Read Novel Full Chapter 468 - The Last Piece
Chapter 468 - The Last Piece
<Author’s Notes>
This is the planned update schedule (as usual, it’s not finished yet, so I’ve marked it as “planned” just in case……).
Also, all updates are scheduled for around 7:00 PM, about two hours earlier than usual.
Next chapter: May 5th (Tue) around 7:00 PM
Final chapter: May 6th (Wed) around 7:00 PM
Mimori Touka’s biological parents had been found.
And essentially, it had nothing to do with Mitsuru’s search.
It was brief and temporary, but it even made the news as an incident.
Mimori Touka’s biological mother———— Mimori Hiyori had been stabbed to death.
His father———– Mimori Daisuke was also stabbed and left in a critical, unconscious state.
In this country right now, knife-related incidents are practically commonplace.
So common they almost feel like they happen every day.
Because of that, the public attention was minimal, and the coverage period was extremely short.
The perpetrator has already been caught.
They claim the motive was a financial dispute.
Due to this incident occurring at such an unexpected time, Touka’s parents were “discovered”.
However, the events leading up to that point have not been made public.
After they vanished———— after they went missing, what had they been doing?
Where had they been?
Why did they disappear in the first place?
Aoshima Mitsuru had already investigated all of that.
As expected of Aoshima’s top “detective”.
After the report aired, Mitsuru contacted me.
[These two…… seem to have been quite the couple……]
The reason they disappeared back then……
Apparently, that too stemmed from a financial dispute.
They got involved with some shady people, and through a twist of fate, the couple obtained a large sum of money.
Originally, that money was supposed to be returned to those people.
But instead, they ran off with it.
However, no official complaint was ever filed regarding this matter.
In other words, it was money that couldn’t be brought into the light.
[The interesting part is, it doesn’t seem like they intentionally got their hands on the money. It looks like they just stumbled into it by accident. You know, like those stories where a municipality mistakenly transfers a huge amount into a citizen’s account~~? Something like that. And then the couple just ran off with it~~.]
A large sum of money that couldn’t be exposed.
There was no way to properly use it in an ordinary life.
Evading the tax authorities would be difficult.
They likely had neither the knowledge nor the connections for money laundering.
And yet……
“With this money, we might be able to live the extravagant life we’ve always dreamed of.”
In other words, if they disappeared as they were, their dream could come true————- That must have been the choice they made.
Touka’s parents had enough cunning to conceal abuse.
They weren’t complete fools.
When it came to self-preservation or personal gain, they were capable of thinking things through.
But still———-
(Even if they gave in to greed, the risk was far too great.)
[Why do you think they left behind their son, who was still so young at the time?]
[They probably thought he’d attract attention. While having a child can make others feel at ease or sympathetic, it also makes you more memorable. Plus, if they went into hiding, they might’ve hoped to push both the kid and the trouble onto Daisuke’s younger brother…… Mimori Sousuke. Something like that, maybe?]
[That’s the part that feels off to me. From what I’ve looked into, there’s no sign those kinds of people ever got involved with Touka’s uncle and his wife. And Touka himself has never mentioned anything like that.]
[The reason’s simple~~, they stopped getting involved at all.]
[……What do you mean? Sousuke and his wife are certainly reliable people, but honestly…… they didn’t strike me as the type who could handle the underworld to that extent.]
[According to my investigation, Sousuke has a very powerful guardian watching over him.]
[A guardian?]
[He has a close relationship with someone strong in the judicial field. Apparently, they’ve been friends since middle school. And as for Suzuna, she has someone close to her in law enforcement. They might not even realize it themselves, but they have very powerful allies. Especially Sousuke’s friend, he’s an incredible person~~.]
When I heard the name, even I immediately recognized it.
[He’s not famous among the general public though. But if it came to a legal battle, even Aoshima would prefer to avoid dealing with him.]
[Just out of personal curiosity…… would he really go that far for Sousuke, just because they’re old friends?]
[I couldn’t get all the details, but it seems he owes him a debt. Normally he charges high fees, but he’s never taken a single yen from Sousuke. It looks like he’s been helping him indirectly. Because of that, digging into these connections was a real pain. Honestly, Sousuke and Suzuna have quite a few allies overall. Maybe it’s just their character~~?]
[……………….]
That certainly made sense.
Somehow, those two had a certain charm that made people want to help them.
[Anyway, back to the point. From the perspective of those shady people, Sousuke and his side are the kind of opponents you really don’t want to mess with. At first, they probably thought they could get leads on Daisuke by probing around Sousuke, since he took in the couple’s son. But after looking into it, they must’ve decided it was better not to touch Sousuke at all, and instead continue pursuing Daisuke~~]
That, too, made perfect sense.
From what I’d heard, Touka’s parents were irredeemable scum.
Honestly, it was hard to believe his father shared the same blood as that uncle.
And it wouldn’t have been surprising at all if his father tried to leech off Sousuke.
And yet, even after cutting ties, there had been almost no contact with the uncle’s family.
Which meant———–
The people around the uncle and his wife were simply too capable as a protective barrier.
[By the way, Daisuke and Sousuke’s parents were already living separately when the two were still young.]
[Only separated? They didn’t divorce?]
[Right. But in practice, it was no different from a divorce, their relationship was completely severed~~. As for why they didn’t formally divorce…… well, not everything in this world has a rational explanation. In any case, it’s hard to say Daisuke and Sousuke were truly raised together.]
So Touka’s father and his uncle grew up in completely different environments.
In that case, it wasn’t genetics———– what shaped them was their environment.
[And then…… regarding Daisuke and Hiyori’s movements after they disappeared~~]
According to Mitsuru, after vanishing, the couple moved west.
However, given their situation, renting a place normally would’ve been difficult.
Relying on blood relatives would risk exposing them.
So they searched for ways to stay off the radar.
On the other hand, they had plenty of money.
Because of that, they lived in hotels for a while.
But even that wasn’t entirely safe.
[Didn’t that lead back to them eventually? Surely they didn’t live in love hotels the whole time.]
[That’s where they were actually pretty clever.]
The couple had old acquaintances, people not related by blood, rent hotel rooms for them.
Weekly or monthly contracts.
The stated reason was “for work stays”.
Those acquaintances were swayed by “compensation” and went along with it.
[Also, this couple was quite skilled at worming their way into people’s lives and taming them. They had good looks, and their confident, pushy attitude worked well, as long as they picked the right targets.]
Even their abuse of Touka had never led to a report from the neighbors.
His real parents always managed to stay just on the edge, avoiding being reported.
[They were pretty good with words too. You could say they had a knack for performance. They were skilled at keeping up appearances, so surprisingly, not that many people had a bad impression of them.]
But that kind of life couldn’t last for years.
If they wanted to live extravagantly, their spending would naturally become reckless.
When the money they had stumbled into began to run low, the couple moved even further west.
[After drifting between loosely connected acquaintances, they eventually started moving into complete strangers’ homes and living there as freeloaders~~. And once a place stopped being useful, they’d move on, to that person’s acquaintances, or to find a new place to stay.]
Just like———– parasites.
[They’d start by picking fights over trivial things, causing small trouble, then judge whether the person was easy to manipulate before deciding to settle in.]
Their smooth talk.
Their skillful acting.
A forceful attitude, carefully balanced with restraint.
Their attractive appearance.
Did they use all of this to push their targets into a kind of manipulated state?
And once they felt the host was no longer useful———– they’d leave.
Before things escalated too far.
[The interesting part is…… you’d think “leave no trace”, right? But the people they latched onto didn’t seem very inclined to sue or file complaints. Some of them suffered ongoing abuse, and some were even left with lasting injuries, you know~~? Sure, fear of retaliation might’ve played a role…… but it doesn’t quite feel like that alone explains it. Most likely, they were very thorough with their “aftercare”.]
(That sounds almost like an abusive control dynamic involving domestic violence……)
[In the end, did the syndicate chasing them ever manage to find them?]
[Oh, that group got wiped out in a completely unrelated incident. So at some point, the couple was essentially running from enemies that no longer existed~~.]
[Wiped out?]
[They caused trouble somewhere else and got destroyed because of it. The core members are still missing. All that’s been found are complete sets of teeth and dried-out testicles~~. Ah, actually, there have been similar cases in other incidents too~~. In a certain region, there are multiple missing persons cases where only those parts were found. Oh…… as for what was found in the case of female victims, it might be a bit too grotesque for Hijiri-chan, so I’ll keep that to myself.]
A full set of teeth. Dried-out testicles.
From those two things, a single possibility emerges……
That——— alone isn’t enough to confirm death.
There’s still a chance they’re alive.
And for those with quite the imagination———– that makes it all the more terrifying.
[Mitsuru-san…… judging by your tone, you’re interested in this matter, but you should avoid digging any deeper.]
[I absolutely won’t. I have a general idea who’s responsible, but I don’t want to pursue it further. Even I find this too scary to dig into.]
[………………]
Now then———-
Why were Touka’s real parents stabbed?
Their final traces……
When I asked about it, Mitsuru began to explain.
[It was the kind of trouble that comes from someone snapping. Lately, their methods of parasitizing others had become sloppy. They had a bad reputation in the neighborhood too, causing frequent small disputes~~. Their marriage itself had grown more chaotic over time. Then a financial dispute with a third party got involved, and in the end, that person snapped and went after them with a knife. Just, stab! Over and over. A full-on frenzy~~.]
The interesting part comes after the stabbing.
According to the neighbors, almost as if they had rehearsed it together……
“We didn’t notice anything.”
That’s what they all claimed.
There was, however, a different testimony.
It said that the wife, Hiyori, had been covered in blood, crying out for help.
And yet, everyone acted as if they hadn’t seen a thing.
There was a clear contradiction in the accounts.
In the end, Hiyori bled out and died.
[Did the neighbors———– think it’d be better if they just died?]
[That’s certainly possible. By the way, the person they were most recently freeloading off of has been missing for about two weeks now.]
[……That sounds like a very deep, dark situation.]
[Right?]
[The father. He’s still alive, isn’t he?]
[He is. Right now, he’s at———–]
The moment I heard the hospital’s name, it clicked.
[……A hospital under the Akegawa group.]
A hospital run by a family deeply connected to Aoshima.
[So you could say he’s effectively in our hands. We might even be said to hold his life and death in our grasp. Quite the coincidence, isn’t it?]
Incidentally, Daisuke and Hiyori had apparently returned east.
From the west———– back to the east again.
They had started moving that way the year before last.
(Perhaps———–)
As a final refuge, they had begun considering turning to his younger brother’s family.
[……………….Mitsuru-san.]
[Yes?]
[This stabbing incident…… you didn’t have anything to do with it, did you?]
[Ahahaha, what an amusing deduction. Hijiri-chan, you could become a mystery novelist someday.]
[………………]
Well, whatever.
[As far as I’m concerned, as long as this doesn’t end up affecting Sousuke-san and Suzuna-san, that’s all that matters. Beyond that, I’m not interested, nor do I care.]
[Alright. Well, his condition could suddenly worsen and he might die at any time. Hopefully that doesn’t happen. Life is precious, after all.]
Given the situation, Sousuke would probably be informed this time.
And that uncle and his wife would come to learn certain things.
But———– Even if we didn’t act, it felt like there wouldn’t be any real problem.
If anything, considering their “guardian”, acting carelessly might only stir up trouble.
[There are times when it’s better not to act. I trust Mitsuru-san’s judgment, but…… just in case, please be careful in how you handle this.]
[Hm? What could you be talking about?]
[I’m counting on you.]
She played dumb——— but she understood.
At that point, I shifted my tone.
[And also——— impressive work, Mitsuru-san. I can’t even begin to imagine how you managed to gather that much information in such a short time. I sincerely appreciate your cooperation. That’s all for now.]
[W- W- W- Wait, Hijiri-chan~~! You’re forgetting something important~~!]
[What would that be?]
[Our date promise~~!]
I let out a small smile.
[Shall I decide on the plan?]
[Ehh!? A date plan made by Hijiri-chan~~!? I’m so excited~~! I don’t even care what we do~~! The fact that you made the plan is what matters most, it’s precious~~!]
[You don’t care about the content? Isn’t that a bit rude toward me?]
[Hauu!? I’m sorry~~! Forgive me~~! Please don’t hate me~~]
[I was joking.]
[You make jokes like that, Hijiri-chan~~? But I’m glad~~…… By the way, haven’t you gotten even more beautiful lately~~? Wearing your hair down really changes your impression, I love it~~. Though I liked your previous hairstyle too.]
[How did you already get that information…… my latest hairstyle, I mean. And speaking of beauty, you’re the beautiful one, Mitsuru-san.]
[Well, when I’m gathering information in the field~~, being beautiful is useful sometimes, but it’s also a hassle. I stand out too much, so I have to use makeup to tone it down~~. After all, I’m the second most beautiful person in this country———- no, in the entire galaxy~~.]
[That’s the first I’m hearing of that. So then, who’s number one?]
[Oh? It’s rare for you to show interest in something like that. Obviously, number one is Hijiri-chan~~.]
[———Is that so? I don’t think that’s true. At the very least, it’s not me.]
[Eh~~? Then is number one…… Ayaka-chan?]
I let out a small sigh.
So she’d even gotten her hands on information about Sogou Ayaka.
Well, if she dug too deep, she’d end up dealing with the Sogou Group.
Someone as sharp as Mitsuru would know better than to cross that line.
Still———- when it comes to the most beautiful person in the entire galaxy, she’s wrong.
Mitsuru, perhaps thanks to her lineage, is undeniably beautiful.
But I’ve met someone who might just be the most beautiful in all dimensions.
I’m talking about that High Elf Princess Knight from that other world.
I smiled softly.
[As for who it is…… well, I’ll keep that a secret.]
▽
That evening, I was in my room, looking something up.
As I worked on my phone, Itsuki, who had been watching me for a while, finally spoke up.
[Looks like you’re struggling more than usual, Big Sis…… mind if I ask what you’re looking into?]
[Potential date locations.]
[……Ehh!? B- Big Sis——— you finally———-]
I slid my gaze toward her.
[It’s that thing I promised Mitsuru-san.]
[———-Ah…… Ahhh, right. That thing…… man, you scared me……]
Sitting on the bed, Itsuki let out a breath and started swinging her legs.
[Arehh? So does that mean the investigations over there had been wrapped up?]
[Mostly. I’ll tell you the details another time.]
I said that, then returned my attention to the screen.
And then……
[Hey, Itsuki.]
[Yeah?]
Still operating my phone, I asked:
[Want to go on a date with me sometime?]
Itsuki froze for a moment.
Then she suddenly jumped off the bed and rushed over to me.
[——–Y- Yeah! Let’s go! I’ll definitely go!]
She grabbed my shoulders tightly from behind.
As if she didn’t want to let the opportunity slip away.
[I mean…… it’s super rare for you to suggest something like that, Big Sis——— d- did something happen!? If you’ve got worries, I’ll listen all night!]
I gave a faint smile.
[If you ask whether I’m troubled, I suppose I am.]
[W- What do you mean……?]
[I was hoping you could help me pick out clothes for my date with Mitsuru-san.]
[Picking out an outfit for your lover’s date…… that’s basically a real date!]
[No, it’s not a date with you, it’s for my date with Mitsuru-san…… and we’re not lovers, we’re sisters……]
[Ah——— right…… tehe…… sorry, I got too excited and lost my bearings……]
[I’d also appreciate it if you could recommend a good salon. You know more about that kind of thing than I do, right?]
[Hehe…… when you rely on me like this, it makes me really happy, Big Sis~~]
[I am relying on you.]
Itsuki gave a salute.
[Yes, Onee-sama! Leave it to me!]
Just then, the sound of the front door opening echoed.
“I’m home”, came our mother’s voice.
[Ah———- Mama’s back! Welcome home~~!]
Itsuki hurried out of the room, clearly excited.
[………………..]
I set my phone down on the desk and rested my cheek on my hand, watching her leave.
Then…… a different kind of smile, one that rose naturally, appeared on my lips as I murmured.
[“Nothing is more beautiful than harmony”.]