Suga walked towards the entrance of the apartment building, with a porch in front and a locked double door. Nellson watched Suga momentarily, then flew after him and landed near the entrance. Suga tried to open the entrance door but could not.
“As I thought, locked.”
Suga remembered something; he then took out the key from his trouser pocket given by Nishiyama, the hyena Yokai. Suga tried to put this key into the keyhole before him, but it didn’t fit. Suga’s expression turned slightly astonished as he thought.
“It didn’t turn out like I thought….”
Suga put the key back into his trouser pocket, then looked at Nellson.
“Can you break down this door, Nellson?”
Nellson nodded.
“Of course, leave it to me.”
Nellson concentrated; black smoke began to billow from various parts of his body, covering him. From behind the black smoke, Nellson reappeared with his body two meters high. Suga walked away from Nellson; Nellson then broke down this door using his body. It only took one time for Nellson to be able to break in, the entrance door was penetrated, and the lock destroyed. Suga looked slightly surprised to see Nellson.
“Okay, you can reduce your size again, Nellson.”
Nellson nodded. Black smoke billowed from all over his body and then enveloped him. Nellson reappeared from behind the black smoke with the size of an owl in general. Suga’s expression turned serious.
“Be alert, Nellson. Get ready to attack at any moment.”
Nellson nodded; Suga then walked in through the entrance door. Nellson watched Suga for a moment, then flew after him.
Inside the apartment building, they arrived at a wide corridor similar to a waiting room, with waiting chairs to the right and left pressed against the wall. Not too far before Suga, a sliding metal security gate blocked the deeper entrance into this apartment building. Suga’s expression changed to astonishment; he walked towards the security gate and saw another expansive room after him; soon, Nellson flew after him and landed beside Suga. Suga tried to open the security gate, but it was locked. Suga appeared to realize something, then thought.
“Perhaps?”
Suga took back the key that Nishiyama had given him and tried to unlock this gate, and it worked. With a bit of surprise, Suga put the key back in his trouser pocket, opened this sliding security gate, and walked past it. Nellson immediately flew after him.
Suga and Nellson arrived at a guest hall after the security gate earlier. To Suga’s right is a corridor that leads to the apartment rooms on the right side of the building, while to the left is a corridor leading to the apartment rooms on the left side of the building. Before Suga is a front desk with stairs going up, then leads to the right and left stairs to the second floor. Suga looked around, the atmosphere was quiet, and there was no one. Suga walked further into the apartment building.
Shortly after that, something unusual happened. From the direction of the stairs before Suga, a man walked down with a curious expression. They finally met; the man’s expression was not too surprised, as if this was normal for him. On the other hand, Suga looked surprised because he knew the man before him. Suga thought.
“He is one of the missing persons suspected of being a victim of a hyena Yokai; why is he here?”
The man before Suga appeared to realize something.
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“Are you another victim he kidnapped? I am concerned for you.”
Suga’s expression turned confused.
Suga could hardly believe what he saw; the person who had been declared missing for almost two weeks was now standing before him. Suga took out his smartphone and checked his investigation files; indeed, the man before him was one of the missing victims. Nellson looked at this man in surprise. The man before Suga walked down the stairs to meet Suga.
“You look young.”
Suga nodded
“Yes, I’m still in high school.”
The man’s attention turned to the entrance, and his expression changed to surprise.
“Am I not mistaken?”
This man walked closer to the security gate that Suga had just opened.
“This door is completely open; we are free!”
This man appeared to realize something; he then turned around to look at Suga.
“Wait a minute, were you the one who opened this door?”
Suga’s expression changed in astonishment; he then walked over to this man. Nellson flew over to Suga, then landed on the floor near Suga. Suga showed his ID to this man.
“That’s right; I’m the one who opened the door. I’m a government investigator on duty to investigate this place. Can you tell me what happened?”
This man looked at Suga’s ID for a while and was surprised, but circumstances made him forget about it immediately.
“Of course, but before that, could you help me tell the others?”
Suga’s expression changed in astonishment; he then nodded. This man ran up the stairs, and Suga followed him. Nellson, who had been paying attention, then flew after them.
On the second floor, there is a guest hall and a front view window barred with metal bars so the window cannot be approached. To their right and left were corridors that connected the apartment rooms similar to those on the first floor. This man started knocking on the doors of several rooms, then told them that they were free, and the five people who lived in this apartment building finally gathered together happily, three men and two women. On the other hand, Suga’s expression turned surprised to see this because he had confirmed that these five were missing persons and suspected something to do with the hyena Yokai. Suga called the emergency phone number, then directed these people toward the exit. The five of them looked at Nellson curiously. Before anyone asked, Suga explained.
“He is my pet owl who often accompanies me in my investigations and likes to do cosplay.”
The man who had first met Suga smiled and walked up to Nellson who was standing on the floor and looking up to see this man.
“Is that so? Thank you, Mr. owl. I’ll treat you to the most delicious pet food later, hahaha.”
This man laughed happily after inviting Nellson to talk without knowing that Nellson actually could talk.
Arriving near the wide-open exit, they sat on long chairs in the room right after the entrance before the security gate. They wait happily for the police called by Suga. Suga sat side by side on one of the other long chairs with the man he first met, with Nellson standing on the floor watching them curiously. Suga’s expression turned serious.
“While we are waiting for the police, can you tell me what happened? But, of course, I will not force you to tell me now.”
The man smiled.
“It’s okay; I will tell you happily as my savior.”
Suga smiled and looked a little surprised as he thought.
“Is it just my feelings, or does this guy seem not depressed at all? Far from like someone who was just kidnapped for a long time.”
Suga took out his smartphone to record this man’s voice while Suga interviewed him.
“Okay, sir. Do you still remember when and how you were first kidnapped?”
This man nodded.
“Yes, about two weeks ago. At that time, I had just come home from work late at night until nine pm. While walking through the alley leading to my house, suddenly, someone struck me on the back of the head from behind so that I was unconscious. I woke up on the sofa in the waiting room on the second floor with the apartment room key next to me. I was confused; because I was the first to be kidnapped in this apartment building. I then met a man who wore a hyena mask covering his entire face; he then showed up here at least once a day and said he had kidnapped me but won't tell me why.”
Suga’s expression turned curious.
“This man you met, did you see any tattoos on his body?”
The man looked a little surprised.
“Yes, black pattern tattoos on his hands, neck, forearms, and possibly behind his clothes too.”
Suga’s expression turned serious while propping his chin with his right hand as he thought.
“There’s no mistake; the person this man is met is Nishiyama, the hyena Yokai. What’s the point of all this….”
Suga’s expression looked even more surprised, as did the man before him.
“By the way, how do you know if the man who kidnaped me has a tattoo on his body? Do you know who he is?”
Suga was a little surprised as he thought.
“I shouldn’t give too much information about the cases involving Yokai....”
Suga shook his head.
“Unfortunately, I don’t know the culprit and only know the characteristics.”
This man nodded.
“It’s okay; I look forward to hearing from you.”