Tiger's Den

(Ceruno)

Quanyin threw a motorcycle helmet at me and pointed to her beloved motorcycle.

"Put it on, I'll take you to that guy's lair."

I didn't really want to ride her motorcycle, but I had no other choice at the moment.

"So, beautiful girl detective."

I instructed Xiaoling:

"Wait here for a bit, and keep an eye on Tiger Cub, make sure Uncle Dantai isn't in any danger."

"Yes, madam!"

We came out through the back door. Dantai Zhengchu was still struggling with Tiger Cub in front of the main house in the courtyard.

It was described as a tug-of-war, but from the moment Tiger Cub lost his fighting spirit, it became Dantai Zhengchu.

Always kept in Quanyin's trunk, this spare helmet is filled with the smell of Chinese herbs, and it tastes bitter when worn.

As I straddled the cool, heavy motorcycle, I nervously held onto Quanyin- nee's waist, but when she twisted the throttle, the roar of the engine startled me so much that I went from holding her to hugging her.

"Hey~ Ceruno's hug, I'm going to show it off to everyone."

Don't get the wrong idea! I'm just worried you'll fall!

"Then you'd better hold on tight!"

"Huh? Whoaaaaaah!!"

The girl with the will-o'-the-wisp lifted the front of her motorcycle and showed off her Yellow Springs Stunt.

After driving along the North Suburbs for four or five blocks, Quanyin turned the car into a quiet residential area.

The sudden braking left a tire mark.

"Arrive."

Quanyin lifted the helmet visor and pointed to the sign on the second-floor wall.

"Look! That martial arts school is Tiger Cub's lair. Because he's a stubborn guy who only knows how to fight, after the gang disbanded, this is the only way he can make some money... but business isn't very good, and he can't recruit many students."

Park the motorcycle on the side of the road and take off your helmet.

"Let's go up."

The martial arts school is called "Tiger's Den," and its sign features a striped tiger. Although it shares the same name as a certain ACG chain store in Akihabara, it's probably just a coincidence; it simply means "tiger's den."

But the Tiger Cub has turned into a young girl, making it hard not to have the wrong idea.

The door is locked.

The houses in the North Suburbs Old Town were all a bit dilapidated. I went up to the second floor along the narrow stairwell, but the door of the martial arts school was locked. However, through the teacher information board next to the door, I finally figured out Tiger Cub's real name.

Duan Yin, 8th Dan in Sanda (Chinese kickboxing).

Judging from the photo, he's a fierce-looking man with a face full of scars, the face of a murderer. With that face, he'd be questioned by the police more than three times a day if he went out on the street. It wouldn't be easy for him to recruit students.

"Let me do it."

As she spoke, Quanyin pulled out a wire from behind her and poked it into the keyhole on the door.

There was a click.

"It's open."

"... You have quite a wide range of skills."

"My dad taught me that!"

Wasn't your dad a medical student?!

Once inside, she locked the door again.

"This is actually quite clean?"

Although the furnishings of the martial arts school were a bit old, they were all kept spotless. Although the man seemed to live alone, he was surprisingly tidy and kept his residence very organized.

Quanyin, however, disagreed.

"Well, after all, it's a martial arts school that's supposed to teach students. If a student comes in for a consultation and sees a dusty floor, wouldn't they just turn around and leave? I bet it'll be a complete mess afterwards!"

That makes sense.

Then you can see their true nature in the living quarters behind.

The martial arts school didn't have a kitchen; it only had a single bedroom with a bathroom in the innermost room, where Duan Yin... Tiger Cub lived.

"Wow."

Although I was mentally prepared, I was still startled when I pushed open the door.

Beer cans of various colors were piled up like small mountains, or lying across the aisle like traps. The sheets and blankets looked like they hadn't been washed or dried in a long time, dirty and yellowed. The ashtray was overflowing with cigarette butts, and the bedroom was filled with the smells of alcohol, cigarettes, and an indescribable odor...

That's terrible.

I experienced physical discomfort.

"No way, this guy... he's a completely useless old man!"

Quanyin really knows these people from all walks of life.

The outdoor martial arts classroom is for "face," so it still needs to be kept tidy.

But this bedroom is the "inner room"; once the door is closed during lectures, no one can see it.

I made an air filter out of Bubble Membrane, and I can barely breathe here.

Quanyin opened the south-facing window to let in some fresh air, and the smoky atmosphere in the room dissipated considerably in an instant.

"It's normal for it to turn out this way."

Quanyin- nee frowned and explained:

"After all, he was once a powerful leader of the Azure Tiger Society Gang, with over three hundred men under his command, a figure of great prestige. The contrast with his current situation is too stark, making it inevitable that he would give up on himself..."

"That's really hard to tell."

Although Dantai Zhengchu was sickly, he certainly had the spirit of a leader. As for Tiger Cub... he looked like a brute.

"Ceruno, after experiencing such a setback in your life, it won't be easy to get back on your feet. Working for others is out of the question. The only way to maintain some dignity is to open your own martial arts school and become a master."

"Then why did he go to see Dantai Zhengchu?"

"Isn't this easy to understand? A person who has fallen from heaven to the bottom, and suddenly gains invincible power, wouldn't they want to climb back up?"

The guy with the diffused Crystal clearly took advantage of this mentality, which is why he targeted him.

Quanyin- nee also looked around the middle-aged man's bedroom:

"This Tiger Cub is too straightforward, so when the Magical Girl Era came, the Azure Tiger Society suffered the most. Unlike the Dantai Society, which endured humiliation and turned to the gray and white industries, they disbanded very quickly."

I said:

"If it's not compatible with the version, it will naturally be phased out."

"You could say that. So, what did you discover?"

I closed my eyes and tried to feel the lingering magic in the room...

"We actually found something."

There are remnants of teleportation magic in the corner of the wall opposite the window. Since the teleportation channel is located here, the informant monitoring Tiger Cub should be outside the window... Directly opposite the bedroom window is another residential building across the street, three stories high.

This room can be monitored from the second floor, the third floor, or even the top floor, making it difficult to pinpoint its location, but that doesn't matter.

I replenished the remaining teleportation magic and reopened the portal.

"Oh? You've got something!"

"Let's Past take a look."

Quanyin nodded and removed the Crystal from the necklace.

In a flash of light, she transformed into the magical girl Thunderous Resonance.

He even pushed me and said:

"Let's go! I don't want to stay in this bedroom for even a second longer!"

Passing through the teleportation tunnel, there was a quiet forest path, which should be the forest in the north of the city. This area is rarely visited by people and there are no surveillance cameras between cities.

This is why fugitives like to hide in the mountains and forests.

If our target simply walks away like this, tracking him down will be quite difficult...

"This is just a stepping stone; that guy is still teleporting."

The lingering magic at the scene was very clear.

I have a feeling that we might finally catch our target red-handed.

Ah--!!

Suddenly, Quanyin- nee summoned Megaphone and roared in a certain direction, causing the air to vibrate.

Like petals blooming, a shield appeared out of thin air, blocking the impactful sound waves.

That was some kind of defensive magic.

There really is someone behind the dense forest...

This month I'm going to work hard to get all the recommendations.

Even if it costs me my life, I will stay up until midnight!