Chapter 104: Inspector Megure, You're Here Too! (Patreon)

Several fire engines and police cars had surrounded the Kabuki-za, and the firefighters hooked up their hydrants and began fighting the blaze.

Officers from the Metropolitan Police Department canvassed the onlookers, trying to learn what had started the fire and what had killed the bodies at the entrance that the flames hadn't touched.

Then one witness said he'd heard gunshots inside the Kabuki-za, and the young male officer's face changed at once.

Takagi jotted the information down in his notebook, then turned and ran toward the entrance of the burning theater, not far away.

An inspector in a brown trench coat and hat, with a slight beer belly, stood there keeping order and telling the gawking crowd to stay back from the cordon.

"Inspector Megure, I have important information to report!"

"Hm?" Megure turned at the shout and saw Wataru Takagi hurrying toward him.

Megure told the other officers around him, "I'll leave this to you. I'm going to see what Takagi has."

"Yes, Inspector Megure."

Megure patted the winded Takagi on the shoulder and led him off to a quiet corner.

"Takagi, my boy, what have you found?"

"I was canvassing the area just now. Someone said that before the Kabuki-za caught fire, they heard gunshots from inside."

"Gunshots?!" Megure's eyes went wide. This was no joke. Japan was a country with a gun ban.

"Anything else?"

Takagi nodded and went on. "Witnesses saw a man and a woman go into the Kabuki-za earlier. The people at the entrance only died after those two went in."

"Quite a few people saw holes blow open in their chests, with no warning at all."

"Inspector, could it have been a sniper rifle?"

Megure mulled it over for a moment without answering. Instead, he went to the forensics unit and asked whether any bullets had been found in the bodies.

The answer was no. Then several forensic examiners who'd been checking the bodies spoke up. "Judging by the wounds, it doesn't look like external force. They look more like they burst open from the inside."

"It could be a remote-controlled bomb inside the body, but we'll need to get them back to the lab for a more accurate analysis."

"Also, these bodies have scales like a snake's. They look like they were growing there all along. Strange."

Hearing that, Megure's scalp prickled. This no longer seemed like something he was equipped to handle.

"That's enough. Thank you for your trouble. Leave the bodies here for now, and don't take them away. Takagi, go help keep order."

"Yes, sir!"

When he'd finished, Megure took out his phone and called his superior, whose surname was Inuyama.

"Superintendent General Inuyama, this is Inspector Megure. I have something to report from the scene!"

Megure relayed the situation. After a moment's thought, the voice on the other end said, "Understood. Keep the scene secured."

"People from the Serpent Eight Families will come to investigate. Until they have their results, nobody is to enter or search the site."

"By the way, how's the fire?"

"Under control. Rescue operations should wrap up soon."

"Good. That's all, then."

Hearing the line go dead, Megure relaxed. Inspectors like him, promoted from ordinary civilians, had all been briefed and trained, and had signed non-disclosure agreements.

So he knew a little, more or less, about hybrids.

If this report held up, his position would probably get another boost soon.

"Good thing Kudo wasn't around here, or this would've gotten troublesome."

Megure sighed to himself. After waiting on the spot for half an hour, he saw a refined-looking man in black-rimmed glasses walking toward him, surrounded by a crowd of mobsters.

No surprise, these had to be the people Superintendent Inuyama had mentioned. Megure went up to greet them in person. "I'm Megure, in charge of the scene. Are you Superintendent Inuyama's people?"

The man in the lead, hands in his pockets, answered with a lazy swagger. "That's right. We're from the Serpent Eight Families."

Having confirmed their identity, Megure breathed a sigh of relief. "The firefighting is still underway. You may have to wait a little while."

"Just call me Crow. Take us to the bodies first."

Crow waved a hand carelessly, every inch the standard-issue thug.

"No problem. We haven't moved any of them."

Megure led Crow and the others to the bodies by the Kabuki-za entrance. A few of the mobsters stepped forward to examine them, then looked up at Crow in astonishment.

"Boss Crow, they're Fierce Ghosts!"

"What?!" Crow froze. How could Fierce Ghosts members die here? None of the other departments had heard a whisper of anyone fighting the Fierce Ghosts.

"Are you sure they're not just Ghosts who fell by chance?"

The mobster nodded earnestly. "I've seen those guys' faces. And even if they were fallen Ghosts, there's no way they all fell at the same time."

"Hiss... Now this is getting interesting. We'll have to notify the Young Lord."

Crow looked at the Kabuki-za, where only faint flames remained, and decided to go in and see for himself. The fire was nearly out anyway, and with a hybrid's physique, a little preparation would keep him from dying.

"Go borrow a few sets of fire suits and come in with me."

Megure hurried over to the fire crews to negotiate and borrowed several sets.

Crow and a few others suited up and walked into the Kabuki-za. Powerful flashlight beams cut through the smoke. Charred bodies lay everywhere on the ground.

Plenty of scales on the corpses had survived the flames.

"Hiss... Sure enough, they're all Ghosts. Was this a Fierce Ghosts base?"

Crow sucked in a lungful of hot air and muttered to himself.

So who had done this? It definitely had nothing to do with the Serpent Eight Families.

Wild hybrids, maybe? Or someone sent from Cassell?

Had they found out the Fierce Ghosts were researching a bloodline evolution drug, and, unable to stand it, wiped them out?

"Boss Crow, we found something here!"

Crow heard the call and rushed over. Behind the burned-out stage stood an elevator, scorched black and cracked.

He reached out and pushed the charred, blistering elevator door. With a creak, the door toppled into the shaft, revealing the pitch-black void behind it.

He stuck his head in and looked down. The elevator car was still sitting below.

"Give me a fire rope. I'm going down."

Hearing that, a few mobsters tied the other end of the rope around themselves to serve as anchors.

Crow took the free end and slid down the shaft, and was soon standing on top of the elevator car.

He untied the rope, shed the fire suit, and pulled an alchemic dagger from his waist. With it he cut a hole in the ventilation hatch just big enough for one person.

Flashlight in one hand and pistol drawn in the other, he jumped into the car.

After landing, he scanned his surroundings warily. There was no danger in sight, but he didn't let his guard down. He stepped out of the elevator and into the charred, blackened basement.

The smell in the air was complex, like the stench of burnt meat.

He swept his flashlight around. Apart from a charred corpse on the floor at the far end of the room, there was nothing else.

But no single person could give off a smell like this.

Crunch!

A strange sound came from under his feet. He frowned and shone the flashlight down, his expression turning odd.

He crouched and picked up some of the black-and-white powder and sniffed it. A hybrid's excellent sense of smell broke down the composition of the ash covering the floor.

Human flesh. Bone ash. Wood shavings.

"Shit! This is people?"

Crow's face changed. He stared at the ash blanketing the entire floor, and a chill crawled up his spine.

"Are these all people?!"