Chapter 110: Ikeda Erena, Fully Revived!

Uesugi Muneyuki lay on the sofa. The moment he tapped on the message, his phone, unsurprisingly, froze for a moment, then began to scroll upward rapidly with a "beep-beep-beep" sound, so fast it was impossible to see clearly.

What "space elevator"? Uesugi Muneyuki watched the text scrolling crazily upward and felt a chill.

He had received notice on short notice to join the Joint Investigation Headquarters, after which he began working around the clock, day and night. Although he had intermittent contact with Eirina, because the front lines were busy and he could not leak secrets, most of his replies were just a few words.

This resulted in Eirina knowing nothing more than that he was participating in the recent Chiba Prefecture Serial Murder Case joint investigation.

Eirina had also repeatedly asked, "Aren't we partners? Why won't you let me participate?"

On this point, Uesugi Muneyuki also had grievances he couldn't voice. He had indeed suggested it, but Miss Minami did not agree, and at the time, he had little influence at the Metropolitan Police Department. Even though he held the position of Field Consultant and had the power to make suggestions, and Department Manager Mouri and others trusted him, interfering with personnel decisions was overstepping—at least for the current Uesugi Muneyuki, it was too far.

Next time for sure.

Uesugi Muneyuki could only say this to Eirina.

But in reality, "next time" wasn't certain either, if Miss Minami didn't agree.

Thinking of Miss Minami, a faint smile appeared on the corner of Uesugi Muneyuki's mouth, and he shook his head repeatedly, thinking to himself that the leading role between partners was still in Miss Minami's hands for now.

But that was fine too.

Watching the "Red Team" and "Black Team" on TBS, Uesugi Muneyuki knew clearly that besides the vicious events on the surface of the Chiba Prefecture Serial Murder Case, the struggle between the Criminal Division and the Public Security Division beneath the surface was equally intense.

Miss Minami had just sent a message, saying meaningfully that the Security Department Chief's Secretary had resigned voluntarily.

This father and daughter had used him; the results he had worked so hard to achieve in solving the case were used by them for this purpose.

However, this father and daughter had also created a "safe house" for him. They had resolved those troublesome factional struggles, interpersonal relationships, and resource allocations; he only needed to perform the autopsy, make deductions, produce results, and tell the police the direction of the investigation.

Even the Public Security side would not hold a grudge against him and would instead owe him a favor.

They would remember his contributions and guarantee his treatment; if Uesugi Muneyuki occasionally made inappropriate remarks or acted outside the rules, they would also find ways to arrange things.

Isn't that pretty good?

If it weren't for Miss Minami firmly supporting him, Uesugi Muneyuki might not have been able to convince Department Manager Mouri, and then who knows how many years or months it would have taken to find out who actually committed the crimes.

Uesugi solves the case, Watanabe gets fed.

Of course, Miss Minami was fed, but here there was still a mother tyrannosaurus waiting for him to deal with!

After reading Eirina's "space elevator" from top to bottom, Uesugi Muneyuki's drunkenness also faded; he had been scared sober.

After thinking about it, Uesugi Muneyuki decided to be direct.

He had always treated people with sincerity and spoken his mind.

Tokyo, Setagaya Ward, a cheap studio apartment, a pitch-black room; through the faint starlight filtering in from the window, one could vaguely see the mess inside.

Clothes and daily necessities lay scattered on the floor, food that had just been finished was placed on a small round table, along with crumpled balls of paper. There was a bulge in the bedding on the floor; it seemed someone was hiding under the covers.

The television was on, playing with a faint sound.

"Regarding Uesugi Muneyuki-san's views at the press conference, we can only describe them in one word: legally illiterate. Has this person studied medicine in vain? Since when can a Forensic Pathologist make suggestions on sentencing?" The NHK debater for the affirmative side was very dissatisfied with the "cautious sentencing" proposed by Uesugi Muneyuki: "When did he pass the bar exam?"

"The public has suffered from these juvenile offenders for a long time. If they can truly turn over a new leaf, then why have we lowered the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 20 to 14, time and time again? According to Uesugi-san, the perpetrator showed no remorse and talked about the criminal process in such detail that the police officers on the scene were disgusted and retched. If this doesn't receive sufficient punishment, wouldn't that be equivalent to encouraging other copycat crimes?"

The argument on TV continued, but the person under the covers had no reaction.

She hadn't seen Uesugi Muneyuki for two weeks.

Without him by her side, Eirina felt as if she had lost her soul; she had no energy at all.

Although she was still going to work as usual and her job at Otsuka Station continued, Eirina still couldn't help but become depressed and decadent.

Having finally waited for the news that the major case had been solved, Eirina couldn't wait to ask when Uesugi Muneyuki would be back, but Uesugi Muneyuki hadn't replied.

What exactly was wrong?

Eirina's heart was anxious to the point of madness.

Am I going to be abandoned?

In the room, there was the argument from the TV; under the covers, a rapid ringtone also sounded.

Hearing this ringtone, Eirina froze. She stretched out her goose-yellow arm and clumsily fumbled under the covers to find the source of the sound.

Bang~

Eirina accidentally knocked the remote control away, but she didn't care about that at all. After fumbling for a long while, she finally got her phone.

In the pitch-black covers, Ikeda Erena's light brown eyes were left with only dimness, as dim as the situation in the room. Under the quilt, her miraculously magnificent figure, devilish waistline, and the muscles on her abdomen remained smooth and firm, but the pride and heroic spirit between her brows had been buried by an uncontrollable panic and haggardness, and there were even dark circles under her eyes.

Who is it?

Ikeda Erena grabbed the phone, her eyes focused, and suddenly burst forth with brilliant radiance!

Incoming Call—Uesugi Muneyuki (Special Attention)

She threw off the quilt, ignoring the cold of late November. Her movement was so large that it instantly knocked the already-flown remote control away again, hitting the coat rack in the corner of the room with a "crack."

Instinctively, she was about to answer immediately.

But suddenly, Ikeda Erena hurriedly stopped. Her proud and heroic eyes were now shining with light, and a few flashes of anger and shame crossed her face.

If I answer the moment you call, wouldn't I lose too much face?

So she let the phone ring three times, then, fearing Uesugi Muneyuki would hang up, she answered impatiently.

"Hello?" Uesugi Muneyuki's familiar voice came through the phone.

Hearing this sound from him, Eirina couldn't help but want to cry. She steadied her mind and said faintly, "It's over?"

"It's over." Uesugi Muneyuki's voice was a bit tired: "Sorry, Master Eirina, I've been a bit tired lately. After the press conference, I was dragged to the celebration banquet to drink. I didn't see your messages; I only just saw them now."

"Ah!" As soon as Ikeda Erena thought of the things she had sent earlier, her face flushed with shame. She hurriedly said, "You saw them all?"

"Yeah, I saw them all." Uesugi Muneyuki's tone was playful: "You wanted to see me that much? Partner? My heart for solving the case is the same as yours. I hope you can understand my feelings?"

"Ahhhhh! Don't say it, don't say it, don't say it!" Ikeda Erena screamed in a panic, but then realized she was in an apartment and would disturb others. She hurriedly knelt down, pulled the quilt over to wrap herself tightly, curled into a ball, and whispered a curse with a burning face: "If you dare to tell anyone, you're dead!"

Uesugi Muneyuki could imagine Eirina's reaction through the phone, and the corner of his mouth lifted in triumph: "Alright, then I won't say it."

He always took such good care of her. Eirina, curled up in the bedding, calmed down a little.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

But Uesugi Muneyuki's faint breathing on the other end still reached Eirina's ears through the phone.

Even though she could only hear the sound of breathing, Eirina still felt her withered heart field regain its vitality; her hollow soul gradually filled, becoming full once again.

She was complete.

The silence lasted for quite a while, then Uesugi Muneyuki said a sentence: "It's been two weeks, Master Eirina, I missed you."

Boom!

The tall beauty only felt her head spin and the world turn upside down; this sentence from Uesugi Muneyuki was like a fatal blow, and in an instant, the suffering and dissatisfaction of the past two weeks were wiped clean. Ikeda Eirina said instinctively: "Where are you? Uesugi? Are you at home right now? I want to see you! Can I take a taxi to Sakata Bridge now?"

"It's so late, let's do it tomorrow." Uesugi Muneyuki said hurriedly: "I'll be taking time off these next few days, let's meet tomorrow."

"Okay, I'll ask for leave from the station tomorrow." Eirina said without a second thought.

"No need, just tell that Sudo... Section Chief that you have something to do and are coming to see me." Uesugi Muneyuki laughed: "He won't object."

"Okay, I've noted it. See you tomorrow, get some good rest, okay?"

"Okay, then see you tomorrow, Master Eirina."

Uesugi Muneyuki hung up the phone. Ikeda Eirina truly could not contain her excitement; she hugged her quilt and rolled around on the tatami, rolling back and forth, pressing the phone to her heart, humming with satisfaction.

It's back, everything is back!

After rolling a few times, she hurriedly took deep breaths to recover her composure, wiped away her tears with her hand, then ran to the cabinet and pulled open a drawer, her face slightly flushed, proud and shy.

For him, she had bought so many pairs of silk stockings.

……………………

Uesugi Muneyuki got his long-awaited short vacation, but Police Inspector Watanabe Minami of the Police Affairs Department still had to go to work as usual.

There was no helping it; who told our young lady Minami not to go to the front lines or participate in investigations? In such a situation, one cannot get time off.

The first thing young lady Minami did on her second day of work was to go to the District Public Prosecutors Office and get Police Inspector Kashiwagi Jin of the Third Subsection out.

Because there was surveillance in the interrogation room, it was clear that the other party had struck first, so the District Public Prosecutors Office decided not to prosecute Police Inspector Kashiwagi, merely settling it with a simple administrative fine of 10,000 yen.

The cunning part of the District Public Prosecutors Office lies here; the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office boasts a 99% conviction rate. Aside from the fact that the District Public Prosecutors Office possesses considerable special privileges, it also has to do with the cautious style of this group of prosecutors. If the other party has mastered obviously favorable evidence, the District Public Prosecutors Office will not file a public prosecution even if it is a fifty-fifty matchup.

Subsequently, there were new personnel appointments.

Police Inspector Higurashi Sota, Chief of the Thirteenth Subsection of Investigation Division 1, was officially promoted to Management Officer of Investigation Division 1, with the rank of Superintendent.

According to custom, a Non-Career Track Police Inspector must serve for seven full years before being promoted to Superintendent, while the Career Track has no such requirement; the Career Track is automatically promoted to Superintendent after serving seven full years as a Police Inspector.

The former requires major achievements that make promotion unavoidable and waiting for seven years, while the latter can just sit in an office serving tea and pouring water for seven years and be promoted automatically; the gap between the Non-Career Track and the Career Track can be seen from this.

Higurashi Sota had not yet served seven full years as a Police Inspector, but because of his merits in the Fuji TV Case and the Chiba Prefecture Serial Murder Case, both merits combined, he was exceptionally promoted to Superintendent, taking only six years, which belongs to a "special promotion."

But this is not the point.

After the promotion ceremony ended, Watanabe Minami, wearing a standard female police officer's office uniform, skirt, silk stockings, and high heels, knocked on the office door of Superintendent General Watanabe Eiji.

"Director General, I want to transfer to the Criminal Investigation Department." Young lady Minami said proactively.

"Hmm, are you really ready? My daughter." Watanabe Eiji, glowing with health, leaned back in his comfortable chair with his fingers interlaced: "Criminal investigation is not like personnel; you must be prepared to endure hardship!"

"Um, please look at this." Watanabe Minami had clearly already made up her mind; she took out a proposal and placed it in front of her father: "This is a little idea of mine."

Watanabe Eiji took the document, and the title on it made his expression shift slightly.

"Proposal Regarding the Formation of the Criminal Investigation Department's Special Mission Unit (Emergency Situation Special Order Section)"

(End of chapter)