The victim's face and head were smashed in by a blunt object.
It was so bad that we couldn't identify his face or match any dental records,
but we're certain that the victim is Sergeant Terada Tokunosuke.
We're unsure why Detective Terada went to an abandoned gas station
by himself in the middle of the night.
On his cellphone, we found some personal conversations via messages
exchanged between the two of you.
The estimated time of death is today, September 4th, between 2:00 and 3:00 AM.
Where were you at that hour, and what were you doing?
I was at home alone.
The body of a man thought to be an officer of the
Makurazaka City Police
Makurazaka City Police Department was discovered around 6:00 AM.
It was reported that a body with the face smashed in
was found at an abandoned gas station along the freeway...
You okay?
Sir...
Yes, I'm all right.
Terada seemed really happy lately because he was hitting it off with you.
There's a very high chance he was killed due to a grudge incurred on the job.
Just like yourself, the other police officers are being questioned, as well.
The members of the Makurazaka Police Department are the ones being questioned.
By the way, Yumihara-kun,
is it true that Terada-kun was investigating Steel Lady Nanase?
Yes. He asked me about that during my interrogation, so I mentioned it then.
They seemed to know about it...
Wait, did that get out to the media?
No, it hasn't.
But there are people who are tying the incident
with Terada to Steel Lady Nanase,
since his face was smashed in and it happened in the middle of the night.
Apparently, that's making people believe it was Steel Lady Nanase.
Talk about a sick joke.
Yes. It's quite irresponsible...
Making up rumors about someone's death like that.
I can't believe Terada, of all people, was beaten to death.
What could've possibly happened?
If only...
If only I'd been more reliable...
I should've warned him better.
This isn't your fault, Yumihara-kun.
But I...
Of course there's no trace of a fight,
or of him struggling, or of the suspect...
Because Terada-san was killed by Steel Lady Nanase.
I think I was too cold toward Terada-san.
After all, I just recently learned his first name.
That's not your fault. Terada hated that name.
He said it was too old-fashioned and meek.
He hated it when people called him by it.
Most people didn't know it.
The police won't be able to capture the real culprit...
Neither Steel Lady Nanase
nor the hundreds of thousands of fantasies that created her.
The case will likely go unsolved.
The only ones who can defeat that monster
are those who know the truth and have the power to do so.
Inbox
Iwanaga Kotoko
(No Subject)
I need information on the case. Come to room 2011 at Makurazaka Hotel
Right after the news this morning,
the internet went wild with the story that Steel Lady Nanase
had finally committed a murder.
Even some of the people on TV are saying this death
is connected with Nanase Karin's.
This went national instantly.
The number of posts has multiplied exponentially.
I'm tired.
When was the last time it rained?
The hospital's bench is so comfortable.
It's so quiet, yet so freeing.
I want to fall asleep there as I listen to the sound of the falling rain.
It'd be even better if Kuro-senpai was by my side.
Iwanaga.
Rest a little.
Here. Keep your blood sugar up.
It's a bit meh. It's just sweet enough to make me hungry.
That's what you say after eating high-quality chocolates?
Says the person who's staying at the same hotel as me and got a separate room.
Aren't you supposed to be my boyfriend?
I wanted you to get actual sleep.
How about you don't let me sleep?
Going to bed early and waking up early is the key to good health.
Did an immortal just try to talk to me about health?
What?
No, it's nothing.
How are things going with the wiki?
Well, things have definitely taken a turn since the incident this morning.
Most of the comments believe that this is the work of Steel Lady Nanase.
Terada Tokunosuke
If you search for the victim's name,
you can see that he was even an Olympic candidate in judo.
Terada Tokunosuke
Someone like him being beaten to death with no signs of a struggle
sounds so unnatural that it's easy to think it's the work
of Steel Lady Nanase.
Name: Anonymous 09/04 17:35 ID.ijhajhar21aj A victim of the ghost's rage?
Name: Anonymous 09/04 17:36 ID.hjiaeoakag Get too close and you'll get a steel beam to your face
Name: Anonymous 09/04 17:36 ID.klmjojng62 Someone finally died
Name: Anonymous 09/04 17:37 ID.nqmhq So she only appears in Makurazaka City? Exorcise her already
There are guesses and rumors concerning Detective Terada's death,
Name: Anonymous 09/04 17:37 ID.nqmhq So she only appears in Makurazaka City? Exorcise her already
Name: Anonymous 09/04 17:38 ID.h65ulf Nanase Karin probably didn't like how the police handled her case if a cop was the first to die
Name: Anonymous 09/04 17:42 ID.dabtanA Did she have a grudge against them for ruling her death an accident when it wasn't?
Name: Anonymous 09/04 17:45 ID.syy7s I guess if you run into Steel Lady Nanase, she'll chase you forever
Name: Anonymous 09/04 17:58 ID.nmsknh If someone has Nanase Karin's CDs or photobooks, I'd appreciate it
Name: Anonymous 09/04 17:59 ID.mveggl Her CDs and photobooks are selling really high on auction sites right now
Name: Anonymous 09/04 18:00 ID.syy7a I don't care if she's a ghost. Let me touch Nanase Karin's boobs
Name: Anonymous 09/04 18:02 ID.nmskrih I feel like the steel beam would kill me before she even swings it
as well as people going on about Nanase Karin's boobs.
Name: Anonymous 09/04 18:02 ID.mvesdega Bring it on
Her chest was definitely bouncy.
You touched them?!
Did you squeeze them when you were holding on to her?!
Like I even had a chance to at the time.
You definitely could have if you chose a future where you did!
You had every opportunity!
If I cared about big boobs, I wouldn't have dated you or Saki-san.
But you may have longed for something different...
Just once in your life,
you might've wanted to touch those chosen mounds of fat...
Can you actually swear to Amaterasu-sama that you didn't
have such evil thoughts cross your mind?!
What are you even trying to get at?
I mean, it's hard to dismiss Steel Lady Nanase as just a rumor.
People are now believing it was a ghost even more.
We're not just talking about now.
Ever since the rumors of Steel Lady Nanase started to spread,
the idea that this was all
done by a ghost has broadened and been widely received.
The scales are tipping too far toward one side.
I'm going to be blunt about this, Senpai.
What?
Rikka-san is highly involved with this case.
Actually, she's at its core.
I know...
I can't defend her knowing that someone has died.
Sorry I'm late.
Are you all right, Saki-san?
Yes, I'm fine.
So there's no doubt
that Steel Lady Nanase is responsible for Terada-san's death?
Correct.
An ayakashi who saw the incident
came to see me this morning,
and he gave me an eyewitness account.
I see.
This may be a stupid question,
but is Terada-san going to become a ghost and wander this world?
It's not as though everyone who dies becomes a ghost.
They're better off if they don't end up wandering.
Right. It was a stupid question.
Regardless, this most likely isn't good.
Correct.
We would've been better off if the culprit wasn't Steel Lady Nanase.
The victim's face was smashed in? Could it be...
While people were stirring over the fact that
this could've been a murder by Steel Lady Nanase...
Wait, it was just a normal murder?
If that had spread, this would've been confirmed as a rumor
and toned down.
At the same time, the threat of Steel Lady Nanase
would've weakened, and her popularity would've begun to wane.
Then we could use Kuro-senpai's ability to find us a favorable future
and destroy Steel Lady Nanase.
When I heard what had happened to Detective Terada,
to be honest, I was hoping things would turn out this way.
The one behind his death is Steel Lady Nanase.
If the police are pursuing this as a murder,
they'll need to get more consistent information,
making things more difficult.
But the bigger problem is the fact that Steel Lady Nanase has instantly become more violent.
Name: Anonymous 09/04 17:45 ID.syy7s I guess if you run into Steel Lady Nanase, she'll chase you forever
Since she has now actually committed a murder,
the rumored Steel Lady Nanase is now
something more violent that pursues her victims until they're dead.
Name: Anonymous 09/04 17:45 ID.syy7s I guess if you run into Steel Lady Nanase, she'll chase you forever
At this rate, there will be another victim tonight.
Huh?!
Worst-case scenario, it might not be just one or two.
There could be multiple victims.
No, that can't be...
This is now being talked about nationally.
The fantasies are expanding in an extreme way,
causing the monster to grow instantly.
Research teams from TV shows trying to verify information on Steel Lady Nanase
4th IRL Meeting
Let's Discuss Steel Lady Nanase
Occult Members Only
and occult fanatics may even head into the city.
If any of those groups happen to run into Steel Lady Nanase,
they'll all be slaughtered.
A lot of places have security cameras.
If they capture footage and it ends up being leaked nationally,
more people will learn of Steel Lady Nanase,
making her existence even stronger.
Logical fiction may be rendered futile against her.
What can we do, then?
If that happens,
people will still wish for the existence of Steel Lady Nanase?
They probably won't wish for it.
But at that point, there'll be too many people who fear
Steel Lady Nanase as a ghost.
Despite denying her existence,
they'll also be praying that she doesn't hurt them.
I'm not sure what kind of power that ghost is about to get.
This is messed up...
Has truth always been so paper thin that it can be ripped apart so easily?
I wouldn't say paper thin, but it's true that it can be ripped apart.
And that's exactly why someone has to protect that truth.
Tonight will decide everything.
We have to defeat Steel Lady Nanase tonight.
Tonight will decide everything?
But there's no time at all!
Saki-san,
I need information.
In order to fabricate logical fiction to take Steel Lady Nanase down,
I will need the truth at all times.
Preparing to Conquer the Steel Lady
So there were no traces of drugs or alcohol in Detective Terada's body.
Correct. They didn't find out anything from his body.
Thanks.
It's just sounding more and more like Nanase Karin's death.
I mean, the media isn't saying anything about drugs or alcohol.
And on the Internet,
they seem to be amused by the fact that he was killed in a normal fashion.
Because that seems more like Steel Lady Nanase?
Yes. Because they'd have no way to fight against a ghost.
They all agree that they'd just helplessly be killed.
But if this wasn't the work of a ghost,
how did they beat Detective Terada to death without a struggle?
Having to explain that is going to be a bit difficult.
But in order to defeat Steel Lady Nanase, we need a culprit other than her.
The fictional culprit can be more than one person,
and they don't have to commit the same crime.
We can also make it seem like the previous incidents were unrelated, right?
But then we'd have to explain why the culprit wanted to make it seem
like their crimes were akin to Steel Lady Nanase's.
Detective Terada's death has nothing to do with Steel Lady Nanase.
It just so happened that someone who had a grudge
against Detective Terada killed him,
but the way he died just seemed like how Steel Lady Nanase would've killed him.
How about that explanation?
That way, even if they can't narrow down who might've done it,
if we can give an explanation that seems similar,
we can distance ourselves from Steel Lady Nanase.
Then we just need to explain the motive behind the attack.
That should allow us to give other explanations as to what happened.
Going by the law of "Divide each difficulty
into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it,"
it seems feasible, but it's likely impossible to completely cut her off.
People seek dreams in their stories and hope that reality is similar.
The interpretation of an indicent as coincidental
is more disappointing than the interpretation that it was fate.
If this was a real incident,
and we had the data and deduction skills we need,
we could've tracked down the truth by now.
But what she's trying to do is conceal the truth
and create a truth with a culprit that doesn't even exist.
We basically want people to believe, "Of course. That's totally possible."
Do not cross this bridge
So it's not deduction that people are looking for here.
They want something else.
What to do...
Yes. This isn't about deductions.
Then I'll just go down the middle!
Which is it?
This isn't good!
Even if we're able to explain everything rationally,
the mere existence of Steel Lady Nanase
as an explanation for this case is surprisingly effective.
Making this explanation simple, logical, and convincing
is far more difficult than one would imagine.
Up until yesterday, people were wondering who was behind these random attacks.
Culprit
What was their motive?
If we create fake versions of these two and it gains enough traction,
we'd be able to make Steel Lady Nanase disappear.
But now, we have a number of things we're going to have to make up.
First, why did these countless attempted attacks
by someone who is supposedly Steel Lady Nanase happen?
Second, who actually perpetrated these incidents?
Third, why was Detective Terada killed in a way that made it look like
Steel Lady Nanase did it?
Fourth, why was Detective Terada killed with no resistance?
Fifth, who actually killed Detective Terada?
But solving this won't be enough. We have to make these lies work for us.
Arrest
Without having the person we make into the suspect get arrested.
False charges
Without greatly harming an actual existing person.
And we need to make sure that a lot of people agree with this explanation.
If we can manage all of these things,
will we be able to make Steel Lady Nanase disappear?
Even though we have an advantage with Kuro-kun's abilities,
this is still a very difficult situation.
Iwanaga.
If one solution isn't enough, why not stack up several?
It's not like Steel Lady Nanase was born yesterday.
There must've been trial and error
until she was actually able to commit the murder.
Rumors were spread, the site was created,
and posts gained attention, making this popular.
They must've used various methods to make sure her popularity didn't fade.
Otherwise, a monster of the imagination shouldn't have
been able to manifest in such short order in this age.
We're not limited to one solution.
You said so yourself earlier.
Divide each difficulty.
We can take steps to make the reality, the hundreds of thousands of fantasies,
all closer to the solution you want to create.
Until then, I'll continue to determine the future that's going to happen.
But if that happens, you'll die several times.
You did say yesterday that you intended to do that.
I did, didn't I?
She's been breaking down all the information since yesterday,
trying to figure out how we can use it and what truths we can make into lies.
What's uncertain? What's certain?
She must've tried many things over and over.
Taking the misshapen blocks that exist in reality and
determining how to create a past that doesn't exist in reality...
Rather than seeking the truth, creating a ridiculous and ludicrous fiction.
That's about to be completed.
Yes, that's sweet.
You got this?
Yes.
I've come up with four solutions.
And now, I'm going to use them to round out a truth that I want.
I will defeat Steel Lady Nanase tonight, no matter what.
I'm going to sleep for a bit.
Please wake me up right before 9:00.
Until then, if there's word of Steel Lady Nanase appearing,
at that point...
Let's have some food ready for Iwanaga when she wakes up.
We should probably eat something, too.
Right.
We've ordered the yokai and monsters
around the city to contact us if they see Steel Lady Nanase.
If we hear anything, I'll head to the scene
and stop Steel Lady Nanase from going anywhere else.
I can fight all night if needed
so I can stop Steel Lady Nanase and make sure there aren't any more victims.
What if Steel Lady Nanase escapes?
We'll use our intel to find her again, and I'll stop her.
That seems troublesome.
But it's the best way.
And if we hear from any of them, I'd like you to help me to the scene.
I've procured a rental car.
I'm sorry to involve you in all of this, but can I count on you?
I also don't want to see any more victims.
Besides, I need to get over this already.
Has it been a while
since you started going out with her?
It's been around two and a half years since we met.
So right after we broke up?
Iwanaga started talking to me in May,
but it's not like we started dating immediately.
I had no intention of going out with her.
It's not like I have any right to complain,
but I believe you.
I mean, she's the exact opposite of your type.
Yes, you're exactly right.
And yet, you two seem to be doing perfectly fine.
I think it's good.
You shouldn't keep chasing after Rikka-san, anyway.
Why did you bring up Rikka-san's name?
Because your type is 100% Rikka-san.
Sakuragawa Rikka.
Kuro-kun's cousin who's three years older than him.
I'd heard rumors that she'd passed,
but while Kuro-kun and I were dating,
she was a long-term patient at a university hospital.
Homei University
She's hospitalized for routine tests? For three years?
Yes, well, a lot happened.
I didn't go that often in high school,
but since the hospital is close to the university,
I get to go visit her more often now.
Then will you introduce me to her sometime?
Sure, of course.
Sakuragawa Rikka-sama
She was a beautiful woman
with pale skin and a frail body.
To Be Continued
Preview
Steel Lady Nanase is gradually steeling her existence.
Who is this Sakuragawa Rikka who's
controlling the future from the shadows?
Next time, "She Who Spins Fiction."