After dinner, the three of them went to a nearby residential area, where they met the girl. She was a plain, inconspicuous high school student with glasses, the sort of girl one could see anywhere.
"Yahoo, we're here, Xiaoya."
"Ah!"
The bespectacled girl became extremely excited when she saw the detectives arrive.
"So you really are detectives...! I never thought you'd actually be willing to accept my request..."
"Oh? You know us?"
The Gourmet Detective spoke with a cheerful smile while eating another hamburger. Even Duanmu Huai couldn't help glancing sideways at him—from the time they left the Family Restaurant until now, he had already eaten three plates of curry rice, four hamburgers, and two extra-large cups of cola.
Hmm, Duanmu Huai guessed that Gourmet Detective didn't mean eating gourmet food, but rather "eating gorgeously"...
"Of course. You're Mr. Ooba Minato, the Gourmet Detective, right? And this person..."
As she spoke, the bespectacled girl turned to look at Duanmu Huai, her eyes shining.
"You must be Mr. Duanmu Huai, the famous Yakuza Detective who's been so popular lately, right? I heard you rule the entire Kanto underworld, and that you're even the head of the Tojo Clan, the largest gang in Kanto! You lead the underworld in upholding justice where the police can't see it. That's so cool!"
"...That's purely a rumor."
Duanmu Huai silently raised a hand to his forehead and sighed helplessly. After solving so many cases, he had naturally appeared in the media. Once someone appeared in the media, however, the right to explain things no longer belonged to them. That was how this so-called Yakuza Detective had come about... Of course, as far as Duanmu Huai was concerned, it was purely a rumor.
*Why the hell does this broken world keep trying to push me down