Huh?
Ichijō Mirai looked over at the sound of the car and raised one eyebrow.
The windows were closed and there was only the dull sound of a moving car, Kudō Yūsaku's voice clearly reached his ears, so he was a bit surprised.
That third-rate detective who specialized in taking pictures of money and finding cats had guessed that it was 'Messiah' who had saved his daughter?
The whole of Tokyo knew about the kidnapping because of the news, but not that many knew who the police officer who was tracking the kidnapping was, and Ichijō Mirai wasn't sure how many trusted people Onidzuka Hachizo and Matsumoto Kiyonaga had talked to about it, but he could roughly tell that in just a few hours only a few hundred people at most would know about it. Knowledge.
Those who did know were either the instructor's or administrator's confidants, the confidants of their confidants, or the officers at the front line.
And to know that, this 'Mr. Mochidzuki' is something special.
At least, he wasn't just a detective who specialized in taking pictures and finding cats, which robbers despised, but he had some skills... Wait, this is Japan.
Ichijō Mirai thought hard: the reason why the detective and the police are related is because the detective is smart, uncomplicated, capable of solving crimes, and has a normal IQ, right?
It's not 'helped the police officer to take pictures of his wife cheating', 'have the police officer cheating on his wife' and 'pleased the police officer's wife, so through the wife's association to hold on to the police officer's thighs' or something like that, right?
"'Messiah'?" Suzuki Sonoko repeated, she subconsciously looked sideways at Ichijō Mirai and nodded hesitantly, "Should, should be."
She thought Ichijō Mirai did indeed look like a Messiah, almost wrapped in bright sunlight as he poked his head out of the window, like a glittering Savior.
A good fox.
Not one of those badass foxes that friends say disguise themselves as humans near convenience stores, squint their red eyes and wag their tails, and then devour small children when they're not looking.
"I was saved by a black-haired, red-eyed police officer," Suzuki Sonoko adds, "We were driving away, and he asked me to ask where you should go."
The cell phone was large compared to a child's, and the way she held it up with both hands to make the call was very well behaved, and her tone was even better, exchanging a few words in a low voice with Kudō Yūsaku before she held it up again and handed it to Ichijō Mirai, "Police brother, uncle would like to talk to you."
She couldn't help but fix her gaze on Ichijō Mirai's red eyes.
Ichijō Mirai heard her and casually picked up the phone, "Hello?"
"Hello, Officer Mirai," Kudō Yūsaku called Ichijō Mirai by his first name instead of 'Kujō', which was Ichijō Mirai's current apparent last name, sounding intimate, "May I explain the current situation?"
In what should have been a crisis situation according to an outsider's assumptions, his tone was calm and collected when facing Suzuki Sonoko, but when facing Ichijō Mirai, he was relaxed and even smiled a little, as if he had guessed that the situation must be quite good.
"I questioned Administrator Matsumoto, but the police haven't arrived at the factory yet, so I'm not sure what's going on at the scene."
Ichijō Mirai: "..."
If 'Rescuing Kidnapped Children' is a copy, the robbers are the bosses, Ichijō Mirai is the player, and the police are the accessory NPCs.
NPCs who can't even catch up with the player, and who can't even gain any experience from going through the quest while the player is skipping countless steps to fight the boss.
After rescuing the hostages, Ichijō Mirai didn't even contact the police, who of course didn't know much about the situation...
It's not Ichijō Mirai's fault that he didn't contact the police in a time of crisis, nor is it the police's fault that they were so incompetent that they couldn't keep up with the police's actions, and waited for the police to be free to pass on information before launching an operation.
It can only be attributed to the urgency of the situation.
Ichijō Mirai, who reacted to the emergency and acted decisively, was certainly not a maverick officer who left the police alone and acted without any discipline, but an accomplished man who made a difference.
After a pause of a few seconds, Ichijō Mirai couldn't help but laugh, and changed his judgment of Kudō Yūsaku in the first file, and re-labeled it: a smart man.
A smart man with a nice voice.
He glances in the rearview mirror and explains the situation for the smart guy, "The robbers are running for their lives."
Actually, he and Suzuki Sonoko are running for their lives, from the robbers.
But it's now.
If the robbers don't get rid of them in a less crowded area, then they could be surrounded by the police at any time if they persist in tracking them down in the busy city.
The robbers will have to stop near the busy downtown area, and switch from chasing the hostages to splitting up and running away.
The question is: Can the robbers, who have not yet caught the scent and are still wandering around the factory until they reach the busy city center, really catch up with Ichijō Mirai?
No.
So after a few moments, the situation was that the robbers were running for their lives.
Ichijō Mirai doesn't explain, and when he's done, he reminds Suzuki Sonoko, "Hold on, I'm going to start racing."
Without changing his expression, he stepped on the gas pedal and began to accelerate with a sharp, ear-splitting sound of tires scraping against the ground, almost treating the car like a race car, causing the street scene outside the window to appear as a stuttering shadow.
Suzuki Sonoko grabbed her seatbelt and shrunk into a ball on the passenger seat in a panic.
As she panics, the system alerts her: [Blue bar rising, currently at [77%].]
Ichijō Mirai glanced over, and without a change of color, he accelerated again, tapping his hand on the steering wheel: It's only 77%...
Even with the boost from handing over the hostages to the police, Suzuki Sonoko's blue bar was just over 80% at the end of the mission.
"I see," Kudō Yūsaku spoke again after a short silence, "May I ask where you are now, and the Matsumoto administrator will send some defense officers to meet you."
As for the police officers who were already on their way, they of course switched their goal of action from looking to free the hostages to intercepting the fleeing robbers and killing them in one fell swoop.
Ichijō Mirai scanned the passing street scene outside the window, referring to the time he took to get from the factory to the police station in the first file, made a simple estimate, and vetoed it, "No, it's too much trouble to make a connection, if I just need to go to the police station, I'll be there in five minutes."
He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel and politely inquired, "Ms. Mochidzuki still seems to be in a bit of shock and I'm afraid she needs to see her parents right away, may I ask where her parents are, if they're far away, I can take her directly to them."
"She's still young enough to have been kidnapped and if she's not calmed down in time she may be left with some unfortunate stress reactions."
Suzuki Sonoko: "?"
The car was going so fast that even with the windows closed, she could feel the biting wind on her face like an illusion when she occasionally looked out of the window, and was trying her best to settle herself in the passenger seat with her hands and feet when she suddenly heard her pseudonym, and reacted for a few moments before looking up a bit bewilderedly, "Eh?"
She didn't really need to be reassured.
As a child of a rich family, especially the children of a zaibatsu, as long as they don't have IQ problems, the children are more or less taught what to do after being kidnapped, Suzuki Sonoko is not quite like the Suzuki Group's youngest daughter, and she usually keeps a low profile, no different from the children of an ordinary family, but she has also learned about the relevant aspects of the matter.
That's why she was more calm and collected than a normal kid when she was kidnapped, and her most frightening moment was when she was confronted by the kidnappers who might have ripped her off after their actions were revealed and her photo appeared in the news.
After being rescued, her mood stabilized in a straight line, almost as usual, except for some shaky hands and weak legs, which were the aftermath of the kidnapping and a side effect of the car race, but otherwise there was even a little bit of excitement.
Because there's a handsome man.
She looks at Ichijō Mirai, then back at Ichijō Mirai, and while pressing her body against the corner of the passenger seat and the car door with her hand, she whispers without blinking, "I'm actually relieved to have police brother around."
Ichijō Mirai heard that and smiled at her, "No, you're not."
He was serious, "We're just out of danger now, and Mr. Mochidzuki may still be emotionally stable, but when the incident is over, and the police have closed the case, in the dead of night, that sense of safety at being rescued will fade, and the instinctive stress of human beings will flood in like a tidal wave,"
"We have to give Ms. Mochidzuki enough security at the first opportunity, and now it's not enough."
That's true.
But this was something that the hostage's parents and psychiatrist should have considered, and it was a bit odd for a police officer to say it in a serious way.
Kudō Yūsaku paused for a few moments before saying, "Okay, her parents will be here as soon as possible."
"If nothing else, they'll be here in about ten minutes." He gave a more precise time, and added, "While watching the news about the criminal disguise and the bank maneuver, I became curious about you, who seemed to have subtly different guidelines in the two events,"
"After hearing the different descriptions of you from Administrator Matsumoto and Mr. Onidzuka, I became even more curious about what kind of person you are, but until now, I didn't understand why the police refer to you as 'Messiah'."
"When describing you, 'Messiah' is indeed a very apt term."
That sounds like a very flattering compliment.
Sounds like.
Ichijō Mirai pondered for a moment, and then pondered for a moment, and also complimented back with a high level of intelligence, "Mr. Mochidzuki is also very unexpected, I heard the robbers say that you are a detective who is very good at filming derailments and finding cats in all sorts of magical places, and I thought that you're one of those third-rate detectives."
"I didn't realize that you are actually a gentle and elegant gentleman detective, can cultivate you so calmly elegant and cultured, you must be a good family, often in and out of the high society party of the noble son, right?"
"What a surprise," he sighed, "it's a lucky day that someone like me with no family background can one day talk to a rich and powerful nobleman."
'Messiah' is a compliment, but, in reality, it's a subtly condescending presence.
'Noble son' is also a compliment, appearing in reality will be honored by countless people, but in private, will also pull a lot of hate value.
The two terms are equal.
But while Kudō Yūsaku is a subtle hint of temptation, Ichijō Mirai is so blunt that even a child can understand that something is wrong, and makes Suzuki Sonoko look nervously at her in a clear and conspiratorial way.
How could the player be so tolerant!
They're going to go back to their old school anyway, so they're going to have a good time first!
Ichijō Mirai doesn't change his face, "If there's nothing else to do, I'll hang up, right?"
Kudō Yūsaku:"..."
"I apologize for being rude," He couldn't help but laugh, "but there is an untimely matter of business that I would like to make clear."
"Darkness is not a place to stay for long. Those who are unfortunately lingering in darkness may be worth trying to save, but the devil who has stained the darkness is really not a good person. Rather than entrusting it to the wrong person, it is better to make a quick decision. What do you think?"
At the end of the sentence, his voice was still very soft, but the smile was gone, and there was a bit of a stern look on his face.
Ichijō Mirai: "?"
Huh?
What is this 'Mr. Mochidzuki' talking about?
Ichijō Mirai wasn't sure why he was suddenly entrusted with a hostage he was rescuing, and he shot back with a skeptical, "That's not necessarily true... perhaps those who languish in the darkness are incompetent? There are always those who are not destined to accept that they can only survive, like Ms. Mochidzuki, who was kidnapped at the age of seven or eight, but still managed to muster up the courage to fight back as much as she could over and over again."
What 'devil who has stained the darkness'...you're not talking about 'Satan', are you?
The other party found out who he was?
But Morofushi Hiromitsu wouldn't just reveal his identity unless he was a member of the organization.
It couldn't have been a brilliant combination of information, could it?
...It seems not impossible, there is a 0.001% chance.
If that's the case, then this smart NPC must be an important NPC.
Ichijō Mirai said, "I think Ms. Mochidzuki has a good character that is not afraid to give up, and her reaction speed is also very good when she uses 'lying' to gain room for herself in a critical situation, so she may not be a good child that is highly regarded by the general public, but she is a child that parents expect a lot from."
"What do you think?"
His expression remained unchanged, not revealing his skepticism, and he disliked it in one breath without pause, "It's better to wait for the day when you become a parent, then you can say what you feel about your child,"
"I'm hanging up."
With two minutes to go before the police station, Ichijō Mirai casually flung his cell phone into the backseat and looked over at Suzuki Sonoko with a smile, "Although I'd like to know more about this impolite gentleman, you're a bit nervous right now, so why don't we start off with something light and pleasant?"
"Do you have any hobbies? What kind of things do you like? Would you be happy to see it when you're kidnapped?"
"Please tell me what I would do in a critical situation of being kidnapped so that you can't help but be happy, very happy, much happier than you are right now, like a sunflower blooming brilliantly into the sun."
"May I?"
His tone was gentle, not a hint of aggression, only the softness of a police officer facing his victim, "Please."