When was the last time I had money?

"I want money."

"Who doesn't. But every time they appear, they just slip out of my hands like water. Maybe you know why that happens?”

"N-no..."- said the little lizard-like girl.

"I thought so. Honestly, I don’t know either. The biggest mystery I can’t solve to date”- the man at the table sighed deeply.

There was a slight silence in the air. The sun shone gently through the windows into the room, and one could see bits of dust flying around. The room was not dirty, but no one would call it tidy, either. There was a chaotic mess of papers and books on the desk, and the ink pot had no ink at all, just a dried up black lake.

"T-then will you find it? I saw your ad, it said your detective agency can find anything"-The kid took the ad out of her pocket.

Last immediately snatched up the piece of paper, crumpled it up, and threw it toward the window, completely missing the trashcan.

"I'd better change my marketing strategy, or they'll come looking for gods soon, and I'm having bad relationships with them." He thought to himself.

It's always hard to tell a lizardman's age by their faces, but the girl sitting there clearly wasn't mature enough to earn anything herself, which clearly upset her, and apparently thought this was the only place she could find them.

"Don’t worry, child! I will find them! I'm the greatest detective in the land! You can always count on the Last’s agency!"- Shouted the guy who owned the agency with a broad smile, standing up and putting his foot on the table, pointing his finger somewhere in the distance.

The girl sitting there immediately perked up and jumped up joyfully from her seat…

"Thanks a lot!" she said and quickly left the room.

It was an awkward moment. Even though he was alone in the room, he still stood in that pose

"Okay, the client is gone and there's finally a new job, but the question remains as to why I'm still standing in this pose"-he looked down and immediately got off the table

"Oh crap, I got my paperwork dirty on Mr. Heisenberg"-he scratched his head and looked at the piece of paper.

The man running the agency was not a tall guy, dressed in a white shirt, black pants and a brown vest. His eyes were the color of a green-blue sea. And despite his slightly shabby hair, his appearance was distinctly more noble than where he worked.

"Money is good, but where can I get it? They hate me, because if they didn’t, I would have enough of it and I could open a bigger agency and then maybe meet a nice girl, we would have a nice home near the river”- Closing his eyes, Last muttered to himself, lolling in his chair.

"That's right!"-Last got up from his chair and jumped over his desk and ran out of the room. As he stepped outside, he closed the door behind him to a small two-story wooden house, which stood between two more substantial three-story houses made of white stone. The house bore a sign that read, "Last's Detective Agency."

Last ran to the only place he knew he could find some money. In fact, that place was more of a steady income than the agency itself, which didn't always bring in money.

"There it is!”- said Last panting. He looked at the little butcher store that was called "Bashi's Meat" and went inside.

With a bell ringing at the door, a man in armor came out to the counter. The shop itself looked better than Last's office and conveyed an unusual, secluded atmosphere.

"Welcome...ah, it's you, what do you want?" the man in armor spoke without finishing his greeting, from which a woman's voice could be heard. No one knew who this woman in the armor was, and didn't really try to find out, as it gave a little charm to the store.

"Well, why be so rude to customers?"

"Remind me one time when you ever bought anything from me, huh?"

"What about the day I bought money from you!" Last said confidently, showing all his frustration at what he thought was a lie.

"You borrowed it from me, not bought it. If that's what you're after, my answer is no, I'm sick of supporting you. And anyway, I don't have the money anymore."

"What?”

"It was eaten by Big Cat Ayasu."

"IT DOESN'T EXIST! You just don't want to lend me a couple of coins, do you?!"-Last banged on the counter.

"If I’ll believe, he might show up, and if I believe even harder, he might eat you, and I’ll never going to see your face again”- said Bashi in a nonchalant voice.

"Can I choose more A noble death? Like being crushed in the arms of that big chest waitress from the downtown pub?”

“I can crush your scull with my bare hands.”

“I still choose the big chest girl”- said Last

“Anyway, this time I'm not asking for myself, I'm asking for a new case."

"I'm sorry, I really can't lend you anything now."

"Why not? You're doing well."

"Did"-Said Bash, getting a little upset. "You've heard about the missing ones, haven't you?"

"You mean those strange disappearances?"

Bashi nodded her head.

"Citizens started disappearing just like that. No signs of fights, no magical particles, absolutely nothing, like they vanished into thin air."

"And what does this have to do with you?"

"My supplier is afraid that his men might go missing at any moment and not come back from the hunt, so I'm selling less now than before."

Last began to mumble something thoughtfully to himself. Bashi never understood what he was saying at such moments, he was doing it so fast that only a few sounds could be heard.

"DECIDED!"- shouted Last.

“?”

"I'll find all the missing people and whoever's doing this, then you can sell meat again and borrow... I mean, pay for my work."- Last slapped his palm on the table, clearly showing confidence in his words and the genius of his plan.

"You borrowed money from me for 100 years to come, all you get is permission to breathe air in my store"- threateningly said Bashi

"Okay, okay, the air's nice in here, so I'll take it."

Last start moving towards the exit

"And yet I don't understand, you take jobs without thinking about whether it will make a profit, and then you ask everyone else for money, why?”

Last stopped and turned to Bashi.

"What do you mean, why? Because solving mysteries is fun."

Smiling, Last walked out of the store