Asi Hell

Capítulo 34

Kiba risked being scolded as he approached the hospital bed, trying to search for traces at the scene.

He considered himself probably the only relatively calm and composed person remaining in this fortress.

Although, in reality, even Kiba was trembling slightly all over, just like Raiko had been earlier.

As a result, I wasn't scolded.

The area around the hospital bed was exactly the same as when Kiba had seen it. The measuring instruments and other equipment were still operating, just as when Kanako was there. Suzaki seemed to have fallen right into the gap between the machine boxes, and although the fall was loud, the marks didn't indicate that he had hit anything.

Peek under the hospital bed.

Kiba was also lying on the floor observing, probably influenced by the officers' actions.

The white blanket covering Kanako fell to the floor. The tubing, tubes, and wires that had been attached to her body were now scattered, radiating outwards from the bed. Looking up, she saw an IV dripping onto the floor. Following the IV bag, she saw the connected tubing, the medication slowly dripping from the needle onto the floor. The prisoner hadn't even touched the IV drip.

However, compared to the careful removal of the IV drip, the prisoner was noticeably more brutal in other areas, as broken plaster was scattered all over the floor.

—There was a sound of plaster being broken: no, not even the slightest sound.

How is the patient in the hospital bed? Kiba stood up.

His eyes met Mimasaka's, and he looked at Kiba with eyes that resembled those of a reptile.

Kiba couldn't stand the gaze and focused his attention on observing the patient on the bed.

A head-shaped indentation remained on the pillow, and when touched, it still retained Kanako's body warmth, proving that Kanako was indeed there until the incident occurred. Kiba's encounter with her was neither a hallucination nor an illusion; this was the evidence.

So—is there a hidden mechanism in this hospital bed? I've seen similar things at shows in Asakusa before—people cut in half, girls disappearing. Right, it's magic. Since it's magic, there must be a mechanism.

However, the structure of the hospital bed is extremely simple, and it is impossible to install any mechanisms on it.

With a thickness of about three inches (ten centimeters), no matter how thin a person is, they cannot hide inside.

The sheets were almost completely undisturbed, probably because Kanako was unable to move.

Only the hands and feet left dents on the bed.

—But something's strange.

Everything about it is strange, but for some reason Kiba finds this part particularly strange.

Almost at the same time that Kiba looked up, Mimasaka looked away from Kiba.

Mimasaka cast a disdainful glance at the disheveled police officers, completely ignoring Ishii and walking silently towards the elevator. His cold, reptilian gaze, before the elevator doors closed completely, momentarily swept over Yoko—at least that's the impression Kiba got. But Kiba couldn't discern the emotion behind that action.

—The problem lies with Suzaki.

Suzaki left the room at some point.

When Mimasaka left, Suzaki was already gone.

—That guy was so scared his legs went weak.

Terrified, I crawled away—but the setting of this room didn't allow for such an action.

The floor was covered with wires and hoses, making movement difficult. Furthermore, there was no straight path between the hospital bed and the door, making it impossible to run without knocking over the measuring devices on the floor. In fact, even the police officers tripped several times, making a fool of themselves.

But Suzaki disappeared from the room even earlier than anyone else. According to the testimony of the police officer outside the room, he was carrying...

The little box, shouting "Oh no, oh no!", hurriedly ran down the stairs.

It's unknown when that happened—a few minutes after Kanako disappeared. No one knows when Kanako disappeared—or rather, when her disappearance was discovered.

—How foolish.

There were more than twenty police officers, but no one knew for sure.

The only certainty was the time when Mimasaka took the elevator to the second floor. That was precisely the moment when the police officers waiting on the first floor and outside heard about the emergency and a large number of people rushed up the spiral staircase. At the same time, in the first-floor corridor, two police officers were queuing to use the restroom, and one of them checked his watch.

The time is 6:18.

Therefore, Suzaki left the room before this.

Kiba and his group entered the reception room at 6:32. Kiba's subjective feeling was that Kanako had been in that room for a full twenty minutes after she disappeared. If his feeling was correct, then she must have disappeared around 6:00.

Therefore, Suzaki must have gone down the spiral staircase between 6:00 and 6:18. The police on the first floor and outside reportedly only realized what had happened after hearing Suzaki's shouts.

Ishii's first instruction to the officers was to take Kiba and his group of four to the reception room. During those thirty minutes, Ishii was completely ineffective. Therefore, it was only natural that Suzaki would be the first to notify the officers. But—

This means that Suzaki has been outside.

That's right, Suzaki took the small case containing the machine outside.

The police officers outside had no idea something was happening inside the building; they had been on guard, assuming the enemy must have invaded from the outside. So when they heard what was happening inside, they panicked. Suzaki opened the door, and several officers rushed to the doorway. Upon seeing the officers, Suzaki frantically pointed to the ceiling and shouted, "Upstairs! Upstairs!"

Upon hearing this, the police officers immediately rushed towards the spiral staircase; Suzaki must be...

I took this opportunity to go out.

His actions seemed highly suspicious.

Kiba suspects Suzaki. Suzaki was the first to discover the empty hospital bed where Kanako was missing, making his testimony crucial, as he was the first to discover it. However—the police officers will forever lose the opportunity to hear this invaluable testimony from the first discoverer.

Because when Suzaki was discovered after that, he was already a corpse.

Under the incompetent commander, the thirty-odd police officers became a complete mob, frantically and repeatedly performing meaningless actions. Finally, they even thoughtlessly ordered all the officers outside to enter the building. This inappropriate situation, with no one guarding the area around the building, continued for nearly thirty minutes.

Suzaki was murdered during this period, which was clearly the fault of the police and there is no way to deny it.

Therefore, the most suspicious person at present is Amamiya, whose whereabouts are unknown.

Two days later, Amamiya was placed on a nationwide wanted list as a suspect in a kidnapping and murder case. There was no evidence whatsoever, not even a clear motive. However, for the Kanagawa headquarters, they had no other options besides suspecting the person who disappeared at the scene. But even assuming Amamiya was the culprit, there was still no way to explain how Kanako disappeared. Besides, Amamiya wasn't in the room when Kanako disappeared.

Amamiya could not possibly be the culprit.

Kiba held this view. However, if the prisoner was inside the building at the time, there was no other suitable candidate besides Amamiya.

—Oh, and Koda too.

I didn't expect there to be someone like Koda at the time.

The chaos lasted for several hours.

With Ishii's wisdom, it seemed that he had no other solution than to gather the outsiders together. After sending Kiba to the reception room, he did not decide on any clear search strategy.

After Suzaki's body was discovered, Ishii finally realized the gravity of the situation. The police were able to resume normal operations around 8 PM, two hours after Kanako's disappearance, and the forensic team arrived an hour later, after 9 PM. During this time, Kiba, Fukumoto, Yoriko, and Yoko were kept under house arrest in the reception room without even being questioned. The officers moved around like ants scurrying from a disturbed anthill.

—You can't blame them for that.

Kiba thought, there was simply no reason for such an outrageous thing to happen. A seriously injured patient, lying motionless with his entire body covered in plaster casts in a building guarded by twenty police officers from the township, had vanished suddenly under police watch. It was impossible; it was too illogical.

The inexplicable incident that occurred in July was also related to the locked-room disappearance incident, but this time the situation is different from that one.

One must not make mistakes or misjudgments.

—Supernatural phenomena.

Kiba learned this term during the previous incident; it seemed to be used to describe inexplicable events that defy human understanding. Kiba believed...

Supernatural phenomena may exist, but I really don't want to admit that such a thing has actually happened around me.

"What's going on? What's going on, Mr. Kiba? Kiba Kyobi? What exactly is happening?"

Fukumoto, who hadn't initially frozen in shock, immediately thawed upon entering the reception room, then began exhibiting hyperactive behavior regressed to that of a child. Kiba, exhausted and unable to tolerate it any longer, yelled at him.

"So annoying!"

This roar silenced Fukumoto.

Then silence took over the entire room.

Yangzi was the first to speak.

"Where is Amamiya?! Where is Amamiya, Mr. Kiba? Amamiya isn't here. Do you know where he is?"

Yoko faced Kiba, but didn't look at him. Her pale face was almost entirely without makeup, but it wasn't much different from when she was wearing makeup. Perhaps due to the fluorescent lights, it looked as transparent as the skin of a newly emerged cicada. The only makeup was her lipstick, which appeared exceptionally crimson.

"I just asked the police officer, and it seems he left the room at the same time the station chief came in. If he went out, of course he wouldn't know about this commotion."

Kiba kept the volume as low as possible.

"Where did they go—at a time like this…?"

The voice was too soft; I couldn't hear what was said at the end.

Suddenly, I noticed that the low-frequency mechanical sound had returned.

It should have been ringing continuously, but perhaps because my ears had gotten used to it, I didn't even realize it until just now.

“Miss Yoko, such an illogical thing has still happened. If we continue to leave it to Ishii, who knows how much worse the situation will become. Please, tell me the details, and I will definitely find Kanako…”

"But Mr. Kiba—"

Fukumoto started talking too much again.

He had no idea how much effort Kiba had put into choosing the most appropriate words to say to Yoko. But that was strange. Even without careful selection, Kiba's vocabulary remained limited; choosing or not making a difference didn't really matter.

"I'm not familiar with the perpetrator's methods or the medical aspects, but kidnapping a seriously injured patient is highly illogical. Even if kidnapping is necessary, it only makes sense if the hostage is alive. If the hostage dies immediately after being kidnapped, there's no way to get the ransom. If it were a minor injury, you could use it to intimidate them, saying things like, 'If you don't pay quickly, the patient's life will be in danger,' but that's what Kanako said."

"It seems my sister is in a bad state..."

"Didn't you hear me say you're annoying?!"

Kiba was furious; of course he knew about such a trivial matter.

Kiba had already considered this countless times when he received the threatening letter: it was a murder disguised as a kidnapping. The very thought of taking a patient wrapped up tightly from head to toe was murderous. Even maintaining her life required so many machines, IV drips, oxygen, and plaster casts... Kanako was like a fragile object, needing meticulous care.

"Gai Zi—she won't die, she won't die so easily..."

Yangzi said.

"What do you mean? Has Kanako's condition recovered to that level?"

"What a stupid bastard." Kiba grabbed Fukumoto by the collar and pulled him over. He glared at him with the most terrifyingly fierce face.

He looked at the woodyard, seemingly unable to comprehend the situation, and said, "Now that things have recovered, I can rest assured."

Kiba punched Fukumoto without saying a word.

Fukumoto probably didn't know why he was beaten up, but Kiba didn't care. Fukumoto swayed and sat down on the ground, staring blankly at Kiba, then at Raiko, but of course no one helped him up. Fukumoto was still oblivious, and probably only then realized that he shouldn't speak, so he covered his left cheek and retreated to a corner of the room.

Lai Zi suddenly spoke up.

"Kanako won't die, sister."

Her tone was cheerful. Kiba, hearing this inappropriate "voice," couldn't help but doubt his ears. It was unbelievable that those words came from the mouth of a girl who had just been trembling uncontrollably, as delicate and frail as a baby. Raiko's expression remained perplexing. Yoko stared at her in disbelief, and Raiko even smiled, saying, "Kanako has become a celestial being alive! I heard it. From the time of the accident until today, Kanako was a pupa, and today she has finally transformed into a butterfly, ascending to heaven as a celestial maiden. This is called ascension to immortality."

Kiba was baffled; this girl was indeed beyond his comprehension. Moreover, this little girl knew many terms Kiba had never even heard of. "The Five Signs of Decay of the Celestial Being," "Corpse Dissolution Immortal," "Ascension to Immortality"—these terms always popped up whenever Kiba heard Raiko's indiscriminate talk about delusion and reality, and Kiba didn't even know how to write them.