Inside the Lord's Mansion, City Lord Kurokawa Yasumasa received the two of them with considerable courtesy. He expressed his gratitude and told them that before they arrived, the city's guards had successfully captured the human-trafficking gang responsible for the crime. He assured them the mission would still count as complete and that Konoha would receive the promised reward as usual.
When Maruboshi Kosuke asked about the kidnapped children, the City Lord looked regretful. He explained that the gang was a criminal organization operating across several countries and that the children had already been sold overseas. However, he promised to do everything he could to track them down and bring them back.
After hearing this explanation, Maruboshi Kosuke said no more. He stood and took his leave. "Thank you for your hospitality, City Lord. In that case, we'll be going now."
The two declined the City Lord's further attempts to make them stay and headed out of the mansion.
As they reached the entrance, Shinichi's brow twitched almost imperceptibly. He didn't look back, but he could clearly feel the gaze of the middle-aged man dressed like a butler, who had been standing beside the City Lord, settling on his back once again.
Ever since Shinichi had entered the hall, the man's gaze had occasionally fallen on him. It wasn't an ordinary once-over, but an unusually intent stare, one that carried a hint of urgency.
Shinichi had once looked back as if he'd sensed something. The man had immediately composed himself and casually looked away, but afterward, that gaze had continued to sneak toward him from the shadows or the corners of the man's eyes, again and again, as though he were repeatedly confirming something.
"Shinichi, what do you think?" Maruboshi Kosuke asked after they had walked some distance from the Lord's Mansion.
"Something's off," Shinichi replied briefly, glancing at the imposing mansion behind them.
"Mm." Maruboshi Kosuke nodded slightly and lowered his voice. "Let's get farther away before we talk."
Inside the Lord's Mansion, the heavy wooden doors had just closed, shutting out the light and sounds from outside. Elder Takahashi's deferential butler's mask shattered in an instant.
He abruptly turned to Kurokawa Yasumasa. His fingers trembled slightly with excitement, and though he kept his voice very low, he couldn't conceal the fervor surging within it.
"Did you see him?! That boy... that Konoha Genin named Higashino Shinichi!"
Kurokawa Yasumasa's heart skipped a beat, and his expression darkened. "What are you planning now? I warned you not to act rashly!"
"No! You don't understand!" Elder Takahashi cut him off, his eyes gleaming with an eerie light. "It's a sign! The most direct revelation from the Holy God! The moment he stepped into the hall, the power of Divine Grace in my blood began to stir and call out! This can't be a coincidence! His body... his very existence may have been born to bear the power of the Holy God. He's the perfect vessel—a natural Saint Candidate!"
He stepped closer, his voice hoarse with persuasion. "Kurokawa Yasumasa, tell me—you've also bathed in the Holy God's grace, and a seed has been planted within you. When you saw him, didn't you feel anything? If we capture him and complete the final ritual... the great work of bringing the Holy God down will be accomplished through us!"
Kurokawa Yasumasa's eyes flickered with conflicting emotions. He said hesitantly, "But he's a Konoha Ninja!"
"Just a Genin!"
Elder Takahashi sneered scornfully. "Look at his teammate. He's decades old and still a Genin. The fact that he's teamed up with him shows that Konoha doesn't value that boy at all. He's insignificant! In past wars, someone like him would have been nothing but expendable cannon fodder. This world has never known peace. A Genin dying is nothing unusual."
He continued coldly, "We can make it look clean. Stage an accident and pin it on a roving rogue ninja or wandering mercenary. An unremarkable old Genin dies, and a low-ranking Genin with no connections goes missing... Things like that happen every day in border regions. Would Konoha really make a big deal out of it and investigate thoroughly just because two insignificant low-level Ninja died? As long as we cover our tracks and leave no evidence, time will take care of the rest."
Kurokawa Yasumasa fell silent. His fingers absently rubbed his cuff as the conflicting considerations in his eyes battled fiercely.
Seeing that he was still hesitating, Elder Takahashi's gaze turned dangerous. He snapped, "Don't forget your illness, Kurokawa Yasumasa! Only the Saint Son's arrival can cure you completely."
He was already prepared to kill Kurokawa Yasumasa and act with his followers himself if the City Lord refused.
Thinking of his illness, and seeing the increasingly dangerous look in the man before him, Kurokawa Yasumasa gritted his teeth. "...All right! Then... let's do it!"
Elder Takahashi nodded with satisfaction and was about to give instructions when a follower hurried in and reported in a low voice, "My lords, those two Konoha Ninjas... have already left the city."
"So soon?" Kurokawa Yasumasa stared in surprise.
Elder Takahashi's pupils suddenly contracted as an ominous premonition seized him. "No good! They must have sensed something! After them! We can't let them get away!"
Not long after leaving the Lord's Mansion, the two slipped into a quiet, deserted alley.
Maruboshi Kosuke stopped and turned to Shinichi. His gaze was calm as he asked quietly, "You can tell me now. What did you notice?"
Shinichi analyzed the situation evenly. "Senior, the Lord's Mansion knew about the child abduction case and may well have been deeply involved. More precisely, City Lord Kurokawa Yasumasa himself is either protecting the people behind it or working with them."
Maruboshi Kosuke's brow furrowed deeply. "What makes you say that?"
"First, his attitude was abnormal." Shinichi laid out his reasoning clearly. "The City Lord was far too warm and accommodating, as if he were eager to feed us a complete explanation. The culprits just happened to have been caught before we arrived, and the children had supposedly been sold overseas... Every detail fit together perfectly. That's exactly what makes it seem too perfect, like a story that had been carefully rehearsed in advance. As the lord of a city, he has plenty of responsibilities. Personally giving us such a prompt, detailed account over an ordinary C-Rank mission was strange to begin with."
"Considering that the local security forces had made no progress on the child abductions, the only way the case could have been covered up so thoroughly was with deliberate protection from the highest levels of government."
"Second, the butler." Shinichi paused, recalling that gaze, as if the man had been repeatedly confirming something. "He'd been watching me intently ever since I walked in. It wasn't curiosity. It was more like he was... evaluating some particular quality. When I looked back at him, he immediately tried to hide it, but he kept watching me in secret afterward. That's not how an ordinary butler acts. He seemed much more interested in me as a person than in my identity as a Konoha Ninja."
"Senior, other than being a Konoha Ninja, what about me would make him pay so much attention?"
Maruboshi Kosuke's eyes shifted slightly. He uttered a single word. "A child."
"Exactly. A child." Shinichi nodded and continued reasoning along those lines. "So the truth behind the child abductions in this area may be that some group has been kidnapping children in secret, trying to select those who meet some particular requirement or possess a certain trait. And that group is working closely with the Lord's Mansion. The City Lord himself may even be one of its members—or the one in charge."
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