Raiten Menimemo's prison cell had not seen any visitors in the four months he'd been living in it. As it turned out, disposing the world of a vile assassin was frowned upon by most reasonable people.
He had expected as much, of course. Not everyone could share his unique perception of the world, but it pained him somewhat to be cut off from the world that had once been his playground.
The patrolling prison guards in their crisp, white uniforms and taciturn manner offered no intrigue to Raiten, but today was the exception.
A different guard had been assigned to patrol the block, containing Raiten's cell and he had a most tantalising prize under his arm— today's newspaper.
The printed kanji were calling to Raiten. Seducing him with promises of juicy current events. How was their mighty empire enduring the weight of its complacent regime? He simply had to know.
"Spare a paper for this poor journo?" Raiten held out the palm of his hand between the iron bars of his cell and pleaded with the most pitiful voice he could muster.
He had acted as a model prisoner these past few months. Promptly waking up when the morning wakeup call was sounded, dutifully completing tasks asked of him like clockwork. He'd even helped pen a letter for an illiterate inmate.
Having set such a good example, surely the prison guard could throw him a bone after such an earnest request?
Perhaps not.
"Is the prison literature not good enough for you, journo?" The guard's accusation pierced through Raiten's pride. Any second now, the guard's jab was going to make him explode. But that was exactly what had landed him in prison in the first place.
And if there was anything Raiten had learned from his encounter with that blight of an englishwoman—it's that charm and composure will get you everywhere.
"The books available are quite riveting, but I want to know how our beloved nation, with such a capable justice system is faring." Raiten lied through his shiny teeth, in an effort that sounded both sycophantic and sarcastic.
OK, so he there was room for improvement, but every first draft of a story had those, and rare opportunities like this didn't offer much room for practice.
"Ugh. I was finished with it anyway. Leave it outside your cell when you're finished with it." The prison guard in his austere uniform, tipped the brim of his cap downwards to save face, for allowing a prisoner a single concession.
The surrendered paper landed in the floor with a thud, after the guard threw it down and continued his rounds. Grinning like a maniac, Raiten gripped the newspaper like a lifesaver and scanned the front page.
"Japan's Very Own Judge Jailed for Murder?" Raiten read the headline out loud, his grip loosening on the paper that had delivered such world-shattering news.
The upheaval he had so desperately craved, had actually happened. Four months too late since he had paid for his martyrdom with imprisonment, but vindication all the same.
"The justice system is collapsing like a house of cards. It's only a matter of time before real change is enacted." Raiten said to himself, sounding more hopeful about his cause by the minute.
He had fought so hard for this victory, albeit in deplorable ways.
Now that he had finally attained it, he could finally lower the walls of his indignant defences and enjoy the moment.
"So 'His Honour' has dabbled in murder, has he? Hypocrite. What else could he be capable of?" Raiten wondered how far the extent of the judge's crimes went, for a man who was once all about justice.
"What about that exchange student's missing body?" Raiten's reporter intuition piped up. Reminding him of a long forgotten loose end, that had once taunted his mind not so long ago.
"I wouldn't be surprised if he had something to do with the cover up of that exchange student's body. All to preserve our country's honour." He mused. The whole situation finally making sense to him.
The judge had a dark side to him. And a mean throwing arm he could attest to, when the judge had flung him across the room. But at least Raiten could sleep soundly at night, knowing that he wasn't in prison for silencing British inspectors and denying a Japanese student a proper burial on his home soil.
There isn't a single person at the end of the game that can tell Menimemo about what truly happened to Kazuma's body and the assassin exchange program after everything's over.
I understand why they didn't reward a murderer with an epilogue, where he gets told the truth in his cell, but I wanted to give him closure anyway. Kinda rich for him to judge Seishiro though, wouldn't you agree?
Also I haven't finished the game yet, so who exactly did the cover up besides the 'government' and why is a mystery to me, I can only write what Raiten thinks.