Over two hours later, Yuu Hoshimiya and Mary finished their breakfast.
Last night had been a rare and exotic experience, though it was a pity that Mary wasn't officially contracted yet.
They hadn't reached a level of total honesty, otherwise, he could have continued his experiments with the antidote.
Just as Yuu was lost in his fantasies, his phone began to ring.
It was a call from Sakurano Yoshida. As soon as the call connected, the panicked voice of the charming woman came through.
"Yuu-kun, where are you? Genta has been kidnapped! Please, come quickly!"
Is that brat looking for death again?
The thought flashed through Yuu's mind instantly.
"How did Genta end up with you guys and get kidnapped? What exactly happened?"
Ayumi's voice chimed in from the side.
"Brother Yuu! Genta and Mitsuhiko came to play with me this morning, and Mom took us to the food street to eat."
"While we were eating, Genta just vanished."
"We searched everywhere and finally saw him being bundled into a van. His mouth was taped shut!"
Oh, so it seems I can't entirely blame the fat boy for seeking death this time...
Thinking this, and for the sake of Sakurano Yoshida's face, Yuu felt somewhat motivated to help.
"Mary, I planned to spend the day with you, but an emergency has come up. You rest at home for now."
Yuu explained the situation to the busty, blonde middle-schooler.
Mary was no longer an innocent young girl, and being alone with Yuu right now felt a bit awkward for her.
Even by liberal Western standards, their progress had been incredibly fast.
She nodded understandingly. "Go do your business. I'll head back upstairs after I clear the table."
Yuu nodded and then spoke into the phone, "Where are you?"
Sakurano Yoshida replied immediately, "We're at the Haido Food Street. Yuu-kun, please hurry!"
"Find a place with no people. I'm coming directly to you."
Yuu lowered his voice, and Sakurano understood instantly.
She had experienced his teleportation many times since their contract, especially at night when Yuu would regularly appear by her side to soothe her loneliness and fill her emptiness.
A faint, unnatural blush crept onto Sakurano's face, and her frantic mood calmed down significantly.
She made a casual excuse and moved to a corner without surveillance cameras.
Yuu reached the underground parking lot and teleported directly to the food street, appearing right beside Sakurano.
With Noah's assistance, Yuu was the only one capable of monitoring others.
He didn't linger after appearing. Ayumi and Mitsuhiko were still waiting.
The two of them walked quickly, turned a corner, and saw the freckle-faced Mitsuhiko and the cute little loli.
Both children looked extremely anxious.
Ayumi was the first to spot Yuu. Her eyebrows jumped as she asked in surprise, "Brother Yuu? How are you with my mom?"
Yuu replied smoothly, "I happened to be nearby on business. Sakurano-san just came to meet me. Do you remember which way the van went?"
Mitsuhiko immediately pointed. "I remember! It headed toward Teitan Elementary!"
Sakurano Yoshida furrowed her brows. "Yuu-kun, the kids and I walked here. We don't have a car."
"If Genta's parents find out I lost their son, what will I do?"
Yuu immediately grabbed Sakurano's hand and ran toward the intersection.
"Don't worry. With me here, that fat boy won't stay lost."
Mitsuhiko and Ayumi jogged along to keep up.
The four of them reached the intersection just as a mini patrol car was parked at the curb, issuing a ticket.
The two beautiful traffic cops were none other than Yumi Miyamoto and Naeko Miike. They both noticed Yuu and his frantic group.
Seeing Yuu, Naeko's face flushed red, and she instinctively took half a step back to hide behind Yumi.
She remembered the way Yuu had bullied and teased her at Yumi's house last time.
Yumi asked curiously, "Yuu-kun, what's going on?"
"Yumi, Naeko, it's perfect that you're here. Genta's been kidnapped. Let me borrow your car."
Without waiting for an answer, Yuu pulled everyone into the patrol car.
Because the mini patrol car was so small, Yuu had to sit in the middle of the back seat with Ayumi on his lap, flanked by Sakurano in her sundress.
Mitsuhiko was squeezed on the other side until he looked like a distorted mess.
The brat Mitsuhiko looked at the intimacy between Ayumi and Yuu, a flash of jealousy in his eyes.
Yuu didn't notice the kid. Instead, he looked at Naeko with concern.
"Naeko, can you handle this? Or should I drive?"
Naeko Miike replied with a look of confidence.
"Don't worry! My driving skills are excellent. Even Miwako-senpai can't beat me."
Yumi Miyamoto picked up the radio. "Leave it to us, Yuu-kun. Teitan Elementary, right? Naeko, follow my lead!"
"Take the shortcut through the alley up ahead... left turn, accelerate... over the bridge... now turn right..."
The two "Flowers of the Police Force" coordinated perfectly. The mini patrol car wove through the narrow alleys of Tokyo with incredible agility.
Looking at the side profiles of the two women from the back, they were truly captivating.
An image of the three great beauties of the police force in uniform flashed through Yuu's mind...
Mmm, quite beautiful. I must work hard to make that a reality.
Before long, the patrol car bypassed the congested roads, and Teitan Elementary appeared before them.
Unfortunately, Naeko circled the school several times without spotting the van.
It seemed they were a bit late; the van had already passed through.
Ayumi suddenly remembered something and pulled out her Detective Badge.
"Brother Yuu, we can use this!"
Yuu reached out and ruffled Ayumi's hair, whispering into the badge, "Genta? Genta, can you hear me?"
Inside the van, Genta noticed the badge, but his mouth was taped shut, preventing him from speaking.
However, the two kidnappers in the front were talking, their voices transmitting through the badge.
"I heard that once this deal is done today, they'll give us an extra share. Is that true?"
"Of course. The market is hot right now. Everyone's going to make a fortune when we move these."
"That's great. When these 'White Diamonds' are sold, let me think about what to buy first... I'm going to hit the clubs and go wild!"
"Ogawa, don't get ahead of yourself. This brat heard everything."
"And he's seen our faces. We can't just let him go home easily!"
The kidnapper driving, Ogawa, sneered. "Simple. We'll find a burlap sack later, fill it with some rocks, and dump him in the sea. It's on the way anyway."
Hearing this, Genta's face turned pale green. His whole body began to shake.
Am I going to die?!
He struggled desperately.
The tape the kidnappers used wasn't very strong. In his struggle, Genta managed to rub it off against the seatbelt.
He immediately began to wail and scream for help.
"Brother Yuu! Brother Yuu! Save me! They're going to kill me!"
Yuu was instantly speechless. Genta truly possessed a brain that matched his massive physique—pig-like.
Didn't that scream just expose the Detective Badge?
Sure enough, the middle-aged kidnapper in the passenger seat turned around. Seeing Genta talking into the badge on his chest, he reached back and snatched it.
Yuu remained silent and covered Ayumi's mouth so no sound would be transmitted back.
But the suspicious kidnapper crushed the badge and tossed it out the window anyway.
He pulled a dagger from his jacket and threatened Genta viciously. "Brat! If you make another sound, I'll gut you!"
Genta's lips went white. He shivered in terror, his eyes wide with fright, not daring to utter another word. He looked like a fat pig waiting for the slaughter.
In the mini patrol car, Yuu frowned as the signal from the badge cut out.
Naeko asked urgently, "Yuu-kun, where do we drive now?"
"Head for Beika Port."
Yumi turned back. "Why Beika Port?"
"There was a keyword: 'dumping him in the sea is on the way.' That means they're headed for the coast."
"From the direction of Haido to Teitan Elementary, there are three seaside options: the Marine Park, Beika Port, and the public beach."
"The Marine Park is still under construction and closed to the public, so we can rule that out."
"It's summer, so the public beach is packed with people."
"They wouldn't choose a crowded beach for a deal when they could have stayed at the food street. It makes no sense."
"That leaves the relatively quiet and secluded Beika Port."
The occupants of the car looked at him with admiration.
Yuu's deduction was flawless, but what made him truly certain was that Noah had already located the van using the traffic cameras.
With a clear destination, the patrol car took off again.
The car accelerated toward Beika Port.
Beika Port was massive, with over a hundred alleys. The surveillance at the docks was sparse and much of it was poorly maintained.
Without his detection magic as a fallback, Yuu wouldn't have dared to guarantee Genta's rescue.
Of course, more information was always better.
Yuu's large hand settled on Sakurano Yoshida's tender thigh, giving it a reassuring squeeze as he asked, "Sakurano, do you remember any other details?"
The charming woman tapped her chin, thinking hard.
"Right! I think I saw the man from the passenger seat before."
"It was in front of an eel restaurant. He made two hand gestures to the shopkeeper. It looked like this."
She extended her index and thumb on one hand, and just her thumb on the other.
"I know that!"
Mitsuhiko interjected. "That's the European way of counting. Unlike Japan where we start with the index finger, they start with the thumb!"
"The thumb is one, plus the index is two. So it's Alley 21!"
"It's not 21. The kidnapper was Japanese; why would he use a foreign counting method?"
Yuu countered immediately, "Sakurano said she saw it at an eel restaurant. Those are common bidding gestures used in the seafood markets. It should be 76. Naeko, drive to Alley 76."
Naeko Miike's driving was indeed impressive. She soon reached the port area.
Flooring the accelerator, the patrol car raced down the long corridor.
Before long, they reached the street starting with the number 7. There was indeed no one around.
Before they even got close, the group heard Genta's pathetic wailing.
The patrol car drifted into Alley 76.
Surrounded by two vans, the fat boy Genta sat on the ground crying, his clothes covered in dust.
Beside him were the young kidnapper and the middle-aged one.
The older one held a dagger while the younger one held a burlap sack. They were clearly preparing to finish Genta off.
Genta turned his head at the sound of the car. His face was swollen and red, looking like a pig's head.
It seemed he had suffered quite a bit.
When he saw Yuu and the others step out of the car, his eyes filled with a blinding light of hope.
"Brother Yuu! Save me!"
The middle-aged kidnapper hauled Genta up, holding the knife to his throat.
"Who are you people?"
His gaze instinctively flickered toward a black van nearby.
Yuu chuckled. "I'm surprised there are still people who don't know my name. How rare."
The younger kidnapper recognized him and cried out in shock.
"He's the famous Metropolitan Police Consultant! There are two female officers with him! The police must know about us!"
At this, the older kidnapper looked wary, pressing the dagger closer to Genta's neck.
Genta, however, began to grin smugly.
"Now you're scared, aren't you? Let me go if you know what's good for you!"
The fat boy was quite skilled at acting like a "fox borrowing the tiger's prestige."
But his words only earned him a sharp slap from the kidnapper.
Genta was dazed again, tears welling up once more.
"So what if he's a consultant? He isn't a god. I have the kid; he has to do what I say!"
A cunning look flashed in the kidnapper's eyes. Seeing no sirens or additional officers, he began to make threats.
"Consultant Hoshimiya, you don't want this fat kid to die, do you? Then put your hands up and walk over here alone. The two cops stay where they are. I'll ask two questions and then let him go. Otherwise... heh heh!"
Yuu intended to end them immediately, but he wanted to hear what the kidnapper wanted to ask.
So, he complied, slowly walking toward the black van.
Suddenly, the rear door of the van burst open. Two accomplices armed with daggers rushed out, lunging at Yuu.
The three women and two children in the back gasped in worry.
But Yuu had anticipated this. With a swift movement, he caught both of their wrists.
Using only thirty percent of his strength, he swung them around and slammed them together with such force that several teeth went flying.
The attackers' faces looked like they had exploded as blood gushed from their noses. They were unconscious instantly.
But as the saying goes, you never know how many people can fit in a van.
There weren't just two. Two more thugs with large machetes charged out.
The other side door opened, and two more young men circled around.
Numbers meant nothing to Yuu.
He didn't even need magic; these thugs weren't even worth a single round.
The two with machetes were caught by their arms and forced to hack into their own teammates who were circling around.
The two men who had circled around collapsed with screams of agony.
Then, Yuu performed an over-the-shoulder throw.
The two machete-wielding men were slammed into the van, leaving deep dents in the metal.
Yumi and Naeko saw their chance and rushed forward to help, delivering finishing blows to those on the ground.
Each person got a kick to the head.
With every kick, a scream was silenced.
Soon, all the thugs on the ground were kicked into unconsciousness.
The two kidnappers holding Genta began to back away, looks of pure terror on their faces.
They had no idea Yuu was this brutal. Six men hadn't been able to touch him.
Even worse, they didn't know that for Yuu, this wasn't even a warm-up.
As Yuu continued to approach, the middle-aged man shrieked.
"Don't come any closer! I'll gut him! I'm serious, don't test me!"
To prove his point, the man sliced Genta's arm. Genta let out a blood-curdling scream.
The younger kidnapper tried to head for the driver's seat to escape with the hostage.
Yuu had no intention of letting them succeed.
"Go ahead. Gut him. The kid has plenty of fat; a few stabs won't be a problem."
Genta's eyes went wide as he stared at Yuu in disbelief.
But in the next instant, the two kidnappers found they couldn't move a muscle, as if they had been frozen in time.
They couldn't speak, and sweat began to pour down their faces.
In the void, invisible magical chains had bound them tightly.
The middle-aged man's dagger was held right in front of Genta's heart, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't push it forward.
In reality, Yuu had been using a magical barrier to protect Genta, just in case the kidnappers actually tried to kill him.
But he wanted to give the death-seeking fat boy a lesson he wouldn't forget. So, when the kidnapper threatened him, Yuu intentionally lowered the barrier to let him receive a superficial wound and see some blood.
Yuu walked forward calmly and pulled the screaming boy away.
Then, with two simple punches, he sent the kidnappers to the ground.
The women in the back were bewildered. The two men looked as if they had been paralyzed by fear.
Yumi and Sakurano realized later what had likely happened.
Their beautiful eyes shone with excitement and admiration as they looked at Yuu.
Yuu smiled and put a finger to his lips, signaling them to be quiet.
The two women nodded and joined Naeko to tie up the eight thugs with rope.
Genta sat on the ground, clutching Yuu's ankle and refusing to let go.
"Brother Yuu, you scared me to death! I thought you really weren't going to save me!"
Well, I was tempted!
"I almost died! My arm hurts so much!"
Genta wept piteously, tears and snot running down his face.
Yuu hoisted him up by the back of his collar. "Alright, act like a man. Stop crying."
With that, he tossed Genta toward Mitsuhiko.
The tearful Genta threw his arms around Mitsuhiko, rubbing his snot-covered face against him.
"Mitsuhiko! I thought I'd never see you again!"
Mitsuhiko could only comfort him, though his own face was a picture of total resignation.
Ayumi was also quietly comforting the traumatized Genta.
Naeko, meanwhile, was inspecting the vehicles, but she found no trace of jewelry.
"Strange. Where are the 'White Diamonds' they were talking about? Yuu-kun, did the deal already happen?"
Yuu chuckled and ruffled Naeko's hair.
"Naeko-chan, 'White Diamonds' aren't actual diamonds."
The "head-pat kill" made the little policewoman's face turn red instantly, while Yumi watched with a strange look.
"See those white styrofoam boxes over there? The eel elvers inside are what they call white diamonds."
"Because of overfishing, white eels have become extremely rare."
"Rarity drives the price. Those elvers are now worth as much as actual diamonds."
"These guys are smugglers bringing white eels in from abroad. That's why they were so quick to resort to murder and disposal."
Just as he finished, the sound of police sirens echoed. Yuu had already notified the MPD on the way.
Leading the team today was Ninzaburo Shiratori.
Miwako Sato was off today. She had wanted to relax, but her mother had dragged her off to show off her "son-in-law" to every aunt and cousin they had.
Because she had been constantly pressured into arranged marriages, she had simply come clean to her mother after she and Yuu became intimate.
Mrs. Sato was, naturally, delighted with Yuu, as she was unaware of his harem.
Thus, "showing off the son-in-law" had become her newest daily activity.