Chapter 46. How did they manage to trick Matsuda? ...
Having said goodbye to Ms. Akiyama, Morofushi Kagemitsu's opinion of college students who have just graduated has changed considerably.
These seemingly harmless, quiet, and kind people might unexpectedly give you a huge shock.
However, after being shocked by Ms. Akiyama, he might have to experience the same feeling of mental exhaustion again when he returns to the safe house.
The thought of Bourbon and Ray living in the apartment made him more alert, and he mentally prepared himself for a mess inside.
Anti-fraud officer, please show me the view first so I can see what's going on inside.
No problem (thumbs up)
Then, a clear scene appeared in his mind: Ray was cleaning, while Zero was sitting in the living room typing on his computer.
The latter made no attempt to add to the former's cleanup workload. Very well, it seems Zero wasn't entirely ignoring his own words...
[Anti-fraud expert #214: Oh, tell him to wipe off the super glue he smeared on Leijchen's bag first.]
[Anti-fraud expert #19: And that ghost face drawn on the scope.]
With each sentence they uttered, a small window would pop up on the screen, almost as if they were showing the original image during a live broadcast, inviting viewers to find the differences.
...Well, actually, compared to the initial mobilization of the police to capture Ray, this is a small matter, a small matter. After the series of events in Kyoto, both of them have a much different opinion of Ray. At least Zero no longer looks at Ray with that cold gaze he uses when looking at criminals.
[Anti-Fraud Guru #11: ...Is this the "cold gaze" you're referring to?]
Another area has been magnified.
Morofushi Kagemitsu looked over and found Zero staring at Rai's...pocket?
Um? ? ?
[Anti-fraud expert #66: Inside is Lai's phone.]
What's going on this time? What did my phone do to offend him? Did some message or intelligence get intercepted?
[Anti-fraud expert #205: I'll go check. Hopefully, he doesn't have so many restricted areas on his phone that he's preventing us from using them...]
[Anti-fraud expert #198: Oh, oh, I see, I understand now.]
What exactly happened? We should hurry up and deliver a verdict, lest they start arguing again.
[Anti-fraud expert #148: Well, after scanning the room, we found out they've already had a full-blown fight. Rye's cleaning is just him cleaning up the mess.]
What? !
[Anti-fraud expert #66: No wonder they're all police officers! Even though they've tried hard to avoid the typical crime scene furniture restoration trick, some damage is still hard to hide. For example, your newly bought furniture polish got spilled by Lai.]
...No wonder it was Lai who was cleaning; that explains why.
[Anti-Fraud Guru #26: However, the root of all this is a woman!]
...This statement is easy to misunderstand, but if I'm not mistaken, it should be the Miyano sisters.
[Anti-fraud expert #19: That's right, I guess it's because Ray texted Miyano Akemi, telling her and her sister to stay away from a member codenamed Bourbon.]
[Anti-fraud King No. 66: It must have been seen by Furuya-kun, so...]
Well, given Zero's strong sense of loyalty and righteousness, it's not impossible that she might be angry with Lei for this.
Look, the atmosphere has turned out this way, and it can't be Zero's fault.
Having understood the cause and effect, Morofushi Kagemitsu finally felt relieved and entered the room. By then, Rai had already finished cleaning up and put away all the cleaning tools.
Seeing that Zero was about to complain, he nodded to Lai Yi, adhering to the concept of peaceful coexistence and harmonious development, and then said to Zero, "It seems that Rum has some information about the Muddy Society. Melo said that she can't wait any longer."
Upon hearing Hiro bring up Mello and Rum, Bourbon realized that Hiro wanted to discuss intelligence within the organization with him. He immediately set aside this minor personal grudge, put on airs, and headed towards the study, saying, "Oh, is that so? Let me think… Ah, well, it depends on your sincerity…"
"Let's talk then."
With that, the two went into the study.
As soon as Morofushi Kagemitsu sat down, Furuya Rei shoved the printed intelligence report into his hand and asked in a low voice, "What is Melo up to this time? I thought she would have to wait a while before things got serious in Kyoto."
Morofushi Kagemitsu said, "It's less about Mello and more about Vermouth needing it."
Rei Furuya had also had several encounters and collaborations with this Thousand-Faced Witch in the organization, and had some understanding of such mystical people. He frowned and asked, "Vermouth? As far as I know, she has never taken sides. Could it be that she has secretly sided with...?"
Morofushi Kagemitsu shook his head slightly and said, "Of course she won't change her stance easily. This information can be considered as Melo's compromise with Vermouth."
"What do you mean?"
Morofushi Kagemitsu blinked innocently and said, "It all started with the Kyoto hamburger shop incident. You know, I originally went to investigate the whereabouts of those foreign spies, but I unexpectedly ran into that undercover agent from before. Thinking about his connection with the Warren family, I used your name to intimidate him a bit."
Hiro later discussed the fact that Furuya nodded in agreement with him via text message.
“However, later someone discovered from the travel time that you should still be on your way from the hospital at that time, so some people suspected that Yul did not see you in person.” Morofushi Kagemitsu said with a shrug. “At this time, the label of suspicion was thrown at Vermouth, after all, her disguise skills are quite famous in the organization.”
Rei Furuya then realized what was happening and continued, "After Vermouth found out, she realized she had been used as a raft, so she began to investigate in secret and discovered that this matter was actually related to Mello?"
“That’s about it,” Morofushi Hiromitsu said. “Luckily, the FBI agents left quickly, otherwise she might have followed the trail to Rye. After all, that morning—the day Rye said he was going for a walk—he very likely made contact with the FBI.”
Rei Furuya's expression turned somewhat unpleasant, and he said, "Then this matter falls to you, doesn't it?"
While Morofushi Kagemitsu felt some pressure about attracting Vermouth's attention, he couldn't be considered entirely passive. He reassured her, "Ray also gave me a lot of useful information. Don't worry, I can handle these things... so you shouldn't keep targeting Ray in the future."
Rei Furuya nodded somewhat reluctantly: "Okay, okay, I understand, as long as it doesn't go against the factional stance within the organization."
[Anti-fraud expert #11: Your perfunctory responses must have been trained at the police academy, right? Hagiwara-kun seemed to have made the same promise to you last time.]
[Anti-fraud expert #214: It's obvious that Furuya-kun is very unwilling to accept this.]
Morofushi Kagemitsu looked at Furuya Rei, who returned an innocent look.
...Or I might as well just leave it alone for now.
Morofushi Kagemitsu thought to himself as he was being tricked back to his room by his childhood friend.
Now that Zero understands Ray's position, he won't do anything excessive. It's fine for them to just play around like this, so that no one will doubt their relationship.
[Anti-fraud King #205: But people are already creating fanfiction about them.]
Morobuchi Kagemitsu gasped first, then exhaled with relief.
He silently apologized to his two partners: Sorry, Zero and Lei, you two will have to hold them off for a while.
[Anti-Fraud King #19: Would you like to see this one I recently wrote? If so, I'll mass-produce it... well, consider it repaying the favor I owe you.]
No, please use your kindness in a useful way.
[Anti-fraud expert reminds you: The scam has been exposed!]
Forget about that for now, let's get down to business.
He saw the title before he even opened the full text of the message:
[Free gift cards delivered to the police? Another package scam!]
Gift cards?
The keywords I had seen in the "short-term investment" project suddenly matched up; it seems to be feedback from the meeting on the day of the whistleblower report.
He continued reading:
The handsome curly-haired police officer received a package one day containing a "thank you card" with the words "police assistance" printed on it. The entire card was designed to resemble the aesthetics of the Metropolitan Police Department, making it very realistic.
But one of his police officers pointed out the flaws in this.
"You can tell from this QR code that it's not someone from the bureau. Last time I saw Kokono from the personnel department studying the QR code login for a long time."
...
They didn't take this little incident to heart, casually reported it to the network department, and then went back to work.
However, on this field trip, Officer Curly once again encountered the "thank you card" that his colleagues were discussing enthusiastically, and the "Kono" mentioned by his friend seemed to believe it wholeheartedly.
...
"Thief!"
A beautiful woman stood by the roadside, pleading for help from the police officers.
The curly-haired officer, naturally, felt obligated to help. After running a few hundred meters, he tackled the thief to the ground, knocking his bag to the floor. A thank-you card fell out along with a pile of documents, but it read "National Subsidy Assistance!"
...How many flyers did the organization print?
Also, it says "curly hair" on it...
[Anti-fraud expert #66: This description does indeed resemble Matsuda-kun.]
[Anti-fraud expert #19: So "his police friend" must refer to Hagiwara-kun, right?]
How could someone be so stupid as to try and fool the police? What were they thinking?
[Anti-fraud expert #148: If you're worried, why don't you go take a look? Do you remember that time you almost passed by Matsuda-kun before you went to Kyoto?]
Morofushi Kagemitsu recalled that there seemed to be such a thing, huh? Otherwise, he would take the opportunity to invite Matsuda and the others to have a meal.
[Anti-fraud expert #198: By the way, before you go back to Tokyo, go to a shrine, any one will do, and get a new amulet.]
A new amulet? But my old one... um?
He touched the bare phone charm again.
What about the original one?
[Anti-fraud expert #205: Just consider it a matter of life and death, and this is to protect you from disaster.]
Is that so?
[Anti-Fraud Guru #26: Yes, yes, that's exactly it.]
[...(covers mouth, drags away)]
-----------------------
Author's Note: Regarding the standoff between Bourbon and Ray, a dialogue suddenly came to mind that fits perfectly →
Bourbon: There's no place for a cunning person like you in the whiskey group!
Ray: Whether you can tolerate it or not depends on your magnanimity; whether I can tolerate it or not depends on my ability.
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