Chapter Ninety-Two: Swordsmanship Lesson

Takeda continued his reply:

"Although we did not conduct a thorough investigation into this matter, the so-called victim of the hidden-camera incident had, two years ago, joined a highway biker gang. She had multiple records of traffic accidents, and she also had a history of brawling, extortion, and bullying others. Would a delinquent girl like that really be afraid of a man secretly filming under her skirt? She would have slapped him on the spot."

"The two women involved in the mutual-aid group, we also gave them a stern reprimand and some corrective guidance. Both girls were crying their eyes out. They said they had been too credulous, that they were willing to mend their ways, and that they would never do it again."

"So that's it?" Chen Zi'ang asked for confirmation.

"What else would there be?" Takeda replied. "Jumping from a building is different. Legally speaking, unless there is clear evidence of incitement or fraud leading to suicide, it is very hard to convict an offender. After all, we're all adults with full civil capacity. We have to take responsibility for our own actions."

"And if you insist on talking about an offender, then you would first have to investigate those students who used verbal abuse against Masao Takano before he jumped. There were too many of them, so it would be difficult to trace. Unless the victim's family files a class action against them, we would not even have the grounds to intervene in depth."

After thinking for a long while, Chen Zi'ang replied:

"Understood. Thank you."

He had already gained a rough understanding of the case, and after confirming that there was no classified information involved, he forwarded the exchange to Seiko Takano.

"Thank you," came the swift reply.

Then a prompt popped up:

"You are no longer friends. Please send a new friend request."

Chen Zi'ang: ???????????

"Got unfriended," Yuelong Rina said from beside him. "Used and discarded? Tossed aside once the bridge was crossed?"

"Maybe it was just a mistake. Mrs. Takano is not that sort of person," Chen Zi'ang explained, then called Seiko Takano.

No one answered.

It was not that the call had been rejected, nor that he had been blocked. No one simply picked up.

He felt faintly puzzled and was about to send a new friend request to ask what was going on, when his colleagues filed out of the conference room. Bringing up the rear was Xia Qingyu, who called out:

"Chen Zi'ang, come here. Bring your sword."

"All right." Chen Zi'ang rose at once. Beside him, Yuelong Rina narrowed her eyes.

She had driven the senior out during the meeting, then called him away after it ended. What kind of coy game was this?

Damn it. If only that senior had not suddenly come over and interrupted last time... Even if it meant dying together, she should have killed her!

Yuelong Rina rose quietly and followed.

Only after trailing Xia Qingyu out of the office building and into the neighboring structure, taking the elevator down, did Chen Zi'ang realize that they seemed to be heading for the underground training range of the First Investigation Division.

What now? Am I being punished by changing the targets for Division One?

When they reached the training hall, all the shooting targets had already been moved aside, revealing the empty central floor.

The woman he had seen before, Yuzuki Izumo, the current director of the Public Safety Bureau, was there in fitted training clothes. Her hair had been gathered at the back into a simple warrior's knot—not the island clansman's half-shaved topknot, but the sort of swordsman's hairstyle often seen in the classical martial films of the mainland, elegant and brisk at once.

At her waist hung an antique octagonal Han sword, with the same shape and outline as Chen Zi'ang's Divine Sword of the Mandala.

"Uh." Chen Zi'ang was just about to speak when Xia Qingyu beside him suddenly said coldly:

"Chen Zi'ang, are you planning to keep fighting monsters like a barbaric ape, relying on your muscles, reflexes, and primitive instincts to wrestle with the uncanny? Or are you willing to learn a more practical and more skillful sword art for combat?"

"Though I seriously doubt whether your intelligence is sufficient for it, considering that even monkeys can be trained to use tools to open coconuts, if you embarrass humanity in the contest of primates, I will consider transferring you to the intelligence unit as a clerk."

Could you leave out the spiteful, venomous insults and just keep the important part, which is "I've arranged sword training for you"? Are you really that afraid I might feel grateful to you?

Chen Zi'ang complained inwardly, and then heard Yuzuki Izumo say:

"Miss, let me talk to him."

"Very well." Xia Qingyu turned away. "In the matter of training apes into human beings, you should have more patience than I do."

She left the underground training hall and took the elevator up to the first floor, only to suddenly see a writhing shadow seep in through the closed elevator doors like thick glue.

"I would like to ask," Yuelong Rina's sweet voice sounded in the cramped elevator car, "what exactly did you call Senior away for?"

"None of your business," Xia Qingyu said with a cold smile. "Oh, I seem to remember something."

"Yuelong Rina, in those memories of mine, you were like a thief cat crouching on someone else's windowsill, staring longingly through the glass..."

The description of a "thief cat" seemed to have provoked Yuelong Rina. The light bulb in the elevator ceiling suddenly burst, leaving only a seamless, suffocating darkness.

"Oh?" Yuelong Rina's voice murmured in the dark. "If I am a thief cat, then what are you? A good older sister?"

Though hidden in the blackness, Xia Qingyu's face, cold as frost, finally underwent a subtle change.

It was some dark, mad, pathological expression.

In the underground training hall, Chen Zi'ang asked cautiously:

"Do I need to change clothes?"

"No." Yuzuki Izumo said. "Clothing is not the point. And when you are dealing with a mutation, you cannot first change clothes and only then go slaughter the uncanny."

She turned slightly and asked:

"Chen Zi'ang, have you studied swordsmanship before?"

"I have," Chen Zi'ang said honestly. "I used to take classes at an island-style kendo dojo, but I never felt I learned much."

"After so many years of evolution, the island style of swordsmanship has now become a more ceremonial competitive sport," Yuzuki Izumo said patiently. "Competitive sports certainly require technique, but in actual combat, the value they contribute may not even be as great as what you could gain from a few months at the gym."

"What I am going to teach you this time is the assassination sword art of the imperial intelligence operatives. It is called Ghost Mire."

"Ghost Mire?" Chen Zi'ang asked in surprise.

"Ghost Mire swordsmanship is generally used together with short weapons such as daggers," Yuzuki Izumo explained. "But your Divine Sword of the Mandala has the same characteristic as a dagger: it is better suited for offense than for defense."

"Sword arts for straight blades often contain many defensive moves, which are not suitable for this sword of yours. So what the young lady means is that I am to teach you how to use a straight sword for assassination."

When she finished speaking, Yuzuki Izumo shifted to a two-handed grip, the blade angled downward and pointing toward the floor, and said in a deep voice:

"Please attack."