Chapter 55: Bring Him Back

Fukuyama Shoichi was, naturally, the member from the Flame Bird Group, following Hino Kaoru’s orders to infiltrate the mental hospital.

After much deliberation, he had ultimately decided to disguise himself as a mental patient to sneak in. This way, he wouldn’t attract too much attention, and even if he occasionally did something out of line, the cover of being a mental patient would prevent anyone from seeing through him.

The first step was getting committed to a mental hospital as a patient. Conveniently, Natsuki City only had this one mental hospital. Any mental patients appearing in Natsuki City were bound to be sent here.

Once he had figured out his plan, Fukuyama Shoichi pored over a massive amount of data on mental patients, found a suitable location, and began his act.

He shaped his persona as a bizarre ice sculpture master who persistently used things other than ice for his so-called “ice sculptures,” hoping to draw attention and be sent to a mental hospital.

And he failed…

Everyone just thought he was an idiot, not an actual mental patient. He struggled for a long time without any results.

So this morning, Fukuyama Shoichi decided to go all out!

If ice sculpting with wood went ignored, and ice sculpting with sand went ignored, then what about ice sculpting with feces? Would that still be ignored?

Don’t ask where he got the material. For a Reincarnator, acquiring such a thing was trivial. At worst, he could just… produce a little himself.

Thus, this morning, the passing citizens of Natsuki City were shocked to witness a chubby little man playing with feces, claiming he was going to carve it like ice.

That morning, countless passersby vomited on the spot.

This proved that, this time, Fukuyama Shoichi had succeeded.

Within a short time, the police arrived on the scene and witnessed the chubby man clutching the filthy matter.

“Do you… want to see my ice sculpture?” Fukuyama Shoichi asked with a smile, unaware that his image would soon spread widely online and attract massive attention.

Without any surprise, Fukuyama Shoichi was forcibly taken to the Mizuhashi Private Psychiatric Hospital. Throughout the process, the police officers wore expressions of utter despair.

It was so smelly, so filthy…

Fukuyama Shoichi also found it smelly and filthy, but there was no other way. His previous methods, which were neither stinky nor dirty, had failed to make anyone notice him as a “mental patient.” He had no choice.

It wasn’t that he wanted to handle such filth—he truly had no other option. He didn’t want to do it either.

Everything was for the ultimate goal!

With a sense of self-sacrificing self-righteousness, Fukuyama Shoichi gripped two handfuls of filth, looked at Mizuhashi Tetsukotsu—who was covering his mouth and nose in his office—and smiled. “Guest, would you like to witness the birth process of a world-famous ice sculpture? To thank you for watching, I can even use you as the model this time.”

Mizuhashi Tetsukotsu’s face immediately turned green.

This mental patient… wanted to use that filth to create a likeness of him?

Did Mizuhashi Tetsukotsu not deserve any dignity?

“Stop right there!” Mizuhashi Tetsukotsu roared. “Stop him! Stop him! Take him away and give him a thorough wash!”

After shouting, Mizuhashi Tetsukotsu leaned on his desk and retched.

Today, the psychiatric hospital was destined for utter chaos.

…

At the same time, on a city street, a fashionably dressed long-haired man wearing earphones was humming a tune as he walked through a bustling area.

His phone vibrated.

The long-haired man checked his phone and saw that someone had sent him a video clip as a query.

He tapped it open. The news footage was from the morning broadcast, showing Gounon being taken out of the psychiatric hospital.

“Gounon…” The long-haired man’s eyes narrowed as he recognized the person.

Another message came in.

Sender: Dubhe.

“Did you see the video content, Alkaid? We’ve finally found him,” Dubhe said. “Go find him and bring him back. This test subject still has a role to play.”

“No problem, Commander,” Alkaid replied with a smile.

…

The Mizuhashi Private Psychiatric Hospital was a place Hino Kaoru was also keeping a close eye on these days. So, even while investigating other matters, she would occasionally do a quick online search for information about the hospital.

And then she saw the information about Fukuyama Shoichi.

Are there so few ways to pretend to be a mental patient in this world that you had to resort to this method?

Even Hino Kaoru felt slightly nauseated.

Currently, Hino Kaoru was also in a hospital, but a different, conventional one.

The students from Aragaki Girls’ High School were all sent to this hospital for treatment. But from what we know, the students didn’t seem to have any major issues, so they’ve all been discharged. However, even though the students are gone, the hospital retains its patient list.

Hino Kaoru’s eyes flickered as she tried to locate this list.

This wasn’t a particularly difficult task for a Reincarnator, especially a Senior Reincarnator like her.

After a short while, Hino Kaoru successfully obtained a copy of the list. She compared it against the complete student roster of Aragaki Girls’ High School and found that a few names were missing from the hospital’s list. These must have been the students who had requested leave and missed the day of the school’s so-called “gas leak” incident.

Izumi Shirayuki, Mizuhashi Yuzuki, Tsukiyomi Ruri.

Only these three names.

Inoue Keiko, who had been posing as an ordinary person, had been among those sent to the hospital on that day.

Looking at these three names, Hino Kaoru furrowed her brow. “Izumi Shirayuki, Tsukiyomi Ruri… aren’t those the two girls I met at the hot spring inn? They attend this school? Wait… isn’t that Tsukiyomi Ruri an elementary schooler? Why would she be attending this school?”

Feeling puzzled, Hino Kaoru decided to revisit Aragaki Girls’ High School to gather more information.

…

Inside the psychiatric hospital.

Mizuhashi Yuzuki hung up the phone and pouted. “My mom was supposed to come keep me company today, but now she’s making excuses, saying she’s busy. I bet she heard about the new patient and is too scared to come.”

“Understandable,” Izumi Shirayuki said, shrugging.

The four of them hadn’t dared to leave their room all day, afraid of encountering that new patient outside.

“I’m so bored. I want something to do,” Mizuhashi Yuzuki whined, rolling around on the bed twice. Her eyes then locked onto Tsukiyomi Ruri, and she went over and hugged her from behind. “Is the game really that fun?”

“It’s not fun,” Tsukiyomi Ruri said with a blank expression.

“Then why are you playing it?” Mizuhashi Yuzuki asked, puzzled.