Chapter 124: Water Flows and the Channel is Formed

PS: Happy New Year to my big brother and sister-in-law!

Uesugi Muneyuki did not concern himself with what was happening outside the hospital room; he had likely already guessed what Minami and Ikeda Erena were discussing. Since it was to his advantage, he saw no need to interfere.

Uesugi Muneyuki was pondering the issue of the Inner World.

Since crossing over, he had almost no understanding of the Inner World. The little knowledge he possessed came either from his own exploration or from the half-baked information passed down to Kurosawa from her master. After experiencing the Golden Age, Kurosawa's own brain had long since been filled with various decadent lifestyles and the environment of a modern metropolis; he could not extract any more from her.

Hironaka Mariko did not even understand how she had become a Cursed Grudge, spending her days performing abstract acts.

What was worse, Uesugi Muneyuki had now lost both of these Dead Souls; Kurosawa had been killed in one strike by Saijo Yasue, and Hironaka Mariko had, in all likelihood, perished together with Saijo Yasue.

Therefore, the first question Uesugi Muneyuki had to face was—would the Cursed Grudge attack by Saijo Yasue become a norm in his life?

If that were the case, he would have plenty of trouble in the future...

But Uesugi Muneyuki was still inclined to think not. From his awakening until now, he had performed autopsies on hundreds of corpses and participated in hundreds of cases. The vast majority had been uneventful, and even on the rare occasions when a Dead Soul's grievance triggered a Contract, he had never encountered a situation like this.

Would the existence of the Inner World be a norm in autopsies?

Uesugi Muneyuki's view was negative. To date, he had only encountered two and a half Inner World existences during autopsies: one was Kurosawa, the other was Saijo Yasue. As for Hironaka Mariko, who had actively formed into a Cursed Grudge, she counted as half at most.

With such a massive volume of autopsies and such frequent use of supernatural abilities, he had only encountered individual cases. From this, it could be seen that the existence of the Inner World was actually quite rare, and among them, Kurosawa and the anchorwoman Hironaka were ones he had triggered himself.

Then, would remaining vigilant against attacks from the inner side become a norm in his life in the future?

Uesugi Muneyuki's view was positive. In the few months he had been performing autopsies, he had encountered one such terrifying, desperate assault that had nearly cost him his life. Even though he had won by luck, he had still paid a huge price: Nanami was dead, Kurosawa was dead, Hironaka was dead, and he had even been framed as the murderer by that bastard Kashiwagi Jin.

He summarized two lessons from this: first, in the future, he must not personally step into the fray to confront criminals and draw hatred, otherwise, if the other party formed a Cursed Grudge, it would easily invite a desperate attack; second, he had to pick up his vigilance. He must never act alone in the future, and as for the Inner World side, that so-called Kurosawa Shrine was a place he had to explore.

Thinking of this, Uesugi Muneyuki's complexion looked terrible.

Saito was dead, dead because of him. She had taken the initiative to invite him out, yet it had led to a devastating blow for both of them. Uesugi had at least survived, but she had left forever.

And then there was Tsukada, a good-natured man who got along well with everyone in a friendly manner. Every day he would loudly say good morning. If Uesugi Muneyuki needed a ballpoint pen, he would trot over to deliver it personally. He was diligent and responsible. If he hadn't felt something was strange and taken the initiative to patrol the floors, instead of staying in the surveillance room to slack off and sleep, he might not have been killed by Saijo Yasue.

They were all dead... Uesugi Muneyuki sighed heavily in sorrow.

The humiliation of Kashiwagi Jin putting handcuffs on him was something he would never forget in his entire life.

Was it that he didn't want revenge?

How could that be?

It wasn't that he didn't want to, but that he couldn't.

Could he manifest the Aizen Myoo Golden Body on the spot and kill Kashiwagi Jin right there? Consequences aside, he couldn't do it; the other party had a gun.

Then, could Uesugi Muneyuki use this incident to file a complaint against Kashiwagi Jin and take him to court?

The answer was, also impossible.

As a descendant of the Yonezawa Uesugi Clan of the Old Domain Lord Peerage, Uesugi Muneyuki knew that if he insisted on complaining regardless of the consequences, if he stubbornly pursued the responsibility for this matter to the end, then the most likely outcome for Kashiwagi Jin would be a disciplinary transfer to a local branch to serve as a Criminal Investigation Division Section Chief, or worse, a transfer to the countryside to serve as an assistant section chief or acting section chief of the local headquarters' Criminal Investigation Division.

What kind of proper punishment was that?

But Uesugi Muneyuki knew that the punishment would stop there at most, and if he went that far, Uesugi Muneyuki would effectively be offending the entire Metropolitan Police Department.

Kashiwagi Jin was Career Track, Okada Masayoshi was Career Track, Minami was Career Track, and people like Mouri Takayoshi, Togasaki Tomonobu, Kudo Tsuyoshi, and Watanabe Eiji were all Career Track.

All 79 fixed-quota Assistant Commissioners in the country were Career Track. In the major departments under the Metropolitan Police Department, a Non-Career Track Department Manager of the rank of Police Superintendent General would only appear once every ten years. Such Non-Career Track Police Superintendent Generals usually had a tenure of between 11 and 18 months, and upon the end of their term, they would reach mandatory retirement.

The famous Cabinet Chief Secretary and Civil Servant Chief, Sir Arnold Abinson, once said: "Want to fire a high-ranking Public Servant for dereliction of duty? In principle, yes; in fact, no!"

Those familiar with bureaucrats all understood: in principle yes means in fact no, and in principle no means in fact yes.

This statement applied equally to the Metropolitan Police Department. To help and protect him, Minami and the others would undoubtedly stand on his side, but if Uesugi Muneyuki were to flip the table and move against Kashiwagi Jin, they, as Career Track, would undoubtedly step forward to protect the interests of the entire Career Track collective. At that point, the two sides would stand in opposition, and Uesugi Muneyuki would personally face the king who currently had the final say in the Metropolitan Police Department, the rare, fully-empowered Superintendent General of the current generation, Watanabe Eiji.

And this guy was even fed by him, damn it!

That was why Department Manager Mouri and Minami sternly demanded an apology from Kashiwagi Jin; accept the small stick, run from the big stick—why haven't you run yet? Do you really want Uesugi to go down with you in a mutual destruction?

He had held back a hand to give the Metropolitan Police Department face; didn't you see Minami go immediately to talk to Ikeda?

But this did not mean he had let Kashiwagi Jin off the hook. Bow your head and keep your place, wait for the right time, tooth for a tooth, ten times the payback!

Finally, there was one more question.

That Arrow that pierced the air—who was it? Why save him instead of killing him? Was it an enemy or a friend?

Uesugi Muneyuki pondered for a while, and his final conclusion was: hard to say!

But he had some conjectures; he recalled the only time among so many crime scenes he had processed...

Just at this moment, Ikeda walked in from outside.

"............" The tall beauty's eyes looked as if they had been stimulated by something; her pair of beautiful eyes glared at Uesugi Muneyuki. Her lily-white fingers gripped the door frame fiercely, using force to close the door of the VIP ward and lock it from the inside.

The moment the door closed, Ikeda Erena's standing, delicate body suddenly seemed to lose all strength, collapsing into a chair, her eyes staring blankly at Uesugi Muneyuki on the hospital bed.

Uesugi Muneyuki straightened his body and asked cautiously: "Master Eirina, are you alright?"

After waiting for a long time, Eirina did not respond to Uesugi Muneyuki's words, just staring straight at Uesugi Muneyuki, not knowing what she was thinking. Seeing her like this, Uesugi Muneyuki already roughly knew what Minami had said to Eirina. Just as he was about to speak again, Eirina suddenly opened her mouth.

"Do you want to know what Miss Watanabe asked me to do?"

"Responsible for protecting my safety during this period?" Uesugi Muneyuki said a bit unnaturally: "And taking care of me?"

"A long time ago, my life goal was to become a professional Judo athlete. Since I was a child, I was particularly good at Judo and Karate. I won countless awards, big and small. I was considered to have the strength to enter the national team, and that was what I planned."

"However, as I entered middle school, my body began to develop. At that time, my coach, a Judo world champion and Olympic gold medalist, suddenly started telling me that my posture was wrong. No matter what I did, no matter how I positioned myself, he told me my posture was wrong, forcing me to doubt myself, forcing me to doubt life."

"I put in even more effort for this, but the coach still insisted I was doing it wrong. I finally couldn't help but cry and asked the coach what I should do."

"The result was the coach told me, if I wanted to know, I should find him in private."

Uesugi Muneyuki did not speak; he just listened quietly to Ikeda Erena's pouring out. Until he heard the coach tell her to find him in private, Uesugi Muneyuki finally couldn't help but raise his head to look at her ever-changing expression, exclaiming in astonishment: "He wanted...?"

"That's right, he wanted to sleep with me." Eirina was expressionless.

"He told me, if I wanted to enter the national team, if I wanted to become a national athlete, I had to sleep with him. Otherwise, I would never have the chance to enter the national team, and even the path of Judo would be impossible to continue in the future. In this country, if a senior, mentor, coach, or Olympic gold medalist says you can't enter the national team, then you can't enter the national team!"

Speaking to this point, a look of deep disgust yet helplessness appeared on Eirina's beautiful, pretty face.

"He was an Olympic champion, he was a national team athlete. As long as he said you weren't good enough, no professional Judo team would dare to take you. He used this as a threat to make you have a relationship with him, otherwise, nothing was on the table. That's how it should be, right?"

Uesugi Muneyuki followed Ikeda Erena's words and voiced the conjecture in his heart. Seeing the woman nod gently, a nameless fire suddenly surged in his heart, and his two palms slowly clenched into iron fists.

My Great Japan has its own national conditions here.

To dare to lay a hand on a middle school girl—this is no longer just an ordinary coach; Uesugi Muneyuki truly wants to 【Hardening】 and crack his skull open with a single punch.

Moreover, according to Eirina's description, although she did not state it very clearly, the implication was obvious that quite a few girls had chosen to submit.

Eirina did not submit; she indignantly refused, and this Olympic gold-medal coach could not do anything to her, but after testing her a few times and seeing it wouldn't work, he used a single sentence to declare the end of Eirina's martial arts career.

"Her posture is no good; she still needs to practice."

No wonder; he had always wondered why Eirina, who had once won so many awards, suddenly interrupted all her Judo and Karate pursuits after high school. No wonder that when the first superior she encountered tried to get handsy and set a trap, she immediately went berserk, performing a one-stop service of beating him up and reporting him.

She had experienced these things even earlier! Coming to Tokyo and encountering sexual harassment as a female Detective was not the first time, but the second, or even several times over.

"Wuu wuu wuu~ wuu wuu wuu~"

Just as Uesugi Muneyuki figured out the cause and effect, he suddenly heard two sounds of a woman sobbing. The sound grew louder and louder, and he saw crystal-clear tears rolling down from Eirina's eyes like pearls from a broken string, flowing onto her deep and beautiful jade-like face, appearing exceptionally sorrowful and beautiful. Uesugi Muneyuki was both astonished and heartbroken; he hurriedly stretched out his hands to signal her not to cry and to come for a hug.

Subsequently, Uesugi Muneyuki felt his waist being encircled by two fair, lotus-root-like arms, pulling him tightly, and a beautiful, exotic face pressed against his chest and began to cry loudly.

"I always believed that coming to Tokyo to become a Detective was an honorable thing. I always thought that although my strength was small, my efforts could provide some benefit to this terrible society. I always believed that my persistence would always be rewarded!"

"Even if I were only a Patrol Officer for my whole life, even if the field work was bitter and tiring, I could persist! Because I was fighting crime and upholding justice!"

"But why? In the end, they still set their sights on my body. Why, even after I had displayed my martial arts, was the value they saw still that of my flesh? I learned martial arts and they wanted me to sell my body; I gave up martial arts to come to Tokyo to be a Detective and they still wanted me to sell my body? Didn't I come here for nothing?!"

"Wuu wuu wuu wuu~"

Uesugi Muneyuki held her in his arms, feeling somewhat helpless, somewhat heartbroken, and somewhat moved. He let the tall beauty in his arms find a comfortable position against him and said softly: "Master Eirina... I know of your efforts, and your efforts have never been in vain. At least I have seen them all. Why else would I have chosen you if not for your talent?"

Hearing this, Eirina's heart-wrenching sobs gradually weakened and then completely disappeared. She raised her head, glaring at Uesugi Muneyuki with eyes wet with tears, feeling both angry and amused. Before she could say anything, she was too shy and buried her head back into Uesugi Muneyuki's chest: "Choosing me... was it really only because of talent? Could there not be anything else?"

"Of course, I chose you for your talent... uh, no, no, I didn't only choose you... uh, yes, yes, uh... no, that's not right, Master Eirina, of course you also have... ah, right, right... right, right, right... right?"

Uesugi Muneyuki was now stuck on both sides. The ultimate question posed by the beautiful fool left the usually calm Uesugi Muneyuki completely baffled: "I mean, one must look at things dialectically. Master Eirina, you are naturally very talented, but you are also very beautiful. I was just..."

"Pfft!" Ikeda Erena was amused by Uesugi Muneyuki. She finally couldn't help but burst into a laugh: "You bad thing! Stop pretending! Where did your straightforwardness go?"

Having said that, without waiting for Uesugi Muneyuki to respond, Eirina took the initiative to kiss him, pressing her bright red, full lips against Uesugi Muneyuki's lips.

Following Eirina's actions, the VIP hospital room became completely quiet.

The winter sun was as poetic as ever; perhaps the chill outside the room was intense, but for the man and woman kissing on the hospital bed inside, warmth resided in their hearts.

————The following is omitted————

(End of this chapter)