Chapter 17: Should I Choose Setsuna or Toma?

Rustle, rustle, rustle~

In the sun-drenched hospital room, Uesugi Hironori held a small knife, peeling an apple. Uesugi Muneyuki held a book on anatomy in one hand, glancing at it from time to time; from his wandering gaze, it was clear that Uesugi Muneyuki was not reading very seriously.

He was waiting for his father to speak, and likewise, Uesugi Hironori was waiting for his son to speak.

In public, Uesugi Hironori would display deep paternal love, show great joy and sorrow, and express infinite affection for his younger son, but in private, Uesugi Hironori appeared much more restrained.

It is always awkward between father and son; being too intimate feels greasy and disgusting, while being too distant feels lacking in family affection.

"Alright, done, ta-da~" Uesugi Hironori finally finished peeling the apple. The father proudly handed the apple, which he had peeled to leave two ears like a rabbit, to his son: "Haha, it's been so many years, my peeling skills haven't regressed at all~"

"Sorry to trouble you with a special trip, Father." Uesugi Muneyuki squeezed out a smile: "I'm fine here, sorry to bother you and Mother."

"Hey, don't say that, Yukimatsumaru, hands are a doctor's second life." Uesugi Hironori's expression gradually turned serious: "Next time, don't take such risks."

"She didn't slash me with a fruit knife, Father, I didn't do it on purpose, no one could have predicted this would happen." Uesugi Muneyuki shook his head with a bitter smile; he thought his father was saying he had intentionally gotten injured.

"That's not what I meant." Uesugi Hironori saw that his son had misunderstood. The slightly paunchy Director of the Tokyo Cultural Exchange Hall shook his head repeatedly: "I know the other party had a kitchen knife sharp enough to pierce a heart. I mean, Yukimatsumaru, don't take such risks again. If you get hurt like this, your mother will be heartbroken. She only has you and Chitokumaru as children."

Uesugi Muneyuki was just thinking of saying something when Uesugi Hironori reached out to interrupt him: "I have been in society many years longer than you, child. I know that our main family has upheld the principle of 'righteousness first' since Lord Kenshin, and I have taught you that since you were small. But I must still say, regarding the bottom of society, we must maintain concern and sympathy collectively, but individually, we must maintain vigilance and distance. This is experience bought by many people with blood and lives."

"There is an old saying: 'The son of a thousand gold does not sit under the eaves.' If you don't treat your life as a child's play, don't do this again in the future." Uesugi Hironori lowered his head: "We were truly worried to hear you were hurt."

"Father..." Hearing Uesugi Hironori say this, light flickered in Uesugi Muneyuki's eyes. He lowered his head, which counted as tacit agreement: "I was just... curious."

"Curious? What is there to be curious about regarding a female loser addicted to hosts?" Uesugi Hironori's face filled with killing intent at the mention of that woman: "Looking at your past preferences, there is no way you would be interested in such dregs."

"What I am curious about is not her affairs, but..."

Uesugi Muneyuki told his father the results he had identified through his Forensic Pathologist skills, but omitted the supernatural elements: "It is impossible for her alone to think of such exquisite techniques to confuse forensic judgment. Someone must have instigated her, and this person is very likely the host she bought fifty thousand yen worth of champagne for. So I am very curious, where did a host learn such professional knowledge? Has he instigated other host fans like this before?"

"Even, could it be that the death of Ms. Kurosawa was also instigated by the host?" Uesugi Muneyuki pondered: "The reasons behind it are truly curious."

"Then you didn't need to put yourself in danger, Yukimatsumaru. With your relationship with the Police Station, wouldn't it have been enough to just ask those Detective officers afterward?" Uesugi Hironori understood the ins and outs of the matter.

"No, based on my understanding of the Police Station, as long as Ms. Yamada doesn't confess about that host, the Police Station will want to close the case as soon as possible, and that would be the end of it." Uesugi Muneyuki shook his head with a bitter smile: "How would that be fair to the late Ms. Kurosawa?"

"To save one person is to save the world, Father. Since this matter has passed through my hands, my justice must be realized!"

"If it just ends with Ms. Yamada, that is not true justice. Only by letting the instigator behind her be severely punished is my justice!"

Uesugi Hironori was silent for a long time after hearing his son's words. The father finally nodded heavily: "Yukimatsumaru, it seems you have found your own work value. Then Father won't say any more. In any case, watch your own safety."

"Oh? Father, aren't you going to advise me to change departments?" Uesugi Muneyuki raised an eyebrow.

"Every child slowly transforms into an adult through rebellion against their father." Uesugi Hironori returned to his usual optimistic and open-minded expression: "Alright, since you have your own ideas, we won't mention this again. Just watch your own safety in the future. Let's change the subject. Your work is stable now, when will you find a girlfriend? I'm already 50 this year, I want to hold a grandchild!"

"Uh, Father, why mention this suddenly?" Uesugi Muneyuki felt a bit awkward hearing this; he really didn't want to get married.

In the realm of marriage, where rights are halved and obligations are doubled, he wouldn't dare say he would never step into it, but at least for the next few years, he had absolutely no such plans.

"Sigh, you are like this, and Chitokumaru is too. You are still a bit better; I know you have women outside. That brother of yours is really, from childhood to adulthood, completely uninterested in women." Uesugi Hironori also felt very depressed when mentioning this: "Speaking of which, what type do you like? Do you want Father to introduce a few to you? If you ask me, those ones from the countryside you know, playing around is fine, but wanting to enter the main family's gate? Don't even think about it."

"Really?" Uesugi Muneyuki said casually: "Then I want Senior Shirakawa Mai, can you introduce her to me, Father?"

"Nonsense!" Uesugi Hironori was left between laughter and tears by his son: "If you wanted others in the entertainment industry, Father could find a way, after all, I am the President of the Keio Alumni Association and the President of the Cultural Exchange Association. But Shirakawa Mai... do you know, she is the Head of the Alliance of the Kanto Shinto Shrine Alliance! The main family is not Sumitomo Mitsui, and you are not some Middle Eastern crown prince!"

"Then forget it, we'll talk about it in a few years." Uesugi Muneyuki didn't say much more.

"Yukimatsu, I understand your personality. For someone like you, such a radiant woman might not be suitable." Uesugi Hironori shook his head: "I have been responsible for organizing many events. I know that women who are as talented and dazzling as this, their existence is like a black hole, sucking in and covering up the light of everyone around them, pushing them into the abyss. Can you endure that? Can you accept that people will never remember your name, only knowing you as 'XXX's husband'?"

"Great political families will never choose such women, and neither will our Peerage, unless she is willing to interrupt all her career after marriage and focus on being a housewife. But then again, you, Uesugi Muneyuki, my son, with your current status and position, what qualifications do you have to make her retire?" Uesugi Hironori said the cruel facts calmly: "Even if she is in the entertainment industry, it doesn't mean she is lower than us. Although we don't know how she became the Head of the Alliance, the entire Kanto Shrine Alliance listens to her."

"Your birth often cannot represent your own strength, Yukimatsumaru. True strength is one's own strength." The father finished the cold facts and was afraid of discouraging his son, so his tone softened slightly: "The return of political power to the Emperor, the abolition of domains and establishment of prefectures, post-war crackdowns—many Peerage families have declined one after another, and some families have even sold their surnames... The shade of the ancestors will eventually run out one day. The main family can still maintain good influence today, mainly not because of the legacy of our ancestors Lord Kenshin and Lord Kagekatsu..."

"Because Grandfather is a professor at the University of Tokyo." Uesugi Muneyuki calmly interrupted his father's words: "His students and subordinates are all over Kanto."

"As long as you understand."

The conversation between father and son ended here. Uesugi Hironori confirmed that his son was truly fine, and left with the reluctant Uesugi Tomoko, leaving Uesugi Muneyuki alone.

Uesugi Muneyuki clenched his fists.

The previous CT scan had completely failed to detect the stone in his right hand, which meant that this stone was either in a Sub-space Energy State or something more advanced that current technology could not detect.

But the red light that occurred during the Aizen Myoo transformation was noticed by those guys like Tanaka Laodeng. Fortunately, because the situation was urgent, they subconsciously forgot this strange phenomenon, only talking afterward about seeing the wall and ceiling turn red, thinking it was a massive hemorrhage from a severed artery.

Awakening the Qinghui Stone Power and the appearance of Ms. Kurosawa's Dead Soul meant that this matter was not over yet.

Her death was a tragedy. Ms. Kurosawa, who held strong obsessions before her death, was unwilling to be transcended. She turned into a ghost and blessed the Aizen Myoo Dharma Image, and the ability she brought was 【Hardening】.

This was a name Uesugi Muneyuki had chosen himself; although it was rustic, it was simple and easy to remember. He would think of a better-sounding one later.

Ms. Kurosawa's Soul blessing could make Uesugi Muneyuki's hands 【Hardening】, comparable to metal. It was precisely by relying on this Incarnation Technique that Uesugi Muneyuki had barely managed to block that knife, only breaking a little skin.

With this Incarnation Technique, Uesugi Muneyuki's hands would be able to withstand general levels of damage. Things like knives, guns, clubs, and sticks would not be enough to look at in front of his iron fists. But if he encountered truly hard stuff, mere 【Hardening】 would not be able to block bullets or diamond drills.

He still needed more Souls and more Incarnation Techniques.

Uesugi Muneyuki took an iron railing bar he had secretly found from the abandoned medical equipment at the end of the hallway from his bedside. With the Incarnation Technique applied, the bandages on his hand burst open, and the railing was bent by him on the spot into a "U" shape.

Very good, at least he could be a street thug in the future.

It was a pity that the Souls were very limited; Uesugi Muneyuki could not maintain 【Hardening】 all the time.

It was time to be discharged.

As for the question of choosing a spouse that his father mentioned, Uesugi Muneyuki thought to himself, isn't this just a choice between Ogiso Setsuna or Toma Kazusa?

Trying to wake up from the dream and look at it with realistic eyes, if the male protagonist Haruki were to combine with Setsuna, it would undoubtedly be the best relatively speaking. The two possess all the happiness of conventional secular life: love, career, marriage, a big family, and social relationships—all are very good. Setsuna is omnipotent in housework, gentle and virtuous, and although she is a bit extremely clingy and has rich emotional needs, she would be very easy to satisfy after marriage.

Conversely, the combination with Toma might be very beautiful, a product of choosing love, but this is actually very cruel to the male protagonist.

Setting aside Setsuna for a moment, Haruki himself also sacrificed a lot: saying goodbye to his familiar homeland, separating from his close friends of many years, resigning from his favorite job, and it is no longer possible to reconcile with his mother. He must grit his teeth and fight in a strange country.

Toma cannot help him much. She has said that she is a "loser" who only knows how to play the piano. Apart from love, she cannot support Haruki more. In this story, only Toma obtained true happiness; with the piano and love, her life was already fulfilled.

Players generally tend to choose Toma because they don't need to pay the "price" involved. They only need to use a mouse to click toward "true love," while Haruki has to pay much more. He might have to stake all the energy in his life for this, completely abandoning his own life to become an appendage of Toma.

His father's words were to let him start from reality.

But Haruki could choose, could he choose?

Uesugi Muneyuki complained in his heart, I have neither Toma nor Setsuna!

This is starting from reality, you should at least let me choose!

————I am the dividing line of starting from reality————

Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department local branch, Shiba Police Station.

Several veteran detectives of the Criminal Investigation Division were chatting.

"Police Inspector Kajio, look at this! There's a su~per amazing rookie Forensic Pathologist over at Otsuka Station!" the thirty-something Chief of the Investigation Section said with a smile to the Acting Chief of the Criminal Division: "Have you guys seen the document from the Metropolitan Police Department? Su~per amazing, the on-site Autopsy results were the same as the Dissection done by the University of Tokyo Forensic Pathologist! This person named Uesugi Muneyuki is incredible~"

"Seriously, when will our station ever have such forensic cooperation?" a Police Sergeant in his twenties, holding a thermos filled with real wolfberries and honey, followed up: "It's such a pain to have to go to private clinics to find someone every time; our police station is a higher-level branch, after all!"

Although both Shiba Police Station and Otsuka Police Station are local branches, the actual rank of Shiba Police Station is higher; the station chief holds the rank of Police Superintendent, and the position is generally filled by successive chiefs of the Metropolitan Police Department's Investigation Division 1, 2, and 3 after they step down.

By comparison, the chief of Otsuka Police Station is only a Police Superintendent, a full major realm lower than a Police Superintendent.

The power of a Police Superintendent is truly terrifying!

Precisely because of this, the Chief of the Criminal Investigation Division at Shiba Station is at the Police Superintendent level, so an Acting Chief must be appointed at the Police Inspector level; the reason is simple: the Police Superintendent rank is for sitting in an office and not going to the scene to handle cases.

The rigid, stubborn, and conservative nature of the Japanese people can be seen from this.

"Isn't cooperation easy? Isn't it just the Medical and Dental University? When we have a need, our station can just send an official letter over to call the person here to help." Acting Chief of the Criminal Division Kajio looked completely indifferent: "What are those idiots at Otsuka doing? They had already subdued the criminal and still let her get a hold of a knife to hurt someone, and even let her run away? A bunch of losers."

As the few were chatting, they heard an emotionless "Good morning!" from outside.

Upon hearing this voice, the male detectives in the Criminal Investigation Division all shut their mouths and looked away as if they were plague-stricken chickens.

A female detective walked in through the main entrance; she appeared to be in her early twenties, wearing plain clothes identical to the other detectives—a standard outfit of women's suit trousers and leather shoes—yet this suit, which could not be more ordinary, still looked different on her than on anyone else.

The reason was that she was born different.

Her tea-colored, ear-length short hair was refreshing and carried a hint of heroism; between her naturally hanging bangs, the policewoman's facial features carried an exotic flair different from others, and unlike the softness of traditional women, they possessed an extra three parts of toughness and seriousness.

Her features exuded an alternative charm and allure; at first glance, the lines were slightly hard, but upon closer inspection, they faintly revealed a bit of aggression within a mixed-race, deep, and three-dimensional face, possessing the deep European contours that Asians envy.

What was even more eye-catching was that the buttons and collar of her women's suit were undergoing a severe test, as if the buttons might pop open at any moment; even the most ordinary suit trousers could not hide her curvaceous figure, and coupled with her giant height of 1.7 meters, the sense of oppression was maxed out.

But even with her androgynous dress, cold temperament, and sharp, aggressive appearance, a unique, voluptuous, and fleshy aura still uncontrollably spilled out; at twenty-something, she was at a wonderful age, having transitioned from green to mature, yet without the air of a married woman or a fully ripened peach—a bit of delicious sweetness, a bit of high-and-mighty pride, and uncontrollable youthful vitality mixed together, swaying violently as she walked, which was very alluring.

Jiggle, jiggle; it seemed as if it wasn't her that was shaking, but the entire world.

A beauty of the three springs, covetable; the men subconsciously swallowed a mouthful of saliva when they saw her from afar.

There was no life in the policewoman's cold brown eyes; she simply greeted her colleagues in the Criminal Investigation Division, but not only did none of her colleagues respond, they all turned their heads away as if they had encountered a god of plague, not only refusing to make eye contact but even forcibly avoiding any possibility of seeing the hem of her clothes.

"............" Having received no response, she was already used to it; she pulled out her seat, intending to sit down, when she heard a voice from the Acting Chief: "Ikeda, come here for a moment; there is a transfer order from the Metropolitan Police Department."

"Yes."

The Acting Chief saw Ikeda approaching out of the corner of his eye, immediately turned his head away to force himself to focus on the water dispenser in the corner of the office, took a document issued by the Metropolitan Police Department from a drawer, and handed it in Ikeda's direction based on a rough estimate.

"Hereby, I officially announce that Ikeda Erena, Patrol Officer of the Criminal Investigation Division of the Tokyo Metropolitan Shiba Police Station, is transferred to the Criminal Investigation Division of Otsuka Police Station starting today, replacing Patrol Officer Takasaka."

"That is all!"

Doudou Sha has made her entrance; she is an important heroine of this book! (Although not the first heroine)

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(End of this chapter)