Chapter 5

"Mr. Maeda, what do you mean? Why can't you get a hold of the woman named Rei? Haven't you met her multiple times at the snack bar?"

"Yes, but for some reason, I can't remember her face once I leave the store. I can barely recall our conversations."

"Come on, what's going on? For someone like Mr. Maeda. What about the mini camera? Didn't you set up a recorder too?"

"I did, but her face is blurry, and no amount of analysis helps. The recorder is the same; it just picks up static."

Saying this, Maeda, from the insurance company's investigation department, showed the printed image to his subordinate. The upper body of a woman wearing a coarse net was printed, but the crucial face part was blurry, as if a fingerprint had been pressed directly onto the lens.

"Did you wipe the lens properly beforehand?"

"I did! Of course, I did. I even checked the device right before using it. But still..."

"Every time, her face doesn't show up, huh? Well, you shouldn't be so pleased that 'getting a reading makes you feel good.'"

The president of Goto Industrial had not made any insurance claims after the attempted suicide, which was natural since he didn't die. Goto Industrial had gone through bankruptcy proceedings and closed down. While there was no loss for the insurance company, there were suspicious points in the information obtained from the police.

"President Goto was supposed to have attempted suicide by charcoal burning and drank a large amount of shochu, but his blood alcohol level was zero, and there were no issues with carbon monoxide in his blood. Isn't that strange?"

"Absolutely strange."

Was it a staged suicide? The investigation department was excited, but it didn't make sense since the former president Goto hadn't gained a single yen.

"What kind of person is the woman who saved him?"

One of them suggested investigating the woman, and the results were extremely suspicious. Five years ago, she was found on a beach with no memory of her past, and was given a temporary household register and name to live with.

"Did this woman help with the staged suicide but then had a falling out at the last minute?"

"This woman might be involved in similar schemes in the future."

They casually asked a young man from a delivery company who frequented her workplace.

"Rei? She's beautiful. She eats a lot. She seems to live a simple life. She always brings a large bento."

When they asked her probation officer, he said, "She's a very serious and hardworking person."

One day, while investigating her movements, they discovered that she dressed like a mourner and visited a snack bar at night, twice or three times a week. When they asked the regular customers, they said she did fortune-telling.

Thinking it was suspicious, they asked the snack bar's owner, who only said, "Rei is a mysterious fortune-teller."

After a cup of watered-down whiskey, they asked another regular customer, who said, "Yeah, the bad parts of your body feel better. Why don't you try it? Your shoulder and back pain will be gone."

"Is she using some kind of suspicious drug?"

"This might be more about drugs than fraud."

The conversation led to a familiar detective from the insurance company's investigation department. Although it wasn't a criminal case, the detective, who handled drug cases, visited Summer Kawaguchi's fortune-telling sessions several times under the pretext of information gathering.

The fortune-telling was vague, and there were no drugs in the drinks. As other customers had said, the fatigue and back pain really did improve. Just to be safe, they secretly took a glass used by her at the snack bar and checked her fingerprints, but there was no criminal record. The investigation only confirmed that "Summer Kawaguchi is clean."

Incidentally, it was true that Summer Kawaguchi lived a simple life, often buying clearance items at the supermarket.

"But it's strange. Her face never shows up. She must be doing something. Maybe she's using something to interfere with recording devices?"

"According to the staff at the facility where she was trained, she had to be taught how to use computers and smartphones from scratch. They all said she had never seen them before."

"Such a person doesn't exist. Even the Maasai, who are said to fight lions as part of their coming-of-age ceremony, use smartphones these days."

"The Maasai don't do that anymore. I've read a blog by a Maasai youth."

Thus, despite being suspected by the insurance company's investigation department and the local police, the more they investigated, the more they found that Summer Kawaguchi had done "nothing."

◇ ◇ ◇

"Recently, customers have been setting up hidden cameras and recorders, but I haven't done anything illegal."

Summer Kawaguchi earned some pocket money by doing fortune-telling at the snack bar that night. Indeed, she hadn't broken any laws. After all, there was no law in this country prohibiting the use of magic.

When she searched for bad spots in the body during fortune-telling, she cast a spell to prevent the face and voice from being recorded by any active recording devices. Electronic devices are easily affected by magic. A weak spell on the working parts can disrupt their function. She also cast a spell to make the customers' memories of her fade. Her precautions were thorough.

"Maybe I'll splurge and go to the movies tonight."

Movie tickets are cheaper late at night. As a single person, she decided to take advantage of this and prepared to watch a movie about a school for young wizards and witches.