This mental hospital was called the “Kagawa Mental Hospital.” When Su Mu arrived at the entrance, he had a faint feeling that there were quite a few spiritual energy fluctuations inside, clearly indicating that there were extraordinary beings within.
This hospital was completely different from any hospital Su Mu had ever seen before, because its existence felt more like a prison.
Tall metal fences, a certain number of magic arrays, and occasional bursts of agitated spiritual energy.
No matter how you looked at it, it was just plain weird.
Could it be a hospital specifically for treating mentally ill extraordinary beings?
“Stick close to me in a bit,” Su Mu instructed, then knocked on the hospital’s main door.
Before long, a middle-aged female doctor in a white coat opened the door. “Who are you, and what do you want?”
Su Mu showed his credentials and explained his purpose.
“I’m sorry, but all the patients in our Kagawa Mental Hospital are extraordinary beings. This is a high-risk area. Without Mr. Sato’s orders, no one is allowed to enter.”
Su Mu was surprised and tried to pull rank. “I’m a samurai sent by the cult leader, Nishimura himself, to carry out a mission. Are you really going to stop me?”
The woman gave him a glance, then slammed the door shut with a “bang.” “Never heard of it.”
Getting turned away like that left a bad taste in Su Mu’s mouth. But when he turned around, he saw the four of them snickering behind his back.
“What are you laughing at? This just proves their management is super strict, and it’s hard for just anyone to sneak in. That’s a good thing,” Su Mu said with a dark face, trying to make excuses.
Suddenly, the door opened again.
It was the same female doctor from before. She took a look at Su Mu and said with a smile, “You must be Miss Chiba, right? Please, come right in. Mr. Sato personally called me and told me to give you my full cooperation. I was rude just now, please forgive me.”
“No harm done,” Su Mu said, stepping through the door, with the four of them following closely behind.
“The person Miss Chiba is looking for should be Murakami Teru, right? He got too emotional, so the medical staff gave him a sedative. He’s still sound asleep right now.”
Su Mu raised an eyebrow. “What a coincidence.”
“I’m really sorry,” the female doctor apologized repeatedly, then added, “Of course, if it’s urgent, we have ways to wake him up immediately.”
“That won’t be necessary. Just take me to see him first.”
The group followed the female doctor to the treatment room. The witness, Murakami Teru, was lying on a hospital bed, fast asleep.
Su Mu didn’t notice anything unusual and was wondering if he should just head back for now, when a tall, sturdy male nurse rushed over in a panic and said to the female doctor, “Head Nurse, Mr. Sato is here.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than a short man appeared in Su Mu’s field of vision. He had his arm around a young, beautiful woman who looked like his wife.
The wife had quite an allure, catching Su Mu’s attention the moment she appeared. Especially her captivating eyes—they were really charming.
Ahem…
Su Mu shifted his focus to Mr. Sato and noticed that his expression seemed a bit displeased.
Tch, I’m a woman right now. What’s the big deal if I look at your wife…
Su Mu grumbled to himself.
“Miss Chiba, I heard you were looking for me, so I came right away. Has there been a new development in the case?” Mr. Sato spoke as gently as he could, though he still had a slight furrow in his brow, looking like the picture of a concerned public servant.
Su Mu took off his sunglasses, revealing his true appearance, and smiled. “Mr. Sato truly is as diligent and caring for the people as the rumors say. You came right away after just one word from me. Well, I have some questions, and I need Mr. Sato to help me answer them.”
“Please, go ahead.”
“First, do man-eating monsters really exist?”
Su Mu’s blunt question made the four people behind him exchange uneasy glances. Each of them thought to themselves: Weren’t you just telling us to be careful about what we say? So that only applies to us, huh?
Mr. Sato was taken aback. “Is that even in doubt?”
“Good. Second question: When did you find out that the person sent here for this mission was me?”
“Yesterday.”
“Third question: If I hadn’t come, would there have been only three man-eating monster incidents?” Su Mu added right after, “Or, to put it another way, if Mr. Sato had only found out today that I was coming, would the fourth incident have happened tonight?”
Mr. Sato’s expression began to change. “What exactly are you implying, Miss Chiba?”
“Nothing much, just asking casually. Please don’t read too much into it, Mr. Sato.”
The treatment room suddenly fell silent. Gradually, even the sound of breathing became extremely faint.
Just as everyone was tense, waiting to see how the two would resolve this, a woman’s scream suddenly rang out from nearby—heart-wrenching, accompanied by the low growl of some beast.
The bodyguards outside quickly sealed off the entire treatment room to ensure Mr. Sato’s safety. Mr. Sato himself looked anxious. “Never mind me, go save those people! Don’t tell me that man-eating monster has shown up again.”
Su Mu vanished in a flash. The four—Hoshino Tanei and the others—stayed close to Murakami Teru’s hospital bed.
A short while later, Su Mu returned, dragging a creature as large as a bat but with a human-like form. “Talk about coincidence. I was just saying this monster might not exist, and then one shows up at our doorstep. Looks like I misjudged you, Mr. Sato. I apologize for that.”
Mr. Sato stared at the monster Su Mu was casually holding in his hand. He swallowed hard and said fearfully, “It sounded terrifying just from people’s descriptions, but seeing it with my own eyes… it truly is.”
They exchanged a few polite words, and Su Mu noticed that Mr. Sato seemed to relax considerably.
His wife, on the other hand, hadn’t said a single word from beginning to end. Even when Su Mu and her husband were at each other’s throats, she showed no reaction whatsoever.
Su Mu had a feeling that there was still a lot hidden behind all this.
He wanted to dig deeper. Who knew, he might just stumble upon some unexpected surprise?
He knocked the man-eating monster unconscious, stuffed it into his jade hairpin, and nodded toward the four. “Let’s go. Since our witness is out cold for now, let’s do this hospital a favor.”
“What kind of favor?” Hoshino Tanei was, as always, the most eager one.
Su Mu gave a mysterious smile. “Since a man-eating monster has already broken into the hospital, we should help them check for any other stragglers. There are so many patients here. It would be terrible if any of them got hurt.”
“I’ll send some people to go with you, at least to lend a small hand,” Mr. Sato offered.
“No need. They need the training. Just sending the four of them is fine. I can tag along to round out the numbers, but let’s not trouble anyone else.”
He then turned to the head nurse. “Is that alright?”
The head nurse looked at Mr. Sato, who choked a little inside. “Why are you looking at me? The director’s not here. You’re in charge here.”
“Then I’ll take that as a yes,” Su Mu said. He turned to the four and spoke in a world-weary, old-soul tone: “Go on, children. This is your first test.”
The four of them stiffened simultaneously. Who are you calling a child? Sure, you’re the teacher, but we’re all around the same age, you know.
Actually, they were a bit younger…