Mr. Oda and his friends

"Uh, thank you. Fukuzawa... President." The red-haired boy and the little girl bowed again to thank him.

He is willing to offer a job to a person whose background is not clear, and is willing to take care of his "family" on his behalf. This Mr. Swordsman is really a good man!

Oda Sakunosuke, who came to apply for a job as a handyman "dragging his family with his mouth", never expected that a contract belonging to a regular employee would appear in front of him.

The bob-haired girl was gone, and this time it was a black-haired, squint-eyed boy who walked in and shouted and "peeked".He was wearing the same coffee-colored deerstalker hat and a small cloak, and he turned his eyes directly to the serious man who was sitting back at the main seat: "President?"

"Well, this is the new Oda, I'll leave it to you and Yosano." Fukuzawa Yukichi nodded, and the little boy grinned: "Okay!"

He was running so cheerfully that his little cloak fluttered up and down like a bird's wing.

Armed detective agencies often require members to walk in the gray area between light and dark.Precisely because he always stepped on the dangerous dividing line, Fukuzawa Yukichi would rather have employees with lower ability to handle affairs, and would never leave people with flawed conduct.

The so-called "one-week trial period" is like this, and its purpose is to screen the applicant's temperament and integrity.In fact, it doesn't take that long to test, but it's more comfortable and less embarrassing to listen to.

In charge of "testing" Oda Sakunosuke, of course, are the two most "old" employees in the Armed Detective Agency.

"Oda? Come with me. By the way, what's the situation with this little guy?"

The squint-eyed boy ran to Miyata Hiyori and bent over and propped his knees up to observe her. The girl immediately put to use what she had just learned: "It's our first meeting, Miyata Hiyori, please take care of me."

Oda Sakunosuke almost lifted the hem of his shirt to wipe his eyes to express his "old father"'s relief, the squinted boy opened his squinted eyes, revealing a thrilling green color: "nia~ My name is Edogawa Ranpo, this is the first time we meet. "

"..." The little girl treated with "enthusiasm" by him was numb, letting strangers look up and down, like a wooden statue sitting in a shrine to receive believers.

The young man stroked his chin back and forth with his hand, his eyes never moved on Miyata Hiyori: "Interesting."

This was the first time he had seen a person who was so "clean" from top to bottom, and he could hardly see many clues related to the past.

Maybe Edogawa Ranpo stared at it for too long, his guardian felt that it was a bit abrupt to stare at a girl like this, so he coughed in time as a reminder.Only then did the boy retract his gaze and regain the "squinting eyes" state. He wanted to take out the pair of "magic glasses" in his pocket, but he didn't think it was necessary—the information on Oda Sakunosuke was enough to prove that the red-haired boy was not used to it. Lie, there was nothing untrue in the description about the girl he was traveling with.

At least, he didn't see any factors from her that could threaten the security of the Armed Detective Agency and President Fukuzawa.That being the case, a label of unknown origin alone does not mean anything, nor can it be used as a reason for her to be ostracized.

Thinking of this, the boy chased after Oda Sakunosuke like he was having fun, and looked face to face with the little girl: "Ha, I caught it!"

Miyata Hiyori: "..."

"President, President, look, does she look like a doll!"

The big boy reached out and took it out, as if he wanted to take out a new toy.No matter how indifferent the girl was, she didn't want to be touched by strangers other than Oda Sakunosuke. The two chased and fled around the red-haired boy like a grinding circle while advancing and retreating.

Fukuzawa Yukichi: "Cough cough, cough!"

It's outrageous to let them fight like this in the office, Mr. President clenched his fist and coughed hard.Edogawa Ranpo finally realized that something was wrong, but it was impossible for him to express his guilty conscience.

The young man looked around and said to him: "Ahahahahahaha! Let's go, Oda, and I will take you to the dormitory when I come back later."

Last year, the old Wanxiangtang, which had to live in the deep underground, had no face at all. This year, it changed to a decent place that was ashamed to send out recruitment notices, and successfully recruited a door-to-door or even "buy one get one free" staff.

The only two "predecessors" are full of energy, but they have a flame background.

Oda Sakunosuke didn't know how many horrific plans were hidden in the minds of his seniors. He turned around and took Miyata Hiyori's hand and asked her to loosen the hem of his coat first: "Hiyo, I'm going out to work. You stay here, Listen to Mr. Fukuzawa."

Because it was his request, the girl nodded obediently in response: "Well, when Sakunosuke is away, listen to President Fukuzawa."

It's so cute, like a kitten that is so serious that every fluff stands up when facing a big fish.

Oda Sakunosuke let go of her, turned and walked out, Miyata Hiyori watched him leave silently.Waiting outside with Akiko Yosano, Edogawa ran along and asked loudly to visit the newly opened dim sum shop two intersections away.The three young people quickly became one with each other and walked into the elevator lively.

When there were only two people left in the office, the blue-clothed swordsman looked down at the little girl who looked up at him with calm eyes: "..."

Suddenly there is a strange sense of responsibility that "you must be well educated", what is going on!

"Come with me."

The face is so serious that it seems to be thinking about "who to kill today", but in fact, Mr. President's calculations are all about the child-rearing knowledge he has recently crammed.He thought for a while, then pushed open the door of the president's office to signal the girl to follow: "Have you ever read and practiced calligraphy, what do you remember?"

Miyata Hiwa quietly shook her head.

No matter whether she has never been there or never remembered, she looked up and listened to the training very well-behaved, with a clear figure reflected in her big sparkling purple eyes.President Fukuzawa's teacher's soul was blazing immediately: "Since this is the case, I will come to the office every day from now on to study and practice."

Although she is not married yet, she seems to have both "sons and daughters"!

"Come here, write something for me." He took out a pen and paper from the drawer, got up and handed it to Miyata Hiyori.Now that you have decided to raise and educate this child, you must first find out her basic situation.

The girl took the two things with both hands as before, walked to the side table and spread the paper, and was sitting with a pen—fortunately, Fukuzawa Yukichi kept the traditional habit and gave her a brush, otherwise she would just be holding on to the pencil in a daze.

The swordsman in blue stood opposite the girl like a proctor, watching her write the character "big" calmly.

Well written.

It is not the minimum requirement of being horizontal and vertical. It can be seen that the strength and strokes have been taught by famous masters, but the age is still young and the time for practice is short.

——The words of Kasen Kanesada, all Honmaru nodded and approved, although the teaching was done secretly, but fortunately the "disciple" was really up to date, and he didn't lose his face.

"That's right, can you write another one?" Fukuzawa Yukichi meant to let her try another word, but Miyata Hiyori wrote another big word very honestly.

I'm really sorry, the fusangshen racked their brains but couldn't find too many opportunities to get in close contact with the lord.

——In Honmaru No. [-], it is not allowed for the examiner to read and write.

Knowing characters and reading books will have their own thoughts, and uncontrolled "empty cicadas" are not in the collective interest.

Looking at the two correct "big" characters on the white paper, Fukuzawa Yukichi frowned and then loosened his eyebrows: "How about I take you out to buy some books?"

Good news: The child is still a pure white paper, not painted in strange colors.

Bad news: She looks about eleven or twelve years old, so it might be a bit late to start enlightenment...

It is not Miyata Hiyori who should be blamed, but the person who was responsible for raising and educating her before.

The little girl interpreted the inquiry as an order, and immediately threw away the pen and stood up with each instruction and movement.Fukuzawa Yukichi picked up the writing brush for her with a straight face and put it aside: "Don't throw things around, and put them back in the same place after use so that it will be easier to find next time."

The expression is serious and the tone is gentle.

As he spoke, he folded and put away the paper, and put the brush back into the drawer.

She carefully watched the elder's every move, whether she remembered it or not, at least she had a correct attitude, which made people feel uncomfortable.

An hour later, Uchiyama Bookstore, who was familiar with Fukuzawa Yukichi, received regular customers who walked in with their "daughter".

"There are no new ones recently, or the previous ones, so you made a trip for nothing." Mr. Uchiyama put away the white cotton cloth that wiped the bookshelf, and pointed to the top shelf of the wooden shelf with a smile: "It's a good luck to collect a set of ancient books. Are you interested? ?"

"Not this time, please prepare a whole set of preschool and elementary school textbooks for me." Fukuzawa Yukichi turned his head to look at the girl who was following behind her along the way, quietly as if she didn't exist: "I also need the exercise book."

"Ah? Uh... alright." The boss glanced at the little girl he was covering with his sleeve: "This is?"

"Children who are entrusted by others need to be re-educated before they can be arranged to enter school."

In fact, with his connections, it's not too difficult to send this kid to school to have a leisurely life.But with her current progress, it is inevitable that she will encounter bullying from teachers and classmates.

Whether it's tutoring or education, it's just that he puts a little extra thought into it, but for Miyata Hiyori, it's a life-changing encounter.

Why not do something that can be easily done?

"how much is it?"

President Fukuzawa took out his wallet from his sleeve pocket and prepared to pay the bill.

Mr. Uchiyama glanced sideways at the little girl across the solid wood counter, and nodded to the old customer with a smile: "What a beautiful and energetic boy! You don't need to spend money, it's been this month, and most of the textbooks I can get together here are It’s good that you don’t dislike the leftovers. Will the guys deliver them, or let your staff come and pick them up?”

After hearing what he said, Fukuzawa Yukichi stuffed his wallet back straightforwardly: "In that case, please close the set of ancient books you mentioned. I will ask the staff to come around later, so I don't bother you guys."

Mr. Uchiyama immediately narrowed his eyes with a smile: "It's easy to say, the price of ancient books."

He stretched out his palm to make gestures, then took out a note from the drawer and wrote a few words to mark the content that needs to be prepared: "It's rare that such an ancient book is willing to take it home and take good care of it. I want to thank you. This little lady will I will cover all the textbooks for you, so don't be polite!"

Miyata Hiyori was holding the counter, tilting his head back and forth to watch the two men coming and going.She didn't understand what kind of deal they had reached, and her big purple eyes were full of confusion.

Why would Mr. Fukuzawa pay a higher price when he can get something for free?