Hyouka:Volume 2 Chapter 2

Status: Incomplete

14% completed (estimated)

   

2 - "The Murder in the Abandoned Village of Furuoka"

Upon returning to the Geology Room after returning from the preview, Satoshi spoke.

"Irisu Fuyumi is pretty well-known, you know?"

"Really? So does she have three different faces on her head or something like that?"

"Well, I dunno about that, but I wouldn't be surprised if she did. I've mentioned this before, but Irisu belongs to one of the clans that rival the four Exponential Clans."

The Exponential Clans refer to the Juumonjis, Sarusuberis, Chitandas and Manninbashis, seemingly four of the most prominent old families in Kamiyama City. By the way, this rather weird term for them seems to have been coined by Satoshi himself, as I've only heard Satoshi use it.

Satoshi pointed to the streets outside the window.

"The Irisus run the Rengou Hospital over there."

The building that Satoshi was pointing at seemed to be Rengou Hospital, alright. It's a private general hospital with facilities on par with those run by the Japanese Red Cross. As it's only a five minute walk from Kamiyama High School, any students that get injured or sick would end up visiting them. I see, so that's why Irisu Fuyumi is famous.

Though I was starting to be convinced, Satoshi didn't stop there.

"But that's not the only thing Irisu Fuyumi is famous for. She has another nickname."

"Really?"

"So how about it, Houtarou? Wanna guess what it is?"

While I have no intention of attending a game show, I decided to think about it upon being asked. If it's Satoshi that's asking such a question, then Ibara-style nicknames like "Iri-chan" would be out of the question. Since she has that ice-cold aura of grace about her, something that would make her classmates shiver, then...

"Theresa."

Satosh smiled broadly.

"Amazing! You were actually very close. It's 'the Empress' to be precise. Just think about it, to be entrusted with solving something by 'the Empress', doesn't it sound awesome?"

The Empress, yet another very exaggerated nickname. For her to be honoured with such a name...

"Is she sadistic or what?"

Ibara, who was speaking to Chitanda for some reason, now turned around to interject, "That would be a dominatrix, not an empress."

She then turned her back to us again. I admire her ability to quip at will.

"I see. Then why is she called 'the Empress'?"

"Well, she's pretty and all that, plus she's good at making people do her bidding with a cool attitude. It always seemed like she could control the people around her with ease."

"Really?"

"Take the incident with the Student Council Committee meeting with her that I mentioned earlier as an example. Irisu-sempai managed to see through to the root of the problem between the three debating members, and directed them into taking turns listing their points, thus leading to a resolution as a result."

Sounds amazing. She was able to deduce a problem just from listening. She seemed to be the sort of commander-type person. Yet because of that, things have now developed in a way not to my liking. I had no intention of doing anything for anyone, but I've ended up doing an errand for her.

As I crossed my arms, Satoshi tapped his fingers on the table. Just as he had stopped his rhythmic tapping, I saw him grinning once again.

"Besides,"

"Besides what?"

"Since we're talking about 'the Empress' and all that stuff, how about we assign a symbol for ourselves as well?"

"A symbol?"

For a short while, I was led on by Satoshi. Before long, he continued, "First, Mayaka would be 'Justice'."

"The Empress" and "Justice", huh? As a person of reason who hardly believed in any superstitions, even I knew he was referring to Tarot cards. Satoshi spoke in a voice which Ibara could hear, so I duly kept quiet to see how things would develop.

As expected, Ibara snapped back at us from across the classroom, "And why am I a guardian of justice anyway?"

Satoshi turned around to face her.

"Not a guardian of justice. You're confusing it with 'Judgment'. People of the 'Justice' types tend to be stern with themselves, right?"

He seemed to be blowing off steam. While I had absolutely no idea what meaning the card 'Justice' holds, Satoshi's description pretty much matched Ibara quite well. As I was thinking that, Ibara turned to glare at me.

"What's so funny!?"

"Hey! You should complain to Satoshi, not me."

"Even if Fuku-chan was talking about me, you weren't exactly listening, so you're not supposed to comment either!"

... What a way to justify things.

Her interest ignited, Ibara got up from her seat, and so too did Chitanda. The girls then walked towards us. Ibara leaned her flat chest towards Satoshi and asked, "So, what would Fuku-chan be then?"

"Me? Hmm, I'd be 'the Fool', I guess... No, more like 'the Magician'. 'The Fool' would be Chitanda-san."

How thoughtlessly rude for him to call someone a fool. Yet Chitanda didn't seem to have taken it badly. Just to be safe, Satoshi added, "I don't mean any disrespect, by the way. But I'm sure Chitanda-san gets what I'm saying."

Chitanda slowly opened her mouth.

"Yes, I do. Now that you mention it, I do match the description for 'the Fool', I don't think it's anything disparaging, but... Fukube-san, you do indeed suit the image of 'the Magician'."

Seems like they were talking about the hidden meaning behind each Tarot card. While Satoshi and Chitanda each understood what the other was saying concerning Tarot cards, I was completely out of the loop. While Ibara was also involved in the conversation, she probably didn't get it either.

"Then what about Oreki-san?"

Satoshi replied right away, "That would be easy, 'Strength'."

"? Why is that? I thought he would be more like 'the Star'..."

"No, he's definitely 'Strength', fits him to a tee."

He smiled as I slowly realized he was jesting with me. Chitanda tilted her head while trying to think, but still could not comprehend what he was saying. Neither me nor Ibara could find anything to say either.

"But why is that?"

"Well, no, 'the Star' would also suit him."

Satoshi somehow evaded her question. Chitanda now tilted her head from left to right, but fortunately, she didn't go "I'm really curious about it" this time. I leaned further back in my chair as I frowned.

"... Hmph. It's not like you're complimenting me, anyway."

"Oh, no, that's not the case at all!"

He smiled briefly again. An annoying fellow he was.

The subject then moved on to something else. While the day turned out to be quite unproductive, efficiency-wise, not much energy was expended anyway. I'm sure things will be the same tomorrow.

Translator's notes and references

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