Case

The most relaxing moment of the day for many people is when they come home after a busy day at work.

Ichijō Mirai is no different.

He casually put on his sunglasses, pushed them a little higher than his hairline so that his whole face was clearly visible, and asked kindly as the wind was blowing in the passenger seat of the boat, "Give me a brief report on my house, type of house, color, population."

'My house'.

Blonde Inuo: "..."

"I-I live by myself, it's an apartment, on the third floor, with an elevator, no fireplace," he didn't dare to retort, he could only answer as he drove, his hands trembling a bit as he hit the steering wheel harder, "I'm sorry, I thought,"

And then came the rebuttal.

Everyone who was being fished would always try to argue that they didn't have the Archbishop's special hobby, and Ichijō Mirai was used to it, interrupting casually, "What's wrong with your hand?"

He looked genuinely concerned, "Does it still hurt?"

And sincerely admitted his fault, "It's all my fault, I've been using the gun lately, it's been a while since I've unloaded my arm, you know, this kind of thing is just like eating crabs, you always get rusty after a while without eating them."

"I didn't realize I'd have to take it off and put it back on three times before you'd behave."

"But you won't be angry, right? You are my dear friend, will forgive me for this small mistake."

Blonde Inuo: "..."

What do you mean, 'take it off and put it back on three times before you behave!' He'll unload it without saying a word, smile slowly afterward, mutter to himself that he didn't do a good job, so he'll put it back on, put it back on, put it back on again, and then ask if he can stay.

If he had reacted a little slower and spat out a moan of pain instead of a sharp yes, there would have been a fourth time!

But arguing facts with a demon who turns black and white is the least sensible thing to do.

The blonde Inuo had the good sense to smile curtly, "No, no, no, no, it's not your fault at all, it's because I didn't have a good night's sleep, so you're laughing at me, my lord."

As he spoke, he stared intently at the road in front of him, not even daring to glance at the passenger seat: Ichijō Mirai was not hiding his face, revealing his true colors.

When the bandits don't hide their faces, it's time for the hostages to decide how long they have left to live.

"Well," the blonde Inuo tried to save herself, "there's been a recent case at the apartment, and the FBI will be coming to investigate in the next few days."

FBI?

Ichijō Mirai lifted his hand to hold down his sunglasses and turned his head to the driver's seat, flashing a smile, "FBI agents will be investigating?"

"Yes, it seems that there was a serial murder case recently, and one of the victims was from the family above me," the blonde Inuo said hurriedly and cautiously, "They seemed to take that case very seriously, and notified the apartment when the body was found, asking for anyone who had any clues to provide them with a clue,"

"I guess no one did, but yesterday they said they'd be coming by to question the entire apartment."

This must have been a desperate move.

Ichijō Mirai pondered, "How dare you come out to steal food when there's an FBI agent coming... you're in a hurry."

"If you're in a hurry, why don't you go to the neighborhood church and pray with the priest? We might have something in common."

After a casual insult, he extracted the point, "The FBI agents haven't come over to investigate yet."

It was 'come over', and it sounded like he was talking about his own family.

The blonde Inuo nodded silently, "Yes."

"But maybe today!" He whispered, "If you go, you might meet them."

More carefully, "I've actually been paying attention, careful not to see your face."

"Don't worry, I'll never mention you to the FBI!"

The car slowed down.

The driver was ready to pull over at any time, and at Ichijō Mirai's command, he would do so immediately.

Ichijō Mirai: "Hurry up." 

"Ten minutes to home."

The blonde Inuo reacts for a few seconds, and the car immediately picks up speed.

"Of course you won't report it," Ichijō Mirai smiled, "You won't even call the police, let alone talk to the FBI agents about it."

An ordinary person who survives a home invasion will definitely call the police, without thinking twice about it.

But a criminal with a ghost in his heart will not call the police when he is robbed, as long as the robber doesn't go too far.

This is the biggest reason why Ichijō Mirai loves criminals.

"Be good, don't say such nonsense that doesn't require your brain to think."

He said, "Tell me about the serial killings."

The blonde Inuo stumbled over what he knew.

Three months ago, there was a murder case.

At first, not many people cared about it, and when the second, third, fourth, and fifth murders occurred, no one cared.

Until someone realized that these cases seemed to have something in common, that they were serial killings, and the case was quickly turned over to the FBI.

Because the case has been silent for so long, most of the clues have been lost naturally, the FBI has spent a lot of time just combing through the case, and is now in a state of anxiety.

The apartment case is the fifth and final case before it is consolidated.

Ichijō Mirai got to the point. "The last case before the merger."

That's an interesting way of putting it, meaning, "There's a new case?"

The blonde Inuo nodded, "I heard it was in a bar..."

He looked cautiously at Ichijō Mirai, tempted to politely suggest again that he should let me go, or he might run into the FBI guys.

But he didn't know if that was nonsense, and didn't dare.

And he realized with despair that the apartment was getting closer and closer.

The car slowed down again.

Ichijō Mirai sensed it, "Almost there?"

Blonde Inuo forced a smile, "Yes, we're almost there, you see?"

"Well, with the FBI around, I hope you'll behave yourself," Ichijō Mirai took off his sunglasses, which were very distracting at first glance, "I'll only be staying for three days."

"After three days, you're free."

Does that mean... not to be silenced?

Blonde Inuo was overjoyed, "Yes, yes!"

He pulls up happily.

Ichijō Mirai gets out of the car and looks around briefly, realizing that the apartment looks okay.

There's a special scanning machine on the first floor that only allows access by swiping a card and leaves a video.

"There was a power outage the night of the murder," said blonde Inuo, as she watched Ichijō Mirai look at the machine at the door. "It was raining hard that day, and the power went out as if something had gone wrong, and the machine didn't turn on at all, and there was no video left behind, and the FBI guys came around, and they didn't say anything."

Ichijō Mirai looked away from the blonde Inuo and into the apartment.

Inside the clear glass doors, there was a man standing in the first floor lobby of the apartment, looking at some stickers on the wall.