Chapter 72

PS: Thank you all for your support. I will maintain two updates a day, and my previous promise remains valid. That is all.

"Yokan~ Yokan~ Yokan~"

"Konpeito~ Konpeito~ Konpeito~"

The Face of the Metropolitan Police Department, Police Inspector Watanabe Minami of the Personnel Division, sat down inside the snack shop with Uesugi Muneyuki. Today, the young lady of the Metropolitan Police Department seemed extremely excited; she called out the names of the snacks repeatedly, clapped her hands, and said excitedly to Uesugi Muneyuki, who was sitting across from her: "I am honored by your presence, Mr. Uesugi."

"This is the first time I've seen a girl let others call her by her first name, and then address the other person as 'Mister'."

Uesugi Muneyuki sat calmly across from Watanabe Minami, wanting to see what this woman was actually trying to do.

It must be said that Watanabe Minami's beauty was also outstanding. If Senior Shirakawa Mai's beauty was a 100 and Ikeda Erena's was an 88, then Watanabe Minami's beauty should be at the 98-99 level.

Compared to Senior Mai's flawless perfection and goddess-like aura, Watanabe Minami's appearance leaned more toward sweet and pure. When she smiled, the apples of her cheeks rose just right, and the sweetness revealed in her crescent-moon-shaped eyes was the kind that could flow into one's heart. Yet, when she was quiet, she possessed the charm of a typical Yamato Nadeshiko or a Showa-era "quiet beauty"—noble, elegant, delicate, and intelligent, with a temperament that was both calm and slightly proud.

Today, Watanabe Minami wore a green beret, looking fresh and lively. Inside, she wore a ginger-yellow sweater, draped with a long, brown plaid trench coat on the outside. Her lower half was paired with a slightly pleated dark cashmere skirt that fell below her knees, matched with at least 60D semi-transparent black pantyhose and a pair of simple, shallow-cut square-buckle high-heeled shoes.

Watanabe Minami's height was about 160cm, incomparable to Ikeda Erena's 170cm and her European-style long legs, so she always wore relatively high heels.

"Uesugi-kun gives people a different feeling, after all." Seeing that her tactic wasn't working, Watanabe Minami withdrew her innocent and lively side, transitioning from dynamic to static, embodying the noble young lady: "How is it? Are you satisfied with Ikeda Erena?"

"So Ikeda really was transferred to my side by you." Uesugi Muneyuki pursed his lips, looking helpless: "I guessed as much; otherwise, why would such a beautiful policewoman suddenly be transferred to Otsuka Station?"

"Yes, what a pity. I thought something might happen between you and her." Young Lady Minami sighed with quite a bit of regret, the intelligence index in her sweet apricot-shaped eyes off the charts: "Now I have to blame you for not being much of a man."

"My young lady of the Metropolitan Police Department, is there no way for you to interact with others normally, without having to resort to exchanges and coercion?" Uesugi Muneyuki shook his head repeatedly, leaning back tactically: "If I had touched Ikeda, wouldn't I have fallen right into your trap?"

"Hehe, but you are at fault too!" Young Lady Minami blinked, her sweet apricot-shaped eyes full of curiosity: "You disrupted my plans and forced me to come out in person to thank you."

"How is that a fault?" Uesugi Muneyuki became interested: "Is having ability a fault?"

"Having ability, and then not being under my control—that~ is~ the~ fault!" Watanabe Minami's mouth curled up slightly: "You were recommended to the Metropolitan Police Department by me. You, Uesugi Muneyuki, are already a member of our faction!"

"And this stereotype will be reinforced because you took me on a tour of the Metropolitan Police Department." Uesugi Muneyuki twitched his mouth: "It's over, now it can't be explained clearly. You're so poisonous, Miss Minami!"

"Giggle~" Watanabe Minami covered her mouth and chuckled, with only three parts pride and three parts smugness: "Besides, I'm on compensatory leave today, specifically wearing casual clothes to come out."

"And then I owe you another favor, making it seem like I forced you to work on your day off. Tsk tsk tsk, the classic Young Lady Minami tactic of making people owe 114514 favors." Uesugi Muneyuki clicked his tongue in wonder: "Create an environment I can't refuse, then propose some requests that are just within my acceptable range, right?"

"Uesugi-kun is truly a smart person. I just love talking to smart people." Watanabe Minami was both cold and lively, her eye shape exquisite, curving into a crescent shape when she smiled, like a piece of glazed beauty.

"I like it too." Uesugi Muneyuki nodded: "So, I don't think we need to play these roundabout games. Your method of setting traps to make me owe favors doesn't work on me. Whether or not I owe you favors, you know it in your heart, and I know it in mine."

After hearing this, Watanabe Minami was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled: "So, Ikeda is really that difficult to handle?"

"Quite difficult, you know?" Black lines appeared on Uesugi Muneyuki's head: "How should I put it? She is indeed that kind of strong woman full of justice, and her martial arts are very good, but other than that, she is very difficult. At crime scenes, she stands there motionless most of the time; during investigations, she is very impulsive and loves illegal searches; plus, she is irritable and prone to exploding. I have to satisfy her emotional value, demonstrate powerful functionality, and maintain my composure, otherwise, she'll look down on me."

"But you've done very well." Young Lady Minami pretended to be ignorant.

"You could have done even better." Young Noble Uesugi also pretended to be ignorant.

"Hahahaha~" The two laughed heartily at the same time, an indescribable tacit understanding and a feeling of mutual appreciation echoing between them.

"People aren't machines, my Young Lady Minami." Uesugi Muneyuki finished laughing and suddenly said: "You don't need to keep emphasizing your special status; Ikeda won't necessarily be controlled by you."

"Don't you also like to emphasize your Peerage status?" Watanabe Minami blinked: "Isn't that the same as me?"

"It's different. I like to emphasize my Peerage status to raise my own value and let those in the District Public Prosecutors Office who want to move against me know that the cost is high, not because I really think that just because I'm a Peer, I can put on airs or act superior." Uesugi Muneyuki said softly: "What is truly powerful is oneself. This Peerage thing is just something I can mention as an aside when I succeed."

On this point, the underlying logical thinking of men and women is different.

To give a simple example: from a female perspective, "I am the Emperor, so the world's 800,000 troops must listen to me; I am the Capital Security Division leader, so the Capital Security Division, the Security Division, and the Special Operations Division must obey my orders."

From a male perspective, "The world's 800,000 troops obey my orders, so I should naturally be the Emperor; because the Capital Security Division, the Security Division, and the Special Operations Division obey my orders, I should be the Capital Security Division leader."

Uesugi Muneyuki kept emphasizing his Peerage background, which seemed a bit like female logic, but in reality, just like that Port District Boy Shimakawa Ren, it was to actively label himself with a high-quality tag to raise his value, not because he really felt he was some Old Kazoku who was a cut above others.

He had a good sense of his own limits. Was he really that good at autopsies? He was clearly cheating!

But Watanabe Minami had a bit of this logic; she naturally took the power given to her by her father and the Metropolitan Police Department as something she was supposed to possess.

But both were such smart people; Uesugi Muneyuki saying it to the previous level was enough, no need to spell it out like with Ikeda.

"Uesugi-kun's words are truly direct... but they have indeed given me some insight. Thank you, Uesugi-kun." Sure enough, Watanabe Minami understood; she did not respond directly to this question: "Let's go, let's tour the Metropolitan Police Department today."

The Metropolitan Police Department always seemed so busy, with people coming and going like a weaving stream; Sakuradamon also served as a location for photography and was open to the public for tours.

Watanabe Minami first brought Uesugi Muneyuki to Investigation Division 1.

The layout of Investigation Division 1 was like a huge horizontal hall, filled from left to right with men and women in suits. White incandescent lights hung from the marble-colored ceiling, and the rows of spliced workstations had no partitions or clear divisions; everyone was squeezed in here to work.

Hundreds of heads bobbed in front of Uesugi Muneyuki.

"Division Chief Mikasa's office is inside." Watanabe Minami introduced: "How is it? This is the face of our Metropolitan Police Department."

"I thought I had arrived at some large service company." Uesugi Muneyuki felt the layout of Investigation Division 1 was both chaotic and lacking in dignity; he really couldn't imagine that this was the face of the Metropolitan Police Department, the last line of defense for the citizens of Tokyo.

"Hehe, if Uesugi-kun wants dignity, you should go to the National Police Agency building next door. Those are the real bureaucrats, the kind who don't wear police uniforms and don't carry guns." Watanabe Minami switched back to work mode, the real young lady saying with a hint of sarcasm: "Instead, we at the Metropolitan Police Department are just a bunch of wage earners; how can we compare to the heavenly officials across the way?"

Uesugi Muneyuki smiled faintly upon hearing this, a familiar feeling rising in his heart.

Yes, true high society spoke with a hint of sarcasm; this was a style passed down from the Court Noble circles of Kyoto. Don't look at how the Samurai despised and manipulated the Court Nobles after gaining military and financial power; they still loved marrying the daughters of Court Nobles.

Watanabe Minami began to introduce the people Uesugi Muneyuki would use for future business in the division.

"This is Police Inspector Shiratori Sho, 28 years old, Section Chief of the Second Subsection of Investigation Division 1."

Short hair, with coral-shaped bangs on his forehead, a pair of broad eyebrows that drooped at the ends, a thin, long face, and a broad chin, the tall, handsome man in a suit took the initiative to greet Uesugi Muneyuki: "You must be that Legendary Forensic Uesugi. I watched the live broadcast; what an amazing person. Please take care of me in the future."

"Likewise."

After getting to know each other, Watanabe Minami whispered: "Police Inspector Shiratori is the eldest son of the Shiratori family, a graduate of the University of Tokyo Faculty of Law, a passer of the national public servant exam, Career Track, and his family has a villa in Karuizawa."

"I see." Uesugi Muneyuki was noncommittal.

"This is Police Inspector Megure, 42 years old, Section Chief of the Thirteenth Subsection of Investigation Division 1."

"Oh, it's little brother Uesugi. Are you finally transferring to the Metropolitan Police Department?" Police Inspector Megure was an old acquaintance of Uesugi Muneyuki, and seeing Uesugi Muneyuki appear, he beamed: "With you here, our Metropolitan Police Department will be blessed in the future, a great blessing!"

"I look forward to our future cooperation." Uesugi Muneyuki was neither humble nor pushy.

After the introduction, Watanabe Minami whispered on the way again: "Police Inspector Megure rose from the muddy waters of the lower ranks. He made a great contribution in the Fuji TV Case and should be promoted to Superintendent, but he only became a Police Inspector at 36. According to the rules, Non-Career Track personnel must serve for seven years before they can be promoted to the Superintendent level, so Megure-san won't be promoted until next year."

"This is Police Inspector Kashiwagi Jin."

"Hello." "Nice to meet you."

Kashiwagi Jin's attitude toward Uesugi Muneyuki was very cold, and he only barely managed to deal with Watanabe Minami. He was very handsome, with a Korean-style melancholic "playboy" face, which easily won the favor of women.

(The Young Lady of the Metropolitan Police Department)

"Police Inspector Kashiwagi is a Star Inspector recommended by the Metropolitan Police Department, and he possesses strong orthodox reasoning abilities." After finishing her introduction, Minami walked over and whispered: "He has solved several murder cases before."

"Does he seem to dislike me?" Uesugi Muneyuki could sense Kashiwagi Jin's coldness toward him.

"That is a long story," Minami said with a bitter smile, "and he was recently complained about."

"Complained about?"

"Yes, Shimakawa Ren, the fiancé of Ms. Hironaka Mariko, complained that he conducted illegal interrogations and used verbal threats. Although investigations showed no violations occurred, he was still ordered to be cautious for two months due to public opinion issues."

Watanabe Minami hesitated for a few seconds when she reached this point, but she decided not to play games with Uesugi Muneyuki and told the truth: "Besides, Police Inspector Kashiwagi does not like Forensic Pathologists."

"Why?"

"You will know once you see the Forensics Division." Minami signaled for him to follow her; she walked with her hands hanging down and took small, quick steps, her posture perfect and elegant, fully displaying an air of nobility.

Uesugi Muneyuki took a deep breath and followed Minami's pace.

He had long wanted to see this department of the Metropolitan Police Department.

The Forensics Division!

Minami is cute~

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(End of this chapter)