二階堂美樹に聞いてみる

[-] Which hint might be related to Miki Nikaidou?
[-] [Footprint likely from a man]
[player] Do you recognize this footprint?
[-] Miki Nikaidou glances at the footprint and smiles charmingly.
[Miki Nikaidou] Where did you find this?
[player] At the entrance of Champion Auction House. It was on some wet mud.
[Miki Nikaidou] Pfft! You're really sounding like a detective now. But its size doesn't match my own.
[-] I take a close look at Miki Nikaidou's shoes. Sure enough, there's a big difference between them.
[-] I guess this clue is unrelated to Miki Nikaidou for now.
[-] [VIP Exhibition Invitation List]
[player] Did you visit Champion Auction House the day before yesterday?
[Miki Nikaidou] Since I was invited, it was naturally my honor to attend.
[-] That makes sense... This clue doesn't prove anything.
[-] [Receipt (Plaster)]
[Miki Nikaidou] Eh? I think I've seen that receipt before.
[player] Huh? Please take a closer look. It was found at the scene of the crime.
[Miki Nikaidou] Hmm, this seems to be the receipt for the plaster I got the other day.
[-] Miki Nikaidou lifts up the maneki-neko statue beside her. There are signs of wet, freshly-applied plaster on its broken ear.
[Miki Nikaidou] It was in the afternoon, three days ago. I got some flexible plaster from the hardware store...
[Miki Nikaidou] Everything matches up.
[-] Looks like I've figured out the origin and use of [Receipt (Plaster)]...
[Miki Nikaidou] I must have dropped it when I attended the exhibition.
[-] Hint [Receipt (Plaster)] has been resolved
[-] [Vermillion Bird Beak Mask]
[Miki Nikaidou] A vermillion mask with a bird's beak... It does sound familiar. I think I saw someone handing out masks like that when I passed by a theater on my way home after the exhibition. But I only caught a glimpse from afar and didn't take one.
[-] I don't think I can learn anything useful from this visit.
[-] Just as I'm about to bid farewell to Miki Nikaidou, another commotion arises outside.
[Citizen A] Huh?! Isn't that...
[Citizen B] Is she here for the same reason as us? Does anyone know what she intends to sell?
[Citizen C] Well, if it's her, it's definitely something worth a fortune. It might even be a unique, museum-level piece! Let's just leave.
[-] Creak! The door swings open, and it's... Fuuka Minami?!
[-] I shudder at the thought of my experience in Beryl Blue yesterday. Luckily, it doesn't seem like Miki Nikaidou has a beef with Fuuka Minami.
[Miki Nikaidou] Ms. Minami, what a surprise. Looking for something special today?
[Fuuka Minami] I'm here for jade, just not your jade. Let's skip the formalities for now, shall we?
[Fuuka Minami] Miss Nikaidou, why did you make a post about purchasing mutton-fat jade for a high price?
[-] Fuuka Minami shows the web page on her phone.
[Miki Nikaidou] Isn't that pretty normal for a gemstone dealer?
[Fuuka Minami] Right after you made a post about purchasing mutton-fat jade for a high price, the best mutton-fat jade in the auction house's collection is stolen.
[Fuuka Minami] Is that a coincidence? Or... a motive?
[-] Fuuka Minami's blunt question catches me off guard. I glance at Miki Nikaidou, but she doesn't seem to mind. In fact, she appears momentarily stunned, then looks up in confusion. Her hedgehog, sensing her change in emotions, scurries down her arm.
[Miki Nikaidou] Heh, Ms. Minami, you sure don't beat around the bush. But, did you say the best mutton-fat jade in the auction house?
[Fuuka Minami] Yes, the Heart of Divinity... I'm sure you saw it during the exhibition.
[-] Miki Nikaidou looks at me and asks--
[Miki Nikaidou] Were you asking about the morning of the day before yesterday?
[player] Yes.
[Miki Nikaidou] Oh... Then that's right. But the theft has nothing to do with me. PLAYER questioned me before you arrived.
[Fuuka Minami] What do you think, PLAYER?
[player] There's really nothing suspicious about Miki for now, and I was just about to leave too.
[Fuuka Minami] Is that so? Then I believe you.
[Fuuka Minami] Of course I believe Ms. Nikaidou is an upright person too. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been so direct.
[Miki Nikaidou] Well, since I'm off the suspect list for now, I wish you the best of luck in cracking the case soon.
[Miki Nikaidou] You can do it, PLAYER!
[-] I keep having the feeling that there was something strange about Miki Nikaidou's reaction, or am I just overthinking things? I should come back another day for some answers.
[-] With Miki Nikaidou's encouragement, Fuuka Minami and I leave Tenhoukaku.
[player] At this point, aside from that footprint, I'm out of leads...
[Fuuka Minami] The power of belief is your magic!
[player] Why did you suddenly rush over saying that?
[Fuuka Minami] Ah! It was a joke. You just looked so disheartened. Bamboo Cloud's employee incentive plan is very advanced, you know?
[Fuuka Minami] See? your help has arrived.
[-] I look in the direction of Fuuka Minami's folding fan, and see a young woman dressed in British-styled attire walking briskly toward us as her light brown hair flutters behind her.
[-] She pushes up the gold-rimmed glasses on her nose and her ocean-blue eyes glow with intelligence.
[player] Hi there, I'm...
[-] Suddenly, light brown hair flutters before my eyes. I look down and see her nose right by my side, sniffing me like a dog...
[player] WHAT THE?!
[-] She stands up straight and adjusts her gold-rimmed glasses.
[???] Hoho... Marks on your sleeve suggest a recent brush with a crowd. The lingering fragrance on your collar indicates your recent presence in a scented indoor environment. No traces of seasonings or sauces on the fingers or lips... so the indoor environment wasn't a restaurant...
[player] That is all true...
[???] So, you just left Tenhoukaku!
[player] Yeah... Huh?! Wait, isn't that line of reasoning a little too far-fetched?!
[???] Well there's another key clue. Ms. Minami told me to wait for you around Tenhoukaku.
[player] Only the last one is an actual clue!
[???] I'm Jane, a detective. It's a pleasure to meet you, and let's work together to solve this case.
[player] Sure...
[Fuuka Minami] Okay, I'll be waiting for the good news.
[-] Once Fuuka Minami leaves, I explain the entire case to Jane...
[Jane] Hmm... Can I see those receipts? My detective instincts are telling me that there may be more to it.
[player] I've found their owners. Miki Nikaidou, the gem dealer who needed plaster to repair a statue, and Riu Kujou, the maid who needed bandaging after injuring herself during Taekwondo practice.
[Jane] And did you verify this at the hardware store and pharmacy?
[player] Huh? No, I...
[Jane] I knew it. Rookies...
[Jane] Regardless of how sincere your relationship with the suspects may seem, their testimony cannot be trusted when making a deduction!
[Jane] We must base our deduction on objective truths! Let's go!
Pharmacy
[-] Jane and I make the pharmacy our first stop. The owner looks like an honest middle-aged man.
[player] Could you verify if this receipt came from your pharmacy?
[Pharmacy Owner] Let me take a look... Yes, it's one of ours.
[player] Do you remember the customer who made this purchase?
[Pharmacy Owner] As a matter of fact, I actually do... Well, I don't usually get many customers at my pharmacy. But it just so happened that I had three in a single day, and they cleared out my entire stock of bandages. I'm still waiting for my new stock to arrive...
[-] Unexpectedly, the owner is quite the talker, so I quickly interject with a question.
[player] Could you describe them to us?
[Pharmacy Owner] Hmm... I'll need a moment... I remember the two young ladies came together. One was a redhead, and the other a blonde. Both of them were really beautiful, like dolls, you know? But... They didn't have the best temper. They told me to shut up while I was still talking. Sigh, the young ladies these days...
[player] All right! I get it! I mean, I understand. What about the other customer?
[Pharmacy Owner] Oh, the other customer? They wore a flat cap and a mask, so I don't know where to start... Oh? The way you're asking about them... Did someone commit a crime or something? Could you tell me about it?
[Jane] Sorry, but we can't. Thank you for your time.
[-] Jane pulls me out of the pharmacy, and both of us heave sighs of relief. The owner was really too... "friendly."
[Jane] Next stop, the hardware store.
Hardware Store
[-] Our investigation at the hardware store isn't going as smoothly as we'd hoped... The owner, a young and delightful woman, agrees to help us, only to drop some bad news on us.
[Jane] So, you're saying that besides a woman in purple, you don't remember anything else that occurred that day?
[Hardware Store Owner] I know it sounds unbelievable, but I probably fell into a rift in space that day, and when I finally regained my senses, all I saw was a pile of Coppers on the counter.
[player] How did that happen?! Show me!
[Hardware Store Owner] Oh, this spot behind the counter is where I suddenly saw the Milky Way. I was just about to make a submission to Far Away Science, too...
[Jane] When you heard about the jade theft, your raised eyebrows, open mouth, and look of surprise suggested you knew nothing about it. When asked about the incident, your eyes shifted up and to the left, showing you were genuinely trying to remember. But even when you told that blatant lie about the spatial rift, your expression didn't change at all...
[Jane] Ugh! What a formidable opponent! Have you studied microexpressions, too?!
[Hardware Store Owner] Huh? Mango espresso?
[player] Oh, there's a surveillance camera on the wall!
[-] After being reminded, the hardware store owner pulls up the surveillance footage on her computer, and we rewind it to the exact time on the receipt...
[-] In the footage, the hardware store owner is having her lunch at the counter.
[Hardware Store Owner] Right, that's the show. My memories are frozen at the moment the male lead was asking the female lead what makes him inferior to the second male lead!
[-] Jane and I remain quiet and continue watching. Meanwhile, a woman in purple walks in with a drink, and she has a hedgehog on her shoulder.
[player] Hmm, it is Miki Nikaidou.
[-] Miki Nikaidou leaves her drink on the counter to free her hands and select the plaster she needs. The hardware store owner is still eating, and she mistakes Miki Nikaidou's drink for her own.
[player] I think I know what happened now...
[-] Miki Nikaidou leaves after paying her bill, and the hardware store owner collapses on the counter soon after.
[player] I see. Now it all makes sense.
[Jane] What do you mean?! That just makes Ms. Nikaidou a bigger suspect!
[player] Well... You'd understand if you got to know her a little better... Forget it, let's continue.
[-] Jane and I continue watching the footage. A short while later, aside from a man in a jacket who left Coppers on the counter after getting some flexible plaster, no one else visited the hardware store.
[-] As for the owner herself, she didn't wake up until nightfall...
[Hardware Store Owner] Oh, so I fell asleep after accidentally drinking that special drink... Anyway, thank you. You're truly amazing detectives!
[-] I guiltily say goodbye to the hardware store owner, careful not to mention that I know the woman who allowed her to "enter the Milky Way..."
Champion Street
[-] Jane and I stroll through Champion Street, but I feel slightly disheartened.
[player] Riu Kujou and Miki Nikaidou weren't lying, and I don't have any new clues.
[Jane] Hohoho... Facts are the keys to unlocking the truth, and there's usually more than one key!
[player] That's true. We still have the footprint... But how do we investigate that?
[Jane] No! Not that! I'm talking about something else. Besides Ms. Nikaidou and Ms. Kujou, we discovered that others had purchased plaster and bandages too, right?
[player] The masked man at the pharmacy and the man in a jacket at the hardware store? Well... What's unusual about that?
[Jane] In the surveillance footage, the man in a jacket had something in his pocket... So, what if they are actually the same person, and he just took off his baseball cap and mask and put them in his pocket when he went to the hardware store?
[player] That's definitely possible!
[Jane] And what kind of person would need plaster and bandages at the same time?
[-] Suddenly, I have an epiphany.
[player] Someone with broken bones?
[-] Someone with broken bones, has visited the auction house, and has the opportunity to access the masks handed out by the nearby theater...
[player] Ms. Ume mentioned--"There was another male employee, Toku, but he injured his leg a few days ago and has been on leave this week."
[Jane] Hoho, it seems you do have the talent to be a detective.
[player] Let's go!
Auction House Employee Dorms
[Dorm Manager] Oh, Toku? He went out yesterday morning. No idea what he was up to, but when he got back, he locked himself in. Said he hurt his leg, so I ended up bringing him food all day.
[Dorm Manager] But Ms. Ume just came and took him away with a serious look... Sigh, I wonder what he did.
[player] Was he really injured?
[Dorm Manager] Oh! Well, his leg was all wrapped up like that, so I'd say that's got to be some serious injury!
[Dorm Manager] Speaking of which, Wang returned right after Toku. He mentioned running into Toku on the way, but Toku seemed distracted and completely ignored him.
[Dorm Manager] If you ask me, I think Toku was dejected. Taking time off due to an injury at this time of the year means he'll lose the triple pay before the anniversary celebration...
[-] I look around but fail to locate any surveillance cameras in the dorm, so we ask the dorm manager if she would allow us into Toku's room.
[Dorm Manager] The boss sent you to investigate, so there's no need to be so polite. I'll lead the way.
[-] The manager unlocks Toku's room for us. Jane and I immediately start searching the moderately-sized room.