I Can't Deal With These Girls! [HoloID]

Chapter 2: Kaela's Test

I carefully scanned the client sitting in front of me, doing my best to gather anything that could tell me what her profession could be. Right now, any kind of detail would help me close in to the truth.

The first thing I spotted was the eyebags under her eyes. She'd put some effort into hiding it under some makeup, but it was still noticeable if you paid attention to it. Is it possible that her line of work required her to stay up late at night? Or is it simply a choice of lifestyle?

I noted this detail while I continued to search for a clue. After a while, I noticed that her breathing was calm. Too calm for someone that had climbed the stairs to get into this office, especially with how annoyingly tall each step was on those stairs. Even Sari had to catch her breath after going up those stairs for the first time.

While I could just sum it up to her having a healthy lifestyle that led her to be fit enough to not be bothered by such things, it seemed odd for someone to be healthy enough for that and yet stay up late and ruin her health. Could it be that her line of work required her to do both of these odd life choices?

With this lead, I tried to find any correlation by checking her anatomy. After a careful examination, I noticed a small detail that seemed odd to me.

It wasn't too obvious, but her arms appeared to be more toned compared to the rest of her body. Just what did she do for a living to create these small details? An athlete? Laborer?

Refusing to settle for those half-baked answers, I looked even further. I could feel I was just a step away from the truth. Eventually, I found the final damning evidence that I needed.

"So? Have you figured it out, detective?" Kaela asked, her interest had finally peaked after noticing my reaction.

"Yeah." I answered, "A blacksmith, correct?"

A look of surprise flashed onto Kaela's expression for a moment before changing into interest. "Correct. Just how did you do it?" Her curiosity pushed her to ask how I successfully deduced her profession.

"I noticed the slight bags under your eyes, and you seem particularly fit, especially around your arms. But the one thing that convinced me was..." My sentence trailed off as I pointed at her. More precisely, toward her hair. "Those burned tips of your hair were the evidence that connected the dots."

Her eyes widened as her fingers fidgeted around her burned hair tips. "To think you noticed something like this..."

"I was just lucky. It could've happened due to a mistake when you're ironing your hair or something. It's basically a lucky guess," I grumbled, dissatisfied that my deduction could only lead to such rudimentary reasoning.

"But it's a correct guess nevertheless," Kaela responded favorably. "You pass, detective. Although I actually have another job aside from being a blacksmith. But your answer is good enough."

"Oh? What's your other job?" I felt intrigued after hearing Kaela's remarks.

"Figure it out yourself. Aren't you the detective here?" Kaela committed with a smirk. I had to admit that she has a talent for pissing someone off.

I felt like asking her for another chance, but I caught Sari's glare at the corner of my eyes that seemed to warn me from doing so. Deciding that it's best to get our first case started, I asked Kaela, "Now that I've passed your test, what kind of case do you have for us?"

After seeing what I was capable of, Kaela finally told us about her request. "The thing is... I need someone to help me find my cat."

"A cat?"

Despite my years of experience as a detective, I haven't had the opportunity to deal with a missing cat case. As a proclaimed prodigy, the first case I worked on was a simple pickpocketing case that happened in front of me, and the scale only grew bigger ever since.