Not a detective

Page 194

"Alright, let's go upstairs. Don't catch a cold here."

...

Pushing open the office door, I saw that the lighting in the meeting room was still deliberately arranged to be slightly dim, with only candles and pumpkin lanterns flickering in the light.

It perfectly complemented Higashion Suetsuki's temperament. She sat at the end of the long table, holding a knife in one hand and a fork in the other, eating at a leisurely pace, as if the hustle and bustle outside had nothing to do with her.

Her long, jet-black hair slid down from her ears, her beautiful eyes seemed to gleam, and her skin was so white it was almost unreal, exquisite and flawless, like a vampire temporarily resurrected from a coffin.

"I am back."

Asakawa Riku brushed the snow off his clothes and walked over.

Mo Yue put down her knife and fork, looked up, and asked, "That old man isn't dead yet, is he?"

She guessed very accurately, or at least accurately enough to allow her to make inferences.

"Yes."

Asakawa Rikuya sat down, but he had lost his appetite. He then recounted his experiences, including his conversations with Shinonome Kosuke.

And what I saw and heard on the streets of Tokyo: those crazed, zombie-like believers, those chaotic, hellish scenes...

"Oh my god..."

"real or fake……"

Yukie and Hoshino, standing to the side, both wore expressions of disbelief, their smiles of reunion turning into new worries.

Their power could only cover Shibuya, unaware that other parts of the outside world had become so dire, and that information online was in a closed state.

"...Therefore, I believe that Higashino Kosuke's real purpose is to lure the tiger away from the mountain. He is very likely targeting you, as evidenced by the large number of believers around here."

Asakawa Riku finally finished recounting his experience, and stared at Motsuki in front of him: "I need to confirm... whether you have been possessed by him."

Upon hearing this, the atmosphere in the room suddenly became tense.

"No, no way?"

Xingyu stammered, stunned and unable to believe it: "I... I wouldn't mistake Miss for someone else, she doesn't seem to be acting strangely..."

That's hard to say.

Just like when Hoshino was possessed by "Hannya", Asakawa Riku didn't recognize her at first because they could share memories and imitate personalities, and he could only confirm it through the smallest details.

If Asakawa Riku arrives too late, and Shinonome Suetsuki has already been possessed by a "god," that would be the worst-case scenario, and Asakawa Riku would have no choice but to try physical exorcism methods.

His expression turned serious, and he lowered his voice to ask a question:

"Dongnoon, prove which Dongnoon you are. In the last round of air poker on the school rooftop, what hand did you break the number [44] into?"

“黑桃10梅花10方块10梅花7方块7，10葫芦。”

Without even taking a second, Shinonome Suetsuki immediately rattled off a string of words.

Of course, everyone else in the room was completely confused and had no idea what they were talking about.

Because Xingyu was possessed and unaware of his surroundings at the time, this memory became a secret known only to him and Moyue.

This is the perfect tool for testing.

Although it happened a few months ago, and it was such a minor hand of cards that a normal person would definitely not remember, but that was no problem for Moyue.

After all, with her memory, she probably remembers the landmine numbers and rock-paper-scissors gestures from before very clearly.

Asakawa Riku took out the notebook from his pocket, flipped through a few pages, and shook his head with a cold face:

"wrong."

The answer given by Mo Yue did not match the card combinations recorded in the notebook.

Winter of the Gods: Chapter Twenty-Seven - Night of Despair

"No, no way..."

Hoshino's face was deathly pale, and her hands were trembling. It was only because Yukie was beside her that she was able to support her and not fall down.

She said, "Could it be a mistake? Should I ask some more questions?", unwilling to believe that her mistress's body had been controlled by someone else.

However, the next second, Asakawa Riku laughed:

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I shouldn't have joked. Although it was wrong, it's right that it was wrong."

He opened his notebook and pointed to the card combinations recorded inside:

44——黑桃10梅花10方块10黑桃7红心7，10葫芦。

Indeed, there is a discrepancy between what Moyue just said. Why do I say that?

"What do you mean...?" Not only Hoshino, but Yukie was also confused.

Asakawa Riku quickly provided an explanation:

“A simple ‘correct answer’ wouldn’t completely prove she wasn’t possessed. After all, if Shinonome Kosuke controlled this body, he could very well also gain the power of ‘hyperthymesia’ and recall the details of that card game through shared memories. This kind of test isn’t reliable, so I added a little trap to it…”

He smiled and said, "Use my little code that only we know."

Yes, it's the code that uses the [name].

Once, Shinonome Suetsuki used this method to indicate the direction of the coin; for example, the inverted "Kawasaki" meant tails, and the missing "Hoshino" meant the middle.

The way Asakawa Riku was addressed has been changed to "Shinan".

He rarely used this surname to address the detective, so the implication was quite obvious.

Of course, Asakawa Riku was worried that she might not notice, so he deliberately used the repetition twice to emphasize it. Of course, Suezuki did not disappoint him and accurately read the meaning in his words.

Surnames imply "the beginning," meaning only the beginning is correct; the end can be incorrect.

Therefore, the answer from the last month is:

黑桃10梅花10方块10梅花7方块7。

Instead of

黑桃10梅花10方块10黑桃7红心7。

She deliberately misspoke the last couplet.

The pair of "7 of Spades and 7 of Hearts" was deliberately chosen to avoid the penalty for clashing hands; she could not have forgotten this stroke of genius that intentionally drew the game.

Therefore, only such a test is Asakawa Riku's true plan, and only they know the secret.

The two were perfectly in sync at that moment.

"You're really alright."

Asakawa Riku smiled, relieved.

Although Shinonome Kosuke has now ascended to the state of "god", he is not omnipotent. The conditions for him to possess bodies are limited to believers, that is, they must believe in his cult.

He can freely transfer his body to believers, but he is powerless against non-believers, just like Asakawa Riku, who cannot forcibly possess unrelated individuals.

While Higashino Kosuke could certainly use his authority to get his children to join the church and use them as his backup bodies, there was only one person he would never submit to—

That is Higashigumo Suetsuki.

This extremely arrogant woman would definitely be one of the hundred people in the world who wouldn't believe in cults.

Even if she had to have a belief in something, she would probably sculpt a statue in her own image.

Sure enough, faced with this situation, she simply squinted and said, "Don't call me that again unless there are special circumstances. I really don't like it."

"That's great!"

Xingyu also breathed a long sigh of relief, and her complexion returned to normal.

For a brief moment, she almost thought the sky was falling, but thankfully, her worst fears didn't come true.

However, there was one other person in the room whose face was still very pale:

"Um... what are you guys talking about...?"

A weak voice came from the corner.

Asakawa Riku was startled; he then noticed that there was actually a fourth person in the room.

Wearing a thick down jacket (this time she was dressed appropriately for the weather), Yumiko Ezaki was sitting there, only raising her hand now.

"When...when did you get there?"

"I...I've always been here..."

Asakawa Riku stood up in surprise, completely unaware of what was happening.

Was it because the room was too dark? It seems so, but his perception didn't make such a serious mistake. Or was it because Miss Ezaki's presence was too weak?

Or perhaps he was just too worried about Shinonome Suetsuki's condition?

"Uh... what we were just talking about..."

In any case, it seems that the conversation just now revealed some strange things about the extraordinary world... He was thinking about what he shouldn't have said and how best to make amends.

However, Ezaki didn't seem to care about those things. She overcame her psychological barrier and took the initiative to speak because:

"Um... I heard from you that the situation outside is terrible... Believers... My parents! Are they out there too...? Are they in great danger...!"

It was because she was worried about her parents.

All the believers were driven to fanaticism by the cult leader's commands and turned into crazed zombies, so the Takagi couple might be no exception.

They might still be out there protesting wildly, or they might even be injured... which would be even worse...

Asakawa Riku's face paled as he considered how best to comfort her.

But then, at the very end of the month, someone abruptly interjected:

"There's no need to worry about that. Those two are people involved in that case, and they've probably already been interrogated and arrested."

Yup!

Seeing that Ezaki still didn't understand, Asakawa Riku quickly explained, "What she means is that Mr. Takagi is also in that building. He was taken into custody by the police along with other people as a member of a cult. Ms. Takagi is involved and should also be locked up. So they can't be outside. It's relatively safer inside the police station."

Even if they were infected by their faith and turned into zombies, they would still be a group of believers locked up together, and the believers would not attack each other, so they would be relatively safe.

Jiang Qi's eyes widened, and she exclaimed, "That's great..." before sitting back down on the sofa. Her worries had finally been answered.

Xingyu brewed a cup of hot tea and brought it over, explaining:

"Miss anticipated that our client might be in danger, so she sent me to pick her up. Fortunately, Miss Ezaki is alright..."

As expected, Shinonome Suetsuki is all bark and no bite; her cold interjection was just to calm Ezaki down.

But... is it "great"?

Asakawa Riku could only smile bitterly to himself, unable to show it.

Although the agency is safe, Suezuki, Hoshino, and Yukie are all safe, and even the client is safe, the current situation can hardly be described as "too good".

Because the essence of the matter has not yet been resolved.

The fanatical believers outside continued their rampage, unstoppable. Hoshino and Yukie's combined skill could only temporarily protect a small safe zone. They weren't using their power without any cost. Asakawa Riku wouldn't let them ruin their health to maintain this blizzard. In the face of such a disaster, one or two heroes simply couldn't turn the tide.

But how can this situation of "a hundred ghosts parading at night" be resolved?

How should we deal with the "deity" lurking behind the scenes?

Winter of the Gods: Chapter Twenty-Eight - The Descent of the Gods

Asakawa Riku walked to the window, looking at the dark night and the falling rain and snow, his face heavy.

With his strength, he could only deal with a maximum of a thousand believers at a time before he had to stop and recover his severely depleted energy.

Or... utilize the power of the [Nirvana One]?

If he takes Moyue with him, he can achieve a "golden body" state without any cost. In this state, he doesn't need to rest or worry about getting injured.

However, it would be too inefficient for him to clean up 70 believers by himself, and it would be unrealistic to sweep through every corner of Tokyo in one night.

Or rather, should we place our hopes on the Non-World Inspection Department?

Asakawa Riku didn't have much trust in that organization. Although Kirisame Aoi seemed quite reliable, the uncle who answered the phone sounded too frivolous, and it all felt very strange.

Their numbers aren't that many, so how could they possibly handle such a large number of believers?