Chapter 14

Tailing someone was a first in my entire life, but maybe I had some hidden talent as a detective.

Twenty minutes had already passed since I started following the suit-wearing man, and there wasn’t a single sign that I had been noticed.

The man walked straight east along the road in front of the apartment where I lived.

Then, he stopped by a convenience store along the way to buy some bread and a drink before heading straight for the station.

Confirming that the man had boarded a train, I hopped onto a different car of the same train.

The man was currently sitting in a box seat, gazing at the scenery outside and chowing down on bread—breakfast, presumably.

There had been nothing particularly out of the ordinary up to this point.

Whether eating inside a somewhat crowded train was acceptable manners was a matter of debate, but at least this couldn’t be enough to brand him a bad person.

I decided to continue observing him a little longer.

After being rocked by the train for thirty minutes, right around when the crowds were gradually thinning out, the man got off at a certain station.

The time had passed nine in the morning.

At a normal company, he’d be completely late by now, yet the man didn’t look flustered at all as he walked at a leisurely pace, occasionally glancing back over his shoulder.

Following his gaze indirectly, it looked like the man was constantly scouting and checking out women only.

What is he even doing…?

Feeling suspicious, I quietly closed in from behind so as not to let the man realize he was being followed.

Then, the man suddenly picked up his pace.

Did my tail get blown?!

I panicked for a second, but it turned out not to be the case.

The man glued himself right behind an office-worker-style woman and headed up the escalator.

And then, pulling a smartphone out of his pocket, the man unhesitatingly slid the phone right between the legs of the woman standing in front of him.

Could he be taking upskirt photos…?!

It only lasted a little over ten seconds; once he reached the top of the escalator, the man rode the downward escalator back with a nonchalant face and returned to the platform he had just been on.

What the heck, after wondering what kind of evil person he was, he’s just a creep taking secret photos.

I muttered complaints inside my mind while looking down at the man from afar.

Taking secret photos was still a crime, but I had secretly been terrified he might turn out to be some heinous criminal.

To put it more bluntly, I had even been worrying what to do if he was a killer just like me… What a waste of energy.

Naturally, it wasn’t enough to warrant killing him, and since I had figured out the spell’s effect anyway, I decided to head back home for the day.

“Yo, Yamato. Are you feeling better already?”

Right as I arrived at work during my lunch break, my peer Saeki called out to me.

“Yeah, since I stopped by the hospital.”

A total lie, though.

“Hosotani senpai has a cold, too, it seems. Unlike you, she’s taking the whole day off today.”

“Hmm, I see.”

It was a shame I wouldn’t get to gaze upon Hosotani-san’s lovely face, but those days happen, too.

“Wazzup, Onitsuka senpai!”

While I was gazing over at Hosotani-san’s vacant desk, my junior Okajima emerged from the restroom.

“Onitsuka senpai, I thought you were faking sick.”

“I’m not you, would I ever fake sick?”

“Heh-heh-heh~, I guess not.”

For whatever reason, Okajima was grinning foolishly today, too.

And seriously, stop leaning on me so familiarly. I’m your senior, you know.

—In the end, I didn’t kill anyone on this day either.