Not a detective

Page 25

Suddenly, Chizuko spoke from behind, and judging from her tone, it was indeed her: "Being a womanizer won't make you popular with girls, Asakawa-kun."

"What happened...? My superpowers stopped working?"

Asakawa Riku was completely baffled by the current situation. Could it be that the Spider Woman herself was shedding tears of blood?

Chizuko walked over, and judging from her appearance, she seemed to have been unharmed at all.

She squatted down and gently patted Asakawa Riku's shoulder, asking him to move aside. Asakawa Riku made room for her.

"He really dares to look at anything, what an arrogant fool. He has so many hands and feet, but his brain is so stupid. I don't know what to say."

Chizuko stared at the disheveled and trembling Spider Woman, then suddenly laughed: "Asakawa-kun, she's gone mad. We don't need to worry about her, we can just leave. By the time the police arrive, she should have bled to death. These classmates will be rescued too. It's best if we don't expose ourselves. There's no need to do anything more."

"……Um."

Riku Asakawa nodded. Despite what had happened, he decided to trust Chizuko's judgment.

I share the same view as her that we "don't want to attract attention".

The Spider Woman, whose arm was broken, was already gushing blood, so she probably wouldn't live much longer.

Having committed the crimes of kidnapping and illegal detention, imprisoning seven students here for a year... Asakawa Riku felt that she deserved the punishment she had brought upon herself.

"Please wait for me."

He suddenly began skillfully cleaning up the traces he had left in the room.

For example, leave fingerprints, footprints, bloodstains, or other clues so that the police don't discover that he has been there.

That makes it sound like I'm the criminal... Asakawa Riku chuckled at his own thoughts, but it didn't really matter; he had indeed killed someone.

He might be more skilled than some criminals at cleaning up crime scenes.

In a legal sense, would it be considered an act of heroism, legitimate self-defense, or emergency avoidance?

I don't know, but in any case, he didn't want others to know about his actions.

For Asakawa Riku, it was simply a matter of resolving the crisis of the "murderous love letter incident" and incidentally saving a few upperclassmen.

Just as they were finishing up their work, they overheard Chizuko-senpai whispering something.

She leaned close to the Spider Woman's ear and counted down one... two... three.

Strange, isn't it said that the ghost Kiku's spells only work when she counts? Could it be that she can cast spells herself?

Out of curiosity, Asakawa Riku glanced at it a couple more times.

Seeing Chizuko's usual gentle smile, now somewhat cold, her soft voice echoed in the room until she counted to "nine".

"Oh dear, my tenth croquette...where did it go?"

Earth Spider Spring: Earth Spider Spring AFTER1

At this point, a month had passed since Asakawa Riku received the murderous love letter.

His month passed peacefully, like a train that had gone off the tracks being put back on. Asakawa Riku was living the peaceful life he had always dreamed of.

Going to school, attending classes, finishing classes, and leaving school—just like any other ordinary high school student.

On the second weekend, he began reporting to the "Shinonome Detective Agency".

The top priority is to have Hoshino contact Ms. Takagi and explain the flaws in the "cheating incident".

In other words, Mr. Takagi Ichiro's "affair partner"—no, the subject of his investigation—is the Vtuber Orisaku Tamatsu, who is their daughter, Ezaki Yumiko.

If Ms. Takagi watches the video she sent, she will definitely recognize her daughter's voice.

However... the police probably already explained the situation to them, so Ms. Takagi simply said, "Okay, thank you, I'll transfer the payment," and hung up the phone.

Judging from that complicated tone, he must have experienced a lot of emotional turmoil during this period.

By the way, the "murderous love letter incident" is over.

"After receiving an anonymous emergency call, the police arrived at the scene within 30 minutes, dug through the soil along the ventilation duct, and found the buried concrete wall."

"Because of concerns about harming the hostages, we dared not use explosives. After an hour of demolition work, the rescue team went in."

"They saw a shocking sight: a room filled with the stench of garbage, a strong smell of excrement and blood, and a corpse illuminated by the dim glow of a monitor."

"The prisoner was a woman with a physical deformity. She had four hands and four legs, but one of her hands was torn off, and the fingers of the other hands had also fallen to the ground."

"When the rescuers saw this scene, they were also taken aback. They discovered that the prisoner was still hunched over the computer until the very last moment."

"She must have had a crazy obsession with the things on the computer. According to sources, the perpetrator's real identity is related to a virtual anchor group on the internet."

"In that completely sealed underground bunker, we also found seven students from XX school who had disappeared a year ago. They were victims of a kidnapping."

"The police immediately took them to the hospital. The diagnosis showed that although they had multiple external injuries, malnutrition, weakness, and mental confusion due to excessive use of anesthetics, there were no sequelae or serious conditions. The doctor said that with treatment and psychological support, they would definitely be able to return to school smoothly. Let's wish them well."

"The police have notified the families of the seven students that their treatment results and follow-up information will not be disclosed to the public in order to protect the privacy of minors."

"We also obtained some inside information regarding the investigation of the case itself."

"The true identity of the perpetrator remains unknown. It should be easy to find traces of such a person with deformed hands and feet, but investigations from all sides have yielded no results, which inevitably arouses speculation."

"She built a terrifying, enclosed building underground. Police speculate that after kidnapping seven students, she hid inside and sealed off the only exit."

“There should have been plenty of food and water in the underground bunker at the beginning, as can be seen from the garbage scattered all over the place. But after a year, the food and water should have been used up, and the prisoner went mad. In other words, her actions were madness in themselves.”

"The police concluded that the deranged criminal kidnapped seven students, hid underground to evade the search, and eventually suffered a mental breakdown, committing self-harm that led to their deaths."

"As for the person who reported the incident to the police, they have not yet been found."

"This is the complete follow-up to the series of student disappearances a year ago. In any case, the case has been solved and the hostages have been rescued, which is something we should be thankful for. It is enough to prove the Metropolitan Police Department's tireless efforts and the further improvement of public safety in Tokyo—"

Asakawa Rikuo took the newspaper from his hand.

"That's too perfunctory."

He never expected that the report he had been anticipating for a month would turn out like this.

"This is an official media report, so it must be quite formal."

Chizuko put down the teacup she was holding and beckoned to Asakawa Riku to bring her the newspaper; she wanted to cut out this page and paste it into her investigation notes.

Asakawa Riku handed it to her.

Yes, they are currently in the activity room of the "Deduction Department".

Starting the following Monday, the day after the incident, Asakawa Riku began attending school as usual and reporting for duty here.

I have lunch at noon, and then participate in club activities after school.

The so-called club activities were actually just Chizuko-senpai introducing him to some mystery novels, and then everyone would just read their own books in the activity room.

Yes, they acted as if nothing had happened yesterday and continued to bicker and joke as usual.

Chizuko didn't press Asakawa Riku about the "murder," as if she felt it wasn't something worth mentioning, which calmed Asakawa Riku down.

If you really push him too hard, for example, if you insist on him turning himself in or drag him to explain the situation to the police, then it can be a real headache.

Since that day, they haven't even mentioned the "Tsuchigumo case" again. This is the first time they've talked about it in a month.

Asakawa Riku actually has a lot to say:

"They actually treated this case as a suicide? That's absurd."

It all seems illogical. It's one thing for someone to cut off their own finger, but how could they possibly tear off their own arm? Physiologically, it's impossible. Even with that much strength, pain and instinct would stop the action.

Moreover, when forensic examiners examine a corpse, it is very easy to find out that the arm was torn off by external force, and the way the force was applied and the fracture structure can be easily identified.

"That's normal, because it's an unsolvable [locked room]."

Chizuko pouted.

Yes, after Asakawa Riku cleaned up the scene, Chizuko actually called out to the ghost "Kiku" and led them out of the basement.

It's like taking it out through the wall...

Riku Asakawa then realized that although he was an insulator with "zero inspiration" and could not sense the existence of yokai, the power of yokai could still affect him.

For example, the ghost's intangible movement achieves this.

It was a magical experience. If he wasn't worried about Chizuko getting angry, Asakawa Riku would have liked to do it a few more times.

In short, after the two "prisoners" escaped in an incredible way, the basement became a perfect "secret room".

Completely sealed off, with no entrance and no exit, who broke in and tore off the Spider Woman's arm and chopped off her fingers?

It couldn't possibly be those hostage students who were chained up and heavily anesthetized... So, this became an unsolvable mystery.

"I feel a little sorry for the police in Tokyo."

Asakawa Riku smiled wryly. Indeed, this could not be solved using ordinary criminal investigation methods and reasoning. The entire incident was the result of supernatural forces and superpowers.

“Don’t feel bad, this is actually what they’re happy to see.” Chizuko said, “Anyway, the case has been resolved, and the one who died was a vicious kidnapper. They didn’t even think about pursuing it properly. The anonymous call we made wasn’t investigated either, was it?”

She cleaned up the last crack in the glue, then carefully pasted the newspaper flat, smiling as she said:

"Tokyo is the city of ghosts and weirdos. If you're a policeman here, you have to learn to turn a blind eye to some things."

------

A sudden friend request! I'd like to recommend an original book I recently found and really enjoyed on a cat website. Here's a brief summary:

you mean……

I am plain-looking, a homebody, a daydreamer, socially awkward, with no special talents, average grades, an average job, and even a less-than-gentle personality. Despite my flaws, I will encounter several beautiful women with different charms and unhappy childhoods in my transmigrated life. They will all be moved by my past and present behavior, lower their heads shyly, and blush as they say, "I like you. Please go out with me."

Then, because I rejected them and they couldn't beat me, they ganged up on me and locked me in the basement?

Hmph! Fake!

Too fake!

[Nightmare] let out a cold laugh.

"You dare to show off your meager skills in front of me!"

"Let me break the hypnosis on myself!"

"..."

"?"

"!"

"No, how come I'm still here?"

"Wait, why are you all still here?!"

------

(The author already has two million words of completed works, so their integrity is guaranteed!)

Book Title: What's Wrong with the World of Dreams!

Earth Spider Spring: Earth Spider Spring AFTER2

Asakawa Riku nodded; he shared the same sentiment.

If Chizuko-senpai is an Onmyoji who wields the power of yokai, then the detective in the agency possesses the superpower of foresight…

Perhaps the police also have their own "special investigators."

As long as he doesn't get into trouble, he can accept this outcome.

"So there really are extraordinary powers in this world."

Asakawa Riku laughed. The thing he had been searching for for fifteen years without success actually happened in his first month of high school.

It's true that you can't find anything without wearing iron shoes, and it doesn't take any effort to get it.

"Do you believe in the existence of monsters now?" Chizuko said with a smile, resting her cheek on her hand.

"Yes, I have to admit it."

Although Asakawa Riku didn't get to see the ghost "Akiku" in person, he witnessed a lot of evidence during that battle, including the Spider Woman's abilities.

He wasn't the kind of stubborn pseudo-materialist who believed that as long as there was evidence to prove the existence of extraordinary things, then they were also part of a materialistic worldview.

"By the way, President, how did you find me back then?"

he asked casually.