Chapter 44: This is a Composed Crow

Early the next morning.

Chi Feichi went out for his usual morning jog.

With dawn just breaking, Haido Park was almost completely devoid of people.

To his ears, the sounds of plants and animals were sometimes no different from human speech. In a noisy, crowded environment, it was hard to tell whether any flora or fauna were actually talking.

The early morning was exceptionally quiet. With no human voices to interfere, other sounds became much clearer.

Very few plants in the urban area talked. Among animals, quite a few cats and dogs could be heard speaking, but it was usually just an occasional remark or two.

In terms of sheer strangeness, they could not compare to the flora and fauna in the forest near the old castle.

Back then, he used to go to the forest for training almost every day, and he had encountered many interesting animals.

There was a vine whose age was unknown, though it knew nothing of humans, it was intimately familiar with every animal and plant in that vicinity.

There was a fox that dashed past from afar, calling out, "What on earth was that thing just now? A giant monkey?"

And among a group of squirrels that liked to chase each other through the branches, two of them would often watch with curious discussions, occasionally showing affection right then and there.

As for the smallest creature whose speech he was currently able to hear, it was probably an ant.

Unfortunately, he only heard a single "Why has it gone dark?" from somewhere very close by, and then... there was nothing more.

Afterward, he only found the corpses of five ants near his feet, and he had no idea which one had spoken...

He had no intention of gathering every talkative animal and plant around him. One or two companions by his side were enough; it was better to let the rest live freely—who knows when they might provide him with some useful information.

"Good morning, hardworking human!" Overhead, a passing crow called out, seemingly expecting no reply, and flew off toward a tree with a carefree flair.

There were plenty of crows in Tokyo. They usually moved around in flocks, and it was rare to see one acting alone.

Chi Feichi found it somewhat novel, but he merely glanced at it without breaking his stride, continuing his run. "Good morning to you too, hardworking crow."

Flap, flap!

A sound came from behind.

The crow had collided with some tree branches. It looked up at the fluttering leaves, then turned its head back to gaze at Chi Feichi's retreating figure, its crimson eyes filled with complete bewilderment.

A coincidence, surely?

Non-the-Red slithered along the grass by the path, following Chi Feichi on his daily run. Seeing this, it burst into a chuckle. "What a silly bird!"

Upon spotting Non-the-Red, the crow tilted its head. The language barrier between different species prevented it from understanding Non-the-Red's mockery. With a roll of its beady eyes, it turned around and flew toward Chi Feichi, hovering above his head. "Pitiful human, you're about to have terrible luck! Take my advice and get out of here right now."

This was a crow with considerable spirit and too much time on its hands...

Chi Feichi kept jogging along the path. "Is there any danger nearby?"

"You actually understand what I'm saying?!" The crow's voice sharpened as it beat its wings and flew away like a gust of wind. "What kind of monster is this? It scared the feathers right off me!"

Chi Feichi stopped helplessly and turned his head to look.

The crow had already flown far away, calling back without looking back, "There's a snake right behind you, run!"

Non-the-Red caught up and began rolling around on the grass in sheer mirth the moment it opened its mouth. "Hahahaha... Master, that crow just now got so scared of you it flew right into a tree branch, it's hilarious! How can a bird be so stupid? Hahahaha... You didn't see the way it looked back at your retreating figure, it was just too funny..."

Chi Feichi turned around to see Non-the-Red frantically twisting itself into all sorts of bizarre postures, looking as though it had been poisoned. He remained silent.

"Hahahaha... *burp*..." As Non-the-Red laughed, it suddenly found it couldn't breathe properly. It struggled in confusion, looked down at a clump of grass roots and green vines it had tangled itself into, and then looked back up at Chi Feichi. "Master..."

Chi Feichi sighed, squatted down, and helped untangle the mess of roots and vines. Once Non-the-Red had unwound its knotted body, he picked it up and slipped it backward into his windbreaker's hood. "The pot shouldn't call the kettle black."

For a snake to manage to tie itself into an inextricable knot just from laughing—truly a rare feat...

...

After returning home from his morning jog, Chi Feichi received a call from Muramatsu Akio, inviting him to discuss the movie theater investment.

He called Oyama弥 (Oyama Wataru) and asked him to arrange for a suitable person to accompany him.

The investment talks progressed swiftly without any delays. One side made an offer, the other agreed, and the investment amount and equity shares were settled in no time.

Chi Feichi held a sixty percent stake, making him the true decision-maker, though he had no desire to waste his time managing a movie theater.

Muramatsu Akio would remain the theater's owner with managerial authority, while the day-to-day operations would be handled by a suitable person recruited by Oyama Wataru.

Given the old man's personality, he wasn't truly suited for business management, and advanced age had left him with limited energy, so he readily agreed.

Currently, the theater needed interior remodeling and hardware upgrades. Unsure when it would be able to reopen, Chi Feichi pushed back any promotional plans.

Everything went smoothly, but once Chi Feichi left the building, he realized he seemed to have been targeted by crows...

Upon stepping out of the theater, the roof of a two-story building not far away was packed with an entire row of crows.

When he looked up, he immediately spotted the red-eyed crow he had met that morning. This fellow was standing right in the standard center position, using its wing to shove a fellow crow that was leaning in too close off the ledge. "Stop shoving around, pay attention!"

When Oyama Wataru drove him back, that same crow let out a commanding cry, "My loyal subordinates, follow!"

With that, over twenty crows immediately took to the air with a flurry of wingbeats, trailing the car the entire way.

Shortly after Chi Feichi returned home, another long line of crows landed on his balcony.

"Right, this is the right place," the red-eyed crow nodded after spotting Chi Feichi through the window, directing the lineup. "You, stand properly. You, you're too big, go over there and don't block the other birds! How many times do I have to tell you all? Show some discipline, it looks much more impressive this way!"

Chi Feichi was steaming the small steamed buns he had bought that morning. Just as he stepped out onto the balcony to take a look, the red-eyed crow led its flock in a noisy takeoff, circling high up in the sky in the distance.

Non-the-Red poked its head out from Chi Feichi's collar. "Master, what's going on with those crows?"

"They were brought by the one we met this morning—the red-eyed one. It seems to be the leader of that flock." Seeing that the crow had no intention of having a conversation, Chi Feichi turned and went back into the living room.

Non-the-Red couldn't hold back another chuckle, but remembering its embarrassing display earlier, the amusement died halfway through. "Master, you have to believe me, this morning I was just..."

Chi Feichi: "Don't explain, I believe you."

Non-the-Red: "..."

The flock of crows landed on the balcony once more.

The other crows had simply been dragged along for the ride. They squawked a couple of times, then chased each other or preened their own feathers, no different from any other birds.

However, after casting a glance at Non-the-Red, the red-eyed crow kept its bizarre gaze fixed on Chi Feichi, looking at him as though he were some rare, exotic animal, or perhaps contemplating something.

Chi Feichi didn't pay it much mind. Back at the psychiatric hospital, he had learned that birds were creatures fond of dancing dangerously close to the edge of self-destruction, and crows were notoriously the delinquents of the avian world. The fact that this crow was merely leading a reconnaissance team to gawk—showing such stability and restraint—made him somewhat suspect the purity of its lineage...

He sent a text message to Haibara Ai to confirm that Ayumi was home sick from school today, then called Ayumi's mother.

The advantage of escorting a group of kids home last night was that he had made himself familiar to their parents.

The call went through.

"Hello, who is this?"

"I am Chi Feichi. I heard Ayumi is home taking sick leave—is she doing alright?"

"Ah, Mr. Chi. Ayumi's fever broke this morning, but her throat is so hoarse she can barely speak, so I asked for leave from school and let her rest at home," Ayumi's mother hesitated. She was well aware that Chi Feichi had spent time at the Beika Fourth Hospital, and she also remembered him mentioning last night that he wasn't fully recovered when he was discharged. However, considering they had already interacted and the child showed no ill effects, she continued, "I'm not at home right now and won't be able to make it back for about two hours. If you have the time, would you mind dropping by to check on Ayumi? I heard there was a robbery-murder in Haido Town the day before yesterday, and I'm a bit worried."

"I have nothing pressing to do, I can head over right now."

"Thank you so much for the trouble. The passcode for the first-floor apartment is..."

After hanging up, Chi Feichi went to the kitchen to pack the freshly heated steamed buns and headed out with Non-the-Red.

The two apartment buildings were very close, taking only about ten minutes to walk.

If he drove, factoring in the time required to get in and out of the underground parking garage, it would take roughly the same amount of time.

Chi Feichi chose to walk. Along the way, the flock of crows flew overhead, trailing far behind in the sky.

Fortunately, they kept their distance, and passing pedestrians merely assumed it was a flock of passing birds, casting a casual glance without giving it a second thought. Nobody would ever guess that these crows were actually following a specific person.

Once Chi Feichi entered the apartment building, the crows did not follow him inside. Under the red-eyed crow's direction, they dispersed, with individual crows assigned to watch the windows of every one or two floors.

A moment later, a crow flew over, squawked twice, and took the lead in landing on a certain family's balcony.

"He went up that fast? The timing seems off..." The red-eyed crow flew up to check, only to find a child's bedroom where a helmeted man was stealthily approaching a wardrobe. Clearly, this wasn't the person it was supposed to be tailing. Annoyed, it raised a wing. "You stupid..."

Inside the room, the man crept forward, suddenly flung open the wardrobe, and discovered only a single piece of clothing hanging out and jammed in the door. He froze for a second before turning around and heading for the door.

The red-eyed crow had intended to give this subordinate a whack with its wing, but seeing what was happening, its eyes became transfixed. It stared curiously at the scene inside the window, its raised wing forgetting to come down.

Two crows sat on the windowsill watching the spectacle as a little girl crawled out from beneath the bed, hurried over to adjust a desk clock, pressed the button on top, retrieved a small device, fiddled with it briefly, and quickly dove back into the wardrobe.

The red-eyed crow realized it couldn't hear the sounds from inside clearly enough, so it tilted its head and pressed itself hard against the glass.

The crow beside it turned, imitated the action, and pressed its head against the glass as well.

Inside, after playing a melodious tune, the alarm clock began to announce the time.

Voices of other children drifted out from inside the wardrobe.

"Is that Ayumi?"

"It's the Kamen Rider alarm clock!"

"That's right, the Kamen Rider alarm clock Professor Agasa helped us buy..."

"As long as you press the button on top, it automatically announces the date and time."

A glint of contemplation flashed in the red-eyed crow's eyes.

It looked like this little girl was hiding from that man, who was presumably the kind of indoor robber humans talked about. Was this little girl using that method to call for help?

That little gadget looked rather nice—was it some sort of human communication device?

Something that small was quite rare; it could probably come in handy. Once the right moment presented itself, it would snatch... no, no—can an act committed by a crow truly be called snatching?