Chapter 94
Just rembering it is terrifying—an overwhelming pressure. Dragged to the building's second floor, I was showered with harsh words by devils whose faces I didn't even know.
"If you do anything, we'll sue you right away," or "Don't get any weird ideas," they kept repeating at , over and over.
Their true identities turned out to be the managers for the idols and models taking part in this event. I wanted to tell them I wouldn't do anything, so please relax, but my mouth trembled and wouldn't move. I could barely manage to keep nodding my head.
Freed at last and back at the first-floor reception, Detective Chikage grinned at . Then she laughed, "Hyoga-kun, you got all dressed up, but your soul's half gone—you look ruined." I didn't even have the energy to glare or talk back. On top of everything, my neck hurt; it was the worst.
Detective Chikage, in complete contrast, seed in high spirits, her eyes sparkling.
"Well then, I've been called, so I'm heading to the dressing room!"
"The ladies have their own dressing room... So, what happened? You look happy about sothing."
"She went into the dressing room—that light-novel author, Komaki-sama! Getting to change together is like a dream."
"Wha—, that author!? Really!?"
The na Komaki refers to the pen-na of the female author who planned this event. She writes fantasy and romantic codies, and is a bestselling, top-tier author.
I've read her rom-com light novels myself. The way she makes even vulgar topics seem elegant is uniquely beautiful—her talent is bottomless. To think Komaki-sensei is nearby... I'm on the verge of tears.
While I was lost in sentintality, Detective Chikage vanished. In her place, a woman in glasses and a suit was checking the ti right in front of . Over and over she glanced at the watch on her right wrist. She looked extrely irritated, so I tried to back away toward the wall to avoid getting involved.
Then she shouted.
"You're late!"
"Eek!?"
I ended up yelping too.
The bespectacled woman stared with narrow eyes. She looked like she might be holding a whip, so I braced myself, but she didn't attack—she simply spoke.
"Oh my, you're Hyoga-sama, aren't you?"
"Huh!? Ah, yes!"
Since she called Hyoga-sama, she must be a participant in this event. She pushed up the bridge of her glasses with a finger and explained why she'd shouted.
"My apologies. Our author is taking forever to change, and I was getting frustrated. She can be quite, shall we say, free-spirited."
"You an Komaki-sensei?"
When I said the na, she closed one eye and said, "Yes."
"Hyoga-sama, have you heard? The legend of Komaki's free-spiritedness?"
"That she can talk to animals, or is so gentle she can't even swat a mosquito, or that while writing she keeps saying 'fuwa-fuaa'... Well, I read that on the internet."
"Yes. She once submitted a long children's story to a light-novel contest—she's naturally free-spirited."
"Co to think of it, I did hear that. She didn't win, but a publisher noticed her, and that's how the legend of Komaki-sensei began."
"Exactly. Had I not spotted her back then, she wouldn't be where she is now."
While listening, I realized who she was—Komaki-sensei's editor.
"Ah... So you're the editor..."
"Ah, yes. I forgot to introduce myself. My na is written 'Mizuki,' pronounced Mizuki. You may call 'Kiss' if you like."
"K-K-Kiss-san?"
She took the "su" from "mizu" and the "ki" from "kii," making "Kiss"... huh?
Just the word itself is embarrassingly hard to say. I couldn't think of a better nickna, so I'd have to get used to it.
When I forced myself to use it, it sounded awkward even to . Kiss-san seed embarrassed too, fidgeting with her feet.
But the embarrassnt looked like an act. Rembering Komaki-san, she suddenly turned toward the dressing room.
"She's taking forever..."
Co to think of it, is Kiss-san not changing? I decided to ask.
"Um, what about you, Kiss-san?"
"Oh, this is my formal attire. Like you, everyone left their original clothes here; over there we'll use the four-day changes the event prepared."
"Huh..."
"Well, I'd better drag Komaki out of the dressing room... Ah, let's et up over there."
"Over there?"
"We're splitting into two cars for the trip to the villa. Our five and your five, separately. The pickup should be here any mont... Oh dear, one car's already here, yet... This is troubleso."
Leaving those words behind, she dashed toward the dressing room. Editors are busy, or maybe editors assigned to free-spirited Komaki are especially busy. I don't know.
Kiss-san had called it free-spiritedness. To think she'd already bought a villa just to host this event—no choice but to be convinced.
At the sa ti, no choice but to admire her. I want that free-spiritedness. I want the power to face the future without being tied down by anything.
Co to think of it, there's another free spirit—here's the college girl in the panda kigurumi.
"Don't look—!"
Detective Chikage really suits this playful outfit. I laughed, returning the favor from earlier.
"Detective Chikage, you look great!"
"Not great, not great, not great! Why on the very first day... And Komaki-sensei I admired laughed at !"
"Oh, you already t her."
"Yeah... Just as I expected, a total space-case. She was asking so editor-looking woman, 'I want to wear it too, but don't you have this outfit?'"
That would be a problem—there's a set costu. While thinking Kiss-san has it rough, I looked outside.
Karma-san had parked a five-seater nearby and was beckoning to us. I shouldn't waste ti, so I started jogging. She, on the other hand, didn't move.
"Detective Chikage? What are you staring at? Wait, didn't you hand it over? Your smartphone?"
Because she was staring at her smartphone, I gave her a dumbfounded look.
"No, they said we'd collect our smartphones only after we reach the villa. Did you hand yours over?"
"...Co to think of it, it was in my pocket."
"You're a natural disaster yourself."
"Says the one who stopped right before getting in the car to stare at her phone—aren't you the free-spirited one?"
Her face darkened opposite mine.
"Yeah. Another murder nearby. A woman bludgeoned to death with a tal bat... Looks like a random slasher."
"If it's a random slasher, it's not our turn. We'll have to leave it to the police's information network."
Saying that, she blew away her gloomy expression.
"Right! Let's party hard this week! Yeaaah!"
This woman is free, after all.
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