Chapter 25: Ikeda Erena's Ideal Type

At night, dark clouds gathered outside, and the night wind howled as if it were about to rain, yet a long time passed without a single drop falling. Uesugi Muneyuki returned to his apartment in Bunkyo Ward, greeted the front desk, swiped his card, and strode toward his residence.

In Japan, most people live in ordinary detached houses—those two- or three-story single-family homes with small yards—but Tokyo does not have that much land, so just like in the big cities of the Celestial Empire, Tokyo also has many high-rise residences, both luxury and ordinary.

The most ordinary residences are no different from what Uesugi Muneyuki remembers; they generally have one or two building managers who collect some trash disposal and management fees, while truly high-end high-rise apartment buildings are generally called Tower Mansions. The services in such residences are quite high-quality—hotel-style 24-hour management, a front desk, cleaning staff, restaurants and convenience stores on the ground floor, kitchens, activity rooms, and conference rooms available for rent, fixed gyms and swimming pools for owners to use, temporary guest rooms on one or two of the upper floors for outsiders to stay in temporarily, as well as libraries, reading rooms, salons, bars, and so on and so forth.

The only problem with good things is that they are expensive.

Uesugi Muneyuki returned to his apartment and did a simple count of his income for the month.

After becoming a regular employee, his monthly income as a full-time Forensic Pathologist is 280,000 yen.

The total autopsy remuneration from the police side came to 120,000 yen.

There were also various subsidies and a special autopsy consolation payment of 50,000 yen.

All in all, his monthly income is about 450,000 yen, and the student apartment he lives in is not considered high-end, with an area of only twenty or thirty square meters, so how much is the rent?

150,000 yen per month, with property management, water, and electricity fees costing another 20,000 per month.

According to the standard for working people, rent, utilities, and property management fees should ideally not exceed one-third of one's fixed monthly salary; Uesugi Muneyuki has clearly exceeded this, and not only exceeded it, but reached half the level of his fixed monthly income.

It is said that Ikeda Erena could not get used to the women's dormitory at the police station (because she had to share the living room and bathroom with other women) and chose to rent a place to live alone. Uesugi Muneyuki thought to himself that she might have to move to Chiba, Kanagawa, or Saitama, otherwise how could she afford the rent?

The average monthly take-home pay for the lowest-ranking Japanese police officer, a First-class Patrolman, is only about 200,000 yen, with wages in Shikoku being the lowest, averaging only 180,000 per month; wages in Tokyo are naturally the highest in all of Japan, but that is still only 230,000 yen take-home per month.

So isn't it perfectly reasonable for me to invite you to eat at Yoshinoya together? And yet I was rejected.

The expression on Uesugi Muneyuki's face was a bit unpleasant; he wasn't quite sure what that final emotional shift in Ikeda Erena was all about.

What kind of impression did she end up having of me?

However, Uesugi Muneyuki quickly pulled himself together. Regarding this tall beauty, Uesugi Muneyuki's greatest demand was for her not to cause trouble, not to file complaints against him, and not to create problems for him. He had finally managed to win the trust of the entire Criminal Investigation Division at Otsuka Station, where any autopsy work was brought to him, and even surrounding stations would occasionally ask him to help. If Ikeda Erena were to cause trouble at this time, the hard-won, excellent situation would be ruined once again.

He was willing to show goodwill toward Ikeda Erena in the hope that she wouldn't explode—at least not explode at him—and to build a good relationship so she might teach him some martial arts, combat techniques, or the like.

He needed more autopsies, more Soul fragments, and stronger power.

Sitting in front of the computer, Uesugi Muneyuki began to recite the scripture taught by Ms. Kurosawa; this was the only Dharma method he had mastered so far.

"The Diamond Dharma."

The Diamond Dharma is divided into two types: the Vajra Cutter, which Ms. Kurosawa practiced as a Shrine Maiden, and the Dharma method she did not practice—Vajra Holding, which is what Uesugi Muneyuki named 【Hardening】 himself.

The Vajra Cutter is a Dharma method for divination, prayer, and fortune-telling. After Ms. Kurosawa gained a rough understanding of it, she actually used it to play the stock market. It is unknown whether it was greed or contamination by the filth of the secular world, but Ms. Kurosawa never made the slightest bit of progress in this path again.

The old lady didn't care either; how could cultivation be more important than money? Having enjoyed the prosperity of Tokyo enough, did she really have to go back to the countryside, playing with a cup of tea, a slip of paper, and a few fortune sticks all day?

And Uesugi Muneyuki was naturally unsuited for this Dharma method, because the Aizen Myoo Dharma Image itself places extreme emphasis on engaging with the world and viewing the desires and troubles of sentient beings as Bodhi wisdom.

For this reason, Ms. Kurosawa taught him Vajra Holding.

To purify karmic obstacles, to uphold the Dharma according to the rules, and to adorn the Pure Land.

In short, if the almsgiver truly cannot understand the Buddhist Dharma, then this poor monk is also slightly proficient in fists and kicks.

Faced with this purely combat-oriented Dharma method, Ms. Kurosawa was completely uninterested. She never liked fighting and killing anyway, and the times had long since changed—they changed when the Black Ships opened the country. No matter how hard your fists are, can they beat Western guns and cannons?

The television in the room was on, playing a variety show where a five-member girl group named Akasaka was singing and dancing on stage; their debut song, "Silent Majority," could also be considered popular in recent times.

The girl who claimed the immovable center position of Akasaka was named Hirate Sarina. She wasn't exactly beautiful, only describable as cute, but her bob cut and the sweet, girl-next-door smile earned her high popularity. It is said that this girl Idol group has the potential to become a national group in the future.

According to gossip from his father, Uesugi Hironori, this girl group was created specifically to counter the official rival of another national-level girl group, YKC48. The two sides were backed by different conglomerates, opposing each other at every turn, on one hand creating topics of conversation, and on the other, riding each other's coattails for popularity.

It feels like none of them are as good as Senior Mai.

Uesugi Muneyuki muttered to himself, though actresses and Idols were not on the same track to begin with, so there was no need for comparison. For a legitimate, professionally trained actress like Senior Mai who graduated from the University of Tokyo, singing a song when she was free from acting was just a hobby.

The selling points of Idols are also different from those of actresses and singers; the former sell themselves, while the latter two sell their works.

For example, once an Idol is exposed for dating or having a boyfriend, their fan base and commercial value will plummet in a landslide.

If an actress or singer is exposed for dating or having a boyfriend, their fan base and commercial value will be affected to a certain extent, but it will not damage their foundation.

Uesugi Muneyuki had no interest in watching singing and dancing pop songs. He changed the channel, thought for a while, and decided to summon the remnant Soul of Ms. Kurosawa.

During this period, he had no communication with Ms. Kurosawa at all, not because he didn't want to, but because he discovered that the remnant Soul itself had very little power left. During their last communication, Ms. Kurosawa had almost exhausted her remaining power, and for other Dead Souls without supernatural abilities, the remaining Soul is reduced a little every time it is used.

Only as a holder of supernatural power could Ms. Kurosawa merge into the Aizen Myoo Dharma Image, but her brief communication with Uesugi Muneyuki would also consume a large amount of Soul Power.

How to replenish it?

It could only be done by Uesugi Muneyuki triggering a Death Soul Contract to obtain Soul Power from other Dead Souls to replenish it.

Ms. Kurosawa actually didn't have much more worth teaching Uesugi Muneyuki. The old Shrine Maiden had stayed in Tokyo for decades, learning only how to eat, drink, play, and flirt with young men. As for what she learned when she was young, she either swallowed it whole without understanding it, or she never took it to heart, only thinking about leaving the countryside and throwing herself into the prosperity of the big city.

Uesugi Muneyuki briefly told Ms. Kurosawa the result of his handling of that Host, Takigawa Tsubasa.

"Sigh, little handsome, why must you do this?" Ms. Kurosawa did not appreciate Uesugi Muneyuki's handling: "Why must a handsome guy make things difficult for another handsome guy? Everyone is just trying to make a living in the big city; it's not easy for anyone. He finally managed to break away from the Violent Group, why must you insist on holding onto him?"

"Isn't he the real culprit who killed you?" Uesugi Muneyuki felt torn between laughter and tears at Ms. Kurosawa's attitude: "Don't you hate him?"

"If it were before I died, I might have had some hatred, but now that things are as they are, why create new slaughter because of me?" Ms. Kurosawa was quite broad-minded: "Hate? I don't hate him anymore."

"No," Uesugi Muneyuki said coldly: "If you repay evil with kindness, how will you repay kindness?"

"Little handsome, the chain of hatred is endless." Ms. Kurosawa said lightly, not caring: "I understand your thoughts, little handsome; I was young once too. When you get old and don't have so many superfluous emotions, you will take these things lightly."

"No!!!" Uesugi Muneyuki said sonorously. He clenched his fists and stood up with a serious face: "I came here to end this chain!"

"Smoothing things over, playing dumb, casually labeling it a suicide or disappearance, and closing the case in a muddled way—I will never allow it!"

"What I want to do is to make things clear!"

————I am the dividing line that never forgets————

Tokyo, Setagaya Ward, an ordinary two-story apartment.

At six in the morning, while Uesugi Muneyuki was still sleeping, Ikeda Erena had already been up for a while.

The ordinary apartment building, built in the 90s, was already a bit dilapidated, but Ikeda Erena kept it very clean. Unlike Uesugi Muneyuki, who liked to sleep in a bed, the tall beauty slept on a futon; if a bed were placed on the simple tatami floor, there would be even less room to move in the apartment.

Erena's home was in Fukuoka, and she had come to the capital alone. The salary of an ordinary Patrol Officer was only enough for her to live in a residential area like Setagaya Ward on the far west side of Tokyo. Although the police station could provide a dormitory, Erena really couldn't live with other female police officers; she had had enough.

Barefoot, Erena first did a set of squat training, then a set of stretching exercises. After working up a light sweat all over her body and feeling the state of her body, the tall beauty nodded with satisfaction. She had been exercising and practicing martial arts for years, maintaining control and vitality over her body. The well-developed gastrocnemius muscles on her calves were as firm and toned as a healthy young mare, the streamlined muscle lines on her thighs were clearly visible, and the distinct abdominal muscles on her belly were healthy without losing their delicacy, tight and elastic.

The sunlight outside had already pierced through the gaps in the curtains. Erena hung a towel around her neck to wipe off her sweat. She looked distractedly at the residential area that was waking up and the elderly people who had already started their activities downstairs. She took a breakfast she had made the night before out of the refrigerator, preparing to take a shower.

Of course, she could eat breakfast outside, but her meager salary meant that Erena cooked for herself most of the time. She had once asked her family, but her father's answer was simple: Don't be so willful; we have already supported you through high school, and we have to live our own lives.

Life, life.

Uesugi Muneyuki's words suddenly popped into the tall beauty's mind: "Don't bring work into life, and don't bring life into work."

However, for Ikeda Erena, this job was her everything.

In order to be better qualified for this job, Ikeda Erena had always demanded much of herself; she felt proud of her profession.

After a simple shower, she set out from Setagaya Ward to Bunkyo Ward, a commute that took over an hour; along the way, this tall beauty attracted countless gazes.

When she arrived at the Police Station, the atmosphere today was a bit different; except for those on duty, everyone else was absent.

Only then did Ikeda Erena remember that today was the day for the Police Station's internal monthly meeting; this was the only day each month she was required to wear her police uniform.

It was summer now, and the summer uniform had no navy blue jacket, only a simple sky-blue shirt, which could barely conceal Ikeda Erena's proud figure that had caused her countless hardships; she could only wrap herself tightly, so tightly she almost couldn't breathe, yet even so, her perfectly enchanting figure remained impossible to hide.

Subsequently, when choosing between a skirt suit or trousers, Ikeda Erena hesitated again.

Wearing trousers in this kind of weather was very hot, and besides, it was customary to wear a skirt suit when attending the monthly meeting at this time.

However, Ikeda Erena really disliked wearing Silk Stockings; although Silk Stockings had the effect of shaping the legs and concealing blemishes, Ikeda Erena would avoid wearing them whenever possible.

There were two reasons: first, wearing Silk Stockings gave Ikeda Erena a strong sense of restriction, making her body feel unfree, which always made her feel uncomfortable as someone who had practiced martial arts for years; second, Ikeda Erena was too tall, standing at one meter seventy, and as a mixed-race person with a foreign physique, the standard flesh-colored Silk Stockings issued by the Police Station were mostly based on the physique of Japanese girls between one meter fifty-five and one meter sixty-five, so she often encountered the trouble of the stocking crotch sliding down when she wore them.

Of course, in a capitalist society, as long as you have a need, there will be manufacturers producing it; naturally, one could buy Silk Stockings aimed at tall women outside, but a pair costing upwards of one thousand yen was no small expense for Ikeda Erena.

Forget it, if she were to be unconventional again, this might be her last field position.

Ikeda Erena had already heard last time that she might be transferred to guard the warehouse, so being able to switch to another Police Station to continue working in criminal field investigations was already an unexpected joy.

When it came down to it, there wasn't a single normal person in the entire police force!

Ikeda thought resentfully; her first superior had a head full of lewd thoughts, and despite having a family, he was always touching her and tricked her into drinking high-alcohol beer disguised as regular beer; if she hadn't been a Karate black belt, she really would have fallen for the trap.

When he failed, he used his authority to threaten her and intimidated her with her career prospects.

Ikeda didn't buy it; a single real-name report sent that superior packing to that birdless island of Shikoku to be a rural savage.

She had thought changing to a different Police Station would be better, but the result was exactly the same! This current superior was even more unscrupulous because he was also unmarried, so he touched her under the guise of legitimate pursuit, and she gave him a sound beating.

Now there was no one she could rely on! She couldn't even trust those old men who looked honest and dutiful!

Even though her third superior, Police Inspector Kobashi, looked decent and uncontentious, Ikeda no longer trusted him, especially since he, like the previous two superiors, would steal glances at her from time to time; heaven knows how many evil thoughts flashed through his mind at those moments.

So she had changed places again.

She had finally met a man who was a bit more normal, which gave Ikeda Erena a little comfort, thinking that there were still normal people in the police force after all!

Ikeda felt that someone like Uesugi Muneyuki was what fit her idea of an "average male": good-looking, knowledgeable, communicative, with a bit of humor, not having a head full of lewd thoughts, willing to help resolve awkward situations, caring, rich in professional knowledge, decisive, capable of planning, and able to deal with old oil-slick characters like Sudo and Tanaka to persuade them to take action.

No, this guy wasn't a Detective at all.

Putting on the knee-length skirt suit, her sexy, toned, and beautiful long legs encased in a pair of standard commuting matte flesh-colored Silk Stockings from Atsugi, Ikeda Erena had finished changing into today's attire; her size 37 beautiful feet, wrapped in Silk Stockings, were fair and lovely, slipped into ordinary five-centimeter black patent leather block heels also meant for commuting, the sexy arches of her feet rising high, the soles thick and soft, and under the thin coverage of the Silk Stockings, faint blue veins were visible on her snow-white insteps; Ikeda Erena left the Police Station locker room and headed toward the conference room.

She was looking forward to what would happen next with that Host.

However, when Ikeda had finished changing and found Tanaka Laodeng, this guy Tanaka Naoki kept backing away, not daring to look at her, and only spoke when he had almost pressed his back against the wall: "The Metropolitan Police Department has already taken over this matter, and the club has stated they will handle it themselves; the matter ends here. This is no longer something for our local branch to manage."

"Why?!" Ikeda Erena only felt she couldn't understand: "Didn't they say he..."

"Alright, Miss Ikeda, we still have a convenience store serial theft case on our hands; as a Public Servant, you must strictly demand much of yourself at all times! For every second we delay on this matter, the interests of the citizens are suffering losses! Uesugi, that little brother, can't help with this matter; if you affect our one-hundred-percent arrest and case-clearance rate for three consecutive months, can you take responsibility? Can you slack off just because it's not a homicide case? You are a Detective! Do you know what kind of disaster that would cause?"

Section Chief Sudo, seeing that Ikeda still wanted to ask, immediately barked.

Ikeda Erena lowered her head, her fists clenched tightly, her fresh, ear-length short hair blowing in the wind from the air conditioner.

"Alright, Section Chief, Ikeda is just concerned about the follow-up of the matter." Tanaka Laodeng didn't hesitate at all; he knew that no one in the Criminal Investigation Division would be willing to go on field duty with Ikeda, and it just so happened he had a task on hand: "There is a task for you right now; you don't need to attend the monthly meeting. Go to the Forensic Pathology Department at Tokyo Medical and Dental University right now and invite Uesugi, that little brother, to come over."

"Invite him?" Ikeda Erena thought, didn't they say the theft case didn't need Uesugi?

"During routine maintenance at the Tokyo Train Repair General Factory in Shinagawa Ward, a mutilated corpse was discovered under a train; the Police Station there wants to ask Uesugi, that little brother, to help take a look." Tanaka Laodeng was quite proud: "Police Inspector Moritsugu, who is in charge of this matter, is from my same cohort; he asked me for help, and the division has already decided: you go pick up Uesugi, that little brother."

"Yes." Having only been here a few days, Ikeda Erena already felt despair toward this Police Station.

Not a single one of them was human!

Updated. Transitioning to a new subject matter brings a lot of pressure. Thank you all for your support!

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(End of this chapter)