Chapter 28: Natsuki Koshimizu's Coin

Not long after Furuya Rei entered the hotel to investigate the situation, Inspector Megure, who had just finished coordinating with the Public Security Bureau officers in the Ekoda area, arrived at the hotel entrance near Teitan Elementary School—the site of the reported shooting—accompanied by Kazami Yuya.

They moved upward with urgency and caution. Some officers who had arrived with Inspector Megure began setting up police lines and dispersing the onlookers. Officer Takagi Wataru, Megure’s capable subordinate, began searching for lucky bystanders inside the hotel to take statements.

During this process, Officer Takagi noticed a figure whose back looked inexplicably handsome and somewhat familiar appearing outside the police line. Just as he was about to call out to the person, he was held back by a lucky bystander standing next to him.

"Officer Takagi, when can we leave? I'm in a rush to close a business deal!"

"Ah, right away, right away... Uh, not right away, maybe... maybe it will take a few hours?"

Held back by the bystander, Takagi was unable to break away. He could only watch as that back disappeared from his sight, feeling a sudden sense of frustration. Yet, inexplicably, he also felt a stroke of good fortune, though he did not know where this feeling came from—if Furuya Rei were still conscious, he would certainly know.

Because the back Takagi Wataru saw was none other than Nara Hikaru himself, who had just left the hotel.

Not far away, Vermouth had already changed her disguise and facial features. Although her arm still looked somewhat unnatural, as long as she didn't move it, it was difficult for anyone to notice anything amiss. At this moment, the high-ranking Black Organization operative kept herself hidden, observing the situation inside the hotel.

Seeing that the Metropolitan Police Department cars had arrived and Calvados had not yet emerged, Vermouth immediately understood the outcome of the confrontation between Calvados and that urban legend—clearly, Calvados was dead, and quite obviously so. Otherwise, faced with such an emergency, Calvados, as a professional veteran sycophant, would at the very least have sent her a message to report his safety in an attempt to earn some favor.

However, as a master of such games herself, Vermouth certainly did not view Calvados as an important figure. In her eyes, if Calvados was dead, then he was dead. The organization was never short of peripheral or low-level members who could serve as codenamed operatives in the action squad. The only pity was that she would have to find an opportunity to cultivate another useful sycophant like him in the future.

*Beep-beep—*

Vermouth’s mobile phone suddenly chirped with a message notification. She naturally pulled the flip phone from her waist pouch and glanced at the sender's name.

[Sender: Kurosawa Jin]

...Gin?

The face corresponding to this contact name flashed through Vermouth’s mind instantly.

This was a first; Gin would never contact her unless there was something urgent. After all, her relationship with Gin had never been particularly amicable. At the very least, Gin had always made it clear that he held her disguise techniques in low regard.

Setting aside these distracting thoughts, Vermouth opened the message.

[Chianti and Korn, along with a local low-level member, have been killed.]
[Vermouth, did your plan succeed?]
[Sender: Kurosawa Jin]

Although Gin did not say who had killed those three, in Beika Ward, if it wasn't specifically pointed out who had taken action, the high probability was that it was the work of that urban legend.

Vermouth’s fingers tapped unconsciously on the casing of her phone. She reviewed the pattern of the opponent's actions, and then, she raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Hm? So that person named Asai Narumi really does have a connection to the urban legend?"

The mistake Calvados made here was likely due to interference from someone sent by that half-human, half-ghost figure. This meant that this location was where the urban legend was supposed to appear today. Yet, the opponent had prioritized saving Asai Narumi, killing Chianti and Korn first, and only then rushed by car to Teitan Elementary School to save Sherry and deal with Calvados...

"How interesting."

Vermouth felt as if she had grasped a certain pattern. However, as her fingers tapped on her phone case, her expression stiffened. The movement of her fingers had aggravated the injury she sustained after being struck by the Soccer-Man’s super-powered ball!

"Honestly... and here I was, doing this to protect you..." she whispered to herself.

Scanning the surroundings once more to ensure that the bizarre, elusive figure had truly vanished without a trace, she stood up and left, heading toward her planned safe house.

——————

In fact, the situation at Teitan Elementary School was more dangerous than Nara Hikaru had anticipated. He had brought Koshimizu Natsuki along merely as an insurance policy. After all, Haibara Ai’s identity was special; if Vermouth noticed her, she would certainly move to eliminate her. Thus, Koshimizu Natsuki, as a "retired" high school detective, should have been able to handle Vermouth in cooperation with the elementary school detective who had become a super-powered soccer player.

However, the fact that Vermouth had brought a sniper sycophant along was outside of Nara Hikaru's expectations. Before today, he had never met Calvados, and naturally, he had no way of sensing him.

In the depths of a hidden alleyway, Koshimizu Natsuki leaned against the wall, flipping a coin in her hand, watching it dance in the air. She caught it and flipped it again—it was a pastime she enjoyed when bored. However, her attention was not entirely on the coin. A portion of it was focused on the shadow near the wall, on the figure that had appeared out of nowhere.

"You seem to be in a bad mood."
"What’s wrong? Could it be that even the illustrious 'Ghost' encounters obstacles they cannot overcome?"

The retired high school girl detective raised her eyebrows. She still remembered the shock of investigating the truth behind the Lavender Villa murder case, only to see the famous high school detective from Shikoku, Tokitsu Junya, gunned down by an unknown assailant. That black-clad back had left a profound impression on her. This was the reason she was here helping Nara Hikaru.

"Perhaps," Nara Hikaru said casually.

He did not intend for someone like Koshimizu Natsuki to get too deeply entangled in the affairs of the Black Organization. These people had not undergone systematic training and couldn't even handle firearms properly; it was too dangerous for them to face the members of the Black Organization. Using them as temporary, low-risk wild cards was enough.

Seeming to sense Nara Hikaru's perfunctory tone, Koshimizu Natsuki raised an eyebrow and said, "Fine, then 'perhaps'... I brought this."

"Do you want to swap out your signature coin?"

She held out her hand, a coin resting in the center of her palm. It was a five-yen coin. Such coins were typically used when making wishes at shrines.

"'God's First Shot' using the denomination of a coin used for wishing to deities to decide fate—sounds pretty cool, right?"