The Black Swan Behind (Beauty of Fire)

297 The Figure Behind 37.1 AM Radio Broadcast

“Well, that’s because my friends are on their free day, so Rachel and I came here because we had nothing else to do,” Emma answered.

Then Emma opened her purse and took out two rather large brown envelopes from inside. “Will you count this?”

Elisa nodded. “Sure. Just put it on the table. I’ll get you the strawberry smoothie I just made. You guys should try it,”

“Oh, good! I happen to be thirsty.”

Then Elisa went briefly into the kitchen and came back down with a tray of the tall four-glass container of a pink liquid. The blue-haired girl put the glass on the table, “Try it,”

“Thanks,” Emma said immediately while taking her glass.

“Oh... It’s delicious.” Rachel said after trying the drink.

Elisa smiled brightly. “Glad you like it! Otsuka also said that it was delicious but I couldn’t one hundred percent trust his words because he always says all my cooking is delicious even though sometimes the taste isn’t really good.”

Emma laughed. “He is a nice guy though very quiet,”

.....

“Only when he’s with me he talks a lot,” Elisa said as she sat down at her desk. “I’m going to start counting the money, girls.”

“Sure. We won’t disturb you,” Rachel replied as she casually stepped on a couch that was at the side of the room and sat there with Emma following her.

Not long after, Otsuka returned with an empty trolley. He walked over to Rachel and returned the car key to her.

“Elisa, I heard that you don’t work at the mini market anymore,” Rachel asked after seeing the blue-haired girl who had finished counting the money from the two envelopes.

Elisa nodded. “That’s right, Rachel. There was a robbery two weeks ago. It was a group of drunken hooligans. They took money, cigarettes, and liquor. Since that, the mini market is temporarily closed until now.”

“Oh, it’s bad. Were you in charge at the time?”

Elisa shook her head. “Fortunately, I was taking a day off that day. But things were really messed up. I feel sorry for our boss.”

“I didn’t know those hooligans could still act up. There are already many groups of men on patrol to catch groups that commit crimes.” Emma said with a serious face. She was annoyed that such a big thing slipped through her fingers.

“Maybe it’s because of the 37.1 AM radio broadcast,” Rachel muttered.

“Radio 37.1 AM? You guys listening to it too?” Elisa asked with both eyebrows rose high.

Emma nodded and chuckled awkwardly. “A friend of ours suggested listening to the radio if we were to go out at night. It would give us information on where the criminals are.”

“But lately, that radio broadcast has been running quite infrequently. As far as we know, the men who patrol to keep Handway City safe also rely on it to pinpoint the location of any street crimes.” Rachel added.

“Oh my... It turns out the benefits are that big, huh?” Elisa said herself while turning to Otsuka who just listened silently with a flat face.

“I can’t on air because they give me so much work,” Otsuka, who noticed Elisa’s gaze, spoke as pointed his chin at the two girls sitting on the sofa.

“Huh? What do you mean?” Emma asked.

Elisa laughed. “The one behind radio channel 37.1 AM is Otsuka.”

“WHAT?!” Emma and Rachel exclaimed in unison.

“You don’t have to shout like that,” Otsuka said with a disturbed expression.

Emma and Rachel immediately looked at each other with tense and disbelieving faces.

Emma looked at Otsuka again. “W-wait a minute. So, you are that mysterious man?”

Otsuka just nodded indifferently. “The work you guys gave me was overwhelming and keeps increasing. Of course I don’t have much free time to broadcast anymore.”

“God...”

Emma couldn’t help but ponder this crazy coincidence. How was it possible that they have been interacting with someone who turned out to be a mysterious radio announcer who always made all the people of the dark world of Handway City curious?

“D-doesn’t... That means... you know what happened in Handway City?” Rachel asked stammering.

“What do you mean?” Otsuka frowned at Rachel’s unclear question.

Rachel cleared her throat and was silent for a moment to think of the right and correct sentence to convey her meaning. She was so shocked that she seemed to have lost the ability to speak.

“I mean... so, you know about gangster groups, their deeds, business, and.. about heroes,” Rachel asked.

Otsuka casually nodded. “How could I don’t know? I am a repository of information. I also know that you guys are the people behind the Black group who are said to be the shadow heroes of Handway City.”

Otsuka’s answer was like a sword thrust straight into the hearts of the two girls at the same time. They no longer understood how to respond to all this madness.

“Y-you know?!” Emma exclaimed.

“I told you, don’t shout here.” He looked at Emma in annoyance.

“I’m sorry... but... Why you’ve been hiding it from us all this time?” Emma asked in a lowered voice. She tried to hold back the turmoil of adrenaline that affected her voice.

“Hiding?” Elisa repeated, then she chuckled. “We never hide anything, Emma. You never ask and we also don’t feel the need to touch on the lives of our consumers.”

“Gosh... I can’t believe this...” Emma held her head.

“So, you really are hiding your identities, huh?” Otsuka said.

Rachel looked at the man seriously. “Why do you think we dare to spend so much money to make masks?”

“I see,” Otsuka nodded slowly. “I just didn’t expect that you guys also intended to hide this fact from us because that’s a foolish thought, you know,”

“Of course. I thought you guys didn’t care about street crime.” Rachel answered quickly. After all, she was the one who suggested to Emma to make a mask with Otsuka.

“It seems that our styles are not supportive, doesn’t it?” Elisa said with an awkward laugh while scratching her cheek with her index finger.

“Sorry, guys. It’s true that we accidentally judged you based on your appearance on purpose. But, that was seriously unexpected,” Emma answered.

“Otsuka, I’m sorry, but if I may ask, what do you know about the activities of the dark world?” She continued.

“I don’t know if this is all or not. But I know quite a lot. It’s like a war between gangsters, like the one you guys had recently, which group fell and won, crimes that occurred on the streets, and others.” Otsuka answered.

“Where did you get all that information?” Emma asked.

“I have a community of losers. We are people who are always bullied and tortured by the people of the gangster group. We cannot fight them directly. Therefore, I created a spy group to report on various crimes that they do through radio broadcasts. Although I know, it was not much use, at that time I knew there was a man named Calvin Lee who was fighting gangster crime. Then, we intend to help him in this way.” Otsuka explained.

“Does that mean your group members have been spying on us all this time?” Emma asked.

“Not just you, but everything that happens in Handway City. We are a pair of eyes peeking from the windows of the houses and the city’s CCTV. We are the insects, mildew, and steam that quietly hide in the darkness of the street.” He replied.

“Does that mean you know where our base is?” Rachel asked directly.