Chapter 93: Chapter 93

Jin’s POV
   ““Murdered”?” Watanabe asks with an alarmed look on her face.

   Chieko-san covers her mouth with her right hand, as if she said something that she shouldn’t.

   “I meant to say “was suspected of murdered”.” She corrects herself. “My apologies. A journalist is supposed to view everything from an objective point of view, not to mention never accuse someone without solid proof.”

   “You probably do if you talk without one.” Jin says.

   She shakes her head.

   “I merely had speculations, with next to none of them being proven to be correct.”

   “What happened, exactly? If you don’t mind telling me, that is.”

   “Can you first promise me that you won’t tell it to a third party? Both the story itself and my theory. The story especially is a sensitive subject, so you can’t spread it around.”

   “I’ll even swear it if you want.” Jin promises.

   “Me too.” Watanabe agrees.

   “Thank you. You don’t have to go that far, though. Just make sure to keep what I said to yourselves. Now for the story. As you might know, the Ryuuzaki Group is a very dangerous yakuza organization. Most of the heinous acts they did were hushed over with bribes and other even more heinous acts. Those righteous police officers could only grit their teeth in frustration as the organization was doing as they pleased. Until a few extremists decide to take things into their own hands.”

   Jin raises his eyebrow.

   ““Extremists”?” he echoes.

   “You’ve probably seen those in movies and things. The ones who’re self-righteous and will do literally anything in order to maintain peace.”

   “Ah.”

   “If only Silver Wolf is half as caring as them…” Watanabe mumbles.

   Jin tries his best not to glare at her. Chieko-san, on the other hand, merely shrugs at her daughter’s comment.

   “Silver Wolf may seem cold and uncaring to some people, but I could still tell that he cares in his own ways.”

   Now it’s Watanabe’s turn to raise her eyebrow.

   “Does he?” she asks like she couldn’t believe what she just heard. “I’m pretty sure he’s just doing his job just because he’s getting paid, not because he actually cares.”

   Guilty as charged.

   “So what if he’s motivated by money? At least he’s doing his job.” Chieko-san insists. “I’m sure the same can’t be said for you. Remember the time you failed to mow the lawn after I paid you?”

   Watanabe looks away guiltily. Jin lets out a quick smirk that was only seen by her. She kicks him on the foot lightly so that her mother won’t notice.

   “Back to the story. The extremists went to arrest Ryuuzaki Heizo one day. According to them, they had evidence to prove that he’s guilty of several charges of human trafficking. To this day, a lot of people claimed that the evidence was bogus, myself included. Still, that’s not important right now. What’s important is that a squad was dispatched to the HQ of Ryuuzaki Group to have Ryuuzaki Heizo arrested.”

   “Please allow me to take a guess. The entire team was composed of officers from the extremist faction.” Jin predicts.

   “That’s right.”

   “Didn’t anyone object to that?” Watanabe asks. “I mean, there’s bound to be lots of sane officers who are worried that they might go wild.”

   “Well, let’s just say that those extremists were backed. And so, most of their actions turned a blind eye. Anyway, the team arrived at the front gate of the HQ demanding Ryuuzaki Heizo to come out and surrender himself. Surprisingly, he obliged. He was detained at the police station without any incident.” Chieko-san continues.

   Jin clicked his tongue.

   “What was that for?” Watanabe asks.

   “I’m deeply disappointed, that’s what. I was expecting him to resist arrest, and he, his subordinates and the extremist cops would start a shootout.”

   Watanaba rolls her eyes.

   “Boys and their thirst for gunfights…” she mutters.

   “Please wait a moment. If Ryuuzaki went with them obediently, how was he dead?” Jin asks Chieko-san.

   “I did say the process of him being detained ended without any incident, but I didn’t say nothing happened while he was in his cell.”

   “Ah.”

   “On the next day, he was found dead. Apparently, he hanged himself with his belt. That was the only thing we were told.”

   “That’s the dodgiest thing I’ve ever heard.”

   “You can count on the fact that you’re not the only one who had that thought. Naturally, all the fingers were pointed towards the extremist officers who detained Ryuuzaki Heizo in the first place.”

   “And they weren’t being held responsible or even questioned.”

   “That’s right. As I said, they were backed.”

   “By whom?” Watanabe asks.

   “I don’t think it’s a good idea to ask that.” Jin warns.

   “That’s right. Ignorance is bliss, and that really applies here.” Chieko-san agrees.

   “Just tell us, mother. I won’t be stupid enough to do something about it.” Watanabe insists.

   Chieko-san lets out a sigh. She’s probably relenting since she knows that her daughter is stubborn this way.

   “It’s the Date family.” she replies.

   Watanabe lets out a gasp of horror. Jin was impassive as usual. Also, he wasn’t really surprised.

   “The Date family?” Watanabe repeats. “As in…?”

   “Yes. Their daughter goes to the same school as both of you.”

   “Wow, this got huge all of a sudden.”

   “Did it?” Jin asks. “As far as I know, they’ve always been doing whatever they please in the name of justice. The senator wife, especially. Remember the time she pressured our PM into deporting 1,000 Nepalese workers just because only one of them had committed theft?”

   “Still, to be this daring without having to face the consequences…”

   “This is all part of being in the politics, dear.” Chieko-san says wisely.

   And Jin knows that all too well. Back at Osier Castle of Ifezan, he has witnessed countless corruption, backstabbing, and other blatant crimes committed by King Atwood’s retainers, all so that they could be the sole trusted advisor of the king.

   “Back to the story. What about the surveillance camera installed in front of the cell? They have those, right?” Watanabe asks.

   “Get real. As if the culprits will be stupid enough to leave any evidence would be used against them.” Jin tells her.

   “He’s right. There was indeed a camera, but it was conveniently disabled not long before Ryuuzaki Heizo met his demise.”

   “I wonder who messed with it…” Jin mumbles sarcastically.

   “With the head gone, the young Tatsuma-kun was elected as the new leader of the Ryuuzaki Group. He was only eleven at the time.”

   “Must be giving an insane amount of pressure to a kid as young as him.”

   “Not exactly. The Ryuuzaki Group is full of loyal gang members from top to bottom. All of them are willing to make sure that Tatsuma-kun remains as the head for as long as they’re alive. They’re also more than willing to assist him in any way they can.”

   “And you’re saying that none of them is interested in the throne?”

   “None.”

   “That’s rather impressive on the part of the father.”

   “Indeed. Ryuuzaki Heizo was a charismatic individual through and through. Not only was his presence intimidating to both his subordinates and rivals alike, he was also an extremely good judge of character. As a result, all of the members of Ryuuzaki Group have sworn absolute loyalty to him and his heir.”

   “If I may. I heard that they’re gathering ability users so that they could attack the UCI. Do you know why they are planning that?”

   “For revenge. Some of the creatures released by the UCI, whether intentionally or otherwise, have injured or even killed a few of them.”

   “Does Ryuuzaki Tatsuma even realize that the casualty count will go up even more if they executed the attack for real?”

   “He most likely does, but it’s a risk he’s willing to take. It’s also not helping that he’s being egged on by some people who live in the same neighborhood whose family and friends also suffered the same fate.”

   “So he’s being blinded by rage and the desire by vengeance. This is not going to end well.”

   “Definitely not. Win or lose, The UCI will most likely retaliate, and an ugly cycle of taking revenge will begin.”

   To be completely honest, the two groups can thrash each other all they want until both of them cease to exist. However, countless civilians might be caught up in the crossfire. As someone who was hired to maintain peace, Jin has to stop them.

   She paused all of a sudden.

   “Then again, the Ryuuzaki Group has a low chance of winning.”

   “Is it because of all the creatures and test subjects at the UCI’s disposal?”

   “That’s right. The differences in their numbers are too vast. The Ryuuzaki Group is in for a tough time. Naturally, they’re doing everything they can to even out the odds as much as possible. Sabotaging the UCI’s experiments, freeing and taming creatures that they found, recruiting ability users, those kinds of things.”

   All the other methods aside, Jin is kind of surprised that Tatsuma is recruiting random ability users. From the way he values loyalty and family members, one would think that he would be adamant on relying on his existing members solely. Unless, of course, he has some kind of method to keep them in check.

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   “You would think the UCI would crush them before they could be a real threat.”

   “They would definitely love to, believe you me. However, they’re probably refraining themselves after Jacques Bouchard has been reported missing.”

   Jin has to act like he was surprised. He was glad that Watanabe is playing along too, even though he has told her of the researcher’s (unsurprising) end the day after Austin paid him a visit.

   “How is it that they’re refraining when I see reports of them doing shady things on the news and the internet almost all the time?” Watanabe asks, almost demanding even.

   “You have to believe me when I say that they are. Compared to a few weeks ago, they’re indeed trying their best not to attract unwanted attention.”

   Watanabe grunts at that, clearly still dissatisfied. Chieko-san smiles at Jin.

   “Well, that’s it for the story.” she tells him. “I hope it helped you, at least somewhat.”

   He bows gratefully at her while remaining seated.

   “It did. Thank you for your time.” he replies.

   “You’re very much welcome. Oh, I almost forgot. There are still a few things that I would love to share with you. You don’t really have to take them at heart.”

   “Yes?”

   “Rumor has it, just rumors, mind you, that the Date family are secretly in cahoots with the UCI.”

   …Hmm?

   Jin has no idea where this is going, but decides to play along anyway.

   “Is it the give-and-take situation where the Date couple covers up for what the UCI does, while the latter provides them with enhanced bodyguards or something?” he asks.

   “That’s right. Well, the UCI promised serums that offer immortality, but I guess that’s not the point here. Supposedly, anyway, since the whole thing is baseless.”

   “So, based on this rumor, the real reason PM Yoshimori isn’t taking action on UCI-”

   “Was because of their meddling.” Chieko-san ends. “To be honest, I wish this rumor ended up to be true. Our PM doesn’t deserve all the harsh criticisms he’s getting.”

   “Still, to be tempted by something as an immortality serum. Aren’t they being a bit too gullible?” Watanabe asks.

   “Based on how things are around here lately, I would say that the possibility of creating an immortality serum is pretty tame by comparison.” Chieko-san replies.

   Chieko-san is absolutely right. Immortality serums were meant to be stuffs you can only find inside fairy tales and mythologies. However, the wonders of magic and alchemy at Ifezan made it a reality. On that note, scientists of this world might be able to do the same if they were given enough time, resources and knowledge. Things are getting more and more out-of-hand here.

   “Besides, I interviewed a former UCI researcher who left his job just a few days ago. According to him, there’s a group of individuals who’re helping out with that. All of them are from Ifezan, the same world Silver Wolf returned from.” the famous newscaster continues.

   That got Jin’s full attention, although he pretended to be impassive.

   “He also said that one of them is a real chatterbox who told the researchers and any who would listen that he, his three companions and their boss are near-immortal demons.”

   Four demons plus their boss. Yup, it’s the Four Demon Marquis and the Demon Lord. And the chatterbox is definitely HIM.

   “They sound dangerous. Does he know where they went? I would like to avoid that area as much as possible?”

   “I believe he said that it was inside the lab at the Roppongi branch. This was, what, three days ago? I don’t think you have to worry while you’re there.”

   “Actually, I’m even more worried. They could be anywhere now.”

   Worried that he can’t find them, that is.

   “Well, I’m done. As I said, you don’t really have to take them at heart. I don’t really get a lot of visitors, so I just felt like sharing them with you.”

   She was being pretty nonchalant, but the stare she’s giving Jin is saying otherwise. It’s like she’s counting on him to do something about them.

   “Say, does she know?” Jin asks Watanabe while whispering from the corner of his mouth.

   “Beats me. I, for one, didn’t tell her.” she whispers back.

   Chieko-san smiles at Jin.

   “Don’t you worry. Your secret identity is safe with me.” she assures him.

   That is a bit fat yes for his question earlier.

   “To be honest, I don’t really care even if you tell the whole world of my secret identity. Still, how did you manage to find out?” Jin couldn’t help but ask.

   “You can change your voice and put on as many disguises as you want, but you can never change the way you talk and act. There’s your distinctive aura, too.”

   “It’s true that he’s letting out so much loner’s aura anyone with eyes could tell.” Watanabe giggles.

   Jin steps on her foot lightly.

   “Says the one who couldn’t tell it was me after I rescued Chieko-san. Wait, I guess you don’t have any eyes.” Jin mocks.

   His foot was stepped on next.

   “I was too worried about my mother back then, okay?” she argues.

   “Sure, sure.”

   Chieko-san bows deeply at Jin.

   “On that note, I would like to thank you for rescuing me at that time.” she says to him gratefully.

   Watanabe bows at him too.

   “Yeah, I can’t thank you enough for that either.” she adds.

   “Please raise your head, you two. I just did my job, that’s all.”

   Watanabe raises her head in an instant.

   “Well, if you put it that way.”

   Chieko-san raises up hers a bit slower.

   “Anyway, there were also a few times when the two of us were watching the news together. Whenever the topic of you were brought up, Anri would mumble “Yup, totally him” if you were being criticized, and “You don’t know the real him” if you were praised.” she continues. “I figured that from Anri’s mumbling, she knows your true identity, and you coming to visit me today confirmed my theory. You know, with the timing and all.”

   Jin smacks Watanabe’s head with his fist. Naturally, he held back his strength by a lot.

   “You just can’t keep your mouth shut, can you?” he growls.

   “Sorry...” she mumbles guiltily while rubbing the spot where Jin hit her with her hand.

   “I, too, want to express my gratitude. After all, you’re one of the minority who’s on my side, even though I probably don’t deserve any supporters.” Jin tells Chieko-san.

   “Nonsense. You’re mostly doing a good job so far. I wish more people could see that.”

   “Emphasize on “mostly”.” Watanabe whispers.

   “Quiet, you.” Jin chides.

   “So, do you think you can take care of the demons and the Ryuuzaki Group?” Chieko-san asks Jin.

   He thinks about it for a moment.

   “First of all, I need to know the locations of the demons,” he decides. “They’re way more troublesome, and need to be dealt with as soon as possible. If possible, may I have you and your colleagues to snoop around?”

   “Understood, I’ll start working on it the moment we’re done. I’ll also ask around for help.”

   “Please keep in mind that all of them are extremely dangerous. If you provoke them, getting eliminated will be the least of your problems. An entire city, even the whole country will be destroyed. On that note, please don’t be rash and follow them if one of you spots them.” Jin warns.

   “I’ll make sure to be extra careful. I’ll also make sure that my colleagues and those I ask help from are given this warning too.” Chieko-san promises.

   Jin pauses.

   “Actually, you don’t have to warn Maebara if you’re ever asking for his help.”

   Chieko-san chuckles at that.

   “I see that you’re not fond of him.”

   “Let’s face it, Chieko-san, you’re not either.”

   “I won’t deny that. Still, it would be too cruel a fate, even for someone like him. Also, his twisted personality aside, he’s a very capable journalist. It would be really bad if we ever lose him.”

   “I guess he has to be warned too, even protected if necessary.” Jin decides reluctantly. “By the way, one of the demons have already been stopped. That leaves four more.”

   “Understood.”

   “So, what are you going to do while they search for the demons?” Watanabe asks Jin.

   “I’m paying a visit to the Ryuuzaki Group.”

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