Chapter 575: "A Place to Belong"

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"An opportunity... to be separated... !?"

"Exactly, like now."

Detective Munodes, rolling the purple sphere in his right hand—

"And yet, you two are always together, side by side. Like... important partners. I... I really... I really, really, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY!!"

And then, his small, round eyes clouded with hatred, he shouted!

"I was so envious and jealous!! I wanted you to disappear!! My god... didn't give me... such a 'place to belong'!!"

"'My god'... !?"

"Ha, ha, ha! ...Yes! My god! I don't know if you'll believe me, but... I'm actually an 'apostle' of the Detective God. Do you know what an apostle is? I'm a human chosen by God!!"

Hearing his monologue, I raised my guard against Detective Munodes several levels.

My clenched fists are damp with sweat.

<No wonder his untrained body holds such an incongruous amount of mana. He must have been granted power by the Detective God, as his apostle. The fact that he found Emi in this sewer without getting lost can also be explained if we assume that he was given the Detective God's power to find people!>

Extra-sama's voice, stating her deductions in my head, is also tense.

But contrary to my heightened vigilance, Detective Munodes didn't immediately attack me.

This chubby old man, his eyes gleaming, puffed out his chest, and started speaking boastfully, as if shouting!

"I was originally a loser, just as you see! My dad, my mom, my older brother, my older sister, my younger sister... they're all excellent elites... but I was the only failure, a loser, incompetent! Studying, exercising, magic... I was bad at everything! No matter what I did, I failed! I was the only one... who didn't have a 'place to belong'!!"

Detective Munodes is yelling.

The emotion in his voice is, naturally, anger.

But he's not looking at me.

He's staring into space.

That anger... seems to be directed at something else, not me.

"But! One day, the Detective God... acknowledged me!! He said, 'It's okay that you're incompetent and careless. In fact, you're needed precisely because you're like that'!! He accepted me for who I am... He accepted my incompetent self, just as I am... and gave me a 'place to belong'!!"

"A 'place to belong'...?"

"Yes!! 'The comedic detective', who adds color to the saga of the bright and intelligent Beautiful Girl Detective, Akashiterika, the beloved child of God... That's the character I'm supposed to play, my position in the story... and the 'place to belong'... that I was finally given!!"

For the first time, a hint of joy mixed into Detective Munodes' angry voice.

Still staring into space, his eyes narrowed, the chubby old man continued.

"I worked hard! Whenever there was a case, I'd do my best to leave everything to Akashiterika-chan, to increase her opportunities to shine! And I paid attention to my everyday actions... to make myself seem even more incompetent... and to become a more distinctive character! I intentionally messed up my hair every day, maintained my sloppy physique, and kept eating dried squid, even though I don't particularly like it! The Detective God praised my efforts! I was so happy!! ...And yet!!"

Here, Detective Munodes' gaze returned to me.

He glared at me, trembling with anger!

"What are you!? Despite being a newcomer... you took a place next to Akashiterika-chan!! A better 'place to belong'... than mine!! That's... a position I could never have, NO MATTER HOW MUCH I WANTED IT!!"

And Detective Munodes yelled, his voice even louder than before!

The air in the sewer vibrated from the sheer volume!

"Despite having black hair and black eyes... despite having black hair and black eyes, you were also acknowledged by the Detective God!! He said 'It's fine as long as you hide them with a hat and sunglasses'! There's a huge problem with that! If you act like her partner and stay next to Akashiterika-chan, my role will be reduced!? That's... the 'place to belong'... that I finally... finally found!! And you're... trying to take it away from me!!"

"That's... not—"

"IT IS!! Even I understand that! A bright and intelligent beautiful girl detective, and a mysterious and strong beautiful girl partner... it's a perfect picture!! With such a partner, a comedic old man like me can't do anything!! I can only watch as my 'place to belong' is taken away from me!! Ah, ah, AAAAAAHHH! I should have just... gotten rid of you as soon as you met Akashiterika-chan! No matter what!! AAAAAAH, what a blunder!!"

Detective Munodes, not letting me speak, continued to rant.

And as I listened to his words, I gradually...

...Got irritated.

"...Shut up, you're so noisy."

I said to Detective Munodes, who was breathing heavily after his rant.

"Have you said everything you wanted to say?"

My voice was involuntarily cold.

"In the end, you're saying that I'm in your way. So you want to kill me. Right?"

The true strength of Detective Munodes, empowered by a god, is unknown.

But that doesn't matter anymore.

"Then you die."

This guy is my enemy.

I kill my enemies.

Killing intent and mana surged through my body.

I put strength into my fist, intending to strike first and crush his head.

But.

"If you kill me, you'll be Akashiterika-chan's enemy!"

Detective Munodes, grinning, declared that.

I... couldn't move.