第６０６堀：ボッチの棲み処 (Part2)
With that settled, I decided to have Solo accompany Kagura and Mikos while I returned to investigating the academy's rumors, but...
"Yuki-san. Why did you bring Solo-san along? If it was just to prevent her expulsion, couldn't she have just done some research in the library? Don't tell me you're trying to play matchmaker for that loner?"
Taiki-kun was the one who asked that.
"I don't think letting her handle that on her own would work out well, anyway..."
It seems Taiki-kun also understands how difficult it is to deal with a loner. He seems genuinely worried about why I brought her along. But there is no way I brought her just to be a Good Samaritan.
"I'll leave the social aspect to Eoid, who stepped in to protect her. Personally, I want the information she’s gathered using her 'loner skills'."
"Loner skills?"
"Exactly. She’s likely mapped out every unpopular spot in the academy. She probably knows about the rumors regarding the warehouses and classrooms, too."
"Ah, I see. For a loner, places with ghost stories are the perfect hideout. And if the stories were real, they’d be a death flag, so that means anywhere Solo-san has been is safe, right?"
"Exactly. Conversely, she might also know about the strange places where the rumors have suddenly died out."
"Ah, the 'actually, it was one of the Seven Mysteries' kind of thing?"
"Well, it sounds like a hassle, but you’d want to avoid stumbling into those places without knowing, right?"
"That’s true. I hope she knows something."
"If she doesn't, then we at least gain the information that she doesn't know. It’s necessary to have a perspective different from that of the top-tier students."
"Well, that’s true. Kagura is an honor student through and through. Mikos is the reliable informant as expected. And then there’s the loner, Solo. It seems like we have all our bases covered."
"Right? It’s like the trio of Amanda, Samantha, and Cleena at the Lancer Magic Academy, isn't it?"
"Ah, I see. So she’s in the Cleena slot."
"Exactly."
Honor student Amanda, socialite Samantha, and the loner Cleena—that’s the vibe, right? As I was saying that, I felt a pinch from behind.
"Ouch."
"...Yuki, that’s rude. I was capable of studying."
"I didn't mean it in a bad way. I just meant it’s good to have people from different positions to provide a variety of perspectives."
"...Mmph. You’re as silver-tongued as ever."
"But you can't blame me. At first, Cleena, you were always reading books alone in a hidden room in the library."
"...Still, it’s different. In my case, it wasn't that I *couldn't*. I simply *didn't*. Eoid, you, and Ria are proof of that."
...To us, it’s about the same thing, but to her, there’s a clear distinction, and she’s quite passionate about denying it. Well, I suppose no one likes being asked, "You were a loner, weren't you?" and having to answer, "Yes, I was."
I decided to change the subject before I could further sour Cleena’s mood.
"Anyway, for now, one of the rumors turned out to be just a rumor. That’s a relief. There’s no doubt that Solo is going to be a very valuable asset to us."
I said that and looked over at Solo, who was being peppered with questions by Kagura and the others, looking quite nervous. She had been stationed in that restroom for about two years. In other words, she’d been a loner since she first enrolled. ...Ugh, the tears...
Thanks to her dedication, I think we can safely say the security of that restroom is guaranteed. If there were anything dangerous there, something would have already happened to her. We’ll need to keep an eye on things, but the need to rush into an investigation is gone.
"The rumors we need to investigate urgently are the 'classroom that appears in the evening' and the 'ghosts in the basement of the dormitory at night'..."
"Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, we have time to investigate both."
"I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Regardless, we should head back to the conference room and have Solo explain the details. She might have some personal information. We know the dormitory rumor is in the basement, but we have absolutely no information on the evening classroom. I want to avoid splitting up as much as possible."
"We don't want to disperse our forces, after all."
I said that and began to rethink our strategy for investigating the next rumor.