stonecrandall Chapter 184 Ling's Speculation and the Imminent Truth
Chapter 184 Ling's Speculation and the Imminent Truth
Uchiha Ryo looked at Chitanda speechlessly. The reason he had offered to stay overnight was because he suspected there were demons in Chitanda's house, and now Chitanda was even willingly dragging this burden along...
I just hope that old woman really didn't mean any harm, so that the person I'm protecting doesn't end up being one of two.
Yukinoshita: "...Eru, why do I think I heard Ryo-san's voice?"
"Yeah, Ling will be staying over tonight too. Hehe, you'll be coming, right? I'll be waiting for you at home!"
Yukinoshita hummed in agreement and then hung up the phone.
Haha, I was just guessing that someone was concerned about their family and went back to their hometown to find their younger brother, but I didn't expect them to have gone to the Chitanda family's place.
"That guy!" Yukinoshita got up and left, wanting to get to the Chitanda family as quickly as possible.
.....
On the other side, after Chitanda put down the phone, she stood up and looked at Uchiha Ryo.
"This is the teacup that the old lady gave me. Ling, please sit here for a while. I'm going to change my clothes."
Uchiha Ryo nodded, then glanced at the pond outside the corridor, where brightly colored koi carp were kept.
Unlike the Shinomiya family mansion in the city, the Chitanda family mansion, built amidst vast farmland, occupied an area comparable to that of a school.
Sitting inside the Japanese-style bungalow, listening to the babbling water outside, the courtyard is filled with neatly trimmed pine trees. However, compared to the various servants that can be seen everywhere in the Shinomiya family, the Chitanda family doesn't seem to like having many people around.
Uchiha Ryo picked up a somewhat antique-style teacup and used his mobile phone to remotely connect with Natsume's cat teacher.
The teacup in Uchiha Ryo's hand suddenly began to tremble.
"Oh? So you really are a monster. Should I just kill you?"
On the other side, although Nyanko-sensei couldn't sense the demonic aura emanating from the teacup through the phone, he only glanced at it before casually remarking.
"In ancient times, famous craftsmen would throw away their flawed tea bowl creations, and some of them would absorb the essence of the earth and become monsters. Because their original form was given to them by humans, they would be very close to humans."
"However, there are rumors that if this kind of yokai teacup gets close to a human, it will bring disaster to that household. But it's just a rumor. I've never heard of any onmyoji targeting this kind of little yokai. It should be harmless, right?"
Uchiha Ryo looked at the trembling teacup in his hand. "Harmless? Don't worry, I won't smash it. But you shouldn't stay here anymore. I'll take you away tomorrow."
Regardless of rumors or what, Uchiha Ryo has no intention of letting a demon live in the Chitanda family.
Setting down her antique teacup, Chitanda, dressed in casual home clothes, walked in. After taking off her school uniform, her smooth black hair was casually draped behind her, and her light green dress accentuated her girlish cuteness.
Not long after, Yukino Yukinoshita, with a calm expression, also appeared in the room.
Yukinoshita: "So, why is this guy here?"
Chitanda sat down next to Uchiha Ryo, thought for a moment, and then said to Yukino across the table, "It's mainly because of me, isn't it?"
"Because of you?"
Yukinoshita fell silent, her gaze sweeping between Uchiha Ryo and the gentle-looking Chitanda Eru. On one side was her best friend since entering Shuchiin High School, and on the other...
Is it because of the season? Could I have hay fever? My nose always feels sore, and I have some chest pain.
"call...."
Chitanda was the first to notice something was wrong. She got up and patted Yukinoshita on the back with a puzzled look.
"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell? If Yukino isn't feeling well, you can rest first. We can handle the script review!"
Yukinoshita looked up. "Are you here to discuss the script?"
Chitanda Eru nodded blankly, "Yes, I asked Ling-san to help me study the script, so Ling-san came over."
"Hmm... but I feel like there's strength in numbers, so I called Yukino along too. Tonight, with our help, we're sure to perfect Hongo-senpai's script!"
Yukinoshita breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out they were going to discuss the script. In that case, there was nothing to worry about.
Chitanda stayed there and sat down next to Yukino, then looked at Uchiha Ryo with a puzzled expression.
"Ling, what happened that you said about Senior Hongo not being unable to write because she was sick, but that the drama club rejected the second part of her script?"
Yukinoshita: "Is that so?!"
Uchiha Ryo waved his hand, "It's just a guess, but if you want to hear it, I can tell you."
The reason lies in a questionnaire found alongside the script, which contains various anonymous polls related to the script. Among them is a poll on the "motive for murder"...
Uchiha Ryo revealed his conjectures and his conversation with Irisu Fuyumi before the meeting without reservation.
It must be said that this conjecture is indeed far-fetched, but... it is actually feasible in reality.
The key to solving everything lies in where Hongo-senpai is now.
Yukinoshita: "Chitanda, you know that Irisu-senpai, right? Why don't you ask which hospital the sick Hongo-senpai is in?"
Chitanda lowered her head. "I'm afraid that won't work. Given Irisu-senpai's personality, even if we guess right, she won't let us find Hongo-senpai easily. We can only wait until this play ends."
Chitanda is now trying her best to deduce the original second half of the script based on Hongo-senpai's first half, rather than creating something original.
However, based on the information available, this is not something that can be easily imagined.
As night fell, the three of them remained in their room in deep thought after dinner.
Uchiha Ryo: "You two go to sleep first. We still have plenty of time. There's no need to keep going."
Chitanda rubbed her eyes; clearly, she wasn't good at staying up late.
"And what about you?"
Uchiha Ryo held up a notebook filled with her own scribblings and drawings. "Let's have a cup of coffee later, and then keep thinking about it. I promised you, didn't I? I won't sleep tonight if I don't want to go out."
Yukino looked at Uchiha Ryo with concern, "Like you said, there's still plenty of time, you should go to sleep too."
Uchiha Ryo: "Is this considered an invitation?"
Yukinoshita silently pulled up the somewhat dazed Chitanda. "Eru and I are going back to our bedroom. If you're not going to sleep, you might as well just sit here all night!"
Watching the two leave the room, Uchiha Ryo smiled and glanced at the antique teacup still sitting in front of him.
"Since I don't know where you came from, I have to keep an eye on you, little one. I'll just take you back to that old woman tomorrow."
The teacup swayed slightly a few times before falling silent, while Uchiha Ryo continued reading the notes in his hand.
The empty room was completely silent; the only sound was the ticking of the clock hands.
So what was the motive for the murder? Student A's cause of death was bleeding from the carotid artery in his neck. If the murder weapon was not found, then the only possible explanation is that it was broken glass.
Then who used what method to cause the long-neglected glass to break from a height and coincidentally injure student A?
Coincidence? Wait a minute, in the mountains, the poor-quality glass, exposed to wind and rain for decades, and the dilapidated wooden window frame could very well be broken by a storm, causing the glass to fall and shatter, injuring student A who was standing right next to it.
It sounds unbelievable, right? But the world is made up of countless coincidences.
The six people chose to stay overnight in the ancient village halfway up the mountain because it might rain that night. And before the rain... there would be strong winds!
And why was there one less vote in the poll on the motive for murder? Because there was no motive for murder at all; A's death was... an accident?
The ultimate cause of death in this murder case is accidental, and I doubt anyone would accept that. But for such a substandard script, couldn't the drama department just point it out directly?
[Our script doesn't work at the end and needs to be revised.] Can't we just tell the Classics Department like that?
Why did they say that Senior Hongo was sick and couldn't finish the script, instead of just saying that the script was bad?
There's only one reason: the music club rejected the second half of Hongo-senpai's script, not because the script was boring... but because they didn't want that part of the script to be performed!
I don't want it to be shown! I also don't want anyone to see this script, so I'm hiding the script along with Senior Hongo! Heh... Uchiha Ryo stood up; the clock showed midnight.