloak and hat taken away, Ye Yihe, left only with a thin, double-breasted coat and trousers, stood in the damp and chilly cell and almost couldn't help but shiver.
He could even feel the icy chill creeping up his fingertips and gradually spreading throughout his body.
I miss the original owner's fluffy winter gear...
"?"
Upon seeing Ye Yihe's reaction, the boy with reddish-brown hair tilted his head slightly, his wide, dark blue eyes seeming to show some confusion, but otherwise showing no further surprise.
“No, your aura has changed… it’s different from the one I saw before.”
He began to speak, saying that the Bible was placed in the crook of his bent knees.
What's different? Ye Yihe really wanted to ask him.
Generally speaking, in order to reduce the workload of the system in modifying memories, he was actually quite willing to try to be as close as possible to the original owner's words, actions and personality. Unfortunately, apart from Ivan, he had not yet met anyone who knew Fyodor.
And every time this is asked, Ivan always has an extremely reverent expression, as if to say, "God, you are God." He can't really treat others with that attitude, or he might get arrested as a lunatic.
"The look in their eyes is different."
Although Ye Yihe didn't speak, the other party seemed to understand his thoughts, pointing to his eyes and saying, "It will remind people of dark creatures like vampires."
His tone remained completely flat throughout, as if he were an empty shell incapable of generating any emotion.
Even as they reminisce, her blue eyes, fixed on Ye Yihe, remain quiet, like a withered branch standing in the moonlight.
"However, I've only met you once, so I might be mistaken."
The boy sitting on the bed turned his head back, his gaze returning to the Bible in his hands, seemingly having no intention of continuing the conversation.
Compared to the original owner, who was rather thin and whose wrists were extremely slender, this boy, who was about the same age as him, looked much healthier; the muscles under his dark shirt did not appear bulging or knotted, and the forearm exposed when the cuffs were rolled up had smooth lines and clear muscle texture, like a lithe yet steady young leopard.
Although he didn't continue speaking, he shifted his body slightly, clearing half of the bed—including the area with the thin blanket. The implication was clear.
Ye Yihe immediately understood the implication, came over, unfolded the quilt, wrapped it tightly around his body like a cloak, and sat down on the empty part of the bed.
Although we don't know why he was arrested, at least for now, he seems to be very thoughtful and considerate.
Moreover, Ye Yihe didn't want to be silenced like this forever. He carefully recalled the Japanese films and TV dramas he had watched, and after confirming that he hadn't mispronounced them, he finally spoke haltingly.
"...Who are you?"
Forgive him for not having undergone systematic Japanese learning and for being completely ignorant of grammar.
If you can manage to squeeze out a word, that's considered a success.
The boy sitting next to him was also silent for a moment before answering the question, "My name is Oda Sakunosuke."
“Oda Sakunosuke?” Ye Yihe tried to repeat.
Although the pronunciation is still quite long, it's much more user-friendly than the awkward trilled "r" sound in Russian.
"It is Oda, Sakunosuke."
Oda Sakunosuke corrected his mispronunciation, "My surname is Oda." — After a pause, he continued, "When you were on [V]'s side, your pronunciation and sentence structure in Japanese were very standard."
Ye Yihe: "…………"
Why touch a sore spot? He's not the original owner of this body. It's already quite impressive that he could communicate using only words on his first visit to Japan.
"Your name?"
Perhaps because he was extremely bored in the cell and the Bible was rather dull, Oda Sakunosuke did not reject this kind of simple communication.
"Fyodor".
After thinking about it, Ye Yihe gave this answer.
As for the omitted middle name and surname... they're too long to pronounce, so let's leave them out.
“Fyodor…it just doesn’t feel right.”
Oda Sakunosuke's voice was slightly hoarse, and even when he spoke with a tone of doubt, his tone remained completely flat, like a dead electrocardiogram.
But he didn't care about anything, just as he didn't care why the other person, who used to be fluent in Japanese, suddenly became a Japanese illiterate at a kindergarten level.
Oda Sakunosuke has no curiosity about anything, which is also an excellent quality that is beyond reproach for him as an assassin.
Seeing Ye Yihe's gaze lingering on the Bible in his hands, Oda Sakunosuke explained simply, "Because I said I was bored, the prison guard gave me this. Maybe they wanted me to reform, but the content is really dry."
He handed over the Bible, saying, "Feel free to take a look if you want."
Yeikh's purpose was certainly not to listen to the Bible in a Russian church and then come to Japan to read the Bible.
He pointed to the thick, hardcover book that had been handed to him with his fingertip, then lightly pointed to Oda Sakunosuke, then pointed to himself—and finally clasped his hands together in front of the other person, making a gesture of "please, please."
"You... want me to teach you Japanese?"
As expected of Oda Sakunosuke, who became a top assassin at a young age, he has an extremely strong ability to understand.
"Yes."
Ye Yihe, expressing his approval in Japanese, was pleased that the other person was so intelligent.
This body has a very good mind, and with the Bible to serve as a reference for text and pronunciation, plus Oda Sakunosuke's help to cram him with grammar, Ye Yihe believes that his Japanese level will definitely improve much faster than his Russian, which he started learning from scratch.
“I’m feeling bored anyway,” Oda Sakunosuke nodded calmly. “Perhaps doing this would be more interesting.”
…………
Meanwhile, the commotion in the theater did not stop; the body of the deceased lead actor was still lying on the stage, covered by a white sheet by the police.
Apart from Ye Yihe, who was taken away because he could not provide proof of identity, the rest of the audience remained seated as required, whispering among themselves.
They didn't know when they could leave, and at the same time they were wondering if Ye Yihe was the murderer of the lead actor—although he couldn't produce anything to prove his identity, he was very cooperative with the police's orders.
From the moment he obediently raised his wrists together and put on the handcuffs until he left the theater, he did not struggle or resist at all, nor did he utter a single word of rebuttal.
Beautiful, quiet, and well-behaved.
If this is the murderer who could so skillfully kill his victim, then he is far too young and too thin, making it hard to believe.
After contacting the police and theater manager in the lobby, the man in the kimono, who had returned to his seat in the audience, was also considering this possibility.
After all, Ranpo possessed eyes that could see through all the truths, and he had explicitly mentioned "they are very similar" when he watched the show before.
But whether the emphasis of the phrase "very similar" is on living alone in the same country or on having the same ability to see through the truth... he couldn't be sure. Perhaps after this matter was over, he could ask Ranpo.
...Hopefully the answer isn't that their clothing styles are similar, because that would make him feel like his thinking was superfluous.
The good news is that after Ranpo accepted the identity of the "superpowered person" he was given, the knot in his heart completely dissipated. He even teamed up with the theater manager to help with the lighting and went on stage to perform a second half of the play that "exposed the lead actor's fake death trick".
"Since everyone has questions about this incident, it's my turn to step in and uncover all the secrets and mysteries, so that everyone can breathe a sigh of relief and go home!"
"As for why I did this, hmph, that's undeniably stupid talk! Because I am your savior! I am a famous detective, a superhuman, a prince of the gods, and a celestial savior who will uncover the truth of the matter! You toddlers who haven't even hardened your necks yet, just obediently let this great detective protect you and worship me to your heart's content!"
The bad news was that Ranpo's popularity was so overwhelming that it left him speechless and worried to the point that not only did his stomach start to hurt, but he also felt dizzy.
But he still had to thank Ranpo for his ingenuity; otherwise, the real target who had been kidnapped and hidden behind the curtain—the gentleman in a suit with a T-shaped cane—would have been mistakenly identified as the murderer and wanted by the authorities because he had disappeared without a trace.
However, these issues will have to be discussed later.
Because after the incident was resolved, Ranpo took a ride with Inspector Mitamura to the police station to give a statement, and both he and Mitamura disappeared.
From the message left by Ranpo before he left, "The real culprit is Mitamura," he could be certain that Ranpo was simply risking his life to explore, and that the other party might not care about Ranpo's life.
—In order to find Ranpo's whereabouts as soon as possible, the silver-haired swordsman, once known as the Lone Wolf, hurriedly went to the underground detention center with the help of his friend's connections.
Then, through the heavy iron door of the cell, he saw two heads huddled together, reading the Bible. And they were people he knew.
To be honest, he never expected that the assassin he had met at the company would end up locked up with the boy he had met at the theater, and they seemed to be getting along quite well.
What does this mean?
"Hmm... [Kill them]."
"…………"
Wait, is this really the Bible?
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