Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume26 Chapter4
A Shortcut and Dropping In on the Way
Part 1
It was 4:10pm, and about half of the time allotted for the treasure hunt had elapsed.
The "elegant tea party" continued on the second floor of the Rose Mansion, although it had probably dropped the "elegant" qualifier.
While the event itself was about half over, the tea party had only been going for about ten or fifteen minutes, since the time it took to read the rules and the hosts' sœurs' handicap had to be factored in. Not much time had passed since Sachiko-sama's declaration that she was "Waiting for Rosa Chinensis en bouton to reveal her faults."
Anyway.
"Rosa Gigantea, what's this 'ru'?"
"What about 'ta'?"
The Rose Mansion was now busy with the clatter of treasure hunt participants as they came and went.
"It's a hint, so you have to come up with the answer yourself."
This was how Shimako-san would answer whenever she was asked. Even though Shimako-san was never going to just give the answer away, the number of people in the Rose Mansion had swelled as treasure hunt participants found the hints and rushed over. So it continued, with new groups rushing in and some staying for the tea party.
All up, there were seven white cards with hints. The "1/7" indicated as much, although there was always the possibility that some girls may have misread that as "January 7" and were running around the grounds looking for the plants used in the Festival of Herbs that took place on that date. All that could be said about such a conclusion was sometimes a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
On another note, Sachiko-sama was, obviously, still there. Yumi considered this to be a given, since she hadn't revealed her faults yet.
Yumi felt like she was being watched from all sides, as Sachiko-sama once again weighed on her mind.
A little while ago, Sachiko-sama had jotted something down in her student notebook, but Yumi didn't think she'd done anything particular noteworthy. All she'd done since the tea party started was sit in her seat and listen to the conversation going on around her. Naturally, she'd respond when someone talked to her, but she wasn't volunteering any topics and she had to shut out the repeated pleas from the first-years: "Give us a hint."
(That's right. Reveal my weaknesses?)
It left her feeling a bit strange.
What fate would befall the red card she'd hidden as treasure? She tried thinking about what she'd like to see happen, but she couldn't clearly define one single outcome as the one she wanted.
As a petite sœur, she wanted Sachiko-sama to find it.
As a host, it would be no fun if it was found easily.
But if the event ended with no-one finding it, then it meant that she hadn't chosen a suitable hiding spot, and that wouldn't have been "fun" either. So in that case, where was the person who would find it? She idly wondered what Touko-chan was doing right at that moment.
The more she thought about it, the more complicated her feelings became.
"Yumi-sama, should I refill your teacup? It must be cold by now, right?"
Noriko-chan whispered in her ear.
"Thanks, but I'm fine."
Yumi cupped the teacup in her hands.
Cold though it may be, there was still about half a cup of black tea in there.
"Now that I think about it, you haven't been drinking much tea, Yumi-sama."
One of the first-years pointed out.
"Is there some sort of reason for that?"
"A reason?"
There was indeed a reason.
"Oh, it's not just Yumi-san."
Yoshino-san said, seated a little distance away.
"Shimako-san and I are holding back too."
She walked over and held out her empty cup, saying, "See."
"I carelessly drank the whole lot, but I've been avoiding getting a refill. If we drank too much, we'd have to go to the restroom, right?"
Hearing this explanation, their guests nodded in comprehension. This was then followed up with a, "But."
"But we're in the same boat. What should I do? The tea was so good I've already had two cups."
Yumi hastily waved her hands at the perplexed first-years.
"You girls are free to get up and go to the restroom whenever you like. But for us … the people that hid the cards, if we recklessly left the Rose Mansion, how to put this … it'd just cause confusion, right? That's all it is. Okay?"
Yumi looked to Shimako-san for assistance, but Shimako-san was looking in a completely different direction.
"Shima—"
Before Yumi could finish calling out to her, Shimako-san started speaking.
"What is it, Noriko?"
(Noriko-chan?)
Hearing that name, Yumi also looked towards the sink. Noriko-chan had just been offering her tea a moment ago, but now she was back at the sink, by the electric kettle. This was her "home" position for today, but at least she had a chair to sit on.
"What's the matter?"
Shimako-san asked again. At that point, Noriko-chan finally noticed the gazes directed at her and, a bit surprised, said, "Ah, nothing." It felt like she was there in body but not in spirit.
"Sorry, but can I be excused for a little while?"
As she spoke, she made her way over to the so-called biscuit door, indicating that she was asking whether it was okay for her to leave the room.
"Fine by me?"
Mami-san gave her permission.
Noriko-chan had originally intended to participate in the treasure hunt, but kindly volunteered to assist instead, so she had plenty of work to do thus far. There was no way she would be denied a short break.
"My deepest apologies, when you're refraining from this, onee-samas."
Noriko-chan bowed apologetically then exited the room.
"She really must have needed the bathroom."
Mami-san mumbled, looking out the window.
Noriko-chan had carefully descended the staircase to avoid making any noise, but as soon as she stepped out of the Rose Mansion she had started sprinting, flat out, towards the school buildings.
Part 2
"It looks like the hints are only for Shimako-san's card...."
Seven hints, apparently.
While she hadn't yet encountered a second hint, she'd more or less figured it out by catching fragments of conversations between students that were walking around the grounds looking at their maps. While some of it may have been bogus information, she heard the word "hint" paired with "White Rose" numerous times, but never with "Red" or "Yellow Rose."
("Ta" is the "ta" from Tanuma. "Ma" is the "ma" from Tanuma. Yeah, right.)
Chisato smiled.
It was fun. A year ago, she never would have believed that the treasure hunt could be this fun.
Last year, she'd approached it with a win-at-all-costs attitude, thinking that she absolutely had to get Rei-sama's card and the half-day date that came with it. She hadn't allowed herself the luxury of enjoying it, instead she'd cast off her pride and adopted the tactic of following Yoshino-san, who seemed most likely to know where Rei-sama's card was. This idea had also occurred to some other fans of Rei-sama, and they joined forces.
In the end, while Yoshino-san made a baffling stopover in the library, they'd combed through some likely looking books and found the yellow card. Chisato then won the game of scissors-paper-rock, granting her the ticket for a half-day date. Ah, youth.
(Last year, I was thinking it didn't matter how I got it.)
Naturally, the game of scissors-paper-rock had been above board. She hadn't waited until she saw her opponent's move, or anything like that.
"I heard there was a 'ku' in the old greenhouse."
As Chisato walked towards the library, a lively pair of first-years dashed past.
("Ku." … That's another one for the list.)
With lots of people moving around, the chances of this sort of information leaking out were high. Those girls were chatting normally, seemingly unaware that a rival was nearby and that they'd just handed her a clue.
In a similar vein, they'd be better off acting independently. In the rare event that they did happen to speak to themselves, it would only be to themselves, and wouldn't be loud enough to carry to someone else. Plus, if they did find the treasure, they'd have it all to themselves and wouldn't have to play scissors-paper-rock.
(What a pity. There's no "ku" in Tanuma.)
Well, she knew from the outset that that wouldn't be the solution. At any rate, the characters she knew were "ta," "ma," and "ku." If the seven characters were all collected and placed in the correct order, they'd probably point to the hiding place.
(Ta/ma/ku, ta/ku/ma … ta/ku/ma/shi/i (strong)?)
That wasn't right, it only used five characters.
(Maybe something like ta/ku/ma/shi/i se/i/to (strong student)?)
She counted this out on her fingers. That wasn't right either, it had one character too many. But more than that, what would "strong student" mean? How would anyone get the hiding place from that?
(Let's just pause this.)
Chisato suspended her speculations and entered the library. If she had the other four hints, then she might be able to come up with an answer — but she had absolutely no confidence that she would be able to.
Aside from that, Chisato's preferred target this time around was Yoshino-san's yellow card.
However, with all due respect to Yoshino-san, Chisato wasn't absolutely desperate to go on a date with her, unlike last year. But it would leave everyone gobsmacked if she found the yellow card two years in a row. Just thinking about it brought a smile to her lips, so she'd taken it on as a challenge. Adding to the entertainment was her own opinion that last year's finder of Shimako-san's card, Rosa Canina, had felt the same way.
Now then.
There were a lot more students in the reading room than usual.
That was to be expected. The yellow card had been found in the reading room last year. It seemed obvious enough that the students that knew this would want to check here, just in case.
(That's pretty much why I came here too.)
But Chisato ignored the not-for-loan books on prices in the Edo period, where the card was found last year. Whatever the circumstances, having the card hidden in the same spot two years in a row was uninspired. Even if it was meant as a double bluff, enough time had elapsed since the start for it to be found.
(Instead of that.)
Chisato walked over to the "How-to" section.
(If I remember correctly....)
Last year, Yoshino-san had been looking through books in this area. Chisato followed Yoshino-san's actions from last year and flipped through the books in the cooking and handicraft shelves.
It had stuck with her ever since then. Why had Yoshino-san been fixated on this section? What made her think that the card was hidden in one of these books?
That pair had such a unique relationship, it might be they alone could answer those questions.
Even so, Chisato couldn't help but look. And since it was Yoshino-san's turn to hide the card this year, perhaps she had chosen this location.
"Oh, is that you, Tanuma Chisato-san?"
A voice called out to her from behind, just as she'd established that her search had been in vain.
"Ah...."
She turned around and there was —
"Gokigenyou."
The Photography Club's ace, Takeshima Tsutako-san, was standing there, holding her trademark camera and smiling. She was accompanied by a first-year, and Chisato asked if this was her petite sœur, to which Tsutako-san replied in the negative. Although, from the outside, they did look like a close pair of sœurs.
Tsutako-san gently raised her camera and said:
"It must be fate that we met here. Do you mind if I take a photo? I'll call it, let's see, 'Last Year's Winner.' You wouldn't be opposed to it appearing in the Lillian Kawaraban, right?"
"Not at all. By all means, take the photo. It'll make a nice memento."
Chisato happily agreed. Then she followed along as Tsutako-san indicated where she should stand. They were still in the reference section, but the different lighting or background probably made for a better picture overall. Although Tsutako-san said that when she captured the decisive moment she didn't concern herself about such things.
"Although, if possible, I'd like to drop 'Last Year's' from that title."
Chisato said as she looked straight at the camera lens.
"Oh, that's good. In that case, I'll have to change the title. 'Back to Back Winner' … no, how about, 'Winner Again This Year'?"
A flash of light and the sweet sound of the shutter clicking overlaid Tsutako-san's voice. Just like she'd said earlier, the flash and the shutter only went off once. But, because of that, Chisato had the feeling that it would be a good photo. Every single one of Tsutako-san's photos was the real deal.
"Thanks for your cooperation."
"I'd like a copy of that, okay?"
"Of course."
A couple of students were attracted by the flash, but most of them didn't notice as they kept searching for the cards. Tsutako-san had probably been taking photos before Chisato had arrived and they were used to it by now.
It looked like Tsutako-san and the younger girl had hit upon a likely hiding place and were combing the area as thoroughly as possible. So even if they didn't capture the moment of victory, they'd still be able to get lots of good pictures of students searching for the cards.
Tsutako-san said that she'd turned down all the requests for commemorative sœur photos in front of the statue of Maria-sama for the duration of this year's treasure hunt, so that she could dedicate herself to the event.
Then Chisato floated a question:
"You're not part of the event staff, Tsutako-san?"
Tsutako-san was holding the exact same map that Chisato had. The one that was printed along with the entry form; the half that the participants were left with. Since she was holding that, it meant —
"No."
Tsutako-san confirmed this.
"I'm not an organizer, just a regular participant. Although Mami-san did tell me that the Lillian Kawaraban would print any good photos I took."
"But surely it would have been better if you were involved in the event."
If she knew where the cards were, she could wait nearby and get a great shot. But apparently that was thinking too shallowly, because Tsutako-san said:
"Sure, I'd love to get a shot of the moment a card was found. But, because of that, me being in a location would instantly reveal to the participants that it was a hiding place, right?"
"I see."
Chisato clapped her hands together. Tsutako-san knowing the hiding locations would spoil the treasure hunt.
"Besides, even if I knew where all three cards were hidden, I'm only one person."
Tsutako-san folded her arms and let out a sigh. She seemed to be seriously considering this scenario, even though it was only hypothetical. Asking herself where she would wait, in that situation.
— Indeed, it was quite the conundrum.
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