Chapter 26 Chapter 26 The Monster on the Shore of Yokohama Port (Part 2)…
Since last year, for unknown reasons, a new trend has suddenly emerged in the island nation, with young detectives, led by high school students, appearing on the front pages of various newspapers.
Recently, there is Kudo Shinichi, the son of a world-class mystery novelist active in the Kanto region (also a novelist, Yuyin has read many of his father, Mr. Kudo's masterpieces), and in the distant past, there is Hattori Heiji, a young man from Osaka active in the Kansai region. For a while, the gentlemanly young man Hakuba Tanya, who returned from overseas, frequently appeared in cases and was very popular.
This made Yuyin sigh in admiration. Today's high school students were truly remarkable. She also harbored deep concerns about public security on the island nation. When had the crime rate become so outrageous? Murders were popping up so frequently that every few days, she'd see a photo of a high school student in the newspaper, beaming with energy.
But when it comes to famous detectives, the first person that comes to Yuyin's mind is Edogawa Ranpo.
This young man (now a young adult) who shared the same name as the father of the island nation's detective fiction writers had been a household name since her days working in the Special Ability Division. The division recorded his special ability as "Super Deduction," supposedly allowing him to see through any truth at a glance. He and another homicide detective, Ayatsuji Yukito, were both under the Special Ability Division's close scrutiny. However, compared to the two, Edogawa Ranpo's special ability posed little threat to public order, and the Division's monitoring of him was routine.
So when Yuyin read his information, she could just smile and let it go. Anyway, the two of them would never have any intersection.
However, one should not be too stubborn, because the young man who came down from the passenger seat at this moment, squinting his eyes and yawning lazily, was none other than Edogawa Ranpo.
Edogawa Ranpo = super reasoning = seeing through her identity = the vest fell off!
The moment Yuyin saw him, her heart skipped a beat and a series of equations flashed through her mind.
No, stay calm, don't panic, what if someone needs to activate their ability? The vest may not fall off!
Yuyin maintained a calm expression and turned to the criminal police officer: "Sir, it's so late, can my friend and I leave now?" Holding Qianjian's hand, she looked like she was about to leave in a hurry.
She understood that talking too much would lead to mistakes, so it was better for her to speak less in front of Edogawa and save herself from unnecessary excuses.
"this……"
Detective Minoura felt a little embarrassed. Ever since the last murder of his female subordinate, he had full faith in Edogawa Ranpo's ability. However, if he detained two underage girls for questioning without reason, it would be disastrous if their parents found out and complained to him later.
But when he thought about his subordinate's serial murder case, which could only be solved with the help of Ranpo's ability, Minoura resolutely stood in front of the two men.
"Ahem, ladies, don't be afraid. I'm Minoura of the Kanagawa Prefectural Police." He pulled out a police handbook from his chest and showed it to her. "Sorry, I need to ask you for clues regarding a serial murder case."
After everything was made clear, Yuyin realized that forcing her to leave would only arouse suspicion, so she emphasized, "My friend and I were just passing by. We have no idea what case you're talking about."
While they were negotiating, the back seat of the Toyota opened and a silver-haired boy, holding a bunch of snacks and a stack of documents, called out, "Ranpo-san, you, your things, and the documents..."
Edogawa Ranpo's eyes lit up, and he took the top bag of potato chips and opened it to eat. He waved his hand and said, "As for the information and other things, I can take a look at it after I see the scene."
The silver-haired boy first turned around and placed the snacks and desserts on the seat, then took out his notebook and stacked it on top of the documents. With an eager look on his face, he asked, "Ranpo-san, why do you say those two girls know clues to the case? Maybe they were just passing by."
Nakajima Atsushi had only recently joined the Armed Detective Agency. As a newcomer, he felt a deep sense of uncertainty, unsure of his qualifications for the job. He constantly sought ways to improve himself, and following Ranpo-san on his cases was a valuable experience. However, when dealing with someone as unsociable as Ranpo-san, any questions had to be asked directly; otherwise, he wouldn't explain everything.
"Hmmmm...it's very simple..." Ranpo said while chewing potato chips, "Look at what they're wearing. The girls with the archery bags are wearing school uniforms, while the girls without the bags are wearing archery uniforms. Do you understand what this means?"
"Emmm..." Nakajima Atsushi frowned in confusion, and after a long pause he said hesitantly, "They are all from the Kyudo Club. Did the girls who didn't bring bags leave their belongings in the club room?"
"Wrong," Ranpo shook his head. "The truth is, the girl without the bag isn't from the Kyudo club at all. Her clothes belong to the girl with the Kyudo bag."
"Huh?" Nakajima Atsushi looked at Yuyin and the other two again, puzzled, "Mr. Ranpo, how did you know?"
"It's simple. Look at the size of the clothes," Ranpo said confidently. "Especially the position of the cuffs of the female Kyudo gi and the length of the hakama underneath. They are both longer than the standard length for her body proportions, but consistent with the length of the girl carrying the Kyudo backpack next to her. These clues indicate that the clothes belong to the girl with the backpack. As for why a girl who is not a member of the Kyudo club is wearing the Kyudo gi? I guess there are two possibilities."
He listed.
"The first possibility is that her original clothes were soiled or damaged and she couldn't wear them out in public, so a friend kindly gave her her club uniform.
The second possibility is that she has developed a new abnormality on her body that she cannot show to others, such as a terrible scar that cannot be concealed by the length of the girls' school uniform, so she changed into a kyudo uniform with sleeves and hakama that reach her wrists and heels.
The people were standing very close to each other, and they didn't control the volume of their conversation, so Yuyin could naturally hear their conversation clearly. Although the identity she deduced was not hers, it can be seen from this that Edogawa Ranpo's reasoning ability is indeed well-deserved and extraordinary.
"I see. Write this down," Nakajima Atsushi said, as if suddenly enlightened, imitating Mr. Kunikida's note-taking. "But Mr. Ranpo, how did you infer that this is related to the case?"
"Listen carefully, I'll only say this once," Ranpo said, never understanding why people around him always had to unravel such simple things before they could figure them out. "Whether it's the first or the second case, a normal girl should have gone home or sought medical attention instead of wandering around in her friend's clothes. Besides, it's already long before junior high school is over. If they were any later, Officer Minoura would have been able to follow public security regulations and ask for their names and addresses and force them to go home. Not to mention the style of their uniforms – it's obvious they don't belong to a middle school in Yokohama."
Ranpo looked at the wary Tamane and offered his final conclusion: "Then, at this time, the female middle school student from another school appeared at the crime scene. Do you still think she has no connection to the case?"
This is equivalent to pointing at the two of them and saying, I already know that you are involved in the case, so stop quibbling and just confess.
Yuyin frowned slightly, making rapid calculations in her mind.
The situation was that Edogawa Ranpo suspected them of being involved in the case here, but not her identity. This was either because his [Super Deduction] required specific conditions to trigger or was activated proactively, and since his focus wasn't on her, she had escaped unscathed for now. If she continued to refuse, her actions would be too deliberate and would easily lead him to use his ability on her. While it was unclear how far his ability could go, she could refer to Ayatsuji Yukito's [Another]. Tamane didn't dare test the limits of Ranpo's abilities for the time being.
"I don't know anything about the case you're talking about," Tamane told them frankly, "I'm just accompanying Asami to find the monster that attacked her last week."
"Monster?" Officer Ji Pu asked in confusion.
When Nakajima Atsushi, who was taking notes, heard this word, he shuddered suddenly, and a trembling black line appeared on the writing on the paper.
"I don't know what that was, and Asami said she didn't see it clearly," Yuyin patted Asami's hand and spoke on her behalf. "Maybe it was a beast, maybe it was an alien... In any case, it was a very brutal creature. Asami was almost killed here last week..."
She chose to tell the truth selectively, concealing some of her speculations to cover up her extraordinary knowledge in this regard.
"That, that monster... could you please describe it more clearly?" Nakajima Atsushi asked anxiously. "What does it look like? Is it a ferocious beast like a tiger?"
Although he had the impression that he had never lost control since joining the detective agency, what if, what if he ran out after falling asleep in the middle of the night and hurt someone, or even... didn't notice anything unusual?
"It's not a tiger," Asami shook his head and whispered, "It's dark, but I'm sure it looks like a snake's tail..."
Nakajima Atsushi finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"A snake?" Officer Jipu stroked his chin in thought. "I haven't heard of any giant pythons escaping from any zoo recently. Could it have escaped from a private reptile house? But what giant python can suck all the blood out of a person? I thought it was the work of a serial killer imitating a vampire..."
"Drain all the blood?"
Hearing Minoura's mumbling, Edogawa Ranpo's expression finally changed. He took a few steps to the edge of the white line, took out his glasses, and after carefully examining the white line that preserved the corpse's final form, he said to Nakajima Atsushi in a serious tone, "Give me the information."
"Yes!" Nakajima Atsushi immediately presented the case materials.
After quickly flipping through all the documents, Ranpo closed them and turned to Officer Minoura, saying, "Hello, Mr. Policeman."
"Ranpo-kun, do you know the truth?"
Ji Pu saw the dawn of solving the case and his face lit up with joy, but then he saw Ranpo throwing the information into his arms with a very solemn expression.
"I suggest you transfer this case immediately."
"Ah?" Ji Pu looked confused.
Ranpo ignored the familiar police officer's expression and said bluntly, "This isn't a case that an ordinary person can solve. Just go back and tell your superior that this is beyond common sense, and he'll naturally know where to transfer the case."
Yuyin nodded in her heart, silently agreeing with Ranpo's words. Even if this case was not to be solved by a demon hunter, it should at least be transferred to the Special Ability Department. Ordinary police officers could not even see the real culprit, so what could they investigate?
Ji Pu was silent for a long while, and finally said: "...I understand."
Having worked in Kanagawa for so many years, Minoura had naturally heard of the existence of people with special abilities. Often, upon arriving at a case, he'd be told it wasn't his responsibility. Initially, he'd been furious, but over time, he'd come to understand that it was connected to the underworld hidden in Yokohama, a part of his life he couldn't interfere with.
So this case was committed by a person with super powers?
He picked up the car keys, turned around and walked to the car, "Then I'm sorry to bother you today, Mr. Ranpo. I'll drive you home."
Even though the case was about to be out of his jurisdiction, he had hired the detective himself, so he had to send him back to the detective agency personally.
"Oh, and you two girls," Minoura remembered something and turned to Yuyin and Asami and said, "Leave your names and contact information. It's too late today, but the person in charge of the case should contact you later to ask about that monster."
Yuyin looked at Asami, who nodded and mustered up the courage to say, "Okay, I have no problem."
Everything seemed to be resolved perfectly at this point.
However, the suddenly noisy sea breeze brought a fishy smell that was different from the usual. Yuyin, who was the most vigilant, reacted almost immediately, and the second person to notice something was wrong was the silver-haired boy Nakajima Atsushi.
"Asami, be careful!"
"Mr. Ranpo!"
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The author has something to say: Ahem, actually Ranpo is already 26 years old, but because he is not tall (although he is still much taller than Chuuya) and looks very youthful, he still looks like a "boy" from the outside, and I am not misusing the term.
Ranpo cannot completely see through the heroine's disguise because of insufficient information. Without super powers, he cannot see monsters and cursed spirits in the fusion world.
PS: To supplement the settings in this article, the power of the king/the power of the supernatural/the power of the cursed and the spiritual power can be used interchangeably as supernatural powers in the fusion world. The effects are just different, but the basic role in seeing or harming cursed spirits or monsters is the same.
I'd like to recommend my friend [Bu Ji Liu Guang]'s Yandan and Martial Arts fanfiction "I Just Want to Have a Honeymoon [Martial Arts]". Her writing has always been very much to my taste. If you like Yandan and Martial Arts themes, don't miss it~
Here’s her copy:
Not wanting to be a father and take care of a child right after getting married, Yun Chuxiu decided to take the former young master of his own manor out for a honeymoon. After all, there was a whole world for them to experience, so why not?
But the name of the random villa where I stayed on the roadside was Liyuan, and the owner of this house had just brought back a savior named Long; I went to the Dali royal family to visit an old charlatan friend, but he happened to meet that the friend had seen through the world and was planning to become a monk; I went to the mountain to visit the famous man-made attraction Zhenlong Chess Game, but was almost forced to become his disciple... There seemed to be always some strange things happening along the way.
Later, looking at the many martial arts secret manuals they brought back, Yuan's father, who was taking care of the children at home, was speechless: "...So, you just stole other people's martial arts along the way?"
Lao Yuan & Xiao Yun: "We didn't! We really just went on a honeymoon!"
*
Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated nutrient solution between 2021-11-19 01:41:40 and 2021-11-20 02:59:34~
Thanks to the little angel who cast the mine: 1 sure win;
Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: 20 bottles of "Shi A Guang Ya"; 10 bottles of "Eat Fish What Fish" and "Mirror"; 5 bottles of "Ji Xi"; 2 bottles of "Yan Mo"; 1 bottle of "Caged Bird", "Wan Si" and "Qi Qian Mao Da Ye";
Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!
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