Chapter 113: The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office Special Investigation Division

Tokyo. Arakawa Ward.

Manami Mizuhara sat by the window in her classroom at Seidai Academy, resting her chin on her hand as she watched the drifting clouds outside.

More than a month had passed since the "Mekata Town Incident" and the thunderous roar of gunfire that had haunted Katsushika Ward that night. It was said that when the unrest in Katsushika broke out, middle-class residents from several nearby wards had flocked to their cars or crowded onto trains to flee Tokyo, resulting in massive traffic jams and a total sell-out of tickets on all lines leading out of the capital.

Yet, after more than a month, Tokyo had gradually returned to its former tranquility, shaking off the underlying currents of unease and the suffocating tension that had permeated the city. Many who had fled were now returning to "the capital."

Humanity is a forgetful social species. Faced with a sudden, devastating crisis, they react with agility and speed, choosing either to fight or to flee. But once the crisis is diluted by the calm of the status quo and transformed into a vague threat—a distant shadow looming on the horizon like a smudge of cloud—human inertia takes over, and they return to the comfort of their ordinary lives.

That is how things were now.

But Manami Mizuhara did not belong to that category.

She was someone who had stood face-to-face with Mio Ito and witnessed with her own eyes as the girl absorbed those delinquent students into her own body. Furthermore, upon Mount Arana, in the presence of the deity’s manifested avatar before the Sacred Tree, she had been granted a red crystal—a vessel of extraordinary potential.

Therefore, she knew better than anyone that those events were undeniably rooted in a transcendent power that defied worldly laws and shattered every normal boundary.

However...

When she returned to Tokyo, trembling with apprehension, she had expected Mio Ito to unleash even greater carnage. To her surprise, there had been no movement for over a month.

She had long since resolved that if there were no other way, and she was forced to stop her senior, she would crush the crystal and become a transcendent being herself. Yet, the peace within Tokyo helped suppress that fearful anticipation. She clutched the red crystal tightly, day after day, but could never bring herself to shatter it.

Manami did not even know what she was afraid of herself.

...Perhaps she was afraid that if she became a transcendent being, standing where Mio stood and seeing the world through her eyes, she would end up making the same choices.

She had also been summoned by state authorities. She had gone to the police station and met the man named Kanasa Fusaishi.

Although she had told him that she had found nothing on Mount Arana and had returned in a state of confusion, and that she could neither remember the name nor the face of the owner of the Moto Bookstore—the former being a lie, and the latter the truth—she did not know if her words had managed to deceive that sharp-eyed man.

Still, at least since that interrogation, Manami had not been called in again... Perhaps, maybe, possibly... that meant she was not under suspicion?

"Sigh..."

Manami let out a long breath.

Actually, the bookstore owner never had a name to begin with, so her statement wasn't technically incorrect.

That man who sat behind the counter at the Moto Bookstore—didn't he always seem to be immersed in shadow, his expression inscrutable to everyone?

As she quietly pondered these thoughts, the sound of laughing and playing girls of her age reached her ears.

Glancing out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ryoko Okuyama—or Lucia, as she preferred—messing around with her friends. Like Ryoko, her friends all dyed their hair in various colors, and there were even people from other classes mixed in.

Even though it was break time, the noise from Ryoko and her circle was grating, causing other students in the room to cast annoyed glances their way, though none dared to speak up.

The students in this class were of average academic standing, consisting mostly of ordinary students who were neither exceptional high-achievers nor complete failures—a standard student legion.

Because of this, the classmates had neither the courage to stand up and reprimand them, nor the means to forcefully expel them. Ryoko and her friends were like pigeons that had occupied the classroom, and the original inhabitants were excluded by the atmosphere they created.

Manami shifted her gaze. Ryoko had been laughing in the back row with her friends, but at that exact moment, their eyes met.

Perhaps because she had been lost in thought, Manami’s expression appeared somewhat vacant.

But to Ryoko, that vacancy looked like something chillingly sinister. Shuddering, Ryoko quickly looked away, forcing a dry laugh as she said to her friends:

"Um... let's just go outside!"

The classroom returned to silence. Other students looked toward Manami’s seat with a mix of awe and respect, yet no one dared to approach her.

As the break ended, the next class began, and eventually, the school day came to a close.

Manami remained alone.

On the way home, she walked by herself.

It was only natural. Having always been a girl obsessed with supernatural phenomena and the occult, she had never been the type to be surrounded by friends.

And after Ryoko had been thoroughly taught a lesson, no one else would ever dare to play the role of a friend near her again.

But that was fine. Manami was long since used to it.

She walked the path home, her shadow stretching long under the setting sun.

Just then, a black government sedan pulled up to the curb, and several men in official uniforms stepped out.

Passersby glanced at them with curiosity, but Manami watched with a familiar, weary gaze as they presented their prosecutor’s credentials.

"...Are we collecting more information today? Why didn't I receive notice from Mr. Fusaishi beforehand?"

The lead prosecutor smiled at her.

"No, you’ve misunderstood. While we are also members of the state apparatus, we do not belong to the same system as the Ministry of Defense or the police department that Mr. Fusaishi represents... However, this is a legally approved summons. Please, get in the car."

Manami nodded and stepped into the black sedan. As she entered the vehicle, she looked up at the man and asked:

"...May I ask who you are?"

"I am Asosuke Tachibana, Deputy Chief of the Special Investigation Department of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office."

The man replied with a smile.

The car door slammed shut.

Not long after the sedan pulled away, several men in police uniforms arrived at the scene. Sweating profusely, they pulled out their phones and reported to their superiors:

"Mr. Fusaishi... we have a problem—the target has been taken by the Special Investigation Department."