The Logmaster - Chapter 27

The events at the riverbank replayed over and over in my mind.

Detective, Tadashi Misumi.

That contact was not just a routine investigation.

There was a tense atmosphere, as if they were trying to figure out each other’s true intentions.

It had a sharp, relentless light, as if it were stalking its prey.

(…Are the police keeping an eye on me? Have I shown up at the tent village too many times?)

As if to dispel his anxiety, Omiichi picked up his smartphone and opened the website.

Check the “Human” list.

This is to see the positive information about the target triangle.

If you read his [history], you’ll understand what the police know and what they suspect.

–but

The name of Detective Mitaka Tadashi is nowhere to be found on the list.

I scrolled through the list, and his name wasn’t there.

(…Why? They had contact, introduced themselves, and recognized each other. So why aren’t they on the list…?!)

Isn’t mutual recognition the only requirement for a site to be added to the list?

(…This is the first time I’ve ever seen something like this… Could it be that if the other person doesn’t recognize me, they won’t add me to the list…? No, that’s ridiculous. Or… is there some special connection between me and that red “⭕️”?)

Various possibilities run through my mind, almost like delusions, but none of them is conclusive proof.

(…It’s no use. There’s no end to thinking about it. It’s impossible to understand everything on this site.)

While I was thinking about it, I suddenly fell asleep.

For the next few days, on the surface, nothing changed in Omiichi’s daily life.

You go to work as usual, complete your routine work, and go home on time.

That night, I checked the site’s [History] again.

As I was observing my colleagues going about their mundane daily lives with no particular purpose in mind, I suddenly came across a curious entry in the resume of a female employee named Takahashi.

Takahashi Yumi: Today around 5:30pm, as I was leaving work I was approached by two men who appeared to be plainclothes police officers near the company entrance.

The detective asked me, “Do you know someone called Ayumaru Shinichi? Do you have any knowledge of him?” I replied, “I’m in the same department, but he’s just an ordinary guy.”

(…Eh? Isn’t this just some questioning to gather information about me…?!)

Omiichi, who had been skimming through it, quickly turned his gaze back to the beginning and read every word.

The content of the investigation was a peripheral investigation into “Who is Ayumaru Omiichi?”

(…This…is making me suspicious…This might be seriously bad…)

For an instant, a strong sense of impatience and crisis hit Omiichi.

(No, wait. There is no direct evidence whatsoever.

First of all, who would believe that someone could use a site to rewrite history and manipulate people’s destinies?

Thinking about it like that, I was able to breathe a little easier.

(…But I may have told Saeki a little too much… Just to be on the safe side, I wanted to silence him…)

But there was a new problem.

Now that he is under police watch, it is difficult for him to approach homeless people openly as before and seek out new “experimental subjects.”

How can we get rid of Saeki safely and surely?

Omiichi used his smartphone to look into the details of Saeki’s past violent crimes.

He immediately found information about the victim.

Even though the incident happened decades ago, someone is working to ensure that the tragedy does not fade from memory.

Yoshiyuki Iwata, 58 years old.

The man was the former fiancé of the woman brutally murdered by Saeki.

He continued to harbor strong anger and regret at the brutality of the crime and the fact that Saeki escaped the death penalty due to his mental disability.

Her request for a retrial was denied, and because she was his fiancée at the time, she was not legally recognized as a victim’s family member, and she even suffered secondary damage from cruel reporting by the media.

With this feeling of regret in his heart, Iwata continues to question Saeki’s crime, runs a personal website calling for his death penalty, and continues his protests.

After Saeki was released from prison, the site became a complete information-gathering site.

“I’m looking for Taku Saeki.”

Although there were sporadic reports of sightings with low credibility being posted, Iwata still seemed to respond sincerely to each one.

(…This tenacity is incredible… I might be able to put it to good use.)

Iwata has had a decades-old vendetta against Saeki. There is no way not to use this.

First, Omiichi opened Ichinose Maki’s [History] and tapped the [Add] button.

They use her as an “informant.”

Since he is acquainted with Saeki, this is not unnatural.

Addition: Today, Maki Ichinose discovered a website run by Yoshiyuki Iwata and sent the following message anonymously to the inquiry form.

“http://4kf7ljksh72eot3b.onion/ I have an idea about where Taku Saeki is currently located. Please visit this URL.

Please use the Tor browser. Time is 11 pm today.”

“

Tor — The Onion Router.

A system that anonymizes communication by passing through relay servers distributed around the world.

It can also be used to access deeper areas of the Internet known as the “dark web,” which cannot be accessed using normal browsers.

Then, at 11 pm, I opened a chat room and waited, and immediately a user joined.

The user name is “Iwata”.

Iwata: “My name is Yoshiyuki Iwata. I came here after reading your message. Do you have any information about Taku Saeki? I would be grateful if you could let me know.”

The heartfelt feelings are conveyed even in these short sentences.

Omiichi: “Good evening, Iwata-san. First of all, could we please keep the conversation in this chat room confidential? We trust you and would like to provide you with information.”

Iwata: “Of course. I don’t care about any information about Saeki, no matter how trivial it may be. I will keep my promise.”

Omiichi: “Thank you. What I know is Saeki Taku’s current whereabouts.”

After hearing this comment, Iwata’s chat replies stopped for a moment. A few seconds later, he sent a trembling message, unable to contain his excitement.

Iwata: “Do you know where Saeki is? I’d love to know! But is that information reliable…?”

The location of the enemy he had been searching for for so many years.

There was a mixture of excitement at having the information right in front of them, and at the same time, doubt that it might be false information.

So Omiichi took a bold step. It was risky. But he had a goal in mind that would connect him to Iwata.

Omiichi: “My name is Ayumaru and I live in Tokyo.”

Omiichi: And please take a look at this video.

Omiichi recently uploaded a short MP4 file to the chat room that showed Saeki trying to confront Ichinose, which he had filmed in a park by the river.

Iwata was silent for a while.

His reply, a few minutes later, was full of conviction and unbridled hatred.

Iwata: “…There’s no doubt about it… This face, those eyes… No matter how many years pass, I will never forget. It’s Saeki…! This is Saeki Taku…!”

Those words were filled with a deep resentment that has not faded even after decades.

Omiichi: “I’m sure it’s him. He’s currently living in a tent village on the riverbank in Shinjuku Ward. He’s probably living among the other homeless people.”

Iwata: “Thank you so much! Thank you so much! I’ll never forget this kindness for the rest of my life!”

Omiichi: “I sincerely pray that your years of prayer will be rewarded.”

After typing this, Omiichi unilaterally closed the chat room without waiting for Iwata’s reply.

Then I opened my usual site and saw that my new name had been added to the top of the Human list.

“Yoshiyuki Iwata” … [History] [Add]

(…Just as planned…)

Omiichi chuckled.

This means that mutual recognition is fully possible even online.

Incidentally, even if the police were to track him down concerning Saeki’s murder, he could get away with it by saying that he saw the call for information and “just told them where Saeki was.”

And Omiichi added a short line as a finishing touch to Iwata Yoshiyuki’s biography.

Addendum: Iwata Yoshiyuki will bring the survival knife and pesticide (paraquat) he just bought, and head to the riverside tent village in Shinjuku tomorrow afternoon to look for Saeki Taku.

Omiichi closed the screen of his smartphone and went to bed with a deep sense of satisfaction.