“Sorry to disappoint, but I only plan on going on dates with the woman I marry. And according to the ‘Future Plans’ page in my notebook,” I reply as I turn to the appropriate page, “it’s going to be another six years before I get married.”
“Hold up. You already got a girl you’re gonna marry?”
“Not for another four years.”
“Uh-huh…”
The boy’s eyes fly open, and his jaw drops when he realizes I’m serious.
“Take a good look, lad. I live according to my ideals and schedule. That’s what it means to be an adult.”
“Yeah… I’ve got a pretty good idea what kinda person you are, but that was…uh, something.”
Dazai passes through the door behind me.
“Hmm? Who’s the new guy?”
“Hey there. I’d love to introduce myself, but I’d rather not listen to Kunikida’s sass afterward.”
“You should introduce yourself first before asking, lad. Oh, and, Dazai, don’t try to guess what I’m going to do unless I give you express permission.”
“Geez, Four-Eyes. You sure love bossing people around… Whatever. Name’s Rokuzo Taguchi, age fourteen. I’m a professional hacker.”
“He’s the idiot who tried to hack into our system and was caught, so I had to teach him some manners.” I graciously add a few comments for clarity.
“C’mon, that was forever ago. Just gimme the logs already.”
Rokuzo hacked into the Armed Detective Agency’s information archive three months ago and threw the organization into chaos. Naturally, the agency is prepared for cyberattacks, and we traced the hacker back here. I roughed up Rokuzo a bit, and now he’s working as our information broker on the condition that we don’t hand the logs over to the police as incriminating evidence. It’s a symbiotic relationship.
“So did you figure out who sent us that e-mail I asked you to look into?”
“Wow. Impatient much? I literally just saw it. I’m gonna need more time.”
I had asked him to locate the mysterious sender. Tracing an e-mail surely isn’t a difficult task for someone of Rokuzo’s caliber.
“Besides, I’m already busy tracing the missing persons you asked me to find. Isn’t that more important?”
“It is.” I nod in agreement.
He’s referring to the Serial Disappearances of Yokohama Visitors case.
There has been a series of missing-persons incidents, with no obvious connections among the victims. Eleven people have gone missing by now, and already a month has passed since a formal criminal investigation was launched. The victims have only two things in common, albeit minor: They don’t live in Yokohama, and they walked off into thin air. It’s a difficult case with no clues that would help us know where to even begin searching. What I asked Rokuzo to do was to track down evidence of the victims’ activity before they went missing, such as footage of them getting on a train or taking a taxi. However, the results have been less than ideal.
“Wait. Who went missing? Nobody’s told me anything about this.” Dazai chimes in, expressing interest.
“I’ll explain everything later.”
However, I casually brush him off—with reason, of course. I plan to make solving this case Dazai’s entrance exam, and I want to wait for the right time before disclosing said information.
“Ooh, training the newbie, huh? You’ve really moved up in the ranks, Four-Eyes.”
“Yeah, he’s a real stubborn boss. You wouldn’t believe what I put up with… By the way, Rokuzo, was it? You’re a hacker, right? So you got any dirt on Kunikida? Maybe some incriminating photos?”
“Dazai! Not a wise move scheming to blackmail me when I’m right here!”
“Heh. I like your style, new guy. We got the thousand-yen plan, the ten-thousand-yen plan, and the hundred-thousand-yen plan. What’s it gonna be?”
“Just what do you have on me?!”