Chapter 968: It's great that you're here!

Akaso Kaze looked at the message Sonoko wrote in the book and asked: "Why would the other party ask you to help write the message?"

"He said it was too tiring to come down again, and he forgot that person's phone number,"

Sonoko replied, "It's said that the person checked into this inn this morning, and they agreed to meet here. In case anything happened, they could leave a message in the message book."

Akaso Kaze asked, "How did you meet?"

"We just met on the mountain."

"Asking a little girl you just met to leave a message here, it sounds very strange no matter how you think about it, right?"

"But Mr. Hotumi isn't an ordinary person," Sonoko defended, "it's precisely because he recommended this place to the playwright that this place became popular because of the TV series."

"Is this Mr. Hotumi a TV station staff member?" Akaso Kaze asked.

"No, he's just an advertiser, but everyone asks him about the location of the filming sites. The most classic creative idea of the TV series, tying a red handkerchief to a red leaf tree branch, was also his idea."

Sonoko became more and more enthusiastic as she spoke, until she noticed Akaso Kaze's smiling gaze and stopped, blushing as she said: "Anyway, I was going to come down to eat on the way, I've been wandering around the mountain for half a day, I'm starving."

"Then let's go eat." Akaso Kaze watched Sonoko put away the message book and finally asked, "However, is this useful? You don't know when the message will be seen."

"It should be fine, Mr. Hotumi said that person has been waiting for news, so they will see it immediately."

Akaso Kaze didn't ask any more and followed Sonoko out of the inn.

It was getting late, and a red glow appeared in the sky. Combined with the red leaves all over the mountains, it looked like a painting; the scenery was exceptionally good.

Akaso Kaze hugged Sonoko's small waist, feeling exceptionally relaxed.

The restaurant they dined at was near the Akagi Inn, with bright floor-to-ceiling windows for viewing, and the food was quite delicious.

However, Sonoko didn't seem to be in the mood to eat, and she wasn't very interested in the beautiful scenery outside, just looking distressed at Akaso Kaze, who was taking sips of coffee from time to time.

She regretted sending that text message on a whim; now she seemed to be in a difficult position.

Akaso Kaze must have understood the meaning of the email by now; the most uncomfortable part was that she wasn't prepared at all.

The so-called "Winter Red Leaves" meant that in winter, when the leaves wither, a red handkerchief is tied to a branch to act as a red leaf.

This was the most romantic scene in that TV series.

Who knew that when Sonoko arrived at the filming location, she found that the trees near that place were covered in red handkerchiefs.

She was still carrying her own red handkerchief and didn't know what to do.

The meal lasted until dusk.

Akaso Kaze looked at the embarrassed Sonoko with a smile on his face.

Sonoko had just sent an email on a whim, imitating the TV series; she certainly wouldn't have expected him to actually come.

"Something seems to have happened!"

A commotion suddenly appeared outside, and the sound of police sirens could be faintly heard.

Soon, news came that a tourist had discovered a corpse on the mountain, and the local police had already rushed over.

Sonoko's curiosity couldn't help but rise.

"Akaso-san, let's go over and take a look."

"Alright." Akaso Kaze took her and walked towards the scene of the incident.

"The estimated time of death is around 5 o'clock this evening. The abdomen was stabbed once, and the chest was stabbed once, which was fatal."

In the red leaf forest shrouded in night, by the time Akaso Kaze arrived, the police had already secured the scene. There weren't many onlookers, only a few tourists who happened to be nearby.

"The identity of the deceased is still unclear. Things that could identify the identity seem to have been taken away by the murderer."

A person lay under a tree with a knife stuck in them. Bird-beak Police Officer Yamamura Misao stood beside the corpse with a serious look, waiting for the forensic personnel to work.

"Any discoveries nearby?"

"The local police found some tourists' camping tents, and also this notebook stained with blood."

The detective investigating the scene handed a notebook with a blood-stained cover to Yamamura.

"It seems to be this person's notebook, and there is a name written in Roman letters, HOTUMI. The notebook was dropped about 100 meters away from here."

"HOTUMI?"

Yamamura Misao raised his eyebrows and looked at the male corpse.

"Is he an idiot who doesn't even know how to write his own name in Kanji? That face always looks a bit silly."

Sonoko followed behind Akaso Kaze. Hearing this, she looked inside and exclaimed after seeing the blood-stained corpse: "It's Mr. HOTUMI!"

Akaso Kaze also saw the corpse reflected by the police car lights, a square-faced man wearing a knit hat.

Many red leaves and blood were mixed together on his sleeveless down vest, looking exceptionally miserable. It's really something for Yamamura Misao, this guy who used to faint at the sight of a corpse, to still be in the mood to joke.

But this rookie cop was silly to begin with.

"Eh?" Yamamura Misao noticed Akaso Kaze and the others and said pleasantly surprised, "Isn't this Akaso-sama? It's great that you're here!"

"We happened to be at the foot of the mountain and came over after hearing that something happened," Akaso Kaze looked speechlessly at Yamamura Misao, who was excited as if he had seen a savior. ===== CHAPTER 970 =====