The Spread of Speculation

"This mission... the part I had to do was actually very simple. But when I worked backward and tried to review it, I kept feeling..." Okiya Subaru paused and adjusted his glasses. "It was terrifying."

Akai Shuichi glanced at him.

Akai Shuichi had also been somewhat puzzled by this matter.

—As an FBI agent with excellent sources of information, Akai Shuichi had a very good memory.

A few days ago, when the newspapers reported that President Mian Guan had murdered someone, buried the body, and was ultimately arrested, he immediately recalled that this was Okiya Subaru's target.

At first glance, Okiya Subaru had been quite lucky—the target had delivered himself right into custody.

But the coincidences involved had always made Akai Shuichi feel that things were probably not so simple.

Yet looking at the details of the case, Mian Guan Yi Yi had committed the murder a month ago. The timeline was simply too distant. And while the organization was certainly capable of something like "killing someone and framing Mian Guan Yi Yi," given Akai Shuichi's understanding of the organization, its methods were usually much simpler and cruder when dealing with a target who was not particularly important.

Killing someone a month in advance, then timing the framing so precisely... it was almost unimaginable.

...That was what Akai Shuichi had originally thought.

But now, hearing Okiya Subaru put it this way, he realized the situation seemed to differ from what he had expected.

Akai Shuichi rested a hand on the gun hidden inside the delivery package and looked thoughtfully at Okiya Subaru, waiting for him to continue.

Okiya Subaru took a deep breath, recalling his less-than-pleasant meeting with Uzo:

"That day, not long after I arrived near the target, Uzo suddenly appeared in front of me and asked what my