Not a detective

Page 113

He had indeed watched that British TV series. In it, the modern Sherlock Holmes would visualize crime scenes perfectly in his mind during his deductions, simultaneously inputting vast amounts of information and constantly searching, screening, and verifying it in his brain—as fast and accurate as a computer processing information. He would immerse himself in that scenario to consider the criminal's possible actions, using details gleaned through keen observation and clues derived from meticulous logical reasoning to seek the answer to the mystery.

In criminal investigation, this method is called simulated scene reconstruction or profiling.

In fact, it can be argued that there exists an extremely sophisticated "mind palace" within his brain.

"Could it be," Asakawa Riku roughly understood the meaning behind the example, "that you also have a [mind palace] in your brain, and you rely on this to reason and predict?"

If she has hyperthymesia, she could indeed do that... Plus, with the Shinonome family's intelligence network, they could store a vast amount of information for her...

Predictions made under such circumstances are bound to have a high success rate.

"To be precise... mine should be called the morgue."

"what?"

I was startled by this statement.

But Mo Yue said nonchalantly, "In my mind, it's like a super big, boundless morgue, with cubicles all around. Whenever I have a question, I pull open one of the cubicles, and there lies my corpse inside. Then I ask her a question, and she answers me with her eyes closed. After that, I put her back in."

To put it very vividly, Asakawa Riku even felt as if he were already strolling through that chilling, grid-like world.

He suddenly realized something:

"In other words... every time you die, your memories are copied."

Hoshino stared wide-eyed from behind, seemingly surprised that Asakawa Riku had come to this conclusion.

Mo Yue smiled slightly: "Yes. My [Resurrection] will rebuild my brain cells. During this process, all my memories will be copied, but they will not be overwritten. Instead, they will be doubled and stuffed into my brain. If I die at the age of eighteen, I will get the memories from age 1 to 18. If I die at the age of twenty-one, I will get the memories from age 1 to 21."

...And that endless "morgue," how many times has she died with such power?

"I can't remember anymore."

Once again, a prophecy that seemed like a miracle was displayed, and Suezuki unexpectedly answered the question that Asakawa Riku wanted to ask ahead of time.

"This is the truth about your hyperthymesia."

"Yes, constantly replicated memories will deepen every detail of the memory. I can remember every book I've ever read, even which page has which words, and I can recite them word for word. I can also remember every movie and TV series I've ever watched, every street I've walked, the weather that day, the people I've passed by, and all the conversations I've had."

She's like a video recorder, faithfully capturing every day's experience and storing it in her brain.

This ability led to a vastly different breadth and depth of her knowledge, as well as a completely different way of thinking, compared to ordinary people.

At that moment, those beautiful eyes seemed to truly possess a touch of divinity.

With the help of Hoshimi Kohana and the Shinonome family's "All-Seeing Eye," she can have a thorough understanding of any matter she wants to investigate.

Her hyperthymesia gave her a brain like a supercomputer, allowing her to process information and intelligence at lightning speed.

Combining the two can yield predictions with extremely high accuracy.

This is not omniscience or omnipotence, but merely skillful reasoning; she can make mistakes, and she can also fail to see the truth.

So sometimes, "those eyes" malfunction, and that's the truth behind Shinonome Suetsuki's superpowers.

—In a way, she is indeed a detective, yet not a detective.

"But... what does this have to do with side effects?"

"The brain cannot handle so many memories."

Xingyu massaged her temples from behind, while Moyue used her fingernail to pry open the cap of the medicine bottle and took out a white pill:

"This is... the [Forgetfulness Potion]."

I see--!

Asakawa Riku's eyes widened. He remembered that Higashion Suetsuki had used this to poison several of her enemies who had murdered her mother.

Consuming a certain amount can cause amnesia, or even Alzheimer's disease, gradually leading to forgetting past events and difficulty taking care of oneself.

It is a very dangerous poison.

I never expected that she would carry such a dangerous thing with her at all times and eat it like a snack!

"This is a terrible poison for ordinary people, so please don't mistake it for candy and eat it..."

Mo Yue tossed the pill up, caught it with her tongue, and swallowed it: "For me, it's a life-saving medicine."

Judging from her movements, she's already quite skilled at it. She's probably been forced to rely on this drug for some time now.

“Memories from years, decades, or even twenty years rush into my mind all at once. It’s not something I can easily handle. My brain can’t process it. I can only use this drug to forcibly forget the unimportant parts and keep only the necessary ones. Otherwise, I will have a splitting headache or even faint. This is the side effect of ‘coming back from the dead.’”

She smiled calmly, seemingly not finding it a sad thing: "From that perspective, it is indeed a painkiller."

Spring of Items: Spring of Items After 3

"I probably understand."

In conclusion, Shinonome Sugetsuki's superpower is not the "Rinnegan" that allows her to see the past and future, but rather it resides in her brain, or more precisely, in her body.

She can be resurrected; even if her limbs were cut off and her head was severed, she could be resurrected unharmed.

If we use the yokai that Chizuko-senpai likes as an analogy, she's not the bull-headed, human-bodied prophetic yokai [piece] that we previously thought she was; she's more like something else—

Yaobikuni.

Yaobikuni is a figure in ancient Japanese legend. She ate the flesh of a mermaid and lived to be eight hundred years old, still maintaining a youthful and beautiful appearance.

The legends of mermaids in Japan differ from those in other countries. Generally, mermaids are often depicted as having the upper body of a human and the lower body of a fish. However, in Japan, fish with only a human head or a demon head are also called mermaids. In ancient times, the appearance of mermaids was considered an auspicious sign, and the idea that mermaid flesh could be used as an elixir of immortality was also a common belief.

Although Yaobikuni is not a demon, the mermaid she ate was. Using her as a metaphor for Shinonome Suetsuki's situation might be more appropriate.

Because of her ability to come back to life, she developed "hyperthymesia," which gave her the ability to access a "memory morgue," allowing her to make prophetic deductions.

In a way, she does have real talent... She doesn't cheat by looking; she genuinely thinks with her brain.

He's a really strange detective; he can't be summed up in a single sentence.

"But there's still one thing I don't understand."

Asakawa Riku asked, "Since you can't die at all... then why were you afraid of being assassinated last Christmas?"

He then remembered this matter. Since Shinonome Suetsuki had such abilities, even if Ibuki Ren wanted to poison her, he simply couldn't do it.

One can even imagine that she would be able to stand up immediately after drinking that cup of "Divine Poison" wine, and perhaps even recover faster than Asakawa Riku.

“It’s not that I’m afraid just because I can’t die. Although I’ve basically lost the ability to feel pain after so many years of adaptation and evolution, just like Hoshino said, I still try to avoid exposing my ability to resurrect in front of people. Like those Furukawa gangsters who ran me over and witnessed everything, Hoshino silenced them all.”

Mo Yue spoke casually, but Xing Yu still complained:

"Don't make me sound like some cold-blooded executioner. Those people are a threat to Miss's safety, and they are bad people who have done all sorts of evil deeds."

Now Asakawa Riku truly believed that Hoshimi Koha was an assassin capable of pulling dozens of knives from under a maid's skirt.

"Are you worried that revealing your resurrection ability will attract unwanted attention?"

"Yes, even that old codger thinks my ability is just [predicting the future]. The only ones who know this secret and are still alive are the three of us now."

"They're not going to silence me next, are they?"

"That's not the case. But I suspect that Ren Ino back then probably guessed the truth as well."

"What……"

Asakawa Riku asked incredulously, "Ibuki Ren, have you had any contact with her before? How could you have guessed?"

"Who knows? Maybe he really is some kind of genius, one in a million. But don't forget about the [Divine Poison] potion."

As soon as Mo Yue finished speaking, Xing Yu picked up the conversation and said:

"We secretly investigated and found that the Dongyun family had not actually given up on that research project. Although the loss of the Dragon Palace Palace destroyed a large amount of research data, and all the researchers had died, it may take several years to rebuild. However, according to the data we found, the first version of [Divine Defecation and Ghost Poison] had serious side effects that have not been resolved."

"Side effects?" Asakawa Riku asked in confusion, "It's not a superpower, it's just a medicine, can it have side effects?"

"Yes, after all, it was a forced overdraft to amplify oneself and possess such terrifying power, but it also severely depleted one's life force behind the scenes."

Xingyu explained, "According to data estimates, each injection of the Divine Poison will result in a loss of approximately 50 years of lifespan."

It's terrifying; the moment the drug enters the body, a large part of one's life is taken away.

It seems that this is the rule of this world: whether you are an Onmyoji, a superpowered person, or even a mad scientist, you must pay a price to gain power.

"So, Ibuki Ren received two injections back then, which means that even if we did nothing, he would already be dead after the transformation ended?"

"Yes, I'm afraid he was prepared to be martyred, but he just wanted to verify his research results at the end of his life."

Mo Yue said coldly, without any emotion: "He's just an idiot. I won't hand myself over to someone like that."

But I'm embarrassed to say it, but Asakawa Riku actually resonated with it to some extent. If he had even a moment of power that was close to the "Tao," he probably would have pursued it without hesitation.

The saying goes, "If I hear the truth in the morning, I can die content in the evening." Burning one's life for a dream is also a romantic thing.

However, unlike Ibuki Ren, he would not build this dream on the sacrifice of others, nor would he conduct those inhumane human experiments.

This is the essential difference.

"So, that scientist must have been eyeing the young lady's ability to 'resurrect', hoping to use it to find an opportunity to improve the potion."

As Xingyu spoke, he looked disdainful and muttered under his breath, "If I had known earlier, I would have killed him first."

Riku Asakawa remembered that Ren Ibuki had indeed said that she wanted to use Suetsuki Shinonome as a test subject.

He initially thought the research relied on prophetic abilities, but he never expected it to be related to "resurrection." If the side effects of the drug could be removed, it would indeed be close to perfect.

"The old man invested nearly a trillion dollars into that Dragon Palace Palace. He certainly didn't want to become a short-lived superman. Even if he were to become a superman, he would want to become a long-lived one. He's already old, and what he fears most is death. After he dies, his status and wealth will all turn to dust. So he's doing everything he can to prevent that from happening."

The last month's words hit the nail on the head.

Her father, Higashino Kosuke, did not seek the "divine poison" that would transform her into a great demon, but rather the "elixir of immortality," which is equivalent to "mermaid flesh."

Therefore, with the wolves watching, Shinonome Suetsuki must do everything possible to hide her true abilities and remain undetected.

If Moyue had truly been poisoned at that Christmas party, and then miraculously resurrected under the watchful eyes of so many... the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Regardless of whether she is the eldest daughter of the Dongyun family or not, she will definitely be captured and studied.

This is the assassination she truly fears.

"So, you saved me."

Mo Yue pressed her fingers against her cheek, smiling beautifully: "Just tell me what reward you want."

Spring of Items: Spring of Items After 4

"No need for a reward," Asakawa Riku said calmly. "I've already received payment for that incident."

As long as they don't silence me... thinking this, he couldn't help but glance at Xingyu a few more times.

The blonde girl, dressed in a mature suit, still had a youthful and innocent face, and upon closer inspection, she was in no way inferior to the detective.

Especially her deep blue eyes and high nose bridge, along with her somewhat mixed-race features, make her face appear even more exquisite.

But this is not the focus of Asakawa Riku's observation.

...There were no signs of training, unlike the inspector, Kirisame Aoi. That woman had an aura of swords clashing, with sharp eyes and imposing presence.

He was more of a swordsman than a martial artist, but judging from the technique of that imaginary sword, his skill level was not low.

Xingyu, on the other hand, only possessed the naivety of a girl her age. Her smile was sweet, and she often seemed a bit dazed, making it impossible to discern the source of her power.

Does that mean she has superpowers too?

Since she is Shinonome Suetsuki's personal maid, she should have some fighting ability, but we have no clue what kind of ability she has.

Riku Asakawa then realized that he knew very little about Koyu Hoshimi.

Although they had worked together for a year, their "colleague relationship" was practically nonexistent because their work hours were completely different. Hoshino was in charge of weekdays, while Asakawa Riku only came on weekends. Sometimes, they might not see each other for months at a time, unless Hoshino occasionally came to see a prostitute, or Asakawa Riku came after school like today.

In short, encounters are extremely rare.

Does she attend school regularly? Which school? I have no idea, and I've never seen her in her uniform.

Asakawa Riku felt he should pay more attention to this maid from now on. Since he had nothing to do after school, he might as well visit the agency more often...

"By the way, speaking of compensation..."

He mentioned receiving a payment from Wuyu Kui, and that he came over after school today because of this important matter, which he had forgotten about because he was suddenly interrupted by that other thing.

"Should I transfer this money to the firm's account? Or what should I do?"

Why transfer it to an accounting firm?

Moyue tilted her head, but her movement didn't look cute at all. Instead, it was so stiff that she looked a bit like a zombie, making people wonder if she hadn't installed her head properly.