004
The reason as to why I couldn’t effortlessly digest the situation KuroneKo-san briefly explained to me isn’t that I was enticed by her magnificent bloomers—I thought I had interacted with many bizarre people in Naoetsu High School, but I guess the world is vast. There are many people who surpass my imagination in this world.
I sometimes talk for long myself, but whenever that happens I properly take care and divide it into paragraphs. Just from what kind of broken world does this highschool girl come from?
What kind of start this is to Mazemonogatari: Legend Part… I wonder what the remaining three people will be like?
Well, I had absolutely no idea as for what the reason KuroneKo-san was relaxing in our infirmary could be, what happened in the Outouin Academy she attends, and what she had hoped to find in this Naoetsu High School that would resolve the situation, but anyhow—it seems like if I solve some sort of code she will go back to her own world.
Then let’s omit all the reluctance and cooperate.
I will do anything in order to make her go back.
“Is that so? That is wonderful news! My utmost gratefulness to you! I was sure you would answer so, Koyomi-kun! I heard tales informing me that Araragi Koyomi-kun would never abandon someone in trouble, well, to be precise they say you would never abandon big breasts in trouble—”
“Then, should we begin investigating this code thing, KuroneKosan?”
This action was originally unthinkable for our world built on dialogues, but I started to cut her off in order to accelerate the conversation.
To say nothing of cut off, I felt put off about having come to this infirmary.
“So those lines of numbers are the code? Umm, it looks more like a list than a sequence though, I don’t see any meaning in them at first glance…”
I scrutinized the loose-leaf that KuroneKo-san took out of her pocket on which were inscribed the (seemingly) random numbers.
“The paper itself isn’t part of the trick, this is just the notes I have copied myself. Actually, I only finally obtained those numbers after a few steps of deciphering I went through following getting a reply.” “Hmm. So in other words you’re midway through solving it…” That being said, it didn’t make sense.
No, let’s step up our game and think about it.
All being said, I was a third-year and, although I would never have thought this during spring break, I was a student aiming to get into university.
If I don’t exert my only specialty, math, in this situation, when in the world am I gonna do it—well, I should do it during exams I guess.
Anyhow, since KuroneKo-san would go home once I solved this I had to put my all into it.
Odd and even numbers… common divisors… common multiples… prime numbers… the number one before… mixing the four operators… fractions… inverse numbers… maybe it’s degrees… complex numbers… adding the tens digit and the units digit…
“Oh, it looks like you are already testing out ideas, Koyomi-kun! How reliable, how admirable! That means I did good in coming all the way to this town from far away! The sight of your thinking face from the side is reminiscent of a certain famous philosopher! I bet you are quite popular with girls, I bet you are making rumors flow! That reminds me, there is a mysterious organization named the Araragi Harem, isn’t there?! If they accept temporary members I would readily be willing to join for a day! Right, talking about harems—”
“… Um, KuroneKo-san, could you shut up for a bit?”
I wonder if she was going to die the moment she stopped talking; she wouldn’t let me focus at all. Also, is the Araragi Harem known even to other schools?
“Oops, that was rude of me, I didn’t mean to bother you. Now, now, calm down. How about taking a seat for a minute?”
Saying that, KuroneKo-san tapped the end of the bed. Certainly, being at a loss standing up isn’t the best thing to do.
I sat down on the designated spot.
KuroneKo-san, who was right next to me, gracefully crawled even closer.
So close!
“Hey hey, Koyomi-kun, I am glad you are engaging with this so seriously, but if you focus so hard your face turns all red you inversely won’t be able to come up with good ideas, don’t you think so?” “……”
Isn’t she doing it on purpose?
It was fresh for me to have someone be that much on the offensive while seeming defenseless (the “we’re the same age but she feels like an older sister” part was new). Though it didn’t serve to up my thinking ability by any degree.
That said, even if KuroneKo-san didn’t meddle with me from the side I don’t think I would have obtained a eureka.
My face had turned red for an unrelated reason, but despite focusing pretty hard I couldn’t even start seeing the shadow of a hint.
Every hypothesis I tested collapsed one after another.
To put it frankly, it was way too incoherent.
Even Oikura would give up with this one—yeah, this level of nohints might even cause a hysteria crisis in her.
“If I had to say, ‘16’ appears quite a lot… maybe? Aah, or maybe could that be attendance numbers?”
“Outouin Academy’s attendance numbers don’t go into the 50s or
90s. I think Naoetsu High School’s don’t either.” Right.
I only brought it up just in case.
Then marks on a test or placements?
That seemed more plausible than attendance numbers, however, even if that was revealed to be true, I don’t know what would be the next step.
We quickly found ourselves at a dead end.
Mmm, the high amount of information despite the lack of clues made me lose motivation in thinking about it structurally… I couldn’t keep my motivation high with the only motive being “I want to send
KuroneKo-san home.”
I was starting to get tired of this.
Why do I have to think about something like this in the infirmary?
“Oh please, Koyomi-kun you jokester, saying that to hide your embarrassment! Your motivation is helping people, right? If you think you are helping me, my friend, my friend’s little sister, and the boy having feelings towards my friend’s little sister, who is the creator of this encryption, don’t you feel pure excitement arising in your heart?” “……”
What kind of rumors exactly did this girl hear causing her to come to Naoetsu High School?
I told you I didn’t really get the whole case that happened in your school because you talked for so damn long in one go.
So setting aside KuroneKo-san who was in front of me, I didn’t know that friend or his little sister, and the thing that arose in my chest when thinking about the creator of that code and sender of the letter isn’t excitement but anger.
“Phew! The demon at helping people, Araragi Koyomi!”
Ignoring, or simply not noticing, my inner feelings, she insensitively jeered at me at close range—jeering at people was insensitive in itself, but doing it at such a short distance added insult to injury.
I feel like she said it herself during her tirade, but the distance she takes with others that doesn’t even leave them breathing room might seem to be the reflection of her strong amiability, but in reality it felt completely different to me.
I even feel like she’s bad at being around people.
That might be why she treasures her friend so much.
… Well, I don’t have many friends myself so ideally I’d like to learn from her on that aspect.
Yeah, I guess I’ll have to draw some motivation from that…
Also, I shouldn’t gloss over one thing: from an objective standpoint this situation looked like I, an overexcited student, Araragi Koyomikun, had brought a student from another school to the one I am registered in, in a deserted infirmary, during classes, and was now flirting with her on a bed. This wouldn’t look like I’m being one-sidedly teased by KuroneKo-san to an outside eye—not to mention that she was wearing bloomers.
Looking at them doesn’t cease to surprise me.
Such a scene could mark an end for me if one of the few friends I have were to witness it—I’m personally somewhat interested in having an encounter between KuroneKo-san and Black Hanekawa, but not to the extent of ending my own life.
Therefore, I have to solve this code before either the end of the class or the nurse comes back—right, let’s take a different approach.
It’s a messy method but let’s try rewinding from the answer.
“KuroneKo-san, the message you sent was a encrypted version of ‘Are you the culprit?’ right? So we can assume the reply to be one answering an arraignment… so wouldn’t it be fair to assume these numbers express a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’?”
I personally think it could also be a “huh?” but given the amount of numbers that’s quite unlikely.
Although both “yes” and “no” are too short to be a complete deciphering of this code too… But I think it’s fine to continue with the assumption that this is the answer to a question.
“I feel like the most obvious solution would be having ‘1’ as ‘A,’ ‘2’ as ‘I,’ ‘3’ as ‘U,’ and so on, but… this thing has stuff like ‘92.’”
We run into the same problem as the attendance numbers theory.
If only the numbers stopped at around ‘50’…
“By the way, what kind of person is the suspect who constructed the code?”
“A first-year in the science course with great prospects for the future. He is in the same class as the sister. So too precious of a talent to have it be crushed in some ill-founded romantic quarrel.”
“Hmm… The science course, eh. So it’s probably better to expect a play on numbers and not words…”
But if it’s some high-tier encryption then it might be better to leave it to a decoding software rather than challenging it myself in this infirmary. That would be way more—mm?
Huh?
“Say, KuroneKo-san.”
“What is it, Koyomi-kun? Making such a serious face now. Are you perhaps scheming a profession of love? If that is the case I would advise
you against it. I’m a bothersome woman.” I’m well aware of that.
Not 30 minutes had passed since I met her, but I knew it full well.
“In the first place, why did you seek my cooperation to decode this?”
I was unsettled to find an unknown high school girl wearing bloomers appear out of the blue, however, that goes for her too, I was an unknown high schooler to her—no matter the rumors she might’ve heard, I find it hard to believe she thought I was the lord of deciphering.
She showed up without an appointment and blabbered with such fervor for so long that I got swallowed in her rhythm, but thinking about it with a clear head, this situation was messed up.
So messed up I don’t know why I needed a clear head to realize it.
Why did KuroneKo-san rely on someone as lowly as me… Put another way, why did KuroneKo-san think I could manage to solve it?
Wouldn’t that be the key?
I wonder. If Oikura were to somehow know that I’m thinking that, she might for real have a hysteria crisis, but in the end I can only think she got wind of my affinity for math… No, but even then, I mean, it’s merely a subject I’m good at, it’s not like I won a medal at the Math Olympiad or anything of that level…
If we’re only talking about being good at math there must be students even just in Naoetsu High School better than me at it— someone like Hanekawa, yeah, that would be way more logical.
Or was there a specific reason that I completely missed out on? Like that the suspect in that science course was an old acquaintance of mine…
“Hahaha! No need to be suspicious of me about that, Koyomi-kun, geez! Didn’t I already explain my reasoning on that? I came expecting great things from you because you’re the only one I can rely on for this matter. Didn’t I say so? That I have heard of your grand heroic tales!” “Yeah… You did say that, but still, there’s plenty of people more friendly and willing to help than me, no?” Once again, someone like Hanekawa.
If I hadn’t been helped by her during spring break I wouldn’t be chitchatting with a bloomer-wearing high schooler on this infirmary’s bed at the moment.
But well, I feel like even if KuroneKo-san and Hanekawa met (not just talking about the Black version, that goes for her normal mode too) it wouldn’t go over too well… Their compatibility seems pretty bad.
Anyhow, KuroneKo-san tried to put me on a even higher-up a pedestal by saying—
“Not in the slightest, you are my only one. No need to exert modesty. You are without a doubt an irreplaceable person, the first and last of your kind to exist.”
Before finishing with,
“I mean, you are a demon at helping people.” That too, she had said earlier.
Still, she probably doesn’t mean it in a bad way, but being praised so much inversely feels like I’m being made a fool of. Isn’t that the epitome of overkilled praise, a demon at helping people.
… Eh?
A demon—at helping people?
“There is no other hero equaling you, Koyomi-kun—I would expect no less from the man chosen by Kissshot Acerolaorion Heartunderblade to be her thrall. At the very least I don’t know of any other vampire with an interest in helping others, you know?”
I was far off thinking it was overkilled praise.
An immortal aberration could not possibly die from simply getting praised—Kuroneko-san said bewitchingly along with a smirk.
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3 Araragi says he’s starting to use 食い気味 (kuigimi), which is an abbreviation of 食い込み気味 (kuikomigimi, “biting feeling”) and refers to a way of talking where you start speaking before the person you’re talking to is finished. He then replaces it with 悔い気味 (kuigimi, “regretful feeling”).
4 Meaning each number could be matched with a corresponding hiragana, of which there are 46.
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