Chapter 132: Surviving a Disaster

At 6:00 PM that day, the game was sealed according to regulations.

(TL: "Sealed move" is the practice in two-day Go matches where the last move of the first day is written down and sealed in an envelope.)

The Go game paused, and the two players each returned to their resting rooms.

And the outside world had long been turned upside down.

The news were like an explosive shockwave, sweeping across all of Nihon and even globally:

Political heavyweight, Member of the House of Representatives Takemiya Susumu, was assassinated and died at the Kasuitei Hot Spring Villa in Yonago City, Tottori Prefecture!

The murderer disguised as hotel cleaning staff, the method professional and neat. After a one-strike fatal blow, they drove a pre-prepared truck to flee the scene, current whereabouts unknown.

The police have locked down the entire villa and surrounding roads, setting up heavy checkpoints, conducting a full-force manhunt.

The entire Kasuitei Hot Spring Villa was surrounded completely by police cars, with police officers, plainclothes detectives, and forensics personnel shuttling back and forth endlessly.

As one of the Go players "coincidentally" competing here and situated in the core area, Kirigaya Nuo naturally couldn't avoid the police's routine questioning.

The questioning was arranged in a small reception room temporarily vacated on the second floor.

The one responsible for questioning was an Assistant Inspector surnamed Yasuda, about fifty years old, with graying hair, but eyes as sharp as an eagle's.

There wasn't much expression on his face, only the calmness and scrutiny honed by years and cases.

The questions were routine and detailed:

"First-dan Kirigaya, between 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM this afternoon, what was your exact location?"

"During the game, did you hear or notice any abnormal sounds or movements?"

"Do you know Representative Takemiya Susumu? Before this, have you had any form of contact or intersection?"

"What was the approximate time you left the game room to go to the restroom? How long were you gone? Did you encounter any suspicious people or things on the way?"

Kirigaya Nuo's answers were calm, logically clear, perfectly matching the persona she projected outwardly of a "genius girl Go player immersed in the Go game, without any distractions, ignorant of worldly affairs."

Her timeline had a complete and impeccable alibi. After all, she was located inside the game room for most of the time, and the only time she left for the restroom was corroborated by many people.

Assistant Inspector Yasuda's eyes, which had seen through countless lies, stared fixedly at her for a full ten minutes.

Trying to find flaws in every subtle expression change, breathing rhythm, and unconscious small movements of her fingers.

However, all he saw was a patch of ultimate calmness belonging to a top Go player, and a trace of appropriate nervousness and constraint fitting her age when facing a murder case and police questioning.

Finally, Assistant Inspector Yasuda exhaled almost inaudibly, signed the statement, and nodded to her routinely:

"Thank you for cooperating, First-dan Kirigaya. You can go back. If you remember any details, please contact us at any time."

No suspicion.

Not the slightest bit of targeted suspicion.

After all, in everyone's cognitive framework, a seventeen-year-old national idol beautiful girl with a boundless future about to reach the summit of the Go arena, and an experienced, cold-blooded assassin disguised as a cleaner... the chasm between these two is deeper than the Mariana Trench, there simply exists no logical or imaginative connection point.

Walking out of the temporary questioning room, Kirigaya Nuo brushed past that Assistant Inspector in the corridor.

The old policeman seemed to pause slightly, but ultimately said nothing, just continued frowning and discussing the pursuit direction of that "homeless murderer" with his subordinates.

Kirigaya Nuo looked straight ahead, her footsteps steady as she walked back to her own room.

Closed the door.

Locked it from the inside.

She walked to the small coffee table, sat down, picked up the ice-cold teapot, and poured herself a cup of barley tea that had long gone completely cold.

Her hand reached toward the teacup.

The instant before her fingertips touched the wall of the cup, they trembled imperceptibly and slightly.

She gripped the cup, the ice-cold touch transmitting from her palm.

"Teacher,"

She spoke to the empty air, her voice suppressed extremely low, carrying a trace of slight panting like surviving a disaster and unsuppressible trembling,

"Sorry... I still... couldn't do it."

She was naturally referring to Nakamura Sumire.

Xu Yunzhou continuously clicked that [Reward] button.

In an instant, a gentle and firm warm current quietly poured into Kirigaya Nuo's body, wrapping around her tense nerves and slightly cold hands and feet.

At the same time, his voice sounded in her consciousness, gentler than any time before:

"This is exactly my family's Ah Nuo."

He paused, his tone having a relief and pride of "as expected":

"Always... having your own persistence and bottom line. Some lines, once crossed, you can never come back."

"But,"

Her voice was still calm, but beneath the calmness began to reveal a deeply hidden worry,

"If Little Sumire... when questioned by the police, accidentally let it slip... even if just mentioning seeing Big Sister Kirigaya in a weird place..."

She paused, as if evaluating the worst possibility:

"That Inspector... looks very experienced, he will definitely follow this line and suspect me. Time, location, motive... although seemingly lacking direct evidence, once the seed of suspicion is planted, the investigation will be endless."

She raised her eyes, her gaze revealing such clear, almost fragile panic in front of Xu Yunzhou for the first time.

"I'm not afraid of exposing myself, Teacher."

"I'm afraid... what if I'm really accused, my freedom restricted, or even worse... then the mission Teacher entrusted to me... wouldn't I, be unable to complete it?"

This was exactly what she feared deep down, more than death or arrest.

Xu Yunzhou was silent for a moment.

He could feel Xu Nuo's unease and self-blame at this moment.

She wasn't regretting letting an innocent child go, but deeply blaming herself because she might thus be unable to rush to that distant future appointment.

He once again, repeatedly clicked the [Reward] button.

Warm power continuously poured in, attempting to dispel the chill at the bottom of her heart.

Then, his voice became even steadier, even more certain:

"Silly Ah Nuo."

"I am not so weak that... I need my Ah Nuo to save me by going against her true heart and hurting the innocent."

He made his tone carry a trace of relaxation, attempting to dissolve her heaviness:

"Rest assured, nothing will happen."

"Because... I can see the future."

This sentence, like a sea-calming divine needle, finally made the tense shoulder lines of Kirigaya Nuo relax a fraction.

(TL: "Sea-calming divine needle" is Sun Wukong's magical staff.)

That night.

Kirigaya Nuo lay in the soft bedding of the guest room, the tip of her nose lingering with the fresh scent of Hinoki cypress meant to aid sleep.

But her sleep was extremely shallow; any slight movement outside the window could instantly jolt her awake.

In her mind repeatedly flashed back the innocent face of Nakamura Sumire in the equipment room, and the cold, decisive "silence her" look of her companion in the shadows at the door.

She kept her eyes open in the darkness, listening to her own unsteady breathing, until the first trace of grayish-white appeared in the sky outside the window.

...

However, a night passed.

Nothing happened.

The expected police emergency knocking on the door late at night or secondary summons did not occur.

Although the villa was still locked down by the police and the atmosphere was solemn, the questioning aimed at Go Institute personnel was limited to very routine itinerary confirmations regarding possible time points related to the murder.

When that old Assistant Inspector routinely asked the young girl Go player Nakamura Sumire, the little girl just held a cup of hot milk, blinked her large eyes that were still somewhat sleepy, and shook her head blankly:

"Didn't see any weird people..."

Her voice was soft and sweet, carrying a nasal tone from just waking up. She tilted her head and tried very hard to recall for a moment, then added,

"In the afternoon... I was with Teacher Isumi the whole time, watching him review games. Later... later I seemed a bit sleepy, so Teacher Isumi took me to the lounge to sleep... Um, and then I heard it was so noisy outside..."

Her narration was natural and simple, fitting the image of a child who loved to play and got sleepy easily.

As for whether she completely kept the pinky swear promise about the "secret," or if that pure little head of hers simply didn't connect the two seemingly completely unrelated things of "Big Sister Kirigaya appearing in a weird place" and "a terrible murder happened"...

Regardless, the crisis seemed to have quietly slid by just like this, a false alarm.

...

The next day, the game continued.

Ultimately, Kirigaya Nuo won another game with a significant advantage of eight and a half points.

At this point, this best-of-seven finals that touched countless gazes showed a shocking score—3:0.

With an overwhelming, despair-inducing absolute advantage, Kirigaya Nuo forced the former king Iyama Shota 9-dan to the edge of a cliff with no way back.

Only the final step remained away from seizing the "Kisei" title symbolizing the highest glory of Nihon Go.

And this fourth game, which might also be the final game, would be moved to Obihiro City, Hokkaido, in over a month, exactly from February 17th to 18th, 2017.

Almost no one held any expectations for Iyama Shota's title defense anymore.

In the media editorial departments, special reports and victory feature articles like "Birth of the New Era Queen" and "Eighteen-Year-Old Genius Crowned Kisei" were already prepared, just waiting for the instant the final stone was placed, to overwhelmingly sweep across all pages.