As Toshiko proceeded down the stairs, her eyes(and ears) fell upon the small form of the boy, one of two children in her care. She raised an eyebrow, inclining her head to the side as she listened to his very external monologue. She couldn't help but find it rather amusing. Cruel woman? She supposed that was true, to some people. And she couldn't argue the cigarette point. It wasn't as if her smoking habit had particularly dropped off. Still, they were useful for more then satisfying cravings. The candy, though... well, it wasn't healthy to eat candy in such volume, to say the least. And funds weren't exactly plentiful, purchasing mass amounts of candy wasn't the best idea at the moment. Holding her cigarette to the side, angled away from Jun, she replied to him.

"Fortunately, we do indeed have a new case. Unfortunately, you're going to have to wait until everyone's here to learn about the case," she replied, to the boy's idle questioning as she stepped off of the stairs and into the room. She brought the cigarette to her lips and inhaled as she paused, taking it from her mouth and blowing the smoke out. Her office was rather... sedate, at the moment. And there was no real surprise in that fact. With the lack of cases recently, no-one was really getting any work. Or any pay, for that matter. "... Or if we're sure everyone who bothered showing up is here, at least."

There was the possibility that some employees would elect not to appear. Their loss if they missed out on a case, frankly. Toshiko would be conducting her investigation as soon as possible, there was no time to delay much further. Out of everyone here, technically only two of them were employees. Jun was too young to actually be one, so he just assisted when Toshiko felt it was appropriate and received an allowance. Akemi, well... Akemi existed to assist Toshiko. A homunculus was a person, but it was a person who was created with a very specific purpose in mind. In Akemi's case, she was made to assist and aid Toshiko whenever capable.

"I'll wait a little longer before introducing our case," the redheaded mage added, "Just in case anyone else feels like showing up."