Akihabara District.
Tokyo Cat Maid Café.
When Luo Shu arrived, he saw the stairway entrance cordoned off with police tape by four officers.
He paused to survey the surroundings.
The first things that caught his eye, besides the officers securing the scene, were the completely intact floor-to-ceiling windows on the second floor.
Through the floor-to-ceiling window, Luo Shu could clearly see uniformed patrol officers moving about inside and part of the cafe's interior.
As he observed, Luo Shu overheard whispers from the surrounding crowd - gas leaks killing young women, love triangles, and similar gossip.
His expression remained unchanged as he squeezed through the crowd to approach the patrol officers. After showing his Metropolitan Police Department credentials to the intercepting officer, he was granted access and proceeded upstairs.
Upon reaching the second-floor entrance, Luo Shu immediately spotted Tomoki Asuka, captain of the Akihabara District task force, wearing a brown trench coat and chain-smoking.
He glanced at the white, human-shaped outlines on the floor—the standard evidence markers seen in police procedurals—before approaching Asuka.
"Seems you didn't manage to claim this merit, Captain Asuka."
Hearing this, Asuka turned and gave a bitter smile upon recognising Luo Shu. Removing the cigarette from his mouth, he exhaled a cloud of smoke:
"Not only no merit, but probably a demotion too."
Who would have thought apprehending a demon lurking in Akihabara with no backing would lead to such a mess?
Seeing Asuka's wry expression, Luo Shu refrained from further sarcasm and instead surveyed the scene, noting at least seven or eight evidence markers:
"What exactly happened? How could such an incident occur during the capture of a Lost Demon?"
The district's barriers and specially equipped task force members should have been more than capable of handling a suppressed Lost Demon.
Moreover, Luo Shu's earlier divination hadn't indicated any danger in capturing this demon.
Yet this major casualty incident had occurred anyway.
Had Luo Shu not been involved, it might have been manageable. But since he'd reported the demon, this became a serious problem. A Hidden Management Department-reported demon causing multiple casualties in Akihabara would give the SDS's opponents ample ammunition.
"Specific cause remains unclear."
Asuka frowned deeply, cigarette in hand, seemingly deep in thought:
"When my team moved to surround the location, the barrier monitoring centre suddenly reported anomalies. By the time we stormed in, we found nothing but corpses."
His expression grew uneasy as he added:
"Thirteen dead in total - including working maids and customers. Two were tourists from Hong Kong, China."
Hearing about the dead fellow countrymen, Luo Shu's mouth twitched violently.
Tourists visiting a not-quite-respectable maid cafe - their intentions were obvious. Yet they'd died here of all places.
"Did the embassy find out?" Luo Shu asked with a headache.
Tomoki Asuka seemed somewhat guilty at this point, handing Luo Shu a cigarette:
"They should've been notified by now. After all, one of the six action teams managing this area is entirely under their jurisdiction."
"So that's why you called me?"
Luo Shu accepted the cigarette, signalling he was open to discussion but had no intention of smoking it – he didn't smoke.
"You don't actually think I have connections over there, do you?"
Though not his true homeland, Luo Shu still held certain... impressions about the country across the sea.
Yet since joining the SDS, there hadn't been a single attempt at contact from that side.
While this could be attributed to Luo Shu's brief tenure, he still couldn't quite grasp their stance.
Now being asked to negotiate with them over this mess? Luo Shu's face might as well turn green.
'These two fellow countrymen, why did they have to visit a demon-run maid cafe of all places? Why not a legitimate one? Or a massage parlour, or even streetwalkers – anything but this place!'
'Akihabara, the entire Tokyo metropolitan area, countless entertainment spots... and you had to pick this one? Are you screwing with me?'
Tomoki Asuka was equally frustrated, puffing aggressively on his cigarette:
"Connections or not, it doesn't matter. You're originally from there – that's your natural affiliation. You can't expect me to handle communications, can you?"
"You made the report, I led the operation, but anyone with eyes can see this was our joint effort. At this point, a Japanese national like me reaching out to them would be... inappropriate."
Here, Asuka glanced around cautiously. Seeing his teammates had long since distanced themselves, he lowered his voice:
"Little brother, are relations that bad? If not, you should really meet with them. Don't let them think you're holding grudges..."
Hearing this, Luo Shu's expression darkened: "I was just an ordinary exchange student before. What do you think?"
"Oh~" Realisation dawned on Asuka, followed by a chuckle: "Then they must be kicking themselves now – letting the SDS snatch up such a bargain."
A homegrown student studying abroad awakens as a Hero Rank sorcerer, only to be recruited by the SDS? That kind of loss would sting anyone.
"So one meeting shouldn't hurt. Just prove it was accidental – fellow professionals understand these things. Casualties at this level... we're all used to it by now."
Asuka visibly relaxed.
Crudely put, apart from those two tourists, the other Japanese casualties were expendable. No politicians' children or prime ministers' relatives – just a few lower-class labourers in this hierarchy-obsessed nation. Annoying, but not disastrous.
As the only Japanese captain among Akihabara's six action teams, this minor incident couldn't threaten his position.
Moreover, when he arrived, he didn't even see any corpses—just the outline markers at the scene, without so much as a bloodstain in sight. This made it even more baffling:
"So, how exactly did these people die? Aside from the outline markers, there's nothing else at the scene, is there?"
Hearing this, Tomoki Asuka frowned again and took a final drag from his cigarette before stubbing it out:
"The report from the investigators just came in... Their souls were devoured!"
Luo Shu froze at those words.
In Akihabara Town, where barriers blocked the use of abilities, a low-level Lost Demon had consumed over a dozen souls in one go?
'You might as well tell me Kisara was the killer and I was the one who ordered it...'
Luo Shu thought sarcastically before voicing his doubt:
"Are you absolutely sure you're not joking with me?"