Vol 2 Chapter 4 (1/2)
4 - ”bloody Beast”
The next day
It was another fine day, with fine weather covering the entire country A good day for leisurely activity Watching a bit of TV for once in theoff to the sea andfaces, that's what I call a vacation!
And here ere, huddling our desks in the corner of the classroo
Then again, I had no preference either way In fact, having a ht even suitti away at a hot cup of coffee On such an occasion, only black coffee with its bitter taste would suffice
”Oreki, stop daydrea of a solution here!”
My consciousness returned to the enda today was the solution to thetitle)” Since ere only discussing it, eren't exactly going beyond our responsibilities as ”observers” But then, I wassilently, as it was just Satoshi+ su the situation,
”In other words, what Haba-seid, as it's not easy breaking into a double sealed room Especially the outer sealed rooh you can break in',”
The outer sealed roo to was the second sealed roo yesterday As the entrance to the right corridor was being watched by Sugimura, no one would be able to sneak inside perfectly without being seen
Chitanda tilted her head and said timidly, ”So it can't be broken into? But, how could you be so certain?”
”Well, you see, Chi-chan,”
Ibara took over the explanation
”It's under the pretext that Haba-sempai's second sealed room exists If that is to be broken into, then theyabout when and hoas broken into If that's the case, then the cast could have treated this 30 seconds as a blind spot where they would sho the killer breaks in But we've not seen anything of that sort in the h roo extra”
”Oh, I see So it was neverthe brief ht?”
Ibara nodded and continued, ”Besides, it's the sa to escape from Senouchi-sempai and the others' lines of vision That's why I hadn't thought Hongou-sempai would consider the possibility of a second sealed roo toofroht side corridor would have been better”
Give it up already, Ibara Where's the fun if you have to do all the thinking? Though Ibara quickly gave a self-deprecating smile and waved her hand to dismiss what she just said
”Nah, that probably won't work as well Since they've already shot the part with Sugi above the hall, whichthe whole time”
Silence Thehad come to a deadlock
Recognizing the stalemate, Chitanda suddenly spoke
”By the way, I nearly forgot,”
She took so on her shoulder
”Here, have some”
It was solish words written on them It seemed they hiskey bonbons
”What's with these?”
Faced with the sudden appearance of such luxury, Ibara said that looking half-aently
”These are saift by the candy h we hardly eat many sweets, so”
Upon opening the lids, each se whiskey bonbons
”Since I got it as a gift, feel free to have them”
She handed one over toand put the chocolate inflavour of almond and whiskey as I bit it
Chitanda asked, ”How is it?”
”It tastes strong”
To the point of getting drunk I was thinking of having another one, seeing as she went out of her way to give them to us, but decided otherwise
As each one of us got their share of candy, I began to do so
The biggest challenge this mystery posed was its limitation of information As Ibara had put it, as it wasn't really fil extra To begin with, was it even possible to solve thethe ain just to confirm Besides, the movie never even showed the fact that the entrance to the hall and the north-facing ere boarded up Was it possible to film the rest of the scenes in time for the day after tomorrow (Yes! The day after tomorrow!) just by our own observations
I thought froou Mayu, writing a e of detective fiction, and working so hard on it that she got gastritis fro her as a sincere and attentive person She hasdivision were unable to get the script she worked so hard on I wonder how she would feel if she were to hear people tell her ”Can you really solve this just by watching the film?”
Well, I'll leave that aside for now
”Whoo”
A strange sigh was heard
An aht appeared before my eyes I had two bonbon wrappers in front of me Satoshi+ also had thile Ibara had one But was that six wrappers from bonbons that Chitanda had eaten? And she was in the process of unwrapping a seventh as atching I frantically stopped her
”I think that's enough for you Since it's alcoholic, after all”
Upon being told this, Chitanda stared at the seventh bonbon on her palm, then looked at the wrapper beside it Just when I ondering what she would do next, she promptly put the bonbon into her mouth
As she was quite indulging herself, she said, ”Oh, I've eaten this e taste, so I felt curious and had more”
Eating more just because she was curious
”Chi-chan! Are you alright?”
Noticing how serious the situation was, Ibara called out to Chitanda, who merely responded with a smile
”I'm fine, why do you ask?”
”But, you look strange”
”I'm fine, I'm fine Fufufu”
Uh
As the appointed time had arrived, Eba came as usual and stood by the door with her eh this time she raised her eyebrows
”That smell is that alcohol?”
Satoshi+ promptly replied, ”Nope, just whiskey bonbons”
As if Eba cares about the difference In any case, she seemed to lose interest in the smell and handed a bundle of paper over to me
”Oreki-san,”
Ah, yes I stood up to receive the copies It was the script that I requested from Eba the other day With this, I would be able to find out just how ou intended to put in her script
”It would've been better if I had this yesterday,”
Indeed it would have been better if I had had this earlier I then shts Didn't I decide not to carefired up after shooting down Nakajou's and Haba's theories in quick succession
If I don't have to do it, I won't If I have to do it, make it quick At once, I opened the script and looked up the part mentioned the day before, to find out if there was any s of the scene of the crie I flipped to ended up being the part where I was looking for
Kounosu: ”There's another set of et them?”
A cut here is reco unlocked
Upon unlocking the door, only the boys are to enter the rooirls are to stand side by side at the door)
Kaitou-kun is to lie on the ground While it may be plain to the observer, please have him hold his arm to emphasize the pain He is unconscious and unable to call out for help
The boys are to run towards him
The order of who reaches him first is fine
Upon helping Kaitou-kun up, Sugimura-kun is to discover the blood on the floor with his palm
Katsuda-kun will go and open the(Please be careful not to get injured by the glass)
Please take a few moments to shoot the outside of theMake sure there are no traces of footsteps outside
Katsuda-kun is to go towards the Left Stage, whether it's through the stage or the backstage corridor is fine Though as the stage is filled with rotting wood, please take extreh it
It ritten in quite some detail I see, no wonder she was so stressed out if the whole thing ritten in such a style From the description ”Make sure there are no traces of footsteps outside” - it was how Nakajou had said, when Hongou went there the grass had still not yet grown coht
As I was thinking, Chitanda said to me, ”Is that a script?”
”Yeah”
She seemed pretty hammered
”Looks good, very good I want to have it”
She's really drunk Normally it would have been fine to just hand it to her, but as I'm quite worried about her now, I decided not to In turn, I called out to Satoshi+, ”Satoshi+, you have a book binder?”
Satoshi+ gave nant look
”As if anyone would carry that around”
”You have a stapler then?”
”I do have one; it's a sh”
He placed his hand inside his drawstring bag and took out a stapler Not everyone carries such things around with theether
”I wonder e should do with this?”
”Losing it would be bad, so you keep it with you,”
As per Ibara's instructions, I placed the script copy intothat ere finished, Eba spoke
”Then, let us go We'll be heading to the Class 2-C classroom”
Upon exiting the classroohtwas The March of the Black Queen I kept wondering why for the past few days thethe roo to do with our appoint at 1pm, which would be the ti their practice sessions on different days, as I do not hear music from other music clubs
Ibara asked Eba, alked ahead of us, ”Who're wetoday”
”Sawakiguchi Sawakiguchi Misaki, of the h she was hardly involved in the fil is incomplete, advertisement of the movie has also been stalled”
Then she shouldn't be included as part of the crew, isn't that kind of htforward question was responded to by Eba with a straightforward answer
”Sawakiguchi was deeply involved in the early planning stages of the project as well as the direction it would take So shethe mystery”
She then added, ”At least that's what Irisu has determined”
Huchi ood ideas, toinvolved in deciding the direction of a project wasn't really much As Irisu had mentioned, and based on our conversations with Nakajou and Haba, Class 2-F's enre As if so such a direction would be able to deduce anything Though as I thought that, I said nothing
We ca corridor, when suddenly Chitanda raised her voice
”Oh! I remember now!”
”W-what is it, Chi-chan?”
Ibara staggered as Chitanda practically shouted into her ear, while Chitanda looked quite happy as she placed her hands before her chest
”This Sawakiguchi-san, she's good at drawing, isn't she? My memory seems to be fuzzy today, I can't believe I couldn't remember who she was just now”
Hmm? Chitanda kneho she was? Eba turned her head around and asked, ”Drawings? Sawakiguchi does occasionally draw some illustrations, but how did you know that?”
Chitanda smiled and said, ”In the Arts Preparation Room Oreki-san, you should know And yet you're quite mean to keep quiet about it!”
Now she's got oodness she's of the pleasant type Umm, where e? The Arts Preparation Room?
As I tried to recall, Ibara got there before me
”Oh, she's one of those girls that borrowed that strange library book!”
That strange book, a , I was involved in a quiz challenge involving art and the nairls
As though trying to recall, Chitanda's eyes wandered round and round
”Yes, that Sawakiguchi-san If I re was the one that looked kind of strange,”
While I wasn't too fa soa Studies Club with an interest in all things visual, Ibara nodded in agreement
”You're right, I re was terrible or full of personality, her art just see for their assignments”
”Maybe she was drawing it in an abstract style?”
Though not familiar with the situation, Satoshi+ decided to say so
Ibara said with a troubled look, ”Solance, but is actually good?”
Walking sohed softly
”You've seen Sawakiguchi's art? In that case, you probably won't find it strange once you meet her in person”
I wonder what sheto insinuate?
Eba stopped as we arrived outside the Class 2-C classroom
The girl there had her hair tied into a chignon Rather than a chignon, calling it a Chinese hair bun would be more appropriate With two Chinese hair buns wrapped with cloths adorned with dragon patterns on both sides of her head, she wore a tank top and jeans Her skin was slightly tanned In her hand was a azine The overall irl noticed our presence and waved one of her ar to us
”Ciao!”
And greeted us in Italian Chitanda proreeted her back without hesitation
”Good afternoon, Sawakiguchi-san”
Sawakiguchi gave a big sigh, and shook her head in an exaggerated way that reminded me of those overreactions seen in American movies
”No, you don't seereet me back with 'ciao' as well! Otherwise it won't connect Now, let's do this again Ciao!”
I looked on with troubled eyes at Chitanda, who took it rather calmly
”Oh, I'm very sorry Then, ciao”
Yup, she's really drunk Nor faced with such unexpected responses
Watching this all along, Satoshi+ whispered to me, ”She's kinda eccentric, isn't she?”
”Seems so”
”So Kae people that I don't know of”
He sounded quite regretful, as though talking about a coave an aard smile
Meanwhile, upon hearing Chitanda's response, Sawakiguchi became very cheerful
”Thank you for couchi Misaki”
In turn, Eba introduced us to her
”These are the people froo easy on them, Misaki”
Indeed, if she didn't go easy on us, I'd be at a loss As Eba didn't introduce us individually, we had to do so ourselves Sawakiguchi didn't see our na selectively
After Satoshi+ announced his name, she said, ”I see Anyway, have a seat”
”Okay”
As we got ourselves seated, Eba took her leave As soon as Eba closed the door, Sawakiguchi stretched her fingers so much we could hear them creak
”So you're the ones who helped us out on our project, right? Well, how did you find the others' deductions? Were they good?”
Satoshi+ said bluntly, ”Not really”
”They were rejected?”
”Yeah”
Satisfied with the response, Sawakiguchi nodded many times
”That won't do, if the students don't endure hardshi+ps Young'uns these days sure know nothing about hardshi+ps”
As she spoke in an exotic deadpan-like accent, for aones” She seeless stuff, though I don't particularly dislike people with such interests
On the other hand, Satoshi+ said jubilantly as though digging out some treasure, ”Well, it is a difficult case, after all If one intended to sit down and solve this, then it wouldn't be interesting if they didn't digest the details properly”
What do you est the details properly”? As far as I know, Satoshi+ has two mottos The first was ”Jokes are to be s to be dispelled right away” The other was ”Conclusions cannot be made from databases alone” And it's not like he could solve the case hi his own database anyway
Sawakiguchi laughed
”You guys sound pretty reliable As expected of the people Irisu recommended Well, ifon you to sort out the bits”
”Leave that to us”
If you're gonnato uchi was also overdoing it
”Alrighty! Then I'll be counting on you fully”
Satoshi+ spoke in a frank and relaxed manner
”Sawakiguchi-se divisionunfinished, right?”
”True”
Sawakiguchi made a sulky expression and crossed her arms
”It's true that without the product, we couldn't ”
”Then, what seems to be the problem?”
”Isn't it obvious?”
She sighed deeply
”We still need a title We can't do anything without a title We can't even decide on a suitable font either Normally a title would be added when a movie is finished, but the problem now is that the movie is not completed”
That goes without saying Anyone involved in advertising during the Cultural Festival would have to make banners or posters, but it feels extre due to the lack of a title
Sawakuguchi then smiled at Satoshi+
”At any rate, we'll have to do so with the script Before you hear my theory, I'll take any questions from you, so fire away”
Even when she asked us to fire away, I ended up flinching at her overenthusiastic manner Yet Chitanda didn't seem to mind a bit
”Then ill begin Sawakiguchi-san, you were involved in choosing the direction the class would take for the festival, right?”
Sawakiguchi looked puzzled and said, ”Well, yeah, I was involved”
”You decided to enre, and you entrusted Hongou-san with the script, right?”
”Yeah”
Chitanda stretched her body across the table
”How did you decide upon that? Please tell me”
What's she trying to ask? What's that got to do with the h she was still as articulate as usual, she didn't see properly I promptly chided her