Chapter 143: Standing Alone (5)

"Yes. Is there anything suspicious?"

The man receiving the report had an appearance that could be described as bizarre. He had a face painted white, eyebrows like black dots, and lips shining bright red as if wearing lipstick.

The man, wearing a well-fitted suit, looked at the person reporting to him with a solemn face. The middle-aged man reporting to him slightly bowed his waist and held out documents to the man, who arrogantly snatched them and began reading slowly.

"Hmm. Uchikawa Ryosuke."

Uchikawa Ryosuke. 41 years old. Male. Politician.

The man with bizarre makeup began reading the documents.

The first page contained only a photo and brief personal details, but turning to the second page revealed the person's lineage and family background, followed by quite detailed information about his friendships and political leanings.

However, as the documents progressed, such detailed information gradually disappeared, replaced by rough estimates or vague expressions like "presumed to be ~" or "thought to be ~".

"The latter part is inadequate."

"I apologize."

"No, no. I'm not blaming you. How could you investigate thoroughly and accumulate detailed information when he's starting to enter the center of power? It's natural for the information to be like this. I'm just saying it's a bit disappointing."

The man skimmed through the documents quickly and then closed them, placing them on the desk.

He looked at his subordinate who had reported to him and said:

"It's suspicious, but with documents like these, we can't know anything. That's what's disappointing."

The man sighed slightly and looked at his subordinate.

"Well. The documents are like this. Tell me your thoughts."

"How could I... I'm worried about sullying Dr. Sanjiro's ears with my inadequate insight."

"Hahaha. This person's modesty is really something. You've learned enough and mastered the job, haven't you? I don't listen so attentively to others' words, but I listen carefully to yours because I trust you. Are we, the two of us who graduated from Harvard University as top talents, the same as those guys who graduated from Tokyo University or Keio and swagger about with their connections? So speak without burden. I won't dismiss your opinion as nonsense."

"If that's the case, I will speak my opinion, which I've thought about repeatedly despite my ignorance. I hope that even if there are inadequacies, you will think of them as due to this person's lack of skill and consider them charitably."

The subordinate spoke with extreme humility and began to address Dr. Sanjiro.

"Recently, Elder Murata Ryunosuke has begun to show strange behavior. And not alone, but with all the members of the promiscuous club he leads. The intervals between the club's meetings have become very short, and they're not even including celebrity women, let alone ordinary women. They're just renting villas in secluded places and proceeding with only the people who were already members of the club."

"Yes. It's strange. It's not like they've become impotent overnight, or joined some religion. People with such overflowing sexual desire gathering among themselves to do wholesome things? It doesn't make sense. And it's not like these people had homosexual tendencies either. It's truly strange, very strange indeed."

"But the security is thoroughly maintained regarding what exactly they're doing. Anti-eavesdropping, anti-spiritual vision, prohibition of espionage, prohibition of shikigami... It was so thorough that we couldn't possibly look inside with just our Onmyoji powers. No, even if the Public Security Intelligence Agency were to step in, they couldn't easily grasp the information."

"Yes. It looks suspicious to anyone. Doesn't it look like a group trying to commit treason? That's why I said then to find someone who could be a hole."

"That's right. So we started monitoring the people who joined the club, and observed their every move carefully without raising suspicion. It was very difficult to do this unnoticed as most of them were accompanied by strong warriors as bodyguards, and because of that, the gathered information was inadequate... But we still found someone who could be a hole. That person is Uchikawa Ryosuke."

"Yes, yes. I praised you highly then. Well, has it turned out to be worthy of that praise?"

The subordinate spoke with humility, but clearly with confidence, in response to the man's words.

"Yes, it has."

"Good. Let's hear it."

"Uchikawa Ryosuke is a person with very strong desire for power. He has made many statements related to this both in public and private settings. The construction company president Ageta said, 'Unlike other politicians, he didn't show much interest in luxury and pleasure. But if he thought his treatment was lower than that of politicians he considered to be of equal or lower rank, he would fly into a rage.' Also, in public, he made many controversial statements such as 'The great people of Japan move most efficiently according to the will of the ruler', 'The ruler is smart and most people are incompetent, so the ruler's words are right', 'The people are ignorant and need to be led'."

"Yes. It was written in the documents."

"Considering his other words and actions, Uchikawa Ryosuke has a strong desire for power and is very attached to his position. While he yearns for a high position, he also wants to receive treatment befitting it. If his fortune aligns well, he could soar high, but if he grabs the wrong rope, he could fall endlessly. Such a person cannot endure the disgrace of falling to the bottom. It's because he lacks the patience for biding his time for revenge."

Dr. Sanjiro nodded as if agreeing with his subordinate's words.

"But Uchikawa Ryosuke was lucky. It's because he made a connection with Elder Murata Ryunosuke, who still holds strong power in the political world."

"That's right."

"However... it seems that the string he barely managed to grasp wasn't to his liking."

"The string wasn't to his liking? Hmm, Elder Murata Ryunosuke isn't such an insignificant string, is he?"

"Of course, in terms of power, it's an unbeatable rope. A golden rope that, if you just hold onto it, you won't fall. But when it comes to private life, the story changes a bit."

"Private life, you say. A man wouldn't be averse to embracing many women, could it be that Elder Murata Ryunosuke has started to develop an interest in men?"

The subordinate slightly bowed his head at Dr. Sanjiro's words and said:

"While that possibility is certainly plausible, unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be the case. It seems they're doing something more... abnormal."

"Abnormal, you say. Could they be doing drugs? Didn't we confirm not long ago, when we looked through the discarded materials from the Metropolitan Police Department, that a certain amount of drugs had flowed to Elder Murata Ryunosuke?"

"That's also true, but..."

The subordinate paused for a moment.

Seeing this, Dr. Sanjiro smirked.

"Don't make people anxious by pausing at important parts like this. Use that when you're seducing women, which you're good at. With me, speak straightforwardly like a Yamato man."

At Dr. Sanjiro's urging, the subordinate opened his mouth.

"I apologize. But this is, well... It's such an absurd speculation that it's hard to put into words."

"An absurd speculation? Speak. Didn't I say earlier that I trust the mind of a Harvard graduate talent? Unlike those pseudo-intellectuals from Tokyo University or Keio, I trust your words. No matter how absurd it sounds, I'll think about it seriously, so speak."

Dr. Sanjiro earnestly requested.

But at the subordinate's words, he felt his head go blank.

"It seems that Elder Murata Ryunosuke has fallen into ghost intercourse."

"What?"

Ghost intercourse.

Breaking down the characters, it meant 'contact with ghosts'.

But in reality, it referred to 'the act of having sexual relations with ghosts'.

"Ghost intercourse, you say. Elder Murata Ryunosuke should know full well how bad this ghost intercourse is. He did that?"

Japan is a country full of evil spirits and demons.

Unlike demons who can exert physical force, evil spirits enjoyed bewitching and killing people, and one of the methods evil spirits used was ghost intercourse. Evil spirits would approach in the form desired by the person, suck out their vital energy and life force, and make the person wither away and die.

This swamp, full of pleasure yet inevitably leading to death, was deep and sticky, and even the strongest warriors would fall victim to the temptation of ghost intercourse and lose their lives. There were plenty of records of warriors who had shown great military prowess in the Warring States period being bewitched by evil spirits and dying, and even records of people called great heroes dying from ghost intercourse with evil spirits.

Naturally, guarding against this ghost intercourse that killed people along with pleasure was the most basic of basics for those in power...

Murata Ryunosuke had fallen into ghost intercourse?

That warrior who was meticulous in self-management except for his fondness for women?

Dr. Sanjiro wore a blank expression.

The bizarre makeup with a blank expression, and the slightly parted diamond-shaped lips made his appearance even more bizarre. But soon his lips closed tightly and his dot-like eyebrows twitched.

"You must have evidence?"

"Yes, I do."

Evidence.

Not certain, but evidence that fits perfectly like puzzle pieces.

"Uchikawa Ryosuke, and the next chief priest."