Early the next morning.
Chi Feichi went out for his morning exercise as usual.
At dawn, there were almost no people in Beika Park.
In his ears, the voices of animals and plants sometimes made no difference from human voices. In crowded and noisy places, it was hard to tell whether the voices came from animals or plants.But in the quiet early morning, without human chatter, the other voices became clear.
Very few plants in the city ever spoke. Among animals, some cats and dogs could be heard speaking, but only a sentence or two from time to time.
Compared to the forest near the castle, this place was far less strange.
Back then, he trained in that forest almost every day and had seen many interesting creatures.
A vine that had grown for who-knows-how-many years—though it didn't understand humans—knew the animals and plants of the area like the back of its hand.
A fox had once darted by from afar, shouting, "What was that just now? A big monkey?"
Among a group of squirrels that liked to play between the trees, two squirrels often watched him curiously while whispering to each other, occasionally even flirting.
The smallest creature he had ever heard speaking was probably an ant.
Unfortunately, he had only heard one sentence—"Why did the sky suddenly go dark?"—from very close by, and then… nothing.
Later, he found only five ant corpses under his feet. He had no idea which one had spoken…
He never planned to gather all the talking animals and plants around him. One or two companions were enough. It was better to let the rest live freely—maybe someday, they could bring him useful information.
"Hello, diligent human!"A crow passed overhead. It didn't seem to expect a response and flew off in a dashing arc toward a tree.
There were many crows in Tokyo, usually appearing in groups. Very few traveled alone.
Chi Feichi found it interesting but only glanced at it and kept jogging."Hello to you too, diligent crow."
Rustle!
A sound came from behind.
The crow had crashed into some branches. It stared at the falling leaves, then turned to look at Chi Feichi's retreating back, its scarlet eyes filled with confusion.
Coincidence?
Feichi was slithering through the grass beside the path, accompanying Chi Feichi like always. Seeing this, it couldn't help laughing."Silly bird!"
The crow tilted its head at Feichi. Because of the language barrier between species, it didn't understand that Feichi was mocking it. Rolling its eyes, it turned around and flew toward Chi Feichi, hovering above his head.
"Poor human, you're going to have bad luck. Listen to me—leave here quickly."
A crow with not-so-low intelligence, and currently bored…
Chi Feichi kept jogging. "Is there any danger nearby?"
"You can actually understand me?!"The crow's voice shot up, and it flapped its wings wildly, fleeing like the wind."What kind of monster—?! Scared me to death!"
Chi Feichi stopped and turned speechlessly.
The crow had already flown far away, shouting without looking back,"There's a snake following you! Run!"
Feichi caught up. As soon as it opened its mouth, it burst into uncontrollable laughter, rolling in the grass."Hahahaha! Master, that crow was scared by you and hit the tree! I'm dying—too stupid! You didn't see it—the way it turned to look at your back was priceless!"
Chi Feichi looked down and saw Feichi twisting itself into bizarre shapes like it had been poisoned. He fell silent.
"Hahahahaha—burp…"Feichi laughed until it couldn't breathe, then suddenly struggled. Lowering its head, it realized it had tangled itself with a clump of grass roots and vines. It looked up weakly."Master…"
Chi Feichi sighed, crouched down, and helped tear apart the mess of vines and roots. After Feichi finally unfolded itself, he picked it up and stuffed it into his jacket hood with practiced ease.
"The pot calling the kettle black."
As a snake, managing to tie itself into a knot… truly impressive.
After returning home from exercise, Chi Feichi received a call from Akio Muramatsu, inviting him to discuss the movie theater investment.
He called Daiyama Ya and asked him to arrange someone suitable to go with him.
The negotiation went quickly. One side proposed, the other agreed. The investment amount and share ratio were settled almost immediately.
Chi Feichi held 60% of the shares, making him the real investor, but he didn't want to waste time managing the theater.
Akio Muramatsu would remain the head of the theater, retaining management rights, while Daiyama Ya would handle hiring staff.
The old man's personality wasn't suited for operations, and age had limited his energy, so he agreed readily.
The theater now needed renovations and hardware upgrades. Since reopening time was uncertain, Chi Feichi postponed the publicity arrangements.
Everything went smoothly—except that when Chi Feichi left, he felt like he was being watched by crows…
Outside the theater, on the roof of a nearby two-story building, an entire row of crows stood lined up.
When he looked up, he immediately spotted the red-eyed crow from that morning. It stood in the standard center position and slapped aside another crow that leaned too close."Don't wobble! Pay attention!"
When Daiyama Ya drove him home, that crow shouted with great authority,"My loyal subordinates, follow me!"
More than twenty crows rose into the sky at once, following the car.
Not long after he got home, another large row of crows landed on the balcony.
"Yes, this is the place! Line up properly!"The red-eyed crow nodded after spotting Chi Feichi through the window and began directing the formation."You—stand straight. You—too big, move over there, you're blocking the others. How many times must I say this? Have some discipline! It looks more imposing this way!"
Chi Feichi steamed the buns he'd bought earlier. When he went to check the balcony, the red-eyed crow immediately led its troops into the air again, circling high above.
Feichi poked its head out from Chi Feichi's collar."Master, what's with those crows?"
"We met their leader this morning—the red-eyed one. Seems it's in charge."Seeing that the crow wasn't planning to talk, Chi Feichi walked back to the living room.
Feichi almost burst out laughing again, but remembering its own embarrassment earlier, the laughter died halfway."Master, you've got to believe me—this morning I just—"
"Don't say it. I believe you."
Feichi: "…"
Another group of crows landed on the balcony.
Most of them were just brought along, cawing randomly, fighting, or grooming—no different from normal birds.
Only the red-eyed crow stared at Chi Feichi strangely, glancing at Feichi once as if observing some rare creature or contemplating something.
Chi Feichi didn't mind. During his time in the mental hospital, he had learned that birds loved to test the limits of courting death. Crows were notorious rogues.This one behaved surprisingly disciplined, merely watching from a distance—it made him suspect its genes weren't pure…
He texted Ai Haibara to confirm that Ayumi had taken sick leave today, then called Ayumi's mother.
Sending the kids home last night had the benefit of making his face familiar to their parents.
The call connected.
"Hello, who is this?"
"This is Chi Feichi. I heard Ayumi took sick leave. Is she alright?"
"It's Mr. Chi. Her fever went down this morning, but her throat hurts so much she can't speak, so I let her rest at home," Ayumi's mother hesitated. She knew Chi Feichi had been hospitalized before and wasn't fully recovered. But since they had already met and Ayumi hadn't shown any problems, she continued, "I'm not home right now, and it'll take about two hours for me to return. If you have time, could I trouble you to check on Ayumi? I heard a robber-murder happened in Beika the day before yesterday…I'm a little worried."
"I'm free. I'll go now."
"Thank you. The password for the first-floor door is—"
After hanging up, Chi Feichi packed the hot buns in the kitchen and headed out with Feichi.
The two apartments were very close—only a ten-minute walk.
Driving would take about the same amount of time, considering the parking.
So Chi Feichi walked. A group of crows followed from afar in the sky.
Fortunately, from a distance, passersby thought they were just ordinary crows flying by and didn't pay attention.
After Chi Feichi entered the apartment building, the crows didn't follow. Under the red-eyed crow's command, they scattered—some watching from the first and second floors.
A moment later, a crow flew over, cawed twice, and led the way to a balcony of a certain unit.
"He got up there that fast? The timing's off…"The red-eyed crow followed, only to find it was a child's room. A man wearing a helmet was quietly approaching the closet. Obviously not the one it wanted. Annoyed, it raised a wing."My stupid—"
Inside the room, the man crept forward, suddenly flung open the closet—only to find a corner of clothing clamped in the door. He stared for a second, then turned to leave.
The red-eyed crow, about to slap the subordinate with its wing, froze. Its gaze couldn't move away from the scene. It stared, fascinated.
Two crows perched on the windowsill, watching as a little girl crawled out from under the bed, ran to adjust the alarm clock, pressed its top, then took out a small device, fiddled with it quickly, and hid back inside the closet.
The red-eyed crow, unable to hear clearly, pressed its head against the window.
The crow next to it copied the action.
Inside, after the alarm clock played a melodious tune, it began announcing the time.
Other children's voices came from the closet.
"Is that Ayumi?"
"It's the Kamen Yaiba alarm clock!"
"Yeah, it's the one we asked Dr. Agasa to buy for us…"
"Just press the button on its head and it'll report the date and time."
A thoughtful look appeared in the red-eyed crow's eyes.
It seemed… the little girl was hiding from that man. That man was probably what humans called a home-invading robber, right? And the little girl was using that thing to call for help?
That little device wasn't bad.A human communication tool?
Small and delicate ones like that were rare. Seemed useful.When the chance came, it should grab—No, no. A crow taking something… could that be called stealing?