“This one looks scatterbrained, but she’s serious about work, and sometimes plays a role in solving difficult cases – she’s quite excellent.”
“Oh no, you’re praising me too much.”
“Well, the fact that she becomes a complete country bumpkin when she lets her guard down is part of her charm.”
Smiling and showing her sharp teeth, Naomi-san made a request to Detective Ugohonjo.
“Yuri-ppe, sorry, but could you teach Kanako some Akita dialect? Where in Akita are you from again?”
“Yes, I was born in Oikata… when I was a child, I caught dragonflies in the mountains, went to shopping malls with friends, and chased black-winged damselflies.”
Seventy percent of her memories are about dragonflies… I couldn’t bring myself to make that observation. She’s probably tired.
Detective Ugohonjo fiddled with the ballpoint pen in her chest pocket and laughed with a “heh-nya.” This person is probably also being pushed around by Naomi-san.
“Um, aren’t you tired? Tomorrow would be fine too.”
“No no, I’m fine! It’s my fifteenth consecutive day of work, but I’m energetic!”
Detective Ugohonjo made a victory pose, but there was no strength in that pose.
(Is she really okay?)
I decided to secretly read her true thoughts.
“My memory has been patchy lately, but this much is nothing, I’m used to it.”
[Zzz]
(She’s sleeping!)
This isn’t just being tired! She didn’t drive the patrol car here, right? She’s okay, right? If she’s not careful, there could be a traffic accident causing a disaster and another incident would break out.
As I started worrying about strange things, Detective Ugohonjo showed a pained smile.
“Anyway, I’ll give you Akita dialect lessons. By the way, why Akita dialect?”
“…Actually, this Oba Kanako has someone she likes who’s from Akita, and she’s an idiot so she’s getting ahead of herself.”
Koyomin smoothly told a lie. My sister’s future is terrifying.
“Is that so? You’ll have to work hard then.”
Detective Ugohonjo believed the lie told so smoothly, and her smile saying “I’m honored if I can be of help” was so dazzling.
“I-I’ll do my best! I’m only confident in my persistence and stamina. I’ll master it quickly so you can rest well.”
“Ah, yes.”
Detective Ugohonjo smiled weakly while fiddling with her ballpoint pen. Whether it’s a habit or social anxiety… I can’t read her heart now because she’s sleeping, but she’s probably unconsciously fidgeting because she’s tired.
Facing this exhausted person, I received Akita dialect lessons with even more concentration than usual.
Chirp chirp chirp…
Morning chirping.
(I’m glad today is Sunday. I couldn’t go to school like this.)
However, thanks to Detective Ugohonjo’s intensive lessons, I somehow became able to understand zuu-zuu ben.
(Thank you so much for staying with me until late at night! Detective Ugohonjo… no, sensei!)
As I put my hands together in gratitude toward the direction she went home, Koyomin, who had probably been sleeping soundly in her room, appeared in pajamas.
“Good morning. How was it? The lessons?”
“Lessons? Naba kike baki guhodo wagarane gattakedo chiito baa kashishi uchi usa sureba na, menkeko ja koyomin koko sa kede ke.”
TLNOTE :Lessons? I didn’t understand a thing at first, but if I try a little harder, maybe I can get it. Come on, Koyomin, let’s go. …probably, I don’t understand akita dialect gomen
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
“Um, I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
“Etto… toriaezu koko ni ke, nde asahan ba ke– uwaa”
Ah, “come here and let’s eat breakfast” came out all wrong!?
“…Should I chop you at a forty-five degree angle to the back of your head to fix it?”
Stop it, Koyomin! If you, a cyborg, hit my head, not only what I learned, but all my memories, and maybe even everything from the neck up will be blown away! The back of the head is absolutely forbidden.
I stopped Koyomin as she swung her hand blade around. Your hand blade is equivalent to a copper sword, so please stop.
“But you seem to have mastered it. As expected of Oba Kanako, you can do it when you try.”
“Hehehe, nda na… oh right, yes.”
How happy, Koyomin praised me.
I once again put my hands together toward the direction where Ugohonjo-sensei probably went home in gratitude.
“Rest well, sensei.”
It looks like I’m praying for a deceased person, but please overlook that.
So I obtained the weapon of Akita dialect – now I have nothing to fear! I’ll read Lawyer Arima’s mind!
“Ndaba, sassoku Logic sa iku be.”
“Um, I think you should return to standard Japanese first…”
“…nda na.”
Thanks to this intensive training, I mastered Akita dialect, but for several months I would suffer from sudden bursts of accent… but that’s another story.
That afternoon, at Logic headquarters.
In the same president’s office as before, new president Akamichi Eijiro, Mukashino-san, Adeno-san, and Lawyer Arima were gathered.
This time, Naomi-san was on standby with Inspector Gori and others on the floor right below. If Lawyer Arima tries to escape or something happens, they’ll rush in immediately. At times like this, it’s reassuring – combined with cyborg Koyomin, it’s like having a hundred people.
“H-have you found the will? P-please take care of this.”
The expression of our client, Eijiro-san, showed even more anxiety than before.
“By the way, the date for Logic’s new management announcement press conference has been decided,”
Koyomin whispered to me.
(I see, he must be in a hurry to find the will. It would be terrible if it was exposed during the new management announcement.)
I also panicked when I hid my zero-point test paper and it just disappeared somewhere. After that, when mom found it… oh, just remembering makes me shiver.
“What’s wrong, Kanako?”
“Just remembering a trauma, it’s a warrior’s trembling.”
“…I’ll make my retort later. Hurry up with the deduction show (laugh).”
“It’s hard on the performer, you know.”
Pulling myself together, I decided to start my usual detective deduction show where I act like I know everything while actually knowing nothing.
“I’ve called you all here for no other reason. All the mysteries have been solved.”
“Is that so?” Mukashino-san said in surprise.
Adeno-san was also trying to maintain composure but seemed very interested.
Meanwhile, Lawyer Arima was as usual pressing his glasses with his right hand, but perhaps because he was very anxious, his eyeballs were moving restlessly.
(Normally I might miss it, but knowing he’s the culprit, I can see he’s slightly agitated.)
I started wandering around the room with somewhat exaggerated movements. Mukashino-san, who seemed friendly and carefree but was actually solid, watched my cheesy performance with skeptical eyes.
“Well, I’m looking forward to it – the great detective’s brilliant deduction. I’ve had my eye on this kind of situation since I was a child. I always wanted to experience it once.”
[Has everything become clear in just these few days? Honestly suspicious, but I won’t say anything unnecessary. If they can find Keitaro’s will, that’s fine. That’s also a memento of that guy.]
(His thoughts are more serious than his words.)
Alright, to live up to the PR person’s feelings, let me give it a shot.
Sniffing, I turned my mental ear toward Arima-san and began my imitation of a deduction show.
First, I prompted Koyomin to confirm the situation of the crime.
“Koyomin, let’s grasp the situation of the incident once more.”
“Yes, two weeks after Lawyer Arima put the will in the safe, when they looked inside the safe, the will wasn’t there. Right, President Eijiro?”
“Yes, I also looked at the security camera footage again… indeed, no one opened the safe after the will was put in.”
Eijiro-san showed us the security camera footage on his tablet. Indeed, the moment when Lawyer Arima put it in the safe was clearly captured, and from then on, the safe was never opened.
“The suspicious time is still that Saturday afternoon when the surveillance camera froze for an hour.”
“It’s highly likely it was stolen during that time. However, everyone present has alibis for that time.”
“Yeah, so doesn’t that mean everyone here is innocent, detective-san?”
The three – Adeno-san, Lawyer Arima, and Mukashino-san – said so.
(It’s only because I know he’s the culprit, but he’s trying to steer the conversation toward everyone not being the culprit.)
The excellent lawyer carefully weaves his words to avoid revealing anything.
“So, is this still the view that it was an external crime?”
At that moment, I read what was in his mind.
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