stand-in creed

Kishibe Rohan frowned: "Sugimoto...?"

After being stunned for less than ten seconds, after Nero's reminder, the memories sealed deep in his heart due to childhood fears gradually came out of his mind.

Forget about corrections.

The memory that had been sealed for 16 years finally woke up at this moment.

"If you hadn't reminded me, I would have almost forgotten all of this... Come to my house and have a drink and talk about it, Mr. Detective."

Kishibe Rohan pointed to the mansion that was just around the corner.

Immediately, the cartoonist enthusiastically introduced the foreign detective who came to the door into his newly bought home, briefly introduced the layout of the home, and then led Nero into his spacious and bright workshop.

"What would you like to drink, Mr. Detective? Coffee or black tea?"

"Thank you for the coffee."

"What about sugar and milk?"

"Feel free, it's fine for me as long as it's not black coffee."

"Okay, wait a minute... By the way, you can just look at my work while I make coffee."

"That's the original manuscript, is it really all right?"

"Be careful and handle it with care."

Kishibe Rohan smiled and handed Nero a stack of file bags, and then left the room to make coffee.

Just when Kishibe Rohan was about to peek outside the door, he had a second thought.

"This man looks different from the poor detective who still gambles on horses and drinks alcohol. He wears expensive clothes and has very sharp eyes.

"What's more, when foreigners come to Japan, they are likely to deal with "transnational level" incidents. This kind of detective is probably very meticulous in observation.If I just stay at the door and wait for him to be recruited... Even if he can't know the ability of my "Gate of Heaven", he may be wary because he can't hear my footsteps leaving, and won't look at my paintings .

"At this time, it's better to go through the normal process, and really go and make him a cup of coffee."

Thinking of this, Kishibe Rohan walked towards the kitchen.

As for Nero, although he always felt that the cartoonist looked at him with a strange expression, he was relieved when he picked up the file bag and opened it.

"It's not a product of the energy of a stand-in, but a real thing, a "genuine" comic.

"Not only that, both the storyboard and the degree of completion are very high. This is a very high-quality manga manuscript. It's a shame that he dared to show me the manuscript directly. Be a little more careful, after all, the manuscript is very precious ..."

Nero carefully took out the original manuscript from the file bag and tasted it.

Really nice drawing--

wow.

Nero's face was turned like a page of a book, and the detective who was just about to praise Kishibe Rohan's painting skills instantly turned black.

This can also be recruited?

After investigating the case, it was found that the survivors of the year also encountered random substitute messengers?

The thousands of words in Nero's heart turned into a curse.

"...Cazzo."

Chapter 36

Nero has calculated thousands of times, but he didn't calculate that he would be recruited at such a time, place, and on such an occasion.

Randomly investigate a survivor of a murder case 15 years ago, and you can actually investigate a stand-in messenger, and it happens that this stand-in messenger has plots against him?

"...This guy, could it be that he was the killer 15 years ago?

"If you think about it carefully, there is such a development, isn't it? When we were in Suez, Egypt 11 years ago, according to what Ndor said, the baby they brought that night was also a member of the killer. Since even babies can be killers, By coincidence, the four-year-old kid who had awakened his substitute killed the family. Although it was outrageous, it was not impossible.

"My physical condition is the best proof."

At this moment, Nero is in a bad state.

The skin on the face was opened like a book, and the body and limbs seemed to be spliced ​​together. They were scattered like toilet roll paper made of newspaper with the core pulled out, and it was impossible to move an inch by normal means.And at the same time when the main body became like this, the stairway to heaven for his avatar also scattered to pieces.

And the rolls of paper are filled with Nero's past experiences.

Probably because Kishibe Rohan is Japanese, the other party's stand-in ability even kindly translated it into Japanese for him.

"Although I can still breathe, the heart is still beating, and all organs of the body can maintain normal work. However, due to changes in the body's state, the muscle tissue and bone structure are in a strange state of "separated but not injured", and they cannot move at all.

"Even after Stairway to Heaven has become like this, if you want to fight someone, maybe even Koichi Hirose won't be able to fight, right?

"If he was the prisoner 15 years ago, he would use this stand-in ability to incapacitate the Sugimoto family first, and then easily kill that family. After that, as a successful manga artist, he sought inspiration and stimulation. Brain, it doesn't seem impossible to do something that hunts women..."

Although hit the opponent's substitute ability.

But at this moment, Nero doesn't have much sense of urgency, just like a student who has half an hour left to practice sketching in the blank space of the test paper after writing the test paper, thinking about the murder case 15 years ago.

Why not be nervous.

Because Nero can't get nervous.

"Yeah, what a terrible stand-in.

"Turning the main body and the stand-in into scattered books and notes to make them powerless, even if Jotaro's Platinum Star fell for this trick without knowing the other party's background, I'm afraid he would have to be led by the nose Bar?

"But it's like rock-paper-scissors! It's as if my ladder to heaven was restrained by the platinum star, and the platinum star was restrained by this double——

"—Even if this stand-in gets such an initiative, he is definitely not my opponent on the Stairway to Heaven!"

at the same time.

There was a sound of pattering footsteps in the hallway.

Kishibe Rohan leisurely walked towards his workshop with two cups of coffee, creamer and sugar packets on the tray.

"This detective named Nero Zeppelin has sharp eyes and considerable powers of observation.

"In addition, he said "That's the original manuscript, is it really okay?" It shows that he has some understanding of manga.The more people like this, the more they will resonate with my original manuscript, triggering the strength I have gained since being pierced by an inexplicable arrow.

"After making coffee, I think my ability has already taken effect, right?

"Although he left for a while, as long as he is hit by my ability, he can't do anything when he loses his ability to move... What about people?"

Kishibe Rohan held the tray in his left hand, and pushed open the half-closed door of his studio with his right hand, but his eyes widened.

The manga manuscripts that were half pulled out of the portfolio were quietly placed on the table.

Nero Zeppelin, who was supposed to be a tape man, was out of sight at all, and there was no one on the sofa.

In an instant, Kishibe Rohan felt something was wrong.

Without the slightest hesitation, he withdrew his steps, stood quietly by the wall outside the door, let his brain run at high speed, and thought about the current situation.

"Although Nero Zeppelin disappeared, there must be traces to follow. If Nero Zeppelin is a character in my comics, what did he do to disappear from my sight?

"The windows are closed.

"And it's as if I put down my vigilance to let him hear the "footsteps" and deliberately made two cups of coffee. If the detective captured by my ability wants to leave the studio door, the sound of crawling and movement It will definitely be captured by me.

"However, I didn't hear any movement at all! It's not because I didn't pay attention, but he definitely didn't step out of the door.

"Didn't step out the door.

"The windows were not opened.

"My studio doesn't have the kind of narrow ventilation duct in the movie that is enough for him to leave when he turns into a tape man, so the conclusion is clear——

"—Nero Zeppelin must still be in my studio!"

In just 0.2 seconds, Kishibe Rohan completed such thinking.

And precisely because of the completion of such thinking, Kishibe Rohan's face became more and more excited.

"The water I used to make coffee was the hot water I had boiled in the electric kettle just before I met Nero Zeppelin when I went shopping. It only took a total of 2 minutes for the coffee to return here.

"In just 2 minutes, this detective not only didn't make a lot of noise like those other people who had been caught by my ability and obediently became my material in the past, but instead calmly hid and tried to deal with me !

"This guy is not only a worthy subject, but also has the qualifications to become a "comic hero"!

"So, where is my hero hiding?"

Kishibe Rohan was still standing against the wall.

Carefully recalling the scene that came into view the moment the door was opened just now.

"At first glance there are two blind spots.

"The first place is definitely behind the door on the left hand side of the entry, like in most movies.

"Besides, just like I'm sticking to the wall at this moment, Nero Zeppelin may also be sticking to the wall on the right hand side of the door. Although the angle of the blind spot is smaller, if he hides there, there is no danger. If the door is blocked, he can attack me immediately.

"Especially if this detective bets that I will confirm the situation behind the door as soon as possible, and I will expose my "back" to his sight!

"so……"

Kishibe Rohan gently placed the tray on the floor.

The cartoonist picked up several sharp pen tips between his fingertips, then took a deep breath, and rushed into the studio.

The target he went straight to was neither the door on the left nor the wall on the right, but——

--ceiling.

——and Nero Zeppelin floating on the ceiling.

Chapter 37

Kishibe Rohan was right.

Although according to common sense, Nero will only be in one of the blind spots of the left and right hands, but Kishibe Rohan firmly believes in the third possibility - the ceiling of the studio.

And sure enough, Nero was really floating on the ceiling.

Whoosh whoosh!

Three pen heads burst out of the air, pointing directly at Nero on the ceiling.

The moment the pen head hit, Kishibe Rohan's pupils shrank suddenly, because he saw another figure besides Nero.

——The figure of the Stairway to Heaven transformed into a paper tape man.

However, just when the pen tip was about to hit, the table with the manuscripts came alive in an instant, blocking Nero in the air like a shield, and easily blocked Kishibe Rohan's pen tip attack.

While defending.

It seems that Nero and Kishibe Rohan thought of it together, and the paintbrush on Kishibe Rohan's workbench swished towards the door.

"!"

Kishibe Rohan hastily retreated.

puff!

It seemed that the retreat was not timely enough, and one of the paintbrushes flew over his face, leaving a thin bloodstain on his face, and finally nailed it to the wall outside the door.

"Sure enough, you have the same ability as me!"

"……really?"

Nero in the room noticed Kishibe Rohan's word.

Kishibe Rohan outside the room continued to hide in the corner, taking a deep breath.

"Mr. Detective, your reaction time is too short, and your reaction is also very wrong. Under normal circumstances, no matter how calm and calm, people will always make a panicked cry or two, such as shouting "Damn!" What is this?", "What did you do to me" and the like.

"In addition, even if it becomes a paper tape man and cannot move normally, it still has a little bit of residual mobility, and these actions are enough to make some collision noises in the room.

"But none of that.

"Not only did you not have any unnecessary words and deeds in just "2 minutes"!It's as if you already know what happened to you and how to deal with it——

"—you've seen such abilities before.

"You have seen such ability for a long time, you immediately hid yourself, even if you heard my footsteps when I returned, you didn't say a word to me, but hid yourself.

"People who are hit by my ability and lose the ability to move freely cannot counterattack at all under normal circumstances, and the possibility of success is too low. In order to increase the success rate of counterattack as much as possible, a calm detective should use language to attract My attention, deal with me, increase the success rate of the counterattack.

"Such as pretending to beg for mercy, such as issuing a legal warning, or deliberately provoking me to make me lose my cool, but you have nothing, which means--

"—Your counterattack doesn't need language assistance at all!