The Case Files of Jeweler Richard (Light Novel), Vol. 6

Format read: Paperback
Reading time: 7h
Tags: mystery, adventure, translation, friendship, found family, lgbt (bi, m/m, ace)
Own a copy: yes
Reread likelihood: 1000/10

Summary
Vol. 6 features four cases and two short extras:

Extra 1: Sinhalite Beckons, Part 1: A Japanese woman travels alone to Sri Lanka and comes across a jewellery store where a pretty sinhalite shines in the window. A handsome foreigner fluent in English and Sinhala tells her that the stone is counterfeit and invites her to visit his jewellery shop instead. She decides to take a chance and follow this stranger to a different part of the city.

1. The Wandering Conch Pearl: A father-daughter duo shops up at Étranger to have a necklace done with conch pearls specifically. Meanwhile, a dubious character shows up, claiming he works as a government researcher, and tries to get information from Richard about the building owner. It turns out that the owner is a postwar Japanese Dominican farmer who was a victim of the government's scheming.

2. Resplendent Spinel: Seigi gets roped into replacing a university friend at his café job for a few hours. During his shift, Richard stumbles in with a woman in tow, seemingly running from someone or something. The woman, a minor television celebrity, runs in to avoid her fiancé/manager, but the man catches up to them and the pair end up causing a scene at Seigi's temporary workplace.

3. Paraíba Tourmaline Romance: Following Richard's enthusiastic invitation, Tanimoto winds up at Étranger to meet Seigi's famous boss. The two bond over their shared interest in gemology, and their respective relationships to Seigi. Tanimoto admits to Seigi that she never had the intention to date anyone, and that it makes her feel like a failure of a human. Richard consoles her and Seigi understands that his friendship with Tanimoto is more important than a potential romance.

4. The Tanzanite of Rebirth: On his way home from work at Étranger, Seigi is accosted by a ghost of his past, his biological father. The man insists on following Seigi around everywhere, begging him to let him live with him, but Seigi wants nothing to do with the man who hurt him and his mother. Seigi is driven to the edge and considers extreme solutions to his problem, including quitting his job at Étranger and moving apartments, all to avoid his leech of a father. Jeffrey gets wind of these plans and makes Richard aware so that he can jump in and help Seigi at his darkest hour.

Extra 2: Sinhalite Beckons, Part 2: The woman from part 1 is brought to a private home in Sri Lanka where she meets the Japanese man's business partner, a blond, blue-eyed beauty whom she instantly recognizes as Richard from Ginza. She learns that the two run a jewellery business from their home and often travel for work. The woman asks Seigi out, but he gently turns her down before setting her on her way for the airport.

Review

“I want to be by your side from now on, if you'll let me. ... I'm trying to become a person worthy of you”

“When you were preparing tea earlier, she... I'm not sure how to put this... had a very severe look on her face. (...) I will refrain from going into detail about what she said but in a very serious tone, she told me that I didn't know how much I had hurt you last year, and demanded that I never upset someone she cares about like that again. (p.174)

“Why do you treat me like some rock on the side of the road? What do you think I am? A doll that's not good for anything but being on display? (...) you had the audacity to try to abandon me and walk off into the darkness. It's beyond asinine and irrational. English people do not appreciate irrationality. So tell me, why are you treating me this way?” (p. 230)

The moment I realized that he had been watching over me and accepting me for who I was on a much deeper level that I could have imagined, I felt like I had been tossed into the middle of the ocean–it was salty, and I struggled to breathe. I was such a loser, such a thoughtless person, a timid child crying in the dark with his knees held tightly to his chest, and yet it felt like he took it all in and said that it was fine. But it wasn't just a feeling, he believed in me, more than I could ever believe. (pp.247-248)

“At times, I also find it easier to breathe when you're with me.” (p.282)