Chapter 22
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: New Phase (1)
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Dennis blinked. Whenever she closed her eyes, Shinsuke's face came to mind.
He had always been a jinx of a man, with vulgar mannerisms she couldn't stand. Working with him was always unpleasant. He'd clawed his way up from the dregs as a street thug, joining the Prophets through connections and his flashes of sharp deduction, but Dennis had always believed he'd eventually hit the limits of his talent.
The Prophets weren't an organization for petty thugs like Shinsuke to handle.
[Just you wait. I'll show you that bastard crying snot and tears, blubbering that he knows nothing.]
The last time they'd met, Shinsuke had left those words behind with a wounded pride, standing up stiffly.
"I suppose this is a warning?"
And the place where Dennis and Shinsuke met again was the old Iwamoto Industry factory site. On this plot of land, whose purpose no one could discern, Yamaguchi Shinsuke lay on the bare ground as a cold corpse. What expression he wore was impossible to tell.
Where his head should have been, an old Iwamoto Industry signboard stood like a gravestone. It was planted vertically, as if it had fallen from a great height with tremendous force, and even when several low-ranking members gathered to pull it out, it wouldn't budge an inch.
After observing the scene for a moment, Dennis clicked her tongue and spoke.
"Everyone, step back."
As the people retreated at her words, Dennis grimaced and raised her hand. It was buried quite deep, requiring even her considerable strength. There was a scraping sound as the sign rubbed against the dirt, and then it rose upward, showering soil like rain.
While the low-ranking members gasped in admiration, Dennis placed the signboard onto a distant parked truck and said,
"Any other traces around? Who did this, or what their purpose might have been."
At Dennis's question, a man with a torn lip corner let out a chuckle. He blinked at her, then shook his head slowly and replied,
"Isn't it obvious? Iwamoto Industry did it. Word is Shinsuke was digging into their president's background. He must've crossed a line. The president couldn't hold back and caused this mess."
Dennis let out a hollow laugh. She'd always believed Shinsuke couldn't handle the vastness of the Prophets. His sharp mind and judgment were certainly admirable, but as long as that thug nature lurked at his core, he'd be pushed out eventually.
But contrary to her expectations, Shinsuke hadn't even been able to handle Iwamoto Industry. What must it feel like to be crushed by someone she'd thought was a nobody? For a moment, Dennis mourned his pathetic end and said,
"Shinsuke thought the president was just a figurehead with nothing behind him, but looks like he misjudged."
"No traces left to identify the culprit, all his contact methods and research materials are gone. His car was burned to a wreck and dumped in some remote spot."
But the body was left here. Both Dennis and the man saw it as a warning.
"Shinsuke said Iwamoto Yoshio had no backing, but it seems he has some skilled hands under him."
The man nodded at Dennis's words.
"Exactly. This is the work of some high-level pros. But they were careless. They figured leaving the body was fine, but we have a special ability user."
At the mention of a special ability user, Dennis blinked. She rolled her eyes thoughtfully for a moment, then nodded and said,
"Ah, you're talking about that guy. The one with the necromancy ability."
"Yeah, Shinsuke's dead, but his corpse will give us clues. Hey! Come out!"
As the man pointed, a gaunt man waiting in the car adjusted his glasses and rubbed his palms together. His hunched back and skeletal frame made him look like he was mimicking a fly at first glance. He bowed and grinned at the man.
"Aigoo, well... M-my ability's kinda like necromancy, but it has restrictions, you see. So even if you give me a boost like that..."
"Shut up and get started."
The man knew this scrawny guy would ramble nonsense if given an inch. As Dennis stepped back to watch, the skinny man cut off his words and moved briskly at the command.
"Ah, yes! Got it!"
Dennis blinked as she watched the man prepare. She'd expected something eerie and terrifying for a necromancy ability, but he just drew a circle around the corpse and knelt before it. Then he grinned at the two of them and said,
"A-all done."
Dennis asked the man,
"I've only heard about it. Didn't think I'd see it in action. What exactly does it do? Summon Shinsuke's soul from the dead?"
The man gestured with his head, and the scrawny one bowed repeatedly in reply.
"Similar, but a bit different. It's not like I can make it answer questions however I want. It describes the deceased's most intense recent memory. More like getting testimony from an NPC in a game than proper necromancy..."
"Game? NPC?"
Dennis, who'd never touched games, tilted her head. The scrawny man nodded at her refined reaction and said,
"Ah, you haven't played much, have you? Then another example..."
"Forget it. Just do it. Heh... Finally, we can uncover Iwamoto Yoshio's true nature."
As the man urged him on, Dennis stroked her chin and nodded. Regardless of the metaphor, if it replayed an intense memory, it had to be the assailant's ability or face, right? No matter how it manifested, it would give clues about Iwamoto Yoshio and his backing—definitely a high-value ability.
"I've been curious myself. Perfect timing. Wonder what ruthless faction that bloodless, tearless man is wielding."
The scrawny man tensed at the conversation behind him but rubbed his palms and adjusted his posture.
"Urgh...! Eugh...! Guh...!"
Like a priest offering sacrifice to an ancient god, he groaned and shuddered, then arched back and let out a howl.
"Waaaaaaah!"
Startled birds flew into the sky at the sight, and the resting low-ranking members watched with intrigued expressions. The scrawny man trembled, gasping for breath, then glared at the corpse and shouted,
"Yamaguchi Shinsuke! Confess what you saw and heard!"
Unlike his servile demeanor earlier, his voice toward the corpse carried real authority.
As if responding, the corpse twitched. Dennis grimaced, and the scarred man frowned as if seeing something foul. The members watched the ability with interest.
"Raaaaagh! Speak your most intense memory!"
The lying corpse writhed and rose. The head smashed by the signboard slowly regained its shape bit by bit. What had looked like a flattened meatball reformed with bone and flesh into a human form.
It was Shinsuke. Yamaguchi Shinsuke's corpse restored to its intact state, mouth agape, floating in the air. Dennis bit her lip queasily at the grotesque sight, and the man coughed awkwardly, averting his eyes.
And the scrawny man shouted,
"Speak! Reveal your most intense memory!"
In response, Shinsuke's body twisted and turned its head. Staring into empty air, he rolled back his eyes and screamed,
"Woo-ryaa! Tteol! Dda-oo! Ttya-aa!"
"....?"
Silence fell.
More unreal than the floating corpse was what it had just uttered. Dennis tilted her head, and the man looked at the scrawny one.
"What the hell. You using it right?"
"Huh? No, there's no way the ability glitches."
As if affirming the scrawny man's words, Shinsuke's corpse raised both hands high and screamed again,
"Woo-ryaa! Tteol! Dda-oo! Ttya-aa!"
The man glared at the scrawny one and asked,
"This is his most intense memory?"
The scrawny man nodded, sweating profusely.
"W-well... It's exactly replaying what the victim saw and heard at the moment of their most intense emotion before death. No matter what you say, I can't do anything about it! You know this isn't some toy ability!"
"Then what the hell is this?"
Pondering the man's question, the scrawny one replied,
"Uh... Well, maybe hearing those words made his emotions explode and overwrite everything else? That's the only explanation I have."
Both the man and Dennis stared at Shinsuke in confusion.
"Woo-ryaa! Tteol! Dda-oo! Ttya-aa!"
Unaware or uncaring of their thoughts, Shinsuke repeated the same motions, tears of blood streaming down his face.
As if pleading for someone to recognize him.