Chapter 57: Exceptional Professionalism New 24 June

"I told you before—scum like that can never be shaken off by relying on violence or threats."

As he spoke, Fujino let out a long breath.

"Right now, you've got two choices. One—keep enduring it, keep giving him hush money... but without any leverage to hold him back, his blackmail will only get worse."

"The other option—report him to the police right now. Use the evidence I have to send him to prison, and then marry Shimazaki next month in peace."

Mame-tune Taeko was silent for a while before finally making her choice.

—

That night, the police arrived at the ryokan near the shrine.

After obtaining a copy of the recorded evidence from Fujino, they took the still-unconscious Anzai Mamoru into custody.

Since Fujino's first strike had been to prevent a crime, and his second had been in legitimate self-defense, the police didn't make things difficult for him or Taeko.

They simply asked Mame-tune Taeko to go with them to give a statement.

As for Anzai Mamoru, based on the legal knowledge Fujino had of Japanese law, with charges of extortion and attempted rape during the extortion, plus multiple offenses combined, he was easily looking at a minimum three-year sentence.

What's more, it was likely that Mame-tune wasn't the only victim of his blackmail—ten years or more wouldn't be surprising.

[Congratulations, Host, for solving a sudden incident. System reward: 50 Detective Reputation Points.]

[Current remaining Reputation required to level up: 50 points.]

"So it's true… Even without system missions, as long as I solve a case or complete a commission, I can get a bonus Detective Reputation."

Standing outside the ryokan, Fujino watched the police cars driving away, murmuring to himself.

After receiving 50 points of Detective Reputation for completing Mieko Shibasaki's commission before, he'd begun to suspect this, and coming here had partially been to test that theory.

Now it seemed—he'd been right.

"Detective Fujino!"

Just then, a familiar voice called out behind him.

Turning around, Fujino saw Yoko Okino—wearing a blue T-shirt, khaki skinny jeans wrapped around slender legs, and a matching blue baseball cap with her hair tied back neatly.

"I saw police cars on my way over… Did something happen here?"

She came right up to him. "Don't tell me—another case that got solved by you, Detective Fujino?"

"…Ha…"

Fujino's expression twitched.

Seriously now, does the sight of police cars always mean someone's been murdered? And wait—"another"?

How used to murder cases is this woman!?

"Poor Miss Taeko… About to get married, and she had to run into something like this."

After hearing Fujino explain the incident, Yoko Okino sighed softly, her expression full of sympathy.

Then, with a light laugh, she added, "But luckily Detective Fujino was there. If you hadn't stepped in in time, things really could've gone wrong tonight."

She looked at Fujino with an expression like a little girl gazing adoringly at her hero.

For a moment, Fujino himself wasn't sure anymore—who exactly was supposed to be the famous idol here?

"Ahem!"

With a quick cough, Fujino managed to dispel the awkwardness of the moment.

"By the way, Yoko, what are you doing out this late?"

"I was on my way to the convenience store."

Yoko smiled. "But when I passed by the shrine and saw the police cars, I came over to check things out."

"Want me to walk you there?"

Fujino explained, "Nights like these aren't exactly safe anymore… especially with that rumored 'beautiful girl kidnapping gang' on the loose."

"If you don't mind, I'd love that."

Although Fujino hadn't solved that many cases yet, his reputation was steadily rising.

After all, the cases he had solved—the Tsukikage Island drug cartel, the Italian robbery case, and the Shinkansen bomb incident—were all dangerous, high-profile affairs.

Thanks to some helpful word-of-mouth from the police, his fame had gradually begun to eclipse that of even Kogoro Mouri, who had solved several murder cases by comparison.

—

Two days later.

During the past two days, Fujino hasn't received any new system tasks. He'd been focusing on secretly investigating Marumaru Denzaburou's wife, Maru Inako.

Fortunately, in the end, he managed to uncover solid evidence of her affair.

But what was particularly strange was how normal the passage of time had felt the past two days—it was almost unsettling, making Fujino feel oddly out of place.

—

At Marumaru Denzaburou's residence.

It was a large property with beautiful gardens, multiple buildings, and the pleasant sound of water dripping onto bamboo echoing faintly in the background. A classic, elegant Japanese-style mansion.

"After these past few days of investigation, I can confirm—your wife, Maru Inako, is having an affair."

As he spoke, Fujino took a few photos out of the sports shoulder bag slung over his back and handed them to Marumaru.

"Because your wife was extremely cautious and disguised herself thoroughly, it took me quite some time to get solid evidence."

The photos showed a man and woman, disguised heavily, walking out of a hotel together. The woman wore a black hat, and both of them had glasses on to obscure their features.

Fujino then pointed to a distinctive mole beneath the woman's eye in the photo and compared it to another picture of Maru Inako.

"Even with the heavy disguise, a beauty mark like this can't be hidden. I'm certain this is your wife, Maru Inako."

"That bastard…"

Marumaru Denzaburou gripped the photos tightly, his teeth gnashing with rage.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he then asked through gritted teeth, "Who's the man?"

"It's no one else but your physician, Hadano Kiya."

"Son of a—!"

With a loud bang, Marumaru slammed his hand on the table, furious.

"I hired that guy to treat my diabetes, and instead he goes off treating my wife?!"

Fujino lowered his head slightly, remaining silent.

As a professional detective, no matter how funny a situation was, maintaining composure was part of his professional ethics.

…Unless, of course, it was too funny to hold in.

Ding dong!

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

"Looks like someone's here… Aside from me, Marumaru-san, did you invite anyone else?"

Fujino forced down the urge to laugh and asked seriously.

"Oh…"

Marumaru thought for a moment before remembering, "Besides you, Detective Fujino, I did invite three other people over."

Ding dong! Ding dong!

The doorbell rang again, more urgently this time.

"Damn it! Where's the staff around here?!"

Marumaru growled irritably. "Those useless servants… always slacking off…"

Suddenly, as if remembering something, he scratched his head awkwardly. "Ah—that's right. Since I invited you over, I dismissed everyone else for the day."

"Well, now that everything's been investigated enough…"

Fujino ignored Marumaru's awkwardness and spoke calmly, "Isn't it about time we settled the commission fee?"

(End of Chapter)