Chapter 183: The Hoe

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

During the few short minutes of waiting for Rei Takamori, Kimura Kazuki had gradually laid everything out in his mind.

First, the phone call with Kotone Mikami last night felt a bit strange.

On the phone, Kotone Mikami said she sent the post asking for help out of boredom.

Then what was the point of sharing her phone number... As for that, clearly, it would only be possible to receive calls after writing out the phone number. From there, it could mean that Kotone Mikami was eager to find out if she would actually receive a call.

When Kimura Kazuki actually called, Kotone Mikami discovered that the spirit-resting website was not a hoax, guilt immediately stemmed in her heart, leading to her apology over the call.

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Then... what about the address and the other stuff?

After boarding the police car, he stopped his train of thought and asked if Kotone Mikami lived in the Shihu Neighborhood of the Shirada District.

“That’s right! Miss Mikami lives there.” Iida tossed a questioning glance at Kimura Kazuki, the look in his eyes, making it clear that he was wondering how he knew where Kotone Mikami lived when he claimed he did not know her. Evidently, even if Inspector Takamori had gone ahead and memorized the information, he remained doubtful toward Kimura Kazuki.

Kimura Kazuki brushed off Iida’s suspicion. Kotone Mikami’s primary purpose behind uploading her actual phone number on the SOS post was likely to determine whether anyone would drop her a call.

If so... putting her actual address on the post did not seem practical at all and was extremely suspicious.

To have put her actual address on the post must mean that she was surely asking for help. Otherwise, it was not necessary to upload her real address! After all, there was a risk that whoever showed up could mean harm. The spirit-resting website surely did not look like the real deal.

Furthermore, when he tried to access the spirit-resting website using his phone and computer earlier, the site had completely disappeared without a trace.

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Kimura Kazuki halted his train of thoughts in its tracks to sneer quietly. If the spirit-resting website had not disappeared, he would not have known the background of the demons. However, as they had managed to erase the existence of his spirit-resting website completely, at least now he knew what powers they possessed.

To be able to get one’s way on the internet was considered as a kind of internet apparition. The ‘Kotone Mikami’ that he had dialed last night was very likely not Kotone Mikami herself.

As for this, Kimura Kazuki was quite sure of himself.

With his sense of urgency regarding apparitions, even if ‘Kotone Mikami’ was bluffing him, he definitely would have researched on the web just to make sure whether there was really a place called the Shihu Neighborhood of the Shirada District. If he was convinced that such a place existed, he would most likely pay a visit himself to further affirm it. However, after last night’s phone call, he had not even thought about checking it online.

Was he under a spell? Clearly not.

Then, there can only be one explanation. When the demon was having that conversation with him, he used sound to influence him. The overall impact was so small that he did not react in time; realization only hit him when the police officers showed up at his doorstep.

historical

However, just to be safe, he still asked for Kotone Mikami’s time of death.

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“Last night, between 20:50 and 21:10,” Iida replied reluctantly. He had no intention to answer Kimura Kazuki’s question. However, Inspector Takamori was glaring at him so intensely that he had no other choice.

He picked up his phone and glanced at it. The time of the call was 21:04. He could not be sure whether it was a demon who picked up the phone.

Very quickly, Rei Takamori had arrived at the Shihu Neighborhood of the Shirada District with Kimura Kazuki. Soon, they had made their way to Unit 1, Block 17. They then took the elevator to the 18th floor.

Once the elevator arrived on the 18th floor, they got out. Kimura Kazuki took a good look at his surroundings and realized that the corridor was long and narrow. If one were to come home late at night, they would probably feel mentally pressured if they were to glance at these two corners.

There was no need for the police officers to lead him as he quickly saw police officers and forensic pathologists moving in and out of Room 1801. There were also five men standing outside; he was surprised to see Ikioi Ito here as well. Meanwhile, as the five of them stood outside, there was a tinge of awkwardness and resentment in the atmosphere.

Ikioi Ito could not help but gasp when he saw Kimura Kazuki, “Kimura-Kun, what are you doing here?” He immediately started trotting over, clearly unable to bear the stiff air around him.

“What are you doing here?” instead of answering, Kimura Kazuki asked.

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Ikioi Ito did not answer; he looked rather awkward. Instead, Officer Matsushita, who followed Kimura Kazuki here, chuckled and answered on his behalf, “Dear Ito here is one of Miss Mikami’s boyfriend... Hmm, calling him her boyfriend would not be exactly accurate, he is more like Miss Mikami’s fall-back guy. As for the few guys over there, they are Miss Mikami’s boyfriends...”

Kimura Kazuki remained stunned for a few seconds as his gaze traveled between Ikioi Ito and the four men.

Ikioi Ito gnashed his teeth, “I personally did not think that Kotone was... cough, that fellow Mikami was such a hoe. This bitch was seeing four other men while flirting with me...” Saying, his face twisted in sorrow. He was no more than a fall-back guy. The four guys in front of him were her official boyfriends.

At first, when the officer contacted to inform him of Kotone-chan’s death, Ikioi Ito could not believe it... When he arrived at the scene, he even flared up. After learning of the existence of Kotone Mikami’s four boyfriends, he calmed down, but his heart still drowned in the sea of horrendous grief... not for the late Kotone Mikami, but more for himself!

Kimura Kazuki was speechless...

At this moment, Rei Takamori walked over with a middle-aged man; they were engaging in a light conversation. When the man’s gaze landed on Kimura Kazuki, a smile appeared on his face, “It is an honor to meet you, Kimura-Kun. I have heard so much about you. I am the Deputy Chief Inspector in charge of the Shirada District, Ryo Otake.”

“Nice to meet you, too, Chief Inspector Otake.” Kimura Kazuki knew that Ryo Otake was the person-in-charge at the scene. He greeted him, then prodded, “Just wondering if it is alright for me to take a look at the scene?”

“Sure,” Ryo Otake mumbled something under his breath then glanced up at Kimura Kazuki, “But you have to be escorted.”

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It was an undeniable fact that this case was confusing and was considered as a locked-room mystery. As they were going through layers of investigation from the outside, they were not able to discover any single trace of the suspect. The only reason they learned of Kotone Mikami’s death was that all four of her boyfriends received pictures of her, dead.

This simply meant that the suspect entered the room and killed Kotone Mikami. The suspect then used her phone to snap pictures of her corpse to send to her boyfriends.

Evidently, Ikioi Ito did not receive it. They suspected that it was because Ikioi Ito was merely a fall-back guy; thus, he did not receive anything. However, they still contacted Ikioi Ito and asked him to come over anyway to see if he had any useful information.

“Okay.” Kimura Kazuki knew that in the eyes of the police officers of Shirada District, he was the number one suspect. If it were not for his relationship with Rei Takamori, the first thing that would happen would be that he would have probably ended up in the police station.

The moment he entered the room and came to the living room, his brows furrowed deeply.

Sprawled across a few meters’ distance from the bedroom to the living room, there was a dark trail of blood as if someone was forcefully dragged out. At the end of the bloodstain, a white line displayed the silhouette of just the upper body. Further front, the three words, ‘I am sorry’ was scribbled with blood.

When Officer Matsushita, who had been on Kimura Kazuki’s heels for a while now, witnessed the scene, the image from this morning when they arrived shortly after they received the police report flashed through his mind. He gulped and uttered, “When we arrived, Miss Mikami was already dead. She was probably attacked by a tachi sword while she was held at the waist.” As he spoke about it, he subconsciously glanced at the Sun and Moon Sword held in Kimura Kazuki’s hands. If it was not for the fact that it had already been checked and verified to be a wooden product, he would have thought it was the very sword that chopped Kotone Mikami up.

Kimura Kazuki did not comment on this. “Are there any photos?”

“Yes.”