"Shizuka, what's wrong?"
Seeing her friend suddenly cry out in surprise, Aoi Miyamori looked at her with curiosity.
Shizuka Sakaki slowly put down her phone. She had already finished reading the brief description of the case Jiang Hang had sent, yet her expression was still filled with disbelief.
She quickly summarized the message Jiang Hang had sent.
None of them had expected that the client would invite his so-called "friend" out that very night and attempt to murder him. If Jiang Hang had not sensed something suspicious about the client, a tragic murder might have occurred.
Although Shizuka still couldn't understand why someone planning a murder would hire Jiang Hang to follow the victim for three days afterward, the facts spoke for themselves.
Jiang Hang's deduction had been correct.
And he had personally stopped the tragedy.
What Jiang Hang did that night proved beyond doubt that he was far more capable than she had imagined.
After hearing Shizuka Sakaki's explanation, the other girls at the table were stunned into silence.
Because Shizuka was training to become a voice actress, she had even reenacted the conversation between Jiang Hang and the client quite vividly.
Yet none of the girls could find anything suspicious in the client's words.
"No matter how you look at it, that sounds like a normal request," Midori Imai said thoughtfully.
"As a scriptwriter, I'd say it's completely illogical to suspect the client immediately. Most people would try to figure out who was threatening the victim first."
Was this the difference between ordinary people and a great detective?
Perhaps the detective had noticed some subtle detail that Shizuka hadn't picked up.
The five girls exchanged puzzled looks. None of them could fully understand Jiang Hang's reasoning.
Even Aoi Miyamori, who had just insisted that detectives were ordinary professionals, had to admit that Jiang Hang was clearly anything but ordinary.
"And he subdued the murderer by himself too," Midori Imai added, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
"It's just like the detectives in mystery novels! I've heard there's a famous detective in Tokyo known as the 'Heisei Era Sherlock Holmes.'"
She leaned forward eagerly.
"Could that be your boss?"
If someone so talented were working as a detective, staying close to him might lead to witnessing many incredible cases.
Shizuka Sakaki gently shook her head.
"I know who that is. His name is Shinichi Kudo. He's a high school detective."
"Jiang Hang mentioned him when we were chatting earlier today. From the way he spoke, it sounded like he had known Shinichi Kudo for quite some time. Maybe they even worked together on a case before."
Although slightly disappointed, Midori Imai still looked fascinated.
"So it's not him… but that's fine. Shizuka, if you ever get the chance, please introduce me to that detective."
"I feel like I could find a lot of creative inspiration from someone like him!"
"That's amazing… it sounds like you've joined quite an extraordinary agency," said another girl with long black hair.
Her name was Ema Yasuhara.
Like Aoi Miyamori, she worked at Musashino Animation. Unlike Miyamori, who was still handling miscellaneous tasks, Ema was already a professional animator and might become a key animator within a year or two.
"Does that mean Shizuka will become something like Dr. Watson, Sherlock Holmes's assistant?" another girl joked.
"That actually sounds pretty cool!"
The speaker was Misa Tōdō, a short-haired girl who had also been part of their high school animation club.
Originally responsible for drawing alongside Ema, she had later realized that her artistic talent had limits. After completing a short training course earlier that year, she joined a CG production company and became a 3D modeler.
"Misa, are you kidding?" Shizuka Sakaki quickly shook her head.
"My dream has always been to debut as a voice actress."
"Besides, I have another audition next week. If I'm lucky, maybe a voice acting agency will notice me and offer me a contract."
As she recalled her previous disastrous audition performance, her mood briefly darkened.
But she quickly changed the topic.
"Anyway, enough about me. First of all, congratulations to Aoi for officially joining Musashino Animation."
"Now you and Ema are working at the same company. That means we're one step closer to our dream of creating an anime together someday."
Aoi Miyamori scratched her head shyly.
"I didn't expect it either. I was just trying my luck."
"My major in junior college was finance, so I honestly had no idea what I could even do at an animation company."
"Luckily, Musashino Animation was short on staff recently, and the president was kind enough to give me a chance."
When she remembered her interview, she couldn't help feeling embarrassed.
Ema Yasuhara smiled teasingly.
"I heard from someone at the company that during your interview, you said you were willing to do absolutely anything."
Laughter immediately erupted among the group.
Shizuka Sakaki suddenly thought of Yoshino Koharu, the assistant she had met earlier that day.
"The other assistant at our detective agency said something similar during her interview," Shizuka said.
"Now that I think about it, the two of you are surprisingly alike."
"Not just your personalities—even your appearance is about sixty or seventy percent similar. I actually took a few photos of her earlier."
"Really?"
The energetic Midori Imai immediately leaned over to look at Shizuka's phone.
"You're right! Except for the hairstyle, she really does look a lot like Aoi!"
"Aoi, could she be your long-lost sister or something?"
Aoi Miyamori examined the photo and had to admit that there really was a certain resemblance.
"It's just a coincidence," she said quickly.
"I definitely don't have that many sisters. One older sister in the family is already more than enough."
"If we get the chance, you should bring her to meet Aoi," Misa Tōdō suggested playfully.
"I heard that when people who share blood relations meet for the first time, they can somehow sense the connection."
"That's just an urban legend!" Aoi Miyamori protested.
"Stop making things up, you girls. And you under-twenty kids should stick to your juice!"
The girls burst into laughter again.
As the five friends continued chatting about their recent lives, the topic was soon forgotten.
For the moment, Shizuka Sakaki also set aside thoughts about the detective agency and simply enjoyed the lively conversation with her friends in the izakaya.