At lunchtime, Yuki Asahi was already able to get out of bed.
Morita Butler informed him that his lunch was on the fifth floor—which, naturally, meant dining with the young lady.
“No, I’m leaving.”
Yuki Asahi shook his head.
“Morita-san, please say goodbye to Senior Jiang for me.”
Morita Aoya froze, then looked away.
“This kind of thing… you should do it yourself.”
Well, that made sense.
Yuki Asahi really had no reason to stay in the apartment any longer.
Helpless, Yuki Asahi headed to the fifth floor.
In front of the computer desk, Jiang Jian Yue was wearing a simple white T-shirt and denim shorts, her legs folded on the chair, her whole body seemingly sunk into the wide seat.
The sounds of keyboard and mouse clicks continued nonstop, and on the screen was a game interface Yuki Asahi couldn’t understand.
He didn’t disturb her, quietly waiting for a few minutes until she noticed him.
“Yuki? What’s up?”
Jiang Jian Yue leaned her head back, looking at Yuki Asahi standing behind the chair.
“I’m here to say goodbye.”
Yuki Asahi bowed.
“Thank you for all your help. I will remember it always, Senior.”
Jiang Jian Yue turned her head back to the computer screen and responded with a nonchalant “Mm.”
Idiot, why does it sound like a final farewell?
Seeing Jiang Jian Yue so cold, Yuki Asahi felt a strange tightness in his chest, but quickly brushed it aside.
Back at the elevator entrance, Yuki Asahi suddenly heard a rush of bare footsteps behind him.
“There’s something I have to tell you.”
“Kuninori Tsuruoka probably won’t be put on trial.”
After the Ikebukuro Incident ended, Kuninori Tsuruoka was handed over to the police, along with his insects.
The Mobile Phone for Detecting Scattered Energy had been lost, probably shredded by the 30mm autocannon, and the Invisibility Wristwatch was in Jiang Jian Yue’s hands, not handed over.
Yuki Asahi paused slightly, then shook his head with a bitter smile.
“I’m not a child who doesn’t understand anything.”
As a GPRI member, Kuninori Tsuruoka had significant value, and the newly established Tokushu Jishou Taiou Honbu desperately needed such people.
In other words, for the Japanese Government, Kuninori Tsuruoka held high value for unification efforts.
“Powerlessness is always like this. That’s life.”
Are you really going to lecture on life like a sullen teenager?
As a veteran Earth OL, Jiang Jian Yue often couldn’t stand kids pretending they’d seen through life.
Is this some kind of hierarchical discrimination?
Jiang Jian Yue pressed her lips together.
“Do you hate Kuninori Tsuruoka?”
She asked softly.
Yuki Asahi turned around, looking at Jiang Jian Yue’s emotionless face, hesitating as he opened his mouth.
“Actually, I was grateful he killed Maeda. When I saw Maeda’s corpse, I felt a happiness I’d never known fill my body… Hey, Senior, does that make me a bad person?”
Oi! That’s not very protagonist-like.
Where did that uniquely anime ability to forgive everything go?
“It’s human nature.”
Jiang Jian Yue shook her head, noticing Yuki Asahi’s head drooping, his shoulders slumped, his whole figure returning to gloominess.
Adolescents always wallow in thoughts that aren’t worth agonizing over.
Meanwhile, despicable and selfish adults would have already popped champagne to celebrate their enemy’s demise.
“But another student was killed too. People like Kuninori Tsuruoka… don’t deserve to live.”
Jiang Jian Yue nodded, making up her mind.
***
Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office, Tokushu Jishou Taiou Honbu.
Mystery—that was once the synonym for Tokushu Jishou Taiou Honbu.
After the “Ikebukuro Monster Incident,” this secret department, established during the Cold War, was “re-established” once again and stepped fully into the public eye.
Ever since mysterious explosions began appearing worldwide, the dozens of employees at Tokushu Jishou Taiou Honbu had been run ragged, but their spirits were high.
Legendary abnormal incidents truly existed, and the taxes their predecessors had embezzled weren’t wasted!
However, the awkward thing was, Tokushu Jishou Taiou Honbu currently knew nothing about superpowers or abnormal creatures.
“Are those cops just there for show?! Why was the suspect taken away?”
Director Kawada Hou of the Operations Adjustment Office slammed the table, fury radiating from his face.
As the head of one of the two core departments of Tokushu Jishou Taiou Honbu, he only learned about this on the third day.
But it couldn’t be blamed entirely on Tokushu Jishou Taiou Honbu’s slow response.
Originally just a Clean Government Office, it was inevitable for mistakes to occur after suddenly getting so busy.
“Uh… I heard it was just the tantrum of a wealthy family’s child, and they didn’t restrict our contact with Yuki Asahi.”
Kawada Hou’s anger immediately subsided, and he nodded.
“That’s fine, then. I thought a foreign agency had intercepted him.”
The subordinates all knew which foreign agency he meant.
Since Tokushu Jishou Taiou Honbu revealed itself to the public, some countries dug up old intelligence-sharing agreements, wanting them to share their findings.
But Tokushu Jishou Taiou Honbu was never included in those agreements, nor was it a military organization.
Such matters, involving alliance diplomacy, were left to higher-ups to argue over.
Kawada Hou, once an officer from the Self-Defense Force, for some reason deeply disliked so-called “allies.”
“Ask Director Matsumoto if there’s been any contact with Yuki Asahi… Oh right, what about the guy being interrogated?”
“Kuninori Tsuruoka, a member of GPRI. Tough mouth, not revealing anything.”
“GPRI, huh…”
Some evidence recovered from the ruins of the Osaka GPRI Base had already confirmed the existence of this transnational organization.
The first time Kawada Hou checked the data, a chill ran down his spine.
That such a large organization had gone unnoticed was incredible.
Fortunately, they seemed to have run into some “small” problems.
“It’s time to learn some techniques from the CIA Predecessor. If Matsumoto’s team makes no progress, maybe we should step in.”
The Operations Adjustment Office, originally the armed department of Tokushu Jishou Taiou Honbu, may not have maxed out their intelligence-gathering and interrogation skills, but their methods were the most forceful.
However, no one expected someone even more direct would show up—
A researcher burst into the office, panic-stricken.
“Director! Bad news! Kuninori Tsuruoka is dead!”
“Nani?”
***
In the bathtub, the girl submerged her body underwater, waist-length gray hair floating on the surface.
Gulp, gulp… splash—
Jiang Jian Yue’s head suddenly emerged from the water, staring blankly at the bathroom ceiling.
“One day, Yuki will see your true form. He’ll avenge me. Monster!”
The last words Kuninori Tsuruoka uttered before execution echoed in her ears.
On that day, Kuninori Tsuruoka saw the strangeness in her and clearly understood what kind of “thing” she was.
Was she truly a monster, to the extent that someone who considered the devourer G a research specimen would call her one?
What… am I, really?
Water rolled down her arm, her porcelain skin gleaming, and as she clenched her fist slightly, the Insect Blade sprang from the back of her wrist, the faint scent of blood lingering as if it could never be washed away.
There were many reasons to let Kuninori Tsuruoka die, and persuading Jiang Jian Yue to act wasn’t just a matter of a single purpose.
Even if it was out of a selfish thought that, after Tokushu Jishou Taiou Honbu took in Kuninori Tsuruoka, he would surely target her.
She still waited for the excuse that “Yuki Asahi wanted him dead” before making her decision.
How filthy adults can be, so despicable and selfish…