The Logmaster - Chapter 17
The incident that occurred on the pedestrian bridge where Yoshi died.
His history recorded the presence of another homeless person standing nearby just before he fell.
His name was Igarashi.
He is one of Yoshi’s tent buddies.
(First, let’s meet this guy called Igarashi…)
Omiichi took advantage of the weekend to visit the tent village.
There is nothing left where Yoshi’s tent used to be, but the other homeless people continue to spend their time as usual.
Omiichi casually asked a nearby homeless man he knew where Igarashi was. The man frowned slightly and pointed to a corner with his chin, looking bored.
He doesn’t have a very good reputation.
Looking in the direction he was pointed, he saw a group of homeless people gathered together chatting, and one middle-aged man with an unusually affable smile. Was that Igarashi? With determination, Omiichi approached and called out to him.
“Excuse me, Igarashi-san, is this you?”
The man turned to Omiichi with a bright, likable smile.
“Yes, I’m Igarashi. Who are you?”
He is humble and speaks politely. At first glance, he doesn’t seem like the type of person who would be disliked by his peers.
“I was hoping to talk to you a little about Yoshi-san, Mr. Kimura, who passed away the other day. My name is Ayumaru.”
“Oh, Yoshi-san…! I am so sorry for your loss. We have truly lost such a dear friend…”
Igarashi made a face that showed genuine regret, and began to talk politely about his memories of Yoshi-san’s life. His speech sounded smooth and full of sadness. But Omiichi found his fake attitude strangely irritating.
(…What a useless old man…)
For now, the purpose was achieved.
Introduce yourself and make sure the other person knows your name.
You should now be able to view the History.
Omiichi left the place with a suitable excuse, then quickly took out his smartphone, opened a website, and checked the Human list.
Ryosuke Igarashi, 63 years old
Without any hesitation, I tapped the [History] button.
And what was recorded there shocked Shinichi, and at the same time made him feel intense anger.
That day, after falling off the overpass with Yoshi, Igarashi only suffered minor injuries. However, rather than providing any assistance to the unconscious Yoshi, he checked to see that there was no one around, stole an envelope from Yoshi’s pocket containing farewell gifts and letters of thanks from his friends who had returned to society, and then abandoned him and ran away.
(…This guy…! He’s a devil in human skin! After leaving Yoshi to die, he even stole his money in the end…!)
Within Omiichi, his pity for Yoshi and his sense of guilt had completely transformed into a dark, burning, murderous intent towards Igarashi.
(If it was him…If it were him, I could kill him without any hesitation. That would be the only tribute I could give to Yoshi-san.)
With clear murderous intent, Omiichi began interfering with Igarashi’s history.
To start with, I added a fall from a footbridge so that he would suffer the same fate as Yoshi-san.
『Addition: Ryosuke Igarashi, drunk, uses a footbridge late at night』
However, when I checked Igarashi’s [History] the next day, I found that he had crossed the footbridge just the night before without any problems, and was chatting with friends on a park bench again today, as if nothing had happened.
(…I see. It’s not enough to just let them use the footbridge. Even if they’re drunk, people don’t fall off that easily…)
Next, he planned to start a fire by accidentally putting out a cigarette in his bed.
『Addition: Ryosuke Igarashi smokes a cigarette in his tent while asleep, causing a fire to spread』
This, too, did not produce good results.
The fire only scorched part of the futon and was quickly put out, not even causing a small commotion.
No matter how many times they try, the [Add] attempts to directly kill Igarashi end in failure. Even if the site displays “Event Added,” nothing actually happens, or it doesn’t lead to any fatal consequences.
(…It’s no good. After all, if I add direct murderous intent… a clear intent like “to kill” or “to let die”, will the system detect it and reject it? Or is it simply a matter of probability? But even so, if there is no intention, simply creating the situation would not cause an accident like this one… It’s as if the system can see through my inner fluctuations and intentions…)
Omiichi once again felt that the site’s system had a kind of mysterious “wall” that cleverly prevented any direct, murderous changes.
So, how can we reliably remove Igarashi and get past the system’s censorship?
(…That’s right. Why not get someone else to do it?)
Omiichi’s thoughts now took a more roundabout and sinister turn.
He looked again at the homeless people in the tent village, searching for people who might have had some connection to Igarashi and a strong “motive” for him.
And immediately, he noticed an old man.
A small homeless man who appeared to be in his seventies named Saeki.
As Omiichi observed the tent village, he saw Saeki flinch in fear and look away whenever he saw Igarashi.
As Igarashi approached, he was nervous, and every move he made seemed tense. There must have been some deep connection between the two of them.
Omiichi set his sights on Saeki and approached him. With a fake, gentle smile on his face, he called out to him.
“Hello. It’s been pretty chilly in the mornings and evenings lately. Are you feeling okay?”
Saeki was surprised to be spoken to out of nowhere and looked at Omiichi with a shocked expression.
However, when he realized that the person he was speaking to was not someone he knew, he looked a little relieved.
“Uh, yeah… somehow…”
“I’m Ayumaru. Would you mind talking to me for a moment? If you don’t mind, could I have your name?”
“My name is Saeki…”
The old man still seemed wary and introduced himself in a weak voice.
After that, Omiichi continued talking about inoffensive things like the weather for a few minutes.
Saeki seemed nervous throughout the interview and refused to make eye contact.
However, the content of the conversation no longer mattered to Omiichi.
The only purpose is to confirm Saeki’s name and face and make his history viewable.
Ending the conversation at a suitable point, Omiichi left the place.
I immediately took out my smartphone and opened the website.
When he saw that Saeki’s name had been added to the list, he gave a cold smile and tapped the [History] button.
From now on, I will thoroughly read into this old man’s past and the darkness in his heart.
To use him as a new pawn in his revenge against Igarashi.