Paradoxes of the Sunken District (沈んだ地区の逆説)

Tacenda V: Okitsu

"Are you serious?! We only have a few weeks to save the children of the latest batch!" Hisare's mouth and eyes were broader than they ever were.

"Calm down, with me in your disposal, nothing will stand in our way." Shuuhei grinned arrogantly.

"I can't with this guy..." Hisare heard Seraphim mumble.

"That wasn't the only thing you lied about, right?" the detective glared at him.

"Oh, right." Shuuhei remembered, "Well, I wouldn't say I lied, I just didn't speak of the topics in detail. Because like I said, 500,000-yen only covers general information." He grinned shamelessly, so much so that the detective had to force himself to sit still as to not throw his fist at the Omniscient Illusionist. "The secret passage, there's multiple of them."

"There's multiple??" Hisare gasped in utter shock, again.

"In fact, there're 10 of them in total." Shuuhei added casually as he continued to drive, as if the information he held from the detective meant nothing. "It's not much considering the vastness of Japan, you have to travel a good while to get to a passage, there's considerable distance between each one too."

"Are they made by the traffickers?"

"...No," Shuuhei had a smile on his face as he shook his head, it was something he found funny. "The passages are owned by the Four Shrines; 2 of them belongs to Nishidouji, 5 belongs to Minamidouji, 1 to Azumadouji, and the last 2 belongs to Kitadouji."

"So, these traffickers have connections to the Four Shrines somehow."

"You're so smart, detective." Shuuhei's smile hasn't left his face since they entered the vehicle, and Hisare so wished to rip if off. "I never knew which passages they use, but we're about to find out in just a minute." The 20-year-old added as he pulled up to a nightclub, smaller but brighter with neon lights than Blue Ship.

"I know gangsters gather in sketchy parties, but I never imagined to have to go join them before..."

"You seem nervous," Shuuhei smiled to him, "Fret not, don't you know that my name and face alone is very influential?" as he said that, he walked up to the entrance of the nightclub and smiled to the bouncer standing outside.

"If it isn't the Omniscient Illusionist, what brings you here?" the bouncer scoffed.

"What's wrong with having a night out once in a while, am I right?"

"And here I thought I might be able to see you perform," the bouncer laughed lightly, but his smile turned into a frown from seeing Hisare, who was immediately taken aback from his totally different reaction. "Who're you?"

"I'm-"

"Quiet down, now. He's with me," Shuuhei kept his smile at the bouncer, who proceeded to scan Hisare from head to toe.

"Alright, go ahead." The bouncer stepped aside from the entrance.

"Sweet, thanks." Shuuhei grinned at the bouncer as he walked past him, "Stop by at Blue Ship this Sunday, I'll love to see you in the audience." He stopped to add.

"Sure, I am craving Honjou's cocktails lately." The bouncer chuckled as the doors closed.

"Honjou?" Hisare doesn't remember hearing that name belonging to anyone amongst the few staff of Blue Ship.

"It's Okuya-Aniki's surname," Shuuhei replied, as he started walking amongst the crowd of people partying in the nightclub. The music was loud and the place reeked of a mixture of alcohol, cigarettes, and vape. To top it off, the flashing lights were making the detectives dizzy.