Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The black envelope announcing the start of the next battle arrived 3 days later.
Just like last time, I checked the mailbox before I went to class. There was an envelope in it with no stamp and no recipient. I could only guess that someone sneaked into the girls' dormitory and dropped it directly in the mailbox.
Was it a member of the committee? This means they most likely have grasped Kirigiri Kyōko's current location. Yet they haven't made a move on her, is it because it's against the rules of the game...
Kirigiri was still lying on the bed in a daze, I showed her the envelope, and she slowly got up, brushed her teeth and changed her clothes with tousled hair, it took her a while to fully wake up.
After she took a sip of the coffee on the table, she finally read the contents of the letter.
"...They bought a lot."
Even Kirigiri couldn't help being a little overwhelmed. "Maybe they have these techniques on sale."
I sat down on the bed, combed Kirigiri's hair who is sitting on the ground, and braided it into three-strands.
"It's a little more generous with time compared to the last one... but this challenge letter is making my head spin just by looking at it."
I braided her hair and tied it with ribbons. These ribbons determine the fate of this contest, so I was very careful in tying it firmly.
"With so many techniques chosen, what kind of case will it be... I can't imagine it at all."
"Is that so." Kirigiri said, holding the rifle in her arms. "Imagining is not difficult in itself, rather a little too easy, so easy that people start doubting bluffs and misdirections."
"Eh? Easy?"
"Yes, if we say one technique for each victim, that means 9 techniques in total for 9 victims, plus the detective, making it 10 people. When talking about 10 people on one island, only 'And Then There Were None' comes to mind."
"Ah!"
Agatha Christie's masterpiece, the basis of locked room mysteries. In the 'Sirius Observatory' case where Kirigiri and I met, the host also used a pseudonym derived from the character U.N. Owen.
"The 'Katashiro' in the name of the island refers to the Yorishiro. Generally, in Shinto shrines, Katashiro are made by cutting washi paper into human figures. So I think 'Katashiro Island' will be prepared in advance to represent the 10 visitors with 10 'Katashiros', and every time one person is killed, one 'Katashiro' disappears."
"I see... This is indeed 'And Then There Were None'."
However, if the crime is committed by imitating the plot of the novel, it will be detected by the detective immediately, so the crime technique will naturally be changed according to the style of the committee.
