Chapter 13 Section 1

"I asked the police to help me check. Someone tampered with the brakes. I heard that the police are going to file this as an attempted murder." The mayor returned to the sofa and said after finishing the phone call. "Do you need to do something about this?" I asked. "It doesn't take much effort, and a skilled person can finish it in a few minutes." "Have you checked who has entered and exited the parking lot of Mizushima Mansion?" "Although there are shutters, it is said that most of them are open. This mansion is very large, and there are many gardeners coming and going. Even if someone approaches the car, it is not good to ask questions deliberately."

"Who was in that car last?" I asked. "Two days before Mizushima was killed, I took a ride with the driver. That car was dedicated to Mizushima. If there were other people in the car, it would be Mr. Kuromoto, the housekeeper. It is said that after Mizushima was killed, the driver Never touched that car." "So he hasn't touched that car for several days?" "Yes." The mayor nodded. I crossed my arms and thought for a while.I still have a belt wrapped around my right arm, which was injured when the car hit a mound of dirt.Fortunately, that was the end of the matter.

This is the mayor's office of the city government.After Xiaolu and I answered the police's questioning at the scene of the accident, to be on the safe side, we went to the hospital for a detailed examination of brain waves and other items, and then came here.Luckily, I, Mr. Green and Mr. Heimoto were not injured much. "Could the murderer be Akio Mizushima?" Xiaolu said. "Qiuxiong...why?" "Since he wants to kill his father, he might tamper with the car." "In other words, he has prepared two methods of killing in the secret room and destroying the brake device?"

"Is this impossible?" "It's not impossible. But in general, the second method is only used if the first method doesn't work, right? No one implements both at the same time." "It's Akio's brother or sister," said the mayor. "They all want Mizushima dead. It's not surprising that they have another plan until they are sure that Akio will kill his father. But, Akio's plan ahead." "There are still people who want to kill Mizushima—I agree with this statement, but if a certain child did it, after confirming that Mizushima was killed, he should restore the brake device. Because it is no longer needed, leaving evidence instead very dangerous."

"That's true." The mayor pressed his temple, "Then, Mr. Tianxiayi, how do you reason?" "I don't have any clue yet." I shook my head and straightened my glasses that were slightly off. "But I can assure you that what the murderer wants is not Yuichiro Mizushima's life." "Oh?" the mayor looked at me, "whose is that?" "I don't know." I replied.Actually, I already know that, but I'm not going to say it here. "Oh." The mayor said, tapping the table with his fingertips a few times, "ah, anyway, let's leave this investigation to the police, don't you think?"

"Okay. Just, information..." "I understand. I will let them report the information they find in time." "Please." I lowered my disheveled head. "By the way," the mayor rubbed his hands, looked at Xiaolu and me, "I heard that Mr. Shunsuke Hida visited Mizushima residence the day before Mizushima was killed." "Yeah, the purpose is unknown. It may be related to the matter of the Memorial Museum Preservation Committee." "He is also a member of the committee. Why did he find Yuichiro Mizushima? It is puzzling that only two of them met." The mayor looked into the distance blankly.He seemed to have his own thoughts and was thinking.

"What kind of person is Shunsuke Hida? I heard from Xiaolu that he is a writer." "Exactly, a writer." "What does he write?" "This... how should I put it, some fictional works with social issues as the theme." "Is it a social novel?" "If there is such a faction, it should belong to this category." The mayor said and nodded. "I heard it's a best-selling author." "Ah, it seems to be. But I don't know the current situation. There are rumors that his works have not sold well recently." "Is it because of the bad economy?"

"There may also be reasons for this, but it may be more because readers are tired of his novels. I have read a few of them." He looked at the bookshelf, and continued, "A stern-faced uncle is frowning and investigating the case — all stories like this. It's shoulder-sore and nothing new." "It's so harsh." It makes me a little uncomfortable to hear Xiaolu belittle writers like this.This reminds me that in the original world I was a writer. "I want to visit Mr. Hida tomorrow." I said. "No problem, I'll get in touch later." The mayor was very straightforward and seemed to be very satisfied with my previous job.

Back at the hotel, I ate at the underground restaurant and returned to my room.The room is slightly small, and the single bed seems a bit big.I undressed and threw it on the bed, went into the bathroom, and turned on the shower.I would have liked to have a good soak in the bathtub, but on my first day here I found out that if you keep running the hot water for more than ten minutes, the water gets icy cold.So, I had to abandon that extravagant idea. After a cursory wash of my matted hair, I washed my face and body. Next, I'm going to look in the mirror and shave off my beard.At this moment, something came into view.

On the foggy mirror, words appeared.To be precise, a line of words appeared on the mirror surface where there was no fog, as if written with soapy water. The text is as follows: Return to the original world, or die! Looking at that line of rather clumsy words, my whole body was stiff and I didn't know what to do. My heart beat gradually, my back felt cold, but my armpits were full of sweat. I wiped off the words on the mirror with a towel, walked out of the bathroom in the bathrobe provided by the hotel, and sat on a chair, unable to calm down for a long time. I remembered what happened during the day.

Since the murderer was not going to kill Yuichiro Mizushima, it must be me. This explanation is the most reasonable.It was definitely not the butler that the murderer wanted to kill.The butler drove the car to see us off, and it didn't have to be him.It could also be the original driver.In any case, the murderer would not use such a low hit rate killing method.It won't be Xiaolu either, his target is indeed me. So, the murderer was watching us somewhere, and when he knew someone was going to drive me away, he did something quickly.So, when did the murderer start targeting me? The answer can be judged from the text just now. "Back to the original world" - this sentence is of great significance.In this strange and twisted world, there is someone who knows that I am from another world.That person, from the moment I came into this world, has been eyeing me and wants my life. The latter sentence deeply hurt my heart - "Otherwise I will die".