Each event is a knot in the rope, a plot point in a puppet show, and above the stage, there is always a hand with white silk threads controlling the puppets as they dance around.
The play reveals one thing: the man behind the curtain can't go in front of the curtain, can't go in front of Ichijō Mirai, can't look him in the eye and ask him what he's up to.
Perhaps in the beginning, when he first realized Ichijō Mirai's traces, he could have pulled the threads without thinking and walked in front of Ichijō Mirai, as he did with the first three knots, but now that time has passed and calmness has returned, he will not walk in front of the curtain, but will only use his fingers to pull the threads and test them without moving.
Ichijō Mirai was satisfied.
He was able to deduce, but he wasn't 100% clear on the details of 'Ichijō Mirai's' and his classmates' pasts and general relationships, so when they were actually together one-on-one, they would probably notice something different from certain details.
Now, this kind of contact without seeing each other is good.
The good thing is that no matter what happens, the other person can't hit him offline.
He spoke cheerfully, explaining for the hesitant Takagi Wataru, "Actually, I'm not sure if those four are police officers, it's just that on a previous commission, a murderer threatened me, saying that my friends are excellent police officers, and after giving out their names, he swore that he would trip me up and make me regret it."
"I'm a little worried."
"I can't find out now, so it's probably not the police, it's just a threat that the murderer made up off the top of his head," Ichijō Mirai sighed, "He went into detail about how good these four officers were, and how they'd been known since the academy, so I'm impressed and a little bit skeptical about these four officers."
Four.
Takagi Wataru was a bit skeptical, "Really?"
He should have.
If he hadn't been so skeptical about the rescue operation, the unlocking notification had come at just the right time, as if someone was listening in.
But it wasn't a question of whether he believed it or not, and whether he did or not, Takagi Wataru could only say, "I see, I thought that you, Mirai-san, knew some police officers and hadn't been in touch with them for a long time and wanted to be sure of their situation."
I also thought that Ichijō Mirai was carelessly trying to find out who the eavesdropper was.
It's just that the situation seems to have gotten a little more subtle with the lag when the archive was closed...
Ichijō Mirai laughed, "How can that be?"
"I'm not from Japan, I don't have any Japanese friends, and as for my other friends, I probably can't really contact them, and my friends can't really contact me,"
"After all, it's transnational," he said lightly, without emphasizing a certain pronunciation, "it's not easy to contact."
Undercover agents, not in touch with other undercover agents.
According to the rules, undercover agents are not allowed to contact each other privately, and if they don't, the top level of police personnel will not be too happy about it.
"But it's really convenient to find out where I'm currently working from the files, so if I make a friend who's a member of the police force, and I have to leave Japan for some reason and come back after a long time, and I lose contact with my friend, I might ask the police to look into it, and it would be a happy thing to find out."
Ichijō Mirai added, "Unfortunately, I'm only confirming it now."
He smiled, "Confirming that the most impressive officers actually exist."
The ones who weren't confirmed weren't the impressive ones.
I hope that someone who's having a good time will do some self-reflection.
Takagi Wataru: "..."
He sensed that the atmosphere was a little bit strange.
It wasn't because of Ichijō Mirai's tone of voice, or the smile of Ichijō Mirai, who was almost in high spirits, as opposed to the lethargic and lazy expression he had just displayed.
Rather, it was because on the screen, in the latest lines of the statement screen, there was an obvious error that had not been corrected.
From the time Takagi Wataru moved away from the page to browse the archive, to the time he closed the archive and came back, a pause of ten seconds or so, there was not a single change in the statement.
That's not normal.
Considering Japan's top-to-bottom rejection of some of the newer items that could lead to class shifts, such as computers, only the very young police officers are relatively comfortable with operating them.
Considering that there are no emergencies in Tokyo right now, and that it's nighttime and the police are a bit relaxed, Takagi Wataru wants to believe that the officer who took the statement went fishing.
He really wanted to believe it.
But his brain made him tap on the keyboard, pretending to hit it by accident, and then delete it immediately.
He waited a few seconds.
The screen moved, and the obvious mistake was corrected.
Ichijō Mirai looked on with a smile, and said casually, "Officer Takagi looks like he has a good temper, so he doesn't get angry very often, does he?"
Takagi Wataru nodded hesitantly, "Yes."
"No wonder you look so good," Ichijō Mirai complimented, "You're not angry."
"Don't be angry, it's not good for your health, but I don't think there's anything to be angry about, why don't you take a step back," he advised.
"Take a step back, the more I think about it, the more angry I get."
Takagi Wataru: "..."
Realizing that he seemed to have been dragged into this, he quickly changed the subject, explaining slightly in passing, pretending not to notice anything, "Because Megure-san is very nice, a very good supervisor, even though he looks a bit chubby and kind, like a soft ball of dough that can be bullied, he's actually very protective of us,"
Usually, the pot never belongs to Takagi Wataru and the others.
Megure Jūzō was a really good boss compared to some bosses who said, "If there's a pot, weigh it reasonably and dump it on the subordinates, it's a small loss, and you'll be better off.
Takagi Wataru respected this officer.
There's another thing: "Also, I was lucky that when I first joined Search Division 1, it was Officer Megure who took me under his wing."
He whispered something quite safe that had absolutely nothing to do with the delicate situation at hand, "I had just graduated from the police academy, and I seemed to have learned everything, and I had good grades, but when I got into practice, I always stumbled, I knew what I had to do, but my hands, feet, and mouth were a little bit out of whack."
"At that time, Mr. Megure taught me almost hand in hand, like a master with a pupil to take me through the practice process, I slowly calm down."
When I first graduated and entered the workplace, everyone was very busy, but there were occasional class reunions, a sort of grievance meeting, where almost everyone complained about their bosses, coworkers, and themselves, all of whom were in a sorry state, like stray dogs that had escaped from a pet store thinking that there was a wide open sky, and that they were free to do as they pleased, but could only go through the garbage cans to fill up their bellies.
In contrast, Takagi Wataru was lucky enough to be enrolled in Search Division 1 and to be taught by a police sergeant.
To him, Officer Megure is almost like a father.