She Professed Herself The Pupil Of The Wiseman (LN) - Volume 11 - Chapter 22

Chapter 22

BELIEVING THAT the key card to reset the building’s security system might lie somewhere within the facility, Mira and Soul Howl split up once more. Soul Howl would again search the higher floors while Mira searched the bottom ones. 

At this point, Mira pressed her advantage as a summoner to the fullest. She called First Pupil and Woofson; they were masters of investigation, so they were useful helpers at times like this. They reported back to her in their own unique ways.

“I didn’t find nyathin’!”

“Nothing here either, Ms. Owner.”

“Hmm. Very well, then I presume it isn’t on this floor. Okay, on to the next!”

The trio searched rooms one by one before moving to the next level. They also searched the hallways from top to bottom. But since they couldn’t get into the laboratories, there were few places they could raid, so their pace from the ninety-ninth to ninety-fifth floors was surprisingly fast.

After searching that way for a while, they reached a floor near the middle.

“Now, let’s see…” With practiced steps, Mira headed to the elevator-bay map and checked the floor’s room assignments. “Hrmm. This one does seem worth investigating.”

This floor was seemingly reserved for researchers’ personal rooms; the map had a list of people’s names. As long as those rooms weren’t labs, there was a good chance Mira’s current authentication key would open them just fine.

First Pupil balanced his sign, then claimed they should head in the direction it fell. “What matters is instinct! When you get a hunch, you gotta follow it.”

“That’s hardly proper investigation, woof. We should analyze the situation, form a solid hypothesis, and then act!” Notebook in hand, Woofson laughed derisively, then suggested finding out who dropped the notebook and investigating their lifestyle.

First Pupil slapped the notebook out of Woofson’s hand, shrugging, and sneered back, “This stuff is ancient hiss-tory! How are we supposed to know?”

“We’ve found enough information to make decisions already, woof. If you can’t tell when that’s right before your eyes, you must be stupid!” Woofson sighed in utter exasperation. Taking his pen, he wrote on First Pupil’s sign. Checkmate, stupid cat.

“Stubborn dog!”

“Better than being a hotheaded cat.”

Angry sparks flew between the pair as they glared at each other.

“That’s enough, you two. We have plenty of places to search now. Time to get serious.” Mira picked up the two slackers—or rivals, as they fancied themselves. Comforting both of them, she walked down the corridor toward the living quarters.

Though her companions were at odds, they shifted into work mode quickly.

As expected, her current authentication key opened the doors, so there were many places they could search. Despite how competitive they were, First Pupil and Woofson were also efficient, splitting up and investigating different areas to finish searching each room one by one.

While they searched the tenth room, Mira found a notebook inside a drawer. “Ooh, a journal! What diligent researchers these must’ve been.”

There were characters seemingly meant to form names on the cover, but they were scratched and unreadable. Still, Mira could at least tell there were multiple names. On top of that, she saw different handwriting on different pages. In other words, multiple people had maintained this journal.

“Will there be any useful information in here…?”

Could the journal possibly contain clues regarding the facility’s research or the lost key card? Betting on that ray of hope, Mira flipped through the pages.

My application was a success. I finally get to see season eight of The Running Dead!

Don’t just skip season seven…

When’s the next purchase day? Someone lend me body soap, please…

Sure, if you’re fine with men’s soap.

Volume 3 of Beginning of the End Credits has been on loan forever!

Sorry, I’ve got that. Wait a little longer, please.

You’re still making me wait? LOL

Hey, are Maejima and Yumesaki going out, or what?

Huh? What the heck? Give us the deets!

Has spring finally come for Maejima?!

Edit: Apparently, he was just helping her buy a gift for Imai.

Whoa… Rest in peace to him.

RIP

RIP

RIP

However many entries she read, she saw only boring everyday conversations, and it seemed like the journal would continue in that vein. There was nothing noteworthy to find. 

Yet as Mira kept skimming the book, ready to give up and deposit it back in the drawer, a line caught her eye.

I lost the security key card. I’m screwed! What do I do now?!

Apparently, one of the very writers of this journal was the blunderer. Following that line were endless excuses, comments on how the director would get mad at them, pleas to people to help find it, and so on. The other writers’ reactions were exasperation, laughter, laughter, and more laughter. It became clear what kind of person the blunderer was.

From the journal’s entry order and handwriting, along with the names that came up here and there, Mira pinpointed the blunderer: a woman called “Mariko” had lost the key card.

“Hrmm…it seems this ‘Mariko’ character dropped the ball,” she muttered. “Okay. Time to go search this Mariko’s room.”

This was genuinely useful information. If Mariko lost the key card in her own room, it was very possibly still within. Thus, Mira had decided on her first destination to search. 

With First Pupil and Woofson in tow, she returned to the elevator bay and sought Mariko’s name on the map.

“Mariko, Mariko, Mariko…” About a minute and a half after she started searching from one side, she found the name Fuwa Mariko. “Ooh, it must be this one!”

The name was familiar too—no doubt that had been the name of the person fined for misplacing something, presumably the key card itself. That confirmed that Fuwa Mariko was the “Mariko” from the journal.

Now certain, Mira carefully noted the room’s location and returned to the living quarters area. Though she got a little lost amid the undistinguishable hallways and rooms, she managed to find Mariko’s quarters and opened the door without issue.

“Listen, now. Don’t overlook a single speck of dust!” Mira ordered her summoned companions.

“No, ma’am!”

“Leave it to me!”

The trio put their backs into searching the room. There were still shelves, a desk, and other furniture inside. They searched thoroughly, paying special care to checking under and between things. They left no stone unturned, even when it meant brushing away accumulated dust or dealing with scattered trash.

About thirty minutes later…

“I can’t find it!”

“Nothing here, Ringmeowstress!”

“Woof! Not a single card in sight!”

Their search ended fruitlessly, and they sat down in exhaustion. Sighing, Mira stared at Mariko’s desk. Its drawer was bursting with endless notes and a few shared journals. Since there was no key card in this room, Mira decided to search everything in the drawer for clues. 

As far as she could tell, the notes were the same as the others—simple messages and the like. Next, she looked at the shared journals. There were three in the drawer, each full from start to end. In other words, Mariko had stored finished journals here. 

If they figured out her daily habits well enough, they might narrow down the places where she could’ve lost the card. Mira read the journals’ contents aloud to let First Pupil and Woofson handle the deductions. The journals were mainly about daily life in the facility. They never discussed research, instead just describing hobbies, entertainment, and other trivial things. It was all so lax, Mira had to wonder whether the researchers had actually been doing their jobs. Yet occasional technical jargon that went back and forth at least proved they were real researchers with knowledge of their field.

After reading all the journals, Mira put them back. “Hrmm…” she muttered. “The library was the only place that jumped out to me.”

She’d learned one major fact from the journals: Mariko had been obsessed with a certain author’s work at one point, and she’d seemingly frequented the library on the tenth floor. Other researchers had left her many warnings in the journal, such as Stop leaving envelopes in books to mark that you finished them!

Another notable message was Don’t borrow so many books at once if finishing just one will take you ages!

Perhaps as a result of such complaints, some of Mariko’s books had been forcibly confiscated, since she’d kept them so long past their due dates. Mariko had objected I was still reading those!, but almost everyone else agreed that she’d deserved it.

“Meow! If you want a book, there’s one right around here!” First Pupil opened a cupboard on the side of the room. Inside were surprisingly well-maintained silverware and about ten books.

“Why are they in the cupboard, of all places…?”

Was it just Mariko’s sloppy side showing again, or was that where she kept the books hidden from would-be confiscators? It wasn’t clear. That said, the books in the cupboard were stamped as library property. Despite the many warnings Mariko had received, she’d never stopped monopolizing books.

“Hrmm… All these books are by the same author,” Mira noted. The volumes were so weathered, they were hard to read, but they all bore the author name “Hanesaka Iori.” That, as the journals indicated, was the author Mariko had been obsessed with. “Still, knowing that doesn’t help much…”

“We still lack necessary information,” Woofson agreed.

They’d gleaned some personal information on Mariko, but the element that mattered most—the key card—remained lost.

“For now, the library—” As Mira began to pursue the possibility of Mariko having dropped the key card at the library she frequented, she noticed something had been left between two pages of a book. “That’s…!”

Could it be the key card? Mira took the book and opened it. She was immediately let down, for it was just an envelope—one of the ones with cute illustrations used for the female researchers’ note exchanges. No doubt Mariko had used it as a bookmark. 

The envelope contained details about something called “Job A,” with a date, time, and supervisor listed. At the end was Isurugi Touko’s signature. It appeared to be an important work document, but it didn’t seem like a useful lead to the facility’s research topic or the key card’s location.

“Little scamp, getting my hopes up,” she grumbled.

“For real!” First Pupil closed the cupboard, shrugging in disappointment at the useless find.

“That’s it, woof!” Woofson piped up in a flash of inspiration. He reopened the cupboard, took the book back out, and placed it gently on the floor. “The key card we’re searching for might just be in the same kind of place!” 

Woofson opened the book, pointed at the envelope, and explained his deduction. In addition to the work document they’d just found, they’d already discovered other minor professional communications conducted via notes. Based on the most recent one, Director Isurugi Touko was one such lover of cute envelopes.

As for the key card itself, the director had likely given it to Mariko directly due to its importance. What if it were enclosed in an envelope, like some other professional correspondence?

“If Mariko took the key card out immediately, this deduction is meaningless, woof. But if she didn’t…” Woofson began analyzing her personality based on what they knew from the journals and notes. “As we’ve seen, she’s the type of person to use a nearby envelope as a bookmark. A journal revealed that she returned books with envelopes stuck in them too.” Having explained that, Woofson paused and turned to First Pupil. “Surely even a cat can understand at this point.”

It took First Pupil a moment of holding his head and groaning, but he finally arranged all the information in his mind and reached the answer. He puffed out his chest smugly, replying, “Of course! Basically, like… Yeah! Uh… Ooh! You think it might be in an envelope, right?!”

“What say you, Ms. Owner? This is my ultimate deduction based on the information we have so far, woof.” Ignoring his feline rival’s pretend smarts, Woofson ran to Mira proudly. Perhaps he was confident that he’d made the perfect deduction; his tail wagged, and his eyes sparkled. No doubt he was awaiting praise.

“Indeed, that does seem possible. Fantastic deduction. Good job, friend.” Mira picked Woofson up and petted him, just like he wanted. While he smiled blissfully and basked in his reward, First Pupil watched hatefully with gritted teeth.

“All right. On to the library!”

“Yeah!” the cat and dog answered in unison.

After a thorough investigation of the room, they’d found no key card, but they had established that it could be in an envelope left in a library book. They left Mariko’s room and headed straight for the elevator bay, taking the elevator to the tenth floor. There, Mira ran straight to the floor map.

“Hrmm…this looks tricky too.”

As far as she could tell, the library comprised the entire tenth floor. Despite being underground, each floor of the facility boasted enormous square footage, and this was no exception. Although Mira knew which author Mariko favored, this still seemed a daunting task.

On the other hand, First Pupil and Woofson were more than excited to have their chance to shine. They boasted about their abilities while holding each other back.

“Witness the power of a cat’s instincts!”

“Woof! My deductions will pinpoint it right away!”

“Good. First, find an author named Hanesaka Iori!” On Mira’s signal, the pair split up and plunged into the library. “Now, where to begin…?”

A look at the map showed Mira that the shelves were arranged by publisher. Why had they been sorted that way if this wasn’t a bookstore? Was it an investor demand? Such pointless questions filled Mira’s mind as she headed to a familiar publisher’s shelf.

***

While First Pupil and Woofson competed to investigate the rest of the library, Mira rejoiced, “Ooh, they have every single volume!” 

She’d found books from her past life here, just like the DVDs from before: paper books, printed in small quantities for the limited number of customers in a rapidly digitalizing world. As one of those few customers, the sight of so many books on one shelf was moving and nostalgic to Mira. She picked up a book and flipped through the pages. When she saw the suggestive insert illustrations, she grinned creepily to herself.

One major difference between digital and physical versions was the degree of expression. With the changing of the times, restrictions had been placed on digital works, while the law was lax with physical ones. Truly, paper books were superb. 

While she savored the sights and scents, Mira continued her search. Eventually, she noticed a sheet of paper attached to a clipboard on the circulation desk. “Now, what could this be?”

It was obviously tattered, but on very close inspection, she discerned that it was a loan list. Beyond borrowers’ names, it contained the dates books were lent, the return dates, and each book’s title and ISBN. The lines of the table were uneven and distorted, proving that the loan list was handwritten—likely for the same reason that kept the researchers from using communication devices.

“Ooh, this is just perfect!”

Reviewing the table, Mira saw Mariko’s name several times. She also found the location of the shelves where Mariko’s favorite books were.

Hanesaka Iori had evidently written for multiple publishers. There were five different publisher names on the list, and Mariko had borrowed three books from each.

“With this, I ought to be able to check them all with ease,” Mira murmured. It was essentially a list of books that might contain the key card, so if all went well, she might just find it. What a useful clue.

Just as Mira became certain of that, she heard First Pupil scream, “Anyather dud!” 

What was he doing? Curious, Mira made her way to him—with the loan list in hand, of course. “What? Is something wrong?”

It seemed First Pupil had found some Hanesaka Iori books already. Six lay next to him when Mira ran over. Just as the complaint in the journal had mentioned, there were envelopes in the books. There was a problem, though.

“They’re all empty!” First Pupil lamented. None of the envelopes contained anything, let alone the key card.

“Hrmm, I see…”

The empty envelopes made her a little uneasy, but she had no choice but to check each and every one. Calling Woofson over, Mira gave her companions the loan list and her next command: use the list to collect all the books ever borrowed by Mariko.

“Roger that, Ringmeowstress!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

They replied promptly, then began reading through the list—competing to do so, of course—and raced off to the shelves.

Since the list was in Japanese, neither could read it. But they recognized the characters in the book titles, as well as Mariko and Hanesaka Iori’s names, so they could at least search for them on the shelves.

Their constant competition was childish, but they had the skill of real professionals.

***

“Hrmm… Well, I think that’s all.”

Thanks to First Pupil and Woofson’s rushed efforts, plus Mira’s slow-and-steady looking, they’d assembled every book in Mariko’s lending history. In addition to the ten in Mariko’s room and the six First Pupil had already pulled, there were twenty-five candidates in the library.

“It must be in this one!” Woofson picked up a book and confidently opened it. Inside was an envelope, proof that Mariko had read the volume. “Awwoooo… Empty…” His tail drooped sadly.

Meanwhile, First Pupil laughed gleefully. “Too bad for mew! I say it’s this one!” He snatched a book from the lineup.

The two were apparently competing over which of them could find the book with the key card first.

“C’mooon! Fingers crossed!” First Pupil flung open the book, plucked the envelope from inside, and gently opened it. “Noooo!” he cried, throwing the envelope aside.

“The battle’s only just begun, woof!”

“This cat’s gonna win!”

Neither had won the first round, but they eagerly moved to the second. First Pupil reached his paw out, as if trying to sense the key card’s location. The sign on his back read Let me hear your cry!

Woofson focused more on the list than the books themselves. “If we consider when she borrowed and returned them, along with when the key card was lost, the answer should arise on its own…” He planned to identify the book based on timing. His eyes were truly those of a great detective, but given his adorable shih tzu appearance, he could never look more serious than cute.

I suppose…I should just watch them…? Mira wanted to simply rip all the envelopes open herself, but she hesitated to interfere with the extremely serious battle of wits.

The second round began.

“Agaaain?!” First Pupil cried.

“Not so much as an envelope?!” Woofson howled sadly.

***

“I can’t believe they were all duds…” Mira sighed.

The guessing contest had shockingly ended with neither First Pupil nor Woofson as the victor. Indeed, none of the books in Mariko’s loaning history contained the key card. They’d checked between all the pages, not just in the envelopes, so they were certain the card wasn’t here.

“What a purr-fect waste of energy that was…” Sighing at the scattered envelopes, First Pupil glared at Woofson, as if demanding, What happened to all your confidence that it was in here, huh?

“It can’t be…” Woofson was enormously daunted by this revelation. A deduction he’d been certain of had proven false, and his immense confidence translated directly to immense pain. The pup hung his head in utter shock, but the light hadn’t left his eyes. “I’m not done yet… It must be in here…” he muttered, staring at the books.

To be fair, his deduction had been both persuasive and plausible. Yet the envelopes were empty, left with not so much as a note inside. 

Mira realized something was wrong. Now that I think about it, there were things inside the envelopes back in Mariko’s room. Yet the ones here are empty. Doesn’t that mean she picked different envelopes specifically upon returning them? Had Mariko intentionally left empty envelope markers in finished books? 

Guessing as much, Mira picked up the one book that was an exception. Its title was Good Morning Sunshine. It was the second book Woofson had tried, and was the only one that lacked an envelope. Had the envelope fallen out somewhere? Or had someone taken it out?

“Hm? Now that I look at it, this title…” The memory of seeing that title elsewhere flashed into Mira’s mind. But where was that? Tracing her memory back a few hours, she finally remembered the moment. “Of course. This is…!”

It was when she’d searched the hundredth floor. This title had been mentioned among the many notes left there.

“What did the note say again…?”

What had the researcher written? Casting her mind back, Mira managed to remember it. The gist was that the writer had planned to borrow that same book, Good Morning Sunshine. “Aha! That’s this one!” 

Upon this revelation, a hypothesis formed inside Mira’s brain. 

The book from Mariko’s lending history. The note someone had left saying they’d borrow it. The information Mira and her companions gleaned about Mariko from the shared journal. All those pieces of information melded together.

A slow reader who borrowed multiple books at once and used envelopes as bookmarks. And, most of all, Mariko’s claim in the journal that she had still been reading a book when it was confiscated.

What if that book was the one Mira was looking upon now? If Mariko had been using the envelope within as a bookmark, rather than to mark a finished title, the envelope’s contents were likely still inside. And of course, if she had been in the middle of reading the book, the bookmark would still be in there.

If the key card was in the envelope when the book was confiscated, wouldn’t that connect directly with her losing the key card afterward?

There was no envelope inside Good Morning Sunshine now. In other words, whoever left that note must’ve taken the envelope out.

Had they reused the envelope as a bookmark afterward or discarded it? That detail was unclear, but if the key card was inside, it likely went unnoticed, given the hubbub about the lost card that followed immediately.

Finding the person who borrowed it next will be the fastest way to get closer to the truth, Mira decided. “Say, you two. What do you think of this?” With that, she passed her deduction on to her companions.