Tokyo Unnatural Forensics

Chapter 514, The Red Canary
The room was cold, with no windows, only one-way glass. On one side of the table sat Horikawa Nen, dejected and with vacant eyes, though occasionally a stubborn glint would flash in them (he had awakened from his coma and was tightly bound); on the other side were two interrogators: one was an official from the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office (CIRO) with a cold expression and sharp, eagle-like eyes, and the other was a foreign affairs police officer from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's Public Security Bureau.

The atmosphere was suffocating and depressing.

During the initial stages of the interrogation, Horikawa Nen remained silent, stubbornly refusing to utter a word.

When Uesugi Muneyuki and Watanabe Eiji arrived, the recorder's notebook was still empty.

However, his psychological defenses began to crumble when the interrogators presented him with the evidence they had secretly searched his home and office—several books of radical ideas with carefully disguised covers, a cheap prepaid phone for receiving encrypted messages, and records of his contacts with a particular encrypted forum on the dark web.

Since Uesugi Muneyuki was unable to participate in the interrogation in person, the entire interrogation process will not be described in detail.

After repeated intensive interrogations and psychological offensives, Horikawa Nian's motives and experiences were gradually pieced together:
When Horikawa was young, he was ambitious and entered the University of Tokyo, but because he was not good at currying favor, he was assigned to the Imperial Household Agency's most peripheral department, the Imperial Household Department, which placed the most emphasis on seniority.

Day after day, he meticulously organized ancient texts symbolizing "an unbroken lineage," while his own life remained like forgotten dust. He watched as those less capable than himself rose through the ranks by virtue of family background or flattery, and his resentment and bitterness accumulated year by year.

Several years ago, his wife, Shiori Horikawa, fell seriously ill. Despite his hard work, his meager salary and immense pressure made it impossible for him to afford the best treatment.

He had humbly hoped to apply for royal charitable assistance, but was rejected due to complicated procedures and eligibility issues. His wife also waited in vain for a suitable organ transplant, and eventually, she passed away.

Horikawa had no children and was deeply saddened by his wife's passing. However, while sorting through medical records and past medical briefings from the Imperial Household Agency after his wife's death, he unexpectedly found a liver that the Imperial Household Agency had urgently searched for and prepared for Prince Asahi.

The whole process took only a month, but his wife had waited for several years!

What killed Shi Xuli was not illness, but this corrupt and rigid system!
He blamed the system for being "cold, rigid, and serving only a minority," believing that the royal family and its subordinate bureaucratic system were "symbols of bloodsucking."

Disappointment with the corrupt system, despair over the loss of his wife, resentment over medical injustice, hopelessness at his inability to advance his career, and a desire to shatter all of this caused a change in Horikawa Nen's thinking.

In his extreme distress and loneliness, he began searching for "answers" in the dark corners of the internet. He came into contact with an extreme left-wing ideology known as "Red Canary."

The organization originated from extreme ideologies during turbulent times, advocating the destruction of the existing state apparatus and all its symbols through utter devastation. These theories provided a seemingly "noble" outlet and explanatory framework for his endless pain and anger.

The online recruiters of "Red Canary" astutely recognized Horikawa Nen's unique value—his position inside the Imperial Palace, granting him access and knowledge.

They contacted him through encrypted channels, initially expressing "understanding" and "sympathy," but gradually instilling extreme ideologies, attributing his personal misfortunes entirely to the system, and giving him a "sacred mission": as an insider, to assist in a symbolic strike against the "core of the Emperor system" in order to awaken the people and become the "canary in the coal mine" to ignite the flames of revolution.

Horikawa began collaborating with online individuals and helping them bypass defense systems by communicating with them through physical letters and exchanges of goods.

This mysterious organization never shows itself, and they seem to be searching for something. They once asked about the exact location of the famous "Three Sacred Treasures," and Horikawa Nen provided the directions. However, only the highest-ranking official in the Imperial Household Agency knows where the real "Three Sacred Treasures" are kept. The ones that are usually displayed are fakes. Then the organization asked about the location of the "Imperial Seal" and "National Seal" used in the "Ceremony of Succession of the Imperial Seal and Sword Seals."

These two imperial seals are usually kept in the "Imperial Seal Room" in the Imperial Palace, which is managed by the Imperial Household Agency's Secretariat and Mausoleum Department. The guards are extremely strict, but they are easier to deal with than the previous Three Sacred Treasures. Horikawa Nian agreed to help, but as a vice minister, he needs to figure out a way slowly.

They soon left the stone chamber.

Horikawa sensed something was wrong, but he soon realized he hadn't been exposed. It wasn't until the next day when he came to work that he noticed a significant increase in the number of palace police and plainclothes officers who appeared to be police.

Long-term psychological distortion, the instilled "martyrdom" mentality, and the fear of exposure combined to lead him to choose the most extreme and resolute method of "suicide" when he was discovered, attempting to fulfill the "mission" he had been given and to completely vent his lifelong resentment. When the results of the interrogation and the name "Red Canary" were heard by the Chief Cabinet Secretary, the Chief Cabinet Secretary of the National Police Agency, and the Superintendent General of Police Eiji Watanabe on the other side of the glass, these powerful figures who had seen it all felt a long-lost, bone-chilling cold.

“Red…canary…?” Chief Cabinet Secretary Onoda muttered to himself, his face turning extremely grim. “Those vengeful spirits…haven’t they all dissipated yet?”

The name reminded him of that dark and turbulent period in Japanese history, a scar from the complete shattering of the postwar myth of Japanese security.

Kimiaki Onoda abruptly stood up and paced anxiously around the room: "This is not just an inside job! This was a premeditated, politically motivated attempted terrorist attack! All our attention was focused on internal management loopholes, completely ignoring the potential organizational threat behind it! What a grave miscalculation!"

Watanabe Eiji also felt a wave of fear wash over him, his back soaked with cold sweat: "If... if Kai Toru had been even a second slower, allowing him to detonate it near the Imperial Palace... if the 'Red Canary' had used this opportunity to declare responsibility... what a catastrophic impact that would have been, both domestically and internationally?! This wouldn't just be a scandal; it would be the beginning of a new wave of terror!"

They realized they were almost dealing not just with an internal scandal, but the prelude to a potential nationwide storm of terrorism.

Horikawa Nen is not only a crazy mole, but also a terrorist who was possessed by an ancient ghost and almost succeeded!
“Wait, I have a question. What is the Red Canary?” Uesugi Muneyuki raised his hand, not quite understanding. “It sounds like a far-left terrorist organization. Is it related to… the infamous Red Army?”

The moment the word "Red Army" was uttered, everyone in the interrogation room stared at Uesugi Muneyuki.

You just mentioned the "Red Army," right?
Uesugi Muneyuki glared back without hesitation.

Compared to the many high-ranking officials and public security police present, Uesugi Muneyuki had more information.

As expected, the target of the underworld is the royal family, but not primarily the current human and divine families. Rather, it is the Three Sacred Treasures or other national treasures that can represent the country!

From the perspective of the infiltrated underworld, the bomb was only a last resort. The other party should have thought that if they really couldn't get it, they would destroy it!
But Horikawa Nen just wants to explode!
The two sides have different ideas, which is one of the drawbacks of having layers of barriers and being unable to explain things face-to-face.

Everyone has their own ideas. Even brothers born of the same mother, like Li Jiancheng, Li Yuanji, and Li Shimin, will have some minor problems. Even Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, who have almost identical political ambitions and life philosophies, will have disagreements and their own ideas on some matters, let alone this extremely superficial cooperative relationship.

Similarly, the few words exchanged in secret physical correspondence are hardly enough to explain things clearly.

When Liu Bei said, "My second brother is invincible," it was a boast, a sign of pride, and a reluctance to believe.

Li Jiancheng's statement that "my second brother is invincible" is an utterly ridiculous joke.

Similarly, Liu Bei's saying "Keep playing music and keep dancing" is a symbol of self-degradation.

When Li Shimin said, "Continue playing music and continue dancing," it meant that opposite him, Jieli Khan was performing a dance for the Heavenly Khan.

Unfortunately, Horikawa Nen was too eager to expose them. He didn't care what the other party was looking for. In fact, he didn't know anything about the so-called Red Canary. He had never met that "otherworld person" and had never had any real-name communication with anyone in the "Red Canary" organization, whether offline or online. The other party had always used a code name.

Onoda Kimiaki remained silent for a long time, Watanabe Eiji hesitated to speak, and only the Chief Cabinet Secretary of the National Police Agency, Onoda Kimiaki, was silent for a moment before saying, "Regarding this matter and the Red Canary... Uesugi-kun, I need to ask you something first. Do you know about the 'Zenkyoto'?"

(End of this chapter)