When the Detective Work is Done, I'll Die

Chapter 96

Chapter 96

Only Detective Chikage hadn't noticed and was just sitting there blankly (or maybe she hadn't been told it was a five-seater). "Eh!? Eh!? What's going on!?" she started flustering, her smartphone flying through the air.

But even when I stated the fact, neither Karma-san nor Kotoha-san seemed shaken. Before Karma-san could explain, I calmed down, realizing the two already knew the situation.

"Ah. One of us went on ahead to prepare... and since we didn't have quite enough food and such, they went to the convenience store."

"I see."

While picking up the smartphone she had dropped, Detective Chikage went "Ah... ah" in understanding.

Just as Karma-san had said, a woman in green, looking very gentle, was waiting in front of the convenience store. When Mr. Gyou stopped the car, she climbed into the front passenger seat and bowed politely to us.

She had a similar hairstyle and features to Karma-san, but the atmosphere was quite different. Where Karma-san was assertive, this woman seemed passive.

As soon as the car set off again, the assertive one introduced her.

"She's Shieru. Nickname's Charlotte, okay? Like me, she's helping out with this event. If there's anything you don't understand, ask me or Charlotte-chan as much as you like."

Charlotte-san gave us a greeting from the front seat in response.

"N-nice to meet you... I'm still inexperienced..."

Then she quickly tucked her head back in. I thought she might be extremely shy, when words from Kotoha-san beside me flew into my ear.

"She seems like a bit of a shut-in. She didn't hate you, so don't worry about it."

"Ah, yes... well, I wasn't really thinking she hated me or anything..."

As we were talking like that, Detective Chikage raised her hand and threw Karma-san a question about the event.

"Yes, yes!"

"What is it?"

"For the filming event to make the ads, anything goes, right... um, will there be a cameraman or something?"

"Charlotte-chan and I will handle it."

Detective Chikage made a difficult face as if she didn't quite understand, then spoke again.

"Isn't that a bit too few people? For events like these, you'd usually need a video editor and lots of other staff..."

"Ah. That part comes after the four-night, five-day trip ends. We'll have an editor check the footage, and the ad agency and sponsors will look it over too."

"Huh... oh, couldn't you just use a smartphone normally... wait, there's no signal here?"

"Exactly. It's a no-signal area, and well, to prevent the participating girls from contacting other men and making Hyoga-kun jealous... that's the idea."

"I see..."

Detective Chikage ended the exchange looking unconvinced. True, no matter how much they billed it as letting me experience an other-world harem, the real purpose was different. They were using beauties to promote their product.

Was it really okay to finalize everything based on just a few people checking on the spot?

No, more importantly, "so I won't get jealous"... I was beginning to have doubts on multiple levels.

Mid-conversation, she brought up something serious. I immediately looked down.

"It's not like more people is always better. In this era when people's hearts have no leeway, the more you bring, the more dangerous things might get. You know, there've been a lot of scary incidents lately. A time when a bumped shoulder can turn a once-kind heart into flames of hatred... Hyo-chan gets it, right?"

"Eh... yes. Th-that's true... it's an age where anything could happen... the more people you bring..."

This time I reacted—or rather, for some reason I was made to react. Well, having been caught up in an incident myself, I couldn't say I didn't understand what she meant.

Why had my name suddenly come up?

"When I was talking, you went quiet as if it hit close to home, so I figured you might know a lot about this stuff and just asked."

"Y-yes..."

"But, you know"

"But?"

In her next words, Karma-san instantly brightened the air in the car.

"Precisely because it's an age when people are so sensitive, maybe there's good to be found too."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning people's hearts can change from darkness to love. Maybe you'll end up in a romance with an idol or model out of the blue...! Especially during these five days, you're the only one all the girls are watching. Contact with outside men is forbidden too."

The mood turned almost too cheerful, making my chest stir. And then, trouble might start because of that. No, why was I imagining romance starting for myself?

I already have someone in my heart. I didn't join this event looking for love.

Rubbing my head, I also thought about Karma-san who'd told me all this and responded half-heartedly.

"Yeah... haha, that sounds fun. I'm looking forward to meeting everyone."

When I said that, Kotoha-san clung to my left arm, and from the right Detective Chikage stretched out her arm and grabbed my stomach firmly.

...Probably just a side show to liven up the event, or simple teasing.

Deciding to think so, I looked at my smartphone. I'd meant to check for info, but an incoming call interrupted.

"Hello... yes?"

The voice that came through was far too out of place for the mood of the day—a hollow, gutted man's voice. Strictly speaking, it was the brother of Miiko, the girl I love.

"O-oh, you're already at the harem event?! I'm jealous. Even though you've got someone you love..."

"Miiko entered me, so I'm going. I was actually planning to go with her... but since she said refusing would be bad, I'm going. What else do you want? Just to complain?"

"No, no, it's advice for my junior. The weaker-seeming ones, the ones who look free, are the toughest. Be careful not to get attacked. That author-sensei seems dangerous. Well, if you're the one attacking, that's different."

"Wait a minute. Didn't you just say 'even though you're in love'?"

"If it sounds fun, anything goes."

Thinking he was just teasing me, I hung up. I'd turn off my smartphone until we were out of signal range.

When Detective Chikage asked "Who was that?", I answered "Wrong number." She seemed suspicious that "a wrong number had such a complicated conversation," but it didn't matter.

To shift her attention elsewhere, I tried telling her about the outside. But by then we were in a world of white.

Even though it was a winter afternoon, fog covered everything around us. Detective Chikage too was entranced by the mysterious atmosphere. It felt as if this place was announcing the start of another world.

If only this were truly a fun adventure-fantasy world.

Only the culprit didn't know. That this would become a blood-stained tragedy...!