8

“Noguchi, can I ask you something? There's a few things about this blueprint I want to confirm...”

Takakura, who was two years my senior, slid over in his office chair and piled a load of documents on my desk. “What is it?” I asked as I turned around, answering his questions one by one.

It'd been two years since I joined the company. It was a mid-sized housing manufacturer.

Job hunting turned out to be as difficult as I'd feared, and I wasn't able to get a job offer from my first choice of employer. But now that I'd settled in, I think I made the right choice in choosing to work here. The other employees are nice, the boss is nice, and above all, the work I do every day is rewarding.

“...So I'd appreciate it if you could adjust things in that direction.” 

“Got it. You've already done a perfect job, Noguchi,” Takakura said playfully, flashing his white teeth. “That's right, you drew that cartoon introducing the department in the company newsletter, right? I read it. It was really good. You draw like a professional.” 

“What? No way, it's just a hobby...” 

At a drinking party, I'd let it slip that I drew manga as a hobby, and a colleague who was in charge of the company newsletter heard and asked me to draw for it. Accepting the job was scary, but it was worth it. My art had a surprisingly good reputation.“So, I heard from the PR department that there's an advertising project they want your help with. If we've got talent, we gotta use it, and all. I think they'll be calling you soon, so be ready.” 

“Oh, is that so...” 

I felt an uncharacteristic sense of elation slowly spread in my chest. I see... I said to myself. Just this was enough. Something like this can be rewarding. People can be saved even by this feeling. If only I could have shared this with Nozomu... 

I still have flashbacks to Ohashi's words that day and the image of Nozomu crying afterwards, big, heavy tears running down his face. Whenever I see them, I can't help but wonder how Nozomu must be feeling now, if he's still atoning for his crime, and where Ohashi and Yuto are, what they're doing, and how they feel. That incident, which cost me a dear friend, sticks bitterly in my memory like a pimple on a yearbook photo, and after graduation, I fell out of contact with Yuto and the others I'd shared that experience with.

But I can say this much for sure.

That incident was real, and it is undoubtedly an important part of my life.

“I'll do my best!”

As Takakura raised his hand and returned to his seat, I vowed that as loudly as I could. 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born in the United States in 1999, at time of publication, he was a grad student in Tokyo. Having been drawing things like dead bodies in locked rooms since he was a child, he decided to begin writing mystery stories in order to share some of what he'd created with the world. This turned out to be a good idea for him, as he won the 2022 Mysteries! Newcomer Award with his debut, Lunatic Retriever, which you just read.

ABOUT THE TRANSLATORS

Mitsuda Madoy noted down the names of every single person involved in the 2022 Mysteries! Newcomer Award – The six finalists, the three judges, and all fifteen authors who selected works to be judged – as candidates for future translation efforts. Now he is very tired. Follow him on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/mitsudamadoyvt.bsky.social or watch him play (usually mystery) games at https://www.twitch.tv/mitsudamadoy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 This translation comes courtesy of our patron

ISAAC WARD

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