Chapter 234: That’s Egypt

On the screen, there is a full view of Detective JK.

They were two women dressed in the same outfit.

They are wearing mafia-like dark suits and bright red neckties. They also wore bowler hats with masks covering only their eyes.

Both of them looked like models, standing like they were in a movie scene.

One of the detective’s JKs, the one with long hair, was pointing at something with an exaggerated action. That was where a golden statue like a pharaoh was sitting.

For those who had turned on the TV here, the picture must have been quite unexplained.

The detective JK, in a dramatic tone, asked.

「Before the track and field club went missing, there were two girls who had gone missing before. Are you acquainted with these two girls?」

「YES」

The light at the edge of the screen is blue.

Of course. Misuzu and Masaki are both classmates. There’s no way he doesn’t know them.

「On the day the track and field club members were kidnapped, did you go straight home from school?」

「YES」

At the edge of the screen, a red light came on this time.

When exactly was the day that the track and field kids went missing?

On the way home, Fu~min is usually with me.

There must have been only a few days since I was surrounded by Teruya-chi and her friends at the old school building that we didn’t go home together.

The questions that were asked to him were all trivial as I watched the screen with a gulp.

I was surprised at the first question, but the culprit in the mysterious disappearance was Anna-senpai. Fu~min must have known about it. It’s nothing to panic about.

（This is really bad for my heart…. Can they really prove that Fu~min had nothing to do with this? I have a feeling it’s going to make him look even more suspicious than he already was）

As I was thinking about this, Detective JK asked another question.

「You are involved in the Mysterious Disappearance case, aren’t you?」

「NO」

At that moment, a chill went down my spine.

At the edge of the screen, a red light came on.

I heard the commentators gasp, and an idol girl, whose name I didn’t know, let out a high-pitched “N-no way!?”.

Perhaps it was a staff member’s voice, but the microphone picked up the commotion in the studio.

（Fu~min! This is not good! They’re trying to frame Fu~min. That’s exactly what I imagine!）

Immediately, the red and yellow primary colors used in the set of the variety program appear to be a poisonous color scheme.

At the moment when Detective JK’s mouth was twisted into a grin, I ran out of the dressing room into the hallway, without bothering to take anything.

（It’s a trap! Fu~min said that Detective JK was his friend, but maybe those girls were just trying to trick Fu~min. I have to stop them, I have to save Fu~min!）

◇ ◇ ◇

On the living room’s big screen TV.

As soon as Claudia-san on the screen said, “You are involved in the Mysterious Disappearance case, aren’t you?”, my brother(Onii-chan) let out a weird “Fuhi!”.

Sitting on the sofa with his back arched, he grabbed a tube of potato chips and stared intently at the screen as if he were watching a movie.

Then, as soon as the red light came on for the answer “NO”, my brother(Onii-chan) shouted out.

「Serve you! Hahahahaha! How do you feel when you’re cornered, Kijima? Kizuna! Look at this! Almost a reach! It’s all over now!」

「Yeah, I understand」

I can’t say I’m in the same mood, but it’s been a long time since I’ve seen my brother(Onii-chan) this happy.

Now, if this Kijima person is caught, maybe my brother(Onii-chan) will be able to escape from his shut-in life. I’d be happy if that happens.

He has lost a lot of things, but if he returns to his old self, he should be able to get them back.

（Yes, it was Shiratori-senpai who arranged everything, I have to thank her when school starts…）

I think of my senpai who should be at the studio.

Maybe she’s just as excited as my brother(Onii-chan). It’s hard to imagine, though…

Almost at the same time as I couldn’t help but smile, Claudia-san’s face appeared again in a close-up on the screen.

「This is the last question」

As soon as she said that, bang! A loud sound effect like an orchestral hit rang out.

「The mastermind of that incident is a devil. Not a metaphor, but a real devil. And you are his contractor. You’re the mastermind behind it, aren’t you!?」

The studio is silent. The sound of my brother(Onii-chan) squeezing a tube of potato chips echoes in the background.

After a pause for breath, as if deciding that there was no more room for error, the answer that came out was “YES”.

A blue light lit up at the edge of the screen, and the commentators stood up in unison, groaning.

「Ha-ha-ha! Yes! We did it! Hahahahahahahahaha! Serve you! Serve youuuu!」

My brother(Onii-chan) stood up from the couch, turned his head toward ceiling and laughed out loud like a madman.

I clapped my hands as hard as I could.

The host on the screen, with his cheeks twitching, shouted, “Now, let’s see who’s the inside!”, Then, a flashy spark erupted from the center of the Tutankhamun-like statue, and it began to split in half. On there, a shadow of a person wearing headphones appeared in the smoke.

◇ ◇ ◇

The sound of clasps snapping echoed, and the statue split in half.

「…Too bright!」

I turned my head away from the lighting that was coming in.

『Thank you for your hard work. Filming is finished, you can come out now』

While I was still adjusting to the light, I squinted and looked around. Several cameras were pointed at me, and the staff looked relieved.

When I turned around, I found a drawing of a pyramid.

Around the statue I was in, beautiful women in what looked like ancient Egyptian folk costumes were smiling with colorful aluminum cans in their hands.

「Eh? Eh? What? Eh!? … What’s this?」

While I was stunned, a man in the back of the studio who looked like a producer said, “Yes, this is the end of the commercial for FJ Beverage’s new autumn product ―― Nile’s Blessing (slightly carbonated). Thank you all for your hard work”

「「「「Thank you for your hard work―」」」」

Voices came from all over the studio, and I let out a confused voice.

「C-commercial?」

（W-what’s going on?? What happened to the live special program?）

After I entered the “costume,” I heard a voice say, “We’re entering the studio,” and I felt like I was being carried somewhere, but then I heard no sound through my headphones.

I waited for thirty minutes, feeling a bit nervous, thinking that I was going to be kept waiting for a long time. However, the statue suddenly opened, and this is what I saw.

To be honest, I don’t understand at all.

「Hahaha! Fu~min, welcome back!」

The person who walked up to me was Fujiwara-san, in a young lady mode.

（No, no… a devil doll?）

I have no idea what’s going on, but I should pretend not to notice that it’s a devil doll.

「Fu-Fujiwara-san, what happened…」

「Yes, it’s a commercial for a new product from one of the Fujiwara Group companies. The fiancée of the chairman’s daughter, the future head of the Fujiwara Group, is in it to create a buzz」

（There are too many points to mention! Let’s leave the fiancée out of it for now…）

「Appearance, but I was just in the statue…」

「That’s okay, I wasn’t lying. You’re in a costume. Besides, if we tell people you’re in it, the companies we do business with will buy it by the container to make my stepfather(ogifu-san) happy」

「But… what about the live special…」

「Fu~min, don’t you get it yet? You were almost tricked by that detective JK. That means this Mai-chan rescued you」

◇ ◇ ◇

「Annabelleeeee! She’s useless! She failed to replace him!」

I threw the wine glass in my hand at the TV screen. Then, *Shatter*! a high-pitched shattering sound echoed, and the red wine splashed out.

It was supposed to be Kasuya, the ugly one, in the statue. I had been watching the TV, trying to see his crying face, trying to enjoy the panic of the foreign(gaijin) women who were Liliamos’ pawns.

However, when the statue cracked open, it revealed a handsome man with a slightly worn appearance.

Perhaps that was the man Annabelle was talking about, Kijima.

（Even though I had ordered her to confuse Kasuya and Kijima! You used woman!）

On the screen, I could see the puzzled expression on the handsome man’s face distort as he realized the situation.

Security guards held him back as he tried to raise his voice in a rage. The studio was in an uproar, and the handsome man was shouting and screaming, pinned down on the ground.