Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? - Volume 30 - Chapter SS1

Bonus Short Stories

Ace Detective Sanae, Part Three

Ace Detective Sanae’s hot spring manju had been kidnapped. With Koutarou and Harumi crossed off the list of suspects, there had been some progress in the case, but Sanae was currently sweeping the kitchen—the scene of the crime—in hopes of a catching a big break.

“There are still six suspects... I only hope the stars have left us a clue...”

Sanae muttered reference after reference to the anime she’d been watching as she poked around the kitchen, and at last approached the cupboard. Her remaining list of suspects included Theia, Ruth, Shizuka, Maki, Clan, and Kiriha, so she was hoping to find some evidence to prove one of them had been in the cupboard. Her eyes were burning with passion. Beware a grudge held over food.

“Open the cupboard, will you, dear Hudson?”

“Eek! Y-Yes, right away!”

Hudson, the ace detective’s partner—Yurika, as it were—answered in a flustered tone and opened the cupboard as instructed, sweat pouring down her forehead all the while.

“A moment please, inspector.”

“What is it?”

Sanae called Koutarou over to the cupboard and then climbed up his back. Because of her height, she couldn’t actually see the shelf where the manju had been kept and thusly needed to use Koutarou as a stepladder. Meanwhile, Yurika stood behind them as she wiped her forehead.

“Only the box is left.”

Sanae peeked at the top shelf from Koutarou’s shoulders. On it sat the box of manju that Harumi had bought. The lid was open, but nothing remained inside.

“It was a box of ten. Everyone was supposed to get one each.”

“Augh...”

“You can put me down now, inspector.”

“Are you sure?”

“There’s something I want to confirm.”

Once she was back on the floor, Sanae reached up for the empty box.

“Take a look, inspector.”

“Hmm?”

“I can’t see the top shelf and I can only just barely reach it. See?”

“Just barely on your tip-toes, yeah.”

“Theia’s about my height, so she wouldn’t have been able to reach it either without a chair or something to stand on.”

“Oh, that’s a good point you’ve picked up on, ace detective.”

“Right?!”

Sanae had zeroed in on the height of the shelf. The only girls that could reach it without trouble were Kiriha, Maki, and Shizuka. Clan and Ruth might have been able to manage it with a stretch, but certainly not Theia. Without anything to stand on, she wouldn’t have even seen the manju on the top shelf.

“Harumi, Harumi! Did you see anyone bring a chair over to the cupboard?”

“No, I don’t think anyone’s done anything like that... but I do recall some people coming and going behind me.”

If someone had dragged a chair through the kitchen, even Harumi who was busy cooking would have noticed. But according to her statement, that hadn’t happened, which limited the pool of suspects.

“That being the case, I don’t think Theia is the culprit.”

“I think you’re right. But there’s something else...”

“And what is that, inspector?”

“Are you sure you want me to say?”

“Hmm... Maybe just a hint.”

“A hint, huh? Let’s see... The empty box is still there.”

“The empty box? What do you mean?”

“Okay, second hint... As far as empty boxes are concerned, there are two types of people: those who go ahead and throw them away, and those who just leave them lying around.”

“Teehee... Satomi-kun, that’s practically giving her the answer.”

“Aha! Kiriha, Ruth, and Shizuka would all clean up after themselves! That means the culprit definitely wasn’t one of them!”

“Correct.”

“Heh, that narrows things down.”

Sanae was now in high spirits. There were only two suspects left: Clan and Maki. One more clue could break the case and lead her to the culprit. The case was rapidly moving towards a resolution.

“U-Uhhh... Why don’t we stop this already? Who cares about some hot springs manju anyways? Let’s go watch anime instead.”

Once again, Yurika suggested ditching the investigation in favor of watching TV.

“...Hmm?”

There, Koutarou turned to look at Yurika. Something about her behavior felt odd.

Why is she so flustered?

Her voice was shrill and her forehead was dripping with sweat—a bizarre state of agitation for someone who allegedly wasn’t interested in the investigation.

Don’t tell me the culprit who ate the manju was really...

That’s where Koutarou put it together. Sanae’s profile was spot-on so far: the culprit was somewhat tall, and certainly not the type to clean up after herself. She’d only escaped notice so far because she was sitting in Sanae’s mental blind spot.

“...”

When Koutarou stared at the suspected culprit, she quickly averted her eyes. This turned Koutarou’s suspicion into conviction. She was definitely the culprit.

“All right, let’s catch the thief!”

“L-Let’s not!”

“What are you talking about, Yurika? We’re practically breathing down their neck!”

Sanae, who still hadn’t deduced the guilty party, headed over to the trashcan next. Seeing that, the culprit shuddered. She knew there was damning evidence in there. She’d thrown it away out of fear, but with the list of suspects narrowed down so much, that evidence was a serious liability.

“Waaaaah!”

When Sanae opened the lid and looked into the trashcan, she let out a bewildered cry. The culprit was certain that Sanae had found the evidence and put the pieces together. She was sure her cover had been blown and it was all over... But that’s when the incident took an unexpected turn.

“Look at this! It’s my manju wrapper and Yurika’s super cheap coffee milk box! The culprit must’ve drunk her coffee milk too! What a dastard!”

Sanae was enraged. Not only had the culprit stolen her manju, but Yurika’s beloved coffee milk too. Ace Detective Sanae now resolved herself to find the culprit for her friend’s sake as well.

Maybe the culprit can get away with it after all...

Koutarou couldn’t help wondering if this was really the perfect crime as he watched Sanae tremble with rage over this heinous development.

“Can’t we just go watch anime? Pleeease...”

But alas, there was no way the culprit was getting off scot free. She’d spend the rest of the investigation sweating bullets before Sanae finally confirmed the truth with her spirit sight. There was, after all, no escaping Ace Detective Sanae. It was only a matter of time—an agonizing wait—before the culprit figured that out.

–The end–