Ace detective Miroku-san's case files.

Suz: You know, I've been feeling some weird presence lately.

Aya: A presence?

Suz: Yeah. Kind of like I'm being watched by someone, but when I turn around to check, there's nobody there.

Shi: Must be your imagination.

Suz: No no, there's no way it's just that! Maybe it's a fan of mine, secretly watching from the shadows?

Yum: I cannot think of a single quality that would gain you a fan.

Shi: Kusunoki might have some fans, though. I bet there are some Sentinels who secrely admire you.

Suz: Yeah I can see that.

Meb: What a farce.

Suz: What would you do~? If there was a hidden Mebu fan club?

Meb: Add thirty more hours to their daily training as a part of club's rules.

Suz: That doesn't even make sense time-wise!

Aya: Ah... Now that you mention it, I've noticed something strange lately too.

Yum: Kokudo-san, you too?

Aya: Yeah. I occasionally clean the Sentinels' rooms when they ask me to.

Suz: Oh yeah, I ask her from time to time too. You're so good at making things nice and tidy, Ayaya. You're a lifesaver.

Aya: Thank you very much. But sometimes the things in the room would be scattered in an unnatural way...

Yum: Would that not be the fault of the room's owner?

Aya: Hmm... But I think they were scattered differently from how it normally is. The clothes and things looked like they were violently thrown around...

Shi: Definitely your imagination.

Meb: Yeah. I don't think it's anything serious... But I'll look into it.

Yum: The wind is certainly strong today.

Aya: Apparently there's a typhoon approaching. It will hit Kagawa by night.

Suz: Seriously!? Mebu, I'm scared! What if the Tower falls down? We all need to evacuate right now!

Meb: It won't fall.

Suz: But what if!?

Meb: I'm a carpenter's daughter, you know. The Tower's earthquake and wind resistance are perfect, I've checked.

Suz: Mebu, I'm gonna fall in love right now.

Meb: Alright, I'm off to training.

Suz: Ah. So you're going to train even in a typhoon...

Yum: And thus, night fell. Both wind and rain grew ever stronger. The Sentinels were locked inside the Tower by the storm... And trouble occurred!

Aya: Kyaaaa!

Suz: What's wrong, Ayaya!?

Yum: Is something the matter!?

Aya: I came to return a book I borrowed from Mebuki-senpai... And she...

Suz: Sh-She's dead!

Yum: Mebuki-san... Is sprawled on the floor buck-naked!

Suz: Are you dead!? Mebuuu!

Yum: However, that was merely the beginning of the events.

Sent A: Aah! My room's been ravaged!

Sent B: I saw something glimmer in a corner at the viewing platform! It's a will'o'the'wisp, I tell you!

Sent C: When I came out of the toilet, something attacked me! There's even a wound!

Yum: The string of inexplicable occurences continued.

Suz: Just, just what is happening?

Aya: Mebuki-senpai doesn't seem to be in danger, but she's not well enough to talk yet. The medical staff said there weren't any signs of physical trauma either.

Yum: Due to the typhoon, our Gold Tower has completely turned into a locked room. And in this locked room of ours, more and more people fall victims to something.

SHI: Nah, they're probably on the edge and exaggerating. It's gotta be their imagination.

Suz: Oh, so you switched.

Yum: Now that it has come to this... I shall avenge Mebuki-san! I shall solve this mystery and bring the culprit into the daylight! By the name of Miroku!

Suz: Miroku-san, you just wanted to say that.

Yum: First of all, we shall inquire with the suspects.

Aki: To think you asked me to suddenly come to the viewing platform... To give a testimony?

Suz: Oh yeah, I bet Sensei could kill someone without batting an eye.

Aki: Kagajou-san.

Suz: Just kidding! I don't actually think you would kill a fellow man in cold blood or anything!

Aki: ...A fellow man? Now that's just weird. I'm a woman.

Suz: ...That's your problem?

Yum: So, miss, what have you been doing tonight and where?

Aki: Alibi inquiry, huh. I'm afraid I have no alibi to prove that I was in my room... Hmm. That reminds me, there's a certain legend told here in the Gold Tower.

Suz: Why is she suddenly talking about legends?

Yum: Suzume-san, this flow of events is a given.

Aki: This tower is called Senkeiden in the Taisha. Sen as in "a thousand", kei from "view" and den from "palace". Thus, Senkeiden - Palace of Thousand Views. The Uesato family directly named it so.

Yum: This is my first time hearing of this.

Aki: But the name "Senkeiden"... Is actually rumoured to have something to do with a girl who met an untimely end...

Yum: Could it be... That the girl's grudge...

Aki: It's just a legend... Nothing more than a story.

Suz: I-I'm scared, Miroku-san! Is it a ghost!? A ghost!?

Yum: W-Whether it is a ghost or not is something we must find out starting now!

Aya: T-There's trouble!

Yum: What is it, Kokudo-san?

Aya: Shizuku-senpai suddenly left the Gold Tower and said she's going to the training grounds!

Yum: I see... So that was it. This mystery... is solved!

SHI: Jeez. Shizuku can be a pain in the ass too...

Suz: That's as far as you go, SHIZUKU!

SHI: Huh!? Why are you all here?

Yum: Mebuki-san's murdererer is you, SHIZUKU-san, is it not?

Aya: Miroku-senpai, she's alive.

SHI: I'm the culprit? And why is that?

Yum: Your personality change. After Mebuki-san got attacked, Shizuku and you traded places for some reason.

SHI: And what's that supposed to prove?

Yum: Allow me to explain: Mebuki-san proposed you to have a match, with your attitude on the line. However, you lost to her, and the grudge finally drove you to murder!

Aya: She's not dead.

Yum: And once you learned that I, Miroku Yumiko, was on the case, you quickly fled here, afraid that your crime would be discovered.

SHI: Hold on-!

Yum: Now that I remember, you kept suggesting all those events were just people's imagination. All that was to mislead the investigation-

Meb: That's not it, Miroku-san.

Yum: Eh? Mebuki-san, why are you here?

Aya: Mebuki-senpai! You woke up!

Meb: Yeah. And the culprit behind these events... is this.

Cat: Meow.

Suz: Uh... What's this creature?

SHI: Haah... What's this look like to you, a dog? It's a cat, a cat.

Cat: Meow.

Suz: Oh, it just made a cat-like sound.

SHI: That's 'cause it's a goddamn cat! Okay, fine! I'll explain. So, basically...

SHI: ...And that's the gist of it.

Yum: Uh, so to reiterate... The cat you picked up and secretly kept would sometimes escape and cause a mess in the Sentinels' rooms?

Meb: The will'o'the'wisp glowing in the darkness must've been its eyes reflecting light. The girl that got injured must've accidentally startled it and got scratched as a result.

Yum: And the reason you were passed out?

Meb: Ugh... That's because I got exhausted from today's training and spent too much time in the bath...

Aya: We were worried! Please don't overdo it.

Meb: I'll be more careful from now on. Sorry for worrying you.

Yum: ...T-then the reason you swapped personalities?

SHI: Shizuku was trying to catch this mischievous kitten and scold it, but it scratched her. So I got brought out.

Suz: Miroku-san... "The mystery is solved!" was it?

Yum: O-O-O-O-O-Of course I knew all along! I was merely testing you all!

Suz: Ew, that's the lamest kind of excuse.

Cat: Meow.

Meb: So, what are we going to do with it, SHIZUKU?

SHI: Shizuku's been keeping it in secret because she wasn't sure if she'd get a permission to, but now that it's caused such a mess we can't really keep it hidden anymore.

Aya: What if they tell us to throw it out? I feel bad for the kitty...

Meb: Haah... I'll ask for a permission to keep it as well.

Suz: Mebu, you really are kind, after all.

Yum: She is a tsundere, after all. That is one of the points she shares with Miyoshi-san.

Meb: N-No I'm not!

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Pub: 26 Dec 2020 16:21 UTC
Views: 358