The Logmaster - Chapter 31

The story ends shockingly with the death of Saeki Taku and Iwata Yoshiyuki’s obsessive revenge.

As a result, the “series of suspicious homeless deaths” that had shocked Tokyo and at one point even looked like it would remain unsolved came to an end in a very hopeless way.

Given the magnitude of the incident’s social impact, the police held a large-scale press conference.

Superintendent Fujita, who was in charge of the joint investigation headquarters, stood on the podium with a stern expression and announced the history of the investigation into the series of incidents and the shocking truth that unfolded.

The root cause is a series of murders committed by Saeki, a homeless man with a history of committing heinous crimes.

And to make matters even worse, Saeki was murdered by the victim’s ex-boyfriend, Iwata, with whom he bore a grudge for decades.

The announcement sent shock waves through society and created a sense of emptiness and helplessness.

At the same time, police organizations came under heavy criticism from the media and human rights groups for their slow and lax initial investigations, as well as their lack of awareness of the homeless as a socially vulnerable group.

Superintendent Fujita promised to take thorough measures to prevent recurrence in the future and bowed deeply to apologize to the public.

And as if to erase the horrific memory of the incident, the tent village on the riverbank was quickly and forcibly removed by administrative enforcement.

The sight of bulldozers mercilessly crushing tents and belongings, leaving the land bare, seemed to symbolize the end of an era.

The Joint Investigation Headquarters had completed its role and was disbanded.

For Mikata Tadashi, this meant being stripped of his investigative authority, which was his only and greatest weapon in cornering the man named Ayumaru Omiichi.

There was no way he would be allowed to continue the investigation based solely on his personal obsession and hunch.

–Mitsutaka was once again returned to his dimly lit, windowless desk in the Unidentified Consultation Room.

Every day, he simply processes the information about unidentified people and records of people who have died alone that is sent to him.

The man known as Ayumaru, his eerie composure, and the way he handled his smartphone continued to pierce his heart like an indelible thorn, but right now, he had no way to pull it out or uncover the man’s true identity.

After that, several months passed quietly.

Public attention was rapidly shifting from one new case to another, celebrity scandals, and politicians’ gaffes, and the horrific “homeless serial murders” were pushed to the back of people’s memories and were rapidly fading.

–One such afternoon.

As usual, Sankaku was struggling with mountains of paperwork and sipping lukewarm canned coffee when, for the first time in a long time, that boundlessly cheerful, yet somewhat foolish, man appeared before him.

“Mitsukaku-senpai! Hey! It’s been a while!”

It was Akira Kakuta.

She greets me with the same friendly smile as before, and in a loud voice.

His carefree attitude was completely out of place in the stagnant atmosphere of the counseling room.

“…Ah, it’s you, Kakuta. A noisy one has come. What do you want? Have you finally been kicked out of Division 1 and been sent here, too?”

Mikata responded with a sigh, without looking up from his paperwork.

His voice was filled with an unconcealed sense of fatigue and resignation.

“Well, that’s a terrible thing to say! You were the one who solved the serial homeless murders, and yet you didn’t get promoted or transferred! I thought this time you’d make a glorious triumphant return to Division 1!”

Kakuta shouts out words without any ill intent, but with a surprising lack of tact. His insensitivity sometimes irritates Sankaku, and sometimes it eases his mind a little.

“That’s true. In the eyes of the public, it was nothing more than a blunder that completely ruined the reputation of the police, far from being an achievement. If anything, in the eyes of the higher-ups, I’ve always been nothing more than a nuisance.”

Mikaku laughed, the corners of his lips twisting in self-deprecating laughter.

His words were filled with resignation towards the organization and irony about his misfortune.

“Is that so? It’s been a while since I was able to work closely with Senpai on an investigation, and it was a lot of fun. It felt great to see the two of us corner that suspicious old man called Ayumaru!”

Kakuta speaks excitedly, as if he were the protagonist in an action movie.

“I see. If you had fun, then that was good. So, what have you guys in the First Division been pursuing lately? Have you got another big problem? Or are you still doing odd jobs as Inspector Kuroishi’s dog?”

Mikaku brushed off Kakuta’s light-hearted remark and then, in a somewhat malicious manner, changed the topic.

As Ayumaru’s name was mentioned, he felt the dark doubts about the man that he had buried deep in his heart begin to rear their heads again.

Then, Kakuta’s carefree expression clouded slightly, and he spoke in a low voice.

“Well, you see… actually, recently I’ve been forced to do a bit of creepy work, like investigating the truth behind some strange rumors. It seems to be mainly popular among high school students and other young people…”

“Rumors? A new drug? Or are they trying to recruit people for illegal part-time work again?”

Misumi frowned. Cases involving young people always leave a bad taste in their mouths.

“No, it’s not drugs or anything… It’s like a ‘problem advice website’. If you write about your problems there, they’ll solve them… or rather, they’ll change your future? Or something like that.”

“What’s that? It’s rubbish.”

Misumi looked at the paper with a disinterested look on his face, as if to say that this was ridiculous. There was no point in listening to such an unscientific idea.

“Well, you see… senpai. And this is the main point… if you post something on that site like, ‘I want to die’ or ‘I want to disappear’… it seems that the person who wrote that ends up committing suicide. And there’s a pretty good chance of that happening…”

Tsunoda’s voice tone became even lower.

“Huh? There’s no way something that stupid could happen. It’s just a coincidence. That’s just how internet rumors are.”

Mikata tried to scoff.

“That’s right! I thought the same at first, but then information came in from multiple local authorities that several people had committed suicide right after posting on the site… The higher-ups couldn’t just ignore it either, so they issued private orders to investigate…”

Kakuta also tilted his head in disbelief and scratched his head in confusion.

At that time, Sankaku didn’t take the story seriously either.

The world is filled with a plethora of incomprehensible rumors and urban legends that stir up anxiety in people.

If you take everything seriously, there will be no end to it.

Moreover, to someone who had been worn down from confronting the troublesome “darkness” of reality that was Ayumaru Omiichi, it sounded like a story that was far too unrealistic, like a child’s play.

Meanwhile, at the Metropolitan Police Department.

When the question of who should be put in charge of the initial investigation into this “mysterious site” came up as a full-scale investigation, Inspector Kuroishi said at the meeting with a sarcastic and contemptuous look on his face:

“If this is the kind of thing that children’s online games are, then surely there is a department that is perfect for this? Why not have one of our free-time staff from the Unidentified Consultation Room investigate it? They would be perfect for cleaning up after children’s games.”

Because of that decision (which was essentially a case of having a difficult problem thrust upon me), in what seemed like a joke, the person chosen to take charge of this new difficult case was none other than Mitaka Tadashi, who was to investigate the connection between the “problem advice site” and a series of mass suicides.

At that point, the higher-ups were still unaware of the true darkness that lay behind the incident. There even seemed to be an attempt to downplay the situation, saying it was merely an urban legend on the Internet, a tragedy born out of the collective psychology of young people.

But a few days later.

This childish trick has become a reality that can never be ignored.

A dozen men and women, who met through a suicide club, attempted mass suicide in the mountains near Tokyo and were all found dead.

News of the incident spread like wildfire as references to the “problem advice site” were found in the suicide notes and social media posts they left behind.

The media reported this incident as top news every day, and it sparked various discussions on topics such as the emergence of copycat criminals and the dark side of the hearts of young people.

In response to growing public opinion, the police are finally forced to launch a full-scale investigation.

And as Mitaka witnessed this shocking news on television, the absurd rumor that Kakuta had told a few days earlier came vividly back to him, along with a strong sense of deja vu and an indescribable sense of foreboding.

I felt a sense of annoyance at being embroiled in a troublesome incident, but at the same time, I felt a slight sense of excitement at the challenge of solving a new mystery.

With a complicated look on his face, Misumi slowly began to look over the initial documents of the case that had been handed to him. His new battle was about to begin.