My daily life of exorcising demons and falling in love with a witch.

"Yes, there are some clues. In fact, because a victim appeared on our territory, we are paying close attention to this case. We have also been working with the police to track down the killer, but to no avail."

Fujimori placed the cleaned plates back on the cabinet, his expression solemn, yet tinged with sadness and helplessness.

Did you see the news this morning?

"I saw it. Could the deceased be on Black Feather Group territory?" Yoshiyuki asked hurriedly.

"No, it's not her." Fujimori turned to look at a seat in the corner and sighed. "It's just that that girl used to frequent this café, and she always sat in that same spot... Well, let me tell you about her first, and see if you can find any clues."

"That girl's name is Satomi Saki. She's from Akihabara. She graduated from junior high school. In a few days, she'll be going to high school in Saga."

"Why not stay in Tokyo? Saga is quite far away. And it's in the countryside." Yoshiyuki keenly sensed that something was wrong and asked this question.

Students born and raised in a metropolis like Tokyo rarely go to high school outside of Tokyo. They also try to get into local universities if possible.

It's not just because Tokyo has many prestigious schools, but also because life here is very vibrant. People who have grown up here rarely want to develop their careers elsewhere, and there's even a saying that "everything outside of Tokyo is the countryside."

This is especially true for Saga Prefecture, an agricultural prefecture, which has virtually no presence in the region.

"Yes. Her parents have always been busy with work and haven't taken care of her much since she was little. In the past two years, they have also been planning to go abroad to develop their careers, so they have even less time to take care of Satomi. So, half a year ago, they decided to send her to her maternal grandmother's house in Saga for high school."

"So, Satomi, who has always lacked parental care, is even angrier now. She feels that her parents only say they love her, but they only care about their work. It's as if she is a burden."

"As you know, kids this age are going through a rebellious phase, so the once well-behaved Satomi started arguing with her parents frequently. When she realized she couldn't change their minds, she started giving them the silent treatment and even ran away from home. Of course, she never went very far; she basically just sat in our café until dawn."

"Uh..." Erina looked a little embarrassed.

Yixing could tell that she was embarrassed because of the words "rebellious period" and "running away from home" that were highly similar to her.

Ms. Fujimori didn't know if Erina had done the same thing, but she asked the question with a calm expression.

"What's wrong, Lord Yoda?"

"Cough, cough, it's nothing." Erina looked guilty and quickly ate the cake that Yoshiyuki fed her. "I just wanted to say, it's a coffee shop, why is it open until late at night?"

"Yes. Our shop only closes for three hours a day. You can come in for a drink if you can't sleep in the middle of the night."

"That sounds great!" Erina imagined it for a moment and then became very interested: "When I get sleepy from playing games all night, I can ask Yoshiyuki to come downstairs and buy me coffee, and then I can stay awake until dawn."

"You wish, young lady," Yixing retorted without hesitation. "If you're sleepy, just go to sleep."

"You were the one who said staying up late is bad for your health."

"So your solution is to stay up all night, right?!"

Erina snorted and didn't respond.

Ms. Fujimori smiled gently, looked at the two of them, and then, as if her mood was affected by the memory of Satomi Saki's tragic death, her expression became somewhat helpless again.

"Okay, let me tell you about her situation—over the past six months, although Ms. Satomi has been quite rebellious, she hasn't gone astray. However, her mental state has become increasingly worse. She's not as cheerful anymore, often just sitting there quietly drinking coffee, and she's no longer willing to chat with people."

"She seemed very fragile to me, as if she was only one step away from collapse. Children in this state, who do not receive emotional support from their parents, will yearn to receive it from others. It's like a form of salvation."

"The last time Ms. Satomi came here was the day before she died. She hadn't been here for a whole week, and she looked much more energetic, with an undisguised smile returning to her face. Every now and then, she would stare out the window, her expression clearly wistful, as if she were fantasizing about something."

"I thought something good must have happened, and I even thought she had finally reconciled with her parents, so I went to ask her. But she said no. Seeing that she didn't want to talk about it, I didn't press her further. Now that I think about it, she's probably in a relationship."

"Huh? Why?" Erina was incredulous when she heard this. "Maybe it's because you got a character you've wanted for a long time in a single pull or you got some very rare equipment."

"Miss, don't project your own thoughts onto others. A normal person wouldn't react that way over such a trivial matter," Yixing remarked, then agreed with the shop manager's statement.

"Ms. Fujimori, this reaction could indeed be because she's met someone she likes. The news also said there were no signs of forced entry at the scene, so it's very likely the victim brought the perpetrator in herself. Therefore... perhaps she knew her parents wouldn't be back for a while, so she took this opportunity to bring her boyfriend home?"

"That's exactly right. And I told you Satomi Saki's story just as a case study. To help you understand what characteristics a killer might have when choosing a victim." Ms. Fujimori said in a low, serious voice, her hands supporting her chin and her arms on the table.

"In fact, the Kuroba Group and the police investigated all the victims. They found that none of them had any romantic experience and all of them had some psychological problems. Some of these problems stemmed from family factors, while others were caused by bullying at school. Girls like these are easily blinded by love when they meet handsome and considerate men, which may be why the perpetrators can frequently succeed in their crimes."

"Now that we have such clear leads, why can't we catch them?" Yixing frowned. "They must be on a date, and many people would have seen them. The surveillance cameras should have captured it."

There are quite a lot of surveillance cameras in Tokyo.

This is especially true in densely populated areas like Akihabara.

Therefore, the police should have evidence.

"It's precisely because the surveillance cameras are ineffective that the cases are so difficult to solve," the store manager said with a serious expression. "Each victim's date was different."

Yixing was genuinely surprised to hear this, and thus asked the question.

"Could it be a gang crime?"

"No." Ms. Fujimori paused for a moment before speaking again: "The police have arrested and questioned all the men involved. Based on their statements about their recent itinerary, they investigated further and found that these men had never met the deceased."