"National Police Agency......" Hotaru blinked before she reacted. Wait, if you work in the National Police Agency, are you in the police system? ”

"Otherwise, how could I have seen the previous files......" The corners of the young man's mouth twitched.

"In that case," Hotaru asked after a moment's thought. "Is it possible for us to sue that old pervert based on this? In the case of intentional homicide, the prosecution period has not yet ended. ”

"I'm just speculating, there's no evidence." The young man shook his head. "Let's recognize the reality, my mother has even cremated her bones, and there is no hope that the case will be overturned......"

"......" Hotaru pursed her lips and said nothing.

"Good ......," the young man touched Hotaru's head. Forget what I said, and don't do that kind of work anymore, anyway—"

"That's my freedom, isn't it?" Hotaru refused the young man's request without even thinking about it, and her tone was very resolute. "I've learned a lot in this job—"

"I know you've gotten a lot and you're not giving much for the time being, but you'll regret it in the future." The young man frowned. "When the people around you are pointing fingers at you, and the world seems to have abandoned you, you will find that sooner or later the money given to you by these customers will run out, but you will never get it back."

"And what is the route you designed for me?" Hotaru asked rhetorically. "Tell me, what do you think I should do?"

"......" The young man obviously didn't expect Hotaru to ask such a question, and replied after thinking about it. At least finish high school, and then it's up to you to work or continue to study, and then marry a good family to make sure that at least the rest of your life won't be displaced—"

"Marry a good man?" Hotaru sneered. "You don't want me to be a Yamato Nadeshiko and pin the happiness of the rest of my life on the ethereal sense of responsibility of a man I don't know my heart, do you?"

...... "The young man was stunned for a while." This ......"

"My plan is similar to yours, but it's a lot worse." Hotaru raised her head slightly, looking at the young man. "I want to be with my clients, for the money, but I also ask them to tell their stories about the past in the course of my work. What I get is not only money, but also some of their knowledge, which is the best magic weapon that will keep me from being fooled by rhetoric. After high school, I will continue my education until I finally get a decent and independent job. Whatever the situation, I have the capital to stand alone in this world of natural selection, and to take my destiny into my own hands, without having to ask for the favor of any man. ”

"......" the young man was silent. Finally, he sighed and nodded. "It's the first time I've heard such a thing so fresh and distinctive...... Whatever you want...... But remember, if you have trouble, contact me as soon as possible, understand? In any case, your safety comes first. ”

"Got it," Hotaru said yes, making another request. "By the way, you...... Can you teach me some self-defense techniques or something? Or you can use the physical training you will use in training, and you can do it without pressing your body. ”

"No problem," the young man nodded. "From this weekend onwards, I'll take you to a gym."

"I only have time on Saturday afternoon," Hotaru reminded. "I have English and Spanish classes on Saturday mornings, and I may have to go with the patrons in the evenings."

"English and Spanish?" The young man raised his eyebrows. "Say a few words."

Hotaru smiled slightly, then said a sentence in Spanish and English.

"Rose's R pronunciation is too heavy," the young man noted. "The R is pronounced as a flashing sound made by the tip of the tongue fluttering. As for Spanish sentences, H is not pronounced, you can just pronounce the sound of the last letter. After the evolution of Classical Latin into Vulgar Latin, H was basically a sign of the old times, with little meaning in pronouncing it - except, of course, the palatalization of ch. ”

"I haven't been learning for long......" Hotaru pouted. Don't be so strict......"

"I can teach you something about that," the young man smiled. "Let's quit these two classes, I'm still very comfortable with these two languages."

After saying that, the young man repeated the two sentences that Hotaru had just said - although they were repeated, the tone was obviously richer than when Hotaru said it.

——————

Three years later, in a training ground.

Hotaru deftly performed a set of movements and landed steadily on the ground.

"This time it was perfect," the young man judged. "It would be nice if the second movement of the second movement of the two straight backflips and the legs falling in turn could be a little more standard."

"It's really difficult...... Hotaru replied after taking a sip of water. Really ......"

"It must be huge," the young man said. "For someone like you who just relies on this exercise to improve athletic flexibility, it's already out of specification."

"What's the next training?" Hotaru asked. "Free fighting?"

"No," the young man shook his head, then showed his phone. "If something is special, you can just massage the muscles."

"Normally, don't you let me continue training if something happens to you?" Hotaru said strangely. "How did you ...... today?"

"It's about you, too." The young man replied. "That's why you don't have to train."

"Something to do with me?" Hotaru's expression was a little surprised for a moment. "Wait a minute, how can it be related to me? Could it be that there was something unclean about the customers I met recently, and then I was involved? ”

"Relax," the corners of the young man's mouth curled slightly. "It's only because we found a strange boy in your school that we need your attention—this boy is in the same class as you."

"Huh?" Hotaru sat down and said as she massaged her muscles. "My classmates?"

"Fujiwara from your class," said the young man. "Do you have any impressions?"

"Playboy," Hotaru smiled. "I have a lot of girlfriends, but in addition to that, I can be regarded as excellent in character and learning, and my figure is also good. What's going on with him? ”

"Our surveillance system captured him near the location of the most recent murder, around the time of the murder. We don't think it's normal for a high school student to be in a place like that at two o'clock in the morning, away from school and home. The young man explained. But since we don't have any evidence, I'm going to let you approach him and see if there are any clues - you're used to spending time with your patron anyway, so how about treating him as a new patron? ”

"I don't mind," Hotaru smiled. "But it may take a little bit of tricks to get him to ditch his current girlfriend - although he doesn't mind changing girlfriends, if it weren't for the fact that his old girlfriend displeased him in some way, he would still be more nostalgic."