Mermaid Island, 7:00 PM.
Standing toward the back-left side of the crowd, Ritsu quietly observed the faces around him. Aside from the island villagers, there were indeed quite a few influential figures mixed into the gathering.
There were the Chief Cabinet Secretary, the Minister of Defense, and even the Governor of the Bank of Japan. Just among the cabinet officials alone, there were plenty of prominent names.
More importantly, he spotted a face that felt strangely familiar.
The man had ordinary brown hair, healthy tanned skin, and slightly drooping eyes with plain brown irises. He appeared to be around fifty years old. Logically speaking, Ritsu shouldn't have felt any sense of familiarity toward a stranger of that age.
Without drawing attention, he moved beside Vodka and quietly asked,
"Vodka, do you know who the man standing beside the Governor of the Bank of Japan is?"
Vodka followed his line of sight. Recalling the files Gin had shown him the previous night, he answered,
"He's the current Minister of Finance. Why? You think there's something wrong with him?"
'A cabinet official, huh? Heh… figures these people would care deeply about longevity.'
'No matter how powerful they are, everyone here is still just one of that gentleman's servants.'
Thinking about the true purpose of APTX4869, these people were probably hoping to obtain immortality, which was why they cooperated with the Organization.
No wonder the Organization had chosen Japan as its headquarters.
'Tch. Rotten to the core.'
Lowering his head, Ritsu casually played with his phone. After getting used to the controls, he opened Yahoo's webpage.
#Current Minister of Foreign Affairs#
Hatoyama Masateru, male, 53 years old, current Minister of Foreign Affairs. Graduated from the University of St. Andrews. Former visiting professor at the University of Tokyo and previously one of the DIET members affiliated with the Ministry of Finance.
The information revealed very little.
Neither the university nor the places he had worked at had any connection to Ritsu's past, so where exactly was this strange sense of familiarity coming from?
As he lowered his head in thought, the paper doors of the shrine finally slid open.
Ritsu instinctively looked up, only to see a tiny figure standing with its back toward him, so small that it was probably the height of a first-grade elementary school student.
When the so-called Long-Lived Granny turned around in her red-and-white shrine maiden robes, Ritsu finally understood the meaning of "eyestrembling" and "heartstopping."
This was clearly just some old hag caked in heavy makeup!
"Oh my, do you think I'd actually be interested in living that long looking like that?" Shiho let out a cold laugh. Rarely, she was the one initiating conversation with Augier.
Squinting speechlessly, Ritsu replied, "I'm actually kind of looking forward to seeing what you'll look like when you're old."
Shiho lightly pursed her lips without answering. Raising a hand, she yawned. Honestly, at such an advanced age, it really was hard on the old woman to still be hosting festivals like this.
When flames were lit along the paper doors, Ritsu raised an eyebrow. At the same time, he noticed the way the so-called Long-Lived Granny moved.
Narrowing his eyes, he carefully observed her facial features before curling his lips into a faint smile.
Ritsu reached out and patted Vodka's shoulder. Before he could say anything, Vodka struggled to suppress his voice as he exclaimed,
"Mmph! Aniki, your number won?!"
"?"
Hearing this, Ritsu immediately looked toward the burning numbers displayed on the paper doors.
Forty-Seven.
Gin's lottery number.
Honestly, he wasn't sure whether Gin was lucky or unlucky.
A malicious grin spread across his lips as he circled around to Gin's side and teased,
"Gin, do you want immortality too? Or should I go find you some mermaid flesh… help you stay forever young?"
Gin disdainfully shoved the winning tag into Vodka's hands and coldly ordered,
"After the festival ends, investigate this thoroughly. Make sure to obtain information related to longevity."
"I don't think that'll be necessary."
"What do you mean?"
Shrugging, Ritsu leaned close to Gin's ear and whispered,
"Her face is disguised. And the way she walks doesn't resemble an elderly person with weak legs. It looks more like she's dragging herself along while kneeling."
When it came to disguise techniques, Ritsu had already mastered them to the point of surpassing even Vermouth.
Although the woman's disguise work was fairly decent, there were still flaws. Most likely, she had studied special effects makeup before.
"You're sure?"
"What? You planning to run over and rip the disguise off her face?"
"Hmph. If it's fake, then there's no point. Prepare to head back."
Ritsu was somewhat surprised.
"What about them?"
Naturally, Gin understood who them referred to. Smirking as he placed a cigarette between his lips, he exhaled a stream of smoke and said,
"You'll understand soon enough. We're taking a ship back."
Ritsu could more or less guess what was going on.
He picked up the winning ticket from Vodka's hand and walked over to a short-haired girl who looked visibly disappointed.
"Excuse me, were you hoping to get a Mermaid Arrow?"
The bespectacled girl with short brown hair froze for a moment before nodding eagerly. "Of course, it's just a shame my ticket didn't win."
"I'm not very interested in this sort of thing. If you want it, I'll give you the winning ticket."
"Huh? Really?!" The girl's face lit up with excitement.
Seriously, these people were superstitious to a frightening degree.
The fanaticism shining in her eyes… It looked exactly like Vodka whenever he saw Yoko Okino.
Honestly terrifying.
"Of course." After handing over the ticket, Ritsu waved goodbye and turned away.
"What a pointless thing to do."
Hearing Gin's criticism, Ritsu shrugged.
"I just wanted to see how foolish these people really are. Believing in some unscientific legend… if anyone truly wants immortality, they should be relying on Sherry instead, shouldn't they?"
Suddenly being dragged into the conversation, Shiho froze briefly. Thinking about the purpose behind APTX4869, she silently lowered her gaze.
"Gin, you can notify them now. I still have work tomorrow, so I'd like to head back early and rest."
"Fine."
...
Since the Long-Lived Granny turned out to be a complete fake, the powerful figures from the political and business worlds quickly lost interest in the Mermaid Festival as well.
No one intended to waste more time. One after another, they boarded the ship returning to Tokyo.
Having shed their black operational outfits from earlier, even members of the so-called upper class needed to dress properly in public.
Ritsu changed into a white suit that completely contrasted the Organization's usual aesthetic. He even slicked his white hair back neatly.
If not for the scar crossing his face, he genuinely would've looked like a refined gentleman.
Unfortunately, once paired with the cross-shaped knife scar, his aura instantly shifted from elegant gentleman to a young yakuza boss.
"Augier, the stage is yours now. Enjoy yourself."
Listening to Gin's voice through the earpiece, Ritsu replied helplessly,
"I don't actually enjoy socializing with this crowd… Gin, this was originally an assignment from thatgentleman to you and you dumped it on me instead. I'm not wrong, am I?"
"Mm. I don't have the patience for dealing with them. I might accidentally hurt someone."
"Then you owe me one. Oh right, what about Sherry? Does she need to attend too?"
"No need. I already had Vodka stand guard outside her room."
Seeming to think of something amusing, Gin sneered. "Unless that woman feels like gambling…"
"Jumping into the ocean? She wouldn't do that."
After smoothing out the wrinkles on his suit, Ritsu pushed open the door with a smile. "We're still holding her weakness in our hands. She'll obediently remain a puppet on strings."
"Heh. The two sisters really are grasshoppers tied to the same rope. Good luck, Augier."