Chapter 106: , National Press Conference

Inside the rented room's television, the scene of the Metropolitan Police Department press conference was packed with guests and adorned with flowers; the Metropolitan Police Department General Affairs Department's Public Relations Division had set up a grand stage, with over a hundred reporters sitting below in a dense, dark mass, dozens of hollow-eyed cameras aimed at the people on the platform.

Having finally managed to hold their heads high, both the National Police Agency and the Metropolitan Police Department attached great importance to this press conference; National Police Agency Commissioner Kaneko Takuro and Superintendent General Watanabe Eiji both attended in person, and in addition to them, Mouri Takayoshi, who served as the head of the Joint Special Investigation Headquarters, and others were all present; from the Public Security side, Counselor Kobe of the Metropolitan Police Department Public Security Division also came.

In charge of the entire press conference was Togasaki Tomonobu, Chief of the Public Relations Division of the Metropolitan Police Department General Affairs Department, who held the rank of Police Superintendent and was only in his forties; due to years of fitness and exercise, his skin was somewhat dark, and he wore a center-parted crew cut.

According to Miss Minami, this guy Togasaki Tomonobu was originally from the Career Track in the Police Affairs Department's personnel section, with a bright future and strong capabilities, but he had one problem: he couldn't control his lower half; taking advantage of the Police Affairs Department's contact with many female office workers, this guy had multiple affairs, and in the end, it was reported to the Metropolitan Police Department.

Unfortunately, Togasaki Tomonobu had strong backing; it was said that he had intricate ties to Dentsu and the Akimoto Foundation here in Tokyo, so he was not dismissed, but merely transferred to the Public Relations Division of the General Affairs Department.

The Public Relations Division was equivalent to an external spokesperson department and was also the front line for the Metropolitan Police Department in facing the media.

Togasaki Tomonobu was very enthusiastic toward Uesugi Muneyuki; unlike the traditional social anxiety of Japanese people, he was very quick to get familiar with others, just like Uesugi Muneyuki's father, Uesugi Hironori; after only saying a few words, he was already draping his arm around Uesugi Muneyuki's neck and calling him "little brother," a display of intimacy and warmth that caused the high-ranking officials nearby to drop their jaws in shock.

【This guy must have been annoyed to death from bowing and apologizing as a spokesperson all day long.】

Hironaka Mariko couldn't help but retort: 【It clearly has nothing to do with me, who wants to be the scapegoat for you incompetent people all day long? It's none of my business, I'm just a spokesperson, a heartless bowing 'sumimasen' machine.】

【Now that you've finally met a 'little brother' Uesugi who doesn't require 'sumimasen', you must be treating him with a pleasant face!】 Hironaka Mariko mocked: 【Before, you were always taking the fall for others, but this time you're riding on the glory of your 'little brother', and you can finally show your face to the entire nation with a positive image.】

【Is his skin so dark because he's been taking the fall for the Metropolitan Police Department all day and happened to darken his face along with it?】

【No one will think you're a mute if you don't speak.】 Uesugi Muneyuki retorted: 【Are you done playing? Can you go to the afterlife now?】

【Tsk tsk tsk, there are over a hundred people here, right? NHK plus the five major television stations are all preparing for a live broadcast, right?】 Hironaka Mariko suddenly said, full of resentment: 【I once fantasized that there would be a day like this, where I would sit in front of a press conference like this, with a gold folding screen behind me, announcing that I was getting married...】

Hearing this, Uesugi Muneyuki was silent for a few seconds and stopped discussing these issues with Hironaka Mariko.

At this moment, the press conference officially began.

"Thanks to the support of all the citizens and the efforts of all the officers of the Metropolitan Police Department, we are very honored to announce that the Chiba Prefecture Serial Murder Case has been officially solved!" Public Relations Division Chief Togasaki Tomonobu proudly announced this news in front of countless flashes and cameras.

There was a sound of admiration from the audience.

The ability displayed by the Metropolitan Police Department in the Chiba Prefecture Serial Murder Case had indeed been recognized by the entire nation.

"Now, we invite Mr. Uesugi Muneyuki, the physician from the Forensic Pathology Department of the Medical and Dental University who was mainly responsible for investigating this matter, and who serves as a Field Consultant for the Forensics Division at the Metropolitan Police Department, to explain this case to us."

Under the gaze of the masses, facing countless flashes and cameras, Uesugi Muneyuki calmly bowed in acknowledgement, and then, in front of countless eyes, began his explanation of the Chiba Prefecture Serial Murder Case.

Uesugi Muneyuki already had a good image; his meticulous, serious attitude, his simple and easy-to-understand explanations, and his descriptive method of stating only facts without excessive bias made people feel very comfortable; at this moment, even the internal personnel of the Metropolitan Police Department who understood the case were listening carefully to his account of the proceedings.

"Like the Public Security, I also initially thought the perpetrator was someone with rich experience," Uesugi Muneyuki spoke eloquently to the camera: "But I soon realized something was wrong... while the logic of the Violent Group's actions didn't fit, the Metropolitan Police Department had already screened all possible related persons, with no results..."

Uesugi Muneyuki detailed his change in judgment regarding the perpetrator's profile, recounted the discoveries made after readjusting his thinking, judged that the three corpses' wounds and W-shaped cuts were made by the same person and the same weapon, judged that it might be a non-threatening female student based on the fact that the targets were all elementary school students without sufficient defense, and then proceeded to the step-by-step investigation and case resolution.

The entire process left the hundreds of reporters below mesmerized, writing furiously.

From discovering the suspect, the arrest, the records in the journal, the description of the other party's psychological world, to finding the final key murder weapon, the image of a "Girl C"—a born bad seed, a high school girl with an innate criminal nature who wanted to be human but couldn't—leaped to life; when Uesugi Muneyuki talked about the groundless malice in her hollow eyes, all the reporters, including the audience in front of their televisions, felt a chill.

And right beside Uesugi Muneyuki, Miss Minami Watanabe watched him quietly, the joy overflowing in her heart revealing itself through her sweet eyes, which were as moist as water.

She also loved watching Uesugi Muneyuki explain cases on the spot; what she loved most was watching this man, with a confident face and spirited eyes, point out his precise judgments and the details the police had missed one by one; in the end, a precise criminal profile would come to life under Uesugi Muneyuki's deduction, and the elite police of the Metropolitan Police Department would move out, catching the culprit and seizing the human and material evidence all at once.

Perfect!

And Miss Minami had a thought that was hard to put into words.

Looking at this man's confident and steady appearance, Miss Minami's mind was filled with the urge to pin him down and rub him against the ground.

She wanted to shock him, wanted him to submit, wanted to violate him and watch him unable to resist, wanted him to beg for mercy from her, to be teased by her until he cried out, only for her to let him go lightly, and then watch him "report" his work to her alone.

The Uesugi controlled by her, the Uesugi held in the palm of her hand, the Uesugi privatized by her.

It would definitely be very interesting!

Oh no, she was drooling a little; Miss Minami wiped the corner of her mouth calmly.

This lady must maintain her image!

There was something in the way Miss Minami looked at Uesugi Muneyuki that was too thick to melt away.

She already understood very clearly what she wanted.

Compared to Miss Minami, Erena, who was sitting in her dormitory without the heater on, wrapped in a quilt, did not understand as clearly; at this moment, she stared blankly at Uesugi Muneyuki on the television.

The man on the screen was so familiar, yet so strange.

This man was the only person who had allowed her to open her heart, and the only person who allowed Erena to be immersed in the joy of the world belonging to her.

For the first time, she had someone she liked; for the first time, she had made a partner for life; these two happy things were intertwined, and these two joys would bring her many more joys; she should have obtained this dream-like happy time, but why, why did it turn out like this?

Ikeda Erena looked at Uesugi Muneyuki, who was speaking eloquently on the television screen, and Police Inspector Watanabe Minami, who was sitting next to him and watching her partner with a strange look in her eyes; an indescribable emotion shrouded Erena's heart.

She wasn't like Miss Minami, who knew so clearly what she wanted; she just wanted to maintain their current relationship!

But the situation before her made her realize that things were a bit abnormal!

She didn't quite understand what that look from Watanabe Minami was all about, but she could feel through instinct that Uesugi Muneyuki was leaving her!

No! No way! It's not allowed!

Ikeda Erena knew she had a great figure, and she also knew her looks were quite outstanding.

But as a woman, she also knew very clearly that Watanabe Minami and Shirakawa Mai were both prettier than her.

Not only were they a step ahead in looks, but they were also more "confident"! Compared to her, they were especially "confident," as if they never worried about losing Uesugi Muneyuki.

But Ikeda Erena couldn't do it; she was always anxious about gains and losses, always wanting to know what Uesugi Muneyuki was doing.

Only when she was with him did Erena feel that she was happy and complete.

In this instant, a strong sense of crisis shrouded the tall beauty's heart, pulling her into the storm of the Chaos Sea; Erena didn't know what to do; if she did nothing, she vaguely felt that Uesugi Muneyuki was drifting away from her, but if she jumped out to compete, she was afraid of losing and losing him.

What to do?

What to do, what to do, what to do, what to do?!

Erena didn't hear a single word of what Uesugi Muneyuki said at the press conference afterward.

And by this time, it was already the reporters' question-and-answer session.

"Consultant Uesugi, I am Hirayama from the Asahi Shimbun; may I ask what your opinion is on this type of juvenile crime?" A reporter asked immediately: "Our country has already lowered the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 14, but it still cannot prevent the occurrence of such events; do you have anything to say about this?"

Hearing this, Uesugi Muneyuki closed his eyes.

In Japan, one becomes an adult at 20; in the past, Japan was particularly lenient toward juvenile crime, and even for murder or arson, as long as one was under 20, one would only be locked in a juvenile reformatory for a few years before being released, and one could also get a chance to clear their record and start over upon reaching adulthood.

This approach in Japan was originally intended to give young, ignorant children a chance to reform, but as a result, this rule was exploited by the Violent Group, which specifically recruited a large number of 18 or 19-year-old minors to commit all kinds of evil, and then, upon reaching adulthood, used this rule to wipe the slate clean, wash themselves white, and return to society as good young men.

The authorities soon discovered this, so they lowered the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 18.

The Violent Group then recruited a bunch of 16 or 17-year-old high school students to continue doing this.

That is how the ingrained impression of groups of male students dressed in high school uniforms acting as gangsters in the 80s and 90s came to be; works like "Gokusen" and the "Crows Zero" series formed social memories by exploiting this loophole.

Afterwards, the authorities had no choice but to lower the minimum age again to 16, then 14.

This case caused huge controversy in society, and people began discussing this issue again.

"I believe the source of all law comes from Homomorphic Revenge, so according to current laws, will the three lives taken by Girl C receive sufficient punishment? Personally, I think it is not enough," Uesugi Muneyuki said earnestly. "I have no intention of attacking our country's current laws, but I believe that when the law cannot truly punish a murderer, then someone will attempt to bypass the law to realize their own justice!"

"This would be a terrifying thing, so I believe that sentencing for murderers must be carefully considered! We cannot treat them lightly just because they are minors!"

Uesugi Muneyuki shocked everyone as soon as he spoke, and the reporters below cheered one after another.

However, it was at the very moment "Homomorphic Revenge" left his lips that Uesugi Muneyuki suddenly felt the presence of something else in the press conference venue!

The energy of the Inner World!

Cherry blossom petals?

Who is it?!

(End of this chapter)