A Scientific Urban Detective

Hamura Shiage couldn't resist the urge to jump up and cover Yomikawa Aiho's mouth, stopping her from continuing to describe those "glorious miracles."

Honestly, Hamura Shiage could understand Komaba Leader and Hattori Hanzō's desire to "pull off a big one." After all, how much could they earn just by stealing and reselling iron plates? SKILL OUT had thirty-odd members, and the money from stealing one iron plate wasn't even enough to treat everyone to a karaoke night.

And that was thanks to Komaba Leader's existence as a "human crane." Without him personally taking action, it would take three or four people half a day just to move one iron plate…

"Logically speaking, this kind of small matter shouldn't be under the jurisdiction of our security force," Yomikawa Aiho said.

Usually, it would be handled by the disciplinary instructors and disciplinary committee members of the school where the students involved were enrolled. Only after the students involved were expelled from school would the security force take over.

"It's clear that your desire for money isn't that strong," Yomikawa Aiho asked, "So why did you think of robbing an ATM?"

This was what all the security teachers wanted to figure out.

There's always a reason for everything. SKILL OUT suddenly changed its usual behavior pattern, transforming from petty thieves stealing iron plates into big-time robbers stealing from banks. The leap was simply too great.

Without understanding the reason, the security teachers wouldn't know how to deal with these three teenagers next.

"Hattori," Komaba Leader, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke. His voice was very deep, as if it was directly resonated from his chest.

"Eh? Komaba Leader, you…" Hattori Hanzō quickly looked over.

Komaba Leader still had that poker face, with no emotion showing.

But Hattori Hanzō, who knew him well, already understood what his leader meant.

"Is this really…" He hesitated, but immediately came back to his senses.

Like a most standard and traditional "ninja," he would never oppose the will of his "daimyo."

"Okay." Nodding solemnly, Hattori Hanzō sat up straight, looking at Yomikawa Aiho with a serious expression. "Since Komaba Leader believes you can be trusted, then I will tell you the truth, Security Teacher!"

"You can call me Yomikawa-sensei." Yomikawa Aiho nodded, pointing to the name tag on her chest. "I will listen carefully. Please don't hesitate and tell me everything."

"The reason for stealing the ATM is simple," Hattori Hanzō said. "Because we need money, a lot of money—stealing iron plates, even if we emptied the factory, probably wouldn't be enough, right?"

After all, when they resold them, they sold them at the price of scrap iron, so the profit was very limited.

"How much money do you need?" Yomikawa Aiho asked.

"One hundred million yen."

"…" Even though she was somewhat mentally prepared, Yomikawa Aiho was still taken aback. "That's indeed a considerable amount. But why do you suddenly need so much money?"

SKILL OUT didn't usually have any particularly expensive expenses. They were just a group of typical small-time thugs hanging around the streets.

They didn't touch gambling, drugs, or prostitution. Their biggest expense was usually the medical bills for injuries sustained from fighting with other gangs.

It was hard to imagine why such a group would suddenly need such a huge sum of one hundred million yen.

"Because Komaba Leader recently posted a bounty on the dark web. In order to raise the bounty money, we had to find a way to earn one hundred million yen as soon as possible…" Hattori Hanzō explained.

"Using crooked methods can't be considered 'earning money,'" Yomikawa Aiho pointed out, then continued to ask, "A bounty? What are you offering a bounty for? You're willing to pay a reward of one hundred million yen?"

"We are collecting information about the 'underground fighting arena,'" Hattori Hanzō said.

"Underground fighting arena? What's that?" It was Hamura Shiage who asked first. He had just joined and didn't seem to know the reason.

"Underground fighting arena?" Yomikawa Aiho frowned, feeling that things were not simple.

…

"…Yes, underground fighting arena." Seriya Tsuguo nodded with a serious expression. "I don't know if you've heard similar rumors."

Opposite him, Kōhō Biwī stirred the spoon in her hand with a strange expression, stirring the coffee with a large amount of milk into a milky yellow color.

"It seems, I have indeed heard similar urban legends." Kōhō Biwī said uncertainly. "So, the reason you asked me out today is related to this underground fighting arena?"

"Yes!" Seriya Tsuguo lowered his head forcefully. "Please, I need your help!"

After a moment of silence, Kōhō Biwī continued, "In other words, Seriya-senpai wants to borrow my channels in the Judgment to gather relevant information?"

"Yes!" Seriya Tsuguo didn't hide anything, saying bluntly, "After thinking about it, we can only ask you, Kōhō!"

Kōhō Biwī felt slightly relieved after hearing that. At least she knew his real purpose.

Seriya Tsuguo was a member of the delinquent gang "Great Spider," or rather, the second-in-command of the gang, second only to the leader "Great Spider" Kurozuma Wataru.

And the "Great Spider" group was the place where Kōhō Biwī had lived not long ago.

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So, from this level, the two of them were actually comrades. However, Kōhō Biwī, who had left the organization and became a Judgment member, was regarded as a "traitor" by some members, so Kōhō Biwī's relationship with "Great Spider" was somewhat delicate now.

Of course, Kurozuma Wataru's attitude towards Kōhō Biwī had never changed from beginning to end, and he still treated her as a friend even now.

Similarly, the vast majority of members of "Great Spider" didn't hate her because Kōhō Biwī became a Judgment member. In fact, Kōhō Biwī herself cared the most about this matter. If she was willing to let go of her misgivings and go back to take a look, her comrades might still be able to accept her.

However, Seriya Tsuguo in front of her was one of those people who firmly opposed Kōhō Biwī.

As the second-in-command, Seriya Tsuguo also hated Judgment members the most, believing that Kōhō Biwī had betrayed Great Spider.

So Kōhō Biwī never expected that this man would actually take the initiative to come to her, even humbling himself to her.

Seriya Tsuguo wanted to borrow the information channels of the Judgment, so he humbled himself to ask the person he hated the most. After all, besides Kōhō Biwī, he didn't know any other Judgment members.

The request to use public resources for private purposes made Kōhō Biwī a little embarrassed, but feeling concerned, she decided to ask the specific reason first.

What exactly happened that made Seriya Tsuguo, such a proud and stubborn person, humble himself to ask her?

"Did something happen in the gang?" Kōhō Biwī asked.

"Ishikawa is missing."

"Ishikawa Jirō?" Kōhō Biwī knew this person, a very active young man in the gang. "Did something happen to him?"

"His whereabouts are unknown," Seriya Tsuguo said. "It's been almost two days."

"Almost two days?" Kōhō Biwī frowned slightly.

"I know, of course I know," Seriya Tsuguo said. "It hasn't been 48 hours yet, even if I report it to the police, they won't pay attention to it, right? That's why I came to you!"

Kōhō Biwī nodded and continued to ask, "Is Ishikawa's disappearance related to the underground fighting arena you mentioned?"

"Yes." Seriya Tsuguo nodded. "Because before he disappeared, Ishikawa mentioned to me and Kurozuma-aniki that he had received an invitation from the underground fighting arena."