“‘Certification’?” the secretary repeated. “Oh, that government-issued document for job searching, yes?”
So this young man was probably receiving government aid to find employment. Ever since the end of the war, unemployment and juvenile delinquency continued to be a pressing issue even in this major city. Therefore, the government had a system to fight back against unemployment through aiding minors who wanted to work. The boy must have been using the program. In other words, he needed a piece of paper issued from the company’s president to prove he’d come there for a job interview, and then he had to turn that in to the government so he could keep receiving financial aid and information.
“I’m sure it’s somewhere in here, but…” The boy glanced around the room. “Look, I don’t have time for this. Hey, Mr. Paper Pusher, can I just shove these useless documents out of the way already?”
“You may not,” the secretary firmly declared. “The very way in which the documents are lined up is part of a crucial methodology for determining the perpetrator’s motive, and I am the only one in this company who can—”
“Uh-huh.”
The boy wasn’t listening. Instead, he nodded as if in understanding and began rapidly picking up the documents around his feet. But before long, he got sick of it and decided to start randomly knocking the papers out of the way with his fingers to clear a path.
“Ahhh!” the secretary screamed in agony. “S-stop that this instant! I—I forbid you to touch even a single page more! It took me five hours to line up those documents!”
“Sure, but I still need to find my document.”
“Then be quiet, go downstairs, and wait! I’ll search for it later.”
“Yet another obvious lie,” declared the boy, albeit for reasons unknown. “It’s fine. I’ll find it myself. It won’t even take a second.”
Not even a second? Around a hundred documents were systematically lined up in the room. It would take more than a quick glance to check them all, so how was he planning on finding one specific sheet of paper so quickly?
“The president was pushed out this window, huh?”
Before anyone even realized it, the boy was standing by the large-framed window and inspecting it with a discerning eye. The secretary was frantically lining up the documents once more. Thanks to the kid’s rash behavior, around a tenth of all the documents in the room were now scattered about without a shred of sympathy for the one who had to clean them up. Reorganizing everything was undoubtedly going to be a painstaking task.
“Kid.” Fukuzawa couldn’t help but speak up. “How do you plan on finding a single sheet of paper in this mess?”
“Wow, old guy. Didn’t think you could talk.” He cheekily raised his eyebrows. “You’ve been so quiet the entire time I’ve been here; I thought you were a statue… Anyway, it’s a government certification, so it has a seal on it, and the special paper they use is thicker than your normal official document.”
“Old guy”…
Fukuzawa was about to counter with “I’m only thirty-two years old!” but he furrowed his brows, more curious about the last part of the boy’s sentence.
The paper’s thickness? So that was why it would be easy to pick out? But would someone even be able to spot it? It seemed as if it would still take a lot of hard work and patience to find a sheet of paper with such a small difference if it was still buried underneath all these documents. However…
That was when it hit Fukuzawa. The boy had a hand on the window—the wide casement window the president was pushed out of. Outside, the sky was blue. Weren’t there supposed to be strong winds today?
“Oh, look! A parade!” the young boy cheerfully yelled as he flung the sash all the way up.
All at once, the documents began to take flight as if they had come to life.
“Ahhhhhh?!”
A white bird spreading its wings; the cool, fresh air forming a vortex—it was like something out of a fairy tale.
…Unless you were the secretary.
“Wh-wh-wh-what do you think you’re doing?!”
“Aha, here it is!”
The boy grabbed a document lying on the desk. It was the only one barely fluttering in the whirlwind that came in through the
window. The paper being relatively thick, its weight kept it from really going anywhere. It was clear why he opened the window now. Fukuzawa was impressed by just how stubbornly he refused to do anything the situation demanded of him.
“What do you mean, ‘Here it is’?! Arghhh! I’m going to have to start all over again!”
The secretary tore at his hair, almost on the verge of losing his mind, but the boy showed no remorse. In fact, he was smiling.