"Wow, Detective, your information is that well-connected? I only found out about this a few days ago," Miyamori Aoi directly addressed Jiang Hang as Detective, and the title felt rather novel to him.
"Well, I am a detective, after all. Besides, I've always kept an eye on what's going on in the industry." Naturally, Jiang Hang would not say that he had learned about Musashino Animation from an anime. Instead, he continued asking about the animation industry.
Come to think of it, although he had always considered buying an animation studio someday to make animation specifically for himself, he had only been a half-baked amateur before crossing over. His understanding of Japan's industry extended no further than that one line from some guy: "Japan's animation industry can last five more years at most," along with anime that depicted the industry.
But these girls had only just entered the industry and did not know much about its inner workings. Even so, Jiang Hang could tell that the industry was really in a rough state.
Animation studios backed by major players were doing reasonably well. But studios like Musashino Animation, which had no wealthy patron behind them, had not released any new work for years, and relied entirely on subcontracting work from other studios to stay afloat—if they did not put out an original work and make one desperate gamble, whether Musashino Animation's thirty-year legacy could continue was itself a question.
Listening to Miyamori Aoi's complaints, Jiang Hang quietly tucked that information away. He did not have much money right now, but after some time, he planned to visit Musashino Animation.
Putting aside buying it outright, he should still have a chance to invest and become a minor shareholder or something.
After chatting with the girls about the industry for a while, Shizuka Sakaki took them off to tour the museum, while Jiang Hang prepared to continue slacking off in the office.
But just as he turned around, he noticed that a girl was still standing behind him.
"Imai, why didn't you go out with Sakaki and the others? There are quite a few forks in the museum. If they get too far ahead, you might not be able to catch up." Jiang Hang looked at her curiously. Standing there was Imai Midori, the literary girl in the group of five who was responsible for scriptwriting.
Yet after hearing Jiang Hang's words, Imai Midori looked a little embarrassed.
"Well... I'm in the literature department, and my goal is to become a screenwriter. I heard Senior Shizuka mention that you're an incredibly skilled detective, Detective. You solved several cases in less than half a month..." Imai Midori nervously twisted her fingers together. "So, I want to try adapting and writing scripts based on the cases you've solved. I hope—I hope you'll agree!"
After voicing her thoughts, Imai Midori gave Jiang Hang a deep bow.
Set Another Small Goal: Earn One Billion First
"Cough, cough..." Jiang Hang could not help choking at Imai Midori's sudden request.
"Uh, I'm still a rookie detective who debuted less than a month ago. Isn't it a little too early to write scripts about me? How about I tell you some other interesting stories instead? For example, the story of a man 'richer in ideals than anyone else, and therefore more despairing than anyone else'?"
"Or I could tell you a dark fairy tale about magical girls. I've got plenty of more interesting stories over here. They're far more interesting than my cases. Are you sure you don't want to hear one?"
After hearing the two stories Jiang Hang mentioned, Imai Midori's eyes brightened. She seemed very interested in these stories she had never heard before, but after hesitating for a moment, she still shook her head firmly.
"If Detective can tell those stories, then they must be wonderful. But I can listen to you tell them another time when I have the chance. Right now, though, I still want to know more about you, Detective!"
Jiang Hang had never expected a slacker like him to have a fan of his own.
Seeing her gaze at him with such sincerity, Jiang Hang could not help sighing.
"All right. I've always had Koharu keep the case records, so you can ask her for them and take a look first."
He paused before continuing to Imai Midori, "But honestly, I'm not the kind of detective you imagine. Once you see those case records, you'll probably be very disappointed. As for adapting them into scripts, wait until you've read the records and decide for yourself. Still, I doubt many people would enjoy watching a script like that."
"Thank you so very much!" Imai Midori once again gave Jiang Hang a deep bow.
"Oh, right. If I have questions about the details of the cases later, can I contact you, Detective?"
"Try emailing me. I'm a detective, so I have all sorts of things to deal with, and my phone will probably be on silent most of the time. If I see your email, I'll reply." Jiang Hang had not expected this girl to be so determined, so he could only nod helplessly.
"Then I won't disturb your rest any longer, Detective. Once I finish the script, I'll bring it to you to look over." After receiving Jiang Hang's agreement, Imai Midori seemed much more cheerful. "And when the time comes, Detective, don't forget to tell me those two stories you mentioned just now!"
With that, she left the office in a relaxed mood. It seemed she was preparing to find Koharu Yoshino and ask for the case records.
Seeing Imai Midori like that, Jiang Hang used Eagle Eye to check Koharu Yoshino and the others' location, then could not help reminding his admirer, "They should be in the Hall of the Sea right now. Turn left when you leave, then go straight and you'll see them."
After Imai Midori left, Jiang Hang finally let out a sigh of relief.
He had never been particularly good at dealing with girls who were especially lively and proactive.
More importantly, Imai Midori radiated the aura of someone who worked hard. Comparing her to himself, Jiang Hang could not help feeling that he really had become somewhat lazy since returning from Moon Shadow Island.
He wondered whether she would still be so enthusiastic about writing scripts for him if she found out that he was fundamentally just a slacker.
Should he just rewrite his case records in Conan's style?
As Jiang Hang thought that, he also began considering why he had become so lazy these past few days. It was probably because, after earning enough money to buy the detective agency, he felt that his life was already more or less complete.
"No, my goal is to make the entire industry create the animation I want to watch. I really should set another small goal for myself." Jiang Hang muttered this as he happened to see a news report on his phone about the One Billion Yen Robbery that had taken place a few days ago.
Tokyo really was plagued by disasters. Only half a month had passed since the six-hundred-million-yen Maple Gold Coin Case, and now there was another one-billion-yen robbery.
Jiang Hang clicked in to take a look. The criminals had been on the run for several days, but they still had not been caught, and there were no leads on the missing one billion yen.
Seeing that, he decisively set himself a new small goal.
Then he would earn one billion first. One billion yen should be enough to invest in an animation studio, right?
People really needed something to look forward to.
But when Jiang Hang set this small goal, he had completely forgotten the main quest his system had assigned him: "Become a great detective."
Just as Jiang Hang was preparing to continue grinding commissions, he turned on the phone that had been silent for so long, and an email caught his attention.
It was from Eri Kisaki.
Come to think of it, after Jiang Hang took over the Beika Art Museum, he had immediately fired the employees with ulterior motives. At the same time, in order to win over the remaining staff, he had given raises to those who were willing to stay and genuinely worked diligently.
The museum employees had all heard that their new boss had an impressive background. At the very least, they no longer had to worry about the museum being sold again anytime soon, so things within the museum were quite harmonious now.
However, when he had fired employees before, he had also dismissed the museum's previous legal adviser—a lawyer who had not been particularly capable to begin with and was said to have somewhat questionable character. As a result, he now needed to find a reliable new legal adviser for his museum.
The position of legal adviser was quite important. For example, when Jiang Hang met Shiro Suzuki three days later to discuss the exhibition, they would definitely need to sign a contract.
It was not that Shiro Suzuki was trying to cheat him, but there was no harm in being cautious when it came to contracts.
Once the museum's industry rating improved in the future, exhibitions and other commercial activities would only become more frequent. Finding a capable lawyer now would save Jiang Hang a lot of trouble later.
Eri Kisaki was naturally his first choice, but Jiang Hang had dismissed the thought after merely considering it. She handled commercial disputes for major conglomerates. Asking her to become legal adviser for a tiny art museum like his really was wishful thinking.
But Eri Kisaki seemed to know that he had fired the museum's original lawyer, so she sent Jiang Hang the email he was now reading, introducing a capable junior lawyer she recommended.
Upon seeing the other woman's name, Jiang Hang left the museum and headed for her law office almost without hesitation.
Chihiro Ayasato and Ryūichi Naruhodō
Looking at the "Ayasato Law Offices" sign hanging upstairs, Jiang Hang, who had taken a taxi here alone, could not help showing a subtle expression.
After meeting Koharu Yoshino and Shizuka Sakaki, Jiang Hang had known that he might continue encountering many familiar characters while living in this world.
He had even discovered quite a few characters from other anime through various clues, though he currently had no plans to meet them.
What would he even say if he met them? That in his original world, they had been his XXth wife?
Having crossed over nearly a month ago, Jiang Hang had long since become able to distinguish the versions of them from anime from the versions living in this world.
The characters from school-life and slice-of-life series would not encounter any danger. As a positive-energy young detective, Jiang Hang knew his own limits and had not gone out of his way to disturb the lives of characters he had liked before crossing over.
So now, when he encountered another character familiar to him from before crossing over, Jiang Hang quickly adapted.
Chihiro Ayasato was the capable junior lawyer Eri Kisaki had introduced to him. Though she had been practicing for less than five years, she was already a rising star in the legal world and had opened her own law office at a young age.
According to Eri Kisaki, Chihiro Ayasato was the most promising junior lawyer she had seen in recent years. If Jiang Hang entrusted the museum's affairs to her, he would have nothing to worry about.
Of course, that was assuming Chihiro Ayasato had not been murdered.
Jiang Hang added that sentence silently in his heart as he read Eri Kisaki's email.
Because Chihiro Ayasato was also a pivotal character from a classic GBA game Jiang Hang had played before crossing over, Ace Attorney.
A literal "spirit" character.
She was only alive during the game's tutorial case and the anime's first episode. Then, at the beginning of the next case, she was promptly killed off, becoming yet another person who died under the title of "chief."
When Jiang Hang had played the game back then, seeing this mature, elegant woman brutally murdered immediately after clearing the tutorial had left an extremely profound impression on his still-inexperienced heart.
But Chihiro Ayasato's death did not mean she simply left the story. In the Ace Attorney games that followed, she appeared quite frequently, and every appearance gave the protagonist important hints or clues—not through flashbacks, but by literally appearing as a spirit!
Thinking of that gave Jiang Hang a headache.
According to the setting, mysterious elements existed in the world of Ace Attorney. Chihiro Ayasato was a spirit medium, and her entire family possessed the ability to summon the souls of the dead into their own bodies.
With such a setting in place, what had originally seemed like a normal world suddenly became fantastical.
Jiang Hang imagined the atmosphere of a setting that had originally been about deduction and crime-solving suddenly becoming magical... No, wait, Conan's setting had always been pretty magical.
Seemingly recalling some outrageous moves from certain Conan movies, Jiang Hang shook his head.
Why was he thinking so much? In any case, he was already here. It was time to go up and meet her.
With that thought in mind, Jiang Hang knocked on the law office door.
Before long, a young man with a distinctive spiky hairstyle came over and opened it.
"Hello, welcome to Ayasato Law Offices. Do you have a case you'd like to discuss?"
Looking at this spiky-haired man with his bright smile, Jiang Hang gave him a once-over. Naive, with a foolish look on his face—sure enough, he was the guy Jiang Hang remembered.
Seeing him like this now, Jiang Hang patted his shoulder and walked into the office.
Come to think of it, compared to Eri Kisaki's office, this one felt much warmer.
The other office had been packed with shelves of legal books the moment one stepped inside, while here, the first thing Jiang Hang saw was Chihiro Ayasato watering a potted plant.
Looking at the purple magatama hanging around her neck, Jiang Hang habitually examined it with Eagle Eye.
Under Eagle Eye's effect, the magatama continuously emitted golden light, informing Jiang Hang that it was an exceedingly valuable object.
"Hello, I'm Chihiro Ayasato. Is there anything you need to consult about?"
Setting the watering can aside, Chihiro Ayasato smiled and gestured for Jiang Hang to sit on the sofa nearby.
Jiang Hang used Eagle Eye to inspect the entire room.
He found no listening devices, but there was a statue of The Thinker displayed beside Chihiro Ayasato's bookcase.
I see. So this was the current stage.
The tutorial case had already passed, but there was still some time before the accident that would take her life.
After confirming the timeline, Jiang Hang felt slightly relieved. Then he smiled and handed Chihiro Ayasato his business card.
"You must be Mr. Jiang Hang, the one the Queen of Lawyers mentioned to me." Chihiro Ayasato formally accepted the business card. After glancing at it, she remembered Jiang Hang's identity and nodded at him. "Then, if I'm not mistaken, you're here to discuss becoming the art museum's legal adviser?"
She looked toward her apprentice. "Naruhodō, pour Mr. Jiang Hang a cup of tea."
Perhaps noticing that Jiang Hang's gaze rested on her apprentice, Chihiro Ayasato introduced him. "He is my apprentice, Ryūichi Naruhodō. Naruhodō is his surname."
In Japanese, Naruhodō was pronounced like "I see." She seemed to have explained that to clients so many times that it had become a habit.
"I see. That's quite an interesting surname. I think your apprentice will certainly become an outstanding lawyer in the future as well."
Illegal evidence gathering, bluffing, accusing witnesses, and cross-examining a parrot—your apprentice really did have a bright future ahead of him.
Thinking of the astonishing moves this man would pull in court later on, Jiang Hang mocked him inwardly.
"At the very least, he still needs another three years of training. Right now, he's only just getting started." Chihiro Ayasato smiled as she tucked a lock of hair that had fallen before her eyes behind her ear.
Compared to the cold Eri Kisaki, Chihiro Ayasato was much gentler in private. At least, being around her did not put people under too much pressure.
"Naruhodō, while you're at it, help me water Charlie a little more." After Ryūichi Naruhodō brought Jiang Hang a cup of tea, Chihiro Ayasato sent him off to water the potted plant nearby.
"Charlie... Say, Chief, are you really going to give the office's potted plant such a strange name?" Ryūichi Naruhodō complained, but still obediently went to water the potted plant called Charlie.
"Sorry for letting you see that." Chihiro Ayasato smiled apologetically, then looked at Jiang Hang. "Then, Mr. Jiang, let's get down to business. Regarding the art museum's legal matters, I've prepared several proposals. Please see which one would be most suitable for our future cooperation."
Suzuki Family's Eccentric Big Shot
It did not take much time. After a simple discussion, Chihiro Ayasato officially became the legal adviser for both the Beika Art Museum and Pioneer Detective Agency.
Naturally, Jiang Hang had no doubts about Chihiro Ayasato's ability in this regard.
The only problem was that this legal adviser of his might encounter mortal danger and leave this world within the next few months.
Jiang Hang did not know when danger would come for Chihiro Ayasato, but since she had now become his legal adviser, he would absolutely not allow that tragedy to happen again.
As a result, the gazes the two girls at the detective agency directed at Jiang Hang changed somewhat over the next few days.
They naturally knew that Jiang Hang had found a legal adviser for their agency and the art museum, and they had heard that the legal adviser was an undeniable beauty.
Although Jiang Hang said he needed to contact that lawyer over work matters, could they not discuss such things over the phone or through email? Why did Jiang Hang run over to her office every day?
Could it be that Jiang Hang liked mature, elegant women?
The two girls thought about how Jiang Hang was usually so lazy and listless around them, then thought about how proactive he had become after meeting Chihiro Ayasato. They began secretly gossiping.
"Could that Miss Ayasato become our agency's boss lady after a while?" Of course, they only dared mutter such gossip when Jiang Hang was not at the agency.
If Jiang Hang found out that the two girls had actually come up with such thoughts, he would probably not know whether to laugh or cry.
He had no such intentions at all. He simply wanted to save those people he felt should not have died like that.
Before you continue