[Detective Conan/Ace Attorney] There Sure Are a Lot of Red-and-Blue Guys

Before I met my boss, the legendary Japanese lawyer Ryuichi Naruhodo, I always thought I was the unluckiest person in the world.

I worked diligently for twenty years. I never dreamed of becoming financially independent, but being so broke I had to live in an unrenovated apartment, breathing formaldehyde and drinking cold air, wasn't the ending I wanted either.

So I decided to change jobs and switch careers while I was at it.

My new company was overseas, and my boss was a distant relative, but at least we were related. That was great.

The only problem was that the company went bankrupt, my boss was arrested, and I spent all my savings.

Just as I was about to throw myself into the Sea of Japan, Naruhodo showed up. What a coincidence: my unscrupulous great-uncle of a boss was his client.

Even more of a coincidence, my boss had already been arrested, the visit was awaiting approval, the prosecution had its evidence ready, and I'd just heard his client vent at length, revealing all sorts of information about the case.

Me: Hello.

Naruhodo: I'm not doing well.

Ever since a kid in a blue suit and red bow tie showed up at the office across the street, business there seemed to pick up quite a bit.

My current boss, Ryuichi Naruhodo, never lacks for cases that come knocking, but after a year of being independent without landing a single one, I couldn't help feeling jealous.

I asked Maya if I could borrow her family's other kid, Harumi. Maya flat-out refused, and Harumi promptly hid in the spirit medium village.

Later, I found inspiration in the apprentice of the boss across the street and set up a yakisoba stall on the first floor, offering case consultations with every order.

Maybe word had spread too far about how desperately broke I was, because an organization that valued talent came looking for me. A year later, another chance to change jobs and careers had arrived.

But for some reason, when the news got out, a crowd from the office across the street swarmed around me.

They wanted to stop me from changing jobs.

That scared me half to death. I thought they were going to arrest me too.

"Don't worry, I'm not going with them. They're the mafia that drove my great-uncle's company into bankruptcy."

"How do you know they're the mafia?"

"Who else would wear all black in broad daylight?"

Just when I thought the crisis was over, things started getting strange.

First, a graduate student who claimed to be interested in the legal profession kept dropping by.

Then I was pestered by the kid of a relative of the boss across the street. And, for the record, murders started happening around me after that.

Even more absurdly, an intern detective who already had two jobs and seemed to have other part-time gigs on the side said he wanted to be my assistant?!

Without thinking, I asked him, "Are you crazy? I'm so broke I can barely support myself. How could I afford to hire an assistant?"

But he said he could work for free.

Looking at that perfectly handsome face that no one could find fault with, I suspected...

I'd run into a honey trap.

1. The parts involving Japanese law follow the Ace Attorney games, with a mostly fictional setting and plenty of original details. They differ considerably from reality.

2. There are cases to solve, and there is a main plot, but only just.

3. Besides the two characters already introduced in the blurb, there are other potential male leads. Yes, this is a stock-picking romance.

4. The censored term refers to the adult version of Japan's notorious black-clad criminal organization, the mafia.

Theme: A gentleman loves money, but acquires it honorably