Chapter 942

In the fifth year of the Uesugi Era, February, evening.

The ferry docked at the pier of Hachijo Island in the evening.

The wind and waves on the sea surface noticeably weakened as the ship approached land, and the vessel gradually steadied from the near-continuous afternoon sway with a certain rhythm, like a pendulum long shaken finally being held still.

The tall, judo-beautiful female detective Ikeda Erena was the first to come out of the guest room; she walked a little slower than usual, but not from fatigue—it was a leisurely, satisfied ease.

Erena's lovely face, under the warm yellow light of the cabin, glowed with a healthy, steamed-like ruddy luster, her skin bearing an extremely fine, damp sensation, as if just finished with deep skincare.

The buttons of her police uniform jacket were fastened neatly, her skirt had not a single wrinkle, the dark gray velvet stockings were smooth as new, and the heels of her red-soled high heels each made a light, crisp sound on the hallway floor, like the aftermath of a fulfilling experience.

She stood on the deck, facing Hachijo Island, the sea breeze blowing straight at her, sweeping her hair back to reveal the clean lines of her ears and neck, the corner of her mouth holding a barely perceptible, lingering arc.

I'm full~

Erena's mood was very good; she would come out for a stroll and then return to change into her usual ascetic suit, leather shoes, and long pants, but frankly, even in that outfit, her figure still appeared sharp—there was nothing to be done about it.

The Metropolitan Police Department had once planned to have Erena pose for a promotional poster, but the Hogasaki PR Section Chief rejected it, saying Ikeda's gaze was too aggressive, Japanese men didn't like it, and using her as the standard would lead the public to form inappropriate, strange associations about female police, possibly making Japanese citizens believe all female officers should be like that.

Uesugi Muneyuki came out from behind.

His steps were a little slower than Erena's, his complexion not as flushed, his suit jacket buttoned meticulously, his hair re-combed, he stood on the deck holding the railing; when the sea breeze blew on his face, he slightly narrowed his eyes, as if still not fully come to.

Really, the ship rocked the whole way, and my master rocked me the whole way too!

Ah, so tired!

Uesugi Muneyuki held his waist, thinking he needed to rest well tonight.

At this time, Maeda Toshihide and Asō Kōta also came out; seeing this, Asō concealed the disdain and scorn in his eyes very well and said enthusiastically: "Ikeda-senpai! Looks like your condition is good! Are you also full of confidence today, ready to really go at it?"

"Of course!" Erena completely missed the mockery in Asō's tone and said naturally.

This new newcomer really knows the rules!

He didn't look down on me because of the things and rumors about me, but from these minor details saw my strength and my effort!

Erena felt very happy; she had previously said in an interview with Women's Self: "I really don't pay attention to or care how others evaluate me."

"I just focus on my own career and my own life."

"Yes, I'm happy to realize my life's value in the Special Mission Division; all my current achievements come from my personal struggle, and I hope my juniors can be like me! Never give up your dreams! Because one day, dreams will become reality!"

At home, Minami Ojou-sama and Asuka looked at this magazine and laughed until they rolled on the floor.

Erena still looked puzzled, and said to Minami: "Wasn't it you who told me to mention as little as possible about Muneyuki during the interview?"

"Hahahaha!" Minami and Asuka still laughed until they couldn't catch their breath.

"???" Erena completely couldn't understand what was funny?

Could it be that I, now a full-fledged Assistant Police Inspector, important member of the Special Mission Division, the most famous field female detective of the Metropolitan Police Department, didn't get here through my own struggle?

Of course, I and Muneyuki are indeed in a mutually advantageous close relationship, and I haven't denied that! You won't let me say it!

And Minami's comment on this is: "Indeed, the core of comedy is tragedy ahahahaha~"

Maeda Toshihide couldn't be bothered to waste words with Erena; he hated most this kind of connection-backed person.

Moreover, he and Asō share the same idea.

Erena is indeed beautiful, with a fiery figure.

But her personality is too difficult to handle, and for people like Maeda and Asō, they simply don't lack women.

Sexual resources are a kind of resource with rapidly diminishing marginal returns; when a man has no woman, he becomes extremely suppressed and doubles down, but once he has one woman, he generally wants a second, yet generally by the third woman, marginal returns begin to plummet rapidly, and once that demand is satisfied, men shift their focus to other aspects.

That is, Uesugi Muneyuki's situation is special, but even so, he now has no shortage of women around him either.

After the ferry docked, Erena also changed back into her everyday clothes; Maeda Toshihide directly stepped onto the pier first, stretched, and said: "Finally here. If we swayed any longer, I'd almost throw up my lunch."

"Pier, pier, big pier! Oh my god, pier is awesome!" Uesugi Muneyuki laughed: "Hachijo Island this kind of place only has two or three ferry runs a day—why build such a big pier?"

Asō Kōta followed behind him, also a little weary: "When I get back, I'll note down the complaint phone number of that ship company.

I'll never take this ferry again."

"Being able to come out once is also good." Erena was in an extremely good mood and said casually.

Anyway, I just space out my whole brain, leaving the case-solving to Uesugi.

The feeling of not needing to think is the most refreshing!

Hachijo Island's evening is much quieter than Tokyo's; the streets hardly have any pedestrians, only occasional light automobiles emitting low engine sounds. The four people checked into an old-established inn near the harbor, the building in the style of mid-Shōwa era, wooden frame, dark gray tile roof, the lobby filled with a mixed scent of tatami mats and wood.

Dinner was the local specialty: Hachijo Island is famous for "ashitaba," a wild vegetable with a unique bitterness, usually made into tempura or mixed into rice. The table also held several locally produced fish sashimi, and a small pot of local chicken stewed with island-specific brown sugar and soy sauce.

Uesugi Muneyuki picked up a piece of ashitaba tempura, put it in his mouth, chewed twice and swallowed, then lifted his sake cup and took a□.

Hah~ This is what a business trip should be like~

Maeda Toshihide had already opened the notebook he carried with him, spreading it on the desk surface.

This guy, as a member of the Kanazawa Maeda family, what mountain and sea delicacy hasn't he eaten?

"Let me first talk about the Hachijo Island matter, come on, come on, listen to me~"

"I hear you say~" Uesugi Muneyuki said instinctively."

"

Asō Kōta never misses any opportunity to integrate into the group.

Ikeda Erena then wore an expression of "I'm just listening to see if there's anything interesting."

"1994, Hachijo Island Seven-Person Bone Incident. That winter, workers at the funeral home, while cleaning the furnace chamber, discovered a batch of remains not belonging to any record. The remains totaled approximately enough to assemble seven adult skeletons, but none were complete. After police intervention, a large-scale search was conducted across the entire Hachijo Island, and more scattered bones were found at several locations on the island. But ultimately, the identities of these seven sets of remains could never be confirmed."

Maeda Toshihide brought up the matter of the Hachijo Island Seven-Person Bone Incident.

Hachijo Island is a very small island, with over 6000 residents, and lacking any special scenic spots, so tourists are few, making the place very quiet.

One day in 1994, a person named Okada, a funeral home employee, came here to prepare for a reserved funeral; due to Hachijo Island's small population, the funeral home's incinerator doesn't need to run all day, and after a death, reservations are required.

As a result, he found the furnace chamber stuffed with a large pile of incompletely cremated remains, almost filling the entire furnace.

At first he thought it was some people's prank, or the previous shift's coworkers hadn't finished their work and found it troublesome, so they passed the pot to him.

But later, after verification and investigation, every employee denied doing this, suspicious people also had alibis, and in the end it came to nothing, so the police could only turn their attention to this batch of remains.

This pile of skeletal remains actually came from seven different people! There were men, women, elderly, and children!

However, because they had been cremated, the DNA was destroyed so cleanly that it was impossible to identify who the deceased were or where they came from. Later, isotope testing revealed another astonishing discovery.

The time of death for these remains actually ranged from 10 to 40 years ago, meaning they did not die recently.

Well, that's good—no need to judge this as a criminal case anymore.

Yet we still cannot explain where these seven sets of remains came from.

Hachijo Island has a special custom called reburial, meaning the deceased are placed in urn coffins and buried underground after death, then exhumed once the body has fully decomposed in the urn coffin, and finally reburied in the earth. Many elderly people from Guangdong and Hakka communities should be familiar with this practice.

Reburial requires high costs, so perhaps someone didn't want to spend this money and thus dealt with it carelessly and half-heartedly.

Thus, the police and many professionals conducted a large-scale search across the entire Hachijo Island.

The police combed through all of Hachijo Island and found that during those days, no one on the island had gone missing, nor were there any signs of locals privately burying or handling corpses. This suggests the deceased and the perpetrator likely secretly entered the island from outside (such as mainland Japan) by boat or other means.

This truly baffled the police, as there is no reburial custom outside Hachijo Island.

Could it be that someone deliberately took a boat or plane from Tokyo, carrying a large amount of bone ash to Hachijo Island, evaded surveillance, obtained the key to enter a sealed crematorium like a hidden room, and stuffed these remains into the incinerator just to play a nasty prank on everyone?

Why would they do that?

Moreover, operating a cremator requires professional knowledge—one must understand how to control the fire, manage temperature and timing, which ordinary people generally don't know.

From beginning to end, the Japanese police simply couldn't figure out why someone would do this, and the case ultimately went unresolved.

"Indeed, very strange." Asō Kōta evaluated.

"Indeed, and now this has happened too—it's just unbelievable. Could this be some kind of prank? Besides, the incident occurred over twenty years ago—is the other party still alive?" Maeda Toshihide also remarked casually.

But at that moment, Eirina noticed Uesugi Muneyuki frowning, as if deep in thought.

"Muneyuki, what do you think?" Eirina whispered.

Uesugi Muneyuki said nothing.

But he had thought of a possibility.

A kind of possibility hard to speak aloud, yet appearing very reasonable!

That is this pile of remains — 【