Ke Xue: I picked up a bottle of sherry at the beginning.

"You seem very happy."

"What? Don't you see I'm trying to show sympathy?"

"Not at all."

"Ah, this shows that you are not observing things with your mind's eye."

"Ah. The Heart's Eye?"

This is probably the latest Liangzi language that can be put directly into the dictionary.

"I'm one of the shareholders of Denazer Paradise. I can't possibly expect anything to harm the park's interests, right?"

"Is that right?"

"That's right."

Ryoko changed the subject and mentioned work: "The mustache prince will pay a visit to the Imperial Palace today."

"From the Imperial Palace to returning home, I guess it will be heavily guarded."

"It is said that he will leave for Kansai tomorrow."

"Looks like we're going sightseeing in Kyoto and Nara."

"He might buy the Great Buddha in Nara."

Ryoko raised her hand and snapped her fingers. A waiter came running over. His head looked a bit like a pumpkin—a Pumpkin Man, you might say.

"I'm so sorry, please bring the newspaper. It wasn't delivered to my room this morning."

"Sir, we don't prepare newspapers here. Reading worldly news will ruin your dreams. There's no need to prepare newspapers in Paradise. This is Ivan O'Daniel's philosophy..."

"Dreams that are ruined by reading the newspaper are really cheap stuff."

"..."

"No newspapers, no news. There are quite a few cults that order their followers this way. If you don't want to be told that, go get me all the newspapers in your office! All of them!"

The panicked Pumpkin Man took off running, only to reappear five minutes later with a mountain of newspapers in his arms. Whether he respected Ryoko or not was unknown, but he was certainly afraid of her.

The front page of the news had a large headline: "His Royal Highness, assassination attempt failed." Even the sports papers had the same headline. The newspapers also published large photos of the darkly handsome double with shining white teeth.

The article that was concocted after secret discussions between the Japanese and Mewatt parties roughly looked like this:

"Terrorists hostile to the Mewat royal family plotted an assassination attempt on His Highness, the Second Prince, Kadoga. Thanks to the diligent intervention of the Japanese authorities, the assassination attempt failed, but Prince Kadoga's military attaché was also killed in the line of duty. His Highness expressed gratitude to the Japanese side for their dedicated service and expressed no displeasure over the incident. This incident will not affect relations between the two countries. However, considering the potential for future terrorist attacks, we must strengthen our vigilance and His Highness will no longer appear before the Japanese public or the media. While regrettable, this is a necessary measure to prevent terrorist activities..."

"Did the Half-Mercury Princess escape in the end?"

Miwako Sato's head tilts slightly

"The newspapers said, 'The terrorist has been identified and his arrest is only a matter of time.'"

Inspector Megure finished his breakfast, sat down and said this.

Ryoko gave a malicious smile.

"It was only a matter of time before the mastermind behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks was apprehended. But it's been several years already..."

While reading the newspaper, Bai Quanyi was thinking.

"What kind of action will those guys from the Public Security Bureau take..." Inspector Megure muttered.

There was not a single officer in the Criminal Division who had any favorable impression of the Japanese Public Security Bureau. They were exclusive, closed-minded, self-serving, and deeply elitist—in short, they were a disgusting bunch. Their concealment of intelligence and evidence had already rendered several Criminal Division investigations fruitless.

"Well, he's probably at the Half-Merce Princess's house now, showing off his power."

Sato Miwako said worriedly, "The embassy certainly won't allow us to be investigated, but ordinary people in Mewatt are constantly being taken to the nearby police station to 'assist in the investigation,' and they're probably in a state of panic."

"It's not that simple."

"why?"

“How many police officers are qualified to translate Mewat?”

"Ah, yes, this requires preparation."

"Surely they won't ask the Mewatt Embassy to get involved?"

Inspector Takagi joined the discussion at some point and said:

At this moment, Ryoko, who was supporting her chin with her fingers, seemed to have thought of something.

"Okay, let's do an academic search."

"Academics?" Bai Quanyi was puzzled.

"Let's quickly find a scholar who is proficient in Mewat—not just Mewat, but the history, culture, and folklore of all of South Asia—to assist us in our investigation."

"Such scholars should exist..."

"Yes. That's still a broad area. Even smaller areas are where scholars devote their entire lives and energy to research."

"It seems so."

"It's decided. I'm going to show Yuki the consequences of not letting me participate in the search."

"What does this have to do with Inspector Muromachi?"

"That's a mouthful. Just thinking about the fact that this air was breathed by that guy is enough to raise my blood pressure and increase my stomach acid secretion."

"I'm afraid the other party feels the same way."

"What did you say?" Ryoko looked at Shiraizumi Masu with a threatening look.

"No, no, I just had a little medical imagination..." Bai Quanyi had to defend himself.

Ryoko showed a "sinister" look and stood up.

"Well, we're going back to Tokyo. Everyone, get ready."

Isn’t materialism a kind of superstition?

Fifteen minutes later, the group left the heavily guarded Denaze Paradise from the rear entrance in a pitch-black, stretched sedan. The spacious sedan was fully equipped, even with a refrigerator and a television.

Ryoko fumbled with the remote, constantly switching between satellite news feeds. The image on the TV occasionally became blurry, but the sound quality was always excellent. Only Ryoko remained unperturbed. The other four alternated between looking at the TV and out the window. On TV, a famous critic was commenting:

"A few years ago, the former king and his family were murdered in the Kingdom of Mewat."

"Yes, yes, that's true. But it has nothing to do with this terrorist act."

Where's the evidence for your claim? I'd really like to ask the anchor about this. Commentators were particularly vocal about the crucial relationship between Japan and Mewat.

"In short, it is extremely important for Japan to obtain the resources of the Kingdom of Mewat. For the sake of Japan's national interests, we must apprehend that terrorist as soon as possible."

Outside, the scorching summer heat was scorching. Despite the air conditioning, I felt a bit warm in my extended sedan on the Tokyo Kansai Expressway. This also illustrates that, despite its near-omnipotence, modern civilization still has its own blind alleys.

However, what exactly is the "big secret of Mewat Kingdom" mentioned by the half-fish princess Sari Yulishan Delshigan?

"The imperial family is made of conspiracy and bloodshed." Ryoko disagreed. "It used to be a secret, but it's no longer a big deal these days. Imperial families everywhere have a history stained with bloodshed. It's not something to boast about, but there's no need to hide it."

Shiraizumi agreed, "There seems to be a complex internal relationship. I think it's necessary to investigate."

Ryoko said, "Let Yuki investigate things like background connections. Yuki loves these kinds of shady things."

"This isn't something sinister, this is something important."

"Ah, it's certainly not something sinister."

"That's it."

"If it's not sinister, let's just use the word dank. Hehehe..."

Ryoko laughed out loud. She probably thought her statement was fair.

Ryoko lifted up her extremely beautiful legs to show off, then took out her cell phone and started making a call.

"Ah, hello, it's me, Yakushiji Ryoko. I have something I'd like to ask you. Ah, yes, it's urgent."

……

After noon, a man appeared at the main entrance of the Metropolitan Police Department. He was short, slightly overweight, with thinning hair and a rather pale complexion. He wore silver-rimmed glasses, a short-sleeved shirt, and a bag slung over his shoulder. He looked like a middle-aged, otaku with unruly behavior. So the guard immediately questioned him and called in his contact—Shirakuzumi Masu.

"Ah, it's okay, it's okay. He came to see us."

Bai Quanyi took the suspicious middle-aged otaku into the lobby and headed towards the elevator.

"Professor Hiramura of Keiyo University, right? I'm so sorry to have you here during your busy schedule."

Bai Quanyi greeted him politely, and the other party smiled generously.

"Nothing, I'm not busy now anyway, so I came right away."

"You're too kind."

"It's okay, it's okay. You're being polite. Because of Yakushiji-kun's matter, it's just one more class suspension."

Shigeo Hiramura, an associate professor in the Faculty of Letters at Keiyo University, was a graduate student at the University of Tokyo's Institute for Humanities when Ryoko entered the University of Tokyo.

In the office, Ryoko had been waiting for a long time.

"Ah, Professor Hiramura, I'm so sorry to have you come all this way. But I have something I'd like to ask you for your advice."

Professor Hiramura looked delighted at Ryoko's smile and sweet words. To me, she was a lamb that had walked right into the wolf's arms.

"Senior, how is the school going now?"

"Honestly, I don't see a bright future at all. Our school cut the philosophy and art history departments this year, and in a few years, the literature department might be eliminated too."

"Ah, is that so?"

"The Faculty of Letters can't make money for the school, unlike the Faculty of Science and Engineering, which can attract sponsorship. They can't even engage in industry-university collaboration. Perhaps in ten years, half of Japan's universities will have eliminated their Faculty of Letters, and even the entire humanities discipline in Japan will die out."

In the Rococo-style room, Sato Miwako respectfully brought coffee. Now it was time to get down to business.

"Today I would like to ask you about your research direction."

Professor Hiramura is one of the few South Asian history experts in Japan, and he is particularly well-versed in the history of Mewatt.

"Well, Mewat history is generally considered a branch of Indian historiography. However, small countries are small, and they all have their own unique history and cultural customs."

Thus, Professor Hiramura began his lecture on the history of Mewat. If a school course on Mewat's 600-year history were taught, it would probably take a year.

Ryoko had no interest in topics like wise rulers, good governance, and peace. Instead, she constantly demanded explanations about tyrants, harsh policies, and war.

During the lecture, which lasted nearly an hour, Professor Hiramura drank as many as ten cups of barley tea. During the break after being tired from speaking, Professor Hiramura told me some interesting anecdotes that really piqued my interest.

"In India, there is a group of Kali devotees called Tagu or Taki. In Roman letters, it's THAGG."

"Is it a cult?"

"It's a murder gang."

"Ouch."

"The number of casualties is said to have reached 20 million."

"The Tagu group has been operating for 500 years, killing innocent travelers and looting their property as proof of their devotion to the goddess Kali."

"But, 20 million people... many countries have a total population of less than 20 million..."

"This is a historical fact, Izumi-kun."

Ryoko, always fond of gore, suddenly exclaimed. A caravan of several hundred people was supposed to depart from point A to point B, but after setting off, there was no news. They were all killed by the Tagu group. It wasn't until 1863 that British Colonel Sriman annihilated the Tagu group. Legend has it that some remnants of the Tagu group eventually fled to Mewat.

"But that was in the 19th century. Actually, there are even older, more disgusting things in Mewat."

"You mean it exists..."

"It looks like a human, but it's not actually a human..."

"If it's not human, then what is it?"

Bai Quanyi asked this, but his eyes were fixed on my boss.

Professor Hiramura touched his stomach, which had been fed ten cups of barley tea, and lowered his voice slightly.

"They are called Goyouta."

"Goyouta..."

Ryoko's mouth dropped open.

"GOYUHDA, that's what it would be if it were spelled in Roman letters."

"Yes, it's Goyouta."

"Just listen and you'll know it's not a good thing."