Mighty Novel X

Broken Innocence K

(Broken Innocence - Kiriya)

Emu. What is the nature of the lie you've told?

As a medical examiner, I have a tendency to read people's backstories.

A coroner deals only with bodies whose cause of death is not yet known. Our job is to determine the cause of death by performing an administrative autopsy.

Of course, the corpses do not speak to us.

"Actually, he died of poisoning."

It would be easier if the dead body confessed, but this is not the case. There is no miracle like in a movie or a drama where the spirit of a deceased person comes out of the body and tells the story.

We have to examine every inch of the body, sometimes even to the genetic level, to solve the mystery of the cause of death. In other words, we see through the lies hidden in the dead bodies.

Of course, in the case of a living person, things are a little different.

Eye movement. Tone of voice. The habits of each person's hands and feet. The content of the conversation. All kinds of clues are combined to determine whether a person is being honest or not.

Well, unless it's a very well prepared lie, most people's lies show on their faces immediately.

This was also the case when Emu was asked to talk about his family.

"My father and mother were ordinary people."

Were. Past tense.

As for his mother, we already found out why. She had died before he could remember, so she was in the past tense.

But he even put his father, who was supposed to still be alive, in the past tense. A sign of lying.

Oh, just so you know, I don't force myself to pursue lies that don't need to be exposed. This is also my policy.

Lies about privacy that don't bother anyone, or gentle lies about someone, should be left alone.

But in the case of Emu, I can't just leave him alone.

I feel sorry for forcibly exploring his private life, but right now I can't choose any other means to attack Mighty Novel X.

Well. That's why I went to the office of the first district of Seito City.

In the midst of a cluster of buildings where many large corporations are concentrated in the center of the city, a particularly large building reigns supreme.

It is Medictric, one of the largest medical equipment manufacturers in Japan.

That's right. That's the company that Emu's father works for.

Without a doubt, most of the hospitals in the country are under the care of medical equipment made by Medictric. It's a company that has had a huge impact on the medical industry.

I found a feature article on Emu's father when I went through a medical journal. It seems that Hojo Kiyonaga-san has been on a very successful career path in the past ten years or so. He went from a developer in the Development Department to a chief engineer, and then to a general manager of the Development Department. Then he became an executive director. He seems to be quite a talented person.

In the meantime, I staked out the entrance of the Medictric building in order to make contact.

I could have lied to him and made an appointment, but I didn't want him to be unnecessarily alarmed, so I just had to be patient.

As the sun was about to set, Emu's father came out of the entrance.

A pale gray suit and a dark red tie. Shiny black leather shoes and a black leather bag. He has a neat face with a gray beard that looks good on him. My first impression of him was that he was a stylish and successful man.