“Eh? Beauty?”
[Really!? A high school girl is asking me for beauty advice!? No, this is delightful!]
(A-amazing, Koyomin.)
She instantly came up with insincere flattery and opened the other person’s heart── though if she opens that ample bosom any more, things could get problematic. Those curves might burst free.
She’s not exposing anything, but Adeno-san is extremely pleased.
She said “Standing around talking isn’t ideal” and guided us to the sofa in the entrance, even with coffee included. That one comment seemed to be extremely effective.
(Even without reading her mind, it looks like she’ll tell us anything and everything.)
She might even tell us her bust and waist measurements, and a rough estimate of her bank account balance.
While sipping the coffee she offered, we immediately began asking questions.
“Um, we’re currently investigating various things to verify our deductions.”
Of course, we haven’t made any deductions and this isn’t verification, but Adeno-san listens with sparkling eyes.
“How dedicated you are to your work.”
(Ugh, that respectful gaze hurts.)
I feel bad about deceiving her, but I decided to read Adeno-san’s mind a little.
“Um, have you known lawyer Arima for a long time?”
“Lawyer Arima?”
Though her expression doesn’t change, Adeno-san’s voice rises. Perfect reaction.
She happily answered the question from a girl who was one generation younger── no wait, calculating from real age, about three generations younger.
[“That’s right. It’s been nearly ten years now? He’s a serious person, and the former president trusted him as well.”]
Since there’s no wavering in her heart, this seems to be her true feelings.
(It seems certain that he’s a serious person. At least on the surface.)
As Adeno-san became more talkative, I decided to ask her something deeper.
“Um, there’s more I’d like to ask.”
“About beauty secrets? Sunburn is the enemy, but actually ultraviolet rays are very important for humans. Even when taking a walk, please walk while letting sunlight hit your palms. This creates vitamin D──”
“Ah, um, that’s also very interesting, but do you happen to know where lawyer Arima is from?”
Adeno-san said “Oh, excuse me” with a bow and opened her notebook.
[“Um, birthplace… No, I’m afraid I don’t know that.”]
No wavering in her heart, she truly doesn’t know.
“Then, did he perhaps study abroad somewhere……”
“We’ve never had such deep conversations. Lawyer Arima isn’t the type to talk much about himself. I remember he didn’t have any close friends either.”
“I-I see.”
So he was the type with no friends, this is getting harder to investigate……
But Adeno-san twisted her neck as if remembering something.
“Ah, come to think of it… No, but that was…”
(Oh? New information?)
Before reading her mind, I pressed my hands together and begged.
“Please. Even the smallest details would be helpful.”
“Ah, yes, that’s fine.”
Adeno-san prefaced with “It might have been a mistake” before telling us some information.
“I think he was someone who had almost no close relationships… but there was once a person who approached him with a beaming smile.”
“!? Who was that?”
Adeno-san glanced toward the entrance.
There stood the familiar sullen security guard who loves horse racing.
“It’s that security guard standing there.”
“”Eh?””
We looked at each other in surprise.
“That horse racing old man who only works with his face?” whisper whisper
“A beaming smile?” whisper whisper
Koyomin is also surprised by something so unimaginable. Because that security guard who didn’t move a single facial muscle even with us high school girls there, beaming with a smile…
Understanding our reaction, Adeno-san continued with a sympathetic expression.
“I understand… But lawyer Arima looked annoyed, and the security guard’s smile instantly returned to normal.”
“Immediately?”
“Yes, I wondered if perhaps I mistook a sneeze or something due to poor eyesight… oops.”
(She was about to say poor eyesight, wasn’t she?)
Adeno-san occasionally shows her true nature, but it’s endearing in its own way.
She glanced at her wristwatch and bowed slightly.
“I’m sorry, I should be going now.”
“No, thank you for your time despite being busy!”
Adeno-san showed me a gentle face as I stood up and bowed. Thanks to Koyomin, we really closed the distance quickly.
“Ufufu, not at all. Being admired by high school girls doesn’t feel bad.”
“Next time, please definitely teach me your beauty secrets!”
“Yes, of course.”
[Well, the real secret is cutting back on life and living expenses to spend hundreds of thousands on beauty treatments, but I can’t exactly say that.]
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
(……Hundreds of thousands.)
I wonder, in the end, is money what matters most?
Having learned about the harsh realities of this beautiful witch’s situation, I felt a bit like I’d had the rug pulled out from under me.
But we did get some results.
“To think that person was a key figure.”
Koyomin nodded.
“An unexpected connection has emerged, but if he conspired with that person to tamper with the security camera… it would be straightforward if he was the one who stole from the safe.”
“If lawyer Arima taught him how to open the safe, it would be possible! Smart!”
“……”
Koyomin’s cold stare seems to say “Anyone could think of that, idiot.” Ah, it’s irresistible.
“What do you think? Do you have any means of extracting information? A person who won’t budge even if we approach him, like a British guard. Plus his brain is full of horse racing.”
“Hehe, whether it’s Britain, Ireland, or a merry-go-round, leave it to me.”
“Oh, what’s your method?”
“It’s my [charm]. I’ll draw it out with friendliness and cuteness!”
“……”
“Hey now, what’s with that exasperated look? Are you thinking ‘what is this person saying?'”
“That’s exactly right.”
Koyomin’s immediate response. Her words are sharp as ever today!
“Guh, just you wait. There’s no old man who wouldn’t be happy to be approached by a high school girl! Just like how Koyomin opened Adeno-san’s heart, I’ll do my job too!”
“Ah, so you were burning with competitive spirit.”
“Exactly! I won’t let Naomi-san make fun of me again asking ‘which one’s the detective?’ I’ll definitely extract information!”
“Go get ’em, champ.”
Rolling up my sleeves, I charged toward the sullen horse racing security guard.
And several minutes later.
“It was no good.”
“I figured as much, since he didn’t budge at all.”
“Not only did he not flinch, he didn’t even look this way. He was absorbed in horse racing the whole time.”
I was so frustrated I almost considered trespassing.
In contrast to my indignation, Koyomin was perfectly calm… one could interpret this as her having no expectations at all.
“In the first place, with not a fragment of sex appeal, where did you get such confidence?”
“It was a mistake of youth… Also, that person definitely might be letting one or two suspicious people slip by.”
“If he’s doing horse racing on weekdays too, one or two might not be enough.”
Weekdays… does that mean regular days? Setting that aside, I was dejected by my lack of charm.
“I thought I had at least a little charm, but I couldn’t beat a horse.”
“Anyway, let’s go back to formulate a strategy.”
Koyomin rubbed my back, ugh, so kind.
Growl……
Being rubbed like that also stimulated my stomach, and my hunger started stirring.
“That’s right, I’m hungry. Let’s eat something in town!”
“Food over charm, huh?”
Koyomin muttered something, but I didn’t hear it, because this quick recovery is my selling point.
“Grrr…”
After leaving Logic Consulting headquarters, I looked around the area with a serious expression.
Right, it’s hard to tell good from bad restaurants in office districts at a glance. First of all, is that place a café? A coffee shop? It’s too hard to tell at first glance, really troublesome. Chain restaurants like family restaurants would be good, but they’re usually crowded.
“What should we do? First, there seem to be few places where just high school girls can enter, and financially speaking…”
In front of us were shops like “Meat 12 yen per gram” – I can’t tell if that’s cheap or expensive. Um, over 1000 yen per 100 grams!? Expensive, expensive!
“Hey, Koyomin, there are rows of shops that our wallets might not be able to handle.”
If this were Solitary Gourmet, we could enter places on intuition, but we’re just ordinary high school girls. I don’t have confidence our wallets can handle it.
“What should we do… Oh?”
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