Love Live and Kamen Rider 31

However, in Kanda Park, a woman dressed in office attire seemed a bit tipsy, walking unsteadily while holding a half-empty bottle of alcohol and muttering things that made no sense.

"Hehe, hic, now, hic, I'm about to lose my job, hic, and the man is gone too, hic. Men are all trash, is there anything good about them, hic."

But as the woman passed a bush, a gaze filled with murderous intent was fixed upon her, and in the next second, a flash of light streaked by.

"Swish."

"Gurgle."

In the park, a rolling bottle and a cold corpse lay on the ground.

One night, it would be a sleepless night, and also the beginning of a bloody night.

--The protagonist returns home--

"Click."

After Senba Gari opened the villa's front door, he spoke to the figure behind him.

"Come on in, from now on this is our home."

〖I would have done so even without you telling me, Master. ╮(‵▽′)╭〗

Silver Phantom, having transformed into its robot form, followed Senba Gari's footsteps into the villa, the dashboard on its chest displaying an expression.

Looking at the expression shown on Silver Phantom's chest dashboard, Senba Gari retorted speechlessly.

"I mean, why do you still like using expressions after turning into a robot?"

〖That is because I am very interested in human emotions, so I must learn about them. ??(???ω?? ?)?〗

"Is that so? I didn't expect you to have such a 'human' side."

Senba Gari seemed to have grown accustomed to Silver Phantom's expression function, so he returned to his bedroom door and said to Silver Phantom.

"Ha~ I'm going to sleep first. If you have nothing to do, just shut yourself down. Ha~ I'm exhausted."

The next day, at Senba Gari's home.

As soon as Senba Gari woke up, he got out of bed and walked out of the room, only to see Silver Phantom in its robot form watching the television with great interest.

Wait a minute, aren't you a robot? Do robots even watch TV?

He complained silently in his heart but didn't say it out loud. Why? Because if you argue with a robot, especially one whose thinking cannot be understood by a normal person, you have already lost.

Just as Senba Gari was about to brush his teeth and wash his face before heading out to look for a job, he was called out by Silver Phantom.

〖Hey, Master, look at the TV quickly. d(?д??)〗

"What's wrong? And what kind of expression is that again?"

He was rendered speechless by the expression displayed on Silver Phantom's chest, and then his attention was captured by a news report on the television.

(Today, a female corpse was discovered in Kanda Park, estimated to have died last night. There were no signs of a struggle at the scene, and the method is identical to previous female homicide cases. Nothing was missing from the body, save for three bloody scratches on the neck. The police are currently investigating with full force, so all female friends please be careful and do not travel alone at night.)

"Sigh, it looks like I won't be able to sleep tonight either."

Looking at the content on the news, Senba Gari said helplessly, then spoke to Silver Phantom again.

"Fantasy, help me investigate the recent female homicides online and see what they have in common."

〖Understood. What about you, Master?〗

"Me? I'm obviously going to investigate that Kanda Park."

After speaking, Senba Gari walked toward the bathroom.

A short while later, Senba Gari was fully prepared and rode on Silver Phantom, who had transformed into its motorcycle form, heading toward the destination.

"Screech~"

Passing in front of a shrine, Senba Gari suddenly stopped and got off the bike. At this moment, Silver Phantom's voice came through the earpiece.

〖Master, why did you stop?〗

Senba Gari spoke to Silver Phantom in his earpiece while walking.

"It's nothing, I just wanted to take a look here and pay my respects to the deity."

〖Oh, then go ahead. It's not convenient for me to go in like this.〗

"Yeah, thanks, Phantom."

〖You're welcome, we're in this together.〗

A few minutes later, after walking out of the shrine's gate, Senba Gari turned around and looked up at the plaque hanging on the gate. It read 'Kanda Myojin Shrine'. As he looked at the plaque, Senba Gari's expression was filled with nostalgia.

"It's been a long time since I've been back. I don't even know when the last time I was here was."

Then he added in a sorrowful tone.

"The first time I came here, I was dragged along by my mom and dad. Every time our family passed by, we would come to pay our respects. A few years later, it was just the two of us, and now, it's just me alone."

Just as Senba Gari was feeling sentimental, a crisp female voice reached his ears, bringing him back to reality.

"Um, excuse me, are you alright?"

"Hm? Oh, no, I'm fine. I'm just here to pay my respects to the deity."

Turning around, he saw the person was wearing a white and red shrine maiden outfit, had long purple hair tied back with a white cloth strip, emerald eyes, and a curvaceous figure accentuated by the shrine maiden attire.

Senba Gari looked at her appearance, suddenly feeling a sense of familiarity, and said to her.

"I was wondering why you looked so familiar; so you're the girl who was with that blonde girl the other day."

That's right, the person was none other than Nozomi Tojo, nicknamed the Nozomi Demon King.

After Nozomi Tojo also clearly saw his appearance, she looked at him in surprise and said.

"Ara, so it's the strange gentleman who snuck into Otonokizaka the other day."

Hearing Nozomi Tojo's words, the corner of Senba Gari's mouth twitched slightly.

"What do you mean 'snuck in'? I had permission from the guard, and don't call me 'gentleman'; I'm only one year older than you."

"Eh, is that so? But, this senior, are you here to pray to the gods?"

Nozomi Tojo was a little surprised by Senba Gari's age, as he always exuded the aura of an adult.

"Yes, that's right, I am here to pray to the gods, after all."

Just as Senba Gari was halfway through his sentence, the voice of Silver Phantom came through his earpiece.

〖I say, Master, could you stop picking up girls? I'm getting impatient waiting here.〗

"Ah, sorry about that. I have some business to attend to, so I'll take my leave."

After saying that, Senba Gari walked away quickly.

After Senba Gari left, Nozomi Tojo looked in his direction and pulled out a tarot card, which depicted a knight holding a sharp blade and wearing fiery red armor, surrounded by nine goddesses.

--A long-overdue divider--

In Kanda Park, the park that used to have many visitors was now completely empty because someone had died there; it would likely remain this way until the culprit was found.

However, the lack of people now provided Senba Gari with an excellent environment for investigation. To speed up the process and widen the search area, Senba Gari and the robot-form Silver Phantom split up to investigate.

Senba Gari was currently crouching on the ground where the female corpse had originally been, searching around.

"Hmm."

Suddenly, Senba Gari frowned slightly, looking at a spot about a meter or two away from where the body had been, where there was a tuft of black fur.

Just as Senba Gari picked up the tuft of fur and before he could even examine it, the voice of Silver Phantom came through.

〖Master! Come over here quickly, I've found something!〗

Wait for an opportunity

〖Master! Come over here quickly, I've found something!〗

Hearing Silver Phantom's call, Senba Gari gripped the black fur in his hand tightly and walked quickly toward the patch of grass where Silver Phantom was located.

"Did you find something?"

〖Master, look at this.〗

At the same time, Silver Phantom held the tuft of black fur in its hand out in front of Senba Gari.

"Eh, you found this too."

〖Master, you found this as well?〗

Seeing the black fur in Senba Gari's hand, Silver Phantom also brought out the black fur it held, and its eyes projected a bright blue fan-shaped beam, scanning from top to bottom over both Senba Gari's and its own hands.

At the same time, the dashboard on Silver Phantom's chest began to display a stream of data, and its voice reverted to a cold, emotionless mechanical tone.

〖Beep, initiating data scan. Beep, comparing object DNA... Beep, confirmed as the same object. Unknown Mlortha substance detected! Type: Feline monster-type Mlortha.〗

When the emotionless mechanical voice of Silver Phantom ceased, the data on the dashboard vanished, and then, Silver Phantom's expressive voice returned.

〖Master, it seems our enemy this time is indeed a Mlortha, and this one seems a bit tricky.〗

"Hmm, indeed. We don't even know the opponent's goal or their method of killing, not to mention that if the police get involved, there will definitely be heavy casualties. Hmm? Phantom, come here for a second."

Senba Gari, who had been contemplating a strategy, suddenly noticed a strange footprint about a meter away from them.

Looking closely, it was a feline-type footprint, about the size of a normal person's palm. The depth of the print was quite shallow, and since it was on a lawn, it was covered by green grass; an ordinary person likely wouldn't have noticed it without careful observation.

However, Senba Gari had started learning archaeology with his father at the age of 12, so his observational skills had long surpassed those of an average person.

〖Is something the matter, Master?〗

When Silver Phantom walked to Senba Gari's side, Senba Gari pointed to the spot where the female corpse had been and said.

"Can you scan that area and see if there are any strange footprints or anything similar?"

〖Hmm, I can.〗

"Then I'll leave it to you."

Silver Phantom's eyes projected the fan-shaped beam once more, though this time the light was red.

When the beam hit the spot Senba Gari had indicated, a red outline appeared in Silver Phantom's vision. As it scanned further down, the outline of the female corpse appeared, and then, right next to that outline, Silver Phantom discovered a footprint identical to the one Senba Gari had found.

Continuing to keep its scanner active, it pointed to the other footprint and said to Senba Gari.

〖Master, I have found another footprint over there that is exactly the same as the one you discovered.〗

"Is that so? If I'm not mistaken, Phantom, expand the scanning range."

〖Understood, Master.〗

Then, the scanning beam of Silver Phantom began to sweep toward other areas.

In just a short while, Silver Phantom made a discovery, then pointed toward the opposite side and turned to speak to Senba Gari.

〖Master, there are those same footprints on the lawn over there.〗

"Hmm, let's go over and take a look."

After saying this, Senba Gari and Silver Phantom walked toward the lawn on the opposite side.

〖It is right here, Master.〗

Silver Phantom pointed to the base of a large tree and spoke, and then Senba Gari walked under the tree to take a closer look; it was indeed the same as the previous footprints.

"Hm?"

Feeling around another footprint on the lawn, he seemed to have discovered something. Frowning, he stood up, channeled a portion of his spiritual energy into his legs, tensed his muscles, bent his knees slightly, and then leaped upward, landing on a tree branch.

Senba Gari then discovered three claw marks on the branch, and the same claw marks were present on other branches in front of him. Furthermore, in the distance ahead of him, there was a secluded apartment building.

"It looks like that is the most suspicious place."

After jumping down from the tree, Senba Gari asked Silver Phantom.

"Phantom, have you found the information I asked you to investigate regarding what happened to the female victims before they were killed?"

〖I have already found it, Master.〗

〖The victims seem to have encountered the same suspicious male on several nights before they were killed, and they all had relations with him. I believe that man is likely related to Mlortha.〗

"Good. Then, do you have any kind of device that can be used to monitor people?"

〖I do. Look.〗

Then, the chest area of Silver Phantom suddenly opened on its own, and from within, it retrieved a red cubic block.