Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume26 Chapter8 4

X-Mark. Part 4

That left Shimako-san's hiding place.

While they'd decided the minor matter of having hints to its location, the location itself still hadn't been decided.

There had been a couple of candidates, but none of them had stood out as being fun, nor had she chanced upon somewhere good.

"Thinking back," Shimako-san said, as she traced her finger over a map, "Earlier, you were talking about attaching it to Goronta's back, right Yoshino-san? We quickly dismissed that idea, but I think there's plenty we could take from it as reference."

When she heard this, Yumi asked, "Like what?" Not to be rude, but she had no idea how Shimako-san could use anything from that idea as a reference.

"I think it'd be kind of fun if the card moved around."

"Then how about sticking it on the back of a teacher?"

Shimako-san forced a smile when Yoshino-san proposed this time-honored prank.

"But we wouldn't be able to do that without asking. And we'd have to ask them to stay within the bounds for the duration of the treasure hunt. It would be difficult."

"Then what? How are you going to use Merry-san as a reference?"

Quick-tempered Yoshino-san's self-satisfaction soon turned to irritation, but gentle Shimako-san was not perturbed by that sort of thing.

"Having the card itself move around might break the rules. But what if the environment around it changed over time, wouldn't that sort of trick be good?"

"The environment around it would change over time?"

"Yes," Shimako-san nodded, "Like the way the coastline at the beach changes between low tide and high tide. I was thinking it might be possible to do something like that."

"So it would be hidden at high tide, but visible at low tide?"

"Exactly."

Meaning it would be like gathering shells at low tide. But they weren't at the beach, and Yumi couldn't think of a similar system that would happen at an old Tokyo girls' school.

Of course, if it were possible, it would be quite fun.

Yumi was getting excited, although not to the level of Noriko-chan.

"In general, it's funny how things change at this time of day, isn't it?" Shimako-san looked at the clock and the other three were drawn in too.

4:40 p.m. The event's end time.

It would be growing dark outside the window. They'd been going back and forth over the maps for an hour.

"My, I'm surprised by your evil side, Shimako-san," Yoshino-san grinned, as she pointed this out, adopting the standard expression of conspiring villains in an Edo-period drama.

"Oh?"

Naturally, Shimako-san didn't respond in kind. In her place, Noriko-chan attacked the villain.

"What part of my onee-sama are you calling evil, huh?"

She would have been better off ignoring this frivolous chatter from her senior. Although it was cute the way she took it seriously and bared her fangs.

Well, it probably wasn't the sort of comment that someone who loved their onee-sama could let slide.

"Because, if we go on the premise that the game ends with the white card still hidden, then the joke's on the participants."

". . . You're right."

Shimako-san agreed, throwing away Noriko-chan's efforts to protect her. Gently laughing as she said, "I guess you would have to call that evil."

"What?"

Even so, Noriko-chan was still unable to accept it, and kept protesting seriously for quite some time.

"Well, Yoshino-san said it was a surprise, so don't you think that's fine?"

It wasn't until her onee-sama said this that Noriko-chan finally faltered.

"I think we've reached the end, so why don't we call it a night here?"

"Yeah."

"Sounds good."

They'd already decided plenty, so if they had another think about it at lunch tomorrow they'd be all set for their meeting with the newspaper club.

"What would you say to going out for a little preview?" Shimako-san asked.

"Do you mean walking around and looking at the actual location?"

Yumi couldn't think of anything else Shimako-san would have meant by a preview, but her mind had been dulled by all the virtual touring they'd been doing.

"Yes, on our way home. It's the perfect time for it too."

From that, it sounded like Shimako-san already had a location in mind.

"I'll go."

"Me too."

"Lead on."

With that, they quickly finished up — gathering all the maps into a large manila envelope, cleaning the teacups, and checking that the windows were closed. When the tidy-up was complete, they excitedly lined up in front of Shimako-san in their coats.

"Like a group of children lining up about to go on an excursion," Shimako-san giggled.

Yumi had to hand it to Shimako-san and her way with words. Because, right now, their excitement was plain to see.

"Well, let's go."

Rosa Gigantea and the three boutons left the Rose Mansion with a spring in their step.

The reality of the cold air sunk deep into their bodies, but their hearts were hot with excitement.

Where on the map was Shimako-san going to draw her X?

They'd have to wait just a little while longer to find out.