Editing Hyouka:Volume 2 Chapter 7

That night, I was thinking in my room. Lying on my bed, I stared at the white ceiling.

Compared to Nakajou, Haba and Sawakiguchi, my failure wasn't too bad. I broke a smile. Some special person I am, huh? Irisu sure knows how to flatter. I felt stupid at believing my own hype. In the end, I was only chosen because my story was better than the other three.

I realized where my thoughts were going... Have I really failed?

Of course, it became clear that my proposal did not match Hongou's true intention. But how did Irisu, or even Class 2-F, view this? From their point of view, it would have been the successful completion of a project, a movie, that was in danger of being abandoned. From that perspective, I was successful. The movie "The Blind Spot of 10,000 People" was a movie that even the annoying Ibara had to acknowledge.

To put it further, it could be argued that my deduction would still be a success, regardless of how it was received. In other words, I do have the skills, which no one else possesses, to make this a success.

Even then, would those words have any meaning? The words that Irisu spoke at the tea house Hifumi: "Everyone ought to recognize their own talents." The words which she spoke as though they were the truth of this world and had an effect on me, did they have any meaning at all?

At the moment when I wondered what I would gain from this, I had completely forgotten about that person. The next thing that appeared in my mind was the fact that I was not doing it to please Chitanda. I was merely thinking this naturally... In that case, I should give this case a closer look, since I had nothing to lose after all.

Yet, where did I go wrong? Did Irisu know that I'd gotten it wrong?

And then there's the matter which Chitanda was curious about. Why didn't Hongou tell them the true plot? Or could it be that she couldn't? Furthermore, why didn't Irisu inquire about it from Eba?

...Yet, my thoughts just wouldn't connect. I had no idea whether the flash of inspiration was due to luck or talent, so I decided not to dwell on it any further. I turned around on my bed, shifting my field of vision from the ceiling to the walls of my room.

I got off my bed and walked towards the bookshelf. While this room was now my room, my sis left some of her stuff in here from back when it was her room. In the corner of that bookshelf was one of her books. As it was full of these strange books, I hadn't taken much notice of it before.

The title of the book was "The Mystery of Tarots". I had no idea my sis was a Kabbalist.

Under the moonlit and streetlamp filled night, I opened the book in amusement. The page I was turning to was of course the chapter covering "The Empress", of which the contents filled up ten pages. I read the first line of it:

Hmm, reading these alone, Irisu sure doesn't match any of these attributes. No matter how I see it, "the Hermit" would have been a better match for her. To begin with, Irisu's "Empress" nickname had nothing to do with Tarot cards. Satoshi was the one that mentioned Tarots.

Come to think of it, he had matched each member of the Classics Club with a specific Tarot card. If I remember correctly, Ibara should be...

It totally doesn't match. While I might not be aware of my own personality, even I could tell that this was completely off the mark. Satoshi ought to have known from my motto: "If I don't have to do it, I won't. If I have to do it, make it quick."

So why did Satoshi choose this card for me then?

Now that I think about it, Satoshi said he meant it as a joke. If it's Satoshi's joke... then there must be some other meaning which I've not gotten.

...I must have too much free time. Or it was simply me not wanting to admit failure. Yet looking at "The Mystery of Tarots", I suddenly understood what Satoshi's joke meant. As there was one line in the annotations below:

"Strength - Illustration of a ferocious lion being subdued (controlled) by a gentle woman"<ref>See [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strength_%28Tarot_card%29 Strength (Tarot card)] for various illustrations of this card.</ref>

W-Why you, Satoshi, getting all cocky. There's no way I could be controlled by them! At any rate, this was me we're talking about.

The next day, I met the person that I wanted to meet. And I met her at the most convenient time, in other words, after school.

That person was of course, Irisu Fuyumi. Upon seeing me, a smile appeared on her face as she greeted me.

"Oh, it's Oreki-kun. Thank you for all that you did before. Have you seen the movie yet?"

Unable to hide the stiffness in my expression, I said, "No, not yet."

"I see. I thought it was a good movie. It's something that could not have been done without your help, so you should give it a look... Oh yes, we'll be having a party to celebrate the completion of the movie this Saturday, and I think you'll be invited as well."

Sensing something strange with my attitude, Irisu raised her brows a bit, though her tone remained the same.

"I see. It's your choice, after all. Now then,"

As she turned to walk away, I stopped her.

I then said to the Empress who turned back around, "We need to talk."

We met at Hifumi, the same tea house as the other day.

As Irisu wasn't treating today, I decided to pick some Yunnan tea after some careful consideration of the menu. I thought this tea house was only limited to Japanese tea, but it turns out it also serves Chinese tea, red tea and coffee. Irisu was again having green tea like last time.

After waiting for our drinks to arrive, Irisu spoke first.

"You said we needed to talk?"

I was at a loss at where to start. Though the first place to start naturally was here.

"Sempai, in this tea house, you said that I possess a certain skill, that I was special, right?"

"Indeed."

"...May I ask what skill that is?"

Irisu smiled softly,

"You want to be told what it is? Why, the skill of deduction, of course."

So that's her answer, huh?

Feeling neither angry nor indignant, I refuted her answer in an incredibly calm way,

"You're wrong."

"......"

"I'm no expert in detective fiction. Though I'm familiar with this line: 'You're no detective, but you'd make a fine detective writer.' It was spoken by the culprit upon the conclusion of a fantastical deduction."

Irisu remained silent and sipped her tea. I could feel Irisu had discarded her courteous appearance and had reverted to her true self. So I repeated what I said.

"I'm not a detective, but I make a fine detective writer, huh?"

The sound of a teacup being placed loudly on the table was heard.

Indeed, upon being told this, she said in a nonchalant manner, "Where did you get your hint from?"

So she was responsible for it, huh? Irisu Fuyumi had so very easily shattered my wish which I did not really hope would be shattered.

Rather than being surprised, I replied calmly, "Sherlock Holmes."

"...I see."

"Hongou-sempai seemed to have studied detective fiction via Sherlock Holmes. Chitanda borrowed some of her paperbacks the other day, but due to her getting drunk off those whiskey bonbons, I had completely forgotten about the matter. Only recently have I gone through them."

Irisu smiled. It was a different type of smile from before, more like a smirk.

"And what have you discovered from that?"

"...A connection."

I took out a note from my chest pocket. It was a list from two of the six volumes of Sherlock Holmes short stories (strictly speaking, there are only five volumes, though this is the Nobara translated version we're talking about), namely "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" and "The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes", with each title grouped under "Concentric Circles" or "Crosses".

<font face="Georgia">

Concentric Circles

:The Man with the Twisted Lip<br />

:The Adventure of the Blanched Sailor<br />

:The Adventure of the Three Garridebs<br />

Crosses

:A Case of Identity<br />

:The Five Orange Pips<br />

:The Adventure of the Speckled Band<br />

:The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor<br />

:The Adventure of the Three Gables<br />

:The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger

</font>

Irisu occasionally looked at me with sharp eyes.

"At first, I thought this was merely Hongou sorting out which ideas to use for her story, but I was mistaken. I asked Satoshi, who told me that 'Red-Headed League' and 'Three Garridebs' had the same literary technique, but when I then asked why 'Three Garridebs' was marked with concentric circles while 'Red-Headed League' was marked with a triangle, he was left dumbfounded."

Irisu urged me to continue with her gaze alone.

"I inquired for further details from Satoshi... Irisu-sempai, would you be bothered if you were spoiled on any of the stories of Sherlock Holmes?"

"No, not at all."

"Is that so? But if you do not wish to be spoiled, then please tell me at once, so I can figure out a way to ask you to cover your eyes or ears."

I said that simply as a precaution.

Though it's not like I'm really spoiling anything important.

"First, the concentric circles.

"'Man with Twisted Lip' - Holmes was tasked to find the whereabouts of a man who seemed to have completely vanished. The client was the man's wife.

"'Blanched Sailor' - Holmes tasked by a man to investigate the whereabouts of his friend who had seemingly been quarantined by his family. Though in the end it turns out all was well and the friend didn't need to be quarantined after all.

"'Three Garridebs' - Basically a retelling of 'Red-Headed League', though it was memorable for a scene where the usually calm and reserved Holmes showed signs of distress over Watson getting injured. By the way, Watson was only slightly wounded."

I sipped my Yunnan tea, though the taste was rather bland.

"Now, let's move on to the crosses. As there are more of these here, I'll just pick three to talk about.

"'Five Orange Pips' - A young man seeks the help of Holmes after witnessing many strange deaths around him. Yet Holmes was unable to prevent his death.

"'Speckled Band' - A woman asks Holmes to investigate the strange death of her sister. The killer was none other than her stepfather, who was seeking to obtain the girls' inheritance.

"'Three Gables' - A woman whose son had recently died asks Holmes for advice when she was approached to sell her house and everything in it. The root of the story revolves around the dead man's desire for revenge over the woman who had dumped him."

I stopped and waited for Irisu's reaction.

Irisu waved her front bangs and said, "I see."

"Upon hearing the summaries of these stories, I have a vague idea of what kind of stories Hongou preferred. It was hard to tell that she did not have any prior experience with detective stories from such preferences. Satoshi expressed disbelief upon being told that she put a cross over 'Speckled Band' while marking a circle for 'Blanched Sailor'."

I took a sip.

"Now here's my explanation: perhaps Hongou prefers happy endings over tragic endings. She didn't seem to like any ending where anyone died."

Irisu didn't respond.

Probably a sign of admittance.

"It we think along those lines, then many questions can be answered. Firstly, little fake blood was required. And then there's the results of the questionnaire."

"The results of the questionnaire?"

From my shoulder bag, I took out the notebook which I borrowed from Sawakiguchi, and then opened it and pointed towards the relevant page.

<font face="Georgia">

{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #fefefe; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"

|-

|''No. 32 - How many victims should there be?<br />''

''- 1 person -- 6<br />''

''- 2 people -- 10<br />''

''- 3 people -- 3<br />''

''- Others:<br />''

''4 people -- 1<br />''

''Everyone -- 2<br />''

''About 100 -- 1<br />''

''- Invalid vote -- 1<br />''

<br />

''2 people recommended (Hongou retains the right to veto)''

|}

<br />

<br />

</font>

Upon one glance at the note, and it was only a momentary glance, Irisu said with a sharp look, "...How did you get this?"

"I borrowed it a while ago. Anyway, take a look at this question.

"This was merely asking how many victims there would be, but what does this 'invalid vote' mean? In other questions, if someone was undecided and abstained, it would be marked as 'abstain'. Besides, someone had even voted to have 'about 100' dead, which was more than the number of actors. In that case, what's with this 'invalid vote' then?"

As though amused, Irisu picked up where I left off.

"The vote probably voted for no victims as there was not enough fake blood, and was declared invalid as a result?"

I looked seriously at Irisu, who looked back at me calmly.

I said in a low voice, my conclusion, which was, "Hongou's script contains no victims whatsoever."

Irisu raised her upper lip slightly, or so I thought.

"As expected."

Irisu sure was a calm person, as she sipped her green tea without looking the slightest bit shaken. How could she remain so calm? Could it be she could read my thoughts?

Quietly, she placed her teacup down.

"If you understand that much, then that saves me from having to explain further. It is as you say, Hongou's script has no victims. She said she was unable to think of any mystery that involves death. That's the sort of girl she is."

I continued, "Nevertheless, your classmates did not think of that and continued with their ad-libs in the movie. Even though Hongou did not join in for the shooting of the movie, she would have been informed by Nakajou. Above all, the script never once mentioned Kaitou being dead. He merely suffered a serious injury and collapsed to the point of not being able to respond, which was what we saw in the movie.

"Ibara praised the work put into the fake severed arm, meaning that part was included in the original script.

"And yet Kaitou was suddenly killed off. Without Hongou knowing, the story had turned from a brutal assault into one of murder."

Irisu nodded.

Yet I felt no satisfaction, and my words slowly became frantic.

"This is purely my speculation without any basis whatsoever. Yet, I must say it regardless.

"Hongou did not tell her classmates that the movie had made a serious flaw which deviated from the script. She couldn't bring herself to tell them to abandon the film which they had shot, nor tell the props division to throw away the prop which they had worked so hard to make, since she's a timid and serious person, after all. I think even Hongou herself realized afterwards how illogical it was to have a mystery where no one dies.

"And this is where you come in, Irisu-sempai."

Irisu looked at me without any expression, or rather, she was smiling softly.

I was hardly feeling excited, yet my voice was slightly raised as I said, "This would make it Hongou's fault, as it meant she would have to abandon her script and make drastic changes. And so you arranged for her to 'get sick', thus making the script 'incomplete'. This would lessen the damage considerably. You gathered your classmates, and started a deduction competition."

And I concluded, "And so, you held what was basically a scenario contest. By telling them the script was incomplete, anyone would want to try completing it. That way, you get to preserve Hongou's dignity while they do the deducing. Upon seeing that your classmates were not up to the task, you decided to bring us into this as well. Nobody, including myself, had realized we were actually creating something on our own. You merely arbitrated and decided, based on a reference point, on which was the best story.

"Am I right in saying that my creation was used as a measurement to fill in the gaps left by Hongou so that she would not be hurt?"

"From the beginning, I never once said you were wrong."

"So it's true then!?"

I leaned forward slightly.

"That when you said that I possess certain skills, it was all for Hongou's sake? That's some alternate plan you thought up."

"......"

"You persuaded me in this tea house, using a story about a sports club, right? You told me that those with abilities who weren't conscious of it were a pain to watch for those without. Right now I can tell you this: Surely you're joking, Irisu-sempai. So what about one being self-conscious? So what about them being a pain to watch? I don't think someone with a nickname like 'The Empress' can be so sentimental about these things at all.

"You merely wanted the results, that's all."

When Satoshi said he didn't have what it takes to be a Holmesian, I told him that was not so. So who was right? It didn't really matter. If he could, then good for him. If he couldn't, no harm done either. That's all.

Whether it's passion, confidence, self-righteousness or talent, these things mean nothing from an objective point of view. By praising my talents, Irisu was merely making me dance to her tune. It was effective, as I ended up creating a work that satisfied her.

"When you said everyone ought to recognize their own talents, was that a lie!?"

...Despite my strongly worded question, Irisu didn't move one bit. She looked neither timid nor ashamed.

During the moment of silence, without withdrawing, I quietly thought to myself.

She really does suit her nickname of "the Empress". Recalling what Satoshi had told me, she was good at manipulating those around her. And only an Empress could do so without feeling any sense of shame. She was beautiful.

Devoid of any emotion, Irisu replied sternly, "It was not spoken from the bottom of my heart. But it is up to you to decide whether that counts as a lie."

She then met my gaze.

Silence.

...I realized I was smiling.

I then spoke from the bottom of my heart.

"Hearing you say that, I now feel very relieved."

==Translator's notes and references==

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