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Even if I couldn't get a laugh, I tried to get her to loosen up a bit. The result, I report, was her giving me this incredibly fierce scowl. Hmm, maybe a small success, then. Interesting, in its own way.
And then, completely ignoring what I'd just said, Natane-san started talking.
"And also, your companion..."
"Fushimi?"
"Yes. She hasn't been seen in the dining room..."
Reasons someone might not be visible in this house, under these circumstances.
"...I see." You should have said that first.
Of course, the most likely possibility was so obvious it felt pointless to even voice it or let it cross my mind, but...
Maybe I should just pray for a long shot to come true.
......... Looks like I'll need to ask for some clarification on Fushimi's whereabouts, too.
"We both probably have a lot to catch up on, so why don't we head to the dining room first?"
There was no way I possessed the kind of hot-blooded heroism required to run around recklessly without grasping the situation first.
First, get the facts straight. I wouldn't feel *good* if Fushimi died, but if *I* died, even bad feelings cease to exist.
Gather information first, *then* go look for Fushimi. That’s the order I set for myself.
If she'd already been murdered, even the fastest rescue attempt now would be too late.
And if she's alive, it's not too late. Or so I tried to convince myself, without any basis.
"Y-Yes, ah, right." Making her fluster obvious, Natane-san finally grabbed the banister and pulled herself up. Her knees threatened to buckle once, but it seemed she was capable of walking on two legs.
"That's right... It'd be best if you stayed in the dining room with everyone else, y'know?" Natane-san, indirectly and reservedly telling me she wanted to prohibit me from acting alone.
My interpretation, though, was that if *I* were allowed to run around freely without watchful eyes, the others would lose *their* freedom.
"If it's the dining room, we have to go out through the main hall first, right?"
Saying that, I merely turned my body.
Since the command to march hadn't been given, I needed to stand by, just marking time. That’s a lie, though.
"Um, aren't you going?"
Since I wasn't starting to walk, Natane-san, who had also stopped diagonally behind me, looked puzzled.
With deliberate annoyance, I took a large step back to stand parallel with Natane-san.
"Shall we walk side-by-side?"
I offered a slight smile, adding pressure.
Neither of us has the luxury of turning our backs on a complete stranger, do we?

The dining room reeked with the stifling scent of too many humans, and was full of 'strangers.'
Phrasing it like that almost made me imagine a mountain of bright red, massacred corpses, maybe with a little flag stuck in the top one like on a kid’s omurice lunch special... but that’s probably reading too much into things.
The faint candlelight flickering on the dining table did its best just to bathe the immediate surroundings in orange.
Three pairs of eyes, the flickering flames reflected within them, fixed on Natane-san and me. One pair looked ready to faint, one offered an ugly smile, and the third held a jumbled expression – the kind of interest mixed with boredom you see when someone finds a toy that isn't theirs. Let's leave my appraisal at that.
"Natane, did *you* let him out?"
Kouzou-san, sitting in a chair at the far end, arms crossed, shot us a look – eyes wide with suspicion – loaded with his simplistic misunderstanding. Natane-san trembled in a way you might mistake for a sudden chill, then denied it sharply, "I didn't!" Ah, they were just teasing us for showing up together, keeping each other in check. She must be embarrassed. Or so I tried to convince myself. Obviously a lie.
In contrast to Kouzou-san's flustered state, Yuna was relaxed. Perched lightly on her chair with her legs stretched out, she occasionally flipped through a stack of papers. Looked like manga, not a novel like I first thought.
"Who opened it? No, wait, the key was in my room..."
Kouzou-san’s gaze darted between the others, demanding the location of the missing item. Ignoring him completely, Akane approached me with a jerky, angular gait, like a wind-up tin toy.
The mainspring seemed to run out right in front of my chest. "Nyu ha," she greeted. "Hyun ni," I replied. Don't ask how I pronounced that.
She took off one of the layered shirts she was wearing, rolled it up to about the size of a cleaning rag. And with that, she started wiping my face.
"Whoa, hey, that's enough!"
I tried to refuse, simultaneously blocking the edge of the cloth from getting in my mouth. But Akane, perfectly cheerful, just said, "It’s fiiine. I’m a bad kid, remember?" and didn’t stop scrubbing at me. Using it like a handkerchief was one thing, but being scrubbed hard with a piece of non-terry cloth hurt, and the friction burn stung. She followed even when I backed away, and since my arms were lacking the necessary bones to push her off, I had no choice but to resign myself to having my face wiped—or rather, scraped.
"Yup. Started out bad, now it's dirty too." Having finished her work, she stepped back, assessing her handiwork with an overly biased aesthetic eye, giving only herself a passing grade. But then she stared hard at her 'material' – me – and faltered.
"Your eyes and nose are really getting in the way. They don't suit you at all!"
"..." I wasn't sure if I was being insulted or advised.
Dragging the girl who was humming thoughtfully and puzzling over how to improve someone else’s face, I turned to face the man known as the ‘master’ of this house of slaughter. ...Hmm, he does give off the right vibe. Though it's mostly false advertising.
"Hey! Don't come any closer!"
The master-in-name-only, Ooe Kouzou, tried to halt my approach. Hmph. I wondered what threat he thought I posed, unable to use either of my hands.

"All opposed to me approaching~?" I called for a vote, just to be difficult.
Caught off guard, no one raised a hand.
"One opposed, four abstentions, it seems."
Since I hadn’t stopped walking while speaking, I arrived in front of the table almost as soon as I finished the sentence.
I stopped right in front of Kouzou-san, who was glaring up at me from under his brow, tilted my head to the left, and said, "Explanation, please."
I politely ignored Kouzou-san and directed my request for enlightenment to Yuna. Yuna, realizing the request was aimed at her, murmured a meaningless "Oh my," paused for effect, and closed her book.
She resettled herself in the chair, crossing her legs. Her expression, naturally, was a smile more flavorless than chewed gum.
"What d’you wanna know about?" Her tone was surprisingly brusque, like a gruff bartender.
"Everything that happened in the house from the time I passed out until just now."
She didn't preface it with "That'll cost you," or anything, just tapped her lip with a fingertip, looking thoughtful, maybe deciding where to start. Or maybe just sleepy. While she pondered, Natane-san detached herself from my side and secured a seat nearer to Kouzou-san.
Yuna looked up. "First," she began, pausing for a beat,
"Do you remember when you passed out?"
"About half." I remember everything up until I lost consciousness, but nothing after. That’s pretty standard.
"Unfortunately, I seem to have forgotten *who* hit me."
It’s practically mandatory for the protagonist to suffer amnesia at least once, so I figured I’d try it out.
"Well, allow me to praise you for at least remembering you *were* attacked."
"Oh, I'm deeply honored. As a reward, perhaps you could enlighten me as to who gifted me this mountain range on my scalp?"
"Who knows? It’s rather difficult to divulge knowledge about something unknown, wouldn’t you say?"
Yuna exposed her own ignorance, albeit with a smug look. True, if it had been a planned attack by everyone, there would have been no need to orchestrate a blackout. They could have easily overpowered me with numbers. Meaning whoever brained me – one person, or maybe several – acted on their own.
Still, another nasty lump. Is my head really that satisfying to whack?
Thinking back, the main goal seemed to be knocking me unconscious, but it felt like the kind of blow where if I happened to die, that’d be fine too. The fact that they then just left me there—a foolish move, considering I was only unconscious and still breathing—supports that guess.
"After the blackout, the first person to find you collapsed in the hallway was..." Yuna trailed off, her gaze fixing sternly on some distant point. "...Who was it now... Osu Kannon-chan?"
"Fushimi Yuyu," I corrected, sounding as if I’d personally witnessed the grand discovery. Seemed likely, given the circumstances. Besides, I was right next to her.
"Right, right." Yuna snapped out of her distant gaze and nodded. "When the rest of us gathered after hearing the commotion, that girl was inexplicably waving her notebook around, completely frantic. Kiyoshi was still there at that point, though..." At this, Yuna shot Natane-san a sidelong glance.
Natane-san, flustered, stammered, "Th-That’s right. Um, now we’re tryin’ to find out where he is…" Her voice trailed off, and she glanced at me. Since it was irrelevant to me, I found myself paying more attention to the younger woman than Natane-san. That’s a lie, though.
Yuna continued.
"And then, *someone* there suggested..." She deliberately fudged who it was, glancing pointedly at Kouzou-san before continuing, "'That by sealing you in the basement *again*, the danger in the mansion would likely decrease.'"
Sounds like a prophecy. Though I suspect it’s heavily embellished. And *again*, huh? Interesting.
Before I could look around to gauge the others’ reactions, Akane tugged at my sleeve. "Hey, hey."
"Hm?" Wincing at the grinding pain from my bones, I faced Akane.
"Hey, your ears are shaped badly. Fail!" She gave me a thumbs-down, lavishing me with praise completely oblivious to the mood.
"Goes to show you can’t understand people just by looking at them head-on," I pontificated like some wise elder.
By the time I looked back at Kouzou-san and the others after that little exchange with Akane, their reactions were already masked. She didn't just pull sleeves; she tripped you up too. Definitely the type who won't die young.
"I believe it was two against, two neutral, and two in favor, but the proposal passed. As for the breakdown, I'll remain silent and leave it to your imagination."
Without waiting for me to focus, Yuna launched into speech at a speed like a pre-recorded museum tour guide on repeat. I could guess what came next, so I voiced it before she could.
"And as part of the deal, they snapped the bone in my *other* arm before shipping me off to the basement. That’s the gist, right?"
Yuna let slip a chuckle behind a poorly executed smile. "Oh, I broke the left arm!" Akane piped up, raising her hand.
Meaning, the right arm. Naturally, whoever snapped the other one didn’t step forward, so I didn’t press the issue then. It seemed like Yuna was about to resume her standard commentary anyway.
...But, that ratio earlier. Opposed were Fushimi and... one other person?
"Your Fushimi girl opposed it vehemently from start to finish, but lacked the influence, I suppose. By the end, she was passionately demanding to be locked in the basement with you."
"And the others objected to that?"
Would have been an easy way to get rid of two nuisances at once. A glance around showed faint reactions from everyone.
Among them, only Yuna fabricated an answer with her usual unchanged demeanor.
"Saving even one more life is the humanitarian way, after all."
Liar, I thought. Playing the prim lady so brazenly.
It's a peculiar feeling, having someone flaunt their shamelessness with a lie so transparent you know they *expect* you to see through it. You only really get it when it's done to you.
It felt like Yuna and I were in some kind of contest for thickest skin.
"And the ones who carried you to the basement were Natane and Kiyoshi, ordered by Father."
Yuna’s gaze pulled Natane-san back into the spotlight.
Natane-san bobbed her head repeatedly, an ambiguous gesture making it hard to tell if she was apologizing or merely acknowledging.
"Yes, I locked it like the Master told me to... After that, I’m sure I gave the key to the Master..."
All eyes turned to the Master. The Master...
"True, I was keeping it in my room... but the important question is who stole it and unlocked the door, isn't it?"
The Master used my release as a pretext to deflect blame. Personally, if he *had* managed the key strictly, I’d still be sleeping soundly in the basement, which would have been a huge relief, but hey, everyone has their own agenda.
"Um... but, y'know, the fact that the Master didn’t keep proper track of it..." Natane-san mumbled, lacking confidence, yet clearly blaming her master.
Naturally, Kouzou-san, whose petty spirit shone so classlessly, wasn't about to overlook such insolence from a servant.
"No one would think someone would just open it without permission. What, are you saying I'm responsible?"
"That ain’t it, but…" Natane-san pouted, grumbling for once.
"I see... But from my perspective, after that Fushimi girl, you're the most suspicious culprit for stealing the key. Why did you oppose locking this guy in the basement? Are you infatuated with him or something?"
Faced with Kouzou-san’s attack, laced with contempt and mockery, Natane-san’s expression sharpened, practically screaming *‘I prefer Kiyoshi-san!’* – the kind of attitude ready to refute him even if it meant throwing me under the bus.
Huh. So Natane-san was one of the dissenters. Surprising… Or maybe not. Setting aside any emotional reasons, I mean.
Anyway, if I just stood by watching, those two might keep tossing the blame back and forth until it was covered in fingerprints, so Yuna quickly intervened to steer the conversation.
"After you were confined, we left the heartbroken heroine lamenting her separation from you and temporarily dispersed."
"Dispersed?" I decided to ask about Fushimi later and focused on that word first.
Yuna recounted their blunder with the blandness of used tea leaves.
"Father ordered Kiyoshi to repair the electrical system. The rest of us went looking for anything we could use for light, considering the possibility the wiring might have been damaged beyond repair... With the unstable element – that’s you – sealed deep underground without needing a hero’s intervention, the tension eased, I suppose. The atmosphere just... relaxed, and we sort of drifted into thinking it was okay to act independently."
"...Seriously? You should have at least gone in pairs... Oh, wait."
There weren’t that many people left. Take out Touka and me, and that leaves six. And since it was unlikely anyone would team up with Fushimi, that effectively made it an odd five.
Besides, even if it was based on a lie, it was the first time they’d actually managed to lock up the supposed ‘culprit’ – me. So I guess their guard dropped. About as effective as Mii-kun is for Maa-chan, I suppose.
"After a while, we gathered at the agreed-upon time in the dining room, the designated meeting place. However, Kiyoshi and Fushimi-san didn't show up."
"Hmm..." And that brought them to the present. Yuna’s commentary concluded. I didn't reach for the play button.
Assuming there was even a small chance Kiyoshi-san had already been murdered, the suspects included everyone... except me. …No, wait. Since I had no alibi for when I reappeared from the basement, I inevitably became a suspect again. Should have just stayed put and done my best impression of my sister. That's a lie, though.
If it weren’t for Fushimi, that might not have been such a bad plan.
"Did anyone see Fushimi after everyone split up?"
That was, in a way, the main subject, the immediate problem, but not the ultimate question.
I first looked for an answer from Akane, who’d been listening nearby with obvious boredom. Akane touched a finger to her cheek, rolled her eyes thoughtfully, tracing her memory. "I took a bath in my room, and after that I went out lookin’ for Touka, but I dunno if I saw her."
"...I see. Did you find Touka?"
"Nope, she wasn't there. Where could she be hiding?"
She sounded like the ‘it’ in hide-and-seek, unable to find the last hider even after sunset. That was probably the limit of Akane's understanding, I gathered.
Next, Natane-san. Her lips were pressed into a thin line. She simply shook her head, a silent denial, like a candle flame flickering. Kouzou-san was much the same, and Yuna even yawned. A dismissive attitude, completely devoid of any inclination to even pretend to hide anything.
This, I thought, stripped of the rotten smile, was the natural Ooe Yuna.
...No choice, then. Restrictions or not, I had to act. But first.
"I have one last question, Kouzou-san." I addressed him by name, giving his position some final respect.
"Exactly how long were you planning to keep me imprisoned in the basement?"
Unfortunately, I don't recall being indebted to you.
The words naturally came out tinged with aggression. Being hungry, my temper was fraying. Unavoidable. At least Kouzou-san hadn't started looking like tempura, Yuna like sushi, or Natane-san like she'd switched careers to become a geisha girl. My grip on reality, distinguishing hallucinations from the real world, was still holding on by that much.
"That was until the incident was resolved, no, until rescue came. I didn't intend to kill you."
Liar. The plan was probably to kill me through neglect, without getting your hands—or the carpet—dirty.
His effort to maintain a shred of dignity, to speak without faltering, came across, sparking a tiny bit of admiration in me for the man. And simultaneously, a question mark.
What did Kouzou-san mean by the resolution of the 'incident'?
As far as I could see, there *was* no 'incident' in this house, never had been.
Just an overwhelming number of intractable problems giving me a headache, that was the truth.
"Understood. Thank you for the thorough explanation, much appreciated."
I let my words of understanding echo loudly through the dining room, signaling the end of the history lesson.
Right then. Before tackling the ‘incident,’ maybe we should solve one of the ‘problems.’
"Well then, shall we discuss what to do now?"
I allowed time for three blinks and two sniffs, but no voice rose in objection.
Somehow I seemed to have grasped leadership of the situation, yet there was no sense of accomplishment.
"It seems there’d be… complications if I went out looking for Fushimi alone. So, why don’t we all search together – for Kiyoshi-san and Touka as well?"
Perhaps because there weren't enough people to make a stir, the table fell completely silent instead.
However, surprisingly little time was needed for voices of agreement to rise.
"I'm okay with it! Super bored anyway, since Touka's not here."
Akane raised her hand, siding with my proposal. She had put her blood-splattered shirt back on without hesitation, but was now looking down at the red-and-grey combination with a grimace.
"Um, if I could join, too... just to look for Kiyoshi-san..." Hesitantly, Natane-san also agreed. That made a majority.
Gazes naturally turned to Kouzou-san, and then Yuna. In response, the coward hesitated awkwardly, while the witch curled her thin lips into a beautiful distortion, as if truly hitting her stride.
"Father, do you intend for the two of us to remain here alone?"
Yuna asked the malicious, choice-less question with a smile devoid of personality. Knowing full well Kouzou-san lacked the nerve to be left alone with just her in the house as it was now, she pressed him to speed up his decision.
After all, he seemed to view anyone not confirmed dead as a suspect. Speaking of which, I forgot to observe that corpse today. It's late, maybe I'll leave it for tomorrow.
The mansion’s elder, after a nervous gulp, chose the group over being alone.
In a way, if you just changed the setting and circumstances, it could have been a touching scene.
"...Alright. Let's all search together."
He declared this as he finally stood, looking rather unsteady on his feet, though.
His face was haggard, cheeks sunken, worn down by the weight of fear.
People carrying heavy burdens really have it rough.

Our exit order from the dining room: I led, with Yuna beside me. Akane wandered about freely, while Kouzou-san and Natane-san brought up the rear. A clear illustration of our psychological states.
In the hallway, I spoke quietly with Yuna.
"Providing information *and* throwing me a lifeline? What's this, are the Edicts on Compassion for Living Things back in fashion?"
"I just happened to like playing with bamboo leaf boats."
"Hohoho." Yuna laughed, oozing composure behind her fake smile. She covered her mouth with her manga like a fan, not letting a single shred of tension show.

...Hmm. Well, might as well ask now. It's not a big deal, though.
"Uh, sorry, this is just a hunch, but..."
"What is it?"
"Was it you who unlocked the basement?" Based on the unlikelihood of Fushimi being trusted with the key, I picked her via process of elimination.
Yuna softly closed her eyes, then smiled. Her lips curled upward, something close to a sneer.
"Because I found something that looked like it could get interesting. And to catalyze that chemical reaction, your particular ‘ingredient’ was required."
She offered this patchwork explanation – a distorted affirmation and her motive – behind that trashy smile.
"I’m looking forward to seeing what finally makes you draw the line."

After that, we went upstairs, and finding Fushimi herself proved easy.
Her situation, however, was precarious: we could only confirm her well-being through a locked door.
Up the stairs, turned left, made a few rights. She was locked in the middle of three rooms along the corridor.
The door was locked; I didn’t even need to check. Fushimi had been asserting her presence by continuously pounding on the door from the inside. That’s how we located her so quickly, of course.
"Fushimi."
At my voice, the rhythmic pounding stopped. A long sigh drifted through the door, and then her voice came from lower down, as if she’d collapsed onto the floor in exhaustion.
"You... came?"
"Yeah... You're not hurt or anything, right?"
I tossed out the stupid question, buying time to think.
"I-I'm okay, but..."
The rest of her sentence, delivered in that hoarse, tear-choked voice, was the very question I wanted to ask someone else.
"What do we do?"
"That’s the problem... That’s the tricky part."
What *should* I do?
Ah, so *this* was what Yuna meant by ‘something that could get interesting.’ That woman must have seen Fushimi’s predicament and deliberately ignored it.
The others had come as far as the door, but they just watched the proceedings from a distance like an audience at a play. Not a single one showed any friendly inclination to help. Yuna had Akane in a sort of hug, hand clamped over her mouth, restraining the girl’s oblivious behavior.
Their attitude was: don't hinder, but don't help either. Still, maybe I should be grateful for that much?
"Who locked the door?"
I knew perfectly well whoever locked it had their reasons, and unlocking it would be inconvenient for them, so they weren’t about to confess. Still, I had to ask.
"How about it, Natane-san?"
"Uh, well now, even if ya ask me…"
"Kouzou-san?"
"I don't know... Really, what is even going on anymore..."
The adults seemed busy – mumbling, averting their gazes, sighing dramatically.
Yuna, wearing that faint smile that suited her so little it was almost tragic, was occupied with keeping Akane in check.
Not engaging further in the fruitless conversation, I faced the door again. The key to this room... Right, it wasn’t one of the rooms in use. Since the second day, Fushimi had been coming and going from the room *I* was using, and we’d been sticking together, so even I, the room’s occupant, hadn’t needed to pay close attention to where its key was.