nhp | (Sutamai) 'Tonight, You and I Will Unravel a Mystery ♥', Part 2

EVENT STORY INDEX

-European Manor: First Floor Corridor-

Aoyama: ...... Even the wallpaper and flooring are battered......

Yui: Don’t you think that it’s a little unnatural even for deterioration over time?

Sugano: It seems like the novelist passed away while the place was undergoing renovation.

So it was left to remain in this state~

Rei: ......

Combined with the poor weather, the inside of the manor was dimly lit despite it being daytime.

While lighting our way with a penlight, we proceeded deeper into the manor.

Natsume: ...... It kind of feels like something will pop out.

Rei: Um, could you not say that at a time like this??

Kyosuke: Rei-san, are you not good with ghosts?

Rei: I guess, just about as much as anyone else would be......

I wouldn’t actually die from encountering one, but by all means, I’d rather not meet one for the rest of my life.

Arakida: (...... Is that sort of feeling so unexpectedly normal?)

Rei: (...... Oh, great. Thanks to Natsume-kun purposely bringing it up...)

(I’m being weirdly conscious of it now......)

It was then that I suddenly felt a gaze coming from behind me so I immediately turned around.

Rei: (What was that!?)

...... Oh......

Yui: What’s wrong, Izumi?

Rei: Oh, nothing...... Sorry. I thought I felt an unwanted presence.

But it looks like I was just imagining it! Haha......

Yui: Izumi, if you’re scared then there’s no need to hold back. Here, come closer to me.

And let me examine your pupils for a bit......

Natsume: You sure it wasn’t the presence of a “Pink Hair-Pulling Goblin”?

Rei: Huh?

Natsume: It was an attempt though.

Rei: (“Pink Hair-Pulling”......)

Yui: ......

Aoyama: Kotaro, even at a time like this, you......

Yui: I simply didn’t have a reason to pass up such a perfect chance.

Sugano: Oh, he’s not denying it.

Seki: ...... Yui. Could you come look at the map with me for a bit?

Over here, at the front of the line.

Yui: ...... Sure.

Makoto: (...... I’ve been thinking this time and time again since before, but that’s quite the most interesting of human nature.)

Rei: (What I should be more terrified of in this darkness is probably Yui-san and not the ghosts......)

10.

-European Manor: Corridor-

All the while having that exchange, we shortly found ourselves in front of a large door.

Rei: This is......

Seki: Looks like it’s a room adjoining to the Hall.

Yui: What a peculiar shape for a doorknob.

Kyosuke: You’re right. It kind of looks like the dial for a vault.

Yui: ......?

Aoyama: What’s wrong?

Yui: It won’t open no matter which way you turn it, nor how many times you turn it.

Sugano: No kidding? Could I get a shot at trying?

...... Oh, yeah, you’re right.

Makoto: ......

Natsume: Oh. There’s a plate-like thing stuck above the door.

Maybe it’s the name of the room?

Rei: Hmmm, I wonder what’s written on it......

Arakida: ...... Here.

Rei: T-Thanks a lot!

The letters that I could make out from the light of the penlight were......

“PLAT2”.

Rei: What’s “plat”? And what’s with the “2”?

Kyosuke: Maybe that means there’s a “1” somewhere as well?

Rei: Hmmm......

Sugano: Oh, hey. Looks like there are all sorts of engravings around the doorknob.

They’re numbers.

Aoyama: They’re evenly spaced from 1 through to 30......

Yui: And on the doorknob, there’s an isosceles triangle...... No, an arrow?

Makoto: ...... It would appear that this is the first riddle.

Rei: .!!

11.

-European Manor: Corridor-

Seki: So from 1 through to 30......

Natsume: I wonder what it means? If it was to do with time, then there would be 12 numbers or 60 numbers for minutes and seconds.

Sugano: Oh, what about counting days? There are 30 days in a month!

Arakida: ...... If we’re counting days of the month, then there are ones with 31 days.

Sugano: Oh, you’re right.

Rei: Even if it was some sort of code using numbers...

There are 50 characters in the Hiragana alphabet, and 26 letters in the English one.......

Yui: (...... Hiragana, alphabet......)

(“PLAT”......?)

Makoto: ......

Rei: Makoto-san? Did you figure something...... out......

[CLICK CLICK...... CLICK CLICK......]

[...... CLICK]

Rei: Wha—!?

Kyosuke: Oh, it opened!

Arakida: !!

Sugano: Wow, nice job~

Aoyama: Just what on Earth was the trick behind it?

Makoto: It wasn’t “PLAT2”, but “PLATZ”.

Seki: “PLATZ”?

Yui: ...... I see. It was in German.

Rei: Huh?

Makoto: Did you come here not knowing that Helman Paul’s motherland was Germany?

Rei: !

(I see, so he was German!!)

Yui: Indeed. If we’re talking about the German language, then in the alphabet they use there are 30 letters including the Umlaut ones.

The German alphabet consists of the same 26 letters as the English (Roman) alphabet, plus the 3 Umlaut characters for “a”, “u”, and “o”. This is only 29 in total (whereas the riddle in the story says there are 30 numbers) so I assume the writer took into account the “&” for the English alphabet. That, or one of the other German characters (the "eszett").

Yui: Starting over from the top, “P” is number 16, “L” is number 7...... You get the point.

Change the 5 alphabetical letters in “PLATZ” to their corresponding numbers...

And put it all together and there’s your answer.

Makoto: For someone who was fond of complex tricks, this level of difficulty is rather low.

It’s probably something like the tutorial before solving a complete riddle.

Yui: Riddles, huh. I see...... How fascinating.

So it’s necessary to broaden our mind for that sort of thinking.

Rei: ...... Makoto-san was a given, but...

You were also amazing for being able to grasp everything up until now from just the one “PLATZ” word, Yui-san.

(Honestly, this person really does have a great mind worthy of being called a genius......)

Aoyama: He’s still a Pink Hair-Pulling Goblin though.

Natsume: Should we take this chance to rename it to “Pink Hair-Pulling Genius”?

Rei: ......

Sugano: Woah, it’s pretty dusty here too.

While I was busy renewing my respect for Yui-san, and finding my calm...

Everyone was entering the hall one by one.

Makoto: ......

Kyosuke: Is something wrong, brother?

Rei: ?

(I wonder what he’s doing, staring so fixedly back and forth between his fingers and the doorknob, and with a serious face......)

Makoto: ...... Did someone clean this?

Rei: Huh?

13.

-European Manor: Corridor-

Rei: You mean the doorknob? No......

Kyosuke: Is there something wrong with the doorknob?

Makoto: The dust.

Rei: Oh...... Come to think of it, it’s surprisingly clean.

Even the engraved numbers, and the surrounding metallic parts......

Kyosuke: ...... Does that mean that there’s “someone” here who cleaned it?

Makoto: ......

Rei: (Oh? The color from Makoto-san’s face is somehow......)

It happened when I was debating over whether or not to call out to him.

Makoto: ...... Ugh.

Rei: Oh my god!?

I had thought that Makoto-san would collapse just like that, with his hand over his mouth.

But he had leaned himself against the wall, slithering down until he was in a fully seated position.

Kyosuke: Woah, are you okay?

Seki: Did something...... Tsuduki-san!?

Rei: I don’t know. His face is becoming really pale......

Kyosuke: Hang in there, brother. Are you hurt? Do you feel pain anywhere?

Makoto: ...... the dust.

Kyosuke: Huh?

Makoto: ...... the dust...... I inhaled too much of it......

Rei: Huh?

-European Manor: Hall-

Sugano: Wow, that was a shocker~

I thought he was possessed by some sort of demon or something.

Rei: Don’t say that!!

Aoyama: Well, there certainly was a lot of dust......

It would be tough on someone who constantly secludes themselves inside a pristine room.

At any rate, with the exception of Makoto-san, who had returned to the car for the time being...

Every member present began their search of the hall.

Rei: (But still, to think that Makoto-san would retire just as we were getting started.)

(Will we be okay with the riddles from here on?)

???: ......

Rei: !

(Um. I feel like I heard something coming from the second floor just now......)

(But there was no one when we did a quick search of the manor before... And everyone is here.)

(And if Makoto-san was coming back, then he’d come here, right?)

{Flashback}

Kyosuke: ...... Does that mean that there’s “someone” here who cleaned it?

{End Flashback}

Rei: (...... Is there someone else here besides us?)

Sugano: ...... Hey, Rei.

[TAP]

Rei: EEEK!?

Sugano: Woah!?

Arakida: !?

Sugano: Hey, wait...... Ahaha. It’s okay, it’s just me!

Rei: Y-You surprised me......

Arakida: (I got scared by Izumi’s scream......)

Aoyama: Christ. Don’t suddenly scream like that.

Rei: Sorry...... What’s up, Sugano-kun?

Sugano: I’m gonna try playing this piano, so just in case, could you step back from there~?

Like, a hidden staircase could open up or the chandelier could come falling down, you know?

Rei: That’s ridiculous......

...... But not out of the question and that’s terrifying.

(Since the bookcase did come crashing down before when I pulled out a book......)

Sugano: Right?

So that’s that, and could everyone else also step back just in case?

As Sugano-kun spoke the words, “Just to be sure”...

He extended his hand from a spot slightly away from the piano and...... pressed down on one of its keys.

[PING]

Yui: ......?

Kyosuke: ...... Thank goodness. Nothing happened.

Seki: Seems like it’s just a regular piano.

Sugano: It still produces sound even though it’s completely covered in dust and its keys keep falling out~

Yui: (...... That pitch just now. Is it because it hasn’t been tuned?)

(It was somewhat odd sounding......)

14.

Afterwards, the search continued on its way......

-European Manor: Hall-

Aoyama: ...... Red, yellow, blue...... That’s not it either, huh......

Natsume: (...... Alright, all that’s left it this......)

Ugh, it's heavy!! Oomph.

Arakida: (...... 560, 565, five hundred and......)

Sugano: This is 4 plus 2, so 6...... No, divide it? So 6523?

Arakida: (523...... Wait, that’s wrong. Five hundred, five hundred...... I was counting up, so......)

(...... Shit. I got distracted by Natsuki’s voice again and now I have no idea what’s going on......)

Rei: (So...... draining...... even more than I expected it to be......)

Because of all the moving around, our minds were being gradually affected by the simple physical exhaustion from our bodies.

And our sluggish thoughts made it difficult to solve the riddles.

The stress from not being able to solve it then turned into fatigue.

Despite not much time having even passed, everyone’s face was starting to show signs of weariness.

Rei: ...... Oh god, I’ve had enough. This box is definitely welded shut!

Is there a hammer or handsaw lying around there?

Natsume: Don’t go trying to demolish it just because you can’t solve it.

It’s not like you’re a gorilla tearing apart a puzzle ring that you can’t crack, after all.

Aoyama: Oi, Natsume. You’re being rude to the gorilla.

Rei: Before giving consideration to some unknown gorilla...

I’d like for you to consider the issue of bringing up a gorilla as a comparison for a human girl!

Sugano: Oooh! Check this out, Sosei-san.

Isn’t this fork super awesomely wicked? It’s like a weapon!

Arakida: ...... Put it back where you found it.

Sugano: Take that! Bon Appetit!

[PRICK]

Arakida: Ouch.

You bastard...... What was that for?

Sugano: Now, now. It’s necessary to have flexible thinking to solve the riddles~

For Sosei-san who has wrinkles on his forehead, it’s a well-intentioned acupressure point to help you relax!

Arakida: For the love of—go over there.

Yui: ......

Seki: (...... For Yui to go all silent and work on his own at a time like this...)

(That must mean it’s a valuable scene of the crime...... Or is he that absorbed in the riddles?)

Kyosuke: ......

Rei: ......

In the midst of everyone struggling with their own riddles and search for the drugs......

I noticed that Kyosuke-kun was staring intently at a corner of the ceiling from a spot a little ways away from us.

Rei: (There’s nothing there, right......?)

Aoyama: ...... He’s kind of like a cat.

Rei: A cat?

Natsume: Oh, yeah. You mean how when they’re staring into space it’s because they can see ghosts?

Rei: B-Bringing up that sort of talk again...... Kyosuke-kun is human, okay?

Kyosuke-kun!! Is something wrong?

Kyosuke: Oh, sorry. It’s nothing.

I just kind of thought I heard something coming from the second floor.

Rei: What!?

Kyosuke: But it was probably my imagination......

Rei: I-I did too!

Kyosuke: Huh?

Rei: I also heard something before...... I thought I was hallucinating or something though.

Seki: (Sounds coming from the second floor...... It can’t be? Surely not......)

Yui: ...... Seki-san?

Seki: Huh? Oh, right.

It might be a good idea to go check it out one more time just as a precaution.

Sugano: Oh, in that case, I’ll gooo~

Arakida: (Finally, I can get some peace......)

Sugano: Together with Rei!

Rei: Huh?