Not a detective

Page 130

"No," Xingyu shook her head. "I didn't see you come."

After thinking for a moment, Asakawa Riku realized a serious flaw: his "island-wide search" was during the first cycle, and he did not find Hoshino at that time, probably because she had already been killed in the first cycle; but in the second cycle, he did not conduct an "island-wide search," but only looked at the appearance of the villagers to confirm that Hoshino was not among them.

He didn't expect that Xingyu was rescued in the second cycle, and if she hid on the island, Asakawa Riku might not have been able to find her!

Whether it was the "time loop" that confused his memory or the deep impact of the previous emotional erosion, he actually missed such an obvious blind spot in his thinking.

"...Anyway, it's fine to stay here."

Asakawa Riku looked at the girl in front of him.

At this moment, she was almost in her "original" form, with her long golden hair flowing beautifully down her back. Her features, which had a touch of exoticism, blended well with her youthful innocence, without appearing too mature. Her figure was also perfectly proportioned, especially with the school swimsuit accentuating her beautiful curves, revealing her fair thighs and arms.

This was not the time to admire; he pulled Xingyu along and immediately walked outside.

"...Hey, wait a minute, where are we going!"

Xingyu said in a panic, but did not resist, and followed him through the jungle.

Instead of answering immediately, Asakawa Riku made a "shh" gesture and led her away from the villagers' sight. Soon, they arrived at a dilapidated house on the edge of the village.

A wooden boat stood next to the dilapidated house, its sail fixed to the roof. Asakawa Riku jumped onto the roof, took it down, and attached it to the boat.

Then, he picked up the two oars beside him and said to Xingyu:

"Go to sea."

"Go to sea?"

Xingyu was stunned for a moment, not understanding what he meant.

"Yes, we'll row back to Japan from here."

After throwing the oars in, Asakawa Riku lifted the wooden boat by himself and moved towards the beach at an incredible speed without breaking a sweat.

Xingyu had to jog a few steps to catch up with him:

"Wait... what are you talking about? Do you know how wide the Pacific Ocean is?"

"Anyway, the cruise ship only sailed for a day, so this distance is nothing. I can swim across it."

Asakawa Riku said calmly.

He wasn't bragging. If it weren't for bringing Xingyu along, he wouldn't even need a boat. Luckily, he remembered the location of the boat in the village last time, and he didn't expect it to come in handy this time.

This was originally part of his plan, called "Escape is shameful but useful." Since the previous two cycles of peace and violence had failed, perhaps this was the only remaining method.

"Once I get back, I'll find a way to ask the supervisory department for help, and then I can save these classmates."

Asakawa Riku would feel unwilling to run away alone, but fortunately this time he found Hoshino who had not been brainwashed, so he could run away with her.

Even in the worst-case scenario... at least one person can be saved.

Xingyu didn't seem to understand his inner thoughts; she was still struggling with the issue of distance.

"Is it really feasible... with such a small, dilapidated boat? Didn't we check the location yesterday? We're at least several thousand kilometers away from Japan..."

"It's alright, don't worry. Even if the ship sinks, I'll drag you back with me."

Asakawa Riku slammed the wooden boat onto the beach, just meters from the waves, but instead of pushing it in immediately, he said, "Wait for me here. Don't move. I'll be right back."

- …

Next, Asakawa Riku quickly returned to the village. He sneaked in and took many water jugs from the villagers' houses.

These kettles were mostly made of wood, but that was enough. After drawing enough well water, they would hang them on their bodies with ropes.

In addition, he also took some food, such as hard bread and pickled fish, because there was plenty of food in the village tonight for the Red Stingray Festival, and he took it all.

His movements were swift and agile, and he managed to block the villagers' view at the last minute, so he was not noticed.

Although engaging in such petty theft is not Asakawa Riku's style, the situation is urgent, and it is something he has to do in order to prepare for setting sail.

...Anyway, these villagers killed me once, so consider this compensation.

Asakawa Riku even brought up old scores from previous reincarnations.

He anticipated that the wooden boat would be slower than the previous cruise ship, and that the journey that the cruise ship could cover in a day would take them three or four days at sea.

Food and water were essential. While food could be obtained by catching fish, fresh water was a critical issue at sea; running out of water would lead to certain death. Therefore, he dared not be careless and brought many jugs. When he returned to the beach, laden with supplies, Xingyu stared at him in disbelief.

"...Are you trying to play Tarzan?"

"He's a Caribbean pirate, call me captain."

"……captain."

"Speak louder! You think you can ride my boat if you're this quiet?"

"Captain!! Don't leave me overboard, you must get back safely...!"

Asakawa Riku smiled. For the first time in days, he felt relaxed, pointing to the boundless sea:

"Crew member Xingyu, let's set off."

Summer of the Crimson Ray: Chapter Thirty - The Ship

This is an interview with a young female tourist in Sendai City on a certain day.

"Recent personal news? Ah... I was playing on the beach with my friends when I suddenly saw something darting towards us on the horizon."

Wearing sunglasses and a flashy swimsuit, she excitedly recounted her experience to the reporters:

"At first I thought it was some kind of fish, so I called my friend to come and see. But my friend was surprised and said that fish couldn't possibly make that kind of noise and move that fast. The waves were splashing to both sides, it was really exaggerated. She said it was an out-of-control jet ski, pulling me away quickly. Then we hid to the side until that thing crashed onto the beach before we dared to go over and take a look."

"Guess what? It wasn't a jet ski at all, but a shirtless teenager! And let me tell you a secret, he's incredibly handsome! Plus, he has a great physique!"

"Photos...? No, no, there was no time to take pictures. He seemed really anxious, saying he was going to do CPR and something to the girl next to him... My friend and I were terrified because he looked so disheveled, like he'd survived a wave. He said he'd crossed the Pacific Ocean..."

"Hey, why are you leaving? Aren't you going to interview me? Why are you doing this?"

"That's so fake! What? This is real! What do you mean humans can't swim and make that kind of noise? What do you mean swimming across the Pacific Ocean is bullshit? What do you mean I've watched too much Aquaman? There aren't that many handsome guys jumping out of the sea! Your TV station is so hurtful... Believe it or not... I'm telling you, I even lent him my sunshade!"

...

She wasn't lying.

Three days later, Riku Asakawa landed on the east coast of Japan.

Things went a little wrong. At first, the voyage at sea went quite smoothly. The wind was right, and we could drift after hoisting the sails. We only needed to use oars to control the direction.

Without nautical charts and compasses, they could only roughly determine the cardinal directions based on the direction of sunrise and sunset. Of course, they might also drift to Siberia or even return to their homeland.

Asakawa Riku could only resign himself to fate and head west to see what would happen. He figured that once he got back to land, he could always find a way.

Food and water were adequately provided; the only downside was the boredom. The two people on the cramped boat could only sit facing each other, staring at each other blankly.

Fortunately, Hoshino was a cheerful girl. She was very talkative and chatted with Asakawa Riku about many things, which helped relieve her boredom.

During this process, Asakawa Riku finally gained some understanding of her and learned about her past.

“I am an orphan. Although people always say I am mixed race, I don’t actually know which of my parents is a foreigner or what country they are from.”

“I was bought from the orphanage by the Dongyun family when I was a child. Although it was officially a normal adoption process, the person who adopted me was actually an employee of the Dongyun family. I have never seen that person since the day I left the orphanage. Instead, I was treated as a maid candidate and started learning housekeeping and other skills at the Dongyun family to prepare for my maid job.”

"Later I heard that the standard for the Dongyun family to adopt orphans was just that they were good-looking. I was chosen because of my golden hair. And I heard that the old man who was the head of the family... uh, let's keep that name a secret. I heard that Miss's father would have maids serve him, like an emperor visiting his concubines. Fortunately, he was not interested in young girls and only targeted adult maids, so I was not harassed or violated. But at the time, I felt extremely disgusted by all of this and wanted to run away. I even wanted to cut off all my hair."

"But at that moment, the young lady found me and specifically asked me to be her personal maid. Of course, this request was granted, and from that day on, I stayed by the young lady's side."

"To me, Miss saved my life."

As she spoke, Xingyu's eyes were filled with longing and admiration, and even glistened with tears.

After hearing her story, I finally understood why this guy always spoiled that ill-tempered young lady detective, taking care of her daily needs without complaint, and even tolerating her bad temper. Having been saved like that in her childhood, it's only natural that she would become a loyal fangirl.

However, Asakawa Riku couldn't help but think that the tragedy of Hoshino's fate was not only caused by her parents who abandoned her, but also by the Shinonome family.

No matter what, Shinonome Suetsuki is still a member of the Shinonome family. The so-called "rescue" is just to pull her out of the clutches of the local tyrant and turn her into his personal maid.

Can this kind of salvation really be called salvation?

Asakawa Riku hesitated, unsure whether he should speak. He had never experienced the suffering of others and could not truly empathize with them; he might just be being nosy.

Seemingly noticing his hesitation, Xingyu smiled and said:

"Asakawa-kun is so kind... he even considers my feelings. But actually, I wasn't bullied by Miss, I volunteered to be her maid."

Then, she recounted her first encounter with Shinonome Suetsuki—

...

"Miss, do you like boats?"

"A boat? I like that. Why do you ask?"

"I always ask my friends this question first; it's a rule of mine."

"It's quite unique. Asking 'Do you like the sea?' is understandable, but..."

"Everyone loves the sea, right? Ships allow people to travel on the ocean, overcome barriers and distances that were previously impossible, and see scenery that was previously impossible to see. So generally speaking, ships should be very popular. But everyone says they hate them, perhaps because many people get seasick, or they find sailing too boring. I think that's pathetic."

Did you just say 'friend'?

"You misheard me, it was maid and master. You said you like boats, right?"

"Friends are fine too. Because it can become a new home."

"Miss, that's really special."

"Hmm... what's your name again?"

...

It was that seemingly meaningless conversation.

Their first encounter took place under such ambiguous circumstances, when Hoshino had no idea what kind of person her future "master" would be.

She only saw a girl standing in the empty aquarium with her eyes closed, as if listening to the fish swimming.

A girl around his age possessed an incredible aura; she seemed to have prophetic abilities, saying:

"I want this girl to be my friend because she is unique, a flying fish."

From that day on, Xingyu decided to follow her, for no other reason.

Now, she opened her eyes again and saw the boy listening attentively in front of her. He was the second person to give her this feeling.

"Asakawa-kun, what about you? Do you like boats?"

Summer of the Crimson Ray: Chapter Thirty-One: The Past

"Boat?"

Asakawa Riku pondered for a moment, but didn't think for too long before answering with the simplest thought: "I like it. Without a boat, we'd have to swim right now."

He pointed to the wooden boat beneath the two men, a perfectly reasonable answer.

Xingyu smiled slightly, without saying whether the answer was right or wrong. Her thoughts were unreadable; perhaps there was no right answer to this question.

She simply said, "So, Miss was like a boat to me; she gave me the chance to survive during that turbulent childhood."

...

At that time, Shinonome Sugetsuki had not yet been expelled from the family, but still held a high position in the Shinonome household.

As the direct descendant of the family head, and having shown exceptional "talent" in her childhood, although no one knew she had the ability to come back to life, everyone knew that this girl was very intelligent.

In particular, Higashino Kosuke himself regarded her as a key person to be cultivated among his nineteen children, and arranged many courses for her.

Including "The Study of Emperors," which focuses on business, economics, interpersonal communication, social relations, management, and political science, as well as fields such as medicine, natural sciences, computer science, law, media and journalism, and various languages, they have hired professional professors and lecturers to give private courses. Their schedules are packed every day, and the costs are, of course, astronomical.

However, Shinonome Suetsuki never attended a single class.

She handed these courses over to Xingyu, asking her to impersonate her and attend the classes.

As a child, Xingyu was somewhat dissatisfied, believing that this young lady was just being lazy and didn't want to go to class, so she found a substitute.

But as she grew older, she realized that the young lady was doing this for her sake. These one-on-one courses with experts and professors were extremely rare and valuable. During this time, she also learned a lot of useful things, and her knowledge grew rapidly, which was something that could not be learned in school.

Ordinary maids can only receive basic housekeeping and etiquette training, and it is absolutely impossible for them to have access to such high-end fields.

By the time Dongyun Moyue lost her family status and was demoted, Xingyu had been attending elite courses for nine years since she was six years old.

Of course, with her current level of knowledge, she certainly can't compare to any professional researcher, but in terms of computer knowledge, she's perfectly capable of being a technical consultant for an internet company. Especially in terms of business and economics knowledge, she could even serve as the CEO of a listed company without making any mistakes. With this kind of training, she has reached such a level.