When the Detective Work is Done, I'll Die

Chapter 99

Chapter 99

First, the first floor. If you go straight through the wide entrance, there's a hall. From there, several staircases extend, and you can proceed to various places on the first floor.

It really feels like exploring the map inside a game, and my heart leaps with excitement. Karma-san, smiling cheerfully, guided me to the dining room next door.

Ten chairs were prepared at the table, and name cards were carefully placed as well. My seat is at the far right, and directly across from me is Detective Chikage's. She's already seated.

I had a silly question for her.

"Detective Chikage, are you already hungry? There's still some time until dinner..."

"Th-that's not it! I was just testing the cushions and how they feel to sit on! Ah, the person next to me is the editor."

"...Looks like it. The person next to me is... ah, Professor Komaki... Will these two eat while glaring at each other...? No way."

Most importantly, it looks like we'll have fun conversations during the meal. I'm starting to look forward to dinnertime more and more. While we're at it, Charlotte-san and the others also told me where their own seats were.

"Let's see, my seat is the frontmost on the far left, facing Karma-san. If you don't have enough tableware or drop something, call out to us loudly, okay?"

Now I knew Charlotte-san's location. I glanced to her side and gave a wry smile. Right next to Charlotte-san was the name card of a strong-willed woman—Lana. I felt sorry for Charlotte-san, thinking she'd probably get an earful from her. I almost wanted to switch seats with her.

Karma-san seemed to have misunderstood something when she saw me staring at Lana-san's name card. She probably thought I was interested in her.

"Come on, you know who Lana-san is..."

"Um... no, I think I've heard the name somewhere..."

Before I could answer, Detective Chikage started speaking as if to show off her knowledge.

"Oh, come on. If you're a light novel reader, you should know right away! You've read Professor Komaki's works, right?"

That finally jogged my memory. Her name had been on the cover.

"Ah...! She's the illustrator!"

"Yes. She often works on Professor Komaki's books! Remember now?"

"Yes. So that was her. It didn't really click. I thought she was more... delicate..."

"Well, people and their work are completely different. That fluffy Professor Komaki writes solid, moving stories, after all."

"Ah, that makes sense."

Seeing that the conversation had ended, Karma-san told me about the kitchen. No one was there yet, but the large refrigerator was stocked with enough food and drinks for four nights and five days. She even went out of her way to open the fridge.

What stood out were the many plastic bottles of juice and coffee milk, separate from what we'd drink. Lana-san's name card was there too.

I made a guess and asked Charlotte-san.

"Is this one of the things Lana-san requested?"

"That's right..."

"Did you bring it in?"

"Ah, come to think of it, Lana-san said she'd carry this one herself, didn't she, Karma-san?"

Karma-san seemed to find it odd too.

"Now that you mention it, yeah...? She usually orders people around in that tone, so why... Ah, maybe she didn't want anyone else touching what she drinks."

She seemed satisfied with her own answer. She didn't seem to have any more doubts.

After considering that, Charlotte-san suddenly said, "Ah! I forgot!"

"Karma-san, I'm sorry! I left something in the car! I thought Lana-san might complain that we didn't have enough, so I went out and bought more juice..."

"You left it in the front passenger seat, right? Okay. Here's the car key."

"Thank you very much!"

Charlotte-san dashed off, and it was decided that Detective Chikage, Karma-san, and I would look around the rooms.

After leaving the kitchen and dining room, we were shown the restroom and bath on the first floor. They were quite spacious and seemed easy to use. Next to them was a washing machine. It looked like we could do laundry here if needed.

"You don't have a change of underwear, so if it gets dirty, you'll have to wash it yourself!"

Karma-san looked at me and said something ridiculous. What am I supposed to do...? Detective Chikage gave me a strange look, so I hurried to clear up any suspicion.

"I'm not a peeper or anything! And I'm not going to do anything that'll get me dirty! So, Karma-san! Let's go to the second floor!"

The issue was the rooms where we'd be sleeping. We left the bath and opened the stairs to the second floor. One door straight ahead. One to the right. One to the left. It seemed there were five rooms on this floor, and five more on the top floor, the third floor.

The door straight ahead on the second floor led to the bedroom. The left was the restroom, and the right was the stairs to the third floor.

We'd be staying on the second floor, same as the staff. There was one door in the back with Kotoha-san's name card.

I was in the right-hand room, one before that. As expected, Detective Chikage's was straight ahead. Next to her was the staff bedroom. This arrangement made it easier for us to inform them if anything happened.

I made a suggestion to Karma-san.

"So, would it be okay if I took a look inside now? Alone... There are things I want to check—where I'll sleep, and my change of clothes..."

Detective Chikage seemed to agree. I wanted to see too. I wanted to know how risqué the change of clothes would feel. If I braced myself beforehand, it might make things a little easier.

"Sure, go ahead!"

With her cheerful permission, I dashed into my bedroom.

"Well then!"

It was a chic room. A high-end mattress and a large, fluffy bed. According to what I'd heard, this place was also used as a retreat for authors. In other words, it was a VIP-exclusive bedroom.

The comfort of the bed was guaranteed to be better than any hotel, or even better.

Sleeping here would be a joy in itself. And to think a blonde woman would even come with it—talk about great service...

"...Wait, what?"

I was about to accept the situation when I slapped my own cheek to snap out of it. I composed myself and looked at the figure sitting on the bed.

It wasn't a mistake. A blonde woman. When she showed her face, I knew who it was. She was the foreigner who'd ridden in the same car as Kiss-san.

But why!?

She turned toward me and put a hand to her mouth.

"Oh! I'm so sorry desu ne! Emily, it looks like I got the wrong room—. Wahahahaha...!"

"Huh? Huh? HUH!?"