Chapter 357: Penacony Arc 『 Part Fifty-two』, Masquerade Duet Part 3
Red A crossed his arms, his brow furrowed as he stared at the button in Black Swan's hand.
"Does that device truly possess the power to launch all of Penacony into the heavens, just as she claimed?"
"Impossible,"
Saber replied with unwavering certainty.
"To detonate the entirety of Penacony would require an incredibly intricate arrangement. Such tedious, thankless labor… I suspect Sparkle would find little joy in it."
"Are you so sure?"
Shirou Emiya's voice drifted in from the kitchen.
"If launching Penacony into the sky would satisfy her sense of 『 Elation 』, she would do it without hesitation. However, the sheer scale of sabotaging all of Penacony is indeed daunting. I find it more likely she would target a specific landmark for demolition."
—
「 Continuing forward, they discovered yet another plush toy fashioned in the likeness of Pam.
"Setting aside why it takes the form of the Astral Express's Conductor, does this doll also pertain to the case?"
The Constable explained with great solemnity: "You may not be aware, but in the realm of mystery novels, this is known as a Red Herring—a term signifying a false lead intended to mislead one's reasoning!"
Black Swan nodded as if struck by a sudden realization. "I see. But by declaring it so forthrightly, have you not rendered it utterly useless?"
"Ah… well…"
The Constable scrambled to fabricate an excuse. "I—I simply feared you two might overlook Miss Sparkle's clever design and mistake it for a mere piece of discarded junk… er…"
The ruse fell apart.
Black Swan let out a soft, melodic laugh. "I appreciate your thoughtful consideration. In that case, we shall simply pretend to be deceived by the Red Herring. Now… does this doll also pertain to the case?"
Sampo, clearly reaching his limit, curled his lip. "There's really no need to indulge her that much…" 」
「 ..... 」
〜BanG Dream World〜
"Ah~ Miss Black Swan is truly so gentle…"
Anon sank completely into the beanbag chair in the practice room.
"It's almost exactly like how Soyorin sounds when she's trying to coax someone."
Soya's hand slipped while tuning her bass, producing a jarring screech.
"…Please refrain from using such bizarre metaphors in the future."
She looked up at the sky, watching Black Swan cooperate with Sparkle's nonsensical murder mystery, and sighed.
"Though, it does feel as if she's simply humoring a spoiled child."
"Hmph."
Taki set down her drumsticks.
"When dealing with someone who acts like the terrorists you see on the news, I say we treat her like a stray cat that's snuck into the house—"
She mimicked the motion of grabbing a cat by the scruff of its neck.
"Wait until she's in the middle of her frenzy, then toss her right out. Besides, Sunday clearly can't stand her either."
"Aw, Rikki, you're so heartless~"
At the mention of stray cats, the group realized one member of the band had yet to arrive.
Taki clicked her tongue.
"Don't tell me she missed practice again because of a stray?"
"It is Rana, after all. There's not much we can do,"
Soya mused.
"I recall she took quite a liking to Sparkle. She's probably hiding out in the cafe right now, eating a parfait while waiting for Sparkle to appear on the screen."
"Hey, hey~ Should we postpone practice for today and go find Rana at the shop?"
Anon immediately sidled up to Soya.
"What?! Ab-so-lute-ly not!"
Taki struck a drum with a loud thud to signal her protest.
"The live show is next week. Do you think everyone is as carefree as you?"
Seeing that path blocked, Anon immediately turned to the short-haired girl in the corner.
"What do you think, Tomorin?"
"Eh? I… I…"
Tomori Takamatsu lowered her head, her fingers nervously fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.
"I'm worried about Rana, too. Last practice was already…"
The resolve on Taki's face visibly wavered, her expression softening instantly.
"If Tomori says so, then just this once… Tsk. Let's get one thing straight: once we find Rana, we bring her back immediately. We aren't letting that screen interfere with practice!"
"Yay~!"
Anon flashed a secret victory sign.
"Though, when Miss Hotaru and Stelle were on the rooftop last time, Rikki was the one most entranced! You didn't even notice you'd dropped your drumsticks in the practice room~"
"Wh-What?!"
"…"
Soya watched the two of them getting louder with an air of resignation. She silently packed away her bass and headed for the shop without looking back.
—
「 Having secured the final piece of evidence, the next step was to identify the culprit. Sampo, however, was utterly clueless… then again, in a murder case this arbitrary, anyone who could actually deduce the truth would have to be a ghost.
Black Swan, however, already had a lead. By inverting her logic and applying a process of elimination, they pinned the crime on the one-legged Wright.
After presenting their answer to the Constable, he confirmed the riddle had been solved. According to the rules of the game, he revealed the location of the next puzzle to the pair.
"Huh? Another puzzle? This isn't what we agreed on," Sampo grumbled.
"It seems the key to victory lies not within the riddles themselves. If we cannot see through the true intentions behind Miss Sparkle's eccentric behavior, I fear this pursuit will never end."
Sampo offered a word of friendly advice. "That Sparkle is a Masked Fool. You're planning to find logic inside the head of a Fool?"
"That is indeed my intention. Even if no subjective pattern exists, behavior always leaves behind a certain commonality—Memory does not lie. It perhaps understands her essence better than the girl herself."
The two arrived at the scene of the next puzzle. Sparkle had once again used her usual methods to 'send' the victims back to reality, leaving nothing but a field of Memory Bubbles.
This time, the Dreamjolt Troupe members were playing the roles of a Sheriff and a Deputy.
"Oh~ Detective Black Swan~ Detective Sampo~ You've finally arrived~! We truly wouldn't have known what to do without your assistance!"
Even the habitually composed Black Swan couldn't help but knit her brows at those words.
"Uh, why are you talking like that? Is this some kind of art form I'm too uncultured to understand…?" Sampo felt as though he had been rendered speechless more times this evening than in his entire life.
"Talking? Is there something amiss with our manner of speech? My dear Deputy, is the way I speak peculiar?"
The Soda Dog squeezed its voice into a fawning, sycophantic tone. "Of course not~ Sheriff, sir! Your way of speaking is more commonplace than a cat lounging in an apple tree in my grandmother's backyard."
"Then let us discuss this inexplicable and harrowing case! The victim of this crime is a galactic tycoon by the name of 'Sparkle'…" 」
「 ..... 」