Chapter 72 - Making A Plan

Loki entered the Yui Clan's estate but found it incredibly hard to move around without being seen, as there were some with enough ability that would be able to detect him if he makes a single mistake. This made Loki focus even more than usual. 

Now that he was inside the estate he could sense the presence of at least two people at a rather higher level than the others. Loki had underestimated the ability of this so called Clan. It was then he realized that even though he tried to assess the situation without trying to underestimate his opponents, he was still looking at things in the eyes of the old Fade. 

He was no longer the powerful legendary assassin Fade, that could assassinate all even the Gods themselves. Now he was just Loki a rather weak being. Even after he continued to train both physically and spiritually it had only been a few months and he had finally reached a bottleneck. 

Unlike when he first got here, his growth had slowed down quite a bit. Loki sighed as he could no longer go deeper in the Estate, but now he had a better understanding of the place. He would return tomorrow and the day after to see what decision John would make. 

...

The day after John met with Loki, he unconsciously headed to the police station where Matsuri was stationed. He stood in front of the station still hesitating, when someone came to him. 

"Sir, is there anything we can help you with?" 

"...Oh, sorry I was lost in thought." 

"I see, is there something you want to say to the police? Oh, right I haven't introduced myself I'm Detective Watanabe Matsuri."

Matsuri extended her hand for a handshake. When John heard Matsuri's name he was shocked. It was like fate itself was telling him something. It was at that very moment John clenched his fist, gritted his teeth, and expelled all of his hesitations. John nodded his head and grabbed hold of Matsuri's hand and shook it. 

"It's nice to meet you, I'm John."

"Oh John, the same name as my former partner." 

"Former?" 

"Yeah, it's a whole story. Now I'm flying solo for a bit. So how can I help, are you here to ask for something?" 

"Actually... Can we talk somewhere else?" 

"Is my desk not good enough?" 

"Please... Can we go somewhere else?"

Matsuri was going to ask why, but then she saw the expression on John's face. It was an expression of worry. Now that she got a good look at John she noticed his eyebags, red eyes, red nose, and his complexion was rather pale. She had seen this look a lot of times when she became a detective. 

"Fine, so where do you want to talk?" 

"How about in that cafe over there. We can have a drink as we talk." 

...

After the two ordered their coffee and sat down. John was silent while Matsuri waited for him to tell her, his story. John looked at Matsuri and felt she was indeed different from the other police officers he has talked to before. Still, he was expecting Matsuri to at least be a martial artist, but no matter how he looked at it the Detective was just a normal person, she wasn't even a mechanical human.

John started wondering why Fade who was such a powerful assassin would believe that this person was capable of helping him. Still, he had to believe in the assassin's judgment as he had no other choices at the moment. John then started telling Matsuri everything about his time with the Yui Clan, the death of his wife, and the disappearance of his daughter. After listening to everything John had to say Matsuri was silent for a moment. 

"... I'm sorry John, it must've been hard on you, but don't worry unlike the others I believe in you and I promise to help you get your daughter back as well as gain the justice that you deserve." 

When John heard Matsuri's reply he was about to cry, but he held it in and simply nodded his head as he responded.

"... Thank you, detective. So how are we going to do this?" 

"Normally, these kinds of cases are for the Elite Dragon Brigade to handle, but seeing as you have no evidence to support your claims the Brigade would not be able to make a move, the same goes for the Police. So the first thing we need to do is find some evidence to prove your story, and once we get that evidence we can ask the Brigade to help."

"But that's the problem, even after all this time I cannot find any evidence." 

"Well, that's because you're not a detective like me. I know some guys that could help us find out some of the Yui Clan's secrets, they're the best. The only time they failed in finding someone and learning their secrets is when I hired them to look for the assassin Fade." 

Upon the mention of Fade's name John's eyebrows twitch, it was but a brief moment but Matsuri was able to see it. 

"So after they find something what will we do next?" 

"After that, we'll be able to somehow convince the brigade to do an investigation on them. When they do that, they will of course-" 

Matsuri then started explaining the plan she had thought of. After listening to Matsuri's plan, John finally saw the detective in a new light. He was skeptical of the reason why Fade would trust the detective to do this job, but after listening to the plan he could somehow see why the famed assassin would trust her. He had just met the detective and had just told her about his situation, but within that limited time, she actually created a plan that could save her daughter without killing anyone. 

...

Loki was in the library when he received a message from Harold. The father and the detective are talking, aside from the message, there was also a picture of Matsuri and John drinking coffee. Reading the message Loki smiled. 

'As I thought, you really are as I expected you to be, detective.'