nhp | (Sutamai) 'Tonight, You and I Will Unravel a Mystery ♥', Part 6

EVENT STORY INDEX

50.

Thus, the curtains have closed on the mysteries of this long autumn night.

However…...

-Investigation & Planning Division-

Rei: Aaarrgghhh...... Haargh, haargh, haargh......

Natsume: What, are you planning on creating a mystery for unnatural phenomenons next?

Rei: That’s because it’s just odd that the only thing still ongoing is this “autumn of overtime work”.

Aaarrghh, it’s impossible! The weight of my eyelids are exceeding their limits!!

Imaoji: Leaving aside unnatural phenomenons, Rei-san seems like she’d be more awake if we had a spine-tingling scary story to tell.

Aoyama: A scary story? If you have the time to be telling such stories then move your hands and work.

Seki: Now, now. No doubt that it’s been rough on us to stay overnight at the ministry for several days.

And it’s this time as well, so why don’t we have some light conversation?

Aoyama: ...... If that’s what Seki-san is saying, then—

Yui: Hold on, if we’re telling scary stories then I’m going to go fetch the pulsometer from the lab.

Rei: I’m not going to wear it, okay!?

Natsume: You say that, but it’s not as if we have plenty of scary stories in stock......

Rei: Oh, that’s right! I heard from Watabe-san before on something about the “Seven Mysteries of the Ministry”.

Imaoji: And what exactly are those?

Rei: Ummm, something about a dummy armor from some room moving when it hits midnight.

Or going to the library on the 9th floor at an hour when there’s no one else there and feeling paralyzed, and then something appearing......

Seki: ...... That’s the first I’ve heard of those stories.

Aoyama: Do you seriously believe in something like that?

Rei: T-There’s at least one story that sounds kind of real!

Apparently, if you work overtime on a stormy night then the departmental ghost will tap you on your shoulder.

They say that in the past, there was an employee who had a mountain of work and when they went to the convenience store to buy a late night meal, they were struck by lightning.

And because they met an untimely death without being able to finish their work, they became a ghost tied down to the place......

Aoyama: ......

Yui: ......

Imaoji: ......

Natsume: Jesus......

Seki: ...... Excluding when you were sleeping in the nap room, this is essentially the third all-nighter for you. Yes, of course, I see now.

Rei: Could everyone not look at me with such pitiful eyes!!?

53.

-Reference Room-

Rei: ...... It’s starting to rain harder.

Alright, today’s the day I graduate from my life in the nap room or else I’ll end up becoming a ghost haunting the place.

(But still, they were treating me with sympathy because they didn’t believe a word about the seven mysteries......)

(Even though there was a very real-like sounding reason behind the story of the departmental ghost appearing on a stormy night!)

...... Er, let’s see now. This should be all the materials relating to the past judicial precedents.

All that’s left are the documents compiling the data obtained from the drug experiments, and that should be somewhere—

[BAM CRASH FLASH...... BOOOM!!]

Rei: Guh!? A p-power out!?

(Okay, calm down. First things first, I should return to where everyone is.)

(In any case, I should get out of the reference room......)

[STEP STEP STEP STEP]

Rei: (Wha—! How is there the sound of someone walking with complete confidence in this pitch black darkness!??)

“If you work overtime on a stormy night then the departmental ghost will tap you on your shoulder.”

Rei: (...... This is completely the perfect situation for that to happen…...)

[TAP TAP]

???: Rei-chan......

Rei: AAARRRRGGHHHHHH!?

???: Woah!

Rei: (...... Oh.)

(Could this voice be—!)

Watabe: Oh...... Thank goodness. Looks like the emergency power has turned on.

Rei: W-Watabe-san!

Watabe: Sorry for scaring you earlier.

The power went out just as I was coming into the reference room, so I thought that it would be perfect timing to make myself known.

Rei: N-Not at all! And same, I’m also sorry that you ended up having to hear such an unpleasant sound before......

Watabe: Oooh, even if a ghost were to appear, your scream had such force that they probably would have dispersed after hearing that.

Rei: Haha!! Ahahahaha......

(Oh god, I want to crawl into a hole...... Actually, if I didn’t have any work then I’d want to go home right this instant!!)

57.

-Investigation & Planning Division-

Natsume: ...... Excuse me, but have I finally lost it from too much overtime work because I think I can see a halo appearing.

Aoyama: Nope. You’re not wrong in feeling that, Natsume.

A box filled with energy drinks and volume sandwiches from a well-known shop.

Volume sandwiches are sandwiches jammed-packed with fillings.

Aoyama: And even ganache and cookies!

If someone were shown this when they were hungry in the dead of the night, then it would only be natural to think next that they could see a heavenly light.

Natsume: No kidding...... I was just about sick and tired of home delivery lunches so I’m grateful for this.

Rei: Delicious...... They’re all super tasty!! I feel like I can help myself to some over and over again!

Watabe: Hey now, make sure you rest for a bit after drinking an energy drink.

Yui: I see, so you reel in Izumi with food...... It appears with this, I can easily collect her saliva.

Rei: No, you cannot!

Seki: Sorry about this, Watabe. You’re probably also busy yourself and yet you prepared such a splendid spread for us.

Watabe: Youngsters overflowing with energy are nowadays’ natural treasures after all~

We’ve got to preserve them as much as possible.

Imaoji: But even so, for a diplomat who’s supposed to be busy...

The fact that you also quite often frequent the Ministry sure is a mystery.

Natsume: Perhaps that’s also one of the seven mysteries.

Watabe: By “seven mysteries”, do you mean......

Rei: You told it to me previously, remember, Watabe-san?

That there were seven mysteries in the ministry passed down from ancient times.

Watabe: Oh...... About that, I was only saying it as a joke though.

Rei: Whaaat!?

Aoyama: That’s what I pretty much thought.

Watabe: But for all of the mysteries, there are stories where someone in the ministry did in fact experience them~

See, I’ve collected a number of rumors whispered in secret, so I ended up putting them together however I liked.

Yui: When people continue to overwork, such things as visual and auditory hallucinations appearing or a feeling of paralysis occurring are due to the fatigue in their brain.

You could say that for the people in question who have experienced something otherworldly, for them in particular, it is a reality.

Seki: Seems like there would be plenty of those types of stories if you were to search for them within the government departments.

Rei: Oh, so that’s all there is to it......

Natsume: Okay, but why are you looking so relieved? No matter how you think about it, it was pretty obvious stuff.

Rei: That’s because when Watabe-san was telling them, they all sounded like they could have been real!

Aoyama: You were completely suckered in by a diplomat’s charisma.

Imaoji: If you hear a similar sounding story and then feel scared, please do tell me.

Yui: If you tell me, then I shall explain to you from a logical standpoint how impossible or not the supernatural is.

Rei: ...... I think I’ll pass on Yui-san’s explanation because I fear the compensation for it.

Yui: So you saw through that, huh......

Rei: Of course!

(Actually, it’s kind of romantic to believe that an unrealistic sounding story is actually real......)

Watabe: Well, it seems like it even reached the ears of that person.

Maybe it’s about time to put an end to the rumors of the seven mysteries~

Rei: Huh? "That person"?

Watabe: ...... In exchange, I’ll tell you one of my best stories.

60.

-Investigation & Planning Division-

Aoyama: What do you mean by your “best story”?

Natsume: Please stop with that talk again about ghosts and poltergeists doing this and that.

Watabe: I heard this from a female employee, and it’s a lovely fairytale-esque story so you can relax.

Apparently, after finding a white cat nearby the ministry first thing in the morning...

Love developed between her and the first person of the opposite sex that she met.

Imaoji: Once again, that is quite the fictitious story......

Natsume: ...... Or rather, isn’t that way of doing things a pain in the ass?

To start with, you have to find a white cat first thing in the morning. And then afterwards, if you happen to meet someone you have completely no interest in then that just sucks.

Watabe: Hey now, don’t say that like you have no dreams.

A romance beginning with someone that you’ve coincidentally run into...... Something like that being a fateful encounter is wonderful.

Aoyama: I have a slight tendency to fall into despair whenever you mention something like fate, Watabe-san.

Watabe: How terrible of you, Aoyama-kun~ Even this old man might believe in the work of fate.

Seki: I’m sure that there are employees whose love bore fruit from the chance of finding a cat.

Imaoji: The people wanting to share that good luck probably spread the rumor.

Natsume: Girls like that sort of stuff alright.

Aoyama: No kidding. From around the time I was a grade schooler, the girls used to often take psychological tests or dabble in good luck charms or other......

Yui: I see! So that was why Izumi also believed in the seven mysteries so easily!!

Rei: I-It’s not like I believed in it 100% or anything.

I just thought that it might be interesting to sort of try believing in it, and that maybe I can experience excitement in my everyday life or something......

Seki: If by believing in something means that you can do your best at work the next day as well, then isn’t that great?

Rei: Yeah......

Watabe: It’s true that even if the circumstances are the same, by believing in something or by dreading something, whatever happens next will change.

Seki: That’s right. Even if you don’t particularly believe in your surroundings, if you alone stand firm with your feelings then it’s possible to make that into a reality.

Yui: ...... I also believe that in the near future, Izumi will allow me to conduct a personal full-body examination on her.

Rei: Yui-san, could you please not shrewdly slip in like that!?

Yui: What are you saying? What Seki-san means by “stand firm with your feelings” is this, right!?

Aoyama: Kotaro, learn to adapt to your surroundings a bit more.

Yui: It’s precisely because I believe that I can contribute to society with my research that———

Rei: (...... Standing firm in what you believe in, huh.)

What I ought to believe in or what I ought to remain firm about—I still didn’t have a clear answer for either of them.

...... But.

-Park-

Rei: Huff, huff, oof......

(Honestly, why is the convenience store in the city where the office is so crowded in the morning??)

(I was finally able to head home after a few days, but to think that the stockings I put on would come undone! This is way too cruel!!)

...... Alright, it was worthwhile to run!

(If I dash through the park at this speed, then I should be able to easily make it in time to go and change my stockings.)

!!???

White cat: Meow~

Rei: A white...... cat?

(If I recall, Watabe-san did say yesterday that if you find a white cat nearby the ministry, then......)

???: Morning.

Rei: !

“Why are you here?” and “What a coincidence”.

Upon running into “him”, I ended up not being able to say anything decent or otherwise.

Rei: G-Good m-morning!!

The identity of this feeling was definitely—

White cat: Meow~ Meow~

Rei: (...... Oh god, what should I do!!?)

(I’m starting to want to fully believe in what was said to me yesterday!!!)

—something I already knew a long time ago.