[Sapphire]

"All right, all right, I'm here."

Were all the girls here this easy to scare?

Or were the people of Teyvat just generally less jumpy?

Seeing Kuki Shinobu step out from behind her, Aoyama Nanami naturally looked utterly bewildered.

"Shinobu, Shinobu, Big Sister Shinobu, you're really not a ghost?"

Though this was not the first time, Kuki Shinobu's sudden appearance before could at least be explained by her moving stealthily enough to avoid notice.

But this time, Nanami had searched the entire office over and over, carefully and thoroughly, yet had failed to find even the slightest trace of her.

"A ghost? Of course I'm not." Kuki Shinobu sighed helplessly again and pointed at her smooth forehead. "Look, I don't have horns growing out of my head, do I?"

What did being a ghost have to do with whether one had horns?

Aoyama Nanami could not understand it at all, but she also realized that she might indeed have overreacted.

"So what Big Sister Shinobu just did was the legendary Ninjutsu? That was simply incredible! How did you do it?"

Calling it magic would not have been an exaggeration.

Kuki Shinobu pulled the short blade from the wall as she explained.

"Actually, I told you from the very beginning. Almost all Ninjutsu makes use of blind spots in people's vision...

In fact, I'd been hiding behind you the entire time."

Aoyama Nanami froze for a moment, unable to stop herself from saying,

"But—"

"You're wondering why you still couldn't spot me even when you turned around, right?"

Seeing Aoyama Nanami nod repeatedly like a pecking chick, curiosity nearly overflowing from her eyes, Kuki Shinobu chuckled.

"It's simple. Your movements and intentions were too obvious, so I dodged out of the way beforehand.

That is also the limitation of most Ninjutsu. It can only deal with untrained ordinary people. Once you encounter a true expert, you can only let the real thing in your hands do the talking."

"Even so, that's already incredibly, incredibly amazing!"

Aoyama Nanami exclaimed again and again, her gaze toward Kuki Shinobu now filled with exceptional respect.

Just as Aoyama Nanami had completely turned into a curious child, grabbing Kuki Shinobu and asking questions about everything under the sun, the office doorbell rang again.

"At this hour, someone actually came by with a commission?"

Feeling slightly puzzled, Kuki Shinobu opened the door and found two young women outside.

The woman in front wore a large pair of black sunglasses despite it already being nighttime.

"Um, is this Cunning Rabbit House?"

Seeing that the person who opened the door was not Yin Kong, but a complete stranger named Kuki Shinobu, Ono Yoko could not help but pause, wondering if she had come to the wrong place.

"No, you're not at the wrong place. This is Cunning Rabbit House." Though Kuki Shinobu had never met this idol before, she had already guessed her identity from her words. Smiling, she said, "You're Miss Yoko, right? The Traveler told me about you."

Hearing that form of address, Ono Yoko suddenly understood and asked curiously,

"Are you a friend from Yin Kong's side?"

Kuki Shinobu nodded gently, shook the Electro Genshin Eye on her shoulder armor, and introduced herself.

"You guessed right. I'm Kuki Shinobu. Since you're a friend of the Traveler, you're naturally my friend as well. Just call me Shinobu."

Miss Yoko nodded thoughtfully, carefully sizing up Kuki Shinobu before her.

It was not just because of her "strange outfit." It was also because the trust and closeness this young woman naturally displayed whenever she mentioned Yin Kong made it difficult for Yoko not to take notice.

And, of course, there was curiosity as well.

"Then I'll call you Shinobu. Shinobu must be very skilled too, right?"

After all, both Kuki Shinobu's attire and bearing made her seem like someone who was not to be trifled with.

However, Kuki Shinobu gently shook her head and answered honestly.

"You flatter me. I'm actually just an ordinary person with nothing remarkable about me. Among the many friends the Traveler has met, there are countless people far more capable than I am."

Ordinary, unremarkable Kuki Shinobu?

Big Sister Shinobu, wasn't that being a little too modest?

Still, upon hearing those words, Aoyama Nanami's expression inevitably turned somewhat strange.

After all, she had just personally experienced how formidable Kuki Shinobu's Ninjutsu was. It would not be an exaggeration to say it had completely refreshed her understanding of Ninjutsu in the real world.

If even she could only be considered an ordinary person, then what kind of people were Boss Yin Kong's other friends?

As Aoyama Nanami silently complained to herself, Ono Yoko also noticed her standing behind Kuki Shinobu and could not help asking,

"Is this young lady also an old friend of Yin Kong's?"

After all, Aoyama Nanami was still wearing Catherine's uniform at the moment, and she did not look like an ordinary high school girl.

"Not quite. This is Aoyama Nanami, an ordinary newcomer who just started work today." Kuki Shinobu introduced them. "Aoyama, this is Miss Yoko. Our office's funding is supported by her..."

"Miss Yoko? You're—Miss Ono Yoko?!"

Hearing that name, Aoyama Nanami suddenly cried out, finally understanding why the woman had seemed so familiar.

"The real owner of the office is actually Miss Yoko?"

Her dream was to become a voice actress, but clearly, even the top voice actresses of the day would likely struggle to compare with a popular idol in terms of fame.

Recognized again?

Miss Yoko was long accustomed to such encounters. She immediately removed her sunglasses and smiled as she explained to Aoyama Nanami.

"No, no, Miss Aoyama, you misunderstand. My funding merely adds flowers to the brocade.

With Mr. Yin Kong's abilities, Cunning Rabbit House would have been up and running sooner or later even without me. I truly wouldn't dare call myself its owner."

Of course, if one day she could be promoted to the role of owner's wife, she would be more than willing.

Aoyama Nanami obviously could not hear Ono Yoko's inner thoughts. Hearing this popular idol's undisguised admiration for Yin Kong, she was naturally extremely surprised.

At first, she had thought Cunning Rabbit House was merely an ordinary detective agency using the name of a general service office, while its owner, Yin Kong, was just a somewhat handsome young man with rather unusual hobbies.

But now, she naturally already understood just how absurdly wrong her original impression had been.

With an employee like Kuki Shinobu, who possessed such extraordinary abilities, and sponsorship from a popular idol like Miss Yoko, even if Yin Kong told her next that he was the young master of some huge conglomerate, Aoyama Nanami would not be surprised in the slightest.

Chapter 48 [Sapphire]

Just who was that Boss Yin Kong, anyway?

Yin Kong could not help sneezing. Naturally, he had no idea that his newly recruited employee was secretly talking about him at that very moment. He assumed the sudden change in weather had caught him off guard and made him catch a chill.

It seemed his level was still too low.

If he raised it by another ten levels, he should be able to become immune to heat and cold, right?

But then again—

"It feels so quiet. There aren't any of those demons and monsters on the streets either. It's so different from a few days ago."

Because of the heavy snow, there were few pedestrians on the road.

More importantly, the battle between Yatagarasu and Crow Feather Demon Blade Pill had practically swept the entire city clean, so Yin Kong could barely see any demons or monsters for the time being.

Though this rare tranquility probably would not last very long.

"Everyone is working hard. I need to put in more effort too."

Before long, Yin Kong arrived at his destination for the trip—

This appeared to be a rather famous cat cafe. Even in such a frigid winter, business remained excellent.

However, just three days ago, Sapphire—the cat cafe's "star attraction"—had suddenly disappeared.

After the staff searched several times without success, they posted a commission for Cunning Rabbit House online.

Yet what Yin Kong had not expected was that once he explained why he had come to Manager Inoue, he was immediately met with a string of apologies.

"I'm sorry! I'm so terribly sorry!"

The reason was simple. This afternoon, the missing Sapphire had already been found in the alley behind the cat cafe.

Only, its condition had been rather terrible.

When Sapphire was found, someone had buried her in the snow. She had long since frozen into a block of ice.

What was more, her belly had been cut open with a sharp weapon, and all of her internal organs had been removed.

"Because we had to deal with the related matters, I accidentally forgot about your appointment and made you come here for nothing. I'm truly very sorry. I'll reimburse your transportation costs..."

Though Yin Kong was somewhat disappointed, Manager Inoue's attitude was sincere, and it had been an unintentional mistake, so Yin Kong could not exactly get angry.

Besides, there was still plenty of time. He could still take on another commission.

Just as he was beginning to consider how to make up for this daily mission, a cool female voice suddenly rang out.

"Please wait, Mr. Yin Kong. You're a detective, right?"

Yin Kong followed the voice and found that the speaker was a typical long-haired girl with straight black hair.

"That would not be wrong. Cunning Rabbit House also takes on some detective commissions. May I ask if you have a commission for us, miss?"

The girl was beautiful and elegant in her every movement, but her cold expression gave off a sense of distant aloofness, like a high mountain flower that could not be approached.

She introduced herself.

"I am Yukino Yukinoshita, a regular customer of Starry Sky Cat Cafe. Since you also take on detective-related commissions, could I ask you to help track down Sapphire's murderer? Of course, I will pay the commission fee in full."

She seemed even more like the daughter of a financial conglomerate than Suzuki Sonoko.

Seeing Yukino Yukinoshita's impeccable manners, Yin Kong silently poked fun at Suzuki Sonoko in his heart before immediately nodding.

"Of course. No problem."

This was a daily commission delivered right to his door. There was no reason for him to refuse.

Manager Inoue, however, looked embarrassed after hearing this.

"No, no, how could we let you, our customer, pay? How about this: as long as Detective Yin Kong finds the culprit, our cat cafe will naturally cover the commission fee."

Yukino Yukinoshita nodded lightly at those words and did not insist further.

Once they had finished discussing it, Yin Kong asked,

"Mr. Inoue, did you report this to the police? What did they say? Did they find any important clues?"

Unlike before his transmigration, animal abuse in Japan was actually against the law.

In serious cases, the offender could even be sent to prison.

Of course, as the "star attraction" of Starry Sky Cat Cafe, Sapphire was clearly a very expensive breed as well.

According to Manager Inoue, even without taking her fame into account, she was worth more than two million yen.

Even if she were merely assessed as property, it would absolutely be enough to send the culprit to prison for several years.

Manager Inoue sighed, his face full of grief.

"The police said they needed to investigate further and told us to return and wait for further notice."

Clearly, he held little hope for what would come next.

The girl named Yukino Yukinoshita obviously felt the same way. Otherwise, she would not have asked Yin Kong to investigate.

Yin Kong was not surprised by this.

After all, this was Beika Town, overflowing with talent. The Metropolitan Police Department was already struggling to keep up with murder cases, so naturally it had no time to spare for a cat's life.

After thinking for a moment, he asked,

"Then have you considered whether this was the work of a competitor?"

After all, Sapphire was not a stray cat from the streets and alleys. As nearly the most valuable asset in the entire cat cafe, she had always been very well protected.

Having suffered such a tremendous loss, Manager Inoue, as the owner, would certainly not let it go.

If this had been an ordinary cat abuser, there would have been no need to choose such a difficult target that would bring endless trouble afterward.