Sabatora Nora

**Sabatora Nora** (野良 鯖虎, *Nora Sabatora*) is the local detective of the Juichimi District in Tokyo.

## Physical description

Nora has short fair hair which is mostly hidden under a two-toned baker boy hat. On the hat are two pins with the kanji "野" and "良" which are the same kanji used for his surname.

He usually wears a white shirt and a pair of dark overalls.

## Biography

### History

When he was a child, Nora was attacked by a crow. Whenever he sees crows now, he becomes very nervous and panicky; crows make him feel like he is in mortal danger.

At some point, Nora started to use online resources to teach himself the skills he needed to obtain a detective license; he passed the test and was given a C-rank license. Despite his high rank, Nora apparently made several false deductions and was once charged with indemnities by a client after he was noticed by a suspected cheater while he was tailing him.

### Invisible Blood Letter Murder Case

Nora was hired to find and catch the Koike family's cat, Nekomi. During the chase, she jumps into the Shingen Archery Dojo when Shu Kotegawa, Akane Saien, and Mikio Toban are training for the upcoming tournament and Mayumi Nakamae, Totomaru Isshiki, Amamiya, and Ron Kamonohashi are watching. When Nora tries to go to the cat without the "signal," Nakamae stops him. The dojo prides itself for not having had any incidents or accidents since her grandfather's generation. Thus, Nakamae calls someone to give the signal before she allows Nora to enter. However, Nekomi runs out of the dojo first, and Nora hurries after her. He eventually managed to catch and return Nekomi.

The next day, Nora comes to the Shingen Archery Dojo after he heard someone was murdered there. He tries to get access to the crime scene but is denied. Nora still manages to get inside the kyudojo though and when he hears that the victim's, Kotegawa's, bag was searched, he suggests that the culprit could have killed Kotegawa to get his money to have a meal at the nearby eel shop. However, a police officer tells him that only Kotegawa's smartphone was stolen, not his money or wallet.

Totomaru, who is assigned to the case and brought along Ron, wants to know what Nora is doing at the crime scene, and Nora reveals that he is a self-taught detective with a C-rank detective license. Considering his odd deductions, Ron and Totomaru are doubtful about the authencity of his license; Nora wonders if they gave him a forgery as well. Then, Amamiya arrives, and they start to interview the members of the kyudojo.

Saien states she found Kotegawa lying on the ground at 7 a.m. and immediately called the police. At the time of his estimated death, she was sleeping at home; as she lives alone, she has no witnesses. Toban was out running last night; he is dismissive about the reason why though. He points out that he is in a slump right now and could not have possibly hit Kotegawa precisely in the vertebrae. Toban also testifies that he ran past the kyudojo around 10 p.m. and heard a bow being fired inside. He did not look inside, but from the sound of the bow he knows that he does not know the person who was firing the bow.

Nakamae arrives afterward and says that, like Saien, she was asleep at home last night and has no witnesses either. Toto asks Saien, Toban, and Nakamae about the arrow that killed Kotegawa, but none of them has ever seen it. He also tells them about Kotegawa's failed dying message.

Furthermore, Nakamae states that no one held a grudge against Kotegawa as far as she knows. He was also supposed to be the *ochi* (last shooter in the group) at the upcoming tournament because there is a lot of pressure on the last archer. Kotegawa is fairly cool-headed and, thus, ideal for the position. Nakamae wonders what Kotegawa could have wanted to write, and Saien says it is likely meaningless and she should not put too much on herself.

A crow then passes by, and Nora states that someone is lying. Amamiya scolds him for saying something so ridiculous and drags him away to give him a lesson. Ron says Nora was not wrong though as the "truth is in the palm of the shooter's hand" like an arrow.

Later, Nora gathers everyone to present his deduction: The murderer is among them, and Kotegawa wrote his dying message with blood on the whiteboard in the hallway; for this reason, he has blood on his index finger. As the message says "Saien," Saien is obviously the culprit. She, however, tells Nora that she wrote her name on the whiteboard to remind herself that she has cleaning duty, and Toban points out that the hallway is ten metres away from the place where Kotegawa died. Nora is distraught when he hears that; he cannot believe his deduction was wrong.

Totomaru then tells everyone what actually happened: The blood on Kotegawa's finger is an important clue as there are five positions in archery—*oomae*, *niteki*, *naka*, *yonteki*, and *ochi*. As the blood is on Kotegawa's index finger, it is a hint that the culprit is connected to the *niteki* position. There is no archer at the kyudojo with that position though. Toto points out that the character for *niteki* can also be read as *nakamae* ("before *naka*") which is Nakamae's family name. She readily confesses. Nakamae states when she and Kotegawa were practicing, he said something that "soiled the honor of the Shingen school." Because she could not forgive him for that, she killed him.

Hearing this, Nora replies she is lying. While Amamiya and Totomaru are about to dismiss his words, Ron agrees and says that Totomaru also deduced that Nakamae is lying. She did not murder Kotegawa; it was an accident which she wants to look like murder because she has a secret: Nakamae is in a slump right now. Because of that, the arrow that killed Kotegawa is in such poor condition, and Toban did not recognize the sound of the arrow because she used a weaker bow. Nakamae shot Kotegawa by accident because she did not hear him clap: She is deaf on her left ear, and Kotegawa clapped when he stood to her left side. "Toto" deduced that because he exclaimed something in surprise yesterday while standing to Nakamae's left and she did not appear to have heard it although she is strict with noise in the dojo.

Nakamae admits everything. She suddenly became deaf due to stress, and when she was training for the tournament, she became impatient with her aging, weaking body and made her first *hayake*. This left her panicked as archery is all she has. Kotegawa noticed her struggles and offered to help her. However, Nakamae did not improve which made her impatient again. She kept firing arrow after arrow, and when she noticed Kotegawa in front of the target, it was already too late. Afterward, Nakamae erased all traces of their training. She also put blood on Kotegawa's finger because she did not want anyone to know about her failings; she wanted people to think that Kotegawa was killed by a skilled archer, not a worn-out one who made a terrible mistake.

Afterward, Ron, Toto, and Nora talk about the case. Ron points out that Nora has a gift for detecting lies, and, on Ron's behalf, Toto says he noticed there were always crows nearby when he noticed a lie. He asks if the crows have anything to do with his ability, and Nora replies crows make him nervous ever since he was attacked by one as a child. As there is a crow nearby right now, he wants to leave, and Ron tells him he can help "Officer Isshiki with his deductions" the next time too. Nora catches that it is partially a lie, and Ron comments that his ability works like he thought: Nora's abilities to detect lies skyrocket whenever he is extremely nervous. He also notes that he can use Nora because of that which terrifies Totomaru.

## Skills and abilities

* **Deductive ability:** Although Nora's deductive skills are dubious as he is infamous in his district for making false deductions, he is a licensed C-rank detective which puts him in the top 10% of licensed detectives.
* **Lie detection:** Nora has excellent powers of insight; he can tell from someone's mannerisms and expressions whether they are lying or not. However, his powers only reach their full potential when he is in a state of extreme nervousness, e.g. when crows are nearby. Because of his lie detecting prowess, Nora holds a C-rank license.

## Etymology

* The name "Sabatora" means "mackerel" (鯖, *saba*) and "tiger" (虎, *tora*).
* His surname "Nora" means "field, wilderness" (野, *no*) and "good, virtuous, respectable" (良, *ra*).

## Trivia

* Nora hates crows. Because of a childhood incident, he considers them his mortal enemies.
* Nora may have been based on Wiggins, the leader of the Baker Street Irregulars from the *Sherlock Holmes* stories.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 61, page 7
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 62, page 19
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 60, page 15
4. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 60, pages 11-15
5. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 60, page 17
6. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 60, page 19
7. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 61, pages 4-19
8. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 62, pages 2-20
9. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 61, pages 7-8
10. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 62, pages 19-20