“Ugh… Where on earth are you hiding?”
“This is an incredibly despicable pudding thief!”
“Calmly… Gasp, come to think of it, there’s no way they could be hiding in this chalet!”
Citrine appeared with a heavy grumble, while Esme and Monica’s faces carried a strange sense of joy.
Of course it was fun; they had spent all day exploring every corner of the chalet they hadn’t checked yesterday, hunting for the hidden pudding thief.
“Did everyone get their fill of searching?”
Nicasia Holimpia, wearing an apron, just happened to bring out freshly baked apple pie to the table.
“Absolutely not! We couldn’t find that nasty pudding thief!”
“They’re hiding so well we can’t locate them!”
“Haa… Not even a single jar was found…”
Though Citrine seemed to vaguely understand what was going on, she couldn’t leave Esme and Monica alone.
This kind of attitude really does make her seem strangely ‘motherly,’ huh?
“Since everyone worked hard looking around, you must be hungry. Murmur and I baked some delicious cookies and pies.”
Nicasia proudly pointed at the desserts spread out on the table.
“It looks similar to the desserts we made last time at Piglet House?”
“I want to visit there someday too!”
“Do you know how to make apple pie? It looks absolutely delightful…”
When Esme picked up a fork, Citrine hastily gestured that it wasn’t allowed, then brought out a large knife to cut and divide the pie.
Nicasia watched this scene, covering her mouth and laughing before cutting the pancakes and serving them into bowls.
“Under normal circumstances, eating dessert twice in a row would get us scolded, but what can we do?”
“Y-Yeah! That’s right! We don’t know how to cook anything else. The only thing we’ve tried making is from last time at Piglet House!”
Esme sure does have an uncanny ability to notice things like this.
Would the adults accept this logic if they woke up? Hmm…
“Does Murmur have any questions? Did you check the whole chalet?”
While pouring syrup onto Monica’s pancake, Citrine’s sleeve was pulled as she was asked.
“We’ve done our best to look everywhere.”
“As the owner of the chalet, Nicasia, I can’t say we’ve seen everything, but…”
“Still, we’ve thoroughly checked all visible areas!”
And yet, we still couldn’t find the missing jar of pudding.
To be honest, it feels less like someone is actually hiding here and more like one of us is a cute little liar…
“This pancake… Mmm! It’s incredibly delicious! Who made it?”
“Murmur and I worked together to make it. Do you like it?”
Upon hearing the answer, Citrine’s eyes gleamed slightly.
“Nicasia… You and Murmur had another enjoyable time, didn’t you?”
“Don’t worry, we just cooked normally. Citrine.”
“P-Purely cooking, that’s all we did!”
Nicasia smiled mischievously and suddenly started petting Murmur’s head.
“I’ll give you some time tonight, Citrine, to make desserts with Murmur.”
“Uuuugh!! Don’t act so relaxed!!”
Though Citrine stomped her feet adorably, Nicasia wasn’t teasing her on purpose.
“All we did was mix the dough and decide on the filling for the pie.”
“Hmph… I want to do those things with Murmur too…”
“Well, then tonight we can make something else interesting and tasty!”
The sulking Citrine quickly cheered up again.
“I want to eat Mont Blanc and chocolate parfait!”
“I want an éclair!”
“M-Murmur and I will decide together!”
Citrine grabbed Murmur’s waist and declared sharply.
In the end, it seems there’s nobody hiding in this big chalet after all.
Instead of a murder case, spending such a soft and fluffy day isn’t bad either.
*
“R-Really! I didn’t eat it!”
By evening, Esme was shouting with the most aggrieved expression in the world.
“But the jar came back?”
Monica pointed to where our lunch dishes, plates, jars, and glasses were stacked—ones we hadn’t washed yet.
We were about to play rock-paper-scissors to decide who’d do the dishes when, amidst talking about how much dishwashing lay ahead, we discovered the fifth pudding jar.
“The fifth jar wasn’t there during lunch.”
Citrine pointed at the bottle and then at the table.
“And two cookies meant to be eaten later are also missing.”
“Murmur remembers. There were five chocolate cookies and six raisin cookies.”
One chocolate cookie and two raisin cookies were gone.
“And the milk has definitely decreased. Someone drank a full cup, I’m sure of it.”
Nicasia shook the glass of milk near the window.
“A cute little liar needs to confess now.”
At Murmur’s words, everyone—including me—ended up looking at Esme.
Not exactly targeting Esme, but…
Nicasia might binge due to her odd metabolism, and Monica isn’t the type to deny food cravings either.
“I really didn’t! You all are just remembering that time I ate all the donuts!”
Esme crossed her arms in an X-shape and shouted loudly.
“That time was different! I thought the donut next to the cookies was free for grabs!”
“Were you thinking the same thing this time because it was on the table?”
“I-I know it’s dangerous with the adults sleeping so soundly!”
Watching Esme plead desperately made her seem a bit pitiful.
“Murmur believes Esme.”
“Only Murmur understands meeee!”
Esme darted forward and rubbed her cheek against Murmur’s.
Ugh, this is awkward…
“Nicasia and Monica, neither of you ate anything, right?”
“I didn’t!”
“Yes, I truly didn’t eat anything.”
There was no need to ask Citrine.
She wouldn’t be the heroine secretly keeping secrets from Murmur, even if the sky fell.
“Murmur wants to say… In situations like these, we must trust our friends.”
If it was just one pudding disappearing, maybe there’s a cute little liar among us.
But if dessert keeps disappearing precisely at meal times, it’s a different story.
And drinking the milk too? Clearly, there’s a sneaky intruder hiding somewhere who’s been eating.
“Does Murmur have a plan in mind?”
“Yes, Murmur will catch the hidden pudding thief.”
Whoever the fool is, touching Murmur’s pudding means no mercy!
“Murmur is curious. Does Nicasia remember picking lots of herbs with Monica the other day?”
“Of course I remember! It was quite fun, though meeting Alraune was unexpected.”
“Then Nicasia remembers suddenly needing to use the bathroom?”
Nicasia blushed slightly but nodded.
“Yes, I certainly remember. It was embarrassing. They’re called Expulsion Flowers, right?”
“Murmur plans to use those Expulsion Flowers to catch the culprit.”
Murmur pointed at the jar.
“Murmur will make delicious pudding again. Ten jars. Five of them will secretly contain the juice of Expulsion Flowers.”
“Wow… If someone eats it by accident, they’ll urgently need to use the bathroom.”
“Exactly. Murmur will set spells on all the bathroom entrances in the chalet.”
Esme clapped her hands and nodded.
“Yes! It’s a basic barrier spell! When someone who hasn’t been granted permission opens the door, it makes a loud noise!”
“It’s part of the exam content we studied recently.”
“Murmur will cast that spell. Then we’ll catch the naughty pudding thief the moment they enter the bathroom!”
It’s completely underhanded, but anyone who steals our pudding deserves it!
“It sounds like a good plan. They’ve probably been stealing desserts because they’re hungry while hiding.”
“That’s right. If pudding doesn’t work, putting it in pancakes or cookies might be better.”
“Hehe! Whoever it is stole our desserts, so let’s punish them thoroughly!”
Esme’s eyes sparkled as she spoke, and Nicasia applauded once.
“Where should we get the Expulsion Flowers? They probably aren’t in storage.”
“That’s Murmur…”
“I know where they are!”
Monica, with her golden eyes shining, grabbed Murmur’s arm and said,
“I’ll go fetch them with Murmur!”
Expulsion Flowers are pretty common in Gallagorun, so they grow in the backyard.
I was about to explain to Nicasia where to find them, but thanks to Monica, that won’t be necessary.
“Hehe, understood. Would you like to come along, Citrine?”
With Nicasia’s consideration, Citrine immediately latched onto Murmur’s other arm.
“I’ll help with Murmur’s brilliant plan!”
“Alright then, Nicasia and I will make the pudding! Go ahead!”
Waving goodbye to the cheerful pair, we naturally headed out of the kitchen.
“Murmur, there’s something I want to say.”
As soon as we reached the hallway, Monica spoke seriously.
“What is it?”
“Do you believe someone who does something bad always, absolutely, deserves punishment?”
Monica’s eyes sparkled.
“If there’s a good reason, Murmur can forgive.”
“That’s a relief.”
“What future vision prompted this question?”
At Citrine’s query, Monica smiled brightly.
“I just thought we might have time to punish the bad person once we catch them!”
“Well, considering it’s just a few stolen desserts and the adults are sound asleep, there’s no real reason for severe punishment.”
At Citrine’s words, Murmur nodded.
“Five puddings are forgivable.”
After all, the thief who gets caught stealing desserts is pitiable too.
Murmur never intended to be overly harsh from the start!
“What happens if there are fewer than five puddings?”
“I think turning them into a snowman would be appropriate!”
“Eeeek…?”
That punishment seems a bit scary!
Getting turned into a snowman in the dead of winter could lead to more than just a cold!
