Volume 2 - CH 5.4

Dining room of the gray manor.

Marble mantelpiece. Glass lamps hanging in the four corners of the lustrous paneled wall. Paintings depicting scenes from the village.

The luxurious room was as stifling as ever. The low ceiling made Kazuya feel like he was being crushed little by little. He sighed and glanced at Inspector Blois, who was sitting beside him.

Sergius had practically forced them both to come inside. One after another, old people who seemed to be important figures in the village arrived and sat down. Kazuya and Inspector Blois shrank in their corner seats.

Harminia entered with silent footsteps, carrying old but well-polished silverware. She served tea, brandy, and wine.

Sergius was describing to Inspector Blois the incident that had occurred just a few hours earlier, in which a papier-mâché was replaced by a person and burned to death.

“In short, Alan was seen roaming elsewhere just before the incident, but he left after getting pelted by the hazelnuts thrown by the girls. Later, when Ambrose set fire to the float with the human-shaped papier-mâché, the papier-mâché and Alan had somehow switched places. The man was engulfed in flames and died.”

“I see.” The inspector tapped his foot anxiously as he listened.

“You came at the right time. If the case remains unsolved, we’d have problems too.”

“Hey.” The inspector poked Kazuya in the knee.

“What?”

“Where is she?”

“If you mean your brilliant sister, she’s probably in her room.”

“Go call for her.”

Kazuya’s temper flared. “I know what you want. You’re going to use her and take credit for solving the case. Again. You should go ask her yourself. You never make any sense.”

Inspector Blois looked at Kazuya curiously. Slowly, his face contorted with frustration. “Never!” he snarled.

“Why?”

“There is a difference between you asking and me asking. The results are completely different. You don’t realize it yourself, Kujou, but the privilege you enjoy is so odd, it’s like getting free money from a loan shark.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Just go get her! I’ll be counting on you from now on, Kujou.”

“Why, you…”

Despite his grumbling, Kazuya felt uneasy about leaving Victorique alone, so he quietly got up and left the dining room.

He walked along the low-ceilinged, lavish but suffocating hallway, climbed up the grand staircase with its bronze railings, and knocked on the door to Victorique’s room. The door opened immediately, and Victorique’s unhappy face peeked out.

“What do you want?” she asked.

“I just wanted to check on you.”

“I’m fine. And I don’t care about you. Leave me alone.”

“What’s your deal?! Tsk. Fine. I’ll stop nagging you. By the way, your brother’s in the dining room, calling for help.”

“Help?” Victorique blinked.

“He’s surrounded by villagers who want the Winter Man case solved, but he had this distant look in his eyes like he was absolutely clueless. He told me to come get you.”

“Still the halfwit, I see.”

“Unfortunately, he’s your brother, not mine. What now?”

Victorique inclined her head in thought, then nodded. “Very well, then. Let’s go.” She stepped out of her room.

Kazuya glanced at the other rooms. “Where are the others?”

“Mildred seems to be in her room. Apparently, she’s not too interested in the festival. The two men had been making a racket in one of their rooms earlier, but they seem to have gone outside. They were more resentful of the villagers than mournful of their friend’s death. They think that the villagers killed him after disrespecting their custom.”

Victorique started padding along the hallway, and Kazuya followed. Walking behind her, he stared at the fringes peeking out from under the hem of her hoop skirt. Her laced leather shoes were so small that they seemed like children’s footwear. Victorique’s petite figure was puffed up by the hoop skirt, laces, and velvet, bobbing with her every step.

When they returned to the dining room, everyone but Inspector Blois had risen from their chairs. The large windows were open, and the dark forest outside seemed to creep into the room. Black tangled branches and dense foliage allowed no light to penetrate through.

Sergius was holding a hunting rifle.

“What are you doing?” Kazuya asked, shocked.

“Wolves,” the old man said curtly.

Kazuya followed Sergius’s gaze deep in the woods, but saw nothing. When they arrived at the village, Sergius had reacted to a faint sound and fired into the forest, claiming there were wolves.

There was a sound of a branch snapping.

“I knew it!” Sergius fired into the forest before anyone could stop him.

A gunshot rang out.

Victorique gasped. “No…!” she murmured. Gnashing her pearly little teeth, she rushed to the window, preventing Sergius from firing a second shot. “Stop!”

A groan drifted from the woods. Sergius lowered his rifle. “It’s dead.”

“No! That was a human voice!”

Sergius just stared at her, not grasping the meaning of her words.

“I heard those two talking about strolling in the woods!”

Victorique spun and bolted out of the room. Ambrose, who was in the hallway, looked at her in surprise.

Kazuya and the others followed her, out the front door and into the woods just outside the dining room window.

Victorique pushed her way through the black branches. Her dress caught on the twigs and was getting dirty quick. Kazuya stayed close behind her.

Bizarre-sounding moans came from outside the forest.

It sounded like a human stifling cries, or a beast grunting.

Not knowing where the sound was coming from, Kazuya looked up above. Thin black branches and overgrown leaves rustled ominously in the wind, blocking the sky.

Wolves…

Wild wolves lived in this forest…

“Victorique!” Kazuya gritted his teeth and went after her.

An eerie groan came from behind. Victorique stopped. The groans grew louder and higher.

“Victorique?” Kazuya called.

Victorique slowly turned around, frowning. “This is the second one,” she said.

“Second what?”

“Raoul has been killed.”

Kazuya scurried toward Victorique and looked at the direction she was pointing at.

Raoul was lying on the ground, bleeding from his chest. His eyes were wide open, staring blankly at an empty space. One look and it was clear that he was already gone.

The shrill cries came from Derek, who was running after Kazuya and Victorique from outside the forest. He stopped, and when he saw Raoul lying on the ground, his cries grew louder.

“We were taking a walk together,” the young man said. “Raoul went deeper into the woods. He thought it would be fun. Then I heard a gunshot, followed by Raoul’s voice. It sounded like a short yelp. I knew then that he was shot. But why? He’s dead! Why was he shot?!”

“He was mistaken for a wolf,” Kazuya said.

Derek’s mouth dropped open. “A wolf?”

Villagers arriving fell silent once they saw the gruesome scene.

“You saw the village chief firing into the forest yesterday, didn’t you? He heard a sound from deep in the woods, and thought it was wolves.”

“Villagers don’t venture into the forest,” Ambrose added. “He didn’t think it was a person.”

“What are you talking about?! Can’t you see he’s dead?! He’s been killed! I could have been shot. Do you understand that?!”

Derek’s voice was piercing. The villagers silently glanced at each other.

Victorique picked up something from the ground. Noticing Kazuya’s gaze, she let him see it, but he had no idea what it meant. Victorique’s eyes narrowed, and she nodded.

A hazelnut was sitting on her hand.