Chapter 78: CASE 0. The Test Begins! (1)

Inside the Hayes Detective Agency.

“Hm-hm-hm~♪”

Lure was humming as she swung her duster. Even though she wasn’t usually fond of cleaning, she felt like she was walking on air.

The reason was obvious.

Master Hayes had become a hero to the citizens of the Imperial Capital!

The days of him being an anonymous, nameless detective were now a thing of the past.

Lately, his face was featured prominently on the front page of every newspaper delivered to their door.

“Ugh, I should have been there…”

It felt as if she were never around whenever Master was being featured in the papers.

She was deeply disappointed that they hadn’t solved the case together, but she was still happy.

To a detective’s assistant, the detective was their mentor. Her master’s success was Lure’s success as well.

“Most of the dust is gone… Now, should I organize the mailbox?”

This was the moment Lure looked forward to most.

Even today, the mailbox in front of the Hayes Detective Agency was overflowing with letters.

Most were letters of gratitude from those who had attended Madame Moss’s party.

Many letters were accompanied by small gifts, but Lure filtered out and returned anything that contained excessive amounts of money or valuables beforehand.

It was an authorized measure to protect the reputation of Detective Hayes.

“Let’s see… what’s this? Gasp! It’s a letter from Christine?!”

A letter from the top singer in the Imperial Capital!

Oh, my goodness!

‘Stay calm, Lure. How can you be so excited over this? Soon, Master will be the greatest detective in the Imperial Capital!’

From what she had heard, Christine was also present at the scene of Madame Moss’s party.

Lure vividly remembered Christine’s interview in the morning paper.

“At first, when he climbed onto the stage, I thought he was a madman. But… he was a hero.”

Lure had carefully scrapped that article, though she initially thought it might just be lip service.

Seeing that she had sent a letter like this, it seemed she had been sincere.

“What should I do? What if she comes to the office in person to give her thanks?”

How should she respond then?

She would have to handle it with extreme grace and composure, wouldn’t she?

Like the sole assistant of the next great detective!

“I’m sorry, but Master is currently resting. He said he won’t be taking any visitors for the time being, so could you please come back later?”

…No. It might be rude to treat a big star like Christine that way.

Should she give her a little hint? Tell her that Master decided to resume business after the New Year Festival?

‘No, no. Get it together, Lure Poiren. How can the assistant of the next great detective leak the schedule of her master without permission?’

Even if she wanted to say it, she had to ask Master for permission first.

She wanted to subtly ask him about his intentions, but…

‘Master’s mind has been elsewhere lately.’

It was unusual for him to declare a hiatus of more than one month until the New Year Festival, especially since he wasn’t injured.

It was also strange that he hadn’t said anything to Lure if he had taken on a major case.

‘Is he depressed?’

When Lure had asked a close college friend for advice about her concerns, her friend had said this:

‘I heard your detective couldn’t save everyone in the last case. Maybe he’s feeling depressed because of that.’

Lure quickly shook her head, trying to erase the ridiculous thought from her mind.

‘No way. That’s a stupid thought.’

It might be natural for one’s mood to sink because someone died.

But in Lure’s eyes, the two people who died this time were humans who didn’t deserve to live.

‘Sometimes, there are people who deserve to die.’

Lure Poiren.

A promising student in the Department of Criminal Investigation at the Imperial Capital and an assistant at the Hayes Detective Agency.

Her career path had been set since she was young, and the reason was her own firm conviction.

The belief that all vicious criminals should be caught and killed.

Yes, for instance, a criminal like Taylor John.

Should such a person be given a chance to live, repent, and reform?

‘Isn’t giving them a chance a disservice to the victims?’

It wasn’t as if the victims would come back to life just because such a murderer became an angelic person later.

She didn’t care about what happened after the crime.

Because of the crime alone, he was a person who deserved to die.

If Lure herself had been at the scene, she wouldn’t have bothered trying to save the criminals.

“…Let’s not think useless thoughts. Master hasn’t said anything, so why am I overthinking this alone?”

After finishing the mail, Lure picked up a newspaper. Now it was time to clean the windows.

‘The office must be clean whether Master is here or not.’

Lure always kept the Hayes Detective Agency spotless, without a single speck of dust.

It wasn’t because Master told her to do so, nor was it because Lure had a germophobia.

It was simply Lure’s devotion.

Always keeping the office clean.

Trying to believe and follow Master’s words as much as possible.

Being as happy about Master’s success as if it were her own.

All of that was because Lure considered Hayes to be her savior.

Lure breathed onto the window and rubbed it with the newspaper. While scrubbing away, her eyes met the illustration of Hayes in the paper.

A proud smile spread across her lips for no reason.

‘I knew a day like this would come.’

Lure had never once doubted Hayes’s success.

Ever since the day she first met Master.

Not for a single moment since that special case.

“When was that, roughly…”

Yes, it was probably last semester.

It was a time when final exams were just around the corner.

***

That day, the school was unusually noisy.

Lure, who had arrived at school as usual, couldn’t hide her confusion as she saw students swarming the hallway.

“What’s going on? What happened?”

“Oh, Lure! You’re here!”

“It’s a disaster! A real disaster!”

Her classmates scrambled to explain the situation.

“Apparently, some crazy person broke into the Octopus’s lab!”

“Octopus” was the nickname for Professor Tophus, one of the professors in the Department of Criminal Investigation.

It was a nickname given to him because he wrote papers as quickly as if he had eight arms, but it was mostly due to more intuitive reasons. For instance, Professor Tophus’s sleek hairstyle.

“What? Why would anyone break in there? What is there even to steal?”

“The exam! The final exam papers were in there! They were originally in the faculty office, but the Octopus took them to his lab saying he’d do a final review, and someone took advantage of that moment to swipe them all!”

That was truly major news.

This was the only public university in the Imperial Capital.

It was a school where people who would risk their lives for their studies gathered, even if their social status wasn’t great.

In an era where being a detective was the most popular profession, the Department of Investigation was the most competitive department in the university.

For an exam theft to happen in such a place.

“Isn’t it hilarious, Lure?”

Lure’s closest friend, Ursula, said sarcastically with her arms crossed.

“This is the Department of Criminal Investigation. It’s crawling with future police officers and great detectives. The professors are all former veteran investigators or successful detectives. Did they really think they wouldn’t get caught?”

“It’s funny. If a student were skilled enough to not get caught, they would have been first in class without stealing the exam anyway.”

“Haha, true…”

Lure agreed passively.

However, anxiety preceded her ridicule.

“So, what happens to the exam? Is it being postponed?”

“I guess that’s what you’re most worried about, Lure. You studied so hard for it.”

“In our department, there are few kids who work as hard as you.”

As Lure waved her hand at her friends’ praise, saying, “No, not that much,” a classmate who wasn’t on good terms with her suddenly cut into the conversation.

“What do you mean ‘not that much’? Everyone knows how much you suck up to that obnoxious Octopus just to get good grades.”

“Shellman!”

“What? Did I say anything wrong?”

Shellman smirked and sneered.

“You’re always saying ‘yes, yes’ and acting like you have no pride.”

Professor Tophus was not very popular among the students.

While his own abilities were excellent, producing dozens of papers every year, his talent for teaching was zero.

And yet, the standards he demanded from his students were incredibly high.

This year, only one student had passed Tophus’s lofty standards: Lure Poiren.

‘Wonderful. It’s like looking at Jayden from last year.’

Jayden was their senior, and he had always met Tophus’s ridiculous standards.

Professor Tophus cherished Jayden so much that he even offered him a special position before he graduated.

He wrote a letter of recommendation for Jayden to be an assistant to a famous detective who was a personal friend of the professor.

Starting one’s career as an assistant to a great detective would mean a smooth road ahead, no matter what path they took in the future.

Many students—especially Shellman—were extremely jealous of this and tried to cater to Tophus’s difficult temperament.

However, Lure was the only one who gained recognition.

“The only reason that Octopus likes you is because you’re a pushover. You have no self-respect! You do all sorts of errands for the professor and even make tea for him. Are you even a college student? You’re that professor’s slave!”

Lure felt it was unfair.

Not even half of what Shellman said was true.

What was she supposed to do when the professor kept calling her to his lab and suggesting they have tea together?

She only offered to make the tea herself because she felt uncomfortable constantly having tea made for her.

As for doing errands, she only ended up doing various tasks because she frequented the lab and became familiar with the locations of his materials.

Fortunately, her friends understood her.

“Don’t take your inferiority complex out on Lure,” Ursula snapped.

“Yeah! It’s not that Lure is sucking up to the Octopus; it’s just that the Octopus is sticking to Lure and won’t let go. Lure isn’t at fault.”

“Hmph! You probably just want to believe that. She’d do anything for grades, wouldn’t she? For all we know, wasn’t Lure the one who stole the exam papers this time?”

Lure’s face turned pale at the sudden insult.

“Hey! You think Lure is like you? Lure wouldn’t do something like that!”

“Right. If there’s anyone among us who would steal an exam, I’d suspect you instead, Shellman.”

“What?!”

It looked like the fight was about to escalate.

Lure hurriedly tried to calm the situation.

“That’s enough. We’re students of the Department of Investigation. What’s the point of accusing each other without evidence?”

“…That’s true.”

However, the flow of the conversation shifted strangely after that.

“Fine. Then let’s search for some evidence,” Ursula shouted.

“Let’s find out who stole the exam from the Octopus—no, Professor Tophus’s lab.”

“Yeah! We’re investigation students. we can solve a case like this ourselves!”

“Thinking about it, isn’t this a chance to earn points with the professors? It’s very fitting for an investigation student!”

Lure wasn’t very keen on the idea, but her friends all seemed to agree. Even Shellman.

‘…I have no choice.’

Lure let out a deep sigh and headed to Professor Tophus’s lab with her motivated classmates.

“Professor. Are you in?”

The moment Lure was about to knock on the lab door.

—Bam!

The door swung open violently, and a shout erupted.

“Didn’t I tell you to get out?! How many times do I have to say it?!”

“No, Professor. Please don’t be like that and just listen to me, will you?”

Professor Tophus was huffing and puffing in a rage.

And in front of him was a man who looked completely untrustworthy, grinning foolishly.

“Like I said, I really am a detective! I even have a business card! Detective Hayes!”

Looking at that sight, Lure thought to herself.

‘…What? A con artist?’

That was the first meeting between Lure and Hayes.