Katelyn Smith – författare

Professor Mitani, a specialist in modern Japanese history, shows up at Takatsuki’s office clutching a mysterious doll. After Mitani posted a photo of it to his blog, someone claiming to be the granddaughter of the doll’s original owner reached out, describing how it used to grow hair and move around on its own. Takatsuki’s ghost story sensors start tingling, and he drags a reluctant Naoya along with him to investigate… What is the secret of the cursed doll? Why is Naoya suddenly getting called “Dog Boy” by the graduate students? And how does Kenji end up helping Akira on his day off? Find out the answers to all these questions and more in this short story collection from the wonderful world of Akira Takatsuki!

Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki’s Conjecture is a mystery light novel series centered around mystery and school life.

The mysterious lurks in that which fills the crevices between ordinary things—“The Extraordinary.” Akira Takatsuki, an associate professor of folklore studies and a collector of strange tales, has taken Naoya Fukamachi, a college student with the uncanny ability to detect lies, under his wing. When another of Professor Takatsuki’s students reveals that she is living through an urban legend—needles falling all around her and even appearing in her food—the mismatched duo is on the case! But then the professor stops their investigation in its tracks to invite Fukamachi to a barbecue? Is this just one of his eccentricities getting in the way of another, or is there some grand plan brewing…?

We walk a path that straddles the boundary between reality and the next world. Fukamachi loses his mysterious ability to distinguish untruths after catching a cold! While he’s out of commission, Professor Takatsuki makes an appearance on a panel next to an actress who claims to have seen ghosts! How will Takatsuki fare in an investigation of her haunted studio with his lie detector on the fritz...?

It’s no secret that Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki is a die-hard mystery fanatic, and with the help of human lie detector Naoya Fukamachi, he’s determined to solve every case that hits his desk. First, a group of elementary schoolchildren claims to have contacted the spirit of their former classmate through the Kokkuri-san game, and it’s been causing quite a stir. Then Naoya falls ill right around the time of the school festival, and his ability to discern lies…vanishes! And as if the timing couldn’t be any worse, a well-known actress requests that they investigate ghost sightings on the set of an upcoming horror film. Lastly, stories of a young girl being worshipped as a living deity have been making the rounds, and it falls to the professor and Naoya to uncover the truth!

TRUTH IS STRANGER THAN FICTION... Naoya Fukamachi is a university student whose ability to infallibly detect lies has left him friendless and isolated. When he writes a paper about a strange festival he wandered into as a child, though, he catches the fancy of his folklore studies professor, Akira Takatsuki, a handsome and eccentric man with a passion for all things mysterious. Soon, Naoya finds himself working as Akira’s assistant, helping him interpret an array of unexplainable phenomena, from haunted objects and cursed effigies to urban legends. As this odd couple continues their investigations, however, Naoya realizes that his professor has had a few bizarre childhood experiences of his own…

CURSES...BLESSINGS... TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN. A new string of mysteries begins with Naoya’s classmate Nanba discovering a chain letter in his schoolbag. Unusually excited by the occult opportunity, Professor Takatsuki gleefully invites the burden of the chain letter onto himself! Meanwhile, an urban legend about a library spirit has been making the rounds. When Professor Takatsuki and Naoya take the case, they learn about a string of clues hidden within specific library books that will come together to reveal a secret message! But according to rumor, anyone who solves this cipher will fall victim to a curse…Later, the two make their way to the countryside to investigate the legend of a demon god worshipped in a rural village. But when an actual skull turns up in the cave said to house the demon’s remains, it doesn’t take long for the situation to spiral out of control…

GHOSTS OF THE PAST…Spring has come for Naoya, now in his second year of college. To Professor Takatsuki’s delight, Naoya signs on for another year as his assistant, and it doesn’t take long for the requests to start coming in! Strange things keep happening in an architectural office, and every occurrence seems to feature the number four. A weekly magazine puts out an article about a real-life mermaid sighting! But arguably the biggest mystery of all is the appearance of a dapper British gentleman on campus… Wait, he’s Takatsuki’s uncle?!

Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki’s Conjecture is a mystery light novel series centered around mystery and school life.

“The mystical is nothing but phenomena plus interpretation, Fukamachi-kun.” Naoya Fukamachi’s ability to unerringly detect lies has left him friendless and isolated all his life. It certainly isn’t helping him meet new people in college. But when he catches the interest of the handsome but eccentric associate professor of folklore studies, Akira Takatsuki, he finds himself with a part-time job- research assistant in charge of common sense, on a mission to help catalogue the supernatural!

Kunon Gurion was born without sight and unsure of his purpose in life, but everything changes when he resolves to find a way to use magic to see. This is a feat no sorcerer has ever accomplished or even tried, and it won’t be easy. Kunon’s single-minded ambition leads him to quickly surpass his teacher, and with only a few basic spells, he can already sense color, produce useful items, and create a lifelike cat from water! Word of his skills and ingenuity soon reaches the castle, which earns him a rare chance to study under a powerful new mentor. But is Kunon’s goal even attainable?

“If you had died, professor… I would be all alone again.”The truth behind Mana, the “Miracle Girl of Okutama,” comes to light! And soon after, the crew ventures out to investigate a mysterious cave said to enshrine an oni. There, they find not relics of a demon, but rather a human skull with a gaping hole... All this and more, as Professor Takatsuki and Naoya risk life and limb in their hunt for the supernatural!

OFF TO SCHOOL!After developing the Glass Eye, a magic tool that grants him sight, blind sorcery prodigy Kunon Gurion heads to magic school in the city of Dirashik to further his studies. There, he finds cutting-edge facilities and a host of talented teachers and friends. Naturally, the whole school, including the immortal witch herself, is paying plenty of attention to the new student, thanks to his eccentric behavior and shocking skill. Kunon, however, seems most interested in Reyes, a saint who can use rare light magic…and who wants nothing to do with him!

KNOWLEDGE IS THE BEST REWARD.Genius sorcerer Kunon has gotten his business on track and won the rare honor of concurrent membership in three of the magic school’s factions. Now he plans to start a few joint research projects with his illustrious seniors. An experiment on underwater breathing methods takes him to the bottom of the ocean to hunt for sunken treasure, though Kunon might have found an even greater prize than gold or jewels…The blind prodigy’s repertoire continues to grow as he delves further into the mysteries of magic and defies all common sense!

Kunon the Sorceror Can See Through is a light novel series that takes an interesting perspective with a blind protagonist who is determined to heal his sight through magic.