21st Century Necromancer

Back in the office, as he sat in the chair listening to the situation described by Kube Rokuro, Chen Yu couldn't help but furrow his brow.

"So, you suspect there was a problem with the DNA comparison results?" Chen Yu asked Kube Rokuro, reasoning that if the personnel responsible for the DNA comparison had been careless, such an error wasn't out of the realm of possibility.

Kube Rokuro nodded, even though he still felt there might be more to the situation, he relayed the police's judgement to Chen Yu, "According to the DNA comparison's previous results, the police caught a man named Yamada Yonegoro. However, on the night of the incident, Yamada Yonegoro was working overtime at his company until two o'clock in the morning before taking a taxi home, his colleagues and the taxi driver can vouch for him, so he has a solid alibi."

"A solid alibi?" Chen Yu shook his head with a not wholly convinced expression, "If it were a transcendental being, they would have many ways to kill a person without anyone noticing. But this Yamada Yonegoro isn't a transcendental being, right? Did he leave the office during his overtime work?"

"He didn't leave at any point, even when going to the restroom, he kept it within ten minutes. There was nothing suspicious." Kube Rokuro shook his head; the police had also considered and investigated this aspect, "Moreover, the company he works for is in Setagaya Ward, while his home is in Musashino City, which is too far from the victim's location in Sumida Ward, so the police determined he didn't have the time to commit the crime."

"Setagaya and Musashino, huh? That does seem unlikely." Chen Yu pondered for a moment and found himself nodding in agreement with the police's judgement, since, lacking the sort of spatial movement ability he possessed, even a transcendental being would require a significant amount of time to travel from Setagaya Ward to Sumida Ward, and it indeed seemed improbable that someone would go that far specifically to commit theft, with time also to assault someone. Continue reading at My Virtual Library Empire

However, Chen Yu wasn't ready to write off Yamada Yonegoro as a non-suspect. He asked Kube Rokuro, "What does Meiqin think about this? Has she tried other methods to collect evidence?"

The implication of Chen Yu's words was clear, he was asking if his own pupil had tried using the Necromancer's methods to solve the problem, such as clairvoyant summoning of the victim's soul to interrogate, which could more directly pinpoint the killer.

However, Kube Rokuro shook his head, "Dr. Misumi tried clairvoyance and indeed summoned the soul of the victim, Miyoshi Yoko, but she said that the killer wore a hood the whole time and, with the lights off, she wasn't able to see the killer's face. She did confirm, though, that she scratched the killer's neck."

"Scratched the neck? That should be a conspicuous mark, have you informed the police of this so they can check this injury on the suspect they've detained?" As a doctor, Chen Yu naturally could estimate the healing time for such wounds, a piece of evidence this clear could be powerful.

"Dr. Misumi informed Officer Maori, they've checked the suspect, that Yamada Yonegoro, and he has no injuries on his body," Kube said with a somewhat dejected expression; as a detective novel enthusiast, he was keen to deduce the truth of the case and apprehend the criminal.

Chen Yu didn't share Kube Rokuro's fixation, he merely nodded and said, "It seems then that there was an issue with the DNA comparison results, I'll have someone redo it later."

"That's all we can do for now," Kube Rokuro said, not without disappointment.

Seeing Kube Rokuro's demeanor, Chen Yu couldn't help but smile a little, glanced at the clock on the wall, and said to Kube Rokuro, "Don't be so down, it's almost mealtime, let me treat you to a meal."

"No, no, I'll just eat back at UDI! I couldn't let Brother Yu spend money on me!" Kube Rokuro hurriedly refused, seemingly reluctant to accept Chen Yu's offer.

"It's just the hospital cafeteria, what's the big deal! Besides, by the time you get back to UDI, you'll have missed mealtime anyway, right? You might as well have something to eat here, I was about to go to the cafeteria myself. Let's go together." Having said that, Chen Yu unceremoniously took Kube Rokuro with him to the cafeteria.

——————————————————

Recently, every day at noon, Chen Yu's lunch had been a love-filled bento box made by Jounouchi Hiromi, so when he brought Kube Rokuro to the cafeteria, Jounouchi Hiromi had already set up the bento box, waiting to have lunch with him.

Seeing Kube Rokuro by Chen Yu's side, Jounouchi Hiromi couldn't help but show a look of surprise: "Mr. Kube? Have you come to see Mr. Chen Yu again?"

"Dr. Jounouchi!" Kube Rokuro hurriedly greeted Jounouchi Hiromi and, after sitting down with Chen Yu, explained to her, "There's a case that needs the hospital's assistance, so I came to see Brother Yu."

"Another case that requires the hospital's help? It looks like you guys at UDI have been really busy lately!" Jounouchi Hiromi teased Kube Rokuro, but then, looking at the opened bento box on the table, she immediately apologized to Kube Rokuro, "I'm sorry Mr. Kube, I didn't expect you to come looking for Mr. Chen Yu today, so I didn't prepare lunch for you. What would you like to eat? I'll go order for you! The pork over rice in our hospital cafeteria is quite delicious!"

"Then please order one for me, thank you Dr. Jounouchi." Kube Rokuro gratefully nodded in response to Jounouchi Hiromi's courteous offer.

Jounouchi Hiromi nodded and was about to stand up when Chen Yu smiled and said to her, "Let me go, Hiromi, you must be tired from the morning's work."

Without waiting for Jounouchi Hiromi to say anything more, Chen Yu got up and walked over to the ordering counter.

By the time Chen Yu returned with a pork over rice set meal, he was surprised to see Professor Kube standing in front of Kube Rokuro and Jounouchi Hiromi, while Kube Rokuro had his head bowed, seemingly reluctant to face his own father.

"Professor!" Chen Yu promptly took a couple of steps forward to join Professor Kube, hoping to intervene if Professor Kube decided to scold Rokuro.

To Chen Yu's surprise, however, Professor Kube didn't seem to have any intention of lecturing his son today. He just glanced at Chen Yu, nodded, then casually asked Kube Rokuro, "Is work going well recently? Why did you come to the hospital?"

"It's related to work." Kube Rokuro sounded very apprehensive in front of his father, answering in a low voice with his head down.

Watching Kube Rokuro like this, Professor Kube seemed to want to say something else but hesitated and eventually held back. He simply turned to Chen Yu and said, "Mr. Chen Yu, if my son needs any help, please look after him. Much obliged."

"I will, Professor." Chen Yu nodded slightly and watched Professor Kube leave before making a meaningful glance at Kube Rokuro.