Yousei Bishoujo ga Nounai de Tasuke wo Motometekurundaga?

130. A hint can be anywhere

Egawa dismantled the bomb smoothly.

Clearly, she cut the cord in a familiar way, and as she said, the way she did it was like that of an experienced person.

However, things didn’t end so easily.

“… this is bad”

Egawa suddenly stopped her hand.

“B-bad?”

“Umm… you see, it’s only left the red and blue lines, but I don’t know which one to cut. Kuh, even though I knew all the other lines right away.”

While saying that, Egawa observed the wiring.

『”Red and blue… well, it’s like a movie, isn’t it?”』

Atsushi was of the same opinion, albeit reluctant to admit it. The last two lines, were red and blue. He never thought that a scene like this would be in real life.

If only it was in a movie… but he was in undeniable reality, so something had to be done.

『“Atsushi-san, don’t you think there’s a letter or something in the bag? Usually, in such a case, the culprit will think of ‘Let’s give a hint’, and a piece of paper with a hint written on can be found there……”』

“You’re not nervous at all huh? I mean, why do you think there’s such a thing….”

At that moment, a single card suddenly entered Atsushi’s field of vision. It stuck on the outside of the attache case, as if asking him to look at it.

“What’s it… an upside-down crow?”

“……hey, let me see.”

Kirishima looked at the card in the attaché case and widened her eyes in surprise.

“………………………Yeah, right.”

Kirishima muttered in a low, really low voice as if understanding everything.

“Now, now, which cord should I cut…”

“Red…”

Kirishima gave straightforward instructions to the troubled Egawa.

“…cut the red cord. That will stop it.”

Rather than being full of confidence, Kirishima had an attitude that seemed to say that there was no other answer. Even though she knew that the time bomb would explode if she was wrong, she believed that her word was absolutely not wrong.

“……can I believe you?”

“Yes”

In response to Atsushi’s question, Kirishima still answered with dignified words.

Atsushi and Kirishima hadn’t been on friendly terms before. For Kirishima, Atsushi’s parents were enemies after all. And, he was troubled by her in the past.

But still, after considering them, Atsushi declared to Egawa,

“Egawa-san. Please cut the red code.”

“….. Are you sure?”

Atsushi strongly nodded at Egawa’s words.

Over the past two months, Atsushi thought he had a rough idea of ​​what kind of person Kirishima was. And he couldn’t think she would lie under these circumstances. In the first place, there was no merit for her lying here.

“…………i-it stopped.”

As soon as the red cord was cut, the bomb’s timer stopped. At that moment, everyone was relieved and let out a big breath.

However, one question crosses everyone’s mind.

『”B-but, why? Why it’s the red cord……”』

“Upside-down crow”

Yuri’s questioned Kirishima by telepathy.

In response, Kirishima replied immediately.

“In that situation, the crow will cry “caw, caw”, right?

“Ka-, ka-… that’s why it’s red…” [TN: aka means, red]

Certainly, it was a hint.
But, then another question…

“But, that’s…”

『”It’s a pun, or rather…”』

“It’s too easy for a mystery. Is what you think, right? Of course. I mean, this mystery was made so easy that even a kid could solve… purposedly by “that person”.”

”  “That person”……?”

Atsushi frowned when Kirishima said something meaningful, but before he could ask further, her cell phone rang.

And, Kirishima answered the phone.

“Good timing, but I have something to say to you.”

「”Oh? This is rather an unexpected reaction. I thought you would be in a more surprised state.”」

“Yeah, sure. I was surprised that you called me at this timing. But, that doesn’t matter. I can see the root of this series of turmoil already.”

「”……Hooo. So you know who I am?”」

“Well? Doesn’t matter anyway. I don’t care who you are. I mean ――― I can guess who’s the one ordering you. A pawn like you isn’t important.”

「”…………Well, aren’t you quite straightforward.”」

Provocative words from Kirishima to the unidentified man. And, as if to say that she knew it all, Kirishima continued.

“Tell that person. I’ll go to visit soon, so please don’t interfere with me or my surroundings until then.”

「”Well… that’s another straightforward word from you.”」

“What? Have any complaints?”

「”No, no. If you noticed already, my job is done, and the contract is over… Well, I understand. I’ll make sure to let my employer know. Well then.”」

The call ended there.

Just from how the conversation was going, Atsushi could roughly understand who was on the other end of the phone. But he still asked Kirishima.

“Kirishima, the phone call just now, was from the one who called before, right…?”

“Yeah. It was that guy again. But it’s okay now.”

“No, it’s not okay…”

For Atsushi who made a confused expression,

“Really, it’s okay now. After all ――― this case, has been solved.”

Kirishima declared.