Not a detective

Page 138

...

Today, Asakawa Riku and Yukie went to the village and talked to many people to get a general understanding of the situation.

He discovered that the current situation in the Stingray Village is very delicate. The villagers have not been freed from brainwashing, but many of them have already come to believe his claims.

"Are we really in Tokyo, the place you mentioned...? Are we students...? At school?"

Everyone had questions about this, as if there were endless questions. Asakawa Riku was exhausted from explaining, and in the end, he could only say:

"Once I take you out of here, everything will become clear."

He speculated that the brainwashing state was similar to "sensory psychosis," and that a full recovery would only be possible after returning to modern society and receiving psychological treatment.

Therefore, the most urgent task is to bring all the students back to Tokyo. Only by going back can we completely eliminate our worries.

"We'll do whatever you say!"

Hirata Kokichi, Kasahara Shizue, Miyazaki Tatsuno and a small group of people firmly followed him and were willing to obey his instructions.

"...Then...why not give it a try?"

Meanwhile, the village chief, Kato Mio, went from being hesitant to being willing to believe, and she began to wonder if the future world that Asakawa Riku described was really real.

The adults finally stopped doing nothing. Led by Mr. Matsuyama, the teachers all went to Asakawa Riku and began asking him a lot of questions.

“Mr. Asakawa…we seem to vaguely remember the school and school trips you mentioned…”

After Asakawa Riku explained everything, the teachers decided to use their status as elders to help him complete his island-hopping plan.

"After all, we're adults... If what you're saying is true, and our real identities are 'teachers,' then we absolutely can't let things continue like this!"

Thus, with the support of almost the entire village, Asakawa Riku's backing increased even further.

He was deeply moved, as if everything was moving in a positive direction, like finally seeing the dawn on the 16th, with hope for the future right before his eyes.

This time, he was finally able to save everyone and escape together.

"Everyone, please listen to me—"

Asakawa Riku led the villagers to the beach surrounding the island, drew large "SOS" signs at the four corners, and set up a bonfire to start burning.

Whenever a passenger plane or cruise ship passes by, it will surely notice these distress signs and the plumes of black smoke rising into the sky.

With the help of the villagers, everything became much easier. Now that the deadline for the Red Stingray Festival was over, all they had to do was patiently wait for rescue.

It's starting to resemble a desert island survival scenario... but not quite. This village is completely self-sufficient in terms of production tools, so there's no pressure to survive.

But Riku Asakawa also knew that he couldn't rely entirely on waiting.

He remembered the third time he went to Tokyo, during the Metropolitan Police Department's satellite surveillance, Inspector Takahashi actually said, "We can't find the location of the islands and villages."

Asakawa Riku still couldn't fully understand why things had turned out that way before, but it might be the same this time; the police might not be able to find them...

To avoid the possibility of "no rescue," he also had to find a way to save himself.

Swimming back to Tokyo from here has been confirmed to be possible, indicating that the coordinates and route are not significantly off. He also remembers the route, and swimming back alone would be much easier.

However, if Asakawa Riku goes back alone, he might be mistaken for the "murderer".

Although he longed to fight the powerful members of the Inspection Department again, he hoped even more that it would be a peaceful exchange, so that he wouldn't be wronged or besieged again.

Therefore, he had to take everyone with him and go back together.

"Let's build a ship."

"what?"

Upon hearing her older brother's words, Yuki showed a surprised expression.

But Asakawa Riku acted immediately.

He gathered several male teachers and all the physically strong and able-bodied students to begin cutting down the jungle trees on the island and actually started building ships.

In fact, Asakawa Riku knew nothing about shipbuilding skills, but he did not expect that brainwashing could not only have a negative effect, but also a positive effect in this situation. These classmates who had been brainwashed into villagers, since they lived by the sea, somehow mastered the craft of shipbuilding. So Asakawa Riku followed their instructions.

The difficulty lies in building a large ship that can carry two hundred people; without shipyards and the necessary technology, it would be very difficult to complete.

The advantage lies in Riku Asakawa's superhuman productivity; he can accomplish seemingly impossible tasks on his own, disregarding basic rules.

Based on this estimate, it should take at most a few months to complete the large ship and prepare it for sailing.

"Come on! Come on, come on, come on!"

During this process, Asakawa Riku experienced the most primal and pure joy. He laughed as he carried timber and worked alongside his classmates.

Even Yuki began to wonder if her older brother had lost his mind again.

In his eyes, it was as if he could see the entire structure of the ship slowly emerging and being completed before him...

He felt like he was building Noah's Ark.

Summer of the Crimson Ray: Chapter Forty-Five - That's not right!

Unfortunately, Riku Asakawa's happy life did not last long.

On this day, he was carrying timber, doing the first step of building a ship by setting up the keel, when he suddenly looked up and saw a black dot in the distance of the sky.

"……Um?"

To the average person, it might just be a black dot; even though it's flying, it could just be a bird.

But Asakawa Riku stopped what he was doing and stared at that spot with a serious expression—

With his eyesight, he could naturally spot something amiss.

As the thing flew closer, all the villagers who were working stopped in astonishment, looking up at the object overhead in disbelief.

It turned out to be a helicopter.

The propellers spun rapidly, making a noisy noise, and the air currents churned in the air. This strange flying machine puzzled the villagers, who shouted in amazement.

"what is that--"

"It can actually fly!"

"Amazing!"

Asakawa Riku remained silent. He saw a rope being lowered from the plane, and then a familiar figure descended rapidly.

"Mr. Asakawa——"

The man greeted them as soon as he came up; it turned out to be Inspector Takahashi.

He was dressed like an armed special police officer; I never expected this seemingly颓废 (颓废 is a difficult word to translate directly, but it implies a state of being listless, decadent, or颓废) middle-aged man to have this side to him.

Although Asakawa Riku had a lot to say, he suppressed his urge to express himself and tried to be as concise as possible:

"How much do you know?"

"Um..." Inspector Takahashi seemed surprised by his calmness and stammered, "Uh, we received an alert email from [Hoshino]..."

"So you found this island by following the coordinates?"

Asakawa Riku answered quickly as always.

"Yes, we saw the situation here via satellite not far from where the ship sank... To be honest, we were really surprised."

Inspector Takahashi looked at the students around him in disbelief: "What's wrong with these kids?"

The villagers' bizarre attire and incredulous expressions were, to be honest, quite frightening at first glance.

Asakawa Riku sighed:

"It's a long story, let's just say it's a mental problem."

Explaining the issues of "red stingray," "festival," "deity," and "state" would probably take a long time, and he was also worried that revealing these things would "contaminate" Inspector Takahashi's reputation.

After all, his mental state isn't entirely normal; he's even started imagining beautiful girls accompanying him. If the rescuers get involved, everything will be over.

But in the end, he had just as many questions as the policeman.

Why was there a rescue operation?

...It's not that the rescue was bad, but in the third cycle, the police clearly said that "the location of the island and village could not be found in the satellite search."

Why were we able to find it this time?

Was it a lie? Was he deceived by the police and the Inspectorate? But what reason would they have to deceive him? Was it just to surround and trap him there?

"Really... I hope psychotherapy will help."

Looking at Inspector Takahashi's bewildered expression, he didn't seem to be lying. This guy must be a police officer with a sense of justice...

Asakawa Riku coughed and pulled him aside.

The villagers were watching the helicopter overhead, and no one was listening to their conversation.

"Let's talk about the rescue first. How's it going?"

"Oh, right, right, Mr. Asakawa, you don't know... the outside world is going crazy right now. So many students have been missing for so long, thankfully they've finally been found. Sigh."

Inspector Takahashi wiped his sweat, a relieved expression on his face. It seemed that, just like before, the student disappearance had attracted a lot of public attention.

He pointed to the helicopter in the sky: "I am part of the advance survey team, here to check on the situation on the island ahead of time."

Then, pointing to the distant ocean:

"As for the tourist boat used to transport people, it is estimated that it will take another day to arrive because there are too many people to rescue, so the boat is very large and will take a while."

Asakawa Riku glanced at the horizon. Indeed, there was no sign of any ships yet. After all, it was impossible for them to fly as fast as helicopters, which made perfect sense.

"...It's already very fast, thank you so much."

He wasn't being sarcastic; even he hadn't expected the police to arrive so quickly this time.

I thought such a big matter would take the higher-ups several days to deliberate on, and just figuring out whose responsibility it was and who should have been the one to provide assistance would probably involve various departments passing the buck and shirking responsibility.

However, Inspector Takahashi looked embarrassed after hearing this:

"Well, actually... to be frank, this rescue operation was sponsored, including the cost of the cruise ship... which was paid for in advance."

"Ok?"

Asakawa Riku paused for a moment, then followed his gaze to the helicopter hovering in the sky.

It turned out that there was more than just Inspector Takahashi in that cabin. Besides the pilot, there was also a woman wearing a thick winter coat. As always, she didn't dress according to the season, or was it just that it was cold at high altitude? But because of this, Asakawa Riku didn't mistake her at all. He recognized her beautiful face and familiar haughty expression at a glance.

—Shingumo Suetsuki!

"Ms. Dongyun advanced the funds for this rescue operation; she provided almost everything herself. Our police only contributed personnel and helicopters..."

Inspector Takahashi scratched his face sheepishly.

"It's all because of the adults, I'm really ashamed... Miss Shinonome is such a great and kind person, I'm starting to change my opinion of rich people."

Asakawa Riku smiled, looked at the guy in the sky, and waved in greeting:

"...That guy just can't let go of his assistant and maid, right?"

Right, he remembered that Xingyu's email was first sent to the detective, so it's only natural that she would come to the rescue.

However, Shinonome Suetsuki didn't notice his greeting. Instead, she leaned against the window, staring blankly at what was in front of her, as if she was thinking about something.

Asakawa Riku didn't care much. Anyway, they would meet soon, and it would be a real meeting, not just a imagined detective.

"It's really great."

At the same time, Yukie smiled sincerely and wished Asakawa Riku well: "We're finally out of trouble. I'm so glad you're safe, brother."

Her figure slowly disappeared; it seemed her fantasy was about to end.

Asakawa Riku smiled and secretly mouthed goodbye to her:

"We'll be able to go back soon."

"Hey, let's land! The island's fine!!"

Inspector Takahashi shouted and waved his hands vigorously, guiding the helicopter pilot to land here.

To prevent accidents caused by the propeller injuring people, Riku Asakawa helped shout to the villagers:

"Everyone! Get out of there... Make way, come out!"

He now enjoys considerable prestige in the village, so when he gives a command, almost everyone obeys.

However, they were still very curious about such flying machines and kept staring at them.