Elegant cello music drifted through the banquet hall on the second floor of the cruise ship. Guests dressed in formal suits and evening gowns held wine glasses as they chatted and laughed together.
As the lead actor of tonight's stage, the moment Ritsu pushed open the doors and entered, he could feel countless eyes turning toward him. Following Gin's instructions through his earpiece, he moved through the banquet hall with practiced ease, conversing with various politicians.
Masateru Hatoyama, dressed in a gray suit, glanced at Ritsu, who was busy socializing, and asked his friend Eisaku Ikeda beside him, "Who's that white-haired young man? This is my first time seeing him."
After noticing the cross-shaped scar on Ritsu's face, Ikeda lowered his voice and whispered, "He's Augier, one of the organization's high-ranking executives transferred back from overseas. I heard he's on the same level as Gin-san."
'On the same level as Gin?Interesting.'
Hatoyama raised his brows in surprise.
He hadn't been paying much attention to the organization lately. After all, theirs was merely a cooperative relationship… and it wouldn't be appropriate for him to investigate a partner too deeply. If he provoked the organization's dissatisfaction, his political career would be the one to suffer.
While chatting with a Saitama prefectural council member, Ritsu sensed someone approaching him. Turning around, he saw Hatoyama standing behind him with a glass of wine in hand.
"Good evening, Hatoyama-san."
Hatoyama hadn't expected Ritsu to recognize him. He proactively extended his hand with a friendly smile.
"There's no need to be so formal, Augier-san. It's our first meeting, so I look forward to working with you."
The hand clad in a white glove lightly shook his. Ritsu replied indifferently, "Working together? In what sense exactly?"
"Heh heh, the reason I'm here today is naturally to hear about the matter the organization promised me. Augier-san, I assume you understand what I mean?"
"Of course. I simply thought a little further ahead and assumed perhaps Hatoyama-san intended to befriend me."
Hatoyama gently swirled the wine in his glass and laughed openly.
"It would be my honor to become friends with Augier-san. Here is my contact information, please keep it."
Pinching the black-and-white business card between his fingers, Ritsu also revealed a false smile and politely said,
"Then I'll contact you another time. Please excuse me for now, Hatoyama-san."
After slipping away from the crowd into a quiet corner, the smile vanished from his face as he coldly muttered,
"Gin, I can leave now, right? I've already spoken with all the key targets."
"Mm. What do you think about that big fish who came to you on his own?"
Ritsu lowered his head to look at the information on the business card. After a full two seconds of silence, he finally answered,
"He seems very interested in me. Probably because I'm a parachuted outsider assigned to the Japan branch, he sees me as an unwelcome guest."
"Do you really think that?"
"Of course not. But right now, I just want to go back to my room and rest. As for the big fish, we can deal with him once he actually bites the hook. When the time comes, whether we slice him into sashimi or simmer him in miso is up to us."
"Heh. Good night."
After hearing the disconnected tone from the earpiece, Ritsu had already returned to his room. Exhausted, he collapsed onto the bed. He was clearly tired, yet sleep refused to come. How much longer would these days continue?
For some reason, he suddenly felt sorry for Vermouth, and also understood why she harbored resentment toward the Miyano family.
He got up and headed into the bathroom, trying to wash away his exhaustion beneath warm water.
After changing into clean clothes, Ritsu stepped onto the deck. At this hour, very few people came out to enjoy the night breeze but there was one person he had expected to see.
"Thinking of jumping into the sea and escaping, Sherry?"
Shiho turned around and saw someone whose presence felt even darker than the midnight ocean itself. He really was impossible to get rid of. Even Vodka had already returned to his room to rest, yet he still came here just to monitor her.
"Yeah. Since you're awake this late, want to give me a push?"
Clearly, Shiho had underestimated the madness of the man before her.
The instant the provocative expression appeared on her face after speaking, she suddenly felt a powerful shove that sent her body flying off the deck.
"Are you insane?!"
Ritsu tightly gripped Shiho's left hand with his right. A strange emotion flickered in his eyes as he sarcastically replied,
"Didn't you ask me to help? I'm helping you."
'A lunatic. There wasn't a single normal person left in the organization besides him and the only normal one already…'
Shiho stubbornly bit her lip. Even in this situation, she refused to show weakness first. She would never yield to the organization. Even dying in a place like this would be acceptable.
She was like a shark of the deep sea. Falling into the ocean was merely returning home.
Ritsu hadn't expected Shiho not to beg him to pull her up. He only wanted to remind her in this way that the organization wouldn't show mercy simply because she was a genius scientist and the developer of APTX4869.
"You want to die?"
"Yeah. Then why won't you let go?"
He snorted coldly and exerted force through his wrist, effortlessly pulling Shiho back up.
The distance between them closed and the posture became strangely intimate. Without changing expression, Ritsu spoke in a regretful tone,
"Well, that's unfortunate. If you want to die… then I refuse to let you."
Shiho found herself unable to grasp Augier's true personality. Crossing her arms before her chest, she stepped back and stiffly said,
"I'm going back to sleep."
"Don't go thinking about death again. I won't save you a second time."
Watching Shiho leave, Ritsu let out a deep sigh, nearly failing to maintain his persona. He touched his burning ears, thankful the darkness concealed them from her notice.
...
By the time they arrived in Tokyo, it was already the next morning.
After returning to his apartment building and quickly washing up, Ritsu changed clothes and headed for the Metropolitan Police Department. Sometimes he felt like a workaholic no matter where he was.
During his vacation days from the MPD, he had to work for the organization. And when he wasn't dealing with the organization, cases would come to him instead.
Rounded up, this practically meant he worked all year without a break.
He was starting to wonder whether he had died from laziness in his previous life, so this lifetime he was being forced into becoming a workaholic to atone for his past sins.
Holding the breakfast he bought at a convenience store, before his backside had even touched the chair, he saw Takagi rush into the office from outside.
"In—Inspector Onizawa! Th-There's a major case!"
"…"
Couldn't they at least let him finish breakfast in peace?
Frowning, Ritsu said, "Talk while we walk. Hayasaka, we're heading to the scene."
"Yes, Inspector."
Skillfully opening the passenger-side door of Takagi's beloved car, Ritsu continued eating his sandwich as he asked,
"You said it's a major case. What kind of case are we dealing with exactly?"
Takagi answered with a grave expression,
"It's a vicious criminal case. The caller claimed the corpse had been mutilated, and the fatal wound was a gunshot wound."
"Mutilated corpse, huh?"
That was certainly a tactful way of putting it.
Since becoming a detective, this was the first truly severe violent crime case he had encountered. It was obvious this would be a dismemberment case.
Ritsu gave Takagi a meaningful glance and asked, "Did you eat breakfast?"
"Huh? Yeah, I already ate."
"Good."
Takagi looked confused, clearly not understanding why Ritsu had suddenly asked that question.
However, once they arrived at the crime scene, he immediately understood the meaning behind it.
----
bonus chap every 20 PS
read ahead at my pa reon @Siamus404