Slacker Assassin's Multiverse Daily Chapter 7

After learning this, Abe Yutaka nearly went mad.

Who would have thought that he had originally wanted to use this rookie detective to create an alibi for himself, only for the other party to become the one who personally caught him?

"Detective Jiang Hang... don't you think there might be some misunderstanding between us?" Abe Yutaka still clung to a faint glimmer of hope.

"There's no misunderstanding. Didn't you say that your friend had recently been watched and might even be in danger of losing his life? You asked me to follow Mr. Negishi Masaki for three days. Yet after only one night, I've already found the person targeting Mr. Negishi Masaki's life, and I can make sure he'll never threaten Mr. Negishi Masaki again. Mr. Abe, shouldn't you have something to say about our detective agency's professionalism?"

Jiang Hang shamelessly said this to Abe Yutaka.

Trying to use me? Then let this great detective of justice show you what the real world is like.

Hearing Jiang Hang's sarcasm, Abe Yutaka was so furious he nearly vomited blood.

Say something? I'll say it to your face! If he'd known this brat was so capable, he would have been better off walking a few more steps to the Mouri Detective Agency two streets away. He had heard that the detective there was a complete fool and definitely wouldn't have discovered his long-planned scheme.

Now, Abe Yutaka could only regret choosing Jiang Hang's agency.

Actually, Jiang Hang had wanted to ask what kind of murder method this guy had prepared. But seeing him look so devastated that he seemed barely conscious, Jiang Hang decided to let the police handle the follow-up interrogation.

Before long, Inspector Megure arrived with several of his subordinates.

Megure Juzo was also surprised. Only a few days had passed since the Maple Gold Coin Case, and the police had only just finished interrogating those Mafia members. Yet Jiang Hang had called to report that he had discovered another attempted murder case.

Trusting Jiang Hang, he had rushed over immediately. After seeing the scene, he confirmed that it was indeed an intentional murder case, except it had ultimately been stopped by Jiang Hang. Even the culprit had been firmly restrained by him and seemed to have completely given up any thought of escape.

It seemed this newly debuted detective was quite skilled in a fight as well. Megure Juzo silently raised his evaluation of Jiang Hang yet again.

When he learned that the suspect in this murder case had actually been a client of Jiang Hang's agency, and that Jiang Hang had keenly sensed something was wrong during the consultation, tracked him, and gone on to prevent the murder, Megure Juzo no longer knew what to say.

Even the officers under Megure Juzo were instantly stunned by Jiang Hang's abilities.

"Inspector Megure, I'll leave the culprit to you. Because of the time constraint, I haven't figured out his motive yet. And if I'm not mistaken, he had a plan to evade punishment after the murder. But since I stopped him, he didn't have time to carry it out."

"I suspect he intended to use me to create a so-called alibi. But I didn't have time to investigate exactly how he planned to do that. I'll have to leave those matters to you, Inspector Megure. I'm sure you'll quickly get the culprit to explain exactly what he intended to do."

In response to Jiang Hang's explanation, Inspector Megure naturally patted his chest and promised that they would interrogate the suspect and uncover both his motive and his post-crime plan.

Megure Juzo naturally did not think Jiang Hang had failed to uncover the suspect's motive due to a lack of ability. He simply assumed that, after fulfilling his duty as a detective, Jiang Hang was preparing to refrain from meddling in police work any further.

This Brother Jiang Hang had far more social awareness than Shinichi Kudo, who had not appeared for nearly ten days.

Shinichi Kudo's deduction skills were certainly formidable. In the cases he took part in, he could deduce almost everything, from the murderer's method to their motive. After hearing his deductions, even the culprit had no choice but to confess on the spot, greatly reducing the police's workload.

But the result was that, in the eyes of outsiders, the police looked like a bunch of useless deadweights who only needed to stand by and cheer Shinichi Kudo on.

Titles like "the savior of the Japanese police" were built entirely on the humiliation of officers like them. Those police parasites who muddled through life might not care about such titles, but Megure Juzo had long held a grudge over them.

Jiang Hang, on the other hand, possessed superb deduction skills while also giving the police plenty of face by not interfering with their work. Megure Juzo's attitude toward him consequently became much friendlier.

Jiang Hang had never expected Inspector Megure's imagination to be so active. He simply really wasn't capable enough.

Since he had also been involved in this case, he still needed to go to the police station to give a statement and complete the formalities.

Negishi Masaki, who had been knocked unconscious by the iron bar, had been sent to the hospital. According to the ambulance doctor's preliminary assessment, it was only a mild concussion, and he would return to normal after resting for a while.

To keep Koharu Yoshino and Shizuka Sakaki from worrying, Jiang Hang sent them both messages briefly explaining what had happened that night. He even took a photo of himself sitting in the police car, censored the officers' faces, and sent it to them.

"Congratulations to the host for successfully preventing a three-star murder case. The case-solving reward has been issued. Please check it."

Hearing the system prompt, Jiang Hang checked the rewards from this case.

The guaranteed reward was Ten Million Yen and 700 Reputation Points, a little less than the Maple Gold Coin Case. In addition, he had received a skill called "Lockpicking (Beginner)," making the corner of Jiang Hang's mouth twitch.

This skill was even less presentable than Disguise.

Forget it. No point complaining about the skill. Maybe one day, a client would ask him to open a safe or something?

After all, one could never have too many skills when making one's way through the world. Jiang Hang just considered it another trade. If he ever failed as a detective, perhaps he could even team up with Inspector Megure for some police Lockpicking work.

At least the Ten Million Yen was solid. He was one step closer to buying the floor where his agency was located.

No, he needed to buy a car first. Koharu Yoshino and Shizuka Sakaki probably had driver's licenses, right? Before he got his own license, having them serve as temporary drivers seemed pretty good.

Jiang Hang's thoughts suddenly began to wander, going from buying a house to buying a car, then to experienced drivers hitting the road, and finally to some unspeakable things.

While Jiang Hang's thoughts raced wildly ahead, Shizuka Sakaki, who had just rushed over from the agency, met several friends she had not seen in a long time at an izakaya.

"Kou-chan, you finally made it! You just found a new part-time job, and you already have to work overtime this late?" A short-haired chestnut-haired girl seated at the table raised her glass and complained to her.

"Sorry, sorry. The agency got a case this afternoon, so another part-timer and I were helping look up information. That's why I'm late. I'll punish myself with a drink first." Shizuka Sakaki apologized sheepishly, then sat down among the girls.

Including her, there were five girls at this gathering.

If Jiang Hang had been there, he would naturally have realized that they were the five main characters of Shirobako.

The chestnut-haired girl who had just spoken was Shirobako's protagonist, Miyamori Aoi. She smoothly poured Shizuka Sakaki a glass of fruit liquor.

"This gathering was specifically meant to celebrate you finding a part-time job and me officially joining Musashino Animation, yet you, the star of the show, showed up late." Miyamori Aoi handed her the drink, and Shizuka Sakaki boldly downed the not particularly strong fruit liquor in one gulp.

Beside Shizuka Sakaki, a blue-haired girl with a ponytail looked at her curiously.

"Come to think of it, Shizuka-senpai, you found a part-time job at a detective agency, right? A detective... that sounds like quite a special profession. What kind of person is your agency head?" Her name was Imai Midori, and she was the youngest of the five. Being under twenty, she could only drink juice at the izakaya.

Back in high school, she had joined the animation club because of her love for animation and had mainly been responsible for scriptwriting. Now, she was the only one among the five who had chosen to continue on to university after graduating high school.

Thus, upon hearing about the detective profession, with its distinct air of mystery, she was filled with curiosity.

"Detectives aren't that exaggerated," said Miyamori Aoi rather than Shizuka Sakaki. "Detectives are ordinary people too. I have a distant relative who's a detective. His usual work is mostly investigating affairs and finding lost things. He's been a detective for over ten years and has never encountered the kind of murder cases you read about in novels. And because he spends all day investigating affairs and things like that, people tend to dislike him. So you all think detectives are way too amazing."

"The case our agency took today was to have us follow someone. But our director thought there was something off about the client, so he changed clothes and went to follow the client instead. I wonder if he's discovered anything by now," Shizuka Sakaki said.

She did not have much faith in her director, after all. Following the client... it just sounded far too absurd.

"Our director is a very young man. His family should be pretty wealthy, but he's also a nice person. As for how good he is at deduction, I don't know yet. But during the interview, the way he looked at me made me feel like I was being watched by an eagle. I think the director must be pretty impressive... probably."

"Come to think of it, we originally wanted to just call him Director, but for some reason, he said titles like Director and Commander sounded unlucky. He told us to just call him by his name instead. Isn't that strange? What's unlucky about calling someone Director?" Shizuka Sakaki still secretly complained about such things in private.

Just then, her phone vibrated, notifying her of a new email.

She took out her phone and saw the message Jiang Hang had sent her.

"No way..." Shizuka Sakaki's eyes widened on the spot. Her director seemed to be the real deal.

Animation Club Group of Five

"Shizuka, what's wrong?" Miyamori Aoi curiously looked toward her friend after hearing her sudden cry.

Shizuka Sakaki put down her phone. She had already finished reading Jiang Hang's brief account of the case, but disbelief still covered her face.

She briefly recounted the contents of Jiang Hang's message.

Unexpectedly, the client had arranged to meet the "friend" he mentioned that very night and had planned to murder him. If Jiang Hang had not noticed something strange about the client, a murder might have occurred.

Although she did not know why the client would hire Jiang Hang to follow that person for the next three days if he intended to murder him, the facts proved that Jiang Hang's deduction had not been wrong. He had indeed prevented a tragedy.

Jiang Hang's actions that night proved that he was an outstanding detective far beyond anything she had imagined.

After hearing Shizuka Sakaki's explanation, the girls present were all so shocked that they could not close their mouths.

As a voice actress, Shizuka Sakaki even vividly reenacted the exchange between Jiang Hang and the client. Yet none of the girls could find anything suspicious in the client's words.

"No matter how you look at it, this was just an ordinary job, right? Most people would think about who might be threatening the person being followed instead of immediately suspecting the client, wouldn't they?" As a scriptwriter, Imai Midori felt that such an action made no logical sense.

Was this the difference between ordinary people and great detectives? Perhaps some detail about the man had caught that detective's eye, but Shizuka Sakaki had failed to notice it?

The five of them all admitted that they could not understand it. Even Miyamori Aoi, who had just said that detective was an ordinary profession, had to acknowledge that Jiang Hang was no ordinary detective.

"And... he subdued the murderer all by himself, right? He's just like the detectives in mystery novels," Imai Midori said, her eyes seemingly sparkling. "I heard that Tokyo has a famous detective known as the 'Heisei Era Holmes.' Could that be your boss?"

An ordinary lawyer would have been one thing, but if she could stay by such an incredible detective's side, she might encounter plenty of fascinating cases.

Shizuka Sakaki gently shook her head. "I know about that person. His name is Shinichi Kudo, a high school detective. Jiang Hang mentioned him when we were talking today. From the way Jiang Hang spoke, it sounded like he had known Shinichi Kudo for a long time. Maybe they worked on some case together in the past."

Although she was a little disappointed, it did not affect Imai Midori's impression of him. "So it's not him? That's fine too. Shizuka-senpai, if you get the chance, you have to let me meet that detective. I feel like I could dig up so much creative inspiration from him!"

"That's amazing... It looks like Shizuka joined an incredible detective agency," said a long-haired girl with black hair. She was Yasuhara Ema, who, like Miyamori Aoi, currently worked at Musashino Animation. Unlike Miyamori Aoi, who was still doing odd jobs there, she had already become a bona fide animator and would likely be promoted to key animator within the next year or two.

"Does that mean Shizuka-senpai will become like Watson, Holmes's assistant in the novels? That sounds pretty great too!" said another girl with short black hair. She was Todo Misa. In the original animation club, she had been in charge of drawing alongside Yasuhara Ema. However, after entering the industry and realizing that her talent for drawing was limited, she had decisively joined a CG production company this year after a short training course, becoming a 3D modeler.

"Misa, are you joking? No matter what, my goal has always been to successfully debut as a voice actress!" Shizuka Sakaki hurriedly shook her head. Although Jiang Hang paid well, her dream would not change that easily. "I still have voice acting auditions to attend next week. It would be great if I got lucky and a voice acting agency noticed me at the audition and signed me."

Seemingly recalling her terrible performance at her last audition, Shizuka Sakaki became slightly dejected. But she quickly shifted the topic away from herself and toward her friends.

"There's nothing much to say about me. First, I have to congratulate Aoi. You successfully got into Musashino Animation, so now you and Ema work at the same company. We're another step closer to our goal of making an anime together."

"I didn't expect it either. I was only trying my luck. After all, I studied finance at junior college, and I didn't even know what someone like me could do at an animation company. Luckily, Musashino Animation was short-handed recently, and the boss was a good person who was willing to give me a chance," Miyamori Aoi said. Even now, thinking back to her interview made her feel embarrassed.

Yasuhara Ema lightly joked from the side, "I heard people at the company mention it. At her job interview, Aoi said something like, 'I'm willing to do anything.'"

The girls immediately burst into cheerful laughter.

Shizuka Sakaki also thought of Koharu Yoshino, whom she had met only that day.

"The other assistant I met at the detective agency today said something like that during her interview too. Now that I think about it, the two of you really are quite alike. Not so much in personality, but appearance-wise, you're probably sixty or seventy percent similar. I even took a few pictures of her."

"No way," Imai Midori, normally the most lively of them, immediately perked up and leaned over Shizuka Sakaki's phone.

"It's true! Other than the hair, this girl really does look a lot like Aoi-senpai. Aoi-senpai, could she be your long-lost sister?"

Miyamori Aoi saw Koharu Yoshino's picture as well, and even she had to admit that the two of them did share a slight resemblance.

"It's just a coincidence. How could I have that many sisters? Having one older sister at home is more than enough."

"If we get the chance next time, you could bring her over so she can meet Aoi-senpai. I heard that people related by blood can tell at first sight whether they have some kind of connection," Todo Misa said, bringing up something that sounded like an urban legend.

"Stop talking nonsense. That sort of thing doesn't exist. Just drink your juice, you girls under twenty!" Everyone was teasing her, and Miyamori Aoi looked rather flustered. However, as the five continued chatting about their recent lives, they quickly put the matter out of their minds.

Shizuka Sakaki also temporarily forgot about the detective agency and continued talking enthusiastically with her friends at the izakaya.

500 Million Yen Insurance

The next day, it rained in Tokyo.

Jiang Hang ran ten kilometers with an umbrella, then completed the rest of his Daily Training routine at the agency.

With today's session, he had completed the check-in task a total of ten times. In addition to the yen reward, he also received the first-stage check-in reward: "Presence Concealment (Beginner)."

The skill's effect was simple and straightforward: it reduced his sense of presence. As long as Jiang Hang kept a low profile, even people with sharp senses would not notice his existence unless they saw him with their own eyes.

It had a slightly supernatural feel to it. Once the skill reached an advanced level, it could even produce an effect similar to invisibility.

Well then, his tracking package had gained another skill. Eagle eye + Assassin's Footwork + Presence Concealment + Disguise—combined, these four skills meant he would have even less reason to worry about being discovered while following people in the future.

Still, one thing was worth celebrating. Most of the skills Jiang Hang had received before had come from Assassin's Creed. He had nearly begun to think that the system only rewarded moves and skills from Assassin's Creed. But Presence Concealment was clearly a class skill belonging to the Assassins from that other world.

Thinking of all the bizarre Assassins over there, if he could obtain those Heroic Spirits' personal skills or even Noble Phantasms, Jiang Hang would truly soar in this world.

After checking in, Inspector Megure called as well.

The investigation on their end had indeed proceeded quickly. After his arrest, Abe Yutaka soon confessed to his motive and the method behind the so-called "alibi" he had originally planned.

Jiang Hang had assumed the motive would be more complicated—perhaps the two had clashed over romance or something more private.

However, the answer Inspector Megure gave him was far simpler than he had imagined.

Because Abe Yutaka's company had made a major error in its decisions this year, it had already accrued debts of 300 million yen. Three months earlier, Abe Yutaka had jokingly said to Negishi Masaki, "We're both already forty-two. Who knows how long we'll live? Since that's the case, why don't we make a bet and see who lives longer?" He then proposed that they each take out 500 Million Yen Insurance policies on themselves, naming the other as beneficiary.

And for some reason, Negishi Masaki had either lost his mind or had a screw loose, because he had actually agreed to Abe Yutaka's suggestion and bought the insurance with him. Whoever died first would leave the other with that 500 million yen "wager."

Now, three months had passed, and the insurance had taken effect. Faced with his company's losses, Abe Yutaka thought of that insurance policy. So he began planning to kill Negishi Masaki in order to claim the 500 Million Yen Insurance.

It wasn't a matter of feelings, nor had there been any conflict between the two of them. There was no dramatic grudge or vendetta like those portrayed in television dramas. It was simply because Negishi Masaki's life was worth 500 million yen.

Jiang Hang wondered how Negishi Masaki, still in the hospital, would feel when he woke up and learned the truth from the police—that the friend he had known for twenty years had wanted to kill him over 500 Million Yen Insurance.

At the very least, Jiang Hang had remained silent for a long time after learning the truth.

As for how Abe Yutaka had intended to escape punishment, it was not particularly complicated.

He had long since found a man who resembled Negishi Masaki and paid him to impersonate him. Jiang Hang would then follow this "fake Negishi Masaki" for three days. During those three days, Abe Yutaka would transport Negishi Masaki's corpse, burned to ashes, to the vicinity of a festival site where an event would be held four days later. On the fourth day, when the festival began, Negishi Masaki's ashes would be discovered under arrangements he had made.

But because Jiang Hang would have been following the so-called "fake Negishi Masaki" for those three days, he would establish that Negishi Masaki—whose charred remains made it impossible to determine the time of death—had died sometime between three days later and the morning of the fourth day.

And during that period, Abe Yutaka would be out of town with his employees, with no opportunity to commit the crime. That was the "alibi" he had prepared.

If Jiang Hang were to evaluate it, it was an exceedingly crude method.

Leaving aside the risk of the fake Negishi Masaki being exposed, more importantly, Mr. Abe clearly had no idea how far modern autopsy techniques had advanced. Even if the body had been burned to ashes and the time of death could not be judged from its exterior, in a criminal case like this, the police had the authority to perform an autopsy.

As long as the police forensic pathologist performed an autopsy on the victim's body, they could obtain a more accurate time of injury from within the body. The alibi Abe Yutaka had designed would become nothing but a joke.