When the Detective Work is Done, I'll Die

Chapter 100

Chapter 100

Realizing I'd let out a weird voice, I tried to calm myself. The person right in front of me was definitely the blonde foreigner—a participant in the Other-World Harem Experience Event. Her name was Emily.

I also suddenly remembered that she was a model. I'd seen her on the cover of a magazine at the bookstore. It wasn't a manga magazine—it must have been a fashion one. Apparently she was doing a shoot here too, and she was wearing a lovely cobalt-blue dress.

While wondering why Emily-san had come to my room, I ended up blurting out—

"There's no cigarettes or anything in this room."

"That's not something you say to a model and talent you're meeting for the first time, desu. That's, like, super sketchy stuff, desu. Have you been chewed up by society?"

"Eh?"

"First of all, I don't smoke cigars, and even if I did, I wouldn't go searching some minor's room. Why would you think that, desu?"

"N-no..."

Caught making a terrible accusation, I covered it with a cough. She was right. I'd slipped and shown my nasty detective side again. Whenever I'm involved in a case, I assume minors smoke or drink, or that someone with a pure image is doing drugs. That kind of warped knowledge had just produced a rude comment.

I kept quiet, not feeling like explaining myself. I waited for her to tell me why she was here.

"Well, I just mixed up the floor above and the floor below, desu! My room is right above this one! There's absolutely no deeper reason, so don't worry about it!"

Speaking fast in a somehow odd intonation, she left the room. She waved at the end and then vanished.

Without even seeing her off, I started thinking about why she'd made that mistake. There was a name plate on the door—she shouldn't have gotten it wrong. At least, that's what I thought. Maybe she'd only been told the location, not the room number, and charged into the room she'd been thinking about without looking at anything else.

Convinced of that, I checked what I'd originally come to do. Only one thing: confirm the contents of the change of clothes.

There was one suitcase. It wasn't locked, and opened easily.

Inside were no mascot suits like Detective Chikage's—just a jersey, a cape, and pants like an other-world hero might wear, plus underwear. Compared to Detective Chikage, it was a huge relief. Well, tomorrow she'll probably be asked to wear something else.

In the suitcase was a sheet of paper listing what to wear—it even specified which underwear to put on.

"They're really thorough... well then."

The only places I hadn't checked in the room were the closet and a private changing stall connected to it. I figured the closet would be empty, but the pencil I'd asked for was sitting there.

After confirming that, I opened the door to the stall beyond. It was a small changing room with a shower. Apparently I could use it like a hotel bathroom.

Fighting the urge to take a bath right before dinner, I left the bedroom for the hallway. There I found Detective Chikage slumped in despair. Even the panda hood she wore looked dejected.

"What happened?"

"N-nothing! More importantly, is the tour over now? Karma-san!"

Detective Chikage practically fled from me and pounded on the door to what must have been Karma-san's room. Karma-san came out right away, holding something like a video camera, and said, "Last, there's a pool a little way from the villa."

When I leaned in to look at the lens, she said, "I'm already recording!" It was mortifying, and I quickly pulled my head back.

"Karma-san, surely you won't use that footage, right?"

"I'm not cutting it."

"Huh? So you're planning to use it? Whaaa—hey, wait!"

"Anyway, Hyo-chan! Chikage-chan! Let's go!"

Detective Chikage, maybe trying to look good for the camera, answered with a bright "Okaaay!"... I followed the two of them out of the villa, still bewildered.

The pool was a short walk behind the villa. Apparently it would be used for a shoot in two or three days...

Sneezing, I asked Karma-san a question.

"In this cold, you're going to take photos in swimsuits at the pool?"

Detective Chikage seemed to catch on too, and her face twisted.

"Yeah... at worst, won't we freeze to death? Or rather, we're walking there in swimsuits? Someone's gonna collapse from cardiac arrest!"

To that concern, Karma-san shook her head as we walked.

"Ah, no problem. It's not outdoors—it's an indoor heated pool."

I was relieved, but another question popped into my head.

"Um... are swimsuits provided there?"

"Nope."

"Eh?"

"The underwear and panties you're wearing now can double as swimwear. I mean, we can't have you catching cold in wet underwear, so we'll wash today's and bring fresh ones."

"So... in other words, we've basically been wearing swimsuits since morning...!? Why didn't they just prepare proper ones!?"

"Well, the clothes design and ordering cost a fortune, you know."

Cheapskates at the weirdest places. Maybe it's unavoidable for a first try, but... I really don't get the planners of this event.

Still feeling conflicted, I was the one who signed up. When in Rome... I'd just have to follow the rules. Maybe I'll get used to it—probably.

Just as I calmed myself with that thought—

"Kyaaaaa!"

Karma-san, who'd been leading us, screamed. She backed into the villa wall and hit her head.

Wondering what could've shocked her that much, I followed her gaze and saw a long, thick yellow snake on the ground. Or rather, a snake lying dead on the grass.

Detective Chikage crouched with a troubled look and murmured—

"It died in a place like this... but... there's no visible wound."

Probably old age, I thought, glancing sideways—and saw a crow corpse.

Crow carcasses aren't common in town, so my eyes went straight to it. No wounds on this one either. If the snake and crow had killed each other, it'd make sense, but that didn't seem to be the case.

Just then Karma-san, who'd finally started moving again, let out another shrill cry.

"Noooooo! Why!? Why here!? Why like this!?"

I stood up and went over—this time a small fox lay foaming at the mouth, dead. The whole area reeked of death; I felt sick. Karma-san and Detective Chikage both looked ready to faint.

There were more—still unidentified animals—dead here and there.

The scene was nothing but shock to us; we no longer had any will to go to the pool.