A small room, under the glare of fluorescent lights.
"Name."
"Luo Shu."
"Age."
"Eighteen."
"Place of origin."
"Fujian, China."
"Where did you get the gun?"
"My superior gave it to me."
"Which superior? Which Fuzhou gang leader? Or was it the Triads?"
"Officer, don't slander me like that. I'm a legal exchange student."
Luo Shu gave the short-haired female inspector before him a deadpan look. If the tall, lanky male officer earlier hadn't misheard, her name should be Miwako Sato.
'Great, have I run into Conan today? Did I somehow transmigrate into Detective Conan as the murderer?'
As Luo Shu was mentally complaining, Sato slammed her palm on the table with a loud bang.
"Legal exchange student? Since when do legal exchange students shoot people dead in the street?"
Luo Shu felt like he'd been screwed over by Eriri. Who knew the guy's hands—which had turned into beast-like claws—would revert to normal after death? Now he had no leverage against the police questioning.
And then there was Mika, who'd told him to stay put and wait for the police, promising they'd send someone to rescue him immediately. But instead of his people, who showed up? Juzo Megure leading his zero-crime-solving squad.
This was absolutely like being screwed over by Eriri!
Seeing Luo Shu's unshaken expression, Sato frowned and pressed on with her intimidation tactics.
"Let me make this clear—we already have solid evidence of your crime. If you don't want to spend the next twenty-plus years in prison, you'd better start talking."
Luo Shu couldn't help but retort, "Miss, what exactly do you want me to say? I'm cooperating fully."
"Who is your superior?" Sato seized the moment, sensing his willingness to comply.
After a brief silence, Luo Shu answered truthfully:
"Kirika Tachibana, head of the Metropolitan Police Department's 7th Division—the 'Special Materials Organisation Office'. I work for her."
Bang!
The water cup on the table jumped, sending droplets flying from the impact."You're kidding me! The Metropolitan Police Department doesn't have a 'Special Data Compilation Office' or whatever!"
"Calm down, Sato, calm down." Wataru Takagi quickly raised his hands in surrender as he saw Miwako Sato's furious expression.
"Looks like I'll have to bring out the big guns to make you talk."
Miwako Sato shot Wataru Takagi a glance, signalling that if her intimidation tactics failed to scare Luo Shu into confessing, he should stop her before she resorted to physical action.
This was still part of the scare tactics—after all, they couldn't actually use violence during interrogation.
If Luo Shu cracked under pressure and confessed, great. If not, Takagi's intervention would at least keep things within legal boundaries.
Takagi immediately understood and prepared to play his part.
But just then, a knock sounded at the door.
The door swung open, revealing the portly, grim-faced figure of Juzo Megure:
"Stop the interrogation. Release him."
"Chief Inspector? But this guy—"
Miwako Sato froze mid-sentence as Megure sighed in exasperation:
"He's one of ours from a special division. The officers downstairs made a mistake—the shooting victim was a terrorist."
"Huh?"
Miwako Sato and Wataru Takagi were stunned.
While they stood there dumbfounded, Kirika Tachibana strode past Megure, a slender cigarette dangling from her lips. Spotting Luo Shu handcuffed to the interrogation chair, she couldn't help but laugh:
"Less than two hours apart, and you've already landed yourself in a police station? And got arrested by your own people, no less! Impressive!"
"Now's not the time for jokes, Chief," Luo Shu sighed helplessly. "I didn't plan for this either."
He'd thought it was just a stalker—his intuition had warned him of hostile intent, so he'd drawn his gun to intimidate the guy, planning to detain him and have Mika call the police for an arrest. Who knew the other guy would turn out to be a 'sorcerer' too? Ridiculous.
"You always manage to surprise me," Kirika chuckled before turning to Megure. "Uncuff him."
"Yes, Police Superintendent Tachibana!" Megure hastily wiped sweat from his brow and barked at Takagi, "Takagi! Hurry up and remove those handcuffs!"
"Ah! Right away!" Takagi fumbled for the keys, shooting Miwako Sato a miserable look.
Both of them had caught Megure's earlier hint.
Police Superintendent—second only to the highest-ranking official in the Metropolitan Police Department. Only thirty-eight in the entire country. The deputy chief of the MPD, and de facto regional authority in the shadows.
And they'd just arrested one of her direct subordinates? Bloody hell, this could ruin their careers!
As the handcuffs were unlocked, Luo Shu flexed his wrists before turning to Miwako Sato and saying:
"Miss Sato, if you're going to scare someone next time, don't do it yourself. No matter how you try, you just end up looking oddly charming."
"What?" Miwako Sato blinked in surprise, but before she could respond, Luo Shu had already walked over to Kirika Tachibana.
At that moment, Kirika produced a pre-prepared ID card, handing it to Luo Shu with a playful wink:
"Don't forget your work pass next time, Superintendent Luo."
Nearby, Juzo Megure's mouth twitched as he couldn't help but glance at Luo Shu's excessively youthful face, feeling utterly speechless inside.
Here he was, at his age, holding the same rank as Luo Shu. Wasn't that just frustrating? Absolutely maddening.
But there was nothing to be done. Not long after detaining Luo Shu, he'd been hauled over the coals by both his immediate superiors and their superiors, demanding to know why he'd arrested one of their own operatives during a mission. The whole thing had left him baffled, scolded and aggrieved.
So now, Juzo Megure just wanted to see Luo Shu—this walking jinx—off the premises as quickly as possible.
Honestly, he should have known better than to answer Shinichi's call while on duty. Every time he picked up, it either meant a case was brewing or trouble was about to follow. Bloody hell!
Under the collective gaze of Juzo and his subordinates, Luo Shu retrieved his confiscated belongings, took the certificate, and followed Kirika Tachibana into her white Lexus.
No sooner had Luo Shu fastened his seatbelt than Kirika lit a cigarette beside him:
"In a way, I'm not sure whether to call you unlucky or fortunate."
Luo Shu wasn't surprised—he'd already reported the relevant details to Kirika through Mika:
"What organisation was that guy from?"
"A 'Hound' from the Golden Dawn's Demon Hunter branch. A pack of wild dogs specialised in tracking demon-related artefacts. They're a specialised variant of 'Beast Sorcerers', excelling in animal mimicry."
As she spoke, Kirika reached for her handbag and pulled out a photograph.
When Luo Shu examined it, he saw a short-haired young man with an ordinary appearance and blank expression.
"Yuichi Nakamura, one of the Demon Hunter's Hounds operating in Tokyo. Primarily responsible for item retrieval. Recently tasked with searching for a specific object—apparently on orders from their higher-ups."
"That's the intel from our undercover operative."
"So this is the guy I killed?" Luo Shu compared the photo to his memory of the man he'd slain, frowning. "He was tailing my neighbour because she had something he wanted?"
"Just a neighbour?" Kirika asked with an amused smile.
At this, Luo Shu sighed. "You're overthinking it. I just happened to stumble into this mess. Besides, I originally thought it was just some ordinary stalker. How was I supposed to know it'd be one of these 'Hounds'?"
Hearing this, Kirika wasn't particularly surprised, merely chuckling:
"I'm not overthinking anything. After all, you're the man who picked up my wallet. Having luck with women wouldn't be strange in the slightest."
"Also, I met that Ms. Tsubakihara before coming here. She really is quite the stunning beauty—completely free of any 'foreign scents' too. Perhaps you could become the first boyfriend to leave your mark on her."
As Kirika said this, Luo Shu's face twitched several times before he hastily changed the subject:
"Before teasing me, explain the wallet situation first! I heard that wallet could only be found by someone with extremely good luck, right? And you tricked me into handing it over with a 200,000 yen reward."
"Chisato told you, didn't she?" Kirika Tachibana sighed with an expression that suggested she'd anticipated this. "While I acknowledge that girl's judgement of character, this habit of hers is rather annoying."
Luo Shu didn't press further on the matter, and Kirika tactfully changed the subject:
"Yuichi Nakamura was tracking a ruby-encrusted ring."
"Its internal designation is 'Demon Heart'."
At this point, Kirika's tone became extremely serious:
"It's an 'Abyss Artefact' that originated from Truth Astronomy."
"According to intelligence from our mole, it appears to have only one function."
"Namely: hypnotising any woman who sees the ruby on the ring."
Hearing this, Luo Shu's expression turned particularly peculiar.
Wasn't it a bit early for late-night programming?