エルザ・シュトラヘルツは恋愛が苦手である。

　正確には自身の恋愛感情を相手に伝えるのが「へたっぴぃ」なのだった。
　ガープスなら不利な特徴として－５ＣＰくらいにはなるのではなかろうか。
　その原因は半陰陽という特異な身体特徴にあった。

　エルザとて若い頃からこんなエロい性格だった訳ではない。遠い遠い昔、まだ少女であった頃、自分の体の異常さに悩み思い詰めた事だってあるし、周囲の同性と違う自分が嫌で堪らなかった事だってある。だから思春期に至る頃には、自身の秘密を知られれば嫌われると思い込み、異性に好意を寄せる事すら恐れるようになっていたのだ。そうして異性と距離を取るようになっていくと当然、憧れを持とうとも恋愛などできようはずもない。こうして決して短くはない年月を、恋に憧れるだけで恋愛を経験する事無く過ごしてしまったが為に、自分の抱く想いを表現する方法が解らなくなってしまったのだった。
　それが二千年も生きてきて全く進歩が見られない背景には、夫の存在が深く関わっている。元々夫は、今は亡き師の元で共に魔法を学んでいた兄弟子であり、師に弟子入りしてから彼と生活を共にしていた。エルザは秘密を知られまいとして、初めて身近で接する異性である彼をできる限り避けていたが、短期間ならばいざ知らず、長期間ともなると隠し通すのは難しい。結局エルザの秘密は弟子入りから数年の内に、不慮の事故で彼に知られる事となった。ところが彼は、秘密を知られた事で嫌われるという恐怖に取り乱すエルザに対し、女性としてエルザを愛している、例え他人と違おうが、それがエルザであるならば全てを受け入れる、だから傷つく事はない、これが自分だと胸を張れ、と言ってのけたのだった。その愛の告白は、幼い頃から築き上げてきたエルザの心の壁を、いとも容易く崩壊させてしまった。同時に、それまで抱えていたエルザの苦悩を、一気に払い除けたのだった。
　共に魔法使いとなる事を誓い、修行を重ね…いつしか二人は男女の関係になっていた。
　実はそうなる以前から、生活を共にする間に彼はエルザの秘密に気付いていて、驚きはしたものの敢えて黙っていた事、それでいてなおエルザを見初めていて、普通なら判り易いレベルで好意を向けられていた事に、恋愛経験も無く彼を避け続けていたエルザは全く気付けていなかった、というだけだったのだ。魔法使いとなってからその経緯を聞いたエルザは、大爆笑する師に恥ずかしさのあまり地下深く穴を掘り、心配した夫が迎えに来るまでの三日三晩の間、泥だらけになりながら奇声を上げて転げ回っていたのは余談である。
　ここで問題となるのは、夫の愛し方にあった。彼は、エルザが自分は愛されない体である事に悩んでいた事を知っていた。だから自分がエルザを愛している事を伝える為に、それをエルザのコンプレックスとなっていた体で…つまり肉体関係を結ぶ事で表現してしまったのである。良かれと思っての彼のこの行為は、愛される喜びをエルザに覚えさせたが、一方で愛している事を証明する方法という刷り込みにもなってしまい、そこに至るまでの途中経過がすっぽりと抜け落ちたまま、未だ理解に及んでいないという結果になってしまった。
　この原初の経験が、色恋沙汰を理解できず無意識にのらりくらりとやり過ごし、愛情を向けてきた相手には肉体関係を結ぶ事で愛情を返す歪んだ恋愛観として、根付いてしまっているのだった。それが気に入った相手への好意の証として誰彼構わず手を出すという悪癖にも繋がっている。行き着く処に行き着いているくせに、単純な愛の語らいに気恥ずかしさを感じるというちぐはぐさ加減は、恋から恋愛に、やがて愛となるプロセスを経験しなかった弊害であろう。自分から手を出す時は強気なのに対し、受けの立場に回ると一転してしおらしくなってしまう正反対な変わり様も、この弊害が関係しているのかもしれない。
　
　最近はその頻度も少なくなり、冗談で済ます事が増えてきた。正体を隠す為とはいえ、女学校に通っていた頃は禁欲するつもりでいたし、義妹のランには悪戯はしても実際に手を出した事はない。周囲の反応から、少しずつ自分のやり方がズレている事に、やっと気付き始めているのかもしれない。
　しかし、それを認める訳にはいかない、と心の奥底にいる自分が叫ぶのだ。
　だって、このやり方は、夫が自分を愛してくれたやり方なのだから。
　嬉しくて、幸せで。夫が自分にそれを与えてくれたやり方を、ずっと信じて生きてきたのだから。

　そんなエルザの恋愛観をアイーナが理解するまで、そう時間は掛からなかった。
　何故これまで子供を作れなかったのか、また何故その機会に恵まれなかったのか、その理由を探る為にエルザの夫との馴れ初めと結婚してからの過ごし方を聞き出していくうちに、それぞれの話の中にある法則が存在していたからだった。
「なんというか…予想以上…むしろ予想以下の以下…ですわね」
　こめかみを揉み解しながら話の内容を振り返るが、エルザの話はどれもこれもピントがズレまくっていた。
　旦那と一緒に散歩して、いっぱいお話しする。
　一緒に昼寝したり、お茶したり。
　研究中の案件がある時は共同作業する。
　ただボーっとしているだけの時もある。
　絶対一緒のベッドで寝る。
　等々、平凡で暖かな円満夫婦の過ごし方に聞こえる一方で、エルザはその全てで必ず「夫と一緒」を強調し、「嬉しい」「幸せ」「安心」を繰り返す。時折話の中に「愛し合う」という表現が混じる事を除けば、普段のエルザからは考えられない程の穏やか過ぎる絵に描いたような関係。有り体に言えばエルザの物言いは何もかもが幼稚なのだった。
　これにはアイーナも驚きを通り越して呆れるしかなかった。アイーナだって、男性が苦手な所為でエルザと関係を持つまで恋愛の経験がなかった点では、条件は同じといえる。しかし、関係を持つまでに様々な葛藤や心境の変化があった事を覚えているし、関係を持ってからも嫉妬したり心配事を抱えたりして過ごした。エルザが日本へ発ってからは、フォックスライダー家の令嬢という立場に縛られ、一人この地に残らざるを得ない寂しさもあった。エルザとの関係を語るとすれば、アイーナはこれらを必ず語るだろう。それをエルザは、愛されるまで苦悩やら葛藤があったという割に、愛されてからは一貫して「嬉しい」「幸せ」としか語らないのだ。
（ご主人とのふれあいを聞くに、どうやらご夫婦の間には本物の愛情があるようですけれど、ただ仲睦まじい事が解るだけで、どれも一緒に過ごしているという表面的なもので満足していて、夫婦間の愛情としては夫婦の営みのみでしか触れていない事に、ご本人が全く気付いていない。恋人とか夫婦とか、そういう大人の男女間に憧れる幼児…エルザさんの恋愛観は、そうとしか言い表せませんわ）
　それでいて「女として子を成したい」と言う。未成熟な幼い恋愛感情と成熟した大人の女性としての望みがあまりにも噛み合わなさ過ぎて、どうにか統合性を図ろうとすればする程、頭痛がしてきそうな勢いだった。ミフィがいつの間にか噛み付くのをやめ、呆けた表情で微動だにしないのは、おそらくエルザの語る恋愛観をそのまま自分なりに解釈しようと試みたものの、どんどんこんがらがって混乱しているからだろう。
（永い時間を生きる魔法使い、その感覚は普通ではないと思っていましたけれど、エルザさんの場合は恋愛感情そのものが全く育たずにきた所為で、異常からも遥かにかけ離れたものになってしまっているのでしょうね）
　溜息ひとつ。なんとなく結果は予想できるが、これを確認しておかないと、自分達がこの先ずっとやきもきさせられる羽目になる。
「とにかく、ここまででハッキリとさせておきたい事は一つ。私達は間違いなく貴女に愛されている…のですよね？」
「なあアイーナ、や、やっぱりそれ、言わんとダメか？」
「貴女に言ってほしいのです。やっぱり、好きな人に好きと言われるのは嬉しいですし、愛されている事に安心できるのですから。ね、ミフィさん？」
「そうだなぁ、言われてみれば、今までお嬢から大切に想われている的な事は言われた事はあるが、好きとか愛してるとか、言われた事ないぞ。お嬢、私も聞きたい」
「うむ、む…確かに、言われれば嬉しく思うのは、儂も同じじゃが…む、むむう…改めて口にするというのは、こう、恥ずかしい…」
「私達は散々言ってますのよ。私達にだけ言わせておいて自分は言わないなんて、アンフェアじゃありませんの」
「お願いだお嬢、言ってほしい。お嬢に愛されているんだという安心を私達に与えてくれ」
　そう二人に迫られたエルザは、葛藤があるのか忙しなく頭を動かしながらもじもじしていたが、しばらくして息を大きく吸うと、咳払いをして…目をぎゅっと瞑って、
「愛しとる…二人とも、な」
　消え入りそうな声で、そう言った。
　言って、足の上に乗せられたカラーボックスの上に顔面から突っ伏した。
「だおおおおおおおおおおおおおおおおおおおおおおお！！！！！」
　そして力の限り叫ぶ。耳まで真っ赤になっている辺り、相当恥ずかしかったらしい。
（やっぱり、ね）
　思った通りだった。やる事だけはキッチリやっておきながらその実、エルザの恋愛感情は素直になれない子供のレベルでしかなかった。エルザが今まで子を授かれなかったのも、愛されるというぬるま湯の現状を維持する事に満足してしまっている所為で、授かる為の努力もせず、望んでいると言い出した事も、必死になった事も無いからではなかろうか。変な所で恥ずかしがる事を考えると、子を授かりたいという願い自体に恥ずかしさを感じているのでは、とも考えられる。何故ならそれは、現状から一歩踏み出すという事に他ならず、好意を告白するなどといった「はじめの一歩」となる勇気を奮い立たせた事すら無いエルザにとって、自分から初めて踏み出すには既に難易度の高い次元に達しているからだ。
　それが解ったから、アイーナは…エルザの恋愛観における全ての問題を全力でぶん投げる事にした。
（これまでのエルザさんの不可解だった点が解消された訳ですし、それが解っているのなら、わざわざ付き合い方を変える必要はありませんもの。想定していた結果とは随分違ってしまったけれど、これ以上はどうにもならないでしょうし）
　この話し合いを計画していた当初は、もしエルザが恋愛と肉欲を履き違えているとするならば、それを正しい方向に矯正するつもりでいた。しかし、こうしてエルザの実情を知った今、どんな方向に導こうとも不可能に思えてならない。過去にエルザを愛した者達の中にも数人くらいは、自分達と同じ事を考え付いた者が居たに違いないのに、それでもなお今のエルザがこうなのだから、自分達の手でどうにかできよう筈もない。
（何しろ私もミフィさんも、エルザさんの他に恋愛異経験ありませんし！！）
　そんな二人がいくら知恵を出し合ったところで、ゼロにゼロをいくつ足そうが掛けようが、導き出される答えはゼロでしかない。だからアイーナは、自分達が愛されるならそれで良いとして、これ以上考える事をやめた。
　どうせ、エルザとの関係は自分達の寿命が来るまでの短い間だけの事なのだから、こんなつまらない事でエルザとの時間を無駄にしたくない。ただ、早めにエルザの望みを叶えない事には、自分達の望みも叶えさせてもらえないだろう事だけが気掛かりだった。
「まあ、それはそれとして」
「うん？」
「黙っていた事のお仕置きは、きっちりやらせていただきますわよ」
「覚悟をお勧めするぞ、お嬢」
「え？」
　アイーナとミフィは、エルザの足の上に乗せていたカラーボックスを退けると、拘束を解かぬまま床に転がした。足が痺れ過ぎて立ち上がる事もままならないエルザは、なすがままにされる。
「え？」
「はいこれ、ミフィさんの分」
「ふむ、ピコピコハンマーってのは、使うのは初めてだ」
「え？」
「じゃ、いきますわよ～」
「おう」
「え？」
「「せーのっ」」
　ピコピコピコピコピコピコピコッ。エルザの痺れに痺れた両足目掛けて、ピコピコハンマーが連続で振り下ろされた。
「ひぎゃぁああああああああっあぉあっああああああああああああひぃぃぃあああああああががががああああああああぃゃああああああああひゃあぁあああああああ！！！！！！！！！！！」
　それから足の痺れが取れるまでの間、その断末魔が途切れる事は無かったそうな。
　合掌。

（…はて？）
　最も効果の高い足先を執拗に狙いすまして叩きながら、ふと脳裏に一つの疑問が沸き上がったミフィは首を傾げた。
（私達がお嬢に愛されていたという事は判ったが、お嬢に旦那がいるという事実は変わらないよな。私達はそれについて納得し許した上で、二人で愛してもらうという選択をした訳だが、それって本来、私達が許したり選択したりする事じゃなくて、旦那が考えるべき事なんじゃないか？…て事は、お嬢と私達の問題が解決しても、お嬢と旦那の間では何も解決していない事になるんじゃ…？）
　チラと横を見て、楽しそうにエルザの足を叩きまくるアイーナを伺う。聡明な彼女なら、これに思い至っていそうなものなのだが。
（ま、今考えても仕方のない事か。アイーナが問題にしないのなら大した問題ではないのだろうし、下手したら旦那とは一生会わない可能性だってあるもんな。会う事があれば…その時はその時だ）
　一人納得すると、親指の辺りをロックオンする作業に没頭した。

　足の痺れが取れた所でお仕置きも終わり、いじけてベッドの下に潜り込んだエルザを宥めすかしたりした後、三人はアイーナのＰＣの前でモニタを覗き込んでいた。
　アイーナの部屋は、左右でまるで景観が違う。ドアから入って左側はベッドを中心とした構成で、アイーナの好みで揃えられた質素なりに高級感漂う調度品が控えめに部屋を彩っていて、読みかけの本がサイドテーブルの上に乗っている以外に散らかった様子もなく、整理整頓が行き届いている事が見て取れる。柔らかな感触のソファと絨毯、磨き抜かれて艶やかな木目を見せるテーブル、淡いブルーを基調とした一面の壁が、ドア向かいの大きな窓からきめ細やかなレースのカーテンを通して差し込む日差しを受けて、心休まる癒しの空間にも似た、居心地の良さそうな雰囲気を醸し出していた。もっとも、壁際を我が物顔で占拠する本棚の中身の大半が、翻訳されたジャパニーズ・コミックとアニメのＤＶＤで占められているのは、エルザの影響によるところが大きい。
　ところが右側を見ると、大魔王が世界を蹂躙していくが如き勢いで、その暖かな雰囲気をブチ壊しているのだった。所狭しと並べられ積み上げられた電子機器の山々、縦横無尽という言葉がピタリ当てはまるように床を這う無数のケーブル類、その隙間を狙うように転がっている基板や工具、作りかけの機械。棚に詰め込まれている何台ものＨＵＢを経由して伸びるＬＡＮケーブルは、あちらこちらに蜘蛛の巣を張るように分岐し、容易に行き先を追う事はできない。三人が覗き込んでいるモニタはアームで増設され、唯一そこだけぽっかりとスペースを空けているアイーナの座る椅子を囲うように、計６台が設置されていて、そのモニタを挟み込むように、両脇にも一抱えもある電子機器がケーブルで連結されて積み上げられ、更にその上に無造作に置かれた数台のルータがフル稼働し、不規則にＬＥＤを点灯させ続けている。デスクの下には数えるのもバカらしくなる台数の自作ハイタワーＰＣがみっちりと詰め込まれ、静音など知った事ではないとばかりに重低音で大合唱しているのだ。敢えてその様相を言い表すならば、左側は癒しの居住スペースであるのに対し、右側は退廃したローテクＳＦのコンソールである。この部屋の左右の違いは、左財閥令嬢であると同時にかつて天才ハッカーと謳われた、アイーナの表と裏の顔をそのまま表しているかのようだった。
　そして今、アイーナはかつての裏の顔で、モニタに表示されるデータを睨み付けていた。
「私には良く解らないんだが、このデータは一体？」
「エルザさんから依頼を受けて、ある単語を使っているデータを含む情報端末を探していたんです。聞けば相当昔の話なので、私としてはデジタルデータとして発見できる可能性は薄いと思っていたのですが、意外にもアタリを引いたのが私だった訳ですの。これを見れば、エルザさんの依頼内容も理解できるかと」
　いくつか展開しているフォルダには、相当なスクロールを必要とする量のデータが収まっている。その中から先頭に位置するデータを選びクリックすると、表示されたのは古い新聞記事だ。スキャナで取り込んだらしい荒い画像データだったが、それだけに劣化も無く、記事を読むことができた。
「何々…ハロウィンの猟奇殺人、被害者の名前はエトランゼ・シュトゥーリア…この事件を調べていたのか？」
「事件は二十年以上前、被害者は当時十歳の女の子で、誘拐されて凌辱を受けた後、生きたまま全身を切り刻まれて死亡。遺体はバラバラに切断されていたらしく、その後の捜索でも腰から膝までの部分が発見されなかったそうですわね。ハロウィンの日に殺された彼女はハロウィンにちなんだ怨霊となり、自分を殺した犯人を殺害。それからは犯人と同じ変質者を変死させながら世界中を漂い、日本に流れ着いて、ある魔法使いに拾われました。ここまで言えば誰の事だか解りますわよね？」
「え…」
　アイーナが記事をかいつまんで読み上げると、ミフィははっとした様子で目を見開いた。事件概要から事件後の動向までが、すぐ身近に居る人物の過去に全て該当しているのだ。まさかと思いエルザを振り返ると、エルザは小さく頷いてみせた。
「想像の通りだよミフィ、アイーナにはランの事を調べるよう頼んでおいた。儂自身もシュトラヘルツの持つ情報網を使い、コル達も動員して調べさせていたのだが、どうやらアナログな方法では限界があったようでな。ま、そのお陰でメイド達は皆、ランの事情を理解して、儂の義妹として受け入れてくれたようじゃが」
　その結果が昨日の乱痴気騒ぎなのだが、メイド達の”ランにいち早く馴染んでもらおう”という意図を知っていたし、エルザの目にはメイド達がランを可愛がっているようにしか映らなかった為、彼女達の行き過ぎた歓迎から必死で逃げ出してきたランに脳天にブチ込まれたファイナル・エルボーは、全力の照れ隠しだと捉えているらしかった。
「しかし、何故小お嬢の過去を？あんなにいい子なんだし、経歴を詐称しているとは思えないが…」
「当たり前じゃ、言われるまでもなくあの子を信じておるに決まっておろう。調べているのはランの過去ではなく、あの子の消えた遺体の一部じゃよ。あの子は欠損した遺体の部分が自分の体から欠けている事を気に病んでおる。己の体に欠陥を抱える苦悩は儂も知っておる故、生き返らせるのは不可能でも、せめて幽体だけでも元に戻せるのなら、欠損した遺体を揃えて五体満足に戻してやりたい、そう思ってな」
　ミフィは…これにはアイーナもだが…その言葉に嘘偽りは一切含まれていない事を確信していた。いつもだったら、もっともらしい理由を付けただけで、元に戻して悪戯したいだけだろう、そう思っていたに違いない。けれどエルザの恋愛ベタの理由を知った今では、そんなもっともらしい理由をもっともなものとして、素直に信じられるようになっていた。
　…掘り返せば前科が腐るほど出てくるから、今の内だけかもしれないけれど。
「で、小お嬢の消えた死体の一部の行方が、このデータに記されているって訳だな」
「そういう意味では、ノーですわね。手掛かりという意味では…限りなくイエス、ですかしら」
「限りなくとは随分曖昧じゃないか、勿体ぶらずにハッキリと言っ…？」
　歯切れの悪い言い方に苛立ちを覚えたミフィだったが、アイーナが眉をひそめて口元に手を当てているのを見て、口を噤んだ。口元に手を当てるのはアイーナが考え事をする時の癖だ。自分よりも遥かに頭の切れる彼女ですら考え込む程なのだから、これがあまり確実ではない情報なのだと解る。
「もしかして、アイーナにも判断が付かないのか？」
「ええ。その、義妹さんの名前と関係した単語を頼りに調査を続けてきたのですが、思ったような情報が出てこずに、予想外の展開になってしまったものですから…」
　難しい顔をしたアイーナは、これまで行ってきた調査の経緯を、自分でも整理がついていないのか、順を追って話し始めた。

「最初は警察のデータベースから調査を始めました。しかし容疑者は犯人を除いて無関係である事が証明されていますし、その犯人もご存知の通り死亡しています。ところが、それが犯人の容疑が固まる前だったのが災いして、警察は捜査に行き詰まったようですの。実際には、犯人の末路とその後の彼女の動向から、この殺人事件は超常事件を引き起こした原因として扱われるようになった事もあって、事件の捜査は警察からスイーパーズに引き継がれていますが…あくまで超常事件の捜査に切り替わったのであって、殺人事件自体の捜査が引き継がれた訳ではありませんの。それを世間に公表する訳にもいかず、表向きには殺人事件は迷宮入り。一応、申し訳程度に警察による捜査は続けられ、殺害現場から消えたご遺体の一部の捜索が行われたようですが、それは当時の話です。時効が成立した未解決事件となった現在では、既に捜査は打ち切られ、追跡捜査も行われませんでした」
「むむ、む…ややこしいな。なんとなくしか解らんぞ」
「このくだりはそれほど重要でもないので、なんとなくの理解で十分ですわ。消えたご遺体の行方については、ご遺族が情報提供を呼び掛けていましたが、寄せられた情報はどれも有力な手掛かりとは言い難く、事件後の一、二年程で情報提供者もパッタリと途絶えていますわね。ネットが普及してからは情報提供用のサイトを立ち上げたようですけれど、ログは全てスパムで埋まっていました。スイーパーズ側の情報によると、犯人は数年に渡り繰り返し犯行に及んでいて、自宅の地下に切断した死体を保存していたそうですが…」
「犯行の証拠を隠蔽していたか、あるいはコレクションしていたのか？胸糞の悪い話だな。で、その中には当然、小お嬢の死体も含まれていたんだろう？」
　苦々しい表情でモニタを睨み付けるミフィが吐き捨てるように言うと、アイーナは溜息交じりにかぶりを振って、半眼になって次のデータを呼び出す。開かれた画像データは薄暗い一室の様子を写した写真のようで、壁際に無造作に並べられている傾いた木棚を薄汚れた裸電球が弱々しく照らし出し、陰鬱な雰囲気を醸し出していた。そして、そこに陳列されている物体は…
「犯人が死体を保存していた地下室の、発見当時の写真ですわ」
「うッげ、これバラバラになった死体じゃないか！モザイクくらいかけろ！」
「仕方ないでしょう、加工しようとすると、どうしてもこれを見なければならないんですから！」
　自分で画像を開いておきながら、アイーナも青い顔で画像から微妙に視線を外していた。
「この写真なら儂も見たぞ。ちなみにこれ、ここに山積みになってるのがアンコ」
「指差すのやめて下さい、つられて見てしまいますから！」
「そうだぞお嬢！こんなの見たら、レバーとか食べる時に思い出しちゃうだろ！」
　二人にベチンと手を叩かれて、結構良い所に入ったのか手を押さえてうずくまり、エルザ沈黙。そしてアイーナはすぐさま画像を閉じた。これ以上は見ていたくないらしい。
「ええと何の話だっけ…ああ、犯人が隠してた死体だった。犯人がさっきの地下室に死体を隠していたのは間違いないようだが、小お嬢の死体はそこに無かったのか？」
「発見された遺体は全て切断されていて、もう殆ど白骨化したりミイラ化したりしていたそうですが、十人分はあったようです。義妹さんの遺体を含めず、ね」
「小お嬢以外の死体はあった筈だろ、でも小お嬢の死体はそこに無かった。一体どういう事なんだ…小お嬢が自分で運び出したんだろうか？」
「それなら全部運び出すでしょう、自分の体なんですから。…ただ、実は第三者の手で運び出された可能性がありますの。犯人が死亡しているのを発見されたのが、死後一週間程。腐敗臭による近隣からの苦情が元で発覚したらしいですが、発見される三日前、犯人の家から複数人が荷物を運び出しているのを目撃されています」
「犯人の家族である可能性は？」
「犯人は一人暮らしで、家族とは疎遠だったそうですし、可能性は薄いですわね。目撃された人物像とも一致しなかったようですわ」
　別のファイルからデータを呼び出すと、犯人の家族の当時の写真、そして聞き込みで得られた不審人物の特徴を箇条書きにしたものが表示される。ざっと目を通してみたものの、確かにどの特徴も写真に写る人物を指し示しているとは思えないものばかりだった。
「スーツ姿の男が数名、バッグやらトランクやらを家から運び出し、白の高級車で去った…それが小お嬢の死体だったって事か？高級車ってのが引っかかるな」
「近隣住民との付き合いも薄かったらしく、目撃した方もその時は大して気にしていなかったそうですから、車種の特定やナンバーの割り出しは不可能ですわね。唯一、白塗装の高級車という印象だけが残っていたそうで」
「目撃証言なんてそんなもんか。でもおかしいじゃないか、目撃されたこいつらが小お嬢の死体を運び出したから地下室から消えていた、それだけなら筋は通るんだが、問題は小お嬢の遺体の一部が消えている事だぞ。これでは全部消えてしまうじゃないか」
「良い所に気が付いたなミフィよ。これには後日談があって、時期をずらして匿名の電話が警察に寄せられ、その都度遺体の一部分ずつが発見されたそうじゃ。しかし、腰から膝までの部分だけが揃わぬまま匿名の通報も無くなり、終ぞ発見されぬまま現在に至っておる」
　まだ痛みが残っているのか、手をさするエルザがアイーナに代わって説明を引き継ぐ。
「それって、つまり…運び出した男達が死体をバラバラに遺棄して、わざわざ自分でそれを通報した、のか？それも全部分じゃなく、一部分だけを知らせないまま、中途半端に発見させる形で…」
「そうなりますわね。そうした理由が全く見えてこないのが不気味ですけれど」
「ま、待て…待てアイーナ！これにはもうひとつ、おかしな点がある！」
「おかしな点…ですか？」
「ふむ？言ってみよ、ミフィ」
「え？あ、ああ、いや、間違ってるかもしれない、けど…」
　エルザとアイーナの視線を受けて、ミフィはごくりと喉を鳴らした。

　ミフィは自分が二人ほど頭の回転が良くない事を自覚している。それ故に的外れな事を言ってしまうかもしれない…だから、こういう時は聞き役に徹する事で、二人の思考を妨げないようにしてきた。けれどミフィは今、そんな自分が抱いている違和感を、二人が全く話題にしない事に焦りを感じていた。それでつい口を出してしまったのだ。
「その…どうして小お嬢だったのかな、って。だって、死体を運び出すって相当リスクが高いだろう？他にも死体はいっぱいあって、骨とかミイラとか、こっそりと運び出しやすい、見付かっても偽装しやすいものならいくらでもあったはずなのに…大体、死体が欲しいなら犯人の家から運び出さなくたって、墓荒らしでも良い訳じゃないか、むしろその方が目撃される確率は下げられる筈だろう、現に目撃されてるくらいなんだし。それを、敢えて見付かった時のリスクが高い、新鮮な小お嬢の死体を選んだ理由は何なのか、と思ったんだ…」
　もしかしたら単純な事だから話題にしなかったのかもしれない、そう思って声が段々尻すぼみになっていくミフィとは対照的に、エルザとアイーナは驚きの表情で顔を見合わせていた。すぐさまエルザは思案顔になり、アイーナも口元に手をやり考え込んだ。
「そうか…単にランがそうであるから、運び出されたのがランの遺体であるのを当たり前の事として捉えていたが…」
「これは盲点でしたわね。言われてみれば、なぜ義妹さんのご遺体である必要があったのか、それを考慮していませんでしたわ。仮に偶然だとしても、わざわざ犯人の家から運び出す理由には繋がらない…」
「ん、うん、そう、多分それ」
　つい口を出したものの、実は考えが纏まっていなくて疑問に思った事だけを言ってみただけだったりした。何とか二人が意図を汲んでくれたようでひと安心なミフィである。
「そうなると、次に見せるデータも意味が変わってくるかもしれませんわ。どのみち私にはまるで理解できませんから、やはりこれ以上の調査にはエルザさんのお力が必要なようですし、確認して頂けませんか？」
「ふむ、見せてもらおうか」
　そうして次に開かれた膨大な量のテキストデータを見て、ミフィが「うげぇ」と呻いた。何の事はない記述から小説、果ては匿名掲示板のログまで、ありとあらゆるテキストが存在し、一応は内容ごとにフォルダを分けてあるようだが、それでも尋常ではない分量に達していたからだ。手掛かりは喉から手が出るほど欲しいが、手掛かりを探すためにはこれら大量のデータに目を通さなければならないのだ。これにはエルザも舌を巻く思いだった。
「これは私が作成したエージェント・プログラムが送ってきたものです。このエージェントは、指定した単語を含むデータを見付けると、そのコピーを私の元へ送ってくるようプログラムしたもので、ネットを介して増殖・潜伏し、内部データを密かに検索する機能を持っています」
「おいおい、それってウィルスなんじゃ…」
　冷や汗を書くミフィに、エルザに席を譲ったアイーナは待ってましたとばかりに目を光らせ、エージェント・プログラムの説明を始める。
「ネットワークを利用して増殖する性質は似ていますが、ウィルスのように悪影響は及ぼしませんわよ。潜伏先の内部データの検索が終わると、該当データがあった場合はそれらのコピーをこちらに送り、全て送り終わったり該当無しだった場合は、そこから他のネットワークに潜伏する別のコピーに自身の潜伏先の検索結果とＩＤを示す管理データを送って、自身は跡形もなく消滅するようになっています。潜伏先の情報は…流石にＧＰＳは使えませんし、管理データをコンピュータ１台ごとにＩＤを割り振るとデータ量が爆発的に増えてしまうので、ある一定の範囲で拡大したおおよその区域のＩＤを作成してコンパクトにまとまるようにし、最大９９バイトという破格の小容量を実現しています。エージェント自体の容量はそれなりになってしまいましたが、せめてものお詫びとして潜伏中はセキュリティソフトや常駐プログラムに取り付き、ウィルス対策を強化するおまけ付き。レジストリにも影響しない安心設計となっておりますのよ。クラッカーが作るような、データを破壊して回るような品の無いプログラムなんかと一緒にされては困りましてよ？」
「アイーナ」
「何ですの？ここからが面白い所ですのに」
　まさにマシンガントーク。余程の自信作で誰かに聞いてほしかったのか、自分の作成したエージェントがどれだけ高性能か、他人の迷惑をいかに回避しているかを嬉々として説くアイーナに、満面の笑みを湛えたミフィが朗らかに言い切った。
「超☆うぜぇ」
　取っ組み合いの喧嘩になった。

　アイーナがミフィとキャットファイトを始めてしまったお陰で空いた背椅子に座ったエルザは、まずどのファイルから目を通すべきかと悩み、その中で予めアイーナが開いていたフォルダからファイルを開くが、意味不明な文字列が表示されるばかりであった。

Elza Schtlehertz was bad with love.

Specifically, she was "terrible" at expressing her feelings of love to the one she loved. If this was a GURPS, then this trait probably would be a -5 character points. The cause of this was because she had the unique trait of being a hermaphrodite.

When Elza was young, she didn't have such a lewd personality. A long, long time ago, when she was still a girl, she was worried about the strangeness of her own body, and hated that she was different from the other girls around her. So when she reached puberty, assuming she would be hated if her secret was known, be started to fear the advances of the opposite sex. And as she distanced herself from the opposite sex, naturally, even though she wanted to, she couldn't love them. And like that, the months and years passed, and passed her days wishing for love, but never experiencing it, so didn't know how to express her feelings that she embraced.
All of her progress in the 2,000 years that she lived was all related to her unseen husband. He was an older apprentice to her now-dead master that she studied magic under, and they lived together after she was accepted as an apprentice. Elza didn't want him to know about her secret, so at first she avoided contact with him as much as possible, since he was a member of the opposite sex, so it worked in the short term, but in the long term, it was difficult to hide. In the end, within a few years of her becoming an apprentice, due to an accidental incident, Elza's secret became known. Although Elza was deathly afraid that he would hate her once her secret was known, he loved Elza as a woman, and though she might be different from others, since it was Elza, he would accept all of her. So he said that she shouldn't be hurt, but be proud of herself. This confession of love easily broke down the wall that Elza had constructed around her heart ever since she was young. At the same time, all of her worries that Elza had with her were blown away all at once.
Together, they swore to become wizards, continued their training... And before they knew it, entered into a relationship as man and woman.
In reality, before this happened, while they were living together, he had realized Elza's secret, and keep silent about it, and he had fallen in love at first sight of Elza, and it was obvious to a normal person by how nice he treated Elza (he also didn't have experience in love), but Elza, who was continuing to avoid him, didn't have any clue at all. Elza, who was becoming a wizard, upon hearing all the details, felt so embarrassed by her master's laughter that she dug a deep hole in the ground, and her husband, who was worried about her, spent 3 days and 3 nights looking for her, covered in mud and yelling. But that's a different story.
Now, the problem was the one the husband loved. He knew that Elza hated her own body. So in order for him to tell Elza that he loved her, with the body that Elza had a complex about... Basically, to express it with copulation. This action, which he thought was right, would bring Elza the happiness of being loved, but at the same time, would also be hard evidence of him loving her, so by focusing on the end and ignoring the details of how to get there, the result was he didn't have the necessary understanding.
This first experience, where she couldn't understand his love and unconsciously ignored it, and the feelings of love from him to her, and her return feelings of love in the form of copulation, became her distorted view of love, which she accepted. This became connected to her bad habit of laying her hands on just about anyone as a way to showing her affection towards them. This ended up making the odd condition of her being embarrassed to talk about pure love, as well as the bad trait of never experienced love or the process of falling in love. Even though she was confident when she was laying her hands on someone, when the situation is reversed, she became the exact opposite, which might be related to this bad trait.

Recently, this has become less common, and more often she does it as a joke. In order to hide her true identity, when she was attending a girls' school, she had planned on being abstinent, and even when playing a prank on her adopted sister Ran, she never actually laid a hand on her. Maybe she slowly realized from the reactions of those around her that her actions weren't normal.
However, from the depths of her heart, she cried out that she couldn't accept this.
Because, these actions were how her husband loved her.
Happiness, bliss. These actions were how her husband had given her those things, and she had always lived believing that.

Up until Aiina had understood Elza's view of love, she had never took the time to think about it.
Why she never had a child, and why she never had the opportunity. Whenever she was asked how she spent her time after entered into a relationship with her husband and got married, in order to search for these reasons, she had various rules about these conversations.
"So that's it... This is beyond... No, actually this is much, much below... what I imagined."
Rubbing the sides of her forehead, she returned to the conversation, but Elza's story still wasn't clear.
Her and her husband had walked and talked together a lot.
They napped together, and had tea together.
They worked together as they studied.
And they certainly slept together in the same bed.
Etc. While i could be said that it was a peaceful, perfectly normal way for a husband and wife to live, Elza was emphasizing everything with "with my husband", "happy" "blessed" "calm" over and over again. Except for the phrase "love each other", which was also sometimes mixed in, she was painting a portrait of a calm relationship that would be unthinkable for the Elza's usual self. To put it honestly, Elza's way of speaking was childish from start to finish.
Even Aiina was shocked at this. Due to Aiina being bad with guys, she had no experience in love until her relationship with Elza, and their circumstances were the same. However, until her relationship with Elza, she remembered she had troubles and a strange mental state, but after her relationship, she embraced her jealousy and anxiety and moved beyond it. Ever since Elza left for Japan, she solidifed herself as the heir of the Foxrider family, and felt lonely for being the only one left in this country. When she would talk about her relationship with Elza, Aiina would probably always say these things. Just like how Elza could only say how, before she was loved, she had troubles and hardships, and afterwards, she was consistently "happy" and "blessed".
(When I asked her about her connection with her husband, it does seem like there is real love between them, but all she knows is harmonious things, and on the surface, they seem satisfied, but in terms of the love between them, all she knows is how they live together as husband and wife, and she herself doesn't realize that fact. Lovers or husband and wife, it's just the relationship between a man and a woman that she longed for as a child... You could say that Elza-san's view of love is only that.)
And yet, she said "I want to have a child as a woman." An immature childish feeling of love and a mature adult woman's wish would clash too much, and as they try to meld together, there would be a powerful headache. Mifi, at some point, stopped biting her, and without even the slightest flinch from her dazed expression, Elza was probably still trying to sort out her own view of love in her own way, and was completely confused.
(For a wizard who has lived for a long time, I don't think these feelings are normal, but in Elza-san's case, since her feelings of love hasn't grown at all, they have gone from abnormal to something completely off track.)
She sighed once. She could foresee the result, but if she didn't make sure of it, it would become very problematic for them in the future.
"Anyway, there's one thing I want you to make clear. Do you, in no uncertain terms, love us...?"
"Eh, Aiina, d, do I, have to say that?"
"I'd like you to say it. Of course, being told I love you by someone you love would make me happy, and I can find relief in being loved. Right, Mifi-san?"
"That's right, now that you mention it, you have told me things like you think I'm important, but you've never said you like or love me, Mistress. I want to hear it too."
"Mmmm... It's true, I also feel that I'd be happy if I was told that, but... Mmmmm... But then again, actually saying it, is, embarrassing..."
"We've said it a lot. So for you not to say it to us is unfair, isn't it?"
"Please, Mistress, I want you to say it. Having you tell us that you love us would give us peace."
Elza, who was being cornered by them, was fidgeting while moving her restless head, maybe because she was conflicted. However, after a bit, she took a deep breath, and cleared her throat... shut her eyes tight,
"I love you... Both of you."
She said, with a disappearing voice.
She said it, and then slammed her face into the top of the color box on her lap.
"Daooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!"
And then she screamed as loud as she could. Her entire face turned red, like she was so embarrassed.
(I thought so.)
It was just as she thought. Just by doing it, the exact reality of it, Elza's feelings of love, were nothing more than at the level of a non-straightforward child. How Elza never had a child, how she was satisfied with keeping this lukewarm situation, how she wasn't trying hard to have a child, and saying she wanted one, and how she wasn't desperate about it. She thinks about the weird things she was embarrassed about, and how she feels embarrassed about just wishing to have a child. Because that is nothing except a step from her current condition, and confessing her liking is "the first step". And for Elza, who couldn't muster the courage, having her take the first step by herself was extremely difficult level to reach.
Aiina understood this... Elza was casting off all of her problems regarding view of love.
(This is because Elza-san is resolving the things she can't figure out, and if she do so, then there will be no need for her to change those who accompany her. The outcome was much different from what I anticipated, but there's nothing else to be done.)
When they were first planning this conversation, if they had been mistaken about Elza's love vs lust, they had planned on correcting it to be in the proper direction. However, now that they knew Elza's real situation, it was impossible to know which way to lead her. Even among the ones who loved Elza in the past, there were certainly others who came up with the same idea as them, however now that Elza was like this, there's no way that they could do it themselves.
(What should we do, neither I nor Mifi have any strange experiences with love aside from Elza!!)
The two of them thought long and hard, but no matter how many times you add zero to zero, the only answer you ever come up with is zero. So Aiina didn't think any further than if she loved them, then that was enough.
Anyway, their relationship with Elza was only a short part of their life, and they didn't want to waste time with Elza on such a boring thing. Compared to not having Elza's wish granted, not having their wish granted was just a small concern.
"Well, that's that."
"Huh?"
"I'll be giving you your punishment for keeping silent about this."
"I advise you to prepare yourself, Mistress."
"Eh?"
Aiina and Mifi removed the color box on Elza's lap, and put her on the floor without undoing her bindings. Her legs were still numb, so she couldn't stand, so Elza was still defenseless.
"Eh?"
"Ok, now it's Mifi's turn."
"Hmm, this is the first time that I've used a piko piko hammer."
"Eh?"
"All right, here I go~"
"Oh"
"Eh?"
""Ready, set""
Pikopikopikopikopikopikopiko. Aiming at both of Elza's numb legs, the piko piko hammer was repeatedly swung down.
"HigyaaaaaaaaAaaaaAaaAAaaaaaaahiiiiiaaaaaaaagagagagaaaaaaaaaaanooaaaaaaaaaahayaaaaaAaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!"
Until her legs stopped being numb, there was no rest from the horrible agony.
Lord have mercy.

(...Huh?)
While focusing on hitting her highly effective feet, Mifi suddenly thought of a question that had been in the back of her mind, and tilted her head.
(I know that the Mistress loves us, but that doesn't change the fact that she has a husband. More important than us knowing and forgiving her, since she made the choice to love us, that means not that we have forgiven and chosen her, but shouldn't she be thinking about her husband? ...So, even if the problem between the Mistress and us is resolved, nothing is resolved between her and her husband, right...?)
Giving a glance to her side, she asked Aiina, who was happily hitting Elza's feet. Since she's wise, she's thought of that, right.
(Well, even if I think about it now, there's nothing that can be done about it. If Aiina's not going to question it, then it probably isn't that important. And if I do it poorly, it's possible she won't see her husband again for the rest of her life. And if I meet him... I'll worry about that then.)
Coming to a self-agreement, she set to work and locked on to the area around her thumb.

Once the numbness in her legs faded, the punishment was also over. After calming down Elza, who cowardly was hiding under a bed, the 3 of them gazed at the monitor of Aiina's PC.
The left and right sides of Aiina's room looked like completely different scenes. As you came through the door, the left side had her bed in the middle, and was humbly furnished with some high class-seeming goods, just as Aiina liked. Aside from some books she was reading on a side table, there was nothing messy, and it was clear that she kept everything neat. A soft sofa and rung, a stained wooden table, a pale blue wall that served as the basis, and even a huge window opposite the door, with an intricate lace curtain that let in the sunlight, all fit in with the relaxing and soothing atmosphere, and nurtured a comforting environment. However, along the wall, occupying about half of a bookshelf in a triumphant manner, were translated Japanese comics and anime DVDs, which showed how great Elza's influence was.
However, on the right side, like a great demon lord trampling over the world, that gentle atmosphere was completely destroyed. Tightly stacked next to each other was a heap of electronics. The phrase 'in every direction' was a perfect fit for the endless snaking cables, and with machinery and circuits and partially finished machines in all the spaces between them. Crammed into shelves were multiple LAN cables that formed a HUB. And everywhere, it branched out like a spiderweb, and it was hard to get anywhere. The 3 of them gazed at the monitor, as an arm extended, and it quickly created a space around the chair Aiina was sitting in, and put 6 parts there, and like it was inserting it into the monitor, a bunch of electronics were connected by cables LEDs started intermittently turning on. Beneath the desk, there were countless self-made tower PCs forcefully crammed in there, and without any sound dampeners, a low, heavy sound hummed together. If you had to describe it, the left side was a soothing residential place, and in contrast, the right side was a degenerate low tech sci fi console. The difference between this room's left and right sides was that she was the sole heiress to a business conglomerate, and at the same time, used to be known as a genius hacker. It was an expression of Aiina's outward and inner appearances.
And now, Aiina, with her former inner appearance, was staring at the data shown on her monitor.
"This doesn't make much sense to me, but what is this data?"
"It's Elza-san's request, we're looking for an information terminal that contains data that uses a certain word. If I had to say, it's from quite a while ago, so I think that the chances of finding anything in this digital data is slim, but surprisingly we got a hit, because of me. If you look at this, I think you'll be able to understand the contents of her request."
In a deeply nested folder, there was an amount of data that needed an appropriately sized scroller. Clicking on the first data among it, an old newspaper article was displayed. It was data of what looked like a rough image from a scanner, but there wasn't any degradation, and it was possible to read the article.
"What... A strange Halloween murder, the victim's name was Etranger Shutulia... Were you investigating this incident?"
"The incident was over 20 years ago, and the victim was a girl that was 10 years old at the time. After being kidnapped and raped, her entire body was chopped up while she was still alive, and she died. Her corpse was chopped up into pieces and scattered, so even after searching, the portion from her waist to her knees was never found. She was killed on Halloween, so she became a vengeful spirit associated with Halloween, and killed the murderer who killed her. Afterwards, while causing the death of other degenerates like the one who killed her, she drifted around the world. When she got to Japan, she was adopted by a certain wizard. So now you know who I'm talking about?"
"Eh..."
When Aiina finished summarizing the article, Mifi was shocked and her eyes opened wide. From the incident summary to the post-incident actions, all of it matched the past of someone close to her. Thinking that it couldn't be, she turned towards Elza, and Elza gave a small nod.
"It's just as you guessed, Mifi. I asked Aiina to investigate Ran. I used the Schtlehertz information network, and had Col and the others help, but there were limits to such an analog method. Well, thanks to that, all of the maids understood Ran's circumstances, and accepted her as my adopted sister."
The result of that was yesterday's commotion. She knew that the maids intended to "quickly become close to Ran", and since in Elza's eyes, the maids were only loving Ran, the final elbow that she took to her noggin as Ran was desperately escaping the maids' welcome, was treated as her hiding her embarrassment with all her strength.
"But why the little mistress' past? She's such a good child, so I don't think she would deceive you about her past..."
"Obviously, I don't even need to say it, but I believe that girl. The investigation wasn't about Ran's past, but about the missing part of her corpse. I've been worried about how the part of her damaged corpse is also missing from her own body. I know how she's unhappy about how her body isn't complete, and even it isn't possible to revive her, as long as she can just be a ghost and return to how she was before, I want to get the missing part of her corpse and have her full body intact again."
Mifi... And Aiina as well... were certain that there wasn't a single lie in those words. Normally, by giving such a serious reason, she would pass it off as a joke and go back to normal. However, now that they knew the reason Elza was bad at love, with such a serious reason, it was now honestly believable.
...But if they dug it up now, it would be heavily decomposed, so this might be their only chance.
"So, the location of the little mistress missing body portion is noted in this data."
"Not in that sense, no. In the sense that it holds a clue... quite yes."
"Quite is very vague, could you say it more simply and clearly...?"
Mifi, who was annoyed at the evasive phrase, looked at Aiina, who frowned and put her hand to her mouth, and stayed silent. Aiina had a habit of putting her hand to her mouth when she was thinking. She knew that since Aiina, who was much smarter than her, was thinking that hard about it, then the information wasn't that reliable.
"Could it be that even Aiina hasn't come to a conclusion?"
"Yes. Well, I continued to examine based on your request for anything related to your adopted sister's name, but what I got wasn't what I thought, but instead went into something I didn't anticipate..."
With a difficult face, Aiina began to tell her story, step by step, about the investigation so far, as though she hadn't sorted it all out yet.

"I started by investigating the police database first. However, aside from the suspect being the criminal, there was nothing else relating to this, and, as we know, the criminal is dead. However, before they could solidify the evidence against the suspect, there was a disaster, and the police investigate was halted. In reality, due to the murderer's demise and her actions afterwards, this murder caused a supernatural incident, and was dealt with accordingly. So the investigation of this incident was turned over from the police to the Sweepers... But as a result, it turned into an investigation of the supernatural incident, and the investigation into the murder itself was left aside. There was no official announcement, and the murder was officially unsolved. The police were continuing their investigation into the regrettable incident, and the disappearance of part the corpse from the crime scene was looked into, but that was back then. As an unsolved cold case, the investigation is over, and the search is over.
"Mmmm... How complicated. But it's understandable."
"There's nothing of great importance in this part, so if you understand it, that's plenty. Regarding the missing corpse, the family of the victim offered a reward for information, but it's hard to say if the information they got held any clues, and a year or 2 after the incident, the informants also suddenly stopped. The internet had become popular, so a website was started for the informants, but the log was buried by spam. According to information from the Sweepers, the murderer began committing crimes again after several years passed, and there were cut up bodies preserved in his basement..."
"Maybe he was concealing his crimes, or it was his collection? How disgusting. But, naturally, the little mistress' body was included in them?"
Mifi, who was staring at the monitor with a disgusted expression, said that, and Aiina sighed and shook her head. With her eyes half closed, she pulled up the next data. The picture data was a photo of a dimly lit room. Along the wall were slanted wooden shelves next to each other that were being dimly lit by lights. It created a gloomy atmosphere. And what was shown there was...
"This is a photograph from when they discovered the murderer's basement with the corpses."
"Ugh, those are mangled corpses! Censor that!"
"It can't be helped. When I processed it, I had to see it, no matter what!"
As she herself opened the image, Aiina also had a pale face, and averted her eyes from the image for a second.
"I've also seen this photo. By the way, that pile over there is red bean paste."
"Please don't point at it, my eyes got drawn to it!"
"That's right, Mistress! When I look at it, I remember the time when I ate liver!"
Both of slammed their hands down, and with great timing, held down Elza's arms, and she went silent. And then, Aiina quickly closed the image. She didn't want to look at it any more.
"Umm, what were we talking about... Ah, the corpse that the murderer was hiding. The murderer definitely had hidden it in his basement before, but the little mistress' corpse wasn't there?"
"When it was discovered, the corpses were all cut up, and just about a skeleton mummy. But there seemed to be about 10 people's worth. Your adopted sister's corpse wasn't included, right."
"There were other corpses aside from the little mistress', but hers wasn't there. Just what happened... Did the little mistress take them away herself?"
"If that happened, she would take all of it, since it's her body. ...However, it's possible that it was taken away by a 3rd party. The murderer's corpse wasn't discovered until about a week after he died. It was discovered due to complaints by the neighbors about the smell, but 3 days before it was discovered, several people were spotted coming out of the murderer's house carrying bags."
"Is it possible they were the murderer's family?"
"The murderer lived alone, and he was shunned by his family, so it's unlikely. And there's only 1 picture of them."
Pulling up the data from a different file, a photo of the murderer's family back then, as well as a report of the mysterious people was shown. Just from a rough glance at them, it was clear that they weren't the same people from their features.
"Several men in suits, carrying bags and suitcases from the house and leaving in a white high-end car... Was that the little mistress' corpse? A high-end car wouldn't get stopped."
"He didn't have many acquaintances in the neighborhood, so anyone seeing it wouldn't think too much of it. So it isn't possible to figure out the car's make or model or license plate number. The only thing we have is that it seemed to be a high-end kind of car painted white."
"So that's all the witness could say? But isn't that strange, if the guys who were seen were bringing the little mistress' corpse out from the basement to have it vanish, then it would make sense. But the problem is, only one part of the little mistress' body disappeared. Wouldn't this have meant that it would have all disappeared?"
"You've hit on a good point, Mifi. For that, we have to go to something that happened afterwards, where the police got anonymous tips, and each time they would find 1 piece. However, the tips stopped with the piece from her waist to her knees still missing, and now we're at the present, with it never being found."
Maybe it was still painful for her, but with a pat on the hands, Elza took over explaining for Aiina.
"So, basically... The men who brought out her corpse scattered it around, and then went an tipped off the police? And it wasn't all the parts, with 1 part still unknown and incomplete..."
"That's what happened. And there seems to be no reason, so it's strange."
"W, wait... Wait, Aiina! There's also one more point that's strange!"
"A strange point...?"
"Hmm? What is it, Mifi?"
"Eh? Ah, aah, well, I might be mistaken but..."
With Elza's and Aiina's gazes fixed on her, Mifi gulped and cleared her throat.

Mifi knew that she didn't have the mental agility of those two. And so, she might be saying something that was off base... So in these kinds of situations, she fell into the role of a listener, and tried not to get in the way of their thoughts. However now, Mifi felt uncomfortable, and the two of them looked like they were impatient, since Mifi wasn't saying anything. And so she blurted it out.
"Umm... I mean, why the little mistress? Because carrying a corpse out has a pretty high risk, right? There were lots of other corpses, and bones and a mummy, which are easier to secretly carry out, and other things which are easier to disguise if they're caught... If they wanted a corpse, then why didn't they get one from a graveyard instead of carrying it out from a murderer's house? They would have a much lower chance of being seen, whereas they were actually seen with this. This has a high risk of being seen, so what was the reason behind choosing the little mistress' fresh corpse..."
Perhaps they never discussed it because it was so simple, Mifi thought, as her voice got quieter and quieter towards the end. In contrast, Elza and Mifi looked at each other with surprised expressions. Elza immediately had a pensive look on her face, and Aiina also put her hand to her mouth and thought about it.
"I see... I had taken it for granted that Ran's corpse was taken away simply because it was there, but..."
"That was a blind spot. If I had to say, I had never considered why it was necessary for it to be your adopted sister's corpse. Even if it was just by chance, there's no reason to specifically bring it from a murderer's home..."
"Mmm, hmmm, ah, it's probably that."
Though it just slipped out, in reality she hadn't sorted through her thoughts yet, and just said it from thinking about the problem. Mifi felt relieved that the two of them were considering her point.
"In light of this, the next data I'm going to show you might have its meaning changed. In any case, I couldn't understand it at all, so for the rest of this investigation, I will need Elza-san's help. Could you please confirm this?"
"Hmm, can you show it to me?"
Next, a huge amount of text data was opened. Seeing it, Mifi groaned "ugh". It started with a descriptive short story, and ended with a log from an anonymous bulletin board, and it had all the text. The contents were divided into folders, but it had an abnormally amount in it. They wanted clues, but in order to find them, they would have to look through this huge amount of data. Even Elza was amazed at this.
"This is what the agent program that I created came back with. This agent is a program that finds data containing the specified word, and then sends a copy of it back to me. It has a function where it will go through the internet, and multiply and conceal itself, and look through hidden data."
"Hold on, isn't this a virus..."
As Mifi went into a cold sweat, Aiina, who had given up her seat to Elza, started to explain, as her eyes lit up.
"It's similar in that it uses a network and has the ability to multiply, but unlike a virus, it has no ill effects. Once it finishes searching the previously hidden data, if there's any appropriate data, it will make a copy of it and send it. Once everything is sent, or there is no appropriate data, it makes another copy to hide on a different network, and then sends header data with the results of the search and ID, and then will disappear without a trace. The previously hidden information... Of course, it can't use GPS, so if the header data were to assign an ID to each computer, it would cause the data amount to explosively increase. So, I compacted it with my own creation, making the ID a rough location in a certain range, and it became an especially small capacity of a maximum of 99 bytes. The capacity of the agent itself is what it is, but as an apology, while it's being concealed, security software and regular programs that are installed will have increased anti-virus as a bonus. It has no effect on the registry, so it's safe. Unlike a program a cracker would make, it doesn't ruin data, or cause things to spin, so please don't lump it together with those?"
"Aiina."
"What? I'm just getting to the good part."
It was a rapid fire explanation. Maybe she wanted to tell someone about it since she had a lot of confidence in her work, but the agent she made herself was very powerful, but ignoring the confusion of others, she happily explained it. Aiina, who was smiling from ear to ear, had her explanation cut short by Mifi.
"You're super ☆ annoying."
It turned into a grappling fight.

Thanks to Aiina starting a cat fight with Mifi, Elza sat down in the now empty chair. Thinking about which file she should start skimming over first, she opened one of the files in the folder Aiina already had opened, but all that showed up was a character string that she couldn't make any meaning from.