Loups-Garous by Natsuhiko Kyôgoku Page A

disc.”
    It’d take at least thirty minutes.
    â€œThe proviso states a police officer has to witness the work, so when I leave this place, the work you do alone will be invalid. We are all bureaucrats, if nothing else.” Kunugi spoke matter-of-factly as he took the disc from Shizue and put an organizational number on it. Then after taking a deep breath, he counted the disc along with the others and wrote the number down on another card, then put it all in a box. Then he stowed the box in his bag.
    â€œMaybe it’s just an illusion, but I have a feeling this will all be pointless.”
    Kunugi put on an old-fashioned jacket not seen much anymore.
    Shizue sterilized her fingertips.
    In other words…
    I have to work this way for another two days.
    â€œPointless or not, the regulations have created a real obstacle, haven’t they.”
    She couldn’t have anyone substitute as a counselor, and one never knew if a problem might arise. She wasn’t even able to perform routine mail checks. Two more days of this would certainly be a problem.
    â€œYou don’t prefer the regulations?” Kunugi, now standing, asked.
    â€œI can’t do it like this. We’re in charge of a hundred people. Our division is short-staffed, and I myself have seven or eight people in each age group, totaling ninety kids I’m responsible for. Normally we each get thirty. Any more than that and we lose focus.”
    What use is it complaining to this guy?
    Shizue opened her mail on the monitor. As if waiting for the right moment, Kunugi stood again.
    What?
    Shizue’s eyes froze.
    There were no messages.
    No messages from concerned children. She converted to the room monitor and summoned a roster of the children.
    Kunugi decided that maybe he shouldn’t be looking. He turned toward the wall and asked if there was a problem.
    â€œIt’s not a problem, per se.” Shizue checked that she was connected.
    Her message to Yuko Yabe…
    FAILED DELIVERY.
    She double-checked the address and connectivity.
    The connection wasn’t recognized.
    Is the monitor broken?
    Shizue felt a shiver up her spine.
    A broken monitor wasn’t unheard of. But it was something she should have noticed when she sent the message yesterday. No, she could just try a voice message or at least check the connection on her home terminal. Shizue had been preoccupied with this data mining last night.
    â€œThere was a child who didn’t come to yesterday’s communication group. There was no notice of it, so when the proctor notified me I sent the student a message, but…”
    â€œThere’s no reply?”
    â€œWell, that’s not uncommon, but it’s not that there’s no return message. There’s no…monitor.”
    â€œNo monitor?”
    â€œI have to go,” Shizue said. And she left.

CHAPTER 005
    AS HAZUKI DISCONNECTED , some rote on-air news appeared on-screen.
    At the bottom right of her screen floated a file called violent criminals of the twentieth century.
    The on-air menu flooded the screen with text, so she knew the basic gist even with her speakers on mute.
    A middle-aged man with old-fashioned dyed hair was rapidly moving his mouth. Words appeared in a text box below his face in conjunction with the movement of his mouth.
    NO WEAPONS / THEATRICAL / CALLED A PSYCHO-KILLER / MINORS / “EDUCATIONAL” / IN THE HOME…
    AROUND THIS TIME THE STALKER / FAMOUS/ BIZARRE MURDERD…
    The words ran so quickly she couldn’t read them all.
    Not that she wanted to.
    To begin with, Hazuki wasn’t sure what bizarre meant. She just thought it must mean something bad.
    Well, not simply bad, but immoral. That was the impression she had. She didn’t know why, but probably because of the way the word looked. Even if the meaning wasn’t apparent, the appearance of that series of characters could signify so much. She might be totally wrong, but there was still the