messiah novel (you are in shine, part 12)

[devilism]

Woosh, woosh, the twisting wind made that sort of sound.

It was the sound of the power generating wind turbine from a big power company nearby. Around the training center here were a lot of old buildings, over 30 years old, mixed in with the modern high buildings filled with glass, all standing side by side.

Originally there had been a dock around Toyosu, but the site got redeveloped and became a shopping center, so a lot of young people moved there.

But that was just the official story. Even now there were still many old warehouses on the eastern side of Toyosu alongside old-fashioned wooden row houses.

Eiri was in the middle of these old warehouses, looking whether suspicious figures were coming and going from the old buildings.

A retro sign written with an angular font was lying on the black floorboards. An old floorplan where you could see the stairs right away as you entered. In those kinds of buildings people could easily go in and out. Some of the warehouses were left unused.

The roof of an unused high building was a good sniper spot.

Eiri quickly started to investigate the possible sniper spot together with Haku. Even though there could already be enough of a threat without any bullets being aimed at the prime minister's son. They had learned about the kind of threats countries carried out at Maru School, and they had thorough knowledge of the characteristics of each country's specific threat.

If it were America, they would only slip a threatening letter into your bag while you didn't notice, and China would have sent the mafia to use Ushio for some private punishment.

But it was a different matter entirely when the opponent was the North.

(It's still a style of sniping. Making a threat by using paint bullets.)

The peaceful Japanese people would never think of a sniper. Even if the left part of someone's chest was colored, they would just think they got stained through a pen's ink somehow. But what about Ushio's case? He had a secret agent following him. Even if Ushio might think it was just an ink stain, Kaminari would surely report it to the police department. Then the North's intentions would get transmitted well.

"Let's split up. I'll look southward."

Haku silently nodded, and he quickly headed towards the northern side of the building where the examination was being held.

Ushio Yoshiya was not sitting near the windows in the examination hall. That meant you wouldn't be able to aim at him unless there was an intermission.

Mock exams were being held from the morning throughout the afternoon, so all test-takers usually brought along lunch boxes. Some would eat them in the hall, others would eat them outside. Since the training center had a resting spot in the courtyard with a small water fountain, it was possible that they were aiming for him to go to that spot.

(Surely the sound of the water fountain would also drown out any suspicious noises. If they were using a M24SWS, a skillful sniper would be able to hit him from a distance.)

Those paintballs that were used as threats were known for barely leaving any shock when they struck their target, so they weren't noticable. But since they were only able to fly for about a kilometer, there was a limit to the buildings around that could be used, and Eiri and Haku had to go through them one by one to check.

They had to narrow down the possible points based on information. Were they targeting the courtyard, the classroom, or a different place?

Ushio's seat in the classroom was far into the classroom, so it was a big risk to aim during the exam. There was the risk that a different student would be hit, and there was also the possibility that the examiner would notice the suspicious paint. On the other hand, it wasn't certain that Ushio would go out into the courtyard during the break. And since someone would stand out if they were walking around with luggage as big as a sniper gun, the criminal should already have decided the timing and place to aim.

Not the classroom, since there'd be too many people once the exam was over. It isn't guaranteed that Ushio would be eating lunch in the courtyard. So...

(It's the toilet!)

He quickly checked to see where the toilets were. They were perfectly on the south side of the building and had a window. Moreover, the window was opened wide, and the person going to the toilet would have to face them when they'd use said toilet.

There were six urinals for men. Of those there was only one that was difficult to reach from the window. If Eiri put himself in the culprit's shoes, he'd be aiming for that window.

(Backwards calculating the distance from the window, it seems it's 600 meters. It's not that far when you consider the distance between the training center and the surrounding plots of land.)

He checked the time by glancing at his wristwatch. Soon the bell would ring. It was very likely that Ushio would go to the bathroom. He hadn't used a toilet for the last two hours.

Eiri had no choice but to hurry. Eiri took a rough look at the street. He went into one of the high-rise buildings that spies from the North could use to snipe from. He went up to the fourth floor to see if he could hear footsteps, and then turned back.

Many rooms were vacant for the time being, and he especially looked around to see if there were any doors that had been picked open.

(Those people are nowhere to be found...)

He went around all buildings that would be able to aim from the six hunderd meter radius either at the toilets on the south side of the building or the toilets on the same floor on the east side of the building, which Ushio could also possibly use.

But he didn't find any suspicious person in them, not even the shadow of one.

(Maybe me thinking that they'd use a paint ball is just a groundless fear?)

Ichijima might have been cautious in sending a messenger since he knew Eiri was being monitored by the police. With that thought Eiri was about to call Haku who must be running around just like him, but then his hand stopped.

--- With the location of that window, one might be able to aim at it from more than 600 meters away.

Eiri's facial expression turned to surprise.

The men's toilet is an ideal spot for a sniper. After all, the target's chest would be exposed and the target would stand still as well. If you were being careful about it, you would be able to hit the target pretty well even from a bigger distance, especially if it was a trained spy from the North.

Eiri's eyes quickly moved as he expanded the range of his investigation. After looking for about an hour, an old multiple story building caught his attention. Eiri quickly crossed the street, trying to not seem suspicious to any passerby, and stepped inside the building.

It didn't seem to be a popular building. An old sign with "Iijima Building" on it caught his eye. The mailbox next to the stairs wasn't locked, and the nameplate had almost faded away. Usually when buildings got this old they were just bought up and redeveloped.

Eiri went up the stairs, careful to not make any sound of footsteps. Maybe the building had originally been a warehouse for some company or an office for some ship, since many cardboard boxes were left behind at the stairs' landing.

He went up to the fifth floor.

He turned the doorknob that led to the rooftop. The lock was open.

As the door was slowly pushed open, a salty sea breeze blew through the gap.

He knew something was up from the tip of his nose as he caught wind of some scent. Something like insect repellant, some kind of strong chemical...

Eiri squinted without realising it.

(That is...)

There was the shadow of a person.

On the deserted rooftop a long shadow stretched out over the sprawling concrete.

The next thing that came into view was a flute case that was casually left lying around on top of the concrete. ---- No, it was just a little bit too big to be for a flute. Perhaps it was for an oboe or something like that.

(This thing...!)

The reason Eiri was staring wasn't because there was something unusual about the musical case itself. It was since there was a metal cylinder neatly folded up inside of it, obviously the shape of a gun.

(Snayperskaya Vintovka Dragunova!)

A characteristic slender barrel, a skeleton stock type gunstock with a hole in the middle. And the removable cheek piece he had gotten used to seeing. It was a SVD, which were developed during the second Communist Party era in the North, not too long ago.

(There it is, the North's work!)

Eiri's hand quickly slipped into the pocket on his chest, grasping his gun.　Although it was almost the same as the 9 millimeter handgun used by the police, the mark on the slide showing that it belongs to the army had been taken off.

Even as Eiri lifted up the muzzle, the man didn't tremble at all.

It was a tall man. Under his dark purple coat, made of glossy cashmere silk, he was wearing a gray suit. At first sight he had the appearance of a young elite office worker, employed by some foreign country.

The color of his hair was very distinct. His hair was platinum blonde, mixed with hazel.

The shape of his ears too.

Eiri stared at the man.

The shape of the ears was important. Even if someone's eyes or the contours of their face were changed, it was difficult to change the distance between one's eyes and one's nose, along with the tip of their nose and the shape of their ears. That was why Eiri, along with all other Sakura, memorized the photos of foreign spies that had been caught by Public Safety.

Mainly the distance between their eyes and the shape of their ears.

"Kaidou, Eiri."

So the man spoke. It was almost as if he had been waiting on this spot for Eiri.

Eiri stirred as if he had been hit by something.

— — — — — — — — —

Woosh, woosh, there was that sort of sound.

It was the sound of the twisting wind.

The power company's wind turbine broke the wind up into parts.

Somehow Eiri felt like he had become like that wind.

— — — — — — — — —

(That voice.)

And...

(That.. hair colour...!)

He had seen that hair colour before. That platinum blonde hair mixed with hazel.

---- On the day the cherry blossoms fell down in the garden like rain, the man who killed his family.


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