CHAPTER 491: CHAPTER 489: OVERACHIEVER’S AOZAWA_1

A major incident suddenly erupted in the country. Many bloggers were ecstatic to ride a massive wave of traffic, but it was tough for those honest bloggers who didn’t know how to capitalize on it.

Take, for instance, a certain fashion blogger.

Ayatsuki Ayaka frowned, looking at the dismal traffic on her newly posted video.

Normally, at this time, her short videos would receive plenty of comments and reactions.

Now, it hadn’t even reached five hundred views in half an hour; all the online traffic was being sucked away by various conspiracy theories.

"Ah, why did he have to choose this time to die!"

Ayatsuki Ayaka let out a heavy sigh and sprawled across the desk, her collar looking as if it might burst.

Tama Chan, sitting opposite her, glanced over and drawled, "Iroha, are you trying to seduce me?"

Ayatsuki Ayaka blinked, unsure why Tama Chan had said that. Following her gaze, Ayaka quickly covered her chest with her hands and said in annoyance, "Maru, don’t peek."

"I can’t look, but Aozawa can, right? In that case, Iroha, I’m Aozawa. Please let me see your chest~"

Tama Chan deliberately lowered her voice and crossed her arms, mimicking Aozawa’s typically serious expression.

She had no interest in such things herself but loved seeing Ayatsuki Ayaka blush. Teasing Iroha was one of her greatest pleasures.

"PFFT, Maru, stop joking around, HA HA HA."

Ayatsuki Ayaka burst out laughing. That does sound a bit like Aozawa. She then turned to Takahashi Saeko, who was sitting beside her, and asked with concern, "Saeko, you’ve seemed distracted for a while now. Did something happen?"

"Probably nothing."

Takahashi Saeko rubbed her forehead, feeling completely numb. She’d never imagined Number Nine would do something like this. She’d assumed he was just planning a robbery or some other major heist before fleeing the country. But to go after Kumazo Yasuda... She could almost picture what was about to unfold in the country; the underworld was facing a massive tremor. Follow the leads... Even she, as an intermediary, risked exposure. Japan was no longer safe for her; she needed to get abroad and observe the situation from there.

As these thoughts raced through her mind, she didn’t immediately rush to leave. If she left now, she might never see Iroha again. Or Maru. The time spent with her friends made her want to stay a little longer, not just vanish from Iroha’s world immediately.

"What do you mean, ’probably nothing’?"

Ayatsuki Ayaka’s expression grew serious. She quickly asked with concern, "Are you not feeling well, or did something upsetting happen? You can tell me, you know."

"You’re not a psychologist."

Tama Chan teased, tilting her head, her beautifully manicured nails tracing the rim of her coffee cup. "Saeko, we might not be able to help with everything, but talking about it might make you feel better."

Takahashi Saeko shrugged. "My parents might be arranging for me to study abroad. I might not be here next semester."

"EH?!"

Ayatsuki Ayaka looked utterly shocked. Her first instinct was to try and convince Saeko to stay. But then she remembered that studying abroad was a good thing. Since Saeko’s parents had managed to secure such a great opportunity for her, she, as a good friend, shouldn’t be the one to hold her back.

"This, this is great news!"

She forced a smile onto her wheat-colored cheeks, her eyes narrowing to hide the loneliness within. "With technology so advanced nowadays, we can stay in touch online all the time."

Seeing Iroha’s expression, which looked more sorrowful than if she were crying, Takahashi Saeko couldn’t resist pinching her cheek. She laughed. "Alright, stop making that face. I don’t want to leave you guys either. Maybe it won’t come to that. I plan to try and convince my parents to let me stay and continue my studies here."

"Saeko, so you’re not going to study abroad? Is that really okay?"

"My future has already been planned out; there’s no need to rush."

Takahashi Saeko smiled faintly.

Hearing this, Ayatsuki Ayaka couldn’t hide her joy any longer. She let out a cheer and hugged Saeko tightly. "That’s wonderful! I really couldn’t bear for you to leave Tokyo!"

"HA HA."

Takahashi Saeko patted her head, the depths of her eyes dark as she made a risky decision in secret.

She would eliminate the person who supplied firearms to Number Nine and erase all traces of the involved Street Cleaners. It wouldn’t be as safe or easy as fleeing, but right now, it was her only option.

Takahashi Saeko never imagined that she, who always advocated fleeing at the first sign of danger and never took chances, was actually choosing to take a risk. Friendship truly was an incredible thing. Before meeting Iroha, she couldn’t have imagined such a day would ever come.

「In the afternoon, at the Metropolitan Police Department.」

Morimoto Chiyoda glanced at the wall clock. It was exactly five o’clock—time to get off work.

Although the case she was handling involved Kumazo Yasuda’s murder, Morimoto Chiyoda couldn’t care less if he was alive or dead.

He wasn’t anyone particularly distinguished to begin with. Whether he was dead or alive made no difference to Japan now. Well, perhaps there was a slight impact. At least with him dead, a lot of people would be going to prison. Execution was out of the question, though. Japan’s death penalty might not be officially abolished, but it was as good as.

Morimoto Chiyoda looked at the documents in her hand and tossed them onto her desk.

Based on Kogoro’s testimony, she had apprehended Matsuda and also the seller of the tracking devices.

Following the trail from the bodies of the accomplices Number Nine had killed, they had identified the four individuals, determined when they entered Japan and where they stayed, and subsequently questioned the hotel front desk staff and people in the vicinity.

The investigation into the gathered intelligence was ongoing, aiming to unearth the underground faction that had supplied them with firearms.

Having formally taken office, Prime Minister Kochou, at her first press conference, issued her first prime ministerial order: everyone involved in this incident was to be arrested, with no exceptions.

Such a vile incident demanded a decisive, forceful response.

However, some things couldn’t be investigated just because those at the top ordered it.

At least, nothing would be found today.

Morimoto Chiyoda had no intention of working overtime. With her, the Police Director, not there to supervise, the efficiency of those below would be predictable.

This case was too big, so big that those in the Metropolitan Police Department felt constrained and hesitant in their investigation.

No one wanted to be the scapegoat, so no one dared to dig too deep.

What if they actually uncovered something they weren’t supposed to?

Her subordinates had already convinced themselves that Kumazo Yasuda’s death was part of some grand conspiracy, not just a spur-of-the-moment act.

Morimoto Chiyoda couldn’t dispel their suspicions; the collected evidence did indeed indicate that someone, somewhere, had condoned the escalation of events.

She stood up and left her office. In the large open-plan office outside, the special task force was processing information related to the Different World.

"A mysterious incident in Osaka: an entire house suddenly disappeared, including the people and furniture inside, leaving only a large pit behind."

"Alright, don’t tell me about these things after hours. I’m sure you can handle it," Morimoto Chiyoda said with a wave of her hand, striding out of the main office. Once she was off duty, she didn’t want to deal with any official business. To be honest, if Kumazo Yasuda’s case hadn’t been so major, she wouldn’t even have shown up to handle it herself.

「Chitose’s Defense Barrier was closing in on the villa.」

A thought flashed through Aozawa’s mind. The Shadow Soldier quickly placed the sofa it was carrying onto the floor.

The group of curvaceous Shadow beauties before him, who had been dancing gracefully, swiftly vanished from sight.

Streaks of shadow melted into the sofa and chairs, leaving the room deserted and quiet.

"Iroha, don’t worry. Saeko has such a good personality, and her parents can’t be bad people; they’ll definitely be reasonable," Aozawa typed, sending the message to comfort Iroha and reassure her about Saeko being forced by her parents to study abroad.

As long as it was Iroha’s and Takahashi Saeko’s wish for her to stay, Aozawa was naturally willing to help ensure Takahashi Saeko could continue her studies in this country.

"Mm, you’re right," Ayatsuki Ayaka replied. "I’m going to eat now, so let’s talk later."

"Okay."

Aozawa quickly hit send and strode out of the living room. Just as he reached the entryway, the door opened.

"Chitose, welcome home~"

As he spoke, he puckered his lips, wanting to give her a welcome-home kiss.

Morimoto Chiyoda poked Aozawa’s forehead with her index finger. "Don’t even think about it."

That one kiss, Morimoto Chiyoda was one hundred percent certain, would ignite her flames. And she didn’t want to break the ’once every seven days’ rule she’d set for herself.

"Did you buy groceries?"

"Of course. I would never forget something the Police Director instructed."

"You only remember so clearly because some cute underclassman reminded you, right?" Morimoto Chiyoda retorted as she took off her shoes. As her feet, clad in thin white stockings, touched the floor, a coolness seeped through to her soles.

She hissed softly.

She glanced around. "Not bad. You’ve cleaned up very thoroughly."

"Of course. How could I possibly slack off on an order from the Queen herself? I wiped the floor over a dozen times. Look, it’s so clean it’s reflective," Aozawa said, crouching down. He swiped a hand across the floor and said thoughtfully, "Is this Black Peony?"

"Too bad, you guessed wrong," Morimoto Chiyoda replied with a smile as she walked towards the kitchen. Opening the door, she found neatly cut meat and vegetables arranged on the countertop.

Unlike the usual haphazard way things were done, now every chopped ingredient was arranged into beautiful patterns on the plates. The meat was sliced incredibly thin, as if by a master chef who had trained in a Lanzhou ramen shop.

Morimoto Chiyoda picked up a slice, surprised. "You’ve sliced the meat exceptionally thin today."

"HEH HEH, I just wanted to give you a pleasant surprise," Aozawa said, naturally taking all the credit for the Shadow Soldier’s work.

Morimoto Chiyoda reached out and rubbed his head, smiling. "Very good. You’re finally showing some sense. Did you think I was going to say that?"

As she finished, she tapped Aozawa’s forehead a few times with her knuckles, warning, "Don’t do the housework so meticulously. You’re just raising the bar for me. Just doing it casually is fine. If you do it like this, won’t it make me look like I’m being perfunctory when school starts?"

"Uh, okay, my bad."

Aozawa looked rather dejected.

Morimoto Chiyoda snorted, feeling not a shred of sympathy for this overachiever.

She much preferred the previous Aozawa, whose housework always had plenty of faults to pick. She waved him away. "Get out. Next time, don’t make it look like something from a five-star hotel chef!"

"Yes, ma’am," Aozawa replied with a nod and turned to leave the kitchen.