Asi Hell

Capítulo 44

"Stop making excuses. What happened next?"

Masuoka managed to pull his wavering emotions back to normal. He continued in his distinctive tone:

"--It's fine to write the will properly; it's still legally valid now. All of Shibata Yohiro's property will be transferred to Yuzuki Kanako. That's good; Mr. Yohiro's will can be carried out."

"That's wonderful news—by the way, what about that box?"

"box?"

—It looks like a box no matter how you look at it.

Masuoka seemed to have gotten used to Natsukizu's unusual behavior and ignored him as he continued talking. "This guy's learning ability can withstand even greater resistance than Sekiguchi's," Natsukizu thought.

"However, some people familiar with the inside story raised strong questions. To put it simply, they doubted whether Kanako was really Mr. Hiroya's child. Given the previous incident of a fake lover, this question was naturally very reasonable. So after the debate, a line was added to the will—that the will would only be valid if it was confirmed that Yuzuki Kanako was Hiroya's daughter."

"Then."

This was a very difficult task, because everyone who knew about the situation at the time was gone. Hiroya himself had also passed away. It was only fourteen years ago, yet the war caused so much trouble.

Masuoka showed a look of disgust. This indicates that Masuoka himself was assigned by a certain group to carry out this important mission.

"Why don't you just ask the person involved?"

"That's easier said than done."

As expected. Masuoka is a rather poker-faced person, but Natsuki found that he could still tell his mood from the shape of his eyebrows and the size of his nostrils; his face showed that all his hard work was accumulated in these two places.

"However, the conclusion is still that we can only ask Yoko, as you said, since she is the one who gave birth to the child. I also asked Amamiya, but his answer was of no help at all. I think he probably never had any doubts. That's understandable, since Kanako is not Hiroya's child, then these fourteen years have become a long and meaningless period of time for him."

"What about forming an alliance?"

"Yoko would certainly say that it is Hiroya's child, but even if it isn't, she would definitely answer that way. Because Kanako is fourteen years old, and the enormous inheritance is effectively inherited by her guardian, Yoko."

"But how could a woman with obsessive-compulsive disorder who was a fetishist fourteen years ago possibly accept an inheritance?"

"That's the problem. Yoko said she never told Kanako about her father because circumstances prevented her from doing so."

People talked about this past event, so she declined to inherit the estate.

"Haha, so this is what they call relinquishing inheritance rights, right? That's great! Those virtuous people who covet the property will surely be satisfied."

Be overjoyed!

"Don't talk nonsense. That's not good at all."

Masuoka took out a cigarette from his suit pocket, and Torakichi quickly handed him an ashtray.

"If Kanako herself understands the facts and voluntarily relinquishes her right to inherit, that would be one thing. But she doesn't even know she's the heir, does she? Even if she's only fourteen, she's still the heir. There's no reason to disrespect Mr. Yaohong and Kanako's own will and decide based solely on the wishes of a third party, is there?"

As Masuoka finished speaking, he choked on the smoke. He hysterically stubbed out his cigarette, which he had only taken two puffs of, in the ashtray.

"Therefore, I visited the Yuzuki family for several days in an attempt to persuade Yoko."

"Go and beg her to inherit the inheritance quickly, hurry up and inherit it, every single day?"

How foolish.

Of course not. She went to ask her to tell Kanako the truth, so that Kanako could make her own judgment. That's perfectly reasonable, isn't it? Children aren't their parents' property. For Yoko to make such a life-altering decision on her own, even as a parent, is far too arbitrary.”

That being said, it's still not enough to understand Yangzi's desire to sever all ties.

"Yoko stubbornly refuses to reveal this secret to Kanako, and even Amamiya is on Yoko's side. I'm not unaware that Kanako is going through a sensitive and complicated period, but this secret can't be kept forever. What will happen when Kanako grows up and finds out? Yoko will be the one hated then. Besides, I'm not willing to negotiate myself, but I have to respect Mr. Yohiro's will. I also thought about talking to Kanako in person, but they were too protective of her, and I ultimately lost the chance to speak."

"In the end, you lost her—your tone is practically saying you'll never see Kanako again."

"That's right, that's why I've come to ask you to find her. Is there a problem?"

"Whoa whoa."

Masuoka responded with a look that was a mixture of contempt and exasperation. Natsuki was only forced to listen to a long and uninteresting conversation, so he could only give a perfunctory reply, completely forgetting the fundamental reason why he was now forced to listen to this extremely boring account of a great man.

"Kanako Yuzuki suffered a serious accident last month, sustaining severe injuries that left her unable to move. Police currently believe it was a suicide."

"It is believed that Table 1 is not actually true."

Natsume thought, "Why don't we start here?" This thought inadvertently led him to blurt out something sarcastic.

"But the timing of the suicide was just right. If that girl had died immediately, you could have had some less burden. What a pity, such a pity."

"To joke about something like this, to play a trick on someone, is to be so undignified!"

"Don't get angry. Could it be that this is really the work of some great man who doesn't want his fortune to be inherited by a little girl?"

"Stop talking nonsense!"

The contempt in Masuoka's eyes grew increasingly intense.

"If this were a popular novel or movie, the assassin would most likely be portrayed as being sent by the Shibata family. We certainly fit the public's ideal of villains, but that's merely out of jealousy of power and wealth. Do rich people really kill so easily? Reality isn't that simple. As a conglomerate, it's even less likely that they would resort to such thoughtless and risky crimes as murder to solve problems. Perhaps the public thinks that as long as you find a thug who will do the job for a fee, you can just hand them over. But unfortunately, we don't associate with such scoundrels. Besides, if we really wanted to kill, we would have done it long ago."

Masuoka became very agitated, at which point Natsukizu would usually apologize immediately. Masuoka's anger was not due to unfounded suspicion or resentment over Natsukizu's lack of knowledge, but rather because he genuinely wanted to do it but couldn't.

"Anyway, regardless of the truth, Kanako was rescued, although Lin's severe injuries made it seem unlikely she could survive. However, the doctor Yoko knew seemed to be a renowned physician, managing to prolong her life after such a near-death experience. According to my personal inquiry with that doctor named Mimasaka, as long as her consciousness wasn't clouded, she should have recovered in another month."

"original?"

"That's right. The topic has finally come back to the beginning—two weeks after the accident, Kanako, who was lying in bed and needed to rest absolutely, was kidnapped."

Masuoka looked utterly dejected. Perhaps this person is surprisingly naive.

—Ah. It's Kiba.

Those were Yaohong, Kinuki, and Kiba Sode, whom they had known since childhood.

Taro——

"Kiba—you mean that detective?"

“You know Detective Kiba? Could it be that you, Mr. Natsukizu—I just mentioned those people—well, you are a man not to be underestimated.”

Masuoka hastily made a conclusion again.

Natsukizu was very concerned about why Kiba was involved. She tried to clear up the misunderstanding, but it proved difficult to resolve.

"Wait a minute, I really don't know anything. If you're really interested in commissioning this, please explain yourself clearly."

What an unwilling speech! Xia Mujin usually asks his clients to keep quiet, because to him, their words are nothing but boring and of no help whatsoever.

But this time is different; ending the conversation here would be a headache. After listening to a bunch of irrelevant details...

The most important show didn't happen, which is really unbearable.

Masuoka began to speak reluctantly.

It was a kidnapping incident that, no matter how biased one might be, seemed unbelievable and utterly ridiculous.

"It's unbelievable, are the police really doing their job?"

"They weren't doing anything; it was just a bunch of people there. If it weren't for the unresolved inheritance issue preventing us from taking any action, we would have already severely criticized the police for their incompetence—in short, this kind of bastard incident is unheard of—you know, it wasn't a threatening letter sent after the kidnapping, it was a pre-arranged notice. Those police officers knew the kidnappers were planning a kidnapping long ago, but they just gathered together like they were admiring flowers and did nothing!"

In Natsuki's understanding, the police were this kind of group, so he wasn't too surprised.

Is it a poor reaction time, or slow action?

"The operation was swift, but largely ineffective. Quite unusual, the head of the National Police Agency's Kamikawa Prefecture headquarters and the criminal investigation team..."

Five days before the incident, the minister privately visited the Shibata family to inquire about our relationship with Yuzuki Kanako. We couldn't give a public response, as Mr. Yaohong's terminal illness was a secret, and the relationship between Mr. Hiroya and Yoko was known only to those involved. Seeing our evasive answers, the police presumptuously assumed there was more to the story. Considering our influence, they deployed that ridiculously tight security, even reporting to us without our input. So, naturally, we couldn't ignore it; it was just adding another problem for me. When I went to inspect, I received a warm welcome; I wonder what those people were thinking—”

Masuoka seemed very dissatisfied with the police's performance, and rudely took out a cigarette again and lit it casually.

"They probably thought they'd get some reward for doing this; it's like throwing a banquet. Things were already a mess even without doing anything. Now it's even worse. I can't stand it. Unfortunately, no matter how many puppets you pile up, they're still just puppets."

Naoko was crying out that she had been kidnapped, and things had finally gotten out of control.

"But if she's already gone, there's nothing we can do, right? Besides, you said she was a seriously injured patient who needed absolute rest; I think she's probably dead by now."

That's why.

Masuoka's tone unconsciously became more intimate.

The mechanically defensive tone displayed during a visit is mostly just a facade.

Those who converse with Natsuki often find themselves unconsciously shedding their masks and revealing their true selves. This is not due to Natsuki's exceptional conversational skills or interpersonal abilities, but rather because his unconventional behavior completely disregards the other person's title or status.

“Just like you said, if Kanako dies before Mr. Yaohong, the inheritance will be invalid, and everything will be back to square one. Not only that, but the agreement from fourteen years ago, which is the monthly financial assistance to Yoko, will also cease. But…”

"but?"

"If Mr. Yaohong dies before Kanako, this will must be carried out."

"I see."

"Then."

"Then?"

—Ah, Shibata Yoshihiro is already…

"Mr. Yoshihiro Shibata passed away the day before yesterday."

Besides being deliberately mysterious, Masuoka also intentionally remained silent to amplify the effect. Under his deliberate but common performance, the truth reached Natsuki's ears with considerable shock—but if asked whether he was truly shocked, he wasn't. For Natsuki, his only thought was, "Speak your mind."

"In other words, now is the time to execute the will, and there is no time to wait. But the most important heir is missing; not only is his whereabouts unknown, but his fate is also uncertain. This is a very delicate problem. Two months have passed since he was kidnapped."

Ten days. Judging from the severity of her injuries, the possibility of death is quite high. But a possibility is just a possibility; no matter how high the probability, it cannot be a basis for judgment in handling this matter now.

"That makes sense, so that's why you want me to find someone?"

"Please take care of it."

"Aren't there police officers too?"

I really don't want to ask anyone for help.

"The police are completely out of line. They're stuck in a rut, thinking this is all a hoax orchestrated by Yoko herself, going around in circles and refusing to move forward."

"Is that impossible?"

"It's not impossible, but I don't think it's possible."

"no?"

This is my personal opinion, and I don't believe Yoko did it. Let me start with the police's perspective. They believe that even if a third party kidnapped Kanako, it would be impossible to obtain ransom from Yoko—that's correct. Furthermore, Yoko isn't wealthy, so this crime must have been planned with the help of her backer, Mr. Shibata Yohhiro, as only Mr. Yohhiro could afford the money—that's also correct. The police also seem to have conducted a search, and they believe that only Yoko and Amamiya know that Kanako is Mr. Yohhiro's great-granddaughter. Therefore, the culprit must be these two, making it a self-directed hoax—their reasoning is that simple.

"That sounds pretty reasonable."

"That only makes sense on the surface; they only see the part that's relevant. First of all, the number of people who know about Yaohong's relationship with Kanako is actually more than a dozen. People from our organization, people with close ties to the Shibata family—just these alone add up to no less than fifty people. If you include others, there are probably even more. Everyone just doesn't say it, but they've known for a long time."

"I see. So that means some of them were blinded by greed and took the risk?"