"A Colonel Sanders!?
Ah~ Of course that's right up her alley!"
"...I understand her wanting to take home Satoko and Rika-chan.
But I can't understand the Colonel Sanders! What's so good about that four-eyed geezer!?"
"Probably better to hear it from Rena, don't you think?
She'll probably just say, 'because it's just so kyute☆' though."
"Does Rena often... go to the construction site to hunt for treasure?"
"...Every now and then she says she's going to have a look."
"But... a girl her age rummaging around in garbage is, well..."
"...If Rena enjoys it, then I think it's fine."
"What were they doing over there?
Dam construction?"
It had been bugging me since yesterday, like an itch I couldn't scratch.
"Hahaha! It was cancelled a long time ago."
"...Everyone gathered together and fought against it."
Hearing an ominous word like "fought" come from Rika-chan's mouth startled me.
"That's right!
It was unbelievable!
They said Hinamizawa would be sunk into the reservoir and we had no say in the matter!"
So, I'm only able to be here because the protest succeeded.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!
I didn't keep you, did I? ...Did I?"
"My deepest apologies, Keiichi-san. It took me a while to powder my nose!"
"Satoko.
Wait to use the can until you really have to go.
It's a lot easier since it shoots right out."
"Eek...
...
Eek... How dare you speak that way to a maiden of unparalleled beauty such as myself!?!?!"
Who was she calling a maiden?
If Satoko really was a maiden, she wouldn't have reacted like that.
The usual hijinx ensued.
"Now, then.
Gentlemen. In accordance with the rules of our society, I bring a point to discussion!
He, Keiichi Maebara-kun, wishes to be included as a member in our activities... What say you!?"
"Rena has no objection!"
"Ohohoho!
I wonder if the likes of this peasant is up to the task."
"...Me and Satoko both approve."
The three that Mion had queried voiced their approval.
"A unanimous decision! Congratulations, Keiichi Maebara-kun.
I present you the honor of being allowed to take the entrance exam for our club!"
"Start from the beginning!
I didn't say I would join!
What club is this?"
"What our club does, you see... In order to cope with our complicated society, we perform various activities under different sets of rules.
...Sometimes they are in your favor.
And sometimes they work against you...!!"
"...I'm pretty weak... so I'd prefer if you didn't single me out. Let's try to get along."
"You're so naive, Rena!
The Law of the Jungle is survival of the fittest!"
...This was starting to sound a bit sketchy...
So what kind of club was it!?
"...To sum it up, it's a club where we play games together."
Rika-chan was the only one to answer my question with a pertinent response.
So basically this "club" put Mion's hobby of collecting games to use.
By playing the various games that Mion had hoarded every day.
It seemed that, depending on the day, there were prizes for the winner or a penalty for the person who finished in last place.
"I'll make this clear right now. We aren't playing house here!
You should treat each win or loss as if your life depends on it, all right!?"
"W-What's wrong with just having fun...!?
Don't make it sound so crazy."
"The first rule of our society!!
Aim only for first place!
...Going at it half-assed just because 'it's a game' is not allowed!"
"Rule number two of our society!
For that reason, you are obligated to make all possible efforts!"
...The way Satoko said it, it sounded like she was saying, "use any means necessary."
"...Of course, I will do my best, too."
"I'm pretty weak... but I'm trying my best."
I knew what they were trying to say.
In a game where everybody is aiming for the top, it's rather unsportsmanlike to play just for fun.
"All right. Then I, too... will go all-out!!"
With that, I was finally ready for the rite of initiation... My baptism into the club.
"A word of warning, Kei-chan.
...Rena can get pretty nasty."
This initiation looks like it's going to be rough...
Mion began fishing around in the student lockers in the back of the room.
...They have the games here at the school?
...Well, it's club equipment, so I guess that's fine.
"Complicated games would put Kei-chan at a disadvantage.
So today, we'll play a game that you should be familiar with.
How about a standard card game...?
...
Like Old Bachelor!?"
"All right! Let's do this!!"
"Can't really get into it unless there's a penalty!
This time the loser will be sentenced to having their face drawn on!
What do you think!?"
"Whoa,
whoa
...It won't be a permanent marker, right?
...Right...?"
...Permanent... She wants to draw on our faces with permanent marker?
"That is perfect—!!!!"
Satoko cheered the idea on.
She didn't even flinch at the thought of such a severe penalty.
It seemed like she was raring to go.
...If it's going to be like this, then I can't lose either!
"Then I'll just cut the deck... and start dealing!"
Old Bachelor is pretty much the same as Old Maid.
There's only one difference: there's no joker.
In its place, one card is pulled out at the start.
Meaning there will be one card without a match left over at the end.
You don't know which card will end up being the joker.
It's a pretty thrilling game!
"I'll take out the card now."
Mion took out one card and left it face down on the table.
Everybody stared at the card intently.
"Well, it'll be pretty obvious in the endgame.
No way to tell at the start."
But... the rest of them were very serious.
They didn't seem as relaxed as I was.
They compared their cards to the one face down, all the while gauging each other's reactions.
It was as if...they could see what the face down card was...
...No, it couldn't be.
"...This deck is pretty worn out.
...No way... Can everyone tell by the scratches what the card on the table is...?"
"Remember the second rule of our society~
Keiichi-san must try his hardest to win as well~!"
"A number of cards are quite unique... Keiichi-kun should be able to remember them pretty quickly."
She said that so matter-of-factly.
"S-Suits me fine!!
Don't think a little thing like that can be your crutch!!!"
...I lashed out angrily, but it was rather obvious I was at a disadvantage.
After all... they'd gone so far as to memorize the wear and tear for each individual card...!
This wasn't a simple game of Old Bachelor.
...If this was a test...
then they were playing with the answer sheet in front of them!!
Bring it!
I'll take advantage of your carelessness and beat you at your own game...!
...That baseless confidence... would soon be crushed...
"Kekeke!
How about I tell you your hand starting from the right?
Three,
Four,
Nine,
Jack,
Queen."
"WaAargh!!"
"...By the way, the bachelor is the Jack of Diamonds."
"GaAaRgh!!"
"I can tell what they are even if you switch them around!
I am out!!"
"UuUrrgh!!"
I thought I was prepared... but for it to be this brutal... Just overwhelming...!!!
"D... Demons...
You're all demons...!
Rena... isn't... a demon, are you...?"
"S-Sorry, Keiichi-kun.
...This is the Three of Hearts, isn't it?
...I'm out!"
"UwaAaaAaaAaaaAAah!!"
Not even a hint of mercy...!!
Rena... Even Rika-chan...!!
These club activities weren't to be trifled with.
An alumnus of this club would definitely survive in the cruelest of situations...
If our entire class had self-detonating collars strapped to their necks and were dropped into a death match on a deserted island, these guys would probably take to it like fish to water.
I can already picture their joy as they hunt down each of their classmates...
"It's a lowest point system.
The order itself dictates the points. Whoever has the lowest point total wins!"
"...Since Keiichi finished last, he has five points."
There's already a 5 marked down on my scoreboard...!
"...I-I think it's unfair to Keiichi-kun if we don't use a new deck."
"It's fine, it's fine. Kei-chan is a man after all.
He can turn the tables even if the odds are stacked against him, right!?"
"It's fitting for a lowly peasant to scamper home and soak their pillow in tears, don't you think~??"
A petite hand laid itself on top of my head, which was trembling from uncontainable frustration.
...It was Rika-chan's.
"...Keep on fighting,
yeah~."
Thanks to Rika-chan's words of encouragement, I was able to calm down.
You need to be calm, especially when you're cornered.
...That's the "power" I could muster during this crisis.
Think clearly, Keiichi Maebara.
...Take your time and look at the cards carefully.
It's just as Rena said, several of the cards have their own distinct markings making them stand out. Memorizing them should be pretty simple.
Think about what you can do in this situation. Try everything in your power to improve your chances of victory.
"Whoa... Great, Keiichi-kun. Just like that!"
I covered the uniquely-marked cards with my hands or other cards, arranging them in such a way that they couldn't be seen.
"...The one with the ripped corner should be the Five...
And... I'm out."
I couldn't let any of those precious hints slip by me.
All information is a weapon.
Then it was my turn.
Satoko fanned out her cards for me.
"You see, I want the Seven.
...Is it this one?"
"...I wonder about that...
You won't know unless you take it..."
There was a bit of dismay in her expression.
...Like she doesn't want it taken... That kind of expression...!
I won't let that momentary lapse slip by me!!
"I know!!
It's this ooooone!!!!"
Got it!
Seven of Spades...!!!
A cheer of "Ooo!" rang out!
"W-Wh-Wh-What is this!?
The Seven should be the hardest one of all to tell apart~!?!?!"
It wasn't from memorizing the markings. Those slight changes in their expressions as I was selecting a card were enough!
"Can't hide it from me, Kei-chan!
...This mark means it's the Two of Diamonds.
...What!?"
She was startled by her own misread.
Of course everyone else was too...!
"...Whoa
...It's rare that Mii-chan gets a card wrong."
"N-No...
Kei-chan
...
Could it be... you...!!"
They told them apart by different "marks."
That mark was a "nail scratch."
So... I put...
a new one on it!!
"Are you saying he disguised it... as the Two of Diamonds!?
W...What an impressive show of wit...!!"
"...Keiichi landed a clean hit."
Clap clap clap...
"That's great, Keiichi-kun!
That was an incredible match, you know!? You know!?"
Having defeated the forerunner, Mion, my brilliant battle left me ecstatic.
But by total points, it was already set in stone that Mion would win and I would finish last.
I laughed haughtily, selecting the tone of my voice carefully to get on Mion's nerves.
"...Well... I'm going to end up the loser, but I'm satisfied with one-upping Mion at the end.☆
Bwahahahahahaa~...♪"
That should be the proverbial slap in the face to Mion, who was at the top already and ensured victory...!
"Even if Kei-chan gets first place this round, he'll still end up last place overall
...
Don't you hate that?"
"Of course I do!"
"Let's have a duel.
One chance!
If you win, then we'll swap first and last place! ...How about it!? You up for it!?"
She fell for it!
A chance for an upset that wouldn't be possible without goading her into it!!
"One chance, you say?
Let me hear the rules."
Mion discarded two cards from her hand and replaced one with the joker card that was on the table, then shuffled the resulting hand behind her back.
"The card in my right or the card in my left!
If Kei-chan can guess which hand the joker's in, then he wins!"
"When you turned around just now, you didn't pull out the joker, did you!?"
"If you lose, I'll show the card in the other hand.
That okay?"
The other three gulped nervously at this unexpected turn of events.
"...All right!!
You've got it!!!!"
Mion grasped one card in each hand and thrust them out at me!
First, I needed to inspect them closely...!
The card on the right had no distinguishing marks, I couldn't tell which one it was.
"...Which one, I wonder... Keiichi-kun... Be careful!"
"Yeah, of course! ...This is my chance... for a big comeback!!"
Looking closely at the card on the left, I saw a little wear. It wasn't one I hadn't seen before.
"Ah... That card is...!!"
I didn't let that bit from Satoko slip by me.
Mion clucked her tongue.
I didn't recognize the mark on the left card from the small number that I had memorized.
I didn't know what the left card was, but I could tell from Satoko's reaction that the card had already appeared during the game.
Since it had already appeared before, it meant that it definitely wasn't the joker!
"...Ooh.
Kei-chan thinks it's the one on the right?
Will you choose that one then?
Will you?"
...The left card definitely wasn't the joker. If I could trust that theory, then I should've been able to declare that the card to the right was the joker.
Even without Mion's taunting... The one on the right was the most suspicious.
But wasn't it a bit too rash to decide based solely on Satoko's reaction!?
More... carefully...
...
Ah!
...I remember now...!!
That mark... The left card...
No doubt about it!
The Seven of Clubs!!!
"Hmm...
It's the Seven of Clubs, I see..."
I've won!
The card on the left was the Seven of Clubs!
So that meant the card on the right was... the joker!!!!
And then, just before my hand touched the right card, I froze.
"...Huhuhuh...
heheheh...
I would expect no less from you."
There was a wave of murmurs amongst the onlookers at my sudden halt, right before I confirmed the right card was the joker.
"??
Huh?
What could Keiichi-san possibly be saying??
I mean, the left one is..."
"...Shh."
"Ooh...
What makes you so certain that the right one isn't the joker, Kei-chan?"
Mion let loose an unexpected question.
Everyone else was baffled.
"I don't know what the card on the right could be.
But I know that the one on the left is the Seven of Clubs."
"Then!
Doesn't that leave the right one as the joker!?
One of them has to be the joker, right!?"
"Yeah.
...One of those is the joker, right?"
"...Keiichi has good intuition."
"Huh?
Rika-chan, what do you mean by...?"
"So basically...
the Seven of Clubs...
I discarded that by matching it with Satoko's Seven of Spades earlier...!"
Everyone's attention snapped to the discard pile at the same time!
The truth of the matter couldn't be discerned from that sloppy pile...!
"So that means...
Mion pocketed one of the discarded cards... then aligned it over the left card... and that means—!!!"
"...I see, I get it!
This left card... is being disguised as the Seven of Clubs, right!?"
It was the first time since the start of the match that a shadow ran across Mion's expression, and I didn't let that slip by.
Then... with a grand flourish, I declared it loudly!!
"The joker is...
...
the left ooooooooooone!!!!!!"
It was an intense moment...!
That one second felt like an eternity for everyone there.
Breaking that silence, the first one to speak... was Mion.
"...Being the first president of this club, I've been witness to a variety of performances.
Kei-chan...
yours is...
the best.
...The best of the best of the best!"
That was probably the greatest compliment Mion could give.
Mion accepted her defeat... dropping the cards from both hands.
...My...
comeback victory!!!!!!!
Rika-chan placed her hand on my head and began petting it, congratulating me on my victory.
"Huh...?
...Rika-chan is...?"
Rena and Satoko gaped at us... as if they had seen a ghost.
"What is it, Rena? It's not as if I cheated or anything, right?? This was fair and square!"
"...Rika... only pets someone on the head...to console them."
Huh...? What's the meaning of...?
At that moment, Rena let out a small shriek.
"Ke... Keiichi-kun...!
...This is how it was...!?!?"
"You know, Kei-chan.
I thought you'd read into it that far.
...Heheheh!"
Everyone froze.
...No, it was just me...
"It was a gamble.
If you had just jumped to conclusions like a little brat, then I would have lost."
...It was the answer everyone was certain about...
Mion picked up the card from the losing hand...
"Kei-chan, you know, you should take pride in this loss."
She turned it around...
...That was... the card that proclaimed the victor of this duel.
The card under the Seven of Clubs
...
Unbelievable! It was the Two of Diamonds!
I-It was a setup behind the setup...!!
If I'd just picked the right one without reading so deeply into it...!
"...I, Mion Sonozaki, as the club president...
do accept...
Keiichi Maebara's membership...into our club...!!!"
As I slumped to my knees, dazed, everybody let out a round of applause for the excellent effort I gave despite my defeat.
"The match is now over!!
Today's victor is me! Mion Sonozaki! And our exalted loser is...
Keiichi Maebara~!!!"
Everyone made a commotion, applauding cheerfully.
I felt I was bested, but I was so soundly beaten that it unexpectedly felt rather refreshing...
"When Mii-chan pulled that little trick behind her back I got excited, thinking, 'She's going to do it again!'"
"When Keiichi-san stopped the moment before touching the correct card, I thought, 'He fell for it~!'"
"...He fell for it quite handily."
...Huh?
Hey, wait.
All of them knew from the start and still got so excited so earnestly...??
"...Everyone got excited to make it more fun."
...
You...
"You're all demoooons! You monsters~!!!"
"Now, then, Kei-chan... it's time for your penalty...!
Since it's your first day participating,
I'll go easy, okay?
...It would be a problem if you refused to come to school!"
The other three members held down my arms and shoulders firmly.
Mion approached, licking her lips...
Her right hand went to pull something out of her pocket.
That's... a felt-tip marker!! And it's... a giant permanent one!!!
"Okay...Here we gooo~!"
She took the cap off the marker and brought it slowly up to my face while I was immobilized...!
"N-No...
NOoOoOoOoo...oo...oo...!!!"
I let out my death throes...
As soon as the club activities were finished, Rena flew off.
Probably so she could dig out that 'kyute' Colonel Sanders that she wasn't able to take home yesterday.
So today it was just Mion and me walking home together, a rather rare occurrence.
"A mountain of treasure, huh...
The guys throwing it away probably never thought in their wildest dreams that Rena would be grateful to them."
"Mountain of treasure," meaning that dam construction site from before.
...Oh, right. Mion would probably tell me.
That murder by dismemberment that seemed to have happened there...
"Over there, you know, at that dam construction site.
...Did something happen there?
Long ago?"
"Something sure did. A grand battle!
There were sit-ins and demonstrations!"
It was a bit different from what I wanted to hear, but I decided I'd listen just the same.
"It was our land that was going to be sunk into the dam reservoir.
I would have fought as well, probably."
"The government guys were really adamant about it.
Acting all big and full of themselves!
Since they figured out that they couldn't settle it with money, they did a bunch of nasty stuff!
They were nasty guys!"
Mion spoke excitedly, as if the whole thing was happening right in front of her.
"I'm amazed you guys won... You were facing the federal government, right?"
"The mayor and prominent figures in the village all signed petitions.
They went to Tokyo and struck deals with legislators...
And as a result, the development plan was retracted.
It was our complete victory!
Ahahahahaha!"
"There wasn't any... violence, was there?
Like assaults... or murders?"
"None."
She promptly cut me off.
The same as Rena had.
Her words signaled the end of discussion.
Tomitake-san said, "one arm wasn't found" in the 'incident.'
I thought... that a murder by dismemberment had occurred... but I guess I was wrong.
My curiosity unsated, I sighed dejectedly inside.
"Later. See you tomorrow!
Kei-chan! You can't wash that off until you get home, got it!?"
"I got it. I won't!"
Mion held back her laughter while stealing glances at my face.
...I wonder what kind of nasty doodles they drew...
Damn you, Mion! You shall rue this day...!
If our roles are ever reversed... I'm going to go all out!
All over your face so you won't be able to take it off, even with a scouring pad...!!!
Upon arriving home, I ran straight into my mom, embarrassing myself yet again...
The mood I'd come home to was already on edge.
...It's not an uncommon thing in our family.
Whenever Dad can't come up with a good idea, it always ends up like this.
He stomps around the house with his arms crossed.
Mom whispered into my ear.
"Welcome home, Keiichi. ...Dad... he's in a bit of a rut right now, so don't bother him, okay?"
"He can't come up with a new idea?"
"It's because the deadlines are so close together this time.
Your dad needs time to recharge or he doesn't work as well."
Dad's paintings feed our entire family. If he runs out of ideas, then it's the end of the Maebaras.
(...We've never gone hungry before.
...Could it be that my dad... is a master painter??)
"...Wouldn't it be easier to get an idea taking a walk outside rather than wandering around the house?"
"The theme of the piece this time is 'in the household.'
So it seems your dad wants to use this house as a motif."
...That's quite a bothersome motif.
"...Keiichi!! Tidy your room for once in a while!! It looks terrible!"
"S-Sorry! I'll clean it up later!"
Ah, come on! Please don't use my room as the motif...!
"Keiichi, there's still some time before dinner.
So please go take a walk out back or something."
Dad's moods are only temporary.
As soon as he gets an idea, his mood improves and he starts humming.
Until then, it wouldn't be a bad idea to just go take a walk so I don't aggravate him further.
"Well, I guess I will then."
I said I was going to take a walk, but I didn't have any particular destination in mind.
I just needed to kill some time.
I got on my bike and pondered where to go.
I could just go read at the bookstore, but it would take about an hour by bike to get to town.
It would be dark by the time I got back, so I didn't want to go unless I had to.
The roads at night here in Hinamizawa creep me out.
If Mion or Satoko ever found out about that...
I smiled wryly.
Oh yeah.
Rena was probably still at the mountain of treasure... The dam construction site.
The excavation of Colonel Sanders was probably taking her a while.
It wouldn't be so bad to have her owe me one.
"...She might return the favor next time we have club activities."
With a little bit of self-interest in mind, I set off towards the dam construction site.
Tomitake-san might be there as well.
The only person with information about the incident that both Rena and Mion denied knowing anything about.
If I met him again, I'd like to ask for more details...
...To ask, "Was there really a dismemberment here in Hinamizawa?"
That was my real intention.
I spotted Rena struggling up on the slope of the garbage pile.
It looked like Colonel Sanders was lodged in there pretty firmly.
It didn't look like Rena would be able to excavate him by herself.
Realizing that Tomitake-san wasn't around, I began climbing down the slope unsteadily.
"Hey, Rena.
Looks like you're working up a sweat."
"...Whoa,
whoa,
Keiichi-kun!
...What brings you to a place like this?"
A place like this, huh?
I see. She was aware of it, at least.
"I received a signal for emergency assistance at the accident site!
Where is the injured party!?"
"Huh!? Huh!?
Accident!?
...Huh!?"
"But there was a report Colonel Sanders was buried alive in the trash pile...!"
"Huh? ...O-Oh, that. You scared me...
Don't frighten me like that, Keiichi-kun."
"...I was just kidding.
I thought you might be struggling by yourself, so I came to help you out."
"...Eh? ...You came... for me...?
...Hau."
Well, I filled my quota for today.
If I don't see Rena blush at least once a day, then I'm not getting my daily required nutritional intake.
"Just kidding. You're embarrassing me now!"
"...So... huh?
...What part... was the joke? What part was it!?"
I just ignored her bewilderment.
"Okay, now move out of the way.
So where is Colonel Sanders?"
"...Ah, sorry!
...Can't you see him... in that gap?"
"He's... really buried in there...!!"
The Colonel Sanders was sideways, surrounded by boards and other construction materials, like they were caging him inside.
According to Rena, it wasn't like this yesterday.
It seems as though another illegal dumper came yesterday, dumped again, and now he's buried like this.
"...You're trying to move this pile all by yourself...!?
With those scrawny arms...!?"
There's no way she would be able to do that with her slender arms.
"...But... Colonel Sanders... so kyute...
There's a chain on the Colonel Sanders at the store... This one, though... I should be able to take this one home...
Hau..."
If Rena gave up on this Colonel Sanders, she'll probably start devising a plan to steal the one in front of the store...
As Rena's guardian, I won't allow her to sully her hands with crime!
"Out of the way. I'll do it."
Rena blushed again, but this time I left it alone.
The pile was enormous.
Also, the more days we wasted, the more likely another illegal dumping would occur.
If it got buried any deeper, there would be nothing that could be done.
"Keiichi-kun, I'll help too. Let me help."
"You'd just get in the way, so stay back!
Hrrrrnnnnnngh!!"
Pulling out scraps,
bending them,
tossing them aside.
I quickly became covered in sweat and dust.
Flying objects drew beautiful arcs across the twilight sky, one after another.
Lumber,
timber,
plywood.
Damn iiiit!!
No matter how much I threw out, there was still more!!
Even though I could see Colonel Sanders right there!!
After grandstanding like that in front of Rena, I felt frantic because of how little I had progressed.
"...If I was going to do this seriously... I'd need an axe or saw or something...!"
"That's enough, Keiichi-kun...!
You're so sweaty.
...You don't... have to try... so hard..."
"I'm just doing it for you, Rena.
Don't worry about it."
Rena began sputtering and turned beet red.
Ah, whoops... I meant to say I was trying my best so as to keep her from becoming a criminal...
Oh well.
"I guess I just... need a break...!
This... is pretty tough...!!"
I sprawled on my back over the grassy slope.
"I'm so sorry...
You're... covered in sweat..."
Rena patted her handkerchief against my forehead.
It felt pretty nice.
"U-Uhm, well, wait here a minute, okay?
My house is pretty close.
I'll bring you some barley tea, okay?"
Leaving the handkerchief on my forehead, Rena took off running.
The cries of the higurashi gently cooled the air.
After I was certain that Rena was gone, I picked myself up and headed towards what I'd discovered earlier.
That was a garbage pile of magazines and newspapers bound up in twine.
Unless I'm mistaken...
I believe it... was around here...
There it was.
They were bound stacks of not-so-reputable tabloids.
They were stacked chronologically, going back quite a few years.
"...It was quite a disturbing incident.
...They still haven't found one of the arms."
If it was just as Tomitake-san said, then undoubtedly there would be mention of the murder.
These are troubled times.
There is no end to these sickening incidents.
There's a large part of society drawn in by these incidents, as well.
So it had to be recorded.
Somewhere.
I unfastened the packages and opened the rain-soaked pages carefully, looking over the table of contents.
Not here.
Next one.
Not here.
Next one.
It was hard to search since I didn't know when it happened.
I didn't know who the perpetrator or the victim was, either.
I only knew it had happened here.
I looked up every so often, checking to see if Rena had come back or not.
I wouldn't want her to see me gawking at a dirty magazine, but it wasn't just that.
Both Rena and Mion said they didn't know.
But it had happened, without a doubt.
...As long as Tomitake-san wasn't lying.
Then if both Rena and Mion...
"Ah. Yeah, there was."
If they had just said that, then I wouldn't have gotten so hung up on it.
An 'incident' that neither Rena nor Mion wished to talk about.
Trying to uncover it after they tried to conceal it out of good intentions...
That made me feel like I was acting against my friends.
"HINAMIZAWA DAM WORKER LYNCHING! MURDER BY DISMEMBERMENT!!"
...Here it is!
The featured article was in the back and it seemed that there was a photograph in the colored pages at the front.
The pages of the featured article were stuck together and weren't easy to open.
Rena could return at any moment.
...Feeling rushed, I gave up and opened the photograph page.
The police investigators were carrying a body bag and newspaper reporters were all bathing it in camera flashes.
The image was blurry and hard to understand, but I could definitely make out the headlines.
"A Tragic Nightmare at the Hinamizawa Construction Site! Lynching and Murder/Dismemberment!"
"The victim was the site foreman. He had assaulted his assailants daily with..."
"An explosive backlash from his daily actions? It's a horrible image, to see the site foreman as..."
...It happened...
It really did happen...
It seemed the details were on the next page.
...I turned the page without pausing.
...On it was...
"The assailants butchered the victim's body with hatchets and pickaxes,
then used an axe to split the cadaver into six pieces: the head, arms, legs, and torso."
I could understand just from the headline that it was... just too terrible...
an incident.
Normally a lynching is just assault and murder right...?
Dismemberment with hatchets and pickaxes?
That wasn't a lynching.
It was a merciless killing to the letter, a brutal murder...
Done by a group of people.
...With hatchets.
...With pickaxes.
...With... a hatchet.
"AhhHhhhHhHhhh!!!"
"Eek! S-S-Sorry...!!!
Did I startle you!? Did I startle you!?"
Rena dropped the hatchet she was holding onto the grass after being startled by my voice.
"Keiichi-kun, you see, earlier, yeah, you said it would help if you had an axe or something, didn't you!?
S-So then I... brought a hatchet for you... from the shed...!!"
Rena fluttered her arms in a panic, continuing to explain and apologize.
It seemed I'd been glaring at her pretty intensely.
"I-I'm sorry... I guess my reaction was a bit overboard."
"N-No... I-I'm sorry as well! ...I'm sorry!"
...Night was drawing close.
I was pretty worn out, and it wouldn't hurt to do the rest tomorrow.
"Doesn't look like we can break that last beam without that hatchet.
You brought it after all... I'll have to borrow it tomorrow.
All right?"
"...Okay."
"Why do you look so glum? Tomorrow we'll be digging out Colonel Sanders, right!?"
"You're right. ...Ahahaha!
I really want to take Colonel Sanders home soon~!"
We both knew that it was useless to apologize any more than that.
I quenched my thirst with the barley tea Rena brought and wiped off the sweat that had now gone cold. We took the path to head home.
I felt quite guilty about the tabloid wrapped up in my jacket.