The End of the Journey

"..."

Amuro Tooru casually switched off the device and removed it, and in an instant, countless thoughts flashed through his mind.

If they had suddenly been attacked only after the Peripheral Members installed the device, then things were relatively simple—some strange person had probably passed by, beaten up everyone hiding on the mountain, then waved a sleeve and left.

But what if... the recording equipment hadn't been installed by the Peripheral Members?

Was it an enemy of Watanuki Tatsuzo's? Someone connected to the Murder Case five years ago? Or... was someone else working for the organization?

A figure suddenly surfaced in Amuro Tooru's mind.

A Police Academy uniform, fluffy black natural curly hair—Matsuda Jinpei's face.

After a brief pause, the face in his mind shifted subtly, slowly correcting itself into that mysterious man who called himself "Kurosawa Sa."

...He had thought of this because Amuro Tooru remembered that something similar seemed to have happened in Toshigami Forest—the culprit who had killed the fake "Jiang Xia" had been beaten up by Matsuda for no apparent reason. If Kazami Yuuya hadn't arrived in time, he probably would have gotten beaten twice in a row.

And now, people nearby had once again been beaten up for no reason... The victims were the organization's Peripheral Members and Watanuki Tatsuzo's underlings. Either group could be considered lawless criminals, just like the culprit in Toshigami Forest.

Amuro Tooru: "..." Could Matsuda have been following him all this time?

More importantly, if that was the case, what was with the recording equipment in the tree? Did Matsuda really have ties to the organization too?

...No, he couldn't jump to conclusions yet.

To get to the bottom of this, he first had to determine whether the device had been installed by the Peripheral Members or by Matsuda. Otherwise,