Ch.178012 Investigation Record – Tail Chasing (4)

I wanted to meet the detective when only this much doubt remained. Doubts only deepen when not expressed. Deepened doubts become inexpressible. It repeats.

However, I had to prepare for the worst. If he had truly become dangerous, I alone would be far from enough. I wasn’t sure if even a hundred armed people would stand a chance.

Additionally… meeting Michael was the simplest way to confirm this matter. The only alternative would be searching for an unknown number of perpetrators.

Thanks to Willem explaining what would have happened if this wasn’t his doing, meeting him wouldn’t be too uncomfortable.

I looked at Willem, who seemed about to suggest we should start looking for evidence based on today’s hypothesis. I slowly opened my mouth.

“Finding other evidence would be good… but I think there’s someone we need to visit first. Could you come with me? I’m nervous about going alone.”

Seeing my demeanor, he stood up, opened a drawer at his office desk, and took out an antique wooden box. From it, he removed a revolver that seemed to stick to his palm as if glued there, and placed it in the holster at his waist. He seemed to immediately understand that I was going to meet someone dangerous.

His preparations ended with putting a speed loader with every seventh bullet missing into his pocket. I didn’t imagine what would happen when he fired the seventh shot.

“Who are you going to meet that makes you so tense? They seem quite dangerous, but judging by their handiwork, not that dangerous. There wasn’t even a trace of weapon preparation.”

I shook my head briefly. That was precisely why this person was dangerous. And why I was worried about him.

“He’s dangerous because he could kill all the ogres and walk out even if thrown among them unarmed. He makes plans, but it’s not a problem if they fail. He’ll finish the job one way or another. You’ve seen exactly one person for whom this isn’t just bravado.”

But he was generally someone who followed plans. Someone who thoroughly gathered information and finished things cleanly in one go. Even Congressman Edward Collins had been dealt with that way.

For such a person to go after ogres without even bringing a weapon, using their dinner knives instead… I could only think it was for emotional reasons. The Old Gourmet Society wasn’t even that thorough an organization.

“The detective, I presume.”

Willem responded almost reflexively. He had seen him once. He had witnessed him subdue four armed vigilantes without killing them and hand them over to the police as if it were nothing.

Moreover, he knew that the detective had once stormed a well-guarded brothel alone and killed everyone inside—pimps, prostitutes, and customers alike.

Willem stroked his beard for a moment before speaking. He had accurately assessed my inner thoughts as well as the case.

“You hope he didn’t do it, but asking me to come along means you think we should be prepared. Isn’t that right? I’d like to know why you’re being so cautious.”

He was different from the detective. While the detective read my thoughts so naturally it was frightening, Willem’s words were mostly logical deductions that I found reassuring.

And I knew the answer to his question very well. It was an answer close to an excuse, but also the most honest one.

“It’s just that I tend to have bad luck with these things. I feel like something unexpected might happen. Oh, and taxi fare is a bit expensive too.”

The last comment was closer to a joke to lighten the mood, and fortunately, Willem laughed. Like a bird showing off its feathers, he straightened his clothes and smoothed his beard into a dapper shape.

“That’s quite an impertinent thought. Well, I’ll have to get a drink from you tonight. Oh, you mentioned going to a bar last time—how did you manage to shed that dried-up person label?”

I thought such words would be somewhat rude, so I didn’t say them aloud, but he was like Paulina—experienced and more honest with his emotions. It was one of the highest compliments I could give.

And regarding the bar story… I tried to change the subject but ended up answering truthfully, just like when I used to swallow lies in front of my father.

“Well… I do go there quite often these days. I need somewhere to clear my head, and there aren’t many people who listen as well as Sarah.”

I had run into Giuseppina there once, but we passed without even greeting each other. She doesn’t know me. She came not to know me. She had to not know me. She didn’t show even a moment of resentment.

Willem politely stepped aside, letting me go first. As he did so, he casually made a joke. It didn’t seem like a joke, but… I would think of it as one.

“My, you’ve been completely enchanted by the bartender. That’s usually how it goes for first-timers at bars.”

That conversation helped ease some of my anxiety as we headed to the detective’s apartment. It was in quite a good location, even compared to where I lived. There was even an ogre-run grocery store right next door.

Nevertheless, I could see broken windows at that grocery store too. It pained me to think they had suffered damage simply because it was run by ogres… but that wasn’t our destination.

I hadn’t made an appointment with Michael, but he had said with his own mouth that he was someone who worked when it was time to work and rested when it was time to rest.

I hoped he was resting. Resting meant he had worked, and working meant… well, whatever the reason, he wasn’t someone consumed by emotion.

Why do I always seek reassurance from him? There were many people who could reassure me. Ysil, Willem, Paulina… but I always found myself seeking it from him.

I arrived at apartment 708 and rang the doorbell. I did know a connection ritual I’d learned from Ysil, but I wasn’t skilled enough yet to connect with someone whose location I couldn’t guess.

Fortunately, I heard footsteps from inside. Judging by the weight in the sound, it was the detective himself. After pausing for a moment as if checking who the visitor was, the door to the Husband Detective Agency opened.

Compared to Willem’s well-decorated home, it was extremely austere. A window overlooking not a landscape but the wall of the adjacent building, a desk with a heavily annotated book on it, and filing cabinets… it was very much like him.

Moreover, the air in the room was acrid. He must have been chain-smoking despite having the window open, and I coughed a few times. He seemed to pay little attention to it.

After waving his hand a couple of times to clear away some of the smoke, he stepped aside to let us in. Only after closing the door did he speak.

“Seeing as you’ve brought another detective with you, I’m guessing you’re not here to hire me… well, that’s fine. I wouldn’t have taken any jobs anyway since I’m on break right now. Why are you here?”

I was glad I hadn’t regretted bringing Willem along. Willem could have spoken for me, but this time I didn’t let him. I did it myself.

It was similar to last time. Even if I made accurate deductions here, I wouldn’t write an article without evidence, and the detective knew that. So he would speak freely.

If not… behind me was Willem with the revolver that had pierced through the bodies and heads of the Followers of the Forest’s Firstborn as easily as if he were sewing. I took a deep breath before speaking.

“It’s about the Old Gourmet Society of ogres. I heard they were massacred, and the perpetrator…”

He casually interrupted and answered. His attitude suggested he found it ridiculous that I had come all this way just to ask about that… but amusingly, I liked it.

“I’m neither the best operator in New York, nor the strongest. It’s a bit ridiculous that you come looking for me whenever something happens. At this rate, you’ll come to me even if a god dies somewhere.”

The former might not be true, but the latter seemed accurate, though I didn’t say it aloud. And for a problem-solver anyone could hire, there weren’t many people like him.

“As far as I know, you’re the only person who could kill nine ogres with just a dinner knife, Mr. New York. I’m not here to report you. I’m just… a bit worried.”

He leisurely reclined in his office chair. He set aside the book he had been reading and looked at me. Even with him sitting, our eye levels weren’t that different.

“Last time, you asked if I was the same person as Leonard Price. Is this similar? Did you think I suddenly went crazy and started acting like those masked vigilantes playing at being agents of justice?”

He was indeed caustic, and uncomfortably good at reading my thoughts. Still, I didn’t close my mouth and continued to answer.

“I was worried you might have. And I thought you’d say something like that. I just… want to know what happened.”

He answered as if it were obvious. It seemed like this wasn’t particularly something for him to worry or be concerned about.

“It was a job. I obviously have no intention of telling you about the client.”

I was somewhat relieved, but I needed more evidence to be completely at ease. Willem, who had been standing with his hand on his holster, changed to a more comfortable posture.

“Then, why did you go there unarmed, with no preparation?”

“Did you know that until last week, the idea of ogres practicing cannibalism seemed as absurd as saying all elves practice incest? I was investigating what I thought was nonsense from an informant when I suddenly got involved. Well, objectively speaking, it was enjoyable to kill those who proudly claimed they ate people. That’s all.”

I was dumbfounded by his words. His explanation that he hadn’t prepared because he didn’t know sounded awkward, and my expression must have twisted slightly, because he added a comment as if he found it frustrating.

“Really, you didn’t know? No, then…”

The detective clicked his tongue, stopping my words. He briefly turned his gaze to look up at Willem and spoke. Even though Willem was looking down at him, he couldn’t gain any sense of intimidation or control.

“Can you step outside for a moment? I have a few private words to say. I’ll call you back when we’re done.”

“Don’t be too harsh on someone who’s worried about you. You know that, don’t you?”

Willem seemed to sense something from the detective’s frustrated reaction and turned around without hesitation, leaving the apartment. He closed the door himself.

The person who had come to protect me was leaving, but I didn’t stop him. What I needed to worry about wasn’t Willem leaving, but what would happen after he left.

The door closed behind Willem. The detective was still looking up at me, but even looking down at him felt suffocating, so I sat down in the chair meant for his clients. I briefly met his eyes.

I seemed to know what he was going to say, but there was no avoiding it. Unable to bear waiting with my hands clasped like I was about to be scolded, I spoke first. He just listened quietly.

“D-don’t look at me like I’m pathetic! When I look at you, all I see is someone burning with enough anger to blacken your insides and someone who looks bone-chillingly lonely. So…”

The detective cut me off. He wasn’t angry; his tone was just matter-of-fact. He was someone who mocked those blindly hopeful, but also mocked those who mocked hope.

“One more thing. I also have a desire to live like a normal person once I somehow break free of this cursed ritual. Yes, thanks to that, I’m managing to stay somewhat sane.”

It was a sincere statement. My somewhat blind suspicion had been completely unfounded, and his words were almost identical to the trust I had wanted to have instead of numerous doubts.

He called it desire, but to me it sounded like hope. A smile naturally began to form, but he tapped the desk twice with his fingertip. I felt tension returning to my shoulders.

“Don’t smile. Are you going to grin at one statement after treating me like someone who couldn’t control his emotions and went around killing ogres?”

“No, that’s, no…”

Only a reflexive answer escaped. My shoulders tensed up even more. I briefly thought that if I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have doubted him… and eventually lowered my head slightly. This had been a disrespectful assumption.

“I’m sorry for imagining things on my own again and bringing Willem along. It was… yes, just baseless delusion. I just thought you might have been angry.”

He was also someone who didn’t hold grudges. His lack of grudges was so extreme that he would even protect someone he had once tried to kill.

And this time too, one apology seemed to be enough. He continued speaking.

“I was angry. Definitely angry. They said they ate people because they could taste the sense of taboo and sacrilege. Do you think we could just stand by after hearing something like that?”

This was the real reason. He really had been angry. Angry enough to cut the ogres to death with the knives they had prepared to butcher people.

And… after they died, he wasn’t angry anymore. It was as obvious as saying water is wet. I could only think how narrow-minded my assumptions had been, and I began to blush from the ears.

“Absolutely not. I’ve heard how much horror you felt from breaking that taboo just to survive. I can’t say I understand.”

Only then did the detective rise from his chair. He was someone who was more intimidating when facing you while seated than when standing and looking down. After opening the door to let Willem in, he returned.

“That’s enough. I heard from the bartender that you’re becoming a regular at Two Face… I’ll go today too, so buy me a drink. That will be apology enough.”

I understood why Willem had left without hesitation after seeing the detective’s expression and my reaction. He would have been the first to realize that I was just worried.

Do I even have money to pay for drinks today? A reporter’s salary wasn’t that much, but I had some savings… one day of overspending seemed fine. It wasn’t wasteful spending if it was for an apology.

Still, I couldn’t possibly pay for all of Michael’s drinks. If I spent money like him, I would certainly go bankrupt within a month.

“Can I just buy the first round? Last time I saw you… the glasses weren’t emptying like water, they were emptying as if you were breathing, Mr. New York.”

He tapped the desk twice again, as if he didn’t like it. Only then did I feel my cracking daily life solidly reattached. So I changed how I addressed him.

“Hmm, the glasses were emptying as if you were breathing, Michael.”