４．Ｓｕｎｄａｙ　Ｍａｒｃｈ　２４，　２０１９

After a while, either because they were bored or because Maruta had been silent for too long, 〈Captain〉 spoke to Maruta.
"Did you find out anything?"

Six people, including Kira, looked at Maruta at once. Being indeed overwhelmed by this state of affairs, Maruta quickly squeezed a topic out of his mouth.
"Actually," Maruta spoke about his trip to the crime scene with Kira a week earlier. "I handed out business cards to the clerks of restaurant and several convenience stores in the area. The replies came a few days later. You all went to the town to buy food and other necessary items after Silva-san holed up in his room. I was able to get confirmation that Mont Blanc-san and Kirvy-san went to a convenience store and the restaurant, respectively. So, Captain and Shaggy-san,"

Before Maruta could finish, 〈Captain〉 said. "We both went."
When 〈Shaggy〉 was glanced at by 〈Captain〉, he too said, "We've been there."
"Which store did you go to?" Maruta asked.

Then, after some hesitation, 〈Captain〉 answered. Unusually, both of his eyes were shifting.
"This is hard to talk about, but Shaggy and I actually didn't do any shopping. But we both got in the car and drove down to the town. Definitely did. We two were never slacking off."
"Wait, you both were slacking off." 〈Kirvy〉's tone was strong. "You guys have been playing games, leaving us to go shopping."
"That's right," 〈Mont Blanc〉 followed suit. "Drinks and such were so heavy."

"My bad." 〈Captain〉 smiled wryly.
"But we had to." 〈Shaggy〉 said this without looking at anyone.

A damp silence fell over the five of them, where 〈Kirvy〉 spoke protectively.
"You both were properly mature about it, you know."
"Yeah," 〈Mont Blanc〉 also said. "Why don't you tell him what games you two were playing as evidence?"
"Maruta-san doesn't want to know such a thing, does he?" 〈Captain〉 said, and the five of them laughed, releasing their tension.

"That's not the point," 〈Captain〉's eyes came back into focus. He was staring at Maruta's face. "Maruta-san, you're doubting us, aren't you?"
Maruta thought, 'Here it comes, finally'. His body was filled with reflexive strength. But there is still no sign of them attacking him. While Maruta was debating whether to respond or not, 〈Captain〉 spoke up.
"That's okay. Now that we have clarified the matter about Milley-san, I will tell you the whole story. Maruta-san, you came here thinking we killed Silva-san, right? But we have no motive."

It was a concern that began to arise in Maruta's mind when he had just been told the truth about Milley's case. The 〈Captain〉 continued to speak, as if to drench Maruta, who was unable to move even a muscle.
"I heard that there is a picture on the Internet of us attending the offline gathering of Milley-san. I also heard that the scene there shows us leaning toward the stage. That was two years ago, I believe."

〈Captain〉 sucked in a breath, then said sharply. "We were there as decoys then."
Goosebumps rose on Maruta's body, and at the same time he felt as if he were about to disappear from the scene. The accumulated information is overwritten by unexpected content. 〈Captain〉 continued.
"We met Silva-san for the first time just before that. We were apprenticed to him. We admired Silva-san and wanted to be a video-creator like him. Of course, we were newcomers at the time, with no track record yet. When we were planning to do whatever we could to help him with his video shoot, he ordered us to 'join Milley's offline gathering as decoys'. The event was held in Osaka, an area not yet explored by UMORE. Because this was Milley's first time performing at the venue, they had difficulty estimating how excited the audience would be. So we, the original members, decided to take on the role of enlivening the event. We were not paid, but UMORE paid for our gas for the round trip. On the day of the event, we were stationed in the front row and danced like crazy from the start. But we didn't have to, and the event was a great success whether we were there or not. From the second half, we sang and danced just like the other fans, forgetting that we were also decoys."

"I miss her offline gathering." 〈Kirvy〉 said sincerely.
"So I want you to listen very carefully." 〈Captain〉 looked Maruta in the eye more intensely. "We are NOT fans of Milley-san. Of course, we respected her as a video-creator. We still admire her. We have always thought that one day we would surpass Silva-san and become a creator with over a million followers like her. But we have never worked as fans of Milley's before. I have never even heard of any of these guys here being fans of Milley's."

"I've never been interested in Milley either." Kira said from the side, but 〈Captain〉 ignored him and continued.
"So even if we thought that Silva-san had killed her, there is no way we would have a motive to kill him. Besides, as I said before, we all knew that Silva-san did not hit her. In other words, in any case, we would never hold a grudge against him."
It would seem that he would be out of breath if he spoke that much, but 〈Captain〉 did not even take a break to catch his breath.

This time 〈Shaggy〉 spoke in a relaxed manner, contrary to the leader.
"I'm well aware that we're under suspicion, but I thought it would be weird to say in the video, 'We're not fans of Milley's.'"
"If we did that, we'd be increasingly suspect." The leader's speech has also calmed down. "It was also UMORE-related, so we couldn't just say, 'We were decoys at that event,' at our own discretion."

The logical considerations Maruta had assembled completely collapsed. He was just there as an unwanted person. If a written pledge was offered to him, stating that he was not to reveal anything he had heard today, he was likely to sign it with a dejected heart.

"What do you know about Choice-san?" Maruta did not mean to suggest that he was sore losers. But the words no longer had the power to sway their feelings.
"Choice?" 〈Captain〉's face was already showing the air of a victor.
"Choice is Silva's former girlfriend, right?" 〈Shaggy〉 told the leader.
"Yeah, I've heard that. She was live streaming on the Internet. I heard that Silva-san set up a fight with her, but that has nothing to do with what we just said. He said he left her without hard feelings. In the first place, I had never heard of Choice until I met him. Did you guys know her?"
When asked by 〈Captain〉, the four shook their heads and said, "I didn't know."