As though cursing us for having been shown this sight.
"Aaaaaaaaaaagh!!!!"
The children's screams rang out, fierce enough to tear through the air.
But they were by no means everyone's screams.
"..............."
Perhaps they were maintaining the bare minimum of composure. A few of them merely stared ahead.
Slowly processing the information their eyes had given them.
"Ka... Karafuru...?"
And I was one of them.
I rose to my feet again, slowly, then approached him even more slowly.
"............"
Should I check his pulse? Try CPR?
No. Spitting on him would have been more meaningful.
"...Urgh...!"
He was dead, his body a horrific wreck.
"Sho, Shoko...."
Then Shu's trembling voice came from behind me.
"Shu... Don't look. Please, just stay behind me..."
I wanted to spare at least her from this gruesome sight, but—
"No... He's, he's dead... Karafuru...!"
She was already standing right beside me.
"Ka, Karafuru... H-how could this happen..."
[#!@(!@....*%&%....]
"I-Ikiro!! Damn it, if only I'd realized sooner!!"
"Nooo!!! Ikiro!!! This can't be happening!!!"
One by one, they began to grasp the situation, just as we had.
"Sonoconsigliere... Yes, he is unquestionably dead. There isn't the slightest hope. What a truly gruesome sight."
"Tch, you don't need to narrate that for us, puppetmaster."
"...Both of you. Shut up."
No, some had already begun analyzing it.
The very next instant shattered that division in the atmosphere.
Ding-dong, ding-dong!!
A frivolous notification sound rang out from somewhere in the Common Floor.
"W-what the hell...!?"
And yet, how could we possibly forget?
"A body has been discovered!! You lot!! Everyone, gather on the Common Floor of the Dormitory, where the body was found!! Upupupu~ You've finally popped murder's cherry! Congratulations, congratulationsss!!"
That voice, every word it uttered filling me with a murderous urge I wanted to forget.
"A body discovery announcement...? Then that means..."
The moment Komada murmured that—
Poof!
"Yes!! That's exactly right! A splendid body has been splendidly discovered!!"
They appeared for the first time in quite a while.
"M-Monotwins...!!"
Momono and Monono appeared before us, wearing expressions completely opposite to our own.
"Hohwawa! Ka, Karafuru! He's dead, he is! We need to use Monster Reborn on him right away!"
"Idiot! That joke's already out of fashion! These assholes each said it once just now!"
"Aha, is that so~! Besides, Monster Reborn only exists in fiction!"
They traded a comedy routine that drew neither reaction nor resentment from anyone.
"Anyway, let's get straight to the point! Just as we said before, since three or more people have 'witnessed' a person's death, the long-awaited 'class trial' will now be held!"
"That's right!! More importantly, why haven't all thirteen... No, no, twelve, since one croaked. Why haven't the other 'four' gathered here!! This is just—"
At the very moment Monono was about to finish—
"Huff... huff...!"
They finally returned from the entrance far in the distance.
"Y-you guys, what was that announcement just now!? A body was found... Ka, Karafuru!!"
Leading the group, Tsurudo was the first to understand what had happened.
"Th-this isn't real, is it...!? Aaaaaaah!!"
"Ubauchi, calm down...!"
Ubauchi clung to him and let out a wail.
"Urgh... What the hell is that sight...?"
Kadra's face turned pale in an instant, and then—
"K-Kiro!!! No!! Tana will be sad if you die!! Waaaaah!!"
Tana began running toward Karafuru's cold body.
But—
Grab!
"Nngh... Let, let me go!! Let go of me!!"
"...Put a leash on your reason, Redrasi."
Hiranui stopped her.
"Re, Redrasi doesn't like that! Tana likes it! More importantly, K-Kiro...!"
"Ah, I don't like acting this way either. I prefer rational judgment. What you're trying to do right now is unequivocally 'tampering with a corpse.'"
"What...? Tampering... with a corpse?"
His choice of words was so coolheaded that it slipped out without thought.
"Hiranui is right. Ah, surely you haven't forgotten? It's written in the school rules, you know?"
- Once a body has been discovered, you will be given a set period of time to freely 'investigate.'
"Hohwawa! Akano, please don't move the story along on your own! We finally appeared after seven whole episodes, and we barely have any screen time!"
"Hey, you little bastard!! How can you say that so openly!! But it's true... Now that a body has been discovered, you idiots have a duty to investigate in preparation for the trial."
"By investigate... you mean we're supposed to uncover the truth behind Karafuru's death...?"
At Shu's question, the Monotwins nodded.
"Yes!! That's right!! If this is a murder case, all you have to do is identify the real culprit! And if it happens to be 'suicide,' then you'll have to gather grounds for naming 'Karafuru himself' as the culprit! Got that!!"
"Th-there's no way it was suicide! There's a limit to how much you can mock us, you pieces of shit!"
"Well now, you never know, do you? Everything must be uncovered through investigation. Oh, there are about two things I'd like to ask regarding that. Is that all right?"
Stepping past Rekida, who was gritting her teeth, Akano walked up to the Monotwins.
"First, is this... the entire case we're meant to deal with?"
"Akano, what do you mean by that?"
"Put simply, what if there's another body besides Karafuru's hidden somewhere in this academy, and those things are concealing their ruling on it?"
In other words, she was telling them to either expose their pathetic trick or confess to it.
"B-but isn't that strange...? All fifteen of us are gathered here on the Common Floor right now! So a hidden body..."
"That brings me to my second question. Since you've been watching us this entire time, you must know about the threatening letter that consumed our entire day..."
At that, the corners of the Monotwins' mouths rose, if only slightly.
"I demand that you establish the facts concerning it. Now, answer me."
Did that smile carry an affirmative meaning?
"...Pfft."
No.
"We're not telling you!?"
It was nothing but thorough mockery.
"Oh? But wouldn't that compromise the fairness of the trial?"
"How should I know, asshole! Stop using difficult words like that!"
"Now, now, Monono, calm down. Certainly, we have no intention of telling you whether your deductions or that threatening letter are true, but..."
Momono cleared her throat with a smug little cough.
"The only case you need to deal with is the one involving Karafuru! At least we'll tell you that!"
"And I'll tell you one more thing! If it's a 'murder victim' rather than a suicide, then for fairness' sake, at least three people must witness it! If the blackened conceals that until right before the trial, the blackened immediately loses! We'll add it to the school rules too, so hammer it into your skulls!!"
Ding! A notification sounded, announcing that a school rule had been added.
"...Good. Understood. Thank you for your answer."
After checking it, Akano faintly raised the corners of her mouth as though satisfied.
"Now there's nobody left who's going to drag this out, right!? Then from this moment on, we shall bestow upon you the 'first guide to your investigation'!!"
"What...? A guide...?"
The instant I murmured that—
Ding!
A notification sounded from everyone's Monophone at once.
"What's this, a 'file'...?"
What had been sent was an online file titled [Monotwins File].
"That's right! It's called the Monotwins File, a kind of state-of-the-art case assistant!"
"To be more specific, it contains the victim's autopsy report and other information!! But naturally, don't worry, since it doesn't list every last detail!!"
[Who the hell would be reassured by that, you morons;; 凸(ﾟДﾟ#)]
"Well then, that's enough of our boring speech! We've explained everything, so now it's your turn to give it your all!"
Failing the class trial meant death. That much was impossible to deny.
"Well then...."
There was only one thing I—one thing we—had to do.
"Now, the long-awaited first investigation shall begin!! Everyone, participate diligently and sincerely!!"
Thoroughly uncover the truth of this case.
*
*
[Investigation Begins]
'First, let's go over the outline of the case. The Monotwins File, right...?'
As I reminded myself that this was a case, I could feel a detective's composure filling my body.
Right. If I did what I could, one thing at a time, the answer to the truth would surely follow.
At the very least, as the [Ultimate Detective], that was what I had to do.
Resolving myself, I opened the Monotwins File.
'.......'
The first thing I saw was Karafuru's face, rendered in black and white with the word DEAD stamped across it.
'The victim's name is Karafuru Ikiro, the 'Ultimate ???'...'
That was followed by brief information on the victim.
'The estimated time of death is... 7:00 p.m.'
In other words, it was the same as the deadline in the threatening letter. That was quite important information.
'The cause of death was a fatal fall... As befits that, there are bruises scattered all across his body.'
...I paused to recall the sight of him falling.
Had he fallen from somewhere and died the moment the clock struck seven?
"Hm...? From somewhere...?"
Come to think of it, where exactly had he fallen from?
Perhaps the shock had muddled my memory slightly.
"...The third floor."
"Shu...!"
Shu, who had been looking at the Monotwins File as well, spoke up.
"Yeah... That's right, I remember. I think Karafuru fell from over there, on the third floor."
Where Shu pointed was the railing on the third floor, directly above and to my right.
"I see... So he fell from pretty close to where we were?"
"Right, but the body is actually closer to the center of the Common Floor, isn't it?"
"Hm... Maybe his trajectory naturally changed as he fell? Karafuru was small and very light, so it wouldn't be impossible..."
As we naturally exchanged opinions, at some point the two of us had ended up looking only at my Monotwins File.
"...Huh?"
Then I found a note labeled special circumstances.
"Special circumstances... 'There are signs that the victim lost consciousness before death'...?"
It was information unusual enough to live up to the label.
The immediate possibility that came to mind was that he had fallen from the third-floor railing while unconscious.
"...Hmm."
Still, there was nothing I could be certain of yet.
[I recorded the Monotwins File in my detective notebook.]
As I recorded the information from the Monotwins File I had finished reviewing, I furrowed my brow.
"...Shoko. Then let's properly investigate now."
"Hm...? Properly investigate what?"
"Over there... Karafuru's body. Look, a few people are already examining it."
Just as she said, Akano, Hiranui, and Tsurudo were already closely observing the body.
"Those guys... Don't they find it unsettling?"
"Huh? Shoko, don't you find it unsettling either? As a detective... haven't you seen sights like that plenty of times?"
"Well, I'm certainly used to corpses, but that was always in a relationship between victim and detective..."
I was about to say that this was my first time seeing one as a fellow classmate, but—
"...It's okay. If it's hard because you're classmates, then I can help you as a classmate too. Right?"
"Shu..."
Shu smiled gently as she linked her arm through mine.
"...Yeah, you're right."
"Of course I am! And besides, I'm the [Ultimate Fixer]! I'll definitely be helpful! No, I'll make sure I am!"
Of course, that smile was surely one she wore solely to put me at ease.
"...Thank you, Shu."
"Then let's go. We need to do everything we can, don't we?"
But that was enough.
"Yeah. Let's go lay to rest Karafuru's... resentment."
"...Yeah!"
For me to approach the body with her.
And for us to approach the truth of the case that body would reveal.
And so, our first investigation began.
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