Episode 188
"Rumors about the Hero?"
As Serena, who had completely erased her earlier wrinkled appearance and now wore a sharp gaze, asked that, the guest sitting before her quietly nodded.
"Hmm... Which Hero are you asking about?"
Serena, who had been glancing at her slightly, lowered her voice and asked.
"Just rumors about the Hero."
The guest answered in a low voice.
"Just the Hero... Then excluding the 'Hero of Money,' and also hmm..."
Upon hearing the answer, Serena opened her eyes wide and began flipping through the files placed before her.
"Ah, by the way, how do you know Miss Feruche?"
With her gaze fixed on the files, she asked in a passing tone.
"Is that a necessary question?"
"Hahaha, sorry. It's an occupational disease."
The guest looked at Serena and asked with a bold tone, and Serena answered with a smile.
"I met her a few times at the hospital and orphanage."
"A few times? But to receive a recommendation letter to that extent, there must have been a significant incident that brought you closer?"
The guest asked with a guarded gaze while thinking for a moment, and Serena's eyes gleamed as she probed.
"I'm sorry. Since it's a personal matter between the Saintess and myself, I'd rather not tell you."
"...Ah."
But the guest firmly drew the line, and Serena nodded with a slightly regretful expression.
[Recommended(?) letter!]
[I, Feruche! Guarantee this child's divine words! Introduce to Tangjeong Agency......]
"That's right.....
She trailed off, glancing at Feruche's invitation letter placed beside her.
"So, do you know about the rumors?"
"Ah, yes yes. Of course I know."
When the guest looked at Serena slightly suspiciously and pressed her, she propped her chin on her hand and spoke.
"It's a rumor that's been spreading rapidly within the Imperial family and the Church lately. All the high-ranking officials who need to know already know."
"Hmm..."
"And, it seems you also know to some extent."
As Serena said that while narrowing her eyes and looking at her, the guest quietly adjusted the robe they were wearing over themselves.
"You use strange magic? I can't observe inside the robe. This is my first time experiencing this..."
"Cough, hem."
Serena looked at the guest with a slightly curious expression, and when the guest showed signs of discomfort and cleared their throat, she turned her gaze back to the files.
"Do you want to share the rumors and information I know? Or do you want additional investigation?"
At Serena's question as she flipped through the files for a while and then glanced at the guest.
"Both."
The guest answered.
"Hmmm... I understand."
Serena nodded and began organizing the scattered files.
"But, did you bring the commission fee?"
She tilted her head and asked.
"An upfront payment is needed to start the investigation, and information sharing is also clearly in the realm of business. Therefore..."
"Foolish human. Even though you'll return it later anyway, why ask about such things?"
"...Shh."
Serena, who had blocked the mouth of Miho who was grumbling beside her.
"I need a sufficient amount... Oh."
As she turned her gaze back to speak, she saw the gold coin pouches the guest had placed on the desk and opened her eyes wide.
"This seems sufficient."
Soon saying that, Serena quietly pulled the gold coin pouches toward her and began speaking while opening the organized files.
"First, do you know about the prophecy from 1000 years ago that predicted the Hero's appearance, and the 'Commoner Dormitory Attack Incident' that officially announced the Demon King's appearance?"
"Yes."
"Then, you know about the 'Slave Market Raid Incident' to some extent, right?"
Hearing that, the guest frowned for a moment.
"Everything."
Then answered briefly.
"Hmmm."
Serena, who was looking at the guest with her legs slightly crossed.
"Why would such a great person come to a detective agency and buy information?"
She asked with a faint smile.
"Why on earth?"
Then the guest.
"To verify with my own eyes whether you actually have ability, and whether you're someone I can trust."
Answered once more in a dry voice.
"........."
A brief silence flowed through the reception room.
"Interesting... you are."
Soon wearing a more joyful smile than ever before, Serena muttered that and began speaking while staring piercingly at the guest's face, which was invisible due to the faint light seeping through.
"The Hero first appeared during the slave market raid incident. The Hero rushed in there wearing armor called 'Hero's Armaments.'"
"Yes."
"The Hero engaged in battle with the Demon King's forces that appeared there and won, but for some reason left without revealing their identity and went into hiding."
While the guest frowned at those words, Serena continued speaking while tapping the files.
"This is the generally known fact. Well, actually ordinary people don't even know that person is the Hero."
"You know roughly."
"...Even for this, it's quite high-level information?"
The guest, who heard Serena's words, leaned forward and asked.
"Is that all?"
"No, there's a little more. After that, the Hero who had been hiding secretly contacted the Imperial family and the Church through some method and revealed that they were the Hero."
"Hmm."
"I don't know what method they used, but currently the 'Hero' is somewhat recognized as a Hero among the upper class, and once the upcoming 'Verification Ceremony' ends, they will officially make their name known to the world as the Hero."
When Serena finished speaking and looked straight at the guest.
"So, is that the end?"
"Yes?"
"I'm asking if that's all the information you have."
The guest asked with their arms crossed.
"...It is, but?"
When Serena shrugged and answered, the guest sighed shortly and began muttering with their head bowed low.
"It's not as much as I expected... What should I do? I need to protect the Hero somehow..."
"However, it's not information, but... I do have one personal guess."
"Yes?"
Serena said to the guest in a low voice.
"The Hero currently active is a fake."
She said that with a voice full of conviction and began focusing on the guest's reaction visible before her eyes.
".....!"
Then a slight trembling of the guest caught in Serena's sight.
"Hmhng..."
Serena, who snorted as if she knew that would happen upon seeing that reaction.
"...How did you know?"
When the guest before her eyes asked with a trembling voice.
"D-did you deduce it? Was there another information provider? Or else..."
"Huhu, who knows."
She smiled quietly and muttered inwardly.
'There's someone I know who will inevitably awaken and become the Hero in the end.'
".....?"
'...Probably.'
"Excuse me?"
Serena, who had been filling her head with the silhouette of the only man she still loved despite her erased memories, came to her senses when the guest asked in a flustered voice and opened her mouth.
"Can I consider the proof of my ability finished?"
"Yes, yess."
"Then, will you entrust the commission to me?"
"Yes! I'll give you all the information I know, so please investigate everything about the 'Hero'!"
When Serena asked while putting away the files, looking at the guest who spoke in an excited voice.
"Besides that, are there any other requests?"
"Ah, right."
The guest began rummaging through their clothes.
"This, this thing. I want to find the owner of this... would that be possible?"
Soon what the guest held out to Serena was.
"This is..."
Buttons with white fabric attached, shimmering while in pieces.
"Where did you get these? And why do you want to find the owner?"
"Um... that's a bit difficult to explain... hmm..."
On the fragmented buttons, the Sunrise Academy seal that was all too familiar to Serena was engraved here and there.
"This seems to be... an academy uniform..."
"Do you know the Hero of Money?"
"Yes?"
"I-I secretly tore that person's clothes... um, how should I explain this?"
Serena, who was looking at that and muttering quietly, began looking at the guest scratching their head with a troubled expression even more sharply.
".........."
Thanks to that, a deep silence flowed through the reception room for a while.
.
Time passed, and around evening came.
"Then, please take good care of it."
"Yess, goodbye."
Serena, who had finished the conversation and greeted the guest leaving the reception room.
"Huah..."
Let out a deep sigh, leaned her body on the sofa, and put a stick in her mouth.
"Human, stop eating sweet things. You'll rot."
"...Sweets are essential for turning the brain."
Soon, Serena, who was closing her eyes and chewing the candy.
"You're strange today."
"What?"
"Why didn't you show off like usual and brag about your deduction regarding the client?"
"......."
When Miho tilted her head and asked, Serena quietly removed the lollipop from her mouth and fell into silence.
"Did you fail to figure out the identity this time? Well, I did too, human. For some reason, that guest's appearance is well..."
Miho, who was looking at such Serena, scratched her head and spoke.
"...I didn't want to poke my nose in unnecessarily."
"...?"
Answering like that, Serena tapped the desk with her finger and muttered.
"It's too strange that not even I could see through them, let alone you."
"There you go showing off again, human."
"That I couldn't analyze the identity with the analysis magic that I and Irina devised... Just what kind of person are they...?"
"....."
Ignoring Miho's words, Serena muttered, and Miho, who was staring at her.
"In conclusion, the reason you couldn't show off this time wasn't because you couldn't deduce?"
She tilted her head and asked.
"...Couldn't deduce? Not at all."
Then Serena, who frowned slightly.
"That person is a small teenage girl who's lived a difficult life as an orphan. But she probably has at least one family member to support, and also a fiancé or a man with similar significance. And that man is probably the Hero of Money."
She answered while putting the lollipop back in her mouth.
"W-what. How does that become that."
Miho, who at first didn't believe such words but now firmly trusted Serena's words after seeing the surprised reactions of clients over time, asked.
"It was good that she covered herself with a robe to hide her figure. But she couldn't hide the creases and wrinkles on the robe that would have been worn often enough to show signs of wear."
Chewing the lollipop, Serena began speaking.
"Inferring from the shape left on the robe, she's a skinny kid with a height that reaches about my chest."
"Oh..."
"And while she tried to hide her voice, she couldn't hide it perfectly. Her tone and way of speaking too. Even listening roughly, it seems she's already past puberty, so she's at least in her teens, right?"
"Is that so? I couldn't tell even when listening..."
Miho, who was listening to Serena's deduction with sparkling eyes, asked with a curious expression.
"Then, being an orphan?"
"It's simple, she took all the candy I offered as snacks, right? Even though she has that much money, taking all of that is a characteristic of street kids who have the mindset that they need to take everything when it's available."
"...But I also take everything sometimes?"
"There's also a hint in the gold coins she gave earlier. That gold coin pouch is identical to the ones the 'Hero of Money' distributed to street kids earlier this year, which I'm investigating."
At those words, Miho tilted her head, and Serena continued her guesses.
"She's probably a child saved by the 'Hero of Money.' So she's probably escaped from a poor life. And if she had parents, they wouldn't let such a young kid carry around such a large sum of money, so we can assume her parents are gone."
"But didn't you say she has family to support?"
"What she ate was all snacks that weren't sweet, and even though I purposely gave quite bitter tea, she didn't add even a spoonful of sugar. But taking the candy means she has family to support."
"Then it could be a friend..."
"Kids from the streets don't make friends easily, and even if they do, they instinctively avoid sharing anything. All the kids around them are competitors fighting over food."
Having said that far, Serena took a breath and then began speaking again.
"Of course, I don't know about now that the situation has improved, but taking all the candy was definitely a subconscious action. If the thought of needing to take it is ingrained that deeply, a sick younger sibling or older brother or sister would be appropriate."
"I-I really don't know. My head hurts."
"If I had to choose one of the three, a younger sibling with a higher reason to care for? Well, this is completely within the realm of probability, so let's skip it."
Looking at Miho who was starting to clutch her throbbing head as always, Serena continued her deduction.
"And she's wearing a ring on her left ring finger, right? You might think she doesn't know the meaning because of her young age, but seeing that the ring is maintained well enough to sparkle, she knows that meaning well."
"Left ring finger? Ring? Is there meaning to that?"
"...The old coin purse she's kept until now, the trembling voice when talking about the Hero of Money, and decisively the commission to find the 'Hero of Money' she gave me. Putting it all together."
After speaking for a while, she broke the lollipop in her mouth.
"The conclusion is that her fiancé, or at least someone she has promised to meet, is the Hero of Money."
"Ohh..."
Looking at Miho who was clapping with her mouth open after only hearing the conclusion.
"The reason I didn't show off... no, demonstrate my deduction in front of that guest today is precisely for that reason."
"...Huh?"
"Most of the deduction is sensitive talk about family matters, and besides..."
She said with a serious expression.
"...they could be a dangerous existence."
"Why?"
"She's an orphan in her mid-teens with such terrifying abilities, isn't that obvious?"
Serena, who finally realized the seriousness of the situation after hearing those words and began to show an anxious expression.
"But... perhaps it's not danger, but hope."
She muttered with flashing eyes.
"W-what did you say?"
"...It's nothing. Anyway, let's prepare for the investigation soon."
Right after, Serena stood up from her seat.
"...So, what will you investigate first?"
"Well..."
Just as she had answered without hesitation to Miho's words like always.
"Um..."
She soon froze.
"A d-date... I want to go on a date... I need to use the [101 Ways to Turn a Man's Heart] that I read all month... a-and..."
"Haa..."
Soon looking at Serena who was mumbling and returned to her timid, shriveled state, Miho.
"...Indeed, humans are strange."
Let out a deep sigh and muttered like that.
.
Meanwhile at that time.
"Hmm..."
The guest who left the detective agency, Glare.
"So, these buttons..."
Looked down at the shimmering buttons she had accidentally torn off using her ability while targeting the 'Hero of Money's' robe as he urgently fled the orphanage a few days ago after being by the collapsed Ruby's side.
"...are from a Sunrise Academy uniform?"
She was emitting a faint light in a dark alley.
"How do I get into the Academy?"
And although faint, that light was sufficient to drive away the darkness that had settled in the alley.