The Simple Girl's Incheon Investigation

The body of the universe's top cutest girl was way too weak in raw strength. But setting that aside, it was always in perfect health. In my past life, I'd been plagued by all sorts of minor ailments—reflux esophagitis, dry eyes, chronic headaches, chronic fatigue, you name it. I even got horrible motion sickness. But the moment I became the universe's number one cutest girl, all of it vanished without a trace. That's why I took the back seat instead of shotgun. I was sprawled out in the car, using Lisa's lap as a pillow.

"How's it feel?"

"This is insanely uncomfortable."

I'd ambitiously thought my tiny height might let me ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠turn the car seat into a bed, but nope—it just drove home that cars aren't made ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for lounging. I couldn't even stretch my legs straight, so my knees were bent. Worse than a sofa, bumpy as hell, and honestly, the lap pillow wasn't that comfy either. In my past life, motion sickness would've made this impossible, but now I could do it. Not as thrilling as I'd hoped, though.

"Still, having a car is nice. Public transport was always such a hassle."

Lisa had a point. Just having a car felt amazing. Grocery runs were a breeze now. Sure, traffic jams sometimes made the subway faster, but timing buses and trains was always annoying. Life quality had definitely leveled up. All thanks to Sua, who could drive. Love my assistant~.

"Detective Assistant Watson's a bit bored with no one in the passenger seat."

"Sorry about that..."

I'd promised Sua I'd ride shotgun on the way back.

Me, Ari, Lisa, Nao, and Sua—we'd arrived in Incheon, all five of us.

"Nao-ya, pass me the tablet PC?"

"Yeah, one sec."

Nao pulled out the tablet and handed it over. I opened the files from Deputy Park Jong-cheol.

"But sis, did you really need to come yourself? ...Isn't this too dangerous?"

Nao had read the files too, apparently.

The wanted cultist was in Incheon, so stay away from Incheon— that's what Deputy Park Jong-cheol had said. Honestly, I hadn't wanted to come either.

"If we leave the cult alone, it never ends well."

"But they're dangerous guys, right? Like at that demo hall last time..."

Nao trailed off, probably recalling the 'Infiltration' incident. What hallucinations had she seen after getting caught in it? She was still dealing with separation anxiety because of that. Though she'd gotten better lately.

"That's exactly why I had to come, Nao-ya."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"If we'd neutralized them before they could pull off the terror attack, we wouldn't have gone through hell."

Like rooting out the cultists before they smuggled in 'Infiltration', or stopping them from releasing it in the bathroom. If we'd prevented the anomaly from triggering, Nao wouldn't have her anxiety. Reacting after anomalies pop off is always too late. Well, technically, I hadn't been late that time. If 'Infiltration' had devoured more people first, we might not have been able to do a thing. We'd succeeded in early suppression, so our office staff only ended up with mild PTSD. In other words, this was the result of a successful early takedown.

"Put it off, and it snowballs out of control. Better to nip it in the bud fast."

"Yeah..."

Nao looked unconvinced but nodded—she couldn't argue with the logic. Lisa, who'd been watching our exchange, tilted her head slightly.

"So it wasn't about test-driving the car's performance?"

"Shh, quiet."

Lisa grinned at my words. We'd been living together long enough that she knew me too well... When you pull a character in gacha, you grind hard for that first-week high. Same logic: we'd just bought the car, so yeah, I wanted to savor that new-car thrill. Having one out of nowhere made me wanna go for drives.

"Sua-ya, let's start investigating."

"Yep, detective."

Sua nodded after parking, and I wasn't just craving car vibes. She took the tablet from me, skimmed the contents. We'd reviewed it together at the office, so she flew through it. Then, suddenly—

Sua stopped scrolling.

The files from Deputy Park had a photo of the wanted man's face.

"Yep, starting the canvass."

She stared at the photo for a while, then handed the tablet back to Nao like she didn't need it anymore. And off Sua went, striding forward. First time in Incheon, probably, but she moved without hesitation. We all followed her lead without thinking.

Rank 3 monster 'Watson'. It kills people sometimes, but at its core, it's a monster that craves solving cases more than anything. And as the 'Doppelganger' incident showed, 'Watson' had top-tier scouting skills. It'd even devoured 'Twentieth Sea Turtle Soup' and 'Mary-san' without trouble.

"Yep, here, detective."

Sua stopped in front of the convenience store.

Convenience store?

"The one the wanted guy stopped at?"

"Yep. Can't pinpoint his current spot right now. Seems like he's hiding with some method, yep."

Even with her tracking boosted by swallowing 'Mary-san', huh. So the cultist was probably using a stealth-specialized Muksi Saengmyeongche.

"But I can trace his path. Backtrack from there, yep."

With that, Sua grabbed Ari's wrist.

...Ari's wrist?

"?"

Ari tilted her head, grabbed by Sua. Ignoring her, Sua dragged Ari into the store. The clerk greeted us.

"Welcome."

"......"

Sua glanced at Ari beside her and jerked her chin. Ari squinted. Come to think of it, 'Watson' had a pushy side. It'd mellowed since girlifying, but not gone. She was obedient to me, at least. Tough on outsiders, apparently. And our little fly-girl Ari was quick on the uptake. She got Sua's intent right away and gestured.

Weeeeng—

Fly buzz filled the air. A fly landed on the clerk's neck.

Sua let go of Ari's wrist.

"Police. Here to ask some questions."

A man's voice came from Sua's mouth.

...She could change her voice?

"Uh, sure... Go ahead."

"Seen this guy?"

"Yeah, I have."

"What'd he buy? Where'd he come from? Where'd he go? What was he wearing? Any smell? Description? What'd he say? Spill it all."

"Well..."

Sua grilled him relentlessly. The clerk didn't resist a bit. Ari's cognition-lowering power had him accepting the situation without question.

"Thanks. Good work."

Sua grabbed Ari's wrist again and pulled her out. Ari shook her off and clung to me.

"Mayuri... I hate her..."

"Detective, detective. If I eat that kid, it'll help ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠more, yep."

Ari hid behind my back. Sua shot her a glare.

"Her power helps investigations, yep. Makes Detective Assistant Watson stronger. Stronger Watson makes life easier for you, detective. So—"

"No."

I sighed. This girl? Gets cocky when you call her competent?

"Can't eat her, detective?"

"Absolutely not. You two get along."

"Bummer, but yep. Detective Assistant Watson obeys detective's orders. Your word is absolute for Watson."

Sua nodded and approached Ari.

"Sorry earlier, Detective Assistant Watson. Detective says get friendly. So let's be friends."

"......"

Ari stared at her like she was insane.

Ari didn't care much about most humans. Like how I called her a cat. She had a cat-like personality from the start—didn't mind more housemates as long as she got tasty food daily. A simple girl through and through.

But even Ari had preferences. Humans and dogs have firm master-pet bonds; cats are looser. Anyway, Ari followed me. Her eating streams and efforts to understand human society were like a cat bringing a mouse as thanks.

Conversely, she had zero interest in following other humans. So Sua rubbed her the wrong way.

"Still, Ari-ya, you're the adult here... Cooperate just this once."

"Yeah..."

She didn't like it, but Ari got it. Slim chance to score points otherwise...!

Overwhelming difference in track records! Ari's bond effect had outshone her main body! At this point, count recruiting Lisa as Ari's biggest achievement! Finally, a chance to put Ari's power to real use after forever.

Don't like her.

Sua still bugged her, but Ari cooperated anyway. Two hours later—

"Ari. Got you a present, yep."

Sua, sensing Ari's mood, had bought chicken.

"Buy more later, be friends?"

"Okay."

Mood lifted. Friends now. Simple girl.