Chapter 15
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Perfect Reasoning (6)
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"Hello?"
"Iwamoto Serika. Thanks for giving me a call."
After our light chit-chat at the café ended, I sent my friends off first and called Shinsuke from the street. We were facing each other across one alley, but our gazes were pointed elsewhere, as if we had no connection whatsoever.
A tattooed thug in star-shaped sunglasses chatting with a private elementary school girl would draw way too much attention, after all.
Shinsuke was taking the call with his sports car parked in the corner, while I pretended to browse the shopfronts, watching his reflection in the display window. He had a cigarette in one hand and kept glancing my way from under his sunglasses.
"What was the text about?"
I cut straight to the point. Shinsuke was an informant and field leader, the kind of guy who showed up for the Prophets when something needed immediate handling. For someone like him to make contact with me left way too many interpretations—it was hard to guess his intent.
"Dennis told me you said you want to join the Prophets."
As he said it, he pulled some documents from a bag in the passenger seat. Surprisingly meticulous, he flipped through the binder to check the contents. I nodded and replied.
"Yeah. That's what I said."
"Why do you want in?"
It was the exact same question Dennis had asked. But my acting was good enough to fool even that strict, ruthless, nitpicky Dennis. Tricking Shinsuke's eyes would be a breeze. I furrowed my brow, twisted my face into the most wicked expression I could muster, and sharpened my tone.
"Because I agree with the Prophets' ideology. I'm sick of living with all these idiots."
"Pfft!"
Laughter erupted from across the way. Shinsuke, who had burst out laughing, adjusted his sunglasses and said,
"...No, forget it. Yeah, I guess you could think that way."
Hm, he seemed to buy my boldness. My fierce looks and killer expressions really sold it—no one could see me as anything but an evil elementary school girl villain soaked in chosen-one ideology. Thinking that way made my shoulders naturally puff up with pride.
Shinsuke saw me shrug, adjusted his sunglasses again, smirked, and said,
"...Yeah, you do seem like a good fit for us."
"Of course."
Elementary school girls are invincible. No one can beat me when it comes to appealing to emotions. Shinsuke ran a hand through his hair and said,
"The Prophets are watching your actions closely, so don't do anything reckless. I'll be in touch."
"Got it!"
Looked like I'd fooled him good. As I nodded energetically, Shinsuke ended the call with a chuckle. Then, before I could turn around, he peeled out toward the city outskirts.
I stared in the direction he'd vanished, clenching my fist tight.
They say a good start is half the battle.
I might've already completed half of my comfy retirement plan and future blueprint.
I'm so smart, aren't I?
Shinsuke lit a cigarette.
If the previous one he'd lit signaled impatience, this one was a reward to himself for cracking the case. After the call with Serika, Shinsuke was certain.
"She's a clueless idiot. There has to be someone behind her."
Iwamoto Serika herself knew nothing.
The awkward, dumb acting over the phone and the slightly dopey expression visible through the glass made it obvious. Who would buy that as genuine deception?
It wasn't Iwamoto Yoshio,
and if Iwamoto Serika was an idiot, then who was it?
Everything clicked if there was another puppet master controlling Iwamoto Serika.
Someone was manipulating an oblivious elementary school kid to orchestrate every incident. That explained it all. The goal was probably to shove Serika into the heart of the Prophets, use her as a contact to siphon internal intel.
But who?
What was their aim?
Did Iwamoto Serika even know about the shadow pulling her strings?
One thing was clear: if it weren't for Yamaguchi Shinsuke—the ace detective and informant—the Prophets would've been in deep trouble. Intel leaking, operations twisting, plans crumbling, all without a clue.
"This is why you can't leave it to that senile old hag. Looks like the promotion's mine."
Shinsuke exhaled smoke, picturing Dennis. Her haughty, arrogant face twisting in humiliation, forced to admit defeat. It was crystal clear in his mind.
"Hahahahaha!"
Shinsuke's sports car roared down the road.
He laughed as he sped toward the sunset.
Now he just needed to investigate Serika's surroundings, dig up info, then lure her out at the right moment.
Lead her somewhere isolated and execute 'Plan B.' That would end it.
No one had ever withstood Shinsuke's Plan B without spilling everything.
Especially not some elementary school kid.
"I asked Mom to buy me this brooch, but she said no. I really want it, but she keeps going on about how it's too expensive."
"It does seem a bit pricey for kids like us. Wouldn't it be better to get something more value-for-money?"
"Whoa, that's such an old-soul thing to say. Serika, what about you? You get it, right?"
"It looks too expensive. What if you lose it?"
"No way, you can't just pass on something this pretty! How can you say that after seeing this red ornament?"
The day after meeting Shinsuke, my school life rolled on much the same. I paid attention in class, and during breaks, I gossiped with Yumi and Hwayoung.
Yumi usually tossed out the topics—stuff she wanted to buy or trendy things. Hwayoung often didn't know much, so Yumi or I explained, or we critiqued the accessories Yumi coveted.
But since meeting Shinsuke, these chats sometimes veered into new territory,
Ding!
"Ah, hold on a sec."
[Report on today's activities. The more detailed, the better.]
Starting the next day, Shinsuke sent texts like an obsessive boyfriend.
Guess since they were villains, they wanted to drill reporting protocols into me early.
They must think early training's key for a talent like me?
Getting props from villains somehow made my shoulders puff up too.
When these texts came in, I'd step out of the convo to fire off a quick reply or take a call. Yumi would tilt her head curiously each time, but she didn't seem to find it too suspicious.
Why? 'Cause on the surface, I'm just a teenage girl?
Teens text and call all the time, right?
Anyway, this reporting game wouldn't last long, so no room for suspicion.
What is dissonance?
It's pacing the same hallway over and over, then suddenly spotting a crooked picture frame. Others might miss it, but someone who's wandered those halls a hundred times catches the tiniest twist.
"Hey, doesn't Serika seem off lately?"
Fukuya Yumi sensed something off in Serika's behavior. When did it start? Yumi couldn't pinpoint it exactly, but she thought it began after Serika went to the café with Hwayoung.
The girl who used to ignore her phone now checked texts instantly during talks, grinning ear-to-ear as she typed fervent replies.
She'd even step away for calls now and then, and lately, she seemed perpetually chipper and smiley.
"It's weird. Super weird. She never used to take calls or touch her phone much, but now she barely chats with us and just clings to that thing."
"Isn't that how kids are these days?"
Hwayoung tilted her head at Yumi's words. That's how most of these elementary kids seemed to her. Even Yumi spent time on her phone when Hwayoung or Serika weren't around, and half their topics were videos or news from the internet yesterday.
But Yumi shook her head firmly at Hwayoung's casual remark.
"No. No way. That's not Serika. She used to love talking and hanging out. Now she's suddenly glued to her phone like it's her whole world."
Hwayoung blinked at that. Then she recalled a novel she'd read.
The protagonist falls in love, waits obsessively for phone pings, and grins nonstop. Her friend asks:
[What's up, you dating someone?]
Hwayoung blurted it out to Yumi without thinking.
"You think she's dating someone?"
"Huh."
Yumi's eyes went wide as she stared at Hwayoung.