The Heart-Pounding Murder Case at the Winter Chalet.
This was an event composed of NPCs who met for the first time at the chalet, involving both the culprit and the victim.
Thanks to a perfectly clichéd storyline and a fixed perpetrator, it was easy to breeze through without much effort.
“Uuuuuh…”
Though there’s more to unravel about the murder case, right now, it doesn’t really matter.
Who the criminal is, where the evidence is, and why the murder occurred have all become utterly irrelevant stories!!!
“She won’t wake up no matter how much I shake her.”
Monica held Sister Anna’s chest with both hands and shook her for quite some time before speaking.
She also rudely poked Anna’s soft-looking belly with her index finger, but there was no response.
“How can all the adults be sleeping so deeply…?”
“It’s not a situation we can just call ‘sleeping,’ no matter how you think about it.”
Esme sighed deeply as she spoke.
“Murmur is curious. Does Esme know something?”
“Not exactly, but…”
Muttering under her breath, Esme fidgeted her fingers while looking at the adults lying on the bed.
“I might be mistaken, but I sense magical energy.”
“Magic? Do you mean the adults are under a spell and cannot wake up?”
“There’s magical power throughout the entire mansion. The problem is, I don’t know much about this place…”
Esme’s observation was, in fact, correct.
“Murmur thinks the same. The adults are under a spell and can’t wake up.”
Wasn’t there some kind of setup here?
Was it related to the teaser for the big event that Dorothea, the elementary unit vice-principal, would later trigger?
“All the adults are now trapped in a deep sleep they cannot escape from.”
“…Would cold water or anything like that not work to wake them?”
Nicasia clapped her hands once.
“That’s a good idea. Though cold water might be tough, opening the windows could make it extremely cold, which might wake them.”
“I think doing that wouldn’t be wise.”
Citrine urgently interjected.
“Murmur agrees. Since they’re under a spell, slapping their cheeks, shaking their chests, or dousing them with cold water wouldn’t work.”
“I also think so. If they’re cursed with weakness, even eating delicious food wouldn’t give them strength.”
Nicasia and Esme exchanged glances, their expressions filled with regret.
“Then… we should probably give up on waking the adults in the mansion for now.”
We naturally followed Nicasia’s lead and walked out of the room.
“I’ve lost my appetite too.”
Unlike usual, Esme didn’t whine about wanting to eat.
Ugh, what’s going on here?
Just in case, I inspected the red-haired maid who was the murderer in the murder case, but she was just sound asleep!
There wasn’t even any sign of the weapon used in the murder case.
“Here’s what I think.”
Arriving at the grand entrance of the chalet, Nicasia spoke seriously.
Indeed, Her Highness stands out in such situations compared to Esme or the other friends who get anxious.
“Since all the adults in the mansion suddenly fell asleep, I believe we should seek help from adults outside.”
“I agree.”
“We should go to Notkritbruk and ask the elders of the Goddess Church for help.”
Monica nodded immediately.
“Yes. Such terrifying magic can only be resolved by our sisters.”
“If we go to Notkritbruk… wasn’t there mention of meeting some Archbishop? They surely will be able to help us.”
Seek help from the adults.
Perhaps it was only natural.
After all, how could fifth-grade Softies possibly cause a ruckus trying to wake the adults?
“Don’t worry about the carriage. I learned a bit at the Imperial Palace as a hobby once.”
“What?! You learned that as a hobby?!”
While Citrine gasped in shock, Nicasia opened the massive front door with both hands.
─ Whooshhhhh!
“Aaaaahh…”
I, Murmur, had foreseen this sight and wisely decided not to step outside.
“It’s snowing incredibly heavily!”
“This level qualifies as a blizzard, I’m sure.”
“This… We can’t do this. The snow will reach Murmur’s bellybutton within an hour.”
Nicasia quickly shut the door in panic.
“Crossing this blizzard to reach Notkritbruk is absolutely impossible.”
“Would using magic be difficult too?”
If we can get to Notkritbruk, we can receive help from people of the Holy Nation.
Even if they aren’t lords or known nobles, they are religious followers of the Goddess and will undoubtedly offer assistance.
“It would be impossible without special magic from Gallagorun…”
“Murmur agrees. Attempting amateur magic while riding a carriage could result in serious injury.”
“At least until the blizzard subsides, we must absolutely not consider going outside.”
We naturally stepped away from the entrance.
Ah, so this part will progress similarly to the murder case after all.
“Uuuuuh…”
Then, what exactly should we do?
How can we awaken the adults who have fallen asleep due to magic?
─ Grrrrrr!
Embarrassingly, my stomach growled loudly.
“Murmur-sama, are you very hungry?”
Citrine looked at me with worried eyes, though it carried a different meaning.
“I’m fine, Murmur.”
“Still, it’s a relief. To be honest, I was feeling slightly hungry myself. Let’s eat first, shall we?”
We’re hungry.
Trapped in this absurd situation, we somehow returned to normal actions.
“Let’s start by eating the food the adults prepared for us.”
Upon checking the kitchen with Nicasia, the results were pretty good.
There were enough ingredients stocked up to last us a week if we managed carefully.
Cooking is something we can handle ourselves, so there’s no need to worry about meals.
“Pearl mentioned yesterday, and it’s true—we’re eating cake!”
“The excitement has vanished from your face, Esme.”
“W-Well, how can you expect me to be excited in a situation like this?”
Though Esme’s face turned red as she spoke, her joy at eating cake couldn’t be hidden.
“It’s alright. Now that we know it’s magic, it might resolve itself sooner than expected.”
“That’s right. Nothing bad will definitely happen.”
Monica said this while reaching for the apple pie emitting a sweet aroma.
“Wait! Can’t Monica just see the future and solve this?”
“Hmm…”
Nicasia let out a subtle sigh as she looked at Monica.
Maybe Nicasia herself thought the same somewhere deep down but was considering Monica’s feelings?
“I can’t see the future like that.”
“Uuugh… Really?”
“If I could pick and choose the futures I wanted to see, I wouldn’t have studied for the final exams.”
At Citrine’s comment, Monica covered her reddened cheeks with both hands.
Monica’s final exam scores… Let’s not talk about it anymore.
She narrowly avoided failing, which was honestly surprising.
“Then… Can’t you see a future where we wake the adults? Is that impossible?”
“That’s right. I can see a future where we’re all happily together later.”
“Ugh, but… There’s no middle step! What happens if we stay like this for a month?!”
Esme spoke anxiously, but her hands moved swiftly to grab another piece of cake.
“Still, Murmur thinks it’s fortunate. No one is hurt.”
“That’s… well, yeah, I guess.”
We lacked the immediate ability to solve the problem.
But Monica saw a future where everyone is happy.
In a way, this means we don’t need to fret and cry over how to fix things right away.
“Then, can we eat the cake?”
“Of course!”
Esme grinned as she eagerly stabbed the fruit-laden cream cake with her fork.
“By the way, Murmur, are Bianca and Vesta sleeping too?”
“Murmur checked earlier. They’re motionless, like they’re sleeping.”
They looked decent since they were properly lying in bed.
“It’s strange magic if Maghauscia is asleep too.”
Although it makes sense that Vesta, being an adult, would fall asleep, isn’t Bianca an adult too?
Isn’t Bianca supposed to be new and infant-like?
There’s something I can’t quite understand here.
“Everyone, stop worrying too much and let’s eat. Once the blizzard stops, this will just be a minor incident.”
That was a mature remark from Nicasia among us.
I, Murmur, don’t need to act anxiously either, right?
Let’s just indulge in the delicious pies and cakes!
“One… two… three… four…”
Esme was counting the puddings on the dining table.
The large puddings in glass jars looked so appetizing just staring at them.
“Did Esme eat one without resisting?”
“W-What?! Of course not! We agreed to eat them during lunch; there’s no way I ate one ahead of time!”
After enjoying a delightful breakfast, we spent pleasant time chatting inside the chalet.
Technically, it wasn’t a murder case, and thinking of it simply as adults taking a nap, it wasn’t such a terrible situation.
It felt like super free time granted to the Softies.
“But the pudding really has decreased!”
Monica lifted and then placed down a jar as she spoke.
“Murmur remembers. There were five puddings on the table.”
“So… I didn’t eat any! We’ve been together the whole time!”
“Citrine went to the bathroom too!”
“But Esme was in the bathroom the longest!”
“Murmur wants to confirm. None of you secretly ate the pudding, right?”
Everyone, including Esme, nodded.
Of course, I, Murmur, didn’t eat any pudding either.
“If everyone’s telling the truth… then we need to consider something.”
“Is there a ghost sneaking around and eating pudding?!”
There’s no way something like that exists!
“If none of us ate it, someone else did!”
“Someone else? Ah!”
Nicasia seemed to immediately understand what I, Murmur, was implying and clapped her hands.
“That person might be the one who put the adults to sleep. They’re the only ones besides us who haven’t fallen into slumber in this mansion!”
“Murmur will assume for now. Whether or not they’re the culprit, they’re still a bad person for stealing pudding!”
There’s someone sneaky in this chalet stealing pudding.
If Esme isn’t lying, there’s a sneaky magician hiding here!
… For now, let’s just decide to think that way!!!
“Alright! Then let’s find that bad person!”
“We’ll scold the one who stole the pudding!”
“Wait!! Don’t run around recklessly!”
Contrary to my thoughts, everyone regained their energy.
“Thank you, Murmur.”
Nicasia gave me a mature smile and affectionately patted my head.
“It seems we’ll be able to enjoy ourselves until the blizzard stops.”
The continuous disappearance of desserts, which I, Murmur, never imagined, began like this.
