Yuusha-kei ni Shosu: Choubatsu Yuusha 9004-tai Keimu Kiroku [LN] Bahasa Indonesia

 

Case One | The Queen Irie Murder Case

Information 1: About the Queen Irie

Japan's largest cruise ship.
Length: 251 meters. Width: 30.6 meters.
Passenger capacity: 1,100 people.

---

Information 2: Related Characters

Katsuragi Makoto
Haigamine Yuriu
Watanoya Kashihiko
Wako
Amahiko
Nejihiko
Miko

Chapter 1: Please Make a Serious Deduction for Once

A detective is akin to a wave.

The wave-detective washes away the sandcastle painstakingly built by the criminal-child, leveling it in the end.

There is no good or evil in a wave, nor is there mercy or cruelty. It simply returns the sandy beach to its original, natural state.

Indeed, there is no good or evil in a wave. However, there is superiority and inferiority.

If superior, one becomes a Great Detective; if inferior, a bumbling one.

Naturally, those worthy of being called Great Detectives are few and far between in this world.

Yet, even among that rarefied group, there is one man who radiates a distinct, exceptional, and monumental brilliance.

That man bears the alias The Immortal Detective, and he is feared, shunned, and resented by every criminal-child.

He is not killed by any criminal or murderer; he simply does not die.

He does not falter, fear, or tremble before any difficult, inexplicable, or impossible case.

He unravels them, breaks them down, and ends them.

Be it a locked-room murder, a terrorist bombing, or a financial crisis—as long as there is someone who can be called a culprit, the man deduces in the name of the detective.

The Killing of Sixty-Six Officers, carried out in broad daylight inside the National Police Agency.

The Great Euro Heist, where thirty percent of the European Union's budget was lost overnight.

The Vanrecht Kingdom Mass Disappearance, where an entire nation was rendered uninhabited.

The Seven Continents Great Love Affair, the most beautiful crime committed by the woman called the Empress.

The Cannibal Cult Last Supper, sparked by the faith of a cult that preached, "Eat an angel, go to heaven."

The cases resolved by The Immortal Detective and the criminals caught by his hand are countless, his achievements immeasurable.

If a detective is a wave, then that man is a megatsunami that swallows the entire beach as a whole.

Even today, that man is flying around the world, solving cases.

And I, the one speaking, am that strongest detective in history, Oitsuki Tatsuya's—son. Not him. Just his son.

And right now, I am in my room writing my last will and testament.

"To my undear Dad. By the time you read this letter, I will no longer be of this world..."

Why, you ask? It’s just a daily routine.

If I had to give a reason—my shoelace snapped suddenly today.

So, I leave behind what needs to be left, just so I’m ready to die at any moment.

The writing was flowing pretty well.

I think I managed to write a will that is calm, fair, and appropriately tear-jerking for the reader.

"Volume 243... and, done. Phew."

Satisfied after adding the numbering to the will, I headed to the office located on the adjacent floor, but—

"Huh?"

The office was quiet, as if everyone was out.

I had holed up in my room immediately after getting home from high school, so I hadn't checked the situation over here.

On the large glass window facing the street, the words Oitsuki Detective Agency were written in large, reversed characters.

This is the detective agency where my old man serves as president. It’s practically connected to our home, allowing for free movement between the two.

I instinctively squinted at the sunlight streaming in through the window.

A girl was standing there.

The dazzling sunlight highlighted the beautiful silhouette of the girl standing by the window.

The light hit her platinum white hair, making it sparkle like crystal.

She was clad in tight, black-based clothing that resembled a dress. It looked somewhat like a British maid's outfit, yet also like mourning clothes.

I approached the girl, who had her back to me, waving my hand lightly.

"Ah."

But I was immediately forced to stop.

The girl was holding my uniform jacket.

It was the one I had lazily stripped off and left scattered in the living room when I got home earlier.

The girl was—sniffing the scent of that uniform.

She hugged my uniform to her chest, burying her nose deep into it. Unaware and unnoticed by me, the owner...

"Welcome home, Sakuya-sama."

Ah, I was wrong. While approaching, our eyes met. She must have noticed me from the beginning but—

She noticed, yet she’s still sniffing. boldly, while looking right at me.

Looking at me with eyes as clear as glass beads, she continues to sniff.

No, what is she doing? Is she sane? Is this a situation where, as a boy, I’m allowed to honestly get my heart racing? I’m having trouble judging this.

Anyway, keep it peaceful first. Like with wild animals, you shouldn't provoke them poorly.

"Uh... I'm home, Lilitea."

When I replied, the girl, Lilitea, finally removed her face from the uniform.

Then, as if nothing had happened, she smoothed out the wrinkles on the uniform and hung it on a hanger. She’s diligent about that part, at least.

"Everyone else has already headed to their respective assignments for the day."

"No, before that..."

How can she carry on a casual conversation so calmly? With that face that says, 'I have committed no sin.'

However, when it's ignored to this extent, I lose the will to accuse her recklessly.

Lilitea is a girl staying at the Oitsuki Detective Agency. She’s not a maid or anything, yet from cleaning the office to accounting and serving, her work is flawless in every respect.

"Let's hear your defense for secretly savoring the fragrance remaining on my uniform."

"I was doing no such thing."

"You were! Our eyes met for about twenty seconds. Huh? Ah, or maybe I just wasn't aware of it, and my scent has the effect of driving the opposite sex wild..."

"There is no such convenient effect."

"I figured. Yeah. I know. If I had an ability like that, I’d be living a much more glamorous student life by now."

This isn't self-deprecation; it's an objective fact. Yet, Lilitea looks at me with eyes that seem to criticize me.

"Are you implying that your student life is gray, Sakuya-sama? Is that really the case?"

"Eh?"

"It appears you got close to a charming school nurse in her late twenties at school today as well. Objectively speaking, as a boy, is that not a blessed student life?"

Lilitea began saying something unsettling in her usual cool, or rather, slightly flat tone.

"W-What are you talking about?"

"I shall state it clearly. Sakuya-sama, your uniform reeked of disinfectant and medicine... and faintly of perfume."

"From my uniform...?"

"That chemical smell is unique to the infirmary. And the perfume is undoubtedly the new spring scent from Bibi Alice."

Bibi Alice. Even I’ve heard of it. It’s a perfume released by a popular cosmetics manufacturer. I see the commercials often.

"That is a product currently popular among women in their twenties, and a high-hurdle perfume one cannot wear without considerable confidence in oneself as a woman. Furthermore, it is priced at a point that is difficult for high school girls to afford."

While presenting her deduction, Lilitea's expression did not change, like a doll. She intends to corner me theoretically, coldly, and mercilessly.

"Inferring from these facts, the conclusion is inevitable. Today, Sakuya-sama sabotaged class and engaged in this and that, flirting and canoodling with a school nurse reeking of adult allure..."

"It's a misunderstanding!"

What is 'canoodling'? Which dictionary did she find that in?

Even though she’s spouting such bizarre words, her face remains dead serious.

But that is Lilitea. Like a noble cat, she rarely breaks her expression. Sometimes she breaks it easily at points where I think "Why?", but basically, she doesn't.

"Wait, does that mean you were sniffing my scent to investigate my movements at school, Lilitea...?"

It wasn't that she harbored secret feelings for me, nor was my uniform emitting convenient pheromones.

"Anyway, it really is a misunderstanding. It’s true I went to the infirmary today. I’ll admit that. I scraped my leg in P.E. class. Of course, I was fine, but in front of my classmates, I couldn't just not get it treated, even if just for show. But when I showed the nurse the wound... well, you know the rest, right? The teacher got really surprised and started palpating my whole body excessively. She must have gotten interested in my body as a medical professional. So that was... yes, a purely medical act. There is nothing guilty about it."

"Because of that last sentence, only an impure impression remains."

Lilitea gives me her characteristic scornful stare.

"...Even so, to guess that much just from a smell. Your imagination and insight are as sharp as ever."

But that is the girl known as Lilitea.

"As always, no one can keep secrets from Lilitea."

"So do you admit your guilt now?"

"No, really, there's nothing going on with the nurse... but, you know, you don't have to literally sniff around someone's daily life."

Lilitea isn't my mom, I started to say, but stopped myself as that would be going too far.

"I have an obligation to keep a constant watch to ensure Sakuya-sama does not stray from the path."

In contrast, Lilitea showed no sign of shame, standing tall and declaring clearly:

"Because I am Sakuya-sama the Detective's assistant."

"That's certainly true, and I'm happy you treat me like a detective, but I'm not even counted as a full-fledged one in this office."

Normally, an assistant would be a wasted treasure on me. Pearls before swine. An assistant for a half-fledged detective.

Especially if it's an excellent assistant like Lilitea.

"That is merely the evaluation of your exceptionally harsh father—Tatsuya-sama, is it not? From that person's perspective, every human being other than himself falls into the category of half-fledged."

That is, in fact, true. He is that kind of father.

"But still..."

"You are stubborn. In that case, for now, let us consider Sakuya-sama and myself—"

Saying that, Lilitea brought both palms together adorably in front of her mouth.

"—together, as one full-fledged detective."

"I think Lilitea counts as full-fledged even on her own, but that generous support brings tears to my eyes... By the way, did my old man go out too?"

"Yes."

"The request Dad took today, wasn't it for the afternoon?"

"Tatsuya-sama cancelled his afternoon plans due to an emergency request and went to the airport a short while ago."

"Emergency? Was there some big incident?"

"It seems it hasn't been reported yet, but a hijacking incident has occurred."

Why is a detective called when a hijacking occurs? Isn't that the job of the police or the riot squad? Normally, one would think so.

But my dad is not a normal detective, so it's not particularly surprising.

The man named Oitsuki Tatsuya, who bears the alias The Immortal Detective, is that kind of detective.

"The hijacked plane is a passenger aircraft scheduled to fly from Singapore Changi International Airport to Japan. The culprit is a nine-year-old girl. She has barricaded herself inside the plane with 179 passengers and crew as hostages."

Nine years old?

An age that makes me want to question it no matter what just flew out of Lilitea's mouth, but I decided not to ask back. If none other than my old man was called out, this is undoubtedly not normal; it’s a special case, and the opponent is likely a special criminal. In that case, the culprit being a nine-year-old girl is not impossible.

And if Oitsuki Tatsuya was called, then it is a case that cannot be solved by anyone other than Oitsuki Tatsuya.

"The registration number of the hijacked passenger aircraft is—"

Lilitea dutifully told me the aircraft's identification number, but I wasn't listening that seriously. It's a case too far removed from me, and information that's useless to remember.

"Thanks. Got it. That's enough."

There's no point in hearing more details. He'll just guide a crazy case to a crazy resolution as usual.

"What's my schedule?"

"Today, there are no requests whatsoever."

"Ah, right."

Well, I figured.

"That's fine then. Even if I call myself a detective, it's more like I just ended up with one foot in the door while helping out with my dad's work."

"Please rest assured. Tomorrow, there is one request for a cheating investigation."

"Cheating investigation?"

"Do you think it is mundane? Do you wonder if there aren't requests where you can perform more spectacularly as a detective? However, the profession of a detective primarily consists of these types of requests... wait."

Seeing my reaction, Lilitea stopped speaking mid-sentence.

"You do not look disappointed in the slightest."

Exactly. In fact, I'm not disappointed at all.

"That sounds good. A job that doesn't seem dangerous."

"...I think Sakuya-sama should possess a little more ambition or desire for fame. To rejoice the safer a request is... no, as the son of Oitsuki Tatsuya... or rather, as a detective, I question that attitude."

"You're saying a detective should handle bigger cases? Like a locked-room murder in a spooky Western mansion, or serial killings on a remote island? I hate that stuff. One wrong step and I might get killed by the culprit. I don't have enough lives for that."

Cheating investigation, fine. Mundane requests, most welcome!

Lilitea sighs cutely at my passionate speech.

"Working steadily and building up achievements suits my nature. So, who's the target? A factory president again like last time? Is the location a stakeout in Gotanda until morning?"

When I asked without any expectation, Lilitea placed her index fingers on two points on the large globe sitting beside my dad's desk and said: "Departing Yokohama, bound for Singapore."

"Huh?"

□

"I-It's huge! It's wide!"

The vessel Lilitea and I boarded for the cheating investigation was an excessively massive and luxurious cruise ship.

"The Queen Irie. Length 251 meters. Width 30.6 meters. Boasting a passenger capacity of 1,100, Japan's largest cruise ship... huh."

Scanning the ship's pamphlet, I sighed for the umpteenth time.

The cabin we were guided to was in a category that would be counted from the bottom in terms of rank, but it still had the interior and spaciousness of a decent hotel room.

"From Japan to Hong Kong via Singapore. An eight-day ship journey one way?"

I told the high school I’d be absent due to "helping with family business," so there's no problem there, but since I haven't been attending much originally, I'm likely to become even more of an outcast in class.

"I'm surprised we could sneak onto such a luxurious ship."

"It is thanks to the client's cooperation. 'Don't worry about arrangements or costs, just investigate my husband's affair with all your might,' she said."

"The client is the wife, huh. An unlimited expense account is generous. Does that mean we can expect an extraordinary amount for the reward too?"

"No. Unfortunately, it would be best not to expect much on that front. Given Sakuya-sama's current grade rank as a detective."

"...I had a feeling."

Since I only accept easy jobs with no danger, it's only natural. If I'm frustrated, I should solve a major case and raise my detective grade rank. To do that, naturally, I need to build a track record, but in the first place, I'm still undecided on whether I seriously want to become a full-fledged detective. I'm just a normal high school student worried about his career path.

Suddenly, a seagull crossed outside the window. Looking past it, there was a small balcony, and beyond that, a clear blue sky and charming ocean blue stretched out.

"So, that cheating husband, he's a movie company producer, right?"

"Katsuragi Makoto, forty-three years old. He is the target of this investigation. Married with one son. He has worked as a producer at Touten Corporation for many years and has released several hit works to the world."

"And he's on this ship."

"Yes. Mr. Katsuragi seems to be making suspicious purchases occasionally, and when his wife questions him, he always changes the subject. Recently, there are traces of him renting an apartment in Tokyo besides his home."

"A secret second house? True, it's no wonder the wife suspects an affair."

"The husband cannot possibly fail to show the tail of his affair during this voyage. The wife declared so."

"I saw him in the harbor lobby before boarding, but Katsuragi had an awful lot of luggage."

Before boarding, Katsuragi had staff carry several suitcases.

"I wonder what was in those? Presents for a woman, or night toys he can't mention?"

"Please make a serious deduction for once."

Lilitea added the word "Vulgar" after her harsh remark. I thought I was making a relatively serious deduction.

"There is also the possibility that he hid his affair partner inside the case to stow away."

Now that deduction is pushing it.

"Why is he on this ship in the first place? Just sightseeing?"

"No. A movie. The story is that he is boarding this ship with the lead rookie actress and staff to promote his next work."

"An actress is on board too?"

"Yes. Please ensure you do not develop any fanboy feelings."

"I won't. ...By the way, what's her name?"

Lilitea puffed out her cheeks slightly at my easy-to-read attitude. It's a habit of hers that comes out occasionally. Honestly speaking, it's cute.

"No, no, this is also one of the necessary pieces of information for the investigation."

When I added a plausible reason, it seemed surprisingly effective, and Lilitea sighed once before opening her mouth.

"...Haigamine Yuriu. Sixteen years old. A rookie actress selected for a major role in this movie."

"Heh. Ah, it's true. She has almost no acting history."

I checked on my smartphone, but I couldn't find much of a proper career history. However, I had a good impression of her lively publicity photo.

"So, the lead actress and staff are all on a ship journey? Part of a promotion orchestrated by the movie company?"

"Exactly. It seems to be a joint project with a travel agency to conduct interviews with the lead actress throughout today's voyage."

Documenting the days until a rookie actress finishes filming her first starring movie in a documentary style, later turning it into magazine features or package bonus footage. Sounds plausible.

"By the way, Lilitea. You don't have to dutifully tag along on my requests every time. I can handle a cheating investigation on my own."

"No. I have been told by Tatsuya-sama to never leave Sakuya-sama's side. Besides, Sakuya-sama and I, together..."

"Are one full-fledged detective, right. I got it."

"As long as you understand."

"First, let's look for Katsuragi Makoto. Without pushing ourselves or being reckless, let's do this steadily."

"Most passengers would be enjoying the scenery on the deck or heading to the restaurant for an early lunch at this time."

"No doubt."

We left the room while exchanging words.

Then, I received a notification on my smartphone. An old-fashioned short message. It was from my old man.

—Transferring now. 10,000 meters up. Hiiigh.

"Transferring...?"

I assumed he would sneak onto the plane before takeoff or something. Apparently, the hijacker has already flown the plane.

I don't know how he's going to jump onto a flying passenger plane, but my dad would probably do it somehow.

"Quite a difference in direction for a parent and child."

"Because you use him as a bad example. Even so, Dad hates heights, yet he really goes for it."

Don't fall from the sky and land on me, it's annoying—I'll just reply with that.

□

Katsuragi Makoto was a slender, tall man who drew quite a bit of attention.

"As expected of a producer for a major movie company, he keeps himself well-groomed."

He was leaning against the deck railing, drinking a juice with a weird palm tree decoration stuck in it. His appearance is neat, but his sense in ordering such a drink is questionable. Is that none of my business?

There were young men near him, exchanging words occasionally. Probably accompanying staff or cameramen.

A passenger plane flew overhead, the sound of jet engines echoing. Of course, that's completely different from the hijacked plane.

There was a circular pool on the deck, and many people were swimming or floating on rings. Over yonder, a band was playing cheerful live music.

I sat on an excessively narrow chair on the cafe terrace, observing the target from a distance.

"According to the documents, he was originally an actor and appeared in several movies in his youth."

Lilitea, sitting next to me, is drinking a juice with a palm tree decoration stuck in it. I pretended not to see.

"No wonder. He's aged appropriately, but his face is quite handsome. I guess he didn't make it big in acting and settled into producing?"

Still, he seems to have made a name for himself in the industry as a producer, so he must have had talent in that area.

Even after Katsuragi returned inside the ship, we tailed him and continued surveillance from a distance until the sun set beyond the horizon.

Currently, Katsuragi is enjoying dinner at the ship's restaurant. We continue to observe from a distant table.

"He's wearing it casually, but that wristwatch looks like it costs about as much as a new domestic car. He's flush with cash. Delicious."

Of course, we are also enjoying the luxurious cuisine.

"A man like that probably has no trouble finding intimate partners. This lamb meat is supreme."

"Sakuya-sama, you must not scarf it down."

Lilitea handles her knife and fork with fluid movements, carrying food to her mouth. Perfect manners.

"Can't help it. I have almost no experience with such a luxurious ship or restaurant."

"Were you not taught manners and other things by Tatsuya-sama so you could handle various missions?"

"Dad wouldn't do that. Raising people isn't his style. He's never even raised a flower."

If there's anything my dad raises, it's probably a roast on a grill.

"You know it too, Lilitea. Watch and steal it on your own—that's Dad's philosophy."

"Steal" coming from a detective is ironic.

That dad is probably performing action moves that put movies to shame inside a passenger plane right now, or he's long since solved the case and returned to the ground.

"By the way, Lilitea. Can I order another plate of this dessert sherbet?"

Seeing an opening, I tried begging.

Lilitea showed a look as if calculating something in her head for a moment, then made an X with both index fingers, and with a strangely benevolent expression—

"No!(Dame) ," she said.

Not "Ikesen" (It is forbidden) or "Narimasen" (It will not do), but "Dame" (No/Bad).

Lilitea's language wavers like this sometimes. It might be partly because it's not her native language, but in this case, she's just relaxing because it's a conversation just between the two of us.

Lilitea uses honorifics towards me to emphasize her position as an assistant, but in casual moments, it breaks down like this.

"Managing Sakuya-sama's calories is also my job. Becoming a fatty is dame."

She emphasizes the X over her mouth further. The gap between her serious expression and the gesture is amazing. No, actually, there's a possibility she's waiting for a tsukkomi retort. I'll try retorting next time I have the chance.

And while restricting my calories, Lilitea puts the premium soft pudding in front of her into her mouth with a delicious "ruru" sound.

Do not think there is a next plate; cherish the one before your eyes. The wise girl is saying so.

Dinner finished at 7:30 PM. Lilitea and I were about to go out onto the deck again to see the shipboard circus performance, the highlight of the first day's events. We had caught wind that Katsuragi and his staff were going to see it.

"Whoops! I'm sorry."

On the way, I bumped into someone just around the corner of the hallway, and I apologized instinctively before even looking at their face. Then, the other party gave an unexpected reaction.

"Ah! You! Oitsuki's kid!"

"Eh?"

I looked up in surprise.

A worn-out coat, hunched shoulders, and magnificent natural perm.

"Oh, isn't it Manzorogi-san?"

Surprisingly, the person was an acquaintance.

His name is Manzorogi Kaoruta, and he has known my dad for nearly ten years.

Thirty years old, single. Apparently quite capable, but he hasn't advanced much in his career. He probably lacks popularity. Simply put, an unpopular detective.

"Why is Manzorogi-san on such a high-class ship?"

"Leave me alone! Well... my brother arranged it and put me on board."

Come to think of it, I heard his brother is an entrepreneur and quite a celebrity.

"If you're here, your old man must be here too, right? Why do I have to run into you father and son on my precious trip?"

He grumbles while scratching his head.

"You guys... or rather, mainly when Oitsuki Tatsuya is around, nothing good ever happens. I want no part of getting dragged into some dire incident."

Manzorogi's gaze is sharp, but if you look closely, he's completely weary from his daily duties.

"You make it sound like Dad attracts cases with some mysterious gravity."

Looking back at past results, I can't entirely deny it though.

"But please rest assured. Dad is on a different case and isn't here."

"That's good then... no, wait, there's a possibility you, the son, inherited that troublesome quality..."

"Give me a break."

"Anyway, you stay quiet too. Don't cause any trouble. As you can see, I'm on vacation."

Saying that, he pointed to a bar for adults inside the ship.

"Alcohol, huh. Not watching the circus?"

"Leave me alone. I don't have a companion anyway. Unlike you."

Manzorogi continues by pointing at Lilitea.

"You have it rough too, Missy. Having the care of a prodigal son pushed onto you by Tatsuya. If it gets tough, say so anytime. I'll introduce you to a good lawyer."

Manzorogi sees Lilitea daily, but this detective seems to have a persistent misunderstanding about the relationship between Lilitea and me.

Lilitea didn't clear up the misunderstanding, just shrugging her shoulders tightly.

"Well then, in the name of alcohol, have a good night."

Leaving behind words I didn't quite understand, Manzorogi disappeared into the darkness of the bar.

A detective and a police officer together on a ship at sea, huh. Certainly, even if it's a coincidence, if this were a drama, it's a combination that screams something complicated is about to happen.

"Gravity... huh. No, surely not."

"Sakuya-sama, it is almost time for the curtain to rise."

"Oops, that's right. Let's go."

Chairs for the audience were lined up orderly around the semi-circular stage prepared on the deck.

The circus opening started just as I took a seat next to Lilitea. I was pushed by the person next to me and almost spilled my tropical juice.

The pamphlet I received at the entrance listed the sponsoring organizations and programs, as well as the names of supporting companies.

"I wonder when was the last time I saw a circus. How about you, Lilitea?"

"It is my first time. Well, I've read about them in picture books."

"Picture books."

"...What is it?"

"It's cute, that's all. In that case, you should enjoy it to the fullest today."

"What are you saying? This is also part of the job."

The serious assistant drives a nail into the detective lacking tension.

"Sakuya-sama, please do not get distracted by the performance and lose sight of the target."

"I'm fine. I'm not interested in circuses in the first place."

"Is that so?"

"I mean, circuses do dangerous things that sometimes involve life and death, right? Like the trapeze or tightrope walking. I don't really know how I'm supposed to enjoy that."

After that, when the show actually started, standard acts were performed just as I said.

Trapeze, tightrope walking, acrobatics, knife throwing—.

Every time it unfolded before my eyes, my heartbeat quickened, and my palms grew damp with sweat.

"Sakuya... are you okay?"

Lilitea sharply noticed my state and placed her own hand on top of mine.

I kept smiling and said, "I'm fine."

"I know. I should just enjoy the thrill of the circus without thinking too deeply. Even a child can do it."

But that is something one can do because they don't feel their own death close at hand. They can enjoy it as entertainment because they don't know the taste and power of death, or that helpless sense of isolation.

If their hand slips and that knife shifts a few centimeters—

If they slip mid-tightrope—

Of course, the circus members must be undergoing strict training to avoid such mistakes. But if by any chance such a thing happened, they would likely lose their lives with a not-low probability.

However, putting aside whether I personally enjoyed it, the acts performed in succession were actually all flashy and definitely captivated the other spectators.

A huge clown face balloon was decorating the stage, and that too was livening up the performance.

"It's a Piero," I said casually to Lilitea, and was corrected, "That is a Clown."

"What's the difference?"

"A Clown is a jester. A Pierrot is one type of them."

She's knowledgeable for someone who said she only read about it in picture books.

"Is that so. Sorry I didn't know."

"Pierrots are crying, you know."

"My bad for making them cry."

Who am I apologizing to?

"That is not it. I meant that the ones with tear makeup on their cheeks are Pierrots."

Lilitea said that the role of a Pierrot is to be made a fool of and ridiculed. That they carry sadness.

Looking at the big Clown face again after being taught that, it started looking like it had a wicked expression, harboring something inside, compared to a Pierrot. What a guy. Have you ever imagined the sadness of a Pierrot?

The glitter of the performance seemed sufficient to make people forget they were on a ship.

Looking closely, Lilitea was also swaying her body slightly left and right to the cheerful music of the circus. It's heartwarming to see her enjoying her first-ever circus with her whole body.

Even so—Lilitea's, and my gaze, had been directed flawlessly to the front left since the beginning of the performance.

Katsuragi Makoto is sitting there.

Katsuragi wasn't leaning forward, nor did he look bored; he seemed to be enjoying the circus indifferently. A man sat to his left, and a woman to his right.

If he were to have a tryst with a cheating partner, now would be a good opportunity. In that case, the woman on the right is suspicious—but the distance is subtle for that. If they were lovers, they would be acting more intimate.

As I observed, a family arriving late passed in front of Katsuragi's seat. At that time, the family stopped briefly to exchange a few words with him, bowing to each other. Must be acquaintances.

"No matter how much we watch, there's no sign of him contacting the opposite sex one-on-one. Maybe the wife's suspicion is a misunderstanding."

While following the acrobatic feats of the circus members with my eyes, I was already soaking in the mood of mission accomplished, when Lilitea presented a doubt: "I wonder about that."

"Do you have some thoughts?"

"The affair partner is not necessarily a woman."

"That's... possibility-wise, yes, but that person is married, right? The client is his wife."

"Perhaps he realized his true self after getting married. Troubled by that, he wandered the city at night, unable to consult anyone, and eventually, it began to rain. If he had a special relationship with a young man who reached out to him there, would there be anything strange about it?"

"It wouldn't be strange, per se."

But now that she mentions it, love takes various forms. I admire Lilitea's flexible thinking.

"Going further, the object of his lust might not even be human."

"Eh."

"Speaking of possibilities. Strictly."

"Like what?"

"A cat, or a cactus, or an airplane."

"Stop it! Don't mess up the concepts inside me any further!"

Why is Lilitea looking at me holding my head in agony with such a heartwarming smile? Please don't look at a suffering person with those eyes.

It's been this way since we met, but she's a strange girl.

My meeting with Lilitea dates back to about half a year ago. She was a key figure in a case my dad was solving at the time—I was accompanying him as an apprentice.

I went through a terrible, truly terrible experience back then, but the case was safely resolved by my dad's hand. No, thinking back now, it wasn't "safe," and I feel like it wasn't something that could be called "resolved" either.

Anyway, after that incident, due to certain compelling circumstances, Lilitea lost her place to go, her place to live, and her place to die, and ended up being taken in by our agency. All Dad's decision.

Our association has continued since then.

"Be that as it may, we cannot let our guard down yet. The night is long."

"Well... true. We've secured Katsuragi's room number."

There's no rush. The voyage has just begun. Indeed, both the night and the journey are long.

"If he doesn't show his tail, we can disguise ourselves as cleaners at the right moment and plant a camera in his room—"

Just then, exceptionally loud applause erupted. Looking over, the balloon—no, a real, cheerful Clown was bowing exaggeratedly and retreating to the wings.

"Well, let's think about the clever tricks later. For now, let's enjoy monitoring the target and the circus. Look, next is the highlight, the acrobatic bikes."

I act tough and show interest in the performance.

Eventually, a large wire mesh sphere appeared in the center of the stage. Motocross bikes entered it one after another.

"Are they going to run inside that sphere?"

"Yeah. Seems they run around in circles. It's awe-inspiring. If it were me, I'd crash in two seconds and go to the other world."

Looking it up later, that acrobatic feat was named the Globe of Death.

Even the name is scary.

Chapter 2: Dying is a No-No

When the circus performance ended, people returned inside the ship while stating their respective impressions.

Observing the situation, Katsuragi was also about to leave his seat.

At that timing, Lilitea also stands up.

"Well then, Lilitea, as planned."

"Yes."

From here, we split up for a bit.

Lilitea will pretend to enjoy the ship's activities while continuing to monitor Katsuragi, and I will casually approach the people around him to ask about his daily behavior and personality. Like a detective and assistant, we divide the information gathering.

When I said half-jokingly, "Don't lose to the temptation of glittering play," Lilitea narrowed her eyes saying, "That is unexpected from the bottom of my heart." Is it the bottom or the outside?

"Certainly, shopping, movie watching, casinos, and various activities. The ship at night is full of entertainment, but those are merely camouflage. Lilitea will not lose to such temptations."

"That's a splendid attitude as an assistant, Lilitea. It would have been even better if you weren't hiding a ship pamphlet with traces of being read until crumpled behind your back."

"I wonder what you are talking about?"

"Anyway, be careful."

"...Sakuya too, please be careful."

When I called out casually at parting, the words were returned with unexpected straightness.

I couldn't laugh at that misplaced seriousness. Looking back on past events, her words are understandable.

I exchanged a silent glance, parted from Lilitea, and returned inside the ship.

"Now then, work, work, before I lose to temptation too... and, before that..."

I did an about-face and entered a nearby restroom.

What can I say, one needs to be careful about drinking too much tropical juice.

"Phew..."

Actually, I had been reaching critical levels since around the middle of the circus, so I'm glad I made it.

"If Dad were here, he'd probably say something reckless like, 'A detective must not take his eyes off the target during an investigation even if he wets himself.'"

There were no previous customers in the restroom, and I was able to concentrate on number one calmly.

" The detective business isn't easy... whoops."

Pointless muttering also spills out.

"Kyan!"

And then—in that space by men for men, a cute voice suddenly echoed.

My business isn't finished yet. Remaining in that posture, I fearfully turned only my neck backward, and a girl was lying on the tiled floor.

"...Eh?"

Faced with a member of the opposite sex suddenly appearing in the men's restroom, I was no longer in a state to worry about personal business.

When and from where on earth did she appear?

There was no one there until a few seconds ago.

Teleportation?

No, that can't be it. The answer was on the ceiling.

Right above the girl was a vent large enough for a person to pass through, and its cover had come off and rolled onto the floor.

"Kuuuun...! Ouch..."

The strange girl had fallen from there. She seemed to have hit the floor hard when she fell, rubbing her bottom with tears welling up in her eyes.

"Ugh... it doesn't go like in the movies... Ah."

Our eyes met.

"Ah, sorry for interrupting... Umm... Err... Where is this?"

"Men's room."

"No waaaay!"

I don't really understand, but somehow I started feeling incredibly sorry for this kid.

I turned my back to her, went to the sink, and washed my hands carefully.

"W-Wait! You're wrong! You're thinking of leaving this place quietly so as not to stimulate me, aren't you!? I'm not a peeping tom! I'm not a pervert either! There's a reason for thiiis...!"

"Calm down."

I don't harbor the thoughts she imagines. This is simply a matter of etiquette.

"Are you okay? Can you stand? Look, I washed my hands as you see."

"Umm..."

"Ah, I'm Oitsuki Sakuya. I'm not a suspicious person. Just a detec..."

I started to introduce myself to lower her guard but shut my mouth. Given the nature of the cheating investigation request, it's better to keep the fact that I'm a detective hidden while on this ship.

But such consideration was useless.

"Oitsuki... Sakuya-san... wait, are you... a detective?"

"H-How do you know that?"

It's already known.

"Right before I fell from above... when I was in that duct there, I heard you talking to yourself... saying the detective business isn't easy."

"Ah..."

Walls have ears, and ducts have ears too.

"Well... if that's the case, fine."

There's no way to predict or prevent a situation like this. What happened, happened.

"U-Umm..."

My hand remained extended lonely for a while, but finally, the girl gripped it back.

And with a momentum like she was clinging to me.

"In that case! Are you accepting job requests!?"

"R-Request?"

"I want you to find a cat!"

Another development impossible to predict or prevent.

A request? To me, whom she just met? In the middle of a men's restroom?

Holding onto my confusion, I looked at the girl's face straight on again.

I gasped instinctively.

"Huh? You're..."

"Please! Detective-san!"

I finally realized.

The girl who gripped my hand back was the actress, Haigamine Yuriu.

□

After hurriedly leaving the restroom together, I had the girl sit on a nearby sofa.

"Haigamine Yuriu... san, right? The actress."

I sat next to her and confirmed it again, but the girl was unmistakably the actress Haigamine Yuriu herself.

"Eh!? How do you know that!"

The pale pink dress with modest decorations suits her well.

"Detective's insight... It's a joke, I've seen your photo before."

"Waaah! To think you know a nameless rookie like me...! I'm happy... Kuuuuun!"

She's biting into her joy somehow.

"So, why was someone like you in a duct?"

"I was looking for Loulou-chan... I heard a voice from the back... I thought I might get scolded, but I went in on the spur of the moment... But falling into a place like that was an accident! The cover came off suddenly... and before I knew it, I was in a boy's toilet... Pu... Hahyahya!"

She started laughing while explaining.

"I'm sor... when I remembered it, my situation just seemed funny! Ahh... truly, excuse me for that occasion..."

Just when I thought that, she suddenly regained her meekness and bowed her head. Her emotions are dizzying.

However, spy movies aside, it's a surprise that there was a person crawling through a duct in reality.

"Searching for a lost cat, huh. Is that Loulou your cat's name?"

"Yes. But that's not it."

"...What do you mean?"

"The name is Loulou-chan, but she's not my cat. Loulou-chan is a cat the producer cherishes. A calico female..."

"Eh, whose cat did you say?"

I instinctively raised a loud voice. This is an unexpected harvest.

"A person called Katsuragi-san, a producer. He seems to be a huge cat lover. So he brought her along on this ship journey, but it seems one ran away."

"And you're searching for the cat? Did Katsuragi-san ask you to?"

"Nope. I'm just doing it on my own."

"You went into a duct even though you weren't asked? You're a singular person."

"Because I'm worried, aren't I?"

When said without any affectation like that, I'm at a loss for words.

"But I couldn't find her at all and was in trouble... So I thought maybe you could help me search. Sorry for the suddenness. Since there was a detective where I fell, I just asked on momentum!"

"Don't make a request on the momentum of a fall."

When I retorted dryly, surprisingly, Yuriu laughed happily, "Hahyahya!" She has a pretty good vibe.

It was a request that literally fell from the ceiling, but if I quickly find the cat here and deliver it to Katsuragi, I can approach him instantly and, furthermore, lower his guard. Inevitably, the subsequent investigation will become significantly smoother. Not bad.

"Got it. I'll accept that request. I just have to find Loulou, right."

"Thank you!"

"Of course, I'll have you pay the reward properly."

Give and take in everything. When I presented that, Yuriu's eyebrows drooped immediately. If she were a dog, both ears would be visibly drooping right now.

"Reward... money? Ah, umm... I'm not selling at all as an actress yet, so I don't have much on hand..."

"That's a problem. I know, let's do this. If the cat is found safely, I'll have you become my friend as a reward. How about that?"

"Heh? Is that okay?"

"Yeah. Consider it my best concession."

Of course, that's a lie. This reward was my main goal from the start. If I get close to Yuriu, I can hear various things about Katsuragi from her.

"Then, with pleasure!"

"Negotiation concluded. Then let's go search for the cat immediately."

"Yes! I'll guide you to the place where I last saw Loulou-chan. Shishou! This way!"

"Yeah...... No, wait a second. What do you mean by Shishou?"

Just when I thought, 'Okay, let's go,' I was cut off at the knees.

"Ah, you noticed after all?"

"I don't recall taking a disciple like you, though."

(T/N: Shishou means master) 

"Actually, umm, I... want to become a detective!"

"...Hoping to change careers? Feeling the limits of the actress path already?"

"No! Rather the opposite! I want to study for acting!"

"You want to study detective work?"

"Actually, I was selected for a movie lead for the first time... and the role I play there is a detective."

"Is that so."

"Haven't you heard of it? High School Girl Detective Uzura!"

First I've heard of it. But there's a detective with a weird name too. Is that movie okay?

"But it's my first time for everything, and I've been worrying about how to build the character... Still, in the end, I didn't really get it, so I thought why not try living as if I were a detective normally."

"Imitating a detective for character building, huh. Aha, so that's why you forcibly volunteered to search for the producer's cat."

"It's embarrassing but... but, the worry is real!"

"And since you met a real detective at such a time, you volunteered to be a disciple on momentum?"

"Ugh... Is it... no good?"

Well, thinking about it, searching for a lost item on the ship is something that should be left to the ship's staff; there's no need to move on one's own. No matter how kind-hearted a person is, searching for a cat while getting covered in spiderwebs out of sheer goodwill was a bit of a strange story.

"That movie is based on a popular mystery novel, and if the audience reception is good, there's apparently a plan for a series! But if it doesn't go well, it won't continue... and surely an amateur like me who hasn't even studied acting properly won't get future jobs either. So... I absolutely want to make it a success! I won't get in the way. Rather, I'll prove I can be useful!"

"Hmm..."

Honestly, I'm troubled being told such things suddenly. I don't have the courage to shoulder her life.

But when begged to this extent, I don't possess the conviction to flatly refuse, saying, "Having an amateur wandering around hinders the work. I don't need dead weight."

"Please!"

So when asked strongly like this, somehow I can't refuse. I, the human being, have that kind of side. Because of that, I've suffered not a few losses until now.

"Haa... All right. Do as you like. I don't think it'll be fertilizer for character building though."

Here, rather than pushing her away strangely, it would be better to satisfy her wish moderately. I might suffer another loss, but humans don't change that easily.

However, to be able to act this far for character building, that's quite the passion. She might turn out to be a big-shot actress unexpectedly.

"However, please keep the fact that I'm a detective a secret from everyone else. It's what you call an operational rule."

"Understood! My identity is top secret, right! Kind of like a spy!"

"I said detective. So, where did you say you saw the cat... Loulou? Did you say a calico cat?"

"Umm, it was further back on this floor. I only saw a glimpse, but I'm sure of it. But..."

Suddenly, she became inarticulate.

"Was she injured or something?"

"Nope. She looked energetic. But Loulou-chan was carrying something weird on her back."

"Carrying? What?"

"Who knows? Like... a backpack?"

A cat running away from home carrying a backpack? Too fairy-tale.

□

Since the self-proclaimed apprentice detective, Haigamine Yuriu, said she saw Loulou, we came to the rear of the second-floor area.

"Loulou! Loulou-chaaan!"

Yuriu calls Loulou's name without caring about the eyes of passersby. What can I say, she's earnest.

"As expected, she's not here anymore. She went running down this hallway like pyuu in that direction..."

"Yuriu-chan, wait. This."

I found something concerning low on the corner wall. I kneel on the floor to check. Scratch marks.

"Clue discovered."

"Yay! You did it, Shishou!"

Yuriu, who also lay flat on the floor to check the scratches, tilts her head and peers at me.

At her defenselessness, I stand up in a panic. I inadvertently skipped a beat.

"However, sharpening claws on such expensive wallpaper. Seems like a cat with a bad attitude. Maybe I should stop searching."

"Don't say that! So, what do we do from here?"

Looking up, there were stairs ahead. Going up to the third floor, and down to the first.

"Up or down."

"Split up?"

"That's it."

Since we're here, I'll make effective use of the manpower. So, it was decided that Yuriu would go to the upper floor. I'm going down.

Upon taking separate actions, we exchanged each other's contact information.

"Yuriu-chan, if anything dangerous happens, contact me immediately..."

"Y-Yes. I just have to ask Shishou for help immediately, right!"

"Contact me, and I'll rush to you immediately."

"...I'm the one rushing to you, right?"

"Ah! No! Yeah. Of course, I'll head to help too. Mutual support."

"Yes! I'll be careful too! Dying is a no-no for Shishou too, okay!"

"I'm happy to have a kind-hearted disciple."

"No, no, kind is an overstatement! I return those words right back to you, tied up with a pretty bow!"

When returned that politely, it feels like a complete refusal of receipt, which is a bit sad.

"Anyway, I'm fine too. I won't die. Let's find Loulou and meet again alive."

Putting an end to the exaggerated farce we somehow started, I parted with Yuriu.

That's right. Out of the anxiety about death that has become a habit, I said something pathetic, but if I died every time I searched for a cat, I wouldn't have enough lives.

Besides, this isn't the world of fiction, so murder cases won't just pop up one after another.

□

I proceed straight down the first-floor hallway. The end of it was built like a warehouse. It didn't seem to be off-limits, but it's a bleak place not intended for passenger entry.

The floors used by passengers are from the second floor up.

I explained the situation to a passing male staff member and asked if I could search for the cat. That staff member, who was unusually tall yet slightly hunched, readily gave permission.

Just in case, I ask him at parting if he saw Loulou.

"A calico cat? Haven't seen it. I'm sorry."

He apologized politely while lightly touching the brim of the hat pulled low over his eyes.

"No, no."

"Ah, but if it's a cat, maybe it got lured by the smell and went towards the kitchen."

"Where is the kitchen?"

"On the upper floor."

Was this way a miss?

Still, just to be sure, I decide to look around the back briefly.

Proceeding further from there, I came out to a place like a small hall. Boxes about a meter square were piled up high enough to look up at, perhaps containing ship supplies.

"It's pretty dim here..."

Despite talking big to Yuriu, I was already starting to be overwhelmed by the atmosphere of the place.

"With it this dim, I wouldn't notice if someone was lurking in the shadow of the luggage. What if someone with a two-meter tall man holding a chainsaw comes out and cuts me in half or something."

I assume things that are absolutely impossible.

"And then I get hung in the freezer together with the dismantled and processed pork..."

I inadvertently fantasize about the lowest, worst, and unnecessary possibilities.

It's a helpless, pointless, ingrained bad habit.

"Even if not that, if those wooden boxes collapse this way due to some impulse... If it's instant death, that's still fine, but I absolutely hate getting only my lower body crushed, unable to move, and dying slowly while suffering."

I imagine it on my own and tremble on my own.

Death is scary.

Death is unpleasant.

But the more I fear it, the more I dislike it, the more I think about it.

At that moment, suddenly the smartphone in my pocket vibrated, and I almost let out a voice.

"W-What, just a mail from Dad... Don't do it at this timing."

Grumbling, I open the message.

—Hey Dumb Son dying a peaceful death. Working hard on your plain job? You're trembling in fear anyway, aren't you?

I wondered what important content it was, but it was just provocation.

"What the hell is 'Dumb Son dying a peaceful death'. Think you said something clever!?"

I got angry, so I decided not to reply.

"Ah, no good, no good. No more weakness!"

Desperately switching my mindset, I decided to investigate the surroundings.

Besides the wooden boxes, the warehouse also had piles of pipe frames, unicycles, and flags of all nations.

"Unicycles? National flags? Why are things like this... Ah, right. This is from earlier."

Belatedly, I realize those are the trade tools of that circus troupe.

"So when the performance ends, they store the sets and tools here."

However, that characteristic huge Clown balloon was not found. Since there's a performance tomorrow too, they probably left the large-scale items on the deck as is.

Nearby, the motocross bikes that tickle a man's heart are also lined up.

"But the circus troupe members have it rough too. Do they do all the bike maintenance here?"

I crouch down in front of a bike and touch the wheel with my fingertip.

"Since the sea breeze would damage it."

There, a gishi sound rang out.

Prompted by it, I looked around the upper right area.

There—an unknown man was hanging.

"............Eh!?"

No, to be precise, he had hanged himself.

□

His body is swaying left and right like a pendulum in time with the ship's rocking. His toes are about 1.5 meters from the floor.

That man with slightly sunken cheeks had his displeased-looking single-edged eyelids wide open, and a tongue that looked fake was peeking out from his mouth.

His congested face looks like overripe fruit.

"Dea...!"

Dead. Intuitively, instinctively, I understood. The man is already dead.

Scary, frightening. Painful, hurtful. Troublesome, dangerous, and unpleasant death is hanging right before my eyes.

"Aah... why did I have to find a situation like this..."

This isn't the first time I've seen a human corpse, but it's not like one gets used to it after seeing it a few times.

But, while I think it's a terrible story, honestly, melancholy won over pity.

Because, if I find it, I have to get involved, don't I?

Pretending not to see is something not allowed for someone who calls himself a detective, even if only in name, right?

While feeling the lingering effects of confusion and shuddering, first I join my palms together towards the corpse.

"...No good... huh."

Then I examined the man's body again, but he was definitely completely dead.

"Age is about mid-twenties, maybe. Hmm? Is this... for bike maintenance...?"

The man was suspended by a belt attached to the hook of an electric hoist. A hoist is a machine that lifts and lowers heavy objects with a wire rope.

A remote control connected by a cord is hanging from above. The remote has two buttons, up and down. It's the type where the hoist operates only while pressed and stops when released.

Probably, the circus troupe's bike rider installed it on the ceiling of this warehouse for the maintenance of his beloved machine.

Certainly, if you can suspend a bike in midair, it would be easy to maintain in various ways, and easy to hang oneself in various ways.

Naaau.

And suddenly, I heard a sound unsuitable for the place.

I should have heard it. Although it wasn't heard clearly due to the interference of the ship's engine sound.

"Was that...?"

Even if I strain my ears, I can't hear it anymore. It was a strangely thick, unique sound, different from mechanical noise.

What was it? Did I mishear?

It's concerning, but I don't have time to figure it out. So, with that in mind I decided to postpone it. 

"Hello? Lilitea?"

When I finished checking what needed checking, I called my diligent assistant on my smartphone.

She answered the call in just one ring.

"Actually, various things happened and I'm in the first-floor warehouse room now, but something terrible has happened here... Eh? You're at a good part in darts? Why are you really enjoying darts! Never mind that, tell a nearby staff member immediately. It's a corpse! A corpse was found in the first-floor warehouse! Suicide... ah."

In the middle of rattling off the business, I noticed a smartphone lying a few meters away from the suspended man. Inside the slightly dim warehouse, the light of that screen is asserting its existence to me. Perhaps due to the impact when dropped, the screen was miserably cracked.

"The lock is off. No, more importantly than that, thinking about it—"

I finally realized the fundamental suspicious point of this hanging suicide situation.

"Come to think of it, it's too high. The position of the body..."

If this man pressed the button on the hoist remote himself to lift himself up, his neck would be constricted at the stage where his feet left the ground by a few dozen centimeters at most. Naturally, at that point, he would be unable to breathe, and his consciousness should become hazy. If that happens, anyone, no matter how strong, would let go of the remote they were holding.

If the remote is released, the finger leaves the button, and the hoist's ascent stops.

But the man's body is hoisted 1.5 meters from the ground.

In other words—

"It wasn't him who operated the remote. Someone else. Someone else kept pressing the up button."

Die, die, please die—

With strong murderous intent, or excitement, or to make sure, they hung him high.

"Homicide... Murder..."

If so, the someone who operated the remote must have guilt. The guilt of making one man cease to exist.

Restaurant, bar, circus, pool. This ship has everything. It's like a city. But there is no police station. In that case, someone must find that sin. Even if not judging it, one must expose it.

At that moment, the fallen smartphone entered sleep mode belatedly. The screen goes dark as if tracing the owner's soul.

Through that, I realize another oversight.

"...Going to sleep now? At this timing?"

I instinctively crawl on all fours and peer into the smartphone that went pitch black.

"Hmm? This is...?"

There are traces left on the screen like it was traced with a finger. They emerged on the smartphone screen that went pitch black due to the angle of the ceiling lighting.

"This is the trace from when the lock was released with a fingertip."

Thinking naturally, this would be the owner's finger trace. The method of releasing the lock by tracing nine dots in a single stroke.

I've seen a story on TV or something where a husband rests easy because he hasn't told the pattern, but while sleeping, his wife or lover sees the trajectory of the finger remaining on the screen and releases the lock from there. A story unrelated to me.

If I trace this finger mark, I might be able to unlock the killed man's smartphone too. If it goes well, something like a diary or a will, some information about his death might be left.

If there's nothing, then the possibility that this is a homicide disguised as suicide increases.

"Sorry for seemingly violating the dead's coffin, but excuse me—"

And just as I was about to touch the screen—I was suddenly grappled from behind.

"Gh...!? Wh...... Goho... u!?"

Who is it! I tried to scream that, but instead of a voice, a large amount of blood came out from the back of my throat. It was thick blood.

That was it; I could never inhale breath a second time.

I shake off the someone behind me and collapse on the spot. While writhing, I lower my gaze and see a knife deeply piercing my throat.

"Wha... n...!"

Even if I press my throat desperately with both hands, the blood keeps gushing out. My death was already inevitable.

Strength drains from both legs.

A figure lies ahead of the gaze I looked up with while on my back. Someone is standing, looking down at me dying.

The someone who stabbed a knife into my throat from behind...

This guy is the culprit who faked the hanging.

Right in front of me... is the culprit.

And yet—damn. I'm losing too much blood.

My eyes... are blurring and I can't see well.

Who is the culprit?

Man? Woman?

Age... features... are...

Truly, a detective is a profession where having multiple lives isn't enough.

Ah, truly.

Death is scary.

That's why death is unpleasant.

My own death and others' deaths, equally, are unpleasant.

For now, I'm glad I wrote my will yesterday.

Chapter 3: And So, You Expired

Amidst a hazy consciousness, I slowly opened my eyes. As my unfocused vision gradually sharpened, the terrifyingly symmetrical face of Lilitea appeared before me, and the back of my head registered the sensation of her soft lap pillow.

Seeing that my consciousness had fully returned, Lilitea greeted me with her usual reverence.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Sakuya-sama."

"Ugh... Guh! Cough!"

I coughed violently, spitting out a clot of blood as I sat up.

Remaining in that seated position, I looked back at Lilitea.

She was kneeling there with perfect posture, looking straight at me.

Her clothes were covered in blood.

Sticky gore adhered to her cheeks and both hands, already beginning to dry. Naturally, it was all my blood.

Every time I am killed, Lilitea is there, waiting for my resurrection. She accepts my blood, my tears, and my vomit without a hint of hesitation.

And then, to the resurrected me, she speaks in a tone that is a mixture of exasperation, mockery, seriousness, and affection.

"It appears you have been killed again, Sakuya-sama."

"...So it seems."

Killed. Killed again.

"You were stabbed in the throat with a knife. How careless of you."

My memory of the moments before death was vague, but I remembered the taste of the blood welling up vividly.

Then, like someone who had overslept, I started and checked my wristwatch.

"Sakuya-sama, you have been in eternal slumber for one hour and six minutes."

The location hadn't changed. It was the first-floor warehouse.

"I was killed here... at that time..."

Tracing my memories from when I was alive, I felt depressed.

Despite fearing and anticipating death so much, I was killed in the end anyway. Spectacularly and easily.

"After receiving the report from Sakuya-sama, I brought the staff to this warehouse, where we discovered the body of Mr. Watanoya Nejihiko and the corpse of Sakuya-sama. Currently, we are keeping this matter a secret from the other passengers."

"I appreciate your quick thinking... Watanoya? Who is that?"

"Watanoya Nejihiko. That is the name of the other deceased person who was hanging."

"You've already identified the victim."

"He possessed identification. And his family is currently staying in their room, not going out. Though, considering their relative has been murdered, I suppose that is only natural."

"Family... Is the whole Watanoya family on this ship?"

"Yes. And everyone hates you, Sakuya-sama."

"I didn't get killed because I wanted to, you know. I was suddenly attacked from behind... Hmm?"

Because Lilitea reported it so matter-of-factly, I almost missed the strange part.

"What did you just say? Hate? Me?"

Why?

"That is because, based on the situation at the scene, it is believed that Sakuya-sama murdered Mr. Nejihiko."

"Why would they think that!?"

"Please look at your right hand."

"...A bus guide?"

"No. Please look at the feet of Mr. Nejihiko's corpse."

Swallowing the blood that still lingered in the back of my throat, I looked where she indicated.

The body was still hanging in the same place. Probably to preserve the crime scene. It’s a pity he hasn't been taken down yet.

A knife of a familiar shape lay at the feet of the motionless Nejihiko.

"It is believed that Sakuya-sama was stabbed in the neck by Mr. Nejihiko with that knife and killed."

It was the type used for knife throwing in the circus act. Dried blood adhered to both the blade and the handle.

"Upon investigation, there was a box containing throwing knives over there. Perhaps the management was sloppy, but the box was not locked."

Indeed, this place also served as storage for the circus troupe's large props and set of small props.

"Also, blood is adhering to the palm of Mr. Nejihiko's hand, just like on the knife. Judging from the dryness of both, it is likely Sakuya-sama's blood. Looking only at this situation, it is reasonable to think that the knife slipped from Mr. Nejihiko's hand upon his death and rolled onto the floor as you see."

"No, no! I didn't have a knife when I found him—"

"Here is the theory: Sakuya-sama, out of some motive, attempted to murder Mr. Nejihiko by hanging him. However, you were met with a dying counterattack by Mr. Nejihiko, who had a knife hidden beforehand, and were stabbed in the neck. Yet, Sakuya-sama, with your inherent guts, squeezed out your last ounce of strength, hoisted Mr. Nejihiko high to finish him off, and then ran out of energy and expired right there on the spot."

"Don't make the end sound so pop."

And thus, two corpses ended up lined up in this place. That was the scene Lilitea and the ship's crew saw when they rushed over.

"That is strictly the crew's interpretation."

"It's a misunderstanding! I'm not the culprit! Rather, I'm a victim! I was actually killed, you know!"

"Of course, Lilitea believes in Sakuya-sama. But dead men tell no tales. Taking advantage of the fact that Sakuya-sama had passed away and could not refute them, everyone said whatever they pleased, treating Sakuya-sama as the culprit."

"Being treated like a criminal after finally coming back to life is unrewarding."

"No. Rather, I believe it is something to celebrate."

Lilitea took my hand, a modest smile floating on her beautiful features.

"Since Sakuya-sama has happily returned to life like this, you are not a dead man. Therefore, you have a mouth. You can offer as many defenses as you like from now on."

"...It looks like things are going to get complicated."

But she's right. I have to clear the suspicion cast upon me with my own hands.

"First, let's ask for an audience with the Watanoya family."

I stood up while checking the condition of my body, and felt a little dizzy. Anemia.

"Yes. However."

A white shirt was held out in front of me.

"Let us get you changed before that."

Now that she mentioned it, my clothes were in a terrible state from my own blood.

□

Even if I am killed, I return to life.

Even if I die—I resurrect.

I'm not certain when I became this way.

It was just like this when I realized it.

If there is a blueprint for my body somewhere, God probably wrote it while half-asleep during the toughest part of overnight overtime.

The creature known as Oitsuki Sakuya comes back to life no matter how many times he is killed.

Even if I wish, even if I pray that I don't want to come back anymore, I come back again and again.

In the cases I've been involved in so far, I've been killed a not-insignificant number of times. Murdered, life snuffed out, cardiopulmonary arrest, passed away, departed, bit the dust, ascended, met my end.

I don't really understand myself why I just keep getting killed. Lilitea always warns me that I'm careless, imprudent. Even if she says that, it's not like I'm getting killed because I like it.

For some mysterious reason, death always comes to me. It clings to me as a fate accompanied by a helpless gravity.

However, I am repeatedly killed, and each time I have come back to life.

I think this is different from being immortal.

Immortality refers to an existence like my father—someone who doesn't die even if you try to kill them, strong, superhuman, peerless, and invincible.

That is why Oitsuki Tatsuya is called "The Immortal Detective."

But I am different.

I definitely die, and then—I just end up coming back to life.

So that's probably different from being immortal.

It's not that I don't die, and when I die, every single time without exception, it is agonizing and lonely enough to be death.

That is why I fear death more than anyone else in the world. I hate it.

To those who tease me saying I'm too scared, I always want to retort:

In that case, have you ever died?

Do you know that pain and bitterness, the despair and loneliness of death?

Experience speaks, as they say.

□

After changing clothes, Lilitea and I immediately left the first-floor warehouse.

"Come to think of it, there was one development in the world while Sakuya-sama was resting in peace."

Lilitea spoke while folding my bloodstained shirt into a small square.

"Development?"

"That hijacking incident was reported by the media and has come to light."

"Ah, that matter."

"It seems that incident is gathering the passengers' attention exclusively on the ship."

Certainly, that is the incident of the century. Compared to a murder case that happened quietly inside a ship. But naturally, it's not something to compare.

Just as we started up the stairs to return to the second floor, we ran into several crew members coming down.

"Huh!? Sir, you are...! Why!? You're alive! Sir, didn't you die!? Whoa!"

They seemed to already know about the incident; the moment they saw me walking with a nonchalant face, they screamed and lost the strength in their legs. It's no wonder.

"Y-You, you definitely should have been dead!"

A wondrous Japanese was born from the mixture of their attitude as professional staff and their heartfelt shock.

"Umm, well, various things happened."

This is troublesome.

Of course, I don't want to make this weird, unbelievable constitution public either. I struggle every time to keep other people from realizing it as much as possible.

But there are limits to that too.

"What is the meaning of this? Why are you standing there moving alive?" It's not uncommon for people to press me while spitting as they shout.

At times like that, how do we get through it?

"Everyone, please do not worry. Thanks to the secret resuscitation technique of my motherland, Sakuya-sama managed to escape death as you can see."

Like this, my excellent detective assistant Lilitea handles it for me.

"Resuscitation technique, you said... but really."

"Please do not worry."

It's an excuse that makes even the listener feel like their legs are giving out.

However, although it is absurd, I am actually alive. Generally, people tend to believe what they see with their own eyes, so this always manages to work out somehow.

This time too, the crew members looked at each other and eventually accepted the fact.

Once they calmed down, I asked them a question. That's right, asking them here is the surest and quickest way.

"By the way, what is the room number of the Watanoya family? I have a little something to discuss regarding the true culprit."

I was told that the Watanoya family was gathered in a room hastily assigned by the staff.

"Here, huh."

Honestly, it feels heavy to meet the victim's bereaved family immediately after the incident—especially since they seem to think I killed him—but I steeled myself and knocked on the door.

"We didn't order room service. Sorry, but we're busy right now..."

However, the face that peeked out from the opened door was not a member of the Watanoya family, but the detective, Manzorogi.

"Eeh!? Y-You!?"

As soon as he saw my face, he raised his voice and backed away into the room.

"Sakuya! You... you were supposed to be dead in the warehouse...!? You were definitely dead, right...? You're alive... You are alive, right? You're not a ghost, are you?"

As you can tell from this reaction, Manzorogi doesn't know about my special constitution.

"We can talk about that later. Manzorogi-san, everyone is gathered inside, right?"

"The victim's family? Yeah, they're here, but... hey, wait!"

"Excuse me for a moment."

I slipped past Manzorogi and entered. There were four people in the room lined with sofas.

A man in his early fifties sat on the two-seater sofa in the front. He was chubby but didn't give an unhealthy impression. Probably the head of the family.

The slender woman next to him, around her mid-forties, must be his wife. She was wrapped in a kimono that looked quite expensive.

The girl sitting "girl-style" on the edge of the four-seater on the opposite side was the couple's daughter, and the large young man standing a little further away was the son, much older than her, perhaps? The brother was struggling to open a cup of ice cream he appeared to have just taken from the refrigerator.

This seemed to be the family structure of the Watanoya family.

At the sudden intruder, they all looked at me. Indeed, they are the victim's family. Everyone has very similar single-edged eyelids.

At the same time, I realized one other thing.

I recognize this family.

It's the family that exchanged words with Katsuragi during the circus performance.

"Y-You are..."

Immediately after the head of the family's voice trembled, the daughter screamed as if to drown it out.

"GYAAH! ZOMBIE!"

A perfectly natural, reasonable, and healthy reaction.

According to Lilitea, they confirmed my corpse along with Nejihiko's at the scene. Since that corpse visited their room with a nonchalant face, it's no wonder.

"Sorry for intruding. I am Oitsuki Sakuya, a detective."

I apologized for the rudeness and revealed my identity.

But no one welcomed me. No handshake, no offer of a drink, nothing.

"A detective? Surely you mean the culprit?"

"I am a detective who happened to get involved in the incident."

It was a hassle, but Lilitea and I told everyone there the exact same excuse we gave the crew earlier and soothed their feelings.

"Escaped death, you say... You, with that injury..."

The wife was still half in doubt.

"I was lucky."

"Even if you say luck... It looked like an extraordinary amount of blood was coming from your jugular vein..."

This was the husband's reaction.

"Yes, so I'm still a little anemic."

After inserting a silly joke, I glanced at Manzorogi standing next to me. Seeming to understand my intent, he briefly introduced the family.

"Starting from here, the husband, Watanoya Kashihiko-san. The wife, Wako-san. The eldest daughter, Miko-san, and—"

"I'm the eldest son, Amahiko. Man, you have amazing vitality."

Without waiting for the introduction, the eldest son announced himself. It seems he finally succeeded in opening the ice cream cup.

"Everyone, a ship trip with the whole family? That's generous."

When it comes to travel expenses for a family of five, it's a price that commoners can't quite afford. I suppose they are what you call the upper class.

"What do you mean generous? This is the Watanoya Seika! This is the president, Kashihiko-san."

Manzorogi interjected as if to rebuke my rudeness.

"Hmm? That means... Ah! Watanoya Seika!"

That's right, the circus pamphlet I got earlier. One of the sponsoring companies written there had that name. Speaking of Watanoya Seika, it's a famous confectionery manufacturer.

" 'Wah-ha-ha, smiling Wa-ta-no-ya' ♪ right! The song from the TV commercial!"

I recall it flowing from the TV often when I was in elementary school.

"That's right! A long-established manufacturer that has pursued unique flavors for years!"

"Why are you giving such a passionate speech, Manzorogi-san?"

Watanoya Seika. I recall seeing a TV special a long time ago about how they own vast sugarcane fields overseas and export products widely around the world.

Come to think of it, at some point, I stopped hearing that commercial on TV.

"Who cares about such an old commercial!"

It was Miko who shouted again.

"What on earth did you come here for!"

She glared at me while hugging a whale plushie that seemed to be her favorite. She was probably eleven or twelve years old. She resembled her mother closely; a beauty who looked strong-willed.

"You killed Nejihiko-niisan, and you have the nerve to come waltzing in here!"

Considering the situation and her feelings, her anger is justified. I honestly bowed my head and explained.

"I'm sorry for making you feel bad. I came to clear up that misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding...?"

Kashihiko-san twisted his face as if he truly didn't understand.

"It's a simple story. You all seem to think I'm the culprit who killed Nejihiko-san, but the culprit is someone else. First of all, I have absolutely no acquaintance with Nejihiko-san. There is no motive whatsoever."

"Something like that, you might have met after boarding the ship. Even regarding motive, it's conceivable that a dispute escalated, you lost your temper, and killed him."

"Certainly, that is exactly as you say, sir. As a possibility, it is plausible. But even so, I can assert this. There is a different true culprit in this case."

"Why..."

"Because I saw and remember being attacked by a third party who was definitely not Nejihiko-san."

"You remember, you say..."

Kashihiko-san is utterly perplexed. He has the expression of a child who has been cheated in a card game.

Indeed, this is cheating. The very victim who was killed came back to life and is talking about the situation when he was killed.

If such a thing were possible in reality, mystery novels wouldn't exist. There would be no need to rack one's brains to deduce anything.

But that is what I am doing. I'm a disgrace to detectives. This is cheating, a foul.

That is why I am half-fledged as a detective.

"But judging from the situation at the scene, it felt like you could only be the culprit, you know?"

Amahiko says while scooping up the ice cream in his hand with a spoon.

"No, forensics isn't here, and we haven't been able to properly investigate the scene yet. I can't say anything for sure at the moment."

Manzorogi provides welcome cover fire. He probably didn't intend to, just stating facts from his position as a detective.

Still, when I cast a glance at Manzorogi to thank him, he cursed unpleasantly.

"Hmph, I knew it. Since I saw your face on this ship, I had a bad feeling. Look, it happened. It really happened, an incident! And a murder at that! I'm seriously fed up!"

"Please don't take it out on me just because I escaped death... Well, putting that aside, it is exactly as Detective Manzorogi said just now. The view that I died in a mutual kill with Nejihiko-san is nothing more than a first impression of the scene. If you observe calmly, there are unnatural points."

"How is it unnatural?"

"The problem is the place where I was killed... no, where I had fallen. At that time, I had fallen a few meters away from Nejihiko-san's hanging body."

"So?"

"If Nejihiko-san, while hanging, stabbed me with a knife as a last resistance, the knife wouldn't reach unless I was standing right next to him. But I had fallen quite far away."

"After being stabbed, you backed away in agony and fell over there."

"No, Miko-chan. If you are stabbed deeply in the throat, massive bleeding is unavoidable for anyone. In fact, I bled quite a lot too. If I moved in such a state, bloodstains should remain in drops on the ground. But no such bloodstains remain in that place."

The blood I shed had only fallen on the spot where I was lying.

"Someone let Nejihiko-san's hand grip that weapon once after stabbing me with the knife. To put the blood on the knife onto his hand, and to put his fingerprints on the knife."

"Are you saying they faked the scene to pin the crime on you...?"

Miko, despite her age, or perhaps because of it, knows difficult words.

"This is not merely to drive the point home, but..."

The one who offered to speak was Lilitea.

"May I speak on one more point?"

"Go ahead, Lilitea."

"Then."

Because she had erased her presence until now, everyone's gaze gathered on Lilitea at once.

"To tell the truth, thinking it might help clear the suspicion against Sakuya-sama, I examined the remote control of that electric hoist while waiting for Sakuya-sama to wake up."

"Hey! Doing something unauthorized like that is... trouble."

Manzorogi tried to yell at Lilitea, but perhaps intimidated by the overly resolute girl, he mumbled and fell silent.

"I tried investigating whether fingerprints were left on the remote control using a personal fingerprint detection kit I happened to have with me."

"Lilitea, you were doing such a thing for me."

Her loyalty warms my heart.

"No, wait, what do you mean 'personal fingerprint detection kit'..."

Someone voiced the extremely natural retort. But in reality, Lilitea always carries such props.

"I see. So the result proved that my fingerprints weren't on the button."

"The result was that only Sakuya-sama's fingerprints remained there."

"That's no good!"

Manzorogi looks at me with eyes saying, "So you are the culprit after all."

"It is not 'no good.' The fact that only Sakuya-sama's fingerprints remained is important. Not that there were several fingerprints, but that only Sakuya-sama's remained. Because if the circus troupe members used this machine daily and touched the buttons, other people's fingerprints should be layered on it. Nevertheless, the only ones there were Sakuya-sama's. In other words, the culprit who touched the button immediately before wiped off their own fingerprints, and then took Sakuya-sama's hand and pressed his fingers on it for disguise."

It was a truly lucid deduction.

"Of course, there is a possibility that the circus troupe members were diligently wiping the remote control daily, but this can be understood by asking around later. Excuse me for intruding."

Lilitea concluded, curtsied to everyone, and stepped back behind me.

No one voiced anything resembling a counterargument.

"Hmm, well, it's not like I don't have things to say, but I'll accept your claim."

The one who cast a vote for us was the eldest son, Amahiko.

"However... the fact that my son was killed by someone doesn't change... Good grief, that guy... always, always..."

Kashihiko-san seems to be trying his best to keep his composure as the head of the family, but even so, his clenched fists are trembling slightly.

His feelings are more than understandable. But I couldn't ignore the words that leaked out at the end.

"A shame to the family..."

He probably intended to suppress his voice as much as possible, but I heard it. And it seems Manzorogi heard it too, as he took a step forward and pressed Kashihiko-san.

"What do you mean by 'a shame to the family'?"

"Th-That is..."

"Excuse me, but perhaps your son's conduct wasn't very good while he was alive?"

It was Lilitea who spoke politely but without mincing words.

"I have no intention of disparaging the deceased. However, when I viewed Nejihiko-san's body, I confirmed old bruises on the knuckles of his right hand."

That's information even I hadn't heard yet.

"Bruises on the knuckles? Could that be the kind you get when you punch people or things? Like 'knuckle calluses' in boxing terms?"

Characteristics of the fist, huh. I had overlooked that.

"That is correct."

"I see. Umm, did Nejihiko-san practice boxing as a hobby... or something?"

I checked with the family, but there was no such fact.

In that case, I can only think of one other reason for such bruises on the fist.

Fights.

"It's an embarrassing story, but my foolish son... Nejihiko... has been wild since long ago. Causing problems frequently outside, and each time my wife and I bowed our heads..."

"Always drunk and fighting... He was the worst."

Miko is staring blankly at the ceiling. Is she recalling her brother's conduct when he was alive?

"I feel hesitant to expose our family shame, but Nejihiko had bad conduct to begin with and caused trouble here and there... We were worried he might do something during this trip too... but to think it would come to this..."

Bad conduct by the son of a famous confectionery manufacturer family. This is likely a matter Kashihiko-san, in his position as president, doesn't want to make public.

"He got into a dispute with someone unbeknownst to us family, bought their resentment, and was attacked because of it... If we think of it that way, this incident makes sense. As a parent, it's pathetic and sad, but..."

Nejihiko had reasons to be killed. That is what he wants to say.

"Ahh... I understand that there seems to be another true culprit. So, didn't you see it in the first place? The culprit's face. You were attacked, right?"

Manzorogi didn't seem as completely convinced as the family, but he proceeded with the conversation as if he accepted it for now.

Thanks to Lilitea's explanation, it was safe to say that most of the suspicion against me had been cleared. But that is temporary. If the true culprit isn't found as is, I could be made the culprit provisionally.

I want to prove my innocence with all my might here, but unfortunately, I don't possess decisive information.

"Actually, I couldn't get a good look at the culprit's face either. After all, it was suddenly this from behind."

I gesture stabbing a knife into my own neck. Wako-san narrowed her eyes in disgust.

"Probably, the true culprit initially intended to make Nejihiko-san look like a suicide. Leaving the hanging corpse exposed in that place as if asking someone to find it is the best proof. However, I arrived there before the disguise to make it look like a suicide was complete. The true culprit must have been hiding in the shadows watching the situation."

I cited the fact that Nejihiko's body remained hanging unnaturally high for a suicide.

"Surely when I became suspicious of that point, the true culprit also realized their own blunder. And also that I focused on the smartphone Nejihiko-san had dropped."

"Nejihiko's smartphone? Was there some evidence left there?"

"Yes. Manzorogi-san. That smartphone is—"

"Naturally, I've confiscated it as evidence."

Manzorogi took Nejihiko's smartphone out of his coat pocket looking displeased. It was properly put in a zippered plastic bag.

"Is there dirt on the surface of that screen? Like traces of the user operating it by touch."

"Don't give me orders. ...Traces on the screen?"

Manzorogi checked the smartphone screen while adjusting the angle the room's light hit it.

"None. It's cracked, but it's clean."

I thought so.

"In other words, it has been wiped clean. That is strange. When I checked it right before I was killed... ahem, attacked, there were definitely finger marks remaining there."

But they aren't there now.

"Maybe that detective over there is extremely obsessed with cleanliness and wiped it off without thinking?"

Miko asks an innocent question.

"I wouldn't do that. It's important evidence."

"In other words, the true culprit wiped it off. After attacking me."

"So it was something that inconvenient for the culprit. So, what kind of mark was left on the screen?"

"It was an M. Of the alphabet."

Several people, including Manzorogi, unconsciously wrote letters in the air with their fingers.

"Could that be the trace of a smartphone unlock?"

It was Amahiko who said that.

"You know, the type where you trace nine dots with a finger in a single stroke to unlock."

"Did that shape become an M?"

Miko shows interest.

"That is easy, but security-wise I can't really recommend it. Nejihiko was indifferent to that sort of thing though."

There was a slightly condescending impression in Amahiko's tone. He might be knowledgeable about that kind of latest equipment like smartphones and computers.

"In other words, there was some decisive evidence inside Nejihiko's smartphone, and the culprit attacked Sakuya because they didn't want it seen, and wiped the screen."

"Then Manzorogi-san, please try unlocking that smartphone."

"Right! M... M... and."

Manzorogi immediately touched the smartphone through the plastic bag and attempted to unlock it while muttering.

"...Huh?"

However, it ended in failure.

"I can't unlock it? Hey, was it really an M you saw?"

"It was an M. But, I figured."

"What do you mean 'I figured'?"

"It means the M wasn't a trace of an unlock attempt."

"It is a dying message."

Lilitea uttered the core phrase.

I feel like she took the tasty part slightly, but this isn't the time to be petty.

"Dying message! A clue to the culprit left by the murdered victim on the verge of death!"

Miko continues while bouncing lightly on the sofa. She used the word "disguise" too; she might actually be a closet mystery fan.

"Common ones are the culprit's initials, right? Then someone whose name starts with M is suspi... ah..."

Miko had been speaking enthusiastically, but midway through, she seemed to realize something unpleasant, and her face paled visibly as she looked down.

"Ah... It's not me... Not related! I really don't know!"

M is for Miko's M.

She realized she fit the condition.

"No way! Are you saying my daughter is the culprit!?"

"Certainly... if an electric hoist is used, the crime is possible even for a powerless child... maybe."

Manzorogi mutters like a monologue.

"It's some kind of mistake! There's no way our Miko could do something so cruel! Besides, there must be plenty of other people whose initials are M! How many people do you think are on this ship!?"

Like a mother, Wako-san protects her daughter with a fierce menacing look.

"As you say, there are many people on this ship. So, first, we will go through the passenger and crew lists and filter out people corresponding to M. Just that will narrow down the number considerably. Among them, how many people are acquaintances with Nejihiko-san and have some kind of connection? I think it will be a number countable on one hand."

"That's a mean way to put it."

I was startled by the mutter next to me that only I could hear. Glancing over, Lilitea was looking at me with a strangely bewitching smile. She's giggling. No, why do you look happy?

Well, it might have been mean indeed. Even if narrowed down to a number countable on one hand, Miko is still included in that group.

Perhaps understanding that, Wako-san presses further.

"In the first place, we don't even know if it indicates a name!"

"That is also true. The possibilities of interpretation are infinite. But this is a message Nejihiko-san wrote in the limited time on the verge of death. He wouldn't go out of his way to imbue it with other obscure meanings. This isn't a mystery novel."

Complicating a dying message to make the case difficult and entertain readers. Such putting the cart before the horse is only allowed in fiction.

"But please don't misunderstand. I don't think Miko-chan is the culprit either. I can't really believe such a young girl could murder two grown men in succession. So, there is one thing I want to confirm here... Ah, excuse me."

While I was speaking a long line, I received a call.

It was from Yuriu.

‘Shishou~, are you alive? Just kidding.’

A carefree greeting right from the start.

"Good work. I died once, but I'm alive now."

‘Ahyahya! You're kidding again~! Ah, so, about Loulou-chan.’

"Ah, if it's that, I haven't found her yet. Or rather, I discovered something far more serious than a cat..."

‘ saw her! Just now on the ninth floor!’

Yuriu reports happily from the other end of the phone.

"Eh? You found her? The cat carrying a backpack?"

‘That's right! But I couldn't catch her—! Too fast! But Loulou-chan jumped into the elevator and went up.’

"Went up? Above the ninth floor, that leaves only the deck."

‘Yes! I saw it clearly. Leave it to me. I'll chase and catch her now!’

"Ah, wait. That's important too, but right now I'm in a serious situation... She hung up."

So hectic.

I failed to tell her about the murder case.

"I'm sorry. Umm, what was it?"

Turning back to everyone, I recall the topic.

"Right, right, I'd like to ask everyone to tell me your actions when the incident was discovered, do you mind?"

"Eh, we're going to be suspected too?"

"I'm sorry, Amahiko-san. The more information, the better."

Anyone would hate having the existence of their alibi checked. But if there's nothing guilty, there's no need to hide it.

When I explained that, everyone answered, albeit reluctantly.

Amahiko said he was enjoying a drink alone at the ship's bar. Later, when Manzorogi confirmed with the bartender, testimony was obtained.

Miko apparently took a bath immediately after returning to her room after the circus and watched detective dramas on the net the whole time. Regarding this, Mr. and Mrs. Kashihiko and Wako, who had also returned to the room, testified. With that, the alibi between the couple was also established simultaneously.

Alibi testimony from relatives is invalid—I closed my eyes to that for now in the current situation, prioritizing crushing possibilities first.

"Thank you. By the way, Manzorogi-san, what about the estimated time of death of the victim?"

"I can't say for sure in the current situation, but looking at that state, it was probably right after he was killed."

In other words, there isn't much of a time gap between the discovery of the incident and the estimated time of death.

"Thinking from the point of alibis, it means there was no one in the family who could have committed the crime."

"Naturally," Wako-san says displeasedly.

"Then that means the murderer is still lurking on this ship. Then caution is necessary. It's not guaranteed that someone else won't be targeted again. And that someone is—"

"Are you saying it's one of us family members?"

"Since you are close relatives of the victim, thinking from probability, it becomes so."

Manzorogi adds that it is strictly a discussion of probability.

"Surely, Detective, you don't intend to keep us family locked in this narrow room until the culprit is caught, do you?"

"No, that is..."

"You must be joking. How many days do you think are left until Singapore? Being locked up just on probability is unbearable. How much do you think we paid to board this ship?"

Her way of speaking is harsh, but Mrs. Wako's claim is also reasonable.

"As my wife says, perhaps there is no need to be frightened so needlessly."

Kashihiko-san opens his mouth as if to support his wife.

"Meaning?"

"As I said earlier, Nejihiko had a personality that was easily resented by people. Probably that is the origin this time too. In that case... I hate to say this, but Nejihiko's death can be said to be reaping what he sowed in a sense."

"You mean to say that the murder matter is strictly between Nejihiko-san and the perpetrator. Now that he has been killed, the culprit won't commit any more new murders."

However, that is also just a matter of probability. With a relative killed on the same ship, one wouldn't be able to rest easy so simply. That anxiety was particularly prominent in the still young Miko.

I meet eyes with the anxious-looking Miko.

"Detective-san..."

I'm secretly happy to finally be upgraded from 'You'.

While I was secretly rejoicing, Miko suddenly jumped at me.

"Please! Catch the culprit!"

I flinch instinctively at the straightforwardness of her eyes.

"Surely not a request to me? You?"

An unexpected development. This is very troubling. Troubling indeed.

Honestly, I was mostly satisfied at the stage where I could clear my false accusation. No, come to think of it, I feel like I was burning with a bit more righteous indignation initially.

But finding the culprit, huh. Solving a luxury cruise ship murder case at sea...

Hmm. The burden is heavy!

I'm still in the middle of the cat search, and by extension, the Katsuragi cheating investigation.

"Hey? Papa, it's okay, right? I can give all my allowance!"

"U... Uumu. However, such things should be left to that detective over there... What do you think?"

Kashihiko-san looks at me with a troubled expression.

Even if asked what I think, I'm a bit troubled.

"We shall accept."

While I was worrying, the assistant next to me accepted it on her own.

"Hey, Lilitea!"

"Sakuya-sama, let us accept this here. Requests for murder cases do not occur so often in reality. This is a good opportunity to sell the name of Detective Oitsuki Sakuya. So, okay?"

Lilitea leans her mouth close to my ear and whispers. A distance where her long eyelashes almost touch my ear.

"Even if you say sell the name..."

"Sakuya-sama, please show a little more motivation. are you fine with a life where you continue to be called riding on your parent's coattails or a useless second generation? You hate that, right?"

"I was being told such things?"

It's a shock.

However, thinking about it, having been involved this far, and even having been killed myself, throwing out the deduction and retreating is certainly not fun.

This is a full-blown murder case. Someone needs to find and catch the culprit. An eight-day journey to the port of call, Singapore, by schedule. The journey is still long. Sharing food and shelter, joys and sorrows with a murderer on one ship during that time is a chilling story. No, we won't share joys and sorrows.

It has nothing to do with me anymore. I won't accept requests that are beyond my control.

That would be fine too. It is one resolute attitude for someone running a detective business.

But the next one killed might be little Miko in front of me. It might be Lilitea. Or it might be Yuriu.

In that case, should I do what I can—

Even though sticking my neck into dangerous work where death follows is against my principles.

"...Having already been killed once, there are no principles or anything... huh."

I muttered softly and then said with a sigh mixed in.

"Understood. We shall accept that request."

"Detective-san, thank you!"

"I don't know if I can meet Miko-chan's expectations though."

"Well, you don't have to push yourself too hard."

"Yes, I won't be reckless, Kashihiko-san. By the way."

"What is it?"

"Are you acquainted with Katsuragi-san?"

"Eh? Katsuragi... san, is it?"

Was it a bit too abrupt? He was taken aback, wondering why that name came up now.

"Film producer Katsuragi Makoto-san."

"Ah, from the movie company? Y-Yes... we associate with him as a family... It started when I invested in his movie before."

"So you have connections with that industry as well."

"Yes. My wife used to be in the acting business, so she still has an interest in the video field..."

"Dear, that's ancient history," Wako says bashfully.

"However, what about it?"

The couple is suspicious about why Katsuragi's name is coming up now.

"Is that so. I saw you exchanging greetings during the circus performance earlier."

"Are you acquainted with him too?"

"Yes. Not directly, though. Thank you very much. Then."

Mercilessly cutting off the conversation, I retreated from that room.

Katsuragi and Watanoya are acquainted—check. If things roll well, the cheating investigation might also progress through the search for the murderer.

Chapter 4: I Have Already Completed the Warm-up

Partly due to Kashihiko-san's wish, it was decided to keep the incident a secret from the other passengers for the time being. Manzorogi also advised that would be better, and the crew and staff followed suit.

After leaving the room, Lilitea and I discussed the culprit while walking down the hallway.

"The culprit is still lurking on this ship. Earlier, Kashihiko-san said the culprit wouldn't commit any more crimes, but that's wrong. If they find out I'm alive, they'll definitely think this: Damn it!"

"Failed to finish the job."

"Exactly."

Then, the one who called out from behind was Manzorogi, who had chased after us late.

"Hey, going by that thinking, won't the culprit target you again? To kill you for sure this time and silence you."

In reality, I didn't witness the culprit's face when I was killed, nor do I hold decisive evidence leading to the truth, so there's no need for them to panic and erase me, but it doesn't matter if the culprit doesn't know that.

"Just in case, it is fully possible they will launch another attack on me, whom they failed to kill."

"Then shouldn't you stay in a safe place instead of wandering around recklessly?"

"No way. Even I don't want to be locked up in a room during this whole ship trip. Besides, as long as we don't know who the culprit is, there is no absolute safety anyway. What if the bellboy who brings the meal is the culprit?"

"Mmm..."

"This is inside a cruise ship. And the ship is in the middle of the ocean. So to speak, a Cruised Circle."

"Sakuya-sama, if you are going to say that, it is Closed Circle. Closed."

Even though I was full of confidence, I was helplessly corrected by Lilitea.

"Closed Circle? That thing often heard in mystery novels?"

"Yes. A term referring to a situation cut off from the outside world with no escape. In other words, there is no safe place inside this ship anymore."

"That might be so, but..."

"In that case, I'll just go out and catch them. Rather, I myself might even become good bait to lure the culprit. I'm fine. I won't let my guard down next time."

"Ahh... Fine, I got it! But if you feel any danger, call me immediately. Okay? Don't go rushing ahead just you brats."

Saying that mixed with curses, Manzorogi parted from us and went the other way. He might have gone to see the crime scene again.

"I'm grateful everyone worries about my cheap life. By the way."

After seeing Manzorogi off, I broached the subject to Lilitea as if remembering.

"Something came to mind during the conversation in the room earlier. You know, M."

"What a coincidence. Me too."

As expected of someone as sharp as Lilitea had noticed about it as well, now it would be easier to talk about this. 

"Katsuragi Makoto. He is also M."

Katsuragi is acquainted with Watanoya.

"Depending on the case, he enters the candidate list for the culprit... maybe."

"That is also true, isn't it?"

"Hmm?"

Lilitea's reaction weighed on my mind slightly, but I'm personally satisfied that the dots seem to have connected.

"No. Then I shall check the Queen Irie's passenger list and—"

"Check the footage from the surveillance cameras inside the ship, right."

"Yes."

That is also important. Unfortunately, I think there were no cameras in that first-floor warehouse, but maybe a suspicious person is reflected somewhere.

□

After parting with Lilitea, I decided to talk to the circus troupe members who entertained the passengers on the deck.

As I read, the troupe members who finished the performance were relaxing at the bar. The ones in the front seats are the bike riding group who showed wonderful acrobatics.

Apart from the details of the incident, they seemed to have already been told by Manzorogi that their equipment, the electric hoist, was apparently used in the crime, and they all wore uniformly complicated expressions.

Another group is drinking in the back of the bar. A low voice saying "You idiot" came from there.

When I strained my ears, the rookie member who forgot to lock the box of throwing knives used to kill me was being scolded.

"Umm, sorry to interrupt while you're busy."

"Huh?"

When I called out, they gave me a look asking why a brat is in a bar like this.

When I introduced myself as "a detective" and hinted at the incident that shouldn't have spread to others yet, their attitude softened somewhat.

When I questioned them about the knife, they said indeed one knife had been taken from the box stored after the performance. They were informed of that while I was still dead.

It must be painful as professionals to have their precious trade tools used for a crime.

"Thinking that the owner might find out about this later... it's the worst."

The rookie member is holding his head.

"Owner? The person responsible for this circus? Is he that scary?"

"Rather than scary, he's a business-first person, and anyway, he has no human empathy. He hates things that become a disadvantage more than anything... And yet he just plays around in the first-class cabins himself..."

"Hey, leave it at that."

The senior member admonishes him that it's not a story for outsiders to hear.

I have an impression that the culprit improvised a weapon from what was in that warehouse and committed the crime.

Circus troupe and a miser owner, huh. I'll keep it in the corner of my mind.

□

Proceeding further down the hallway in front of the bar, I hit a luxurious door. When I opened it, the sea breeze blew in. Beyond that was the ship's prow.

The time was before 11 PM. Since it was getting late, there were few people outside, and it was deserted.

Looking back, I could see the deck section where the circus performance took place on the upper part of the ship. That Clown balloon was illuminated by faint lighting.

Even though it's a balloon, it's not floating in the sky but the type that stands directly on the ground. To prevent it from being blown away by the wind, it should have been firmly secured with wires and metal fittings.

"Circus, huh..."

I think suddenly. At that time, the culprit might have been watching the circus performance at that place too. That's why they knew there was knife throwing in the program.

During the spur-of-the-moment crime in the first-floor warehouse, searching for a weapon with conviction without prior information seems a bit unnatural, but if they knew about the knife throwing, the idea to look for a knife—seems plausible.

Although it gave me such an idea, there didn't seem to be anything else particularly worth seeing here.

□

Just as I was about to return inside the ship, I received a call on my smartphone.

"Yuriu-chan, huh... whoops."

I tried to take it out of my pocket and press the answer button, but noticed the smartphone was upside down and adjusted my grip. A common mistake in the dark. A rectangular smartphone with no handles is easy to mistake top for bottom or front for back when taking it out of a pocket.

Yes, top and bottom...

Mistake...

"Sorry to keep you waiting. Yuriu-chan, did something happen?"

‘Found heeer!’

My ears rang, and my thoughts scattered.

Yuriu-chan is shouting at peak tension.

"...Found?"

‘I found her! Loulou! Our eyes are meeting. Right now, we are in a do-or-die staring contest. ...Thaaat's a good girl.’

"Is she right in front of you?"

‘She is. Here, here... Don't stimulate her poorly... Look, it's dried bonito flakes~. High-grade goods I got the cook in the kitchen to share~..’

I could imagine the situation over there perfectly just from her voice.

‘Now! Orya! Yes! I did it! Capture complete!’

"You caught her!? Well done, Yuriu-chan!"

‘Loulou-chan capture successful!’

Yuriu's overly joyous voice and a thick cat meow of Naaau come from the receiver.

My disciple seems to have finally achieved the cat search through steady searching.

"What. In the end, you accomplished it without borrowing my power."

As a master, I felt a bit pathetic, but Yuriu's persistence might surprisingly make her truly suited for a detective.

"So, Yuriu-chan, where are you now?"

‘Umm, in front of the Pierrot. Huh? Was it Clown?’

"Which means... the deck?"

‘Yes.’

I took a few steps back and looked up again.

"It's true. There she is."

I could confirm even from here that a girl in a pink dress was standing near the fence at the edge of the deck.

‘Eh!? Shishou, are you watching from somewhere? God's eye!?’

"No. Down here, down."

I wave my hand, but she can't seem to find me and just wanders left and right near the fence.

"I'm heading there immediately."

I walked back inside the ship quickly while talking. There should have been a direct elevator to the deck.

‘Ah, Loulou-chan is carrying something on her back after all. It's fixed with a black belt wrapped around her torso.’

"Eh? Ah, you said something about a backpack or something."

‘Doesn't look like a backpack. I've seen this. Umm... right, the camera comedians attach to helmets on TV! During bungee jumps.’

"...A small camera? Could that be a Go Camera?"

A high-performance small camera, known by the product name 'Go Camera' in recent years.

"A camera on the cat's back? Why?"

I found the elevator and pressed the up button. Fortunately, it was stopped on the same floor, so the doors opened immediately.

‘Ah, looks like something is recorded. Did she film while Loulou-chan walked around? Let's see.’

"Let's see... do you intend to watch it?"

She's a curious kid.

Again, Loulou meowed Naaau through the call.

When I heard that second cry, suddenly a sound revived in my brain.

It was faintly heard when I was observing the hoist at the feet of Nejihiko's corpse—.

"That sound... from that time..."

A faintly heard sound.

At that time, I had too many other things to think about and postponed it. I postponed it and completely forgot about it since then, but—

Naaau.

"That was Loulou's cry! Loulou was in that place at that moment!"

‘Umm... Shishou, I tried playing the video now, but this... was it okay for me to see this...?’

"Yuriu-chan! What is reflected there?"

Yuriu's voice, which was bouncing until just now, has completely sunk before I knew it. She seems terribly frightened of something.

‘Various things were reflected... People walking in the hallway, bellboys... and then, right now a video of a place like a warehouse somewhere just started…’

"The first-floor warehouse!"

The elevator hasn't reached the top floor yet.

‘A man and... someone else is reflected.’

The man must be Nejihiko.

‘ can't tell the other one well yet because it's from behind... but they seem to be arguing…’

I knew it. At that time, Loulou was watching from the shadows.

‘Ah! The man! Something was hooked around his neck from behind... Wah! Wah! He's being hoisted up and up... terrible...!’

"Calm down! More importantly, you don't have to watch the video anymore, so run from that place quickly!"

No need to watch anymore. If the video continues as is, next I will nonchalantly appear in the warehouse, and this time it will be the scene where I get stabbed from behind. That is already a confirmed past.

Loulou was watching that situation at that place at that time. That's why that cry reached my ears at that time.

What if the culprit, who was in the same place, witnessed Loulou after murdering me and noticed a small camera attached to her back?

What if they realized the whole sequence of their crime had been filmed?

The fact that Loulou had been running away with the camera on her back until now means the culprit couldn't catch Loulou at that scene either.

In that case, the culprit must be frantic.

A cat carrying immutable evidence of their crime is strolling leisurely inside the ship. Naturally, they would think they must find Loulou and delete the evidence footage as soon as possible.

And the person currently closest to the culprit's profile has—already grasped important information about Loulou's whereabouts.

Just moments ago, in the room where the Watanoya family gathered, the culprit must have heard my call with Yuriu and learned it.

That Loulou went up to the deck.

Inevitably, the culprit will head there and try to retrieve Loulou.

Before Yuriu discovers Loulou and sees the evidence footage.

‘Huh... this person is... Is this person the culprit...?’

But Yuriu has already seen it.

"Listen, Yuriu-chan, listen well. Danger is approaching you. Leave that place immediately!"

If possible, I wanted to call Manzorogi and confirm where each of the Watanoya family members is right now, but I can't afford such a leisurely thing.

Finally, the elevator stopped, and the doors opened. The sea breeze hits my cheeks. There are no passengers in the visible range.

I rush out to the deck immediately and search for Yuriu.

She was there. She was in the same place as before, with her back to me.

But a figure was already closing in behind her.

"Yuriu-chan! Behind you!"

I took the smartphone away from my mouth and called out directly to her back. At the same time, that figure slammed into Yuriu like a body blow.

"Stop it! Wako-san!"

"Kyaa!"

Yuriu's body is knocked away by the momentum. Together with Loulou whom she was holding, she falls over the fence.

My body moved before I could think. I run straight to Yuriu.

Her body disappeared into the abyss beyond the deck.

"Yuriu-chan!"

No, she's okay. I can see her hand hanging on the edge of the deck. She hasn't fallen yet!

The person who pushed Yuriu, Watanoya Wako, trying to flee from the spot was reflected slightly in the corner of my vision.

But right now I don't have the leeway to worry about that. So, I decided to call out.

"Lily! I'm counting on you!"

"Certainly."

I couldn't see her, but the reply came back almost with no time lag.

At the same time, a single knife flew from somewhere and pierced the deck with a dry sound.

A short scream rose, and Wako-san collapsed on the floor.

In that instant, I jumped over the fence and grabbed Yuriu's hand.

"Shi-Shishou!"

To my surprise, Yuriu hadn't let go of Loulou even in such a situation. Amazing guts, but her eyes are dyed with fear. After all, below is the dark abyss of the sea. If she falls, it will be end of her. 

"It's... okay! I'll definitely save you!"

Although I said that, supporting the weight of one human plus one cat with one hand isn't light labor even if the opponent is a slender girl. A gishi creaking sound came from my own arm. I might have injured my arm.

But so what. My body regenerates on its own anyway.

I don't care if I break; I'll pull Yuriu up. Absolutely.

"Shishou! Please! Just this child first!"

Despite that, Yuriu is desperately trying to push up Loulou, whom she was holding with her left hand.

You've got to be kidding? Is this kid serious? This isn't a movie shoot. Stuntmen won't take your place, and there are no mats laid out below. Yet she prioritizes the cat's life?

"That's... completely a heroine move!"

Coming full circle, it started feeling funny, and suddenly strength welled up.

I squeeze out every last of my strength and pull her up.

Yuriu grabs the fence again.

"Alright! Good!"

Simultaneously with confirming that, my body fell, switching places.

"Shishou!"

Before losing consciousness, I heard Yuriu's voice and the sound of my own neck bone breaking.

□

Resurrecting from the depths of death—not the brink—Lilitea, who looked much like an angel, was looking down at me.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Sakuya-sama."

It was a merciful welcome from my assistant.

I was lying on the deck, my head resting on Lilitea's soft lap.

"I... fell, didn't I?"

"Yes, you fell. At the time of discovery, Sakuya-sama's neck was rotated about one hundred and eighty degrees."

No wonder I feel like I have a crick in my neck.

"I see... Ah..."

I closed my eyes once more, accepting the death that had befallen me.

"Aaaah, that was scary!"

My true feelings spilled out from the bottom of my heart.

"Sakuya-sama, you did your best."

Lilitea stroked my forehead while keeping me on her lap, smiling gently in a way that only I could see in this whole world.

Feeling embarrassed, I hurriedly sat up.

Then, I heard voices behind me.

"Eh? He's alive? Y-You're kidding, right?"

Looking back, the Watanoya family and Manzorogi were all looking at me together.

"Since Sakuya-sama luckily fell onto the edge of the prow, we were able to recover the body immediately. It was that detective over there who carried you back up to this deck. Let us thank him later."

"Are you okay? You looked dead no matter how one looked at it..."

Amahiko asked fearfully on behalf of the Watanoya family.

"It seems... I just happened to land well."

"Your neck was facing backwards, and your cheek looked like it was touching your shoulder blade, though..."

I slowly stood up. There was still a slight discomfort in my neck's movement.

"Shishou~!"

Immediately after, Yuriu hugged me, and I nearly fell over again.

"I thought you died! I thought you died!"

Yuriu ruined her cute face crying "Fugyaa!"

"Sorry. I think I used up all my strength pulling you up."

I comforted her awkwardly.

"But Yuriu-chan, you can't be reckless either. Cats are important, but you have to think of your own life first."

When I admonished her like that, Yuriu made a slightly resentful face.

"I'm returning those words right back to you, tied up with a pretty bow!"

I couldn't say a word in return.

Then, I stood in front of the person lying face down on the deck—Watanoya Wako. A single sharp knife had sewn the hem of her kimono to the floor, rendering her immobile.

The one who had magnificently pinned Wako-san down was a hidden knife thrown by Lilitea from a distance. It wasn't a circus knife. It was her own.

"Lilitea, magnificent."

When I praised her skill and reaction speed, Lilitea took a stance before saying:

"I had already completed the warm-up beforehand."

"...Don't tell me you were playing darts on the ship just for a moment like this?"

"Naturally."

"Liar."

Wako-san was restrained by Manzorogi. She seemed resigned. It was no wonder, since both Yuriu and I clearly witnessed her pushing Yuriu off.

"Mom... why did you do this..."

Amahiko was at a loss for words to say to his mother, who remained hanging her head.

I spoke to her in a tone containing neither anger nor pleasure.

"Wako-san, you were the true culprit, weren't you?"

I hesitated to announce this fact again in front of the family, but being vague here wouldn't help anything.

"That child... It's Nejihiko's fault... I... I just tried to protect the house..."

Wako-san dug her nails into the floor as if they would break, squeezing out her voice.

"I tried to protect... the secret... And yet!"

"Wako! That's enough! No more—!"

It was Kashihiko-san who stopped his wife's monologue. His face had lost all color.

"Kashihiko-san, you seem to know something, don't you? Could it be you know the reason why Wako-san eliminated Nejihiko-san?"

"I-I...!"

He had an expression that said he absolutely didn't want to answer.

"Na~au ♪ I'm gonna rub your belly~... Heh? Ah, yes!"

Just then, Yuriu approached holding Loulou. Even though she was nearly killed just moments ago, her mental fortitude is quite strong.

"Shishou, I finally got it off."

Loulou seemed refreshed and feeling great after finally having the Go Camera removed from her back.

"Come to think of it, I was wondering, who attached this camera to Loulou's back...?"

"Ah, I think it was probably Katsuragi-san."

"I figured."

I had vaguely sensed it, but attaching a Go Camera to the back of a cat that's hard to catch isn't something anyone other than the owner could easily do.

"Because of his job, that person seems quite knowledgeable about cameras and such. But why did he do something like this?"

"I've been wondering since earlier, but is that cat perhaps Loulou-chan?"

As we were briefly discussing Katsuragi's mysterious behavior, Amahiko interjected from the side.

"Do you know her?"

"I'm a fan. I watch her on video sites all the time."

"Video sites?"

"You don't know? The Loulou Stroll Channel. Through the camera attached to Loulou's back, you can enjoy various sceneries of the town from a cat's perspective."

Amahiko held up his smartphone screen to show us. Indeed, multiple such videos were uploaded to a famous video sharing site. The poster's name and other information were withheld, and Loulou was pushed to the forefront.

I couldn't get as excited as Amahiko seeing it, but, I see. Now I understand the reason for Katsuragi's behavior.

He was posting special videos using his cat as a hobby. And probably, he's keeping them a secret from his wife.

"Most likely, he planned to shoot a different kind of video this time titled 'Luxury Cruise Ship Trip'. But Loulou got excited in the unfamiliar environment and escaped from the room early in the voyage."

When I summarized the situation, Yuriu said, "Ah! That must be the correct answer!"

"When I met him in front of his room, Katsuragi-san was kind of panicked. When I asked him what was wrong, he said his precious cat had escaped, so I told him, 'Leave it to me!'"

"So you forcibly volunteered for the detective role even though you weren't asked."

"Ehh, but he looked troubled. Well, true, he did say I didn't have to do that and he'd find her himself."

"He probably wanted to avoid his lead actress finding out about this hobby. It's too late now though."

In short, since this is hidden filming using a cat, it's not exactly a praiseworthy hobby.

"Ugh... Did I do something unnecessary? Shishou~."

"Don't cry. Yuriu-chan did her best in her own way."

I comfort her as she looks dejected. Then, her eyebrows shot up in a flash.

"Right! Thanks to that, we were able to grasp important evidence!"

Yuriu holds the removed camera up to the heavens like a championship belt and puffs out her chest.

She really recovered quickly. However, in that instant, footage began to play on the camera screen. Her hand must have touched the play button.

"Ah, sorrry~."

Yuriu tries to stop it in a panic.

"...Wait a second!"

I instantly stopped her and peered into the screen. Wondering what was going on, the others also peered in.

What was projected was a scene of Wako-san and Nejihiko arguing in the warehouse.

The content was like this:

‘I've had enough! Once we return to Japan, I'm going to expose everything!’

‘Nejihiko! Do you understand what will happen to the house if you do that!? The history and trust of Watanoya that has continued for five generations, you are...!’

‘Even so, it's crazy to continue something like this as a family! Mom, it's useless to stop me. I will bring everything to light! I've endured it for years!’

The argument between mother and son was intense.

‘All of this is to rebuild the company! Do you know how much resolve your father had to make this decision!’

‘Who cares! The management went south in Dad's generation because Dad had no business talent! What the hell is the new product 'Brown Sugar Okra Melon Cookie'! No way that would sell! Anyway, so what if the company survived! It's all going to belong to Aniki anyway! It has nothing to do with me! Hmph! Just because he's the eldest son, giving Amahiko such an ostentatious name!’

‘That is...! It's not just the company. Everything was to raise you children!’

‘I didn't want to be raised with money made by doing dirty things! Such...’

"Ah—!"

Suddenly, Yuriu's voice echoed on the deck where the night sea breeze blew.

When everyone, who had been focused on the video, looked up, Yuriu was pointing at a certain point, neglecting the camera.

It was around the feet of that Clown balloon.

"Mo~! Hey!"

Yuriu handed the camera to me and ran over there.

"What is it! It's an important scene right now!"

Manzorogi scratches his head with both hands.

"I'm sorry! But this child scratched the balloon...! It went pshew."

"Pshew?"

I didn't understand what happened for a moment with that onomatopoeia, but looking up at the Clown, I guessed. The Clown's smile is gradually starting to deflate.

"Ah-a. Loulou poked a hole in it."

"We have to go apologize to the circus people! But this child was scratching this balloon excessively when I found her here earlier too. Was there some smell she was curious about? Ah! Hey!"

While Yuriu was talking, the mischievous Loulou stuck her face into the opened hole, and to my surprise, crawled right inside the balloon.

"Come out! Loulou!"

Chasing after Loulou, Yuriu also stuck her face into the hole.

"N-No!"

The moment he saw that, this time Kashihiko-san let out a scream-like shout.

"No, no! That place is...! Stop iiit!"

"What is wrong? Is there something inside that shouldn't be seen?"

"Ah! No... that is."

He averts his eyes and mumbles.

"Huh? Um—!"

Remaining in a posture with only her upper body stuck in the balloon—a posture a maiden shouldn't expose too much—Yuriu calls out.

"What is it this time? Yuriu-chan, don't tell me you're stuck?"

"No! Umm, there's something inside..."

"Inside? What's inside a balloon is air, right! Read the air a little!"

Manzorogi is irritated.

"It's... umm, lots of green cotton-like stuff wrapped in vinyl is packed all over..."

"Cotton? Why is something like that..."

"It has a sweet smell~."

Manzorogi and I looked at each other.

Green cotton-like stuff with a sweet smell.

There aren't many things that fit those conditions.

While everyone's interest was completely gathered there, I gently pressed the button to check the rest of the video.

In the video, Nejihiko, while alive, screams at his mother:

‘I didn't want to be raised with money from selling marijuana!’

□

Watanoya Seika had been suffering from poor sales for years, and rumors of bankruptcy were whispered.

It was the greatest crisis faced by the long-established store continuing since the early Meiji era.

Development and sales of new products ended in failure, and it was thought to be time to close up shop. However, bordering on a certain year, the family's prosperity improved again.

This is what Lilitea found out later by investigating.

"To think that Watanoya Seika was involved in the trafficking of marijuana..."

Manzorogi was sighing while restraining the Watanoya Kashihiko and Wako couple.

"I liked the Brown Sugar Okra Melon Cookie 'Poirot'..." he lamented. Was he a closet fan of Watanoya Seika?

"Watanoya Seika owned farms domestically and internationally. Kashihiko-san, you were using that land to secretly grow marijuana, weren't you?"

When I asked again, Kashihiko-san nodded as if resigned.

They produced dried marijuana in fields both in Japan and overseas, repeating imports and exports. It wasn't on the level of an individual acting on a bad impulse. They were using the company to conduct trafficking for financing.

It was a family secret shared between Kashihiko-san and his wife, Wako-san.

Later investigations revealed that neither the eldest son Amahiko nor the daughter Miko knew anything about their parents dyeing their hands in such things.

However, through some trigger, only Nejihiko learned that secret.

"Nejihiko... that child wouldn't listen when I told him, he told us we should stop this... He insisted we should make everything public and atone for our crimes..."

Kashihiko-san said so while hanging his head deeply.

A rough, rich second son with bad habits regarding women. I don't want to speak ill of the deceased, but honestly, the impression I heard of Nejihiko wasn't good. Still, saying that the man named Nejihiko was a human who approved of all the world's vices because of that is premature.

He was suffering in his own way over his parents' sins, trying to correct them even if it meant throwing away a stable life.

"But if we did that, the family would be finished! Not just the family, but the affiliated relatives' subsidiaries, and the lives of many employees working for us! We couldn't turn back now..."

"So you're saying you had no choice but to kill him? That's why even after knowing your wife had killed Nejihiko-san, you tried to cover it up and perjured each other's alibis?"

When Nejihiko's murder took place, Wako wasn't in the room. Miko, who was taking a bath, hadn't noticed, but only Kashihiko knew. But he lied, saying "My wife was in the room with me."

As expected, testimony from relatives was invalid.

"Because that child wouldn't listen to reason."

A chilling voice spoke. It was Wako-san. Sitting collapsed on the floor, she was gazing at the dark sea in the distance with a blank expression.

"He was an unfilial child to the end. If he couldn't listen to his parents... there was no choice but to kill him, was there?"

It was a tone devoid of any emotion. Amahiko and Miko were frightened by their mother's state. However, I didn't think Wako-san killed her son as mercilessly as her attitude suggested.

No matter how you look at it, this was a spur-of-the-moment crime. It couldn't have been premeditated.

She snapped, succumbed to a devilish impulse, and did it on a whim.

Not that it excuses anything, of course.

I didn't pursue how Kashihiko-san obtained the idea or route for marijuana trafficking. Whether it was from a connection with anti-social forces or instigated by a bad "friend" overseas.

In any case, pursuing that isn't my job. Nor am I the one to judge.

"I guess the case is closed with this."

Leaning my back against the fence, I watched the Watanoya couple being taken from the deck into the ship.

I casually touched my right arm. It still hurts. I might have dislocated it when pulling Yuriu up.

"It was magnificent."

When I realized, Lilitea was standing to my right.

"Good work. I was saved thanks to Lilitea's flawless support."

When I mimed throwing a dart with the arm that wasn't hurt, Lilitea twisted her body looking a little embarrassed.

"Communication is perfect even without explanation. It's because we're the strongest combo, aren't we? And the game ends with this!"

"Sakuya, don't say lame things."

She gave me the cold shoulder.

The Clown balloon was now completely deflated. The large amount of dried marijuana hidden inside would probably be carried out later and managed strictly.

"But to smuggle using a cruise trip, that's bold. And hiding it inside a circus balloon at that."

In the sense of striking a blind spot—that no one would choose such a conspicuous place as a hiding spot—it might have been the optimal place conversely.

"Well, they couldn't fool an animal's nose though."

"Probably, Watanoya Seika was involved in the planning of this cruise ship itself from the beginning."

"Then the circus troupe too?"

"I don't know about the members, but the responsible owner must be an accomplice."

"Adults are scary."

In the end, just as I suspected, the Clown was harboring something in his belly.

As for Yuriu, she is desperately comforting the sobbing Miko.

I watched that scene from a distance for a while.

Suddenly, I saw Miko laugh a little. I couldn't hear what witty joke Yuriu told her from here.

When Miko stopped crying, Yuriu walked over here with Loulou on her shoulder.

"You did it, Shishou."

"Yuriu-chan, it's a great achievement."

There seems to be no worry of Loulou escaping anymore, and even if by chance, she discovered the hidden marijuana. It's a great performance.

"Ehehe. The case ended while I didn't really understand what was going on though."

"I am sorry for involving you this time. I offer my apologies on Sakuya-sama's behalf."

Yuriu shrinks back at Lilitea bowing politely.

"No, no... By the way, Shishou, who is this beauty?"

Come to think of it, this is their first meeting.

"Ah, she is Lilitea. My assistant and..."

"By the way, Sakuya-sama, what is this about 'Shishou'?"

Lilitea looked up and stared at me with cold eyes.

"I haven't heard about this? What kind of pleasure were you immersing yourself in by having a girl call you Shishou? I haven't heard about this."

"I-I missed the chance to tell you."

When I averted my eyes, Lilitea said "Stupid person" in a voice so small that no one in this world—except me—could hear. Ah, she's sulking.

"By the way, at what stage did Shishou realize the culprit was Wako-san? You realized that, so you rushed to me, right? Saying 'Yuriu! Don't die! Don't go!'"

Yuriu acts out a little skit with a dreamy face. Of course, there is no historical fact that I spewed such lines.

"The conclusion came out when various pieces came together, but the final deciding factor was the dying message Nejihiko-san left, I guess."

"That M? Why does that make Wako-san the culprit?"

Yuriu has a face saying she doesn't understand at all. I took out my smartphone from my pocket and showed it to her by rotating it 180 degrees.

"That letter was upside down to begin with. Thinking about it, I should have noticed that possibility sooner."

"Upside down... M... M... Emu... Mu-e—"

"If you turn M upside down?"

"Ah! I see! W!"

"Right. When I first saw the letter left on the screen, I mistook it for a trace of a smartphone unlock. Afterward, it became a discussion that it was indeed a different message, but because of that first preconception, I forgot to consider the possibility that Nejihiko-san wrote that letter holding the smartphone upside down."

"I see! Certainly, if it were a trace from trying to unlock, naturally he would hold the smartphone in the correct orientation..."

"Yeah. When you take it out of your pocket on the spur of the moment and want to write a letter there quickly, you don't think about the up and down orientation. You don't have time to think."

After all, he was being hanged and suffocating at that time.

"When M became W, the only close person fitting that was Wako-san."

I explained it like that, but actually, there is room for one other trivial interpretation.

The possibility that W = Watanoya.

Nejihiko might have left the letter W thinking of the Watanoya family itself, which dyed its hands in marijuana trafficking, as the culprit.

Of course, it's all my imagination.

"Lilitea had realized that first too, hadn't you?"

When I whispered that, Lilitea nodded slightly. But the words that came out of her mouth exceeded my expectation by one more level.

"There is also that."

"Also?"

"Regarding the deduction that W became M because of mistaking the smartphone's orientation, I thought this: Didn't Nejihiko-san leave the dying message thinking in his own way that whether interpreted as W or M, it would lead to the culprit from the beginning?"

"Either way, you say..."

"M is for Mother."

"Ah!"

"It is strictly my interpretation. Now, it could be either."

I marveled again at my assistant's sharpness. It seemed Yuriu, who was listening to the conversation nearby, felt the same.

"So that's what it was. I'm moved! Shishou is a true Detective-san!"

She is moved.

"True Detective-san... huh."

Certainly, getting involved in a murder case on a cruise ship makes me look like a full-fledged detective. For someone like me doing half-fledged detective work without resolve, maybe I produced a result that was well done.

But—

"It's just a fluke for tonight. Usually, it doesn't go like this."

From tomorrow, I'm half-fledged again.

"Well, be that as it may, it was resolved safely, so whatever. Now we can finally relax. I'm tired today."

"Sakuya-sama. You are forgetting the essential work."

Lilitea thrusts a ruthless reality at me, who felt like it was completely over.

"...Ah."

With that, I remembered the matter I had completely forgotten.

"Katsuragi's cheating investigation! I completely forgot..."

"Eh? Katsuragi-san's cheating?"

Yuriu covers her mouth in surprise.

Oops, I inadvertently leaked the investigation details. However, ignoring me regretting my blunder, Yuriu laughed brightly.

"What! Ahyahya! If it's that, it's okay! Katsuragi-san cheating!? Aha! Absolutely not. No way, no way!"

"Why?"

"Because Katsuragi-san feels like a workaholic itself."

"No, but you never know what people do where you can't see..."

"Then shall I show you the evidence footage?"

"Evidence footage? Such a thing exists? Where?"

"Here!"

What Yuriu held up proudly to the heavens was the Go Camera that played a big role earlier too. She operated it with practiced hands and selected the video data.

"Actually, I caught a glimpse of the beginning of the video earlier. Here you go."

When I peered into the video as told, Katsuragi's figure was reflected there.

The location is probably his room on the ship. An angle shooting from a low position on the floor, Loulou's viewpoint. Katsuragi is on his knees as if peering into it.

"What on earth is Katsuragi doing...?"

His room was in a bizarre state.

Describing exactly what I saw, there were countless cats in the room.

British Shorthair, Scottish Fold, Maine Coon, Munchkin, American Shorthair, Persian, and Russian Blue.

And Katsuragi himself was dressed in almost nothing but underwear, showing an expression of ecstasy at the touch of the cats clinging to him.

"This person, don't tell me... a severe ailurophile?"

Furthermore, every time his body was licked by a cat's rough tongue, he leaked a type of voice I didn't really want to hear.

"He's a pervert..."

Lilitea and I looked at each other.

So this was the content of the large luggage Katsuragi brought onto this ship.

"Before I went out to search for Loulou-chan, I heard from Katsuragi-san that he's apparently a secret cat maniac. But it seems his wife doesn't understand at all."

Yuriu speaks while tracing her memory.

"He said he rented an apartment secretly just for the cats recently. Since he's always careful usually, he was enthusiastic about playing with the cats to his heart's content at least during this project trip. But I wonder why he's naked?"

"Then the cheating partner is... a cat?"

Lilitea and I said the exact same thing at the same time.

Love takes various forms—huh.

"I don't really get it, but you two are perfectly in sync."

Yuriu watches us warmly.

"I hesitate whether I should report this as cheating, but in any case, Katsuragi's secret has been revealed, so this request is also safely completed."

The rest is just to enjoy the remaining ship trip. And when we return to Japan, I'll hand this evidence footage to Katsuragi's wife and get the reward. Awesome.

I stretch once in the pleasant sense of fatigue.

"Too much happened today, I'm tired... It's late, so I'll go back to my room and sle..."

Incidentally, I look up at the night sky.

There was a burning passenger plane overhead.

"..................Eh?"

A passenger plane.

Undoubtedly. Decisively.

The passenger plane clad in flames is crashing towards the Queen Irie.

When, and from where did it fall out of the sky? My understanding can't catch up.

The shadow of the plane floating in the night sky looked desperately huge.

"Wha... what on earth...!"

Lilitea and Yuriu also noticed my reaction and looked up at the sky.

The passenger plane crashed straight into the wheelhouse.

A tremendous roar not of this world and a shock so great we couldn't remain standing assaulted the ship, and we collapsed on the spot.

"Get down!"

"Kyaaaaaaahh!"

I instinctively protect Lilitea and Yuriu. The right wing, broken by the impact, grazed just above our heads like a boomerang and disappeared into the night sea.

Without even time to look back at its destination, the fuselage of the passenger plane snapped in two, spewed fire, and then caused a massive explosion.

Crimson flames, as if erupting from the bottom of hell, rose high.

"Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!"

Someone's scream rose from a passenger in the distance. It was a long, sorrowful cry.

It was heard from each window of the hundreds of rooms on the cruise ship.

The Queen Irie was swallowed into a vortex of agonizing cries in an instant.

Thick black smoke rose to the sky, the ship's hull tilted greatly, and screams of many people rose.

"W... what happened... what is that...? Shi-Shishou..."

Yuriu, sitting collapsed on the spot, stares blankly at the tragedy before her eyes.

"What is this... what is that...!"

I'm the one who wants to ask. What is that?

That thing sweeping away and burning down everything—the case finally resolved after dying, the peace somehow won after being killed.

That passenger plane is—.

"Lilitea... it can't be... right?"

"Saku... ya......... No... Ah... Oh my god... That is!"

"...Why is that plane here!? Why is it crashing here!"

When that thing was falling towards us, I saw it.

The registration number written on the fuselage.

That was undoubtedly from that hijacked passenger plane that had been buzzing in the news.

The one Oitsuki Tatsuya boarded to resolve.

I threw off my jacket and ran toward the flames.

"Sakuya-sama! You must not! It is reckless! Sakuya!"

Shaking off Lilitea, I just move forward. But before I could advance ten meters, breathing became difficult due to the heat.

"Hey... You're kidding, right? You're okay, right? You're immortal, aren't you? From something like this... Hey...!"

Desperately protecting myself from the hot wind, I get closer. The closer I get, the more the ruthless reality becomes visible.

The passenger plane was fatally wrecked, desperately shattered, and blazing.

About a dozen left and right arms of unknown people were rolling together at my feet, half-roasted.

From the gap in the torn fuselage ahead, countless ribbons like Christmas decorations are hanging down. Looking closely, they were human intestines.

It was clearer than seeing fire that none—not a single one of the plane's passengers could have survived.

Everyone and anyone is dead. Equally, inescapable death lies there.

"You're kidding! Dad!"

He's immortal. Undying. After all, he's Oitsuki Tatsuya! That old man!

Surely he's fine. Any moment now, he'll pop out from under the rubble there and make a light joke like "I got a little tan"—.

"Ugh...!"

I slipped on the slime mixed with oil and blood, fell, and hit my shoulder hard.

At that moment, my smartphone tumbled out of my pocket. Pa, the screen lights up.

"Ah..."

A message had arrived for me.

The sender is Oitsuki Tatsuya. Just about two minutes ago.

—Take care of the rest.

"What is this... saying something so unlike you... It's always like this... You are... insufficient with words, irresponsible... sudden in everything you do!"

I felt like the message continued a little more, but I couldn't finish reading it all. The smartphone went haywire from the tremendous heat of the flames.

My whole face hurts as if burning. No, it is actually being roasted by the flames and starting to burn.

There was the unpleasant smell of my own hair and eyelashes singing.

The footing tilted further. The Queen Irie is starting to sink. The ship's hull is cracking, making a creaking sound devoid of reality.

I moved the debris that had become a mountain one by one. The outer wall and framework of the passenger plane were heated like burnt iron plates, and every time I touched them, they made a sizzling sound. The skin on both my hands melted and peeled off in the blink of an eye, and my ten fingers soon stopped opening.

Still, I squeezed out the strength of my whole body and searched for a living human.

"What color is your brain?"

That voice, heard like a surprise attack, was a low, cold voice like trampling directly on internal organs.

Inhaling black smoke and vomiting the contents of my stomach, I looked up and saw a figure beyond the flames.

Standing leisurely.

"Is it red? Blue? Gray?"

The heated air shimmered, distorting my vision.

"Silence, huh. But that's fine. After all, no one has ever seen their own brain. A guy who answers immediately is a fake human."

Someone standing beyond the flames speaks to me indifferently. Like small talk while waiting for a signal at an intersection.

Silence? Far from it. I was trying to answer that person's question.

Because I had seen my own brain. Sometime, when I was killed by having my head split open, I certainly saw it right before dying. So I wanted to answer. But my throat had long been crushed by the flames.

Strength drained from my whole body, and I collapsed from my knees. Finally, oxygen stopped reaching that brain.

"I hope it's gray. Your brain. Like Oitsuki Tatsuya's."

In my fading consciousness, I followed the figure standing beyond the flames with my eyes.

But soon my vision was blocked, and I couldn't follow anymore. Because my eyeballs evaporated due to the flames, and the world itself became invisible.

Seeing nothing, saying nothing, I had my whole body burned—and died again.

God, isn't this quite a treatment?

It's too random.

Did you perhaps write not just my body, but my fate sloppily too?

At this rate, no matter how many wills I prepare, it won't be enough.

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