The Case Files of Jeweler Richard - Chapter 3.3

So apparently Jewels is a real ballet, but doesn’t have any “roles” so to speak…I really should have looked this up before lol

Shinkai-san walked to the end of the hallway and told us to come and look at this. Since the photos of the dancers hanging on the wall were all in black-and-white, I thought they were all old, but it didn’t seem like that was the case for some of them. The one at the farthest right. The ballerina in a white costume who was leaning forward with her eyes closed and her hands clasped as though in prayer. There was a flower crown on her head. When I looked closer, I saw that only this frame was awfully new.

“This is…?”

“Kataura Minako-san. She passed away last year.”

“Kataura…does that mean…”

“The director’s daughter. There was a time when I was told over and over again that she has connections or something, but everyone knows she was a talented dancer. She was beautiful and kind, like an angel.”

She suffered from osteosarcoma* and ascended to heaven at the young age of thirty-three. God might have mistaken her for one of his angels , Shinkai-san’s voice shook as she said that. She wasn’t crying. She was angry.

(TN: Osteosarcoma is a type of bone cancer that produces immature bone. It is most prevalent in young adults.)

“This performance was something that had been planned for years, so if this hadn’t happened, the emerald role would have been danced by Minako-san. It’s so frustrating that she had to die at the best time for a dancer. But, even so, she would never become a ghost and trouble the company. What I want to say is that Minako-san wouldn’t do such a thing. We’re all lonely without her, and I can understand wanting her to appear even as a ghost, but calling that a ‘curse’ is truly rude.”

I looked at the ballerina in the prayer pose once more. White clothes. White skin. My impression of ballet was hammered into my mind as “Swan Lake” and “the thing young ladies took lessons for”. Either way, it was graceful, delicate, and ethereal. This photo looked a bit like a photo of a ghost.

Shinkai-san turned towards Richard once more, clasped her hands together, and said Please . It was strange. Every single one of her movements of joining her fingers together seemed magical. It felt like the weight of the air was different only around her.

“We’re all working ourselves hard to the bone. If you learned anything, please tell me no matter how small it is. Nakata-kun knows my email. If in the worst case we have to do an exorcism, I will do my best to find a temple.”

“…I do not know if we can be helpful, but I have been told that it will not be long until the performance. I sincerely hope that everything will proceed well.”

“Thank you very much. Really, everyone is praying that it will all go smoothly.”

“But, it must be tough. That being part of the stage costume means that there’s a ballerina who has to wear it and dance, right? Must be difficult…”

“Really? I’m actually that ballerina, but it’s not difficult for me at all?”

I widened my eyes, and Shinkai-san opened her mouth wide and laughed. It was carefree. Way too carefree. It was rude to feel this way, but—it looked somewhat like a model example of pretending that you were fine.

“Minako-san was my precious senpai. This pendant was an amulet I gave to her as a present. Isn’t it cute? The malachite is a stone that is said to have the effect of ‘clearing disease’, and Minako-san’s favorite color was green, so I thought it was perfect…”

But I guess it wasn’t that effective, Shinkai-san laughed again. She told us that Director Kataura returned the pendant, which Minako-san had been wearing until her last moments, to her. The amulet became a memento.

“When I wear this now, I feel like Minako-san is protecting me.”

I was finally starting to understand the existence of the ballerina named Kataura Minako little by little. She was a daughter to Director Kataura and a senpai to Shinkai-san. The core of the ballet company. Even from the appearance of this building, it seems that the ballet company was a place where people were closer to each other rather than a workplace. The hole made by the loss of a ballerina, who was a pillar, still hadn’t completely closed up.

And when everyone is trying to fill it in, this occurred.

Richard, with sympathetic-looking eyes, bowed to Shinkai-san.

“My deepest condolences for you.”

“Thank you. I think the director is having a more difficult time than any of us. Because she is standing, it makes us feel like we have to do our best. Me taking the emerald role was apparently decided after she discussed it with Minako-san. She said that Minako-san also agreed that if anyone could do it, it was me…and that to do my best because she was sure that she would be supporting me…Oh, I’m sorry. I made things too gloomy. Anyways, Nakata-kun, I don’t find it ‘difficult’ at all. I want to dance for Minako-san as well, from the bottom of my heart.”

“I said something awful without knowing anything. I’m truly sorry. Please forgive me.”

“You’re just like Shouko with that sincerity of yours.”

Shinkai-san smiled a little distractedly, just like she did in Shinjuku. Just as I thought, she seemed to have been steeling herself until now. Then, from downstairs, somebody called her name. Yes? She responded and leaned over the stair railing. There was a short old man in overalls on the floor below us. He was yelling at her about the bamiri of the gene or something-or-other.* What language was that? Was it Japanese? Just wait a minute, please , Shinkai-san answered back in a loud voice.

(TN: Bamiri is the marks on the stage that shows the position of people or props, and gene is short for dress rehearsal.)

“They found out I snuck off. Sorry, I have to leave now.”

Shinkai-san bowed sharply to Richard and me. When I looked at her, my image of the occupation of ballerina steadily changed. She was a regular athletic young woman. Even though I had imagined it to be a job for fairy-like people.

Richard leaned forward from the stairs and looked down at the old man below.

“Who is that gentleman?”

“That’s Old Man Yoshida. Oh, his grandson works together with him, so we distinguish between them by calling them Old Man Yoshida and Grandson Yoshida. If there’s anything you don’t know, you can ask him. He’s the veteran of our backstage. Props, stage settings, management responsibilities—he does most of it.”

“…Then…”

Isn’t he the most suspicious person? I signaled with my eyes, and Shinkai-san laughed me off.

“That’s a fair argument, but it would be impossible to move that safe at his age. When the jewelry went missing during my costume fitting, he turned pale that it looked like he had a heart attack and started telling us to just kill him. We were all anxious, wondering if he was going to die if the jewelry didn’t turn up. Oh, but some guilty people pretend to be innocent, isn’t there?”

“I’m not trying to pretend to be a detective…”

“Sorry. But, it’s his responsibility to manage the props, so if you’re interested in documents about the quality of the stones or the insurance arrangements at the time of reimbursement or anything like that, please talk to him. Well, I’ll be off now.”

Shinkai-san, who went down the stairs, turned around on the landing and bowed beautifully. At that moment, the weight of the air changed. It was as if there was soft-looking magic cast only around her limbs. However, when she went down the stairs and about to disappear into the hallway, at the last moment, her bright smile quickly receded and a stiff, pale expression remained. It seemed that I wasn’t wrong that she was steeling herself.

The emerald dancer. The one who danced with jewelry that caused trouble was Tanimoto-san’s precious friend. A groan slipped from my mouth. This was a heavy responsibility.

There was an inexpensive and familiar Italian cuisine chain restaurant that was right outside the company’s building. We secured a booth that wasn’t too visible. When I, who requested drinks at the drink bar* for two people, poured water for us from the self-service area, Richard put his hands together and said, “So?” It seemed he understood.

(TN: A drink bar is the self-service drink area in a restaurant.)

“Your question?”

“Everything. I didn’t understand anything.”

“Where should I start?”

“Start with the ‘phone call the day before yesterday.’”

Richard had an irked look on his face, but said, “Understood,” and began talking.

On Friday night, Richard received a phone call from Director Kataura. She asked him to please take a look at the necklace just once if it was alright with him since it was related to gemstones. He declined by saying that whether it was an exorcism consultation or a request for a detective, it was all out of his field. However, her sudden visit on Saturday, combined with the fact that I knew Shinkai-san, he ended up promising to only take a look.

“What about those emeralds?”

“At first glance, it was a piece of jewelry that was ordinary in every way. If we are talking about the existence or non-existence of a curse, then one should consult someone with occultic abilities.”

“I know, right…”

If he could tell that kind of thing just by looking at the gemstones, I thought Richard could make money a bit more easily. I opened the pictures folder on my phone. The image of the DM from Shinkai-san.

The word “Jewels.”*

(TN: Jewels is the English word written in katakana here)

“Please explain…”

“Have you ever heard of the function called internet search engines?”

“I’m begging you! I told you I’m bad at Western writing. I’ll treat you to the drink bar.”

“Who was the one who was laughing about memorizing my entire name?”

“That’s not ‘Western writing,’ it’s ‘your name.’ I can remember the name of a special person, at the very least.”

Richard averted his eyes from me as much as possible, gripped his cup, and began drinking water. He was drinking with a lot of force, as though he was thirsty. I half-rose, asking him if he wanted me to get him a refill, but he signaled with a hand to tell me to sit down. Does this mean that switch was flipped?

“…Once upon a time, there lived a man named George Balanchine.”

“Please make the difficulty level easy. Make it a digest version with a small number of characters.”

“Be quiet, listen.”

“Yes.”

George-san of the Balanchine family was born in Russia, worked in France, and created a ballet company in America. Apparently, his name became harder to pronounce when pronounced in the style of his native Russia, but since he passed away in America, it seemed that the English reading of “George” was the most in favor. Foreign names were difficult.

“When it comes to a typical ballet, they tend to be associated with classical ballet in the form of having a worldview based on fairy tales, the leading ballerina dance the role of the princess, and a happy ending, but Balanchine popularized a newer form of ballet. This ‘Jewels’ is one of those. There is no story. They are called plotless ballet.”

A dance without a story. Did that mean they just danced? Like a high school dance club’s practice? Well, since it was pros dancing, there was probably a world of difference in terms of technique.

Jewels , a work from Balanchine’s mature period, was a three-act ballet that likened each of the three countries that had a great impact on his life to gemstones.

The first act was Emeralds , the motif was France.

The second act was Rubies , the motif was America.

The third act was Diamonds , the motif was Russia.

“Was that what Shinkai-san’s fill-in-the-blanks quiz was about?”

“Precisely.”

After she showed him the emerald necklace, Director Kataura showed the emerald tiara. It seemed that it was an item that was designed to go together with the necklace. She also took out the accessories with synthetic diamonds and rubies. Even I could tell immediately that those two were imitations. The feeling of transparency for the diamonds and rubies were too strong. They were like colored crystals. The real deals weren’t so transparent. I felt that the craftsmanship for the imitations was better for the emeralds. Were they used for another act?

“There is no objective connection between each gemstone and country, it was just that the choreographer adapted the gemstones that he associated with each country. If I knew, it is only trivia.”

“You really do know everything.”

“If it is related to gemstones, then yes.”

“You’re not being very modest.”

“In Britain, modesty is not a virtue.”

Britain, Britain, he says, but so far Richard has been asked twice if he was French. The family name Vulpian seemed to be thought of as French by the people who knew it. But when asked about his nationality, he always answered that he was British and said nothing more than that. I have been told that his grandmother was Sri Lankan, but he never talked about that kind of thing to even our regular customers. Perhaps his family relationships were extremely complicated. His family loved international marriages, and it seemed that it would take three hours just to explain the highlights.

Or maybe, he simply didn’t want to delve into it. I also didn’t like talking about my family very much. I didn’t do well with the middle school English, which turned into a ceremony of “What time does your mom come home? What are your dad’s hobbies?” and a privacy exposure event. If it was the same with him, then I understood how he felt.

When I was silent, Richard continued to speak as though he was told to talk more.

“In each act, the dancers do not play the role of gemstones but dance the beauty of the gemstones themselves. There is choreography, but no clear plot. There are no stage settings such as national flags or castles. It is a graceful dance that unfolds in a dreamlike space.”

“That sounds kind of philosophical and difficult…”

“It is simple. They are trying to superimpose the beauty of humans on the beauty of stones.”

The superposition of beauty. Hmm. Should I think of it as a Richard-like work? As far as I knew, he was the one who was most like a gemstone in this world. He radiated so much beauty that made you think that only being there was all you needed. The waiter from before was also sneaking glances at Richard’s profile and almost knocked over the cups. A beauty that could cause slight inconvenience. As I was staring at him absentmindedly, I panicked when I realized that he was also looking at me. He was glaring at me.

“Is there something wrong with my face?”

“It-it’s nothing. A gemstone dance, huh? Why not just make it the places the stones are from, if anything? Rubies are Thailand or Myanmar, diamonds are Africa, and for emeralds…where are they mined from?”

“Mainly in South America. Colombia is the most well-known producer. They are also mined in Brazil and other countries, but the most excellent stones have always come from—”

After saying that much, Richard broke off.

Like a malfunctioning machine, Richard remained frozen. Even his eyes were staying still. What the hell was going on? I waved my hand in front of his face, and he lifted his head as though surprised.

“Are you okay…?”

“It is nothing. I was only thinking about something.”

Immersing yourself into thinking mode so suddenly was probably something only people like Edison or Einstein could do. Perhaps because he couldn’t bear seeing me with my brows knitted together, Richard shook his head.

“That’s right, the gentleman Shinkai-san introduced to us a short while ago was Old…no, Yoshida-sama, yes? Hearing what he has to say might be very interesting. I am quite sure there are documents with the details of that piece of jewelry.”

“Whoa, whoa, where did that come from? Why are we suddenly going back to talking about the company?”

“Perhaps we will understand what we did not understand earlier.”

“Didn’t you say there was nothing of interest?”

“That was how it was at that time.”

It seemed that something clicked in this jeweler’s head during his abrupt thinking session. Something I had no idea about. Was he really okay? I watched the owner, who prompted me and grabbed the bill, as I remained in my seat. Richard’s brows drew together.

“…Even though you looked so reluctant, once you decide to do something, you really do it, huh.”

“It is not something you should feel particularly responsible for.”

When I looked puzzled, the jeweler looked amazed. The corners of his eyes were a bit slack, and his eyebrows were raised slightly. He looked like he wanted to say, “You don’t know?”

“This is something I was involved in by you, but we have gone too far to turn back now. Kataura-sama said it. ‘We have a connection.’* That is exactly how it is. You seem to have been born under the star of helping people.”

(TN: I spent so much time on this that I’m just going to leave a note here. Connection here refers to the fate/destiny type of connection. 縁がある is up there with 話 for stuff I hate translating)

“Give me a break! I’m, you know, told a lot that I have a habit of carelessly sticking my nose into trouble, but that’s exactly why I don’t want to drag in the people around me. About inconveniencing you, like in this case…”

I swallowed my words. What was I saying? I was putting so much passion into this topic that was exceedingly inconsequential to anyone other than me.

“Like in this case?”

Richard persisted. I didn’t know what to say. If I was feeling sorry about causing trouble for him and promising to never do it again, then I could say that, even though it was likely that I was going to continue causing trouble for him in this way. A pointless apology was meaningless. Furthermore, I didn’t think I did anything wrong.

At me, who was struggling for words, Richard lightly tilted his head and suddenly smiled.

“Do you want to say ‘I think I’m doing a bad thing to you, sorry’?”

I widened my eyes in surprise, and Richard laughed, half in astonishment. The other half looked somewhat proud.

“Somebody looked uncharacteristically apologetic the whole day today, so I was wondering what happened, but it seems that I hit the bull’s-eye. I had fully expected as much.”

“Bu-but—”

“What an utterly bizarre topic. Even though you did not particularly trap me into a difficult situation, you are feeling sorry about ‘dragging me into trouble’ and such. If you feel awkward about being the cause of someone getting dragged into trouble even though it was not unintentional, then you are extremely self-conscious over something quite absurd. Do you use the same logic and expect the same reaction from someone who has inadvertently done a disservice to you? How unproductive.”

“…I’m feeling that way because I’m worried about you. I was wondering if the delicate Richard-san was going to collapse in a heap from receiving too many weird jobs.”

“Do not worry, I am neither delicate nor soft. What will you do? I shall be returning to the ballet company once more, but will you take the train home?”

Don’t make me laugh. He was probably well aware of what the response of the meddling me would be.

I stood up with my bag, and Richard grinned. The second round has begun.