Eldritch Horror Theatre

'Look at that. The potential of life really is infinite!'

Inside the hidden room, Fu Qian reached out to take the documents Takagi handed him, marveling to himself with utmost seriousness.

He knew, of course, that this man was not the killer. There were no traces of a corpse anywhere nearby.

It was just that with Kisaragi Kana's sister and father clearly oblivious, he was left finding a needle in the ocean. He needed a few clues to increase his odds and cut down his workload.

Considering the deceased's legendary charm, Fu Qian figured such a neighbor would not be immune to it.

As it turned out, when there was nowhere else to start, lust paired with the drive to survive made for an exquisitely effective probe.

Driven by humanity's two most primal desires, this superficially proper but secretly lecherous man had managed to achieve the deductive prowess of Sherlock Holmes.

Amid his marveling, Fu Qian casually opened a medical file.

Takagi had been far too modest. The materials in front of him were much more than just a little—their contents were exceptionally detailed.

From what he read, it was obvious that Kisaragi Kana was deeply popular with men of all ages, to the point that there were barely any noticeable common traits among her admirers.

But without a doubt, every man listed in these medical files possessed the physical capability to single-handedly murder a twenty-year-old woman.

"Out of all these people, who do you hate the most?"

Unhurriedly flipping through the dozen or so medical files, Fu Qian tapped his fingers against the documents, studying Takagi thoughtfully.

"The one I hate the most..."

Takagi blanked for a moment before processing Fu Qian's question. By then, Fu Qian had already pulled the photographs from every medical file and lined them up in a row in front of him.

A moment later, Takagi's gaze naturally settled on one particular photo.

"This one?"

Fu Qian picked up the photograph. It showed a middle-aged man who looked around forty, with green-blue eyes, light blond hair, and a clean-shaven face. He gave off a rather distinguished and polished air.

Dancy Crawford.

"In the conventional sense, he certainly is someone who could make a fellow man feel threatened."

Fu Qian nodded, offering his assessment.

"No... it's not just that!"

Hearing this, the previously silent Takagi finally could not hold back.

"It's a different kind of repulsion... I admit he's very charming, perhaps even the most charming of them all, but to me, he simply... doesn't seem human."

"Oh? In what way?"

...

"The way he looked at Kana... it was different from everyone else."

Takagi choked on his words for a moment, taking a long while before finally squeezing out that sentence.

"The records don't seem to reflect that."

Fu Qian recalled the contents he had just read. If he remembered correctly, the information on this particular man was actually the sparsest of the bunch.

"Anything else?"

"...Nothing else."

Takagi clearly realized his words lacked conviction and looked somewhat crestfallen.

"Thank you for the information."

Without another word, Fu Qian set the medical file down, offered a smiling word of thanks, and left.

As for the photos plastered on the wall, Fu Qian had absolutely no desire to touch them.

In a room practically swimming with hormones, there was no telling what those things had been rubbed with.

...

If he was not mistaken, this was the place.

Half an hour later, beneath the slanting rays of the setting sun, Fu Qian looked up at the building before him.

Enclosed by creamy-white outer walls sat an astonishingly large villa.

Brother Dancy clearly boasted considerable wealth; his residence was exemplary even within this affluent neighborhood.

That was right. Out of the numerous candidates, Fu Qian had selected the one Takagi feared the most.

Although the severe lack of information meant there was no solid reason to confirm Dancy was the killer...

...he was currently finding a needle in the ocean anyway, so there was no need to be overly rigid in his thinking.

Fu Qian chose to trust Takagi's intuition.

How did the saying go again? The most charming ones are the most dangerous.

For women, that was often the truest statement.

...

Beneath the soft lighting, a tall and straight figure stood wearing an apron around his waist, meticulously washing the ingredients in his hands.

His expression was deep and focused, not letting a single detail slip by until all the bloody water had drained and the mucus was scrubbed away, leaving the lung lobes in his hands a pale, fleshy pink.

In the massive room, only the sound of running water and a record player broke the silence.

As the song came to an end, the man was finally satisfied. He turned, set the ingredients down, and reached for the Kitchen Knife resting to the side.

It was right then that the corner of his eye caught a highly unusual change.

"Hi!"

Beside the dining table, a figure dressed like a high schooler had seated himself there at some unknown point.

Seeing the man glance his way, the boy even offered an overly familiar greeting.

"Who are you?"

Dancy Crawford displayed astonishing composure. Setting down the items in his hands, he unhurriedly wiped his hands clean and walked out of the kitchen.

"At a time like this, isn't it a bit cliché to ask such things?"

The seated figure did not answer his question, but instead pointed into the kitchen.

"By the way, where did you put the discarded parts of those ingredients?"

...

While Dancy remained silent, Fu Qian took the opportunity to survey the rest of the kitchen.

Clearly, this man deeply understood the cardinal rule of fresh ingredients and had no intention of refrigerating them.

Aside from the freshly washed lung lobes, a fully prepared liver and heart were also visible.

As an avid kidney-extractor himself, Fu Qian was absolutely certain that these organs came from a human and had been harvested quite recently.

Not only had he found the right place, but he could even confirm the cause of Kisaragi Kana's death now.

Men really did understand men best. The inhuman look in Dancy's eyes that Takagi had mentioned was undoubtedly the look of someone staring at ingredients.

"Follow me."

Compared to Takagi, Brother Dancy was undeniably much calmer.

After looking Fu Qian up and down, he clearly realized that anyone capable of sneaking in so silently was far from ordinary. Thus, rather than attempting to resist, he gave a very straightforward answer to Fu Qian's question.

Given how cooperative the other party was being, Fu Qian pretended to ignore the Kitchen Knife Dancy had secretly palmed.

"I don't recall inviting any guests."

Walking in front, Dancy even continued chatting calmly with Fu Qian.

"So if you want to stay for dinner, you'll have to wait a while longer."

"I've always been a very patient person, but my plans for tonight can only be decided after I see the discarded parts of those ingredients."

Walking behind him, Fu Qian replied in an equally casual tone.

Though he had no interest in cannibalism, Fu Qian was genuinely curious about how the mission might change once he found Kisaragi Kana's corpse.

Regardless, it felt like it would be difficult to prevent the Anjing Group from noticing this little incident.

After he spoke, Dancy fell briefly silent, clearly unable to pinpoint Fu Qian's true intentions.

"This is it."

Amid this back-and-forth, the two crossed more than half the courtyard before finally opening a passageway that led underground.

A thick, overpowering stench of blood surged out.

Fu Qian did not stand on ceremony and simply walked straight down the passage.

Soon, a flat stone slab appeared before him. Sprawled face-down across it lay a long, slender, and entirely naked body.

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