Track 2
hotel NOTTE
This will be your room, Fuefuki-sama.
Thank you very much~! Well, see you around, Hamasaki-san!
Yeah.
Sorry, Murakumo-san. My luggage is heavy, isn’t it?
Oh, no. I’m used to it, don’t worry.
More importantly, are you acquainted with Oguro-san, Hamasaki-sama?
Oh, yes. Our parents knew each other, and we went to the same school. We’ve hung out a lot together since we were kids.
Really. So you’re childhood friends. I was shocked since it’s the first time I’d ever seen him look so happy.
Ahaha, well it has been a while since we last saw each other… Are you and Kafka close?
No? Not particularly.
Oh, really?
I’ve only been here for a month, after all.
A month… That’s pretty recent.
Haha, I’m still just a newbie. —Ah, this room is yours.
I’ll leave your luggage here. Enjoy your stay.
*Ten leaves*
Phew. This room looks like one I can relax in…
What’s the plan for today… Come to think of it, Yachiyo-kun and I haven’t ironed out the details yet. What should we do until dinner?
(...The fog outside looks like it’s getting thicker. I think I’ll take a walk around inside the hotel for now.)
Ah, I see. So you two are coworkers here on a trip.
You’re like two suuuuper close peas in a pod♪ Work besties, just like Chii and Nagipeko!
It’d be presumptuous to say we are close, but I’m always being taken care of by Hamasaki-san.
(Yachiyo-kun is talking to someone. Is that…someone from the hotel?)
Oh! Hamasaki-san!
Oh, is this like~, speaking of the devil?
It seems so.
H-Hello…
Hamasaki-sama, isn’t it. Pardon the late introduction. I’m Hachinoya, the doorman.
Chii’s Chihiro Natsuyaki, a doorman times two♪ Sowwie Chii couldn’t come say hi earlier~.
Actually, we wanted to greet you together, but the manager insisted on meeting you instead, so we couldn’t.
The manager?
You didn’t meet him out front~?
Flashback
Boo!!!
hotel NOTTE
Huh, the person who spooked us was the manager?!
Spooked… It seems our manager has been very rude.
Chii’ll give him a good “Hmph!” later!
I’m relieved it was a hotel employee, right, Yachiyo-kun?
Yes! That’s a huge relief~ That it wasn’t the rumored “Monster”.
Monster…
You’re talking about the culprit behind the suuuper very bad kidnappings, right?
Yup, yup. I heard a rumor that the culprit lies within Tatemori Forest.
Chii’s heard of that! When night falls, they pop out like ‘pyon’ out of the forest and kidnap people with a ‘gaba’, right?
And then at the crime scene there’s always, like, a suuuper scary message written in blood and big claw marks left behind~!
Ooh! Natsuyaki-san is also familiar with it!
No matter how many times I hear it, it sounds like something from those primetime suspense dramas.
You’re right…
Then, do you know about that rumor? The one about the fate of the victims that are still missing!
I don’t know that one…
What kind of rumor is it?
Umm, there’s a lot of theories. Such as they were sold overseas, or they were experimented on with some dangerous drug, or even that they were eaten by the Monster…! Unsettling, isn’t it?
Even if a monster comes, Chii’s crew has that at our hotel, so we’ll be A-OK! Right, Nagipeko?
Mhm. A clever device for repelling suspicious people, invented by the manager.
Our hotel is equipped with a gun that can place an intruder in a state of suspended animation, so even in the unlikely event of an incident, please rest assured.
S-Suspended animation!?
That doesn’t seem very peaceful, or safe…
It’s no problemo. I was shot once as a test subject, but as you can see, I’m still alive and well.
Mana-pi’s inventions are a liiittle sus, but they’re totes awesome! There’s actually all kinds of inventions hidden everywhere in the hotel♪
In a way, they are the specialties of our hotel. Please feel free to take a look at every nook and cranny.
Ah… and speaking of specialties, we have a backyard. Seasonal flowers are blooming, and right now is the perfect time to look at them.
Oooh~ A backyard garden…!
Seasonal flowers sound lovely.
It looks like a garden from a foreign country and is mega cutes♪ It’s totes all good to take pics and post them on social media!
Since it’s autumn right now, the cosmos are especially beautiful. I also recommend the dahlias, gentians, and the scarlet sage. There are even some rare mushrooms popping up.
Huh…Ooh, I see!
Normally, you can get a full view of the backyard from the hotel’s windows, but…
It’s so foggy now that Chii can’t see a thing. It’s great for keeping your skin moisturized, but it’s defs a painge at times like this~.
The view is such a downer, so customers barely come anymore.
(Oh, I see. Kafka was surprised during check-in because we came while it was foggy.)
I wish we could’ve seen the flowers in the garden…
…! Are you interested? If you’d like, I can give you a special tour of the backyard. As a special privilege.
Really? Are you sure?
That’s a crazy good idea! If you go down to the garden, you can still see everything, even if it’s foggy!
Wow, that sounds nice~! I would like to! Take a look!
(Huh? Was Yachiyo-kun always this interested in flowers?)
By the way, the hotel rules state that guests must always be accompanied by a staff member when entering the backyard.
‘Cause the entrance to the garden is in the employee building♪
I see…
Well then, I’d like to show you around now, but there’s actually a staff meeting scheduled right after this.
Oh, I see…!
By the bee, your guys’ dinner is in an hour♪ So it’ll probably be too much of a rush if we went to the garden right now.
Let’s wrap things up for today. I’ll give you a tour of the backyard tomorrow.
Alright, I’m looking forward to it!
Same hereeee!
Nagi and Chihiro leave
Only an hour left until dinner, huh…?
(I think I’ll go back to my room and get ready before heading to the dining hall.)
…From now… but even so…
Huh? Where are you going, Yachiyo-kun?
Eeek!! W-W-W-What is it?
Isn’t that the opposite direction of the dining hall? And it’s not where the guest rooms are either…
Ah, ummmm, I’ve got something to do…. Please leave without me, Hamasaki-san!
I’ll see you soon!
Yachiyo leaves.
…And he’s gone.
Oh well. We can meet up later at the dining hall.
Afterwards, I had a good time at dinner with Yachiyo-kun, who seemed to have stopped by somewhere beforehand.
Hachinoya-san and Natsuyaki-san shared some of the sweets they got with me, and on the way back to my room I passed by Murakumo-san and shared good night greetings.
I was a little uneasy when I first arrived at the hotel, but now I feel like it’s a nice, quiet place to relax.
…Come to think of it, I haven’t seen the manager since I first arrived.
While thinking that maybe I’d meet him at some point during my stay, I set the alarm on my phone and went to sleep, looking forward to Hachinoya-san showing me around the garden tomorrow.
(It’s rare for Nagipeko to be out so late.)
(He said he was doing a final inspection of the garden for Hamasaki-sama and Fuefuki-sama. He was so hyped up about it yesterday.)
*Chihiro enters Nagi's room*
Good morning sleepyhead~! Rise and shine~! It’s already time for work~!
…Wait, what? No one’s here—
Eek!?
T-Those claw marks…
And that bloody message…!?
Could…Could it be, the Monster—!?