As a synthetic human, he had the ability to release micro oscillating waves from the palms of his hands.
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He could use the talent to agitate a human’s organs into pulp, or make a knife vibrate like a chainsaw.
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The only thing he couldn’t cut through was armor specially designed to resist his attack. Such armor had once defeated his ability.
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Even without the use of his power, he had managed to kill his target...a traitor to the organization named Scarecrow. Mo Murder’s true ability was not his weapon, but his finely honed killer instinct.
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"............"
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Mo Murder was investigating one of the murder scenes.
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It was an ordinary park in a residential area with one slide, four swings, a sandbox, and a seesaw. Over to the side, against the hedge, was a small bench that could maybe seat four.
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The first victim had been found dissected on that bench in the evening, after schools had released their students.
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"......"
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Mo Murder sat down on the solitary bench. For a short period of time, the place had been crawling with reporters and rubbemeckers, but that murder had occurred a month ago. Today, he was alone. The police investigation had long since wrapped up here.
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Mo Murder looked around. There was nothing
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particularly attention-worthy about the site. There were no nearby tall buildings...just a bunch of similarly-sized houses. There was no apartment building where someone might conceivably have been watching through binoculars.
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The park was on a little hill just high enough that the scene of the crime was not Visible from the road.
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However, there wasn’t a fence around it, so anyone cutting through the park would have seen something.
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If the victim had screamed, it would have drawn attention.
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Which meant...the murder happened so fast she never had time to scream. But...
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The murder seemed to be too impulsive for such techniques or power.
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Considering the state of the body, this should have been more calculated, deliberate. . .but it seemed like she had been attacked without hesitation.
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It was just a coincidence that no one saw them...
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I’m sure of that. But then, that would mean this was more like...
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“A carnivorous animal out hunting?” someone
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said.
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He looked up in surprise, and saw a girl standing there.
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When he saw her face, Mo Murder gaped. It was Kirima Nagi...the daughter of one of the men he’d killed.
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“Y-you’re..."
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“Why are you investigating this?” she asked, ignoring his evident shock.
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“I-investigating? No, you must be mistaken. I’m not...”
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“That’s a lie,” Nagi said, firmly.
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She was wearing a jumpsuit made of synthetic leather, and he could not tell how old she was. Though he knew she should only be about fourteen, she looked like she was at least eighteen, and a rather grown-up eighteen at that.
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“Snooping carefully around the scene of a crime, sitting down on the bench and looking to see if there are any tall buildings around, and then muttering to yourself as you try to imagine the killer’s state of mind. . .if you aren’t investigating, just what the hell are you doing? Hmm?”
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He noticed belatedly that she was using very masculine speech patterns.
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At the same time, he realized she had sensibilities rather like his own. She was just as perceptive as he was. The only difference between them was that he would not have spoken to someone else.
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Assassins never did. The only people who did that were “warriors”...people who needed to size up their enemies.
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what does my investigating have to do with
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you?” he said. He already knew the answer.
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And she knew that he knew. Nagi grinned. “Obviously, it relates to me because I’m investigating, too.”
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She was so fearless he could hardly believe she was only fourteen.
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Seeing her like this, Mo Murder found himself feeling relieved. Very relieved indeed.
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I’m glad I didn ’t kill her...
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He was surprised to hear that thought cross his mind. Quickly, he said, “I’ve seen you before. I remember your face,” he said, trying to get his emotions under control.
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“Yeah, my dad was a famous writer. When he
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died there were pictures of me in lots of magazines,”
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Nagi said, snorting.
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handed her his card. “I don’t know...I just felt like I might be able to understand what was happening here,” Mo Murder said. Nagi was sitting next to him now. He was, of course, lying...after all, he could hardly tell the truth.
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“An ordinary salaryman?” Nagi said, looking
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dubiously at Sasaki Masanori’s card.
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“I know, I know. It was just a feeling, and I couldn’t shake it. I felt like I might have something in common with the killer. . .which sounds creepy, but I couldn’t shake the thought.”
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Mo Murder was using an advanced confidence
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trick. By explaining something that could not be explained, the flaws in his reasoning sorted themselves out. He knew from the start that Nagi would hardly accept any normal excuse.
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"........."
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Nagi looked up from his card, and stared at Mo Murder. Glared at him. Those were not the eyes of a child.
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"...and you?” Mo Murder asked. “Why are you investigating?”
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“I’m bored,” Nagi said.
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“Bored?”
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“I’m not in school, so I’ve got nothing else to do but hang around at home. That’s all.”
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“Why aren’t you in school?”
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“I was sick. Missed most of the year, so they won’t let me back ‘til April. I’m on a leave of absence.”
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“Oh...” Mo Murder nodded, accepting her ex-
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planation. “I see.”
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“Okay, Sasaki-san,” Nagi said, standing up.
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“What say we investigate together?”
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“Eh?”
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“You can’t exactly charge this to your expense account, can you? But I happen to be rich,” Nagi said calmly, nothing forced about her manner at all.
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"........."
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He couldn’t think of a reason to say no.
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Five hundred meters away from Kirima, a figure was sitting in a car parked in a position where she could only barely see the park through the gaps in the houses.
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But this figure...Kisugi Makiko, a doctor working at a nearby general hospital...did not have any binoculars. With her naked eye alone, she could make out every detail of every expression of the two figures hundreds of meters away.
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She had come here following the man who called himself Sasaki Masanori. On the way she had realized he was headed for the scene of the first murder, so she’d gone ahead of him to find a place where she could watch from a distance.
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Of course, she was already well aware that Sasaki Masanori was her enemy...her information network extended into the Towa Organization itself.
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But Nagi’s presence surprised her. She didn’t think there was any connection between the two of them. Considering how strong that girl’s sense of justice was, she might be here on her own.
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Nagi-chan...what are you playing at?
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She remembered counseling Nagi when she’d
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been staying at the hospital. No matter how much it hurt, that gleam in her eyes never faded. Yes, that girl might well have the strength Makiko’s taste demanded.
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Do you want me to taste you, then, Nagi-chan...?
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A diabolical smile slid over the lips of the monster now known as the Fear Ghoul.
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2.
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Three years had passed since Mo Murder killed Kirima Seiichi.
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It had been an easy job.
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Kirima Seiichi spent most of his time at home alone, working, so all Mo Murder had to do was sneak into the house, move silently up behind him as he worked, press his palm against Seiichi’s back, and send a shockwave into his organs.
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Kirima Seiichi fell over at once, leaving his partially written manuscript on the table.
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And just as Mo Murder was about to finish him off, he heard a key turn in the front door with a loud click.
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His data had mentioned a daughter, but she
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should’ve been at school. For some reason, she had come home early.
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"........."
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For an instant, Mo Murder debated killing her too. But...
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“I-if my daughter. . .dies too. . .the news will ex-plode. You don’t. . .want that.”
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He turned around at the voice, and saw Kirima Seiichi glaring up at him, dying in horrible pain.
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"........."
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His strength of spirit took Mo Murder by surprise.
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Even more surprising was the fact that the man was right.
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“You knew?”
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He was prepared to die?
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"........."
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Kirima Seiichi just glared up at him. For another moment he debated whether or not he should finish him off.
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But then a bright voice echoed through the house.
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He didn’t have time.
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Mo Murder hid himself in the library, next door to the study. He heard footsteps on the stairs.
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And then she spoke. “I told them I was sick and came home early!” The daughter, Kirima Nagi, then in the fourth grade, opened the door.
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She screamed. A large portion of the room was covered in the blood Kirima Seiichi was coughing up.
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Nagi ran over to him.
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"........."
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Mo Murder watched closely from the next room.
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He was ready to jump in at any moment.
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Kirima Seiichi grabbed his daughter’s hand.
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“Nagi. . .what do you think being normal means?”
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He babbled a few more things that made no sense to Mo Murder, and then passed out. He never woke up again.