Since she had just tugged on his tie, Konoe Hitomi helped straighten it out and explained, "It wouldn't hurt to tell you a little."
"Lady Manatsu drinks often, and sometimes she talks nonsense when she does. That's when I heard it."
Natsume Chikage recalled the two times he had seen Mido Manatsu. She had indeed been carrying a bottle and drinking on both occasions, so Konoe Hitomi was probably telling the truth.
"I see."
"Still, did you specifically call me here just to ask about that?"
Konoe Hitomi shook her head slightly.
"Not just that."
"I called you here because Lady Manatsu likes drinking, but drinking too much is bad for her health."
"If possible, I hope you can get her to drink less."
"If it's you, she might listen."
Natsume Chikage was confused.
"Why would she listen if it's me?"
Konoe Hitomi fell silent for a moment.
"If the opportunity comes, you'll know."
"All right, that's everything I needed to say."
"I've also finished what I needed to do at school. It's time for me to leave."
With that said,
Konoe Hitomi patted her now-neat tie and left.
Leaving Natsume Chikage alone.
He still couldn't quite understand her—or the others.
That afternoon.
After school.
Collection Club.
Fujiwara Aoi and Akita Sana were bickering in the clubroom.
"You idiot, there are no ghosts in this world!"
"How could there not be? Doesn't this report say that a whole group of students saw something ghost-like moving around in broad daylight, and that it stayed there for quite a while before disappearing? They even took photos! And the ghost could move! How can you still say it wasn't a ghost?"
Yukimura Suzune's ears twitched as the detective's urge to solve mysteries rose up inside her again.
"Tell me the whole story, and