Chương 21: Chapter 5 It Started Like Any Other Morning(Part 4)

The smoking room was busier than it had been the previous night, but nobody paid much attention to me. To them, I probably looked like a petite adult woman. The truth—that I was a forty-three-year-old salaryman trapped inside this body—wasn't exactly obvious.

"I wonder what's for lunch..." I opened the hospital room door. Rina was unpacking clothes from a suitcase. Two men in dark suits sat nearby. Police. They had to be.

"You're back," Rina said.

"These two are Detective Itsuki and Detective Miyafuji from Central Precinct. They want to hear what happened yesterday." Both men showed their badges and introduced themselves. I couldn't blame them for looking confused. They'd come to question a middle-aged man and instead found a white-haired girl sitting in his hospital room.

"I understand how strange this looks," I said.

"But I am Kuroe Tsukasa—Rina's husband. Please confirm it with my wife, Dr. Takatsuki, and the video recording."

"Understood." Detective Itsuki turned to his partner.

"Miyafuji, go get Dr. Takatsuki." Miyafuji nodded and left the room. Probably heading toward the nurse station. That left Detective Itsuki alone with us.

"Have you eaten lunch yet, Detective?" I asked.

"I was just about to."

"Don't worry about me." His tone was friendly. His eyes weren't.

"Sorry for arriving late. We intended to come this morning, but the Ring situation has every department running around like headless chickens." Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. I studied him for a moment. Then asked the question that mattered.

"How many casualties?" Itsuki pulled out a notebook.

"As of this morning's reports: Three traffic accidents involving Ring pillars. Four injury cases caused by people panicking and falling. Ninety-five traffic obstructions. Numerous congestion reports. And finally..." He looked directly at me.

"One person entered a Ring and returned alive." No deaths. Not one. For structures that had suddenly appeared across the entire world, that number was absurdly low. But it made sense. Sotes hadn't come here to destroy humanity. They had come looking for cleaners. Dead cleaners couldn't work.

"... Zero fatalities," I said.

"Exactly." Itsuki nodded.

"Something that large appears all over the world and nobody dies? That's not normal." Rina frowned.

"Detective, are you accusing my husband of something?" He ignored her completely. Instead, his gaze sharpened. Whatever he suspected, it wasn't simple. Before he could continue, the door opened. Miyafuji returned with Dr. Takatsuki.

"Sorry to interrupt," Miyafuji said.

"But it's lunchtime for Mr. Kuroe. What should we do?" I glanced toward the untouched meal tray. Honestly, I'd lost my appetite.

"Food can wait," I said.

"This conversation is going to take a while anyway. Let's take a short break first. Anyone smoke? And Dr. Takatsuki, do you have time?"

"I quit years ago," Itsuki answered. Then he pointed at his partner.

"Miyafuji still smokes. Go ahead." Miyafuji looked relieved.

"Thank God. I haven't had a chance all day." Takatsuki adjusted his glasses.

"I'm off duty this afternoon. Unless it's an emergency, my schedule is clear." He smiled.

"Actually, we should watch the transformation footage while we're at it." Rina stood.

"Then I'll grab coffee for everyone. Black okay?" A few minutes later, the four of us left the room. Takatsuki split off to retrieve the video camera. The rest of us headed toward the smoking room. The daytime hospital was completely different from the night before. Doctors, nurses, patients—everyone moving through the corridors. Rina walked beside me, visibly irritated.

"That detective really bothered me." She glanced toward Miyafuji.

"Tsukasa's the victim here. Why is he being treated like a suspect?" Miyafuji scratched his head awkwardly.

"Please don't take it personally. Nobody's slept since the Rings appeared."

"That doesn't excuse it." She folded her arms.

"Suspicion is one thing. Treating my husband like a criminal is another." I sighed.

"Rina."

"What?"

"He's not entirely wrong." She stared at me. I shrugged.

"From the outside, everything about this looks suspicious." Before she could argue, Miyafuji finally spoke. His expression had become unexpectedly serious.

"I'm sorry if Detective Itsuki sounded rude." He hesitated. Then asked the question that stopped all three of us in our tracks.

"Mr. Kuroe..." His eyes met mine.

"You're really Kuroe Tsukasa, aren't you?" The hallway suddenly felt much quieter. And for the first time since returning from the Gate... I realized what the police had been suspicious of all along. Not the Ring. Not the transformation. Not even the impossible body. They were questioning something much more fundamental. Whether the person standing here... was actually me.