"That's right, it was me!"
Just as Fujino was about to act, Akio Yamada, locked in the cage, shouted, "The one who killed my father was me! Please don't hurt my mother anymore!"
"Akio! Do you know what you're saying?!"
Mrs. Yamada stopped in her tracks, turning her head and screaming hysterically at Akio, "Don't say such nonsense, Akio! Just hold on a little longer, the statute of limitations is almost up!"
"I can't do this anymore!"
Akio knelt on the ground, sobbing with his hands on his knees, "I can't stand seeing you get hurt because of me anymore!"
"Akio!"
Mrs. Yamada seemed to deflate like a punctured balloon, the knife in her hand falling to the ground.
Fujino breathed a sigh of relief.
For a moment, he felt as if he had become the villain.
Clearing his throat to ease the awkward tension, he turned to Mrs. Yamada and said sternly, "Can't you understand your son's feelings?"
"Shut up!"
Mrs. Yamada whirled around, "I just want to protect him! I can't watch him go to prison and ruin his life!"
Fujino sighed.
Admitting his persuasive skills weren't up to par, he declared sharply, "Locking him in a dark, damp cage, making him suffer from guilt every day—is that your idea of protection? Don't you realize that your so-called protection is more cruel than sending him to prison?!"
"It's not like that! It's not like that!!"
Mrs. Yamada clutched her head, collapsing into sobs after a fit of screaming.
"Maybe this is what they call twisted maternal love..."
Fujino lowered his head slightly, sighing.
As the sun set and night fell, the mother and son who had hidden for five years finally came back into the light.
Fujino took them to the police station and then returned to his home in Wutocho.
Pushing open the door, he was greeted by his 100-square-meter apartment.
Moonlight streamed in, illuminating the spacious, well-furnished room. Despite having a nearly 100-inch plasma TV on the wall, it felt strangely desolate.
"I'm back."
Fujino instinctively muttered to himself before dragging his tired body to the bed, savoring the solitude of being alone.
[Congratulations to the host for completing the haunted house murder case mission, earning fifty detective reputation points.]
[System reward has been issued, bounty has been issued.]
[System equipment gift pack has been placed in the warehouse, please check.]
Hearing the prompts, Fujino slowly sat up.
With a thought, a transparent screen appeared before him.
The screen displayed numerous boxes, each containing different items.
The system warehouse wasn't a space for storing and retrieving items at will; it was a one-way logistics warehouse where items could only be taken out but not put back in once retrieved.
Fujino examined the system warehouse, his attention drawn to an icon resembling a gift box.
[System initial equipment gift pack: Randomly draw one piece of initial equipment, guaranteed to be of blue quality.]
Fujino glanced at the item description and then opened the gift pack.
Suddenly, a stream of light shot out from the gift pack.
After a brief, realistic animation, a wooden sword glowing with a blue aura appeared before him.
"A wooden sword?"
Fujino exclaimed, touching it to reveal its details:
[Okamoto Peach Blossom 0.01: A wooden sword made of black peach wood, blessed by a master. Though wooden, it is indestructible.
Appearance: A black wooden sword 1.2 meters long, usually in the form of a pendant but returns to its original shape when used.
Ability: Indestructible but limited in damage. It can't cause physical harm but can inflict pain, with temporary negative effects similar to injury. In the hands of a skilled swordsman, it can potentially knock someone out with a single blow.]
Fujino took out the wooden sword and swung it a few times. It felt very light, easy to handle even without physical enhancement.
Despite its wooden texture, it felt more like a steel sword...
After a few more swings, nearly hitting the plasma TV, Fujino put it away.
Once stored, Okamoto Peach Blossom 0.01 shrank into a thumb-sized pendant, falling into Fujino's hand.
The hilt even had a woven red string attached, making it convenient to wear.
"Feels like something for the New Year."
Fujino sighed, putting the pendant around his neck.
Gurgle!
His stomach growled, interrupting his thoughts.
He almost forgot—he hadn't eaten anything since morning.
Man cannot live on air alone; first, he needed to eat. Other matters could wait.
Fujino pulled out a packet of instant noodles, lit the gas stove, and boiled water.
In no time, he had a bowl of plain noodles that the system claimed would fill him up.
"Can this really be filling?"
Fujino wondered but changed his mind after finishing the bowl.
Though the taste was nothing special, like cheap rations, it was indeed filling.
Just one bowl, and he felt more satiated than ever before.
"How did the system get something like this... It's not scientific..."
Fujino murmured, but then he realized, with a system involved, nothing was scientific anymore. It was all mystical.
Full and satisfied, Fujino stretched and gazed out at the street, lost in thought.
Hmm, he was almost fully adjusted to life in this world... and its odd sense of time, where today was the 5th and tomorrow might be the 20th.
The only downside was his body's weariness from overwork.
During the day, he wasn't fully adapted and blacked out after intense activity, ending up in the infirmary.
After waking, he had to answer a barrage of baffling questions from a violent beauty of a language teacher... Fortunately, Fujino's evasive answers got him through.
"Dad! Why are you out drinking again?!"
At that moment, a girl's scolding voice rang out, followed by a gradually more resentful tone, "If it weren't for this, we wouldn't have trouble finding work, and Mom wouldn't have left..."
"Wait, Ran, let me explain... Ah!"
That day, the scream of a certain drunkard echoed throughout Beika's Wutocho.
After the storm passed, Fujino stood on the balcony, looking at the detective agency across the street, and sighed, "Today, the Mouri family is as martial as ever..."