On a small but delicate Western-style building in the Kurobe Gorge in Tateyama Prefecture, there is a sea of trees with no end on one side, and on the other side and in front of it, there is a cliff as smooth and steep as a knife, and the spring water flows from the canyon below the cliff to Lake Kurobe dozens of kilometers away, and the water vapor floats in the faint smell of sulfur.

This western-style building, which looks like an island in the middle of the sea, is famous for the large number of crows in the vicinity.

The rain had stopped, but the sky was still a leaden gray, as dark as everyone in the villa, and Haneda's death was one thing, but what made them even more disturbing was the murderer who did not know his identity, his purpose, or whether he would strike again.

"It's really annoying! Why do I have to make some period dramas! Otherwise, I wouldn't have come to this disgusting place!"

"Don't—Don't say that, Apricot ......"

The actress who has just debuted is the sixteen or seventeen-year-old who is easy to become famous, and a petal-like beautiful face is full of tears at this time, and the appearance of pear blossoms with rain is indeed quite ornamental - at least Kurosawa and Mimasa, who are sitting on the opposite sofa with their legs crossed, watch it with relish, and from time to time glance at Tsujimoto, the agent who comforts Lei Shan helplessly, I don't know how eye-catching his ridiculous expression is at this time, and the old butler who has been standing by the wall with his backbone also sat down, A deep exhaustion was imprinted on his wrinkled face.

The four of them sat down in the entertainment room, which was only separated by a wall from the living room, and watched coldly through the wide open double wooden doors as everyone in the living room moved, with expressions on their faces that were calm and calm that did not match their age.

"So, the prisoners aren't among those people?"

After listening to Yanagi's description of that room, Hattori couldn't help but guess.

- Yagyu and Nioh found conclusive evidence of the connection between the letter opener and the owner in the room where the door plate reads "Rintarou", which is Nitaro Kitajaw...... Not only that, but evidence related to Kita Janitaro was also found at the scene of the second case, so not only Hattori Heiji, but also the other two teenagers felt that the case had become clear.

But Nao doesn't think so.

"The fact that anyone could go to that unlocked room and get the murder weapon doesn't prove anything. ”

"Hey, don't forget the death message from the first case!"

Seeing Nao shaking his head, Hattori unconsciously added an accent to the words "death message", "It was early in the morning when the deceased Okawa was stabbed, and it was impossible to see the words on the handle of the knife in a dark environment, so the death message of 'the prisoner's initials are K' should have been left by him based on his own discovery, and there was no zài misleading, and Kitaja Rintaro just met this standard, plus the evidence engraved with the 'R.K' logo was found at the scene of the first and second cases...... Even if the murderer is not him, it definitely has something to do with him!"

"It's true that it has something to do with him, but I don't think the killer would have left anything at the scene of the crime that would identify him. Nioh squinted his eyes and nonchalantly pinched up a plastic bag with two fingers: it contained the evidence found by Nao and Hattori at the scene of the second case—metal lighters engraved with R.K-E.S.S.S., and the apparent and letter-opening knives were a series—and although the dazzling shell had been burned to the mottled surface, the handwriting was still profoundly and striking.

"Not only that," Nao glanced at Nioh with his spare eyes, then turned his head and continued to Hattori, "Have you forgotten another unsolved message of death? The stabbing site was on the left chest, but the deceased was clutching the right chest - what does that mean? ”

"This ...... ...... true"

Heiji Hattori clenched his clasped hands tightly and let out a long breath and leaned back in his chair, "But judging from the current evidence—whether it's a letter opener or a lighter—most of the suspicions are pressed against Kitaja Rintaro." ”

"It's really impossible to determine the identity of the murderer with the current clues, but if there is any outsider who has entered the villa, it is probably that R.K. - Kitaja Rintaro. Yanagi, who had not said a word, raised his glasses in the puzzled eyes of several people, and said calmly, "Don't you think it's strange? On the night of the arrival of Hattori-kun and Saotome さん, the light that has been guiding you to this place from the sea of trees - listening to Hattori-kun's description, that light is always not far in front of his eyes--If it is the light in this western-style mansion, no matter how eye-catching it is, it will not be visible from a few kilometers away, not to mention the sea of trees and dense fog in the middle." ”

"Is there such a thing?" Nao was stunned for a moment and looked at Hattori Heiji.

"Indeed, after you say that...... Hattori's face also changed, "I was in such a bad mood that I didn't notice, but now that I think about it, there are indeed a lot of suspicions, and I wouldn't have been able to get out of there if there was no one to lead me in that weather...... So you think that's Kitaja Rintaro?"

"I think that person is Northpaw, yes. Yanagi nodded firmly, "When I was investigating in his room—Nioh-kun, maybe you didn't notice—the books in his room included a large number of books on camping, hiking, and mountaineering, in addition to various detective novels, and many medals hung on the wall, the most striking of which was a silver plate with a tent relief. ”

"Silver plate with tent relief...... This one is famous!"

Hearing this, Nao suddenly smiled, and the golden green light in his slender eyes flickered and flickered, "If I'm not mistaken, it's the winning trophy of the Tateyama Camping and Mountaineering Competition! I saw it in a brochure introducing the folklore of Tateyama County before I came here, and I really didn't expect the son of the North Claw Master to have such ability." ”

"So the person who walked across the sea of trees and 'led the way' ahead of us was Kitajaw Rintaro?and arrived at the villa one step ahead of us, set up a tent and hid in the woods or somewhere, and then waited for the opportunity to sneak into the villa, open the door and get the murder weapon......" Hattori reasoned along Nao's train of thought, and suddenly frowned, "But this is their North Paw's villa, what reason is there for him to be cold outside than go home......?"

Listening to Hattori's muttering, Nao folded her hands on her abdomen and exhaled slowly, sinking into the sofa and closing her eyes a little tiredly-

The injuries he suffered from the fall from the cliff were still aching, his brain was working a little slowly, and his consciousness was always blurred and awake...... Feeling the warmth and stickiness around the wound and the coldness of the body, Nao, who was already familiar with the body's reaction after the injury, couldn't help but secretly scream bad - this was a sign of inflammation and fever in the wound.

Although she could relax and sleep under the supervision of several teenagers until the police came, the strong sense of disobedience that flashed in her heart from time to time still made her hold on to her spirit not to fall.

(Haven't decided yet)

A certain will burns in the chest.

As her breath grew deeper and deeper, the red-haired girl entered a state similar to meditation.

Her consciousness space seemed to be a universe, and each planet suspended in it was a fragment of a case, and the planets collided, separated, devoured, merged, or formed new stars, or disappeared into the dark curtain and turned into dust......

Kitaja Rintaro - The person who connects the two pieces of evidence found at the scene of the first and second cases, the letter opener and the lighter, is the most suspicious suspect at the moment, but if he has already planned the murder script, why is he leading Hattori and Nao, who are dying in the sea of trees, to the villa, isn't he afraid that the unknown will affect the plan?

Or maybe he hadn't noticed them at all, but even then, they would have been spotted when they reached the villa - if Northpaw had been lurking in the woods since reaching their destination. Killing or imprisoning two people on the verge of coma should have been easy, but why hadn't he done it?

Or is something holding him back?

All the fragments merged into a new star, and the moment of dawn, the light appeared.

Nao's eyes opened suddenly, and her pupils constricted as if they had been pricked by a needle.

At that moment, she thought of some possibility-

Some kind of ...... Just thinking about it is a dangerous possibility.

"Are you awake, how do you feel?"

The familiar male voice sounded a little nervously at close range, causing her brain to suddenly go into a trance, and after the gauzy haze passed, Nao suddenly found that she was back in the bed where she had woken up at some point, and beside her was Nioh Masaharu with a rare solemn expression.

“…… What's going on?"

Nao moved her lips, feeling her throat burn and her limbs sore.

"You suddenly fell off the couch and couldn't wake up no matter how much you screamed. ”

The silver-haired young man frowned, skillfully picked up a towel and put it on Nao's chin, holding the back of her head with one hand and feeding her with a cup of water with the other, "I have a fever of 41 degrees, I am dehydrated, and I ran to check the corpse with such a big hole in the back of my waist, and I made the wound even worse than yesterday! How did I not know that you still had the habit of masochism?"

"That's just ......"

"Just what?" Nioh sneered, "Why do you have to go to the autopsy yourself when there are more professional doctors here?

"Everyone is ...... until the suspicion is cleared Hmm!"

"Don't talk back! Take medicine!"

Before he finished his sentence, he was stuffed with two pills in his mouth, which was full of anger. The young man's slightly cool fingers brushed his lips, and Nao subconsciously pursed them, and his lips that had just been moistened surrounded his fingertips, making a slight "pop" sound.

“……”

“……”

Just like a machine that has been cut off from power, the red-haired girl and the silver-haired teenager instantly solidify into the posture of the previous second.

The innegligible tenderness of the fingers, though fleeting, inevitably made the young man's ears red, and he felt all his blood rush to the top of his head, and the huge pressure pounded his eardrums, and the violent heart almost smashed his ribs and jumped out. A strange but familiar emotion rushed up his body, entrenched in his chest, branching out and winding into beautiful vines.

Nioh Masaharu took a deep breath, the brilliant turquoise against the seemingly dodgy golden green—he stared at her, his eyelids narrowing and the clear green under his eyelashes deepening, and the deep emotion contained in it almost overflowed......

"Sorry, sorry. ”

Nao opened her mouth and smiled awkwardly at him as if she had just come to her senses, but the smile was stiff as if her face was cramping.

Doesn't she understand?

Apparently not.

However, her golden-green gaze quickly shifted away, and she never met his gaze again.

She can't—

Nao's eyes were lowered, and the pill in her mouth slowly melted, the taste so bitter that it almost made her cry.

She heard the boy sigh, and then a glass of water appeared in front of her.

"Have a drink. ”

Nioh watched helplessly and distressedly as the girl took the glass of water and slowly sipped it, and couldn't help but stretch out his palm and press the top of her head, watching her shoulders tremble a little because of his movements, and at the same time he couldn't help but feel a pity mixed with anger.

Was she so reluctant to approach him—to keep him out of danger?

Unfortunately, from that time on the seashore when she first told him about the fate that had entangled her, he decided that he would not hesitate any longer.

Will the light of sin diminish because he is not with her, will it be strengthened by his absence?

Of course not!!

So, what's the difference between one person and two people?

What's more-

The boy's eyes became dangerous, and the smile that he inadvertently evoked was cold.

"Don't overthink it, Miss Detective. ”

He ruffled the girl's red hair a little roughly, and bent down, word by word in her eyes full of consternation, and deep in her unruly green eyes were sharp like she had never seen.

"I'm not an 'ordinary' middle school student, poof!"

The author has something to say: how do I feel that what I write is getting more and more magical......

PS: It's been a long time!! my girls, I miss you so much——!!!

At the doctor's request, I tried to adjust my routine without taking medicine, so I decided to use code words every day to burn my energy and pick my nose.

So!!!

I want to write an article, I want to code words, I want to restore fù update, I want to update, I want to write, I

I can't stand the days of hairy in bed anymore!!