Reenacting the Unsolved Case: And Thus, Death Smirks

"Diana!! And Alcaiz too!? ...Tch!! There's no helping it. This time, Mary, I'll let your opinion stand. It seems you won't talk unless everyone agrees anyway."

Kiss immediately understood that opposing would be meaningless now that the two had sided with Mary, so she effectively yielded to Mary's opinion.

However, her gaze toward Mary seemed to have changed. It was clearly different from the looks she gave Diana and Alcaiz.

Kaito also noticed Kiss's pressure and judged her to be the most concerning person to watch out for at this point.

"As a servant, I express gratitude for Lady Mary's mercy."

The gray servant bowed to Mary. Diana and Alcaiz's servants did the same. It was understandable that only Kiss's servant didn't bow their head.

After all, Kiss herself had clicked her tongue at the words of gratitude.

"Then, shall we meet in the dining room on the left side of the stairs in two hours? It will be dinner time as well. Once the meal is finished, I will convey the master's words to everyone. Until then, please rest in the rooms we've prepared. There are also servant quarters for them, so please follow the master's instructions regarding those. Now, to the rooms on the second floor."

"I don't need a guide. Our servants helped prepare them, so we know which rooms they are. You go prepare the meal or something."

Kiss proceeded to walk up to the second floor on her own, with her servant in tow.

"Sigh... It can't be helped. I don't need a guide either. That's fine with you too, right, Alcaiz? Juu, do you know where Mary's room is as well?" (TN: Juu=10)

"Of course."

At Diana's words, the blue servant bowed their head and took the lead after picking up the luggage. In Kiss's case, she had gone alone, but she must have been quite angry about what happened earlier.

She might be double-checking out of extreme caution, even for places her servant had already been to.

"That's fine. Mary will be between Diana and me. I don't think it is likely, but it would be troublesome if Kiss had set something up. Everyone needs to be in perfect condition for this to mean anything. San and Mary's servant can take the rear guard." (TN: San=3)

Alcaiz fell back behind Mary and ordered his servant and Kaito to take the final positions.

Diana's servant was Juu. Alcaiz's servant was San. Since Kiss's servant's number was unknown, remembering them by color might also work.

"As Lord Alcaiz said. Ka... Ichi, please join San at the rear. Please keep watch on our surroundings."

"Understood," they both replied.

Kaito and San moved to the very back as instructed by their masters. Including Juu, the servants would act as shields both front and back if anything were to happen.

"I don't think she would do anything that foolish... but that's that. We just need to gather in the dining room when it's time, right?"

"Yes. I can come to call you at that time. Or we could have servants wait downstairs to relay messages."

"How servants are handled differs by master. We'll move on our own when the time comes. No need to come calling. Kiss will likely do the same. If it's in two hours, that makes it 20:00. We'll head to our rooms now."

Alcaiz glanced at the large clock on the right, the grandfather clock, to check the time.

The clock had numbers one through twelve inscribed, with the clock hands pointing to six.

It was approaching nightfall when Kaito and Mary had arrived at the mansion, and now it was 18:00.