は宮城へと連れられて行くことになった。
一旦掃除道具を片付ける雨妹を待ってもらってから向かうのだが、男が待つ場所に戻れば、男の他の刑部の人たちは誰もいなかった。
を連れて先に行ったらしい。
「で、どこへ行けばいいですか?」
「宮城だ、我々の敷地へ来てもらう」
問う雨妹に、男は短く言うとさっさと歩き出したのを、雨妹も追いかける。
――なんと、私ってば宮城に入れちゃうんだって!
その記念すべき初潜入場所が刑部というのは、いささか外聞が悪いのかもしれないが、そういうことは気にしない雨妹なのであった。
刑部の敷地は、宮城でも外れの方であるようだ。
これは刑部の仕事上、機密保持のために人の出入りの少ない場所を選んだのか? と雨妹は考えつつ、迷子にならないようにと男について行く。
建物に入り、異様にシーンと静まり返っているのに、たまに遠くから「アアァ!」という叫び声のような音が聞こえてビクッとしつつ屋内を移動し、やがてとある一室に入るように促される。
中は、一見したところ普通の部屋であった。特に怪しげな窓があったり掛け軸があったりはせず、なにがしかの怪しいものを期待していた雨妹としては、若干がっかりだ。
しかし、そんなことばかりに気をとられているわけではない。
「あの、徐さんはどうなってますか?」
ここまでついて来たそもそもの目的について、雨妹は尋ねる。
すると男は部屋の中にある卓に備えられた席に座り、「どうにもなっておらん」と告げた。
「あの後興奮状態でな、あのままでは冷静な話もできないので少々寝てもらった」
男の言葉を聞いて、雨妹は「う~ん」と首を捻る。
――やっぱり徐さんも中毒患者だったの?
そうであるなら悲しいと感じた雨妹に、男がチラリと視線をやる。
「どうやらどうしても己を犯人だと言い張りたいようだ。
だが死を望む者の破れかぶれでの意見は参考にならない、という見方はあるな」
この男の言葉に、雨妹は目を丸くする。
――この人、気付いていたのか。
そう、雨妹の目からも徐は死にたがりの人の行動や表情に見えたのだ。
その手の人を放っておくと、己が死ぬためになんでもすることがたまにある。
自ら死ぬ度胸がないから、他人に殺してもらおうという心境になったのならば危ないと、雨妹は思ったのだ。
「徐については、あくまで事情を知っていそうだから身柄を確保したに過ぎない......だが刑部もずいぶんと舐められたものだな。
男はそう言い放つ。
ならば、徐は何故自ら手紙を出してまで、刑部に捕まりたがったのか? 前世の刑事ドラマ的お約束だと、誰かを庇っているということになるのだが。
雨妹が「う~ん」と首を捻っていると。
男はそう言って、先に卓を挟んだ椅子の片方に座ったので、雨妹も素直に席に着く。
And so, it was decided that Yui Mei would also be taken to the palace.
The man agreed to wait until she finished putting away her cleaning paraphernalia before going, but when she returned to their meeting place, there was no trace of the other men from the Ministry of Justice.
They had already taken Xu away first, apparently.
"So, where should we go now?"
"To the palace, we'll have you go to our place."
Yui Mei asked, but the man just gave a clipped reply before striding away. She chased after him.
'Eh, so I'm going to enter THE imperial palace!?'
Perhaps, other people would consider this supposedly memorable first visit to be in bad taste if they're going to the Ministry of Justice, but Yui Mei didn't care one bit about it.
The Ministry of Justice was located at the outskirts, even though it was still within the imperial palace.
Perhaps this location was chosen because of the nature of work being carried out in this place? Maybe they needed a place where they could maintain some degree of confidentiality, particularly regarding the identity of the people entering its premises?
They finally entered the building. It was eerily quiet, but the silence was broken every now and then by shrieks from far away. Yui Mei couldn't help but jump whenever that happened as they moved indoors until they finally reached a room and she was urged to enter.
It was an inconspicuous, ordinary room at first glance. There were no suspicious looking windows or hanging scrolls, so it was a bit of an anticlimax for Yui Mei who had been expecting something weird to happen.
However, she couldn't linger on this.
"Ahm, what's happening to Miss Xu?"
This was the reason why she followed them in the first place, so Yui Mei asked.
The man shortly replied after taking a seat beside the table inside the room.
"She's too agitated. We couldn't hold a calm conversation, so we had her sleep for a while."
Yui tilted her head when she heard what the man said.
'Is Xu a drug addict, too?'
Yui Mei thought it would be sad if that was true. The man glanced at her.
"She kept on insisting that she's the criminal, apparently. Then, you suddenly butted in, so she wanted us to arrest her there and then based on her claims that she's the culprit. She kept on kicking up a fuss. As if the Ministry of Justice do their jobs as sloppily as that."
"I cannot say that for sure. However, we can also view it as refusal to readily agree with the death wish of a person who desperately wanted to die."
Yui Mei's eyes widened in shock when she heard what the man said.
'So this person also noticed?'
Indeed, Yui Mei could also see the gestures and expressions of a suicidal person in Xu.
There were times when those people would do anything to die if left alone.
Yui Mei thought that if they didn't have the courage to take their own life, this dangerous mental state would be aggravated, and they would look for other people who could kill them.
"As for Xu, she seemed to know what's going on after all, so we decided to take her into custody...Still, it seems like she's underestimating the Ministry of Justice big time. We know how to distinguish whether a person must be condemned or not, and considering such, she doesn't have the characteristics peculiar to those who dabble in doing evil. People like her can only leave a clean life."
The man explained.
In that case, did Xu just really wanted to get captured by the Ministry of Justice, even voluntarily writing a letter for that? Based on the detective dramas she watched in her previous life, she must surely be covering for somebody else.
Yui Mei groaned while deep in thought.
The man said before sitting on one of the chairs across the table, so Yui Mei also obediently took a seat.
Housekeeper of the Hundred Blossom Palace
百花宮のお掃除係～転生した新米宮女、後宮のお悩み解決します。
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/housekeeper-of-the-hundred-blossom-palace/
Fantasy Romance Shoujo Slice of Life
Adapted to Manga Ancient China Complex Family Relationships Different Social Status Female Protagonist Imperial Harem Love Interest Falls in Love First Reincarnated in Another World Royalty
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n4104ev/
黒辺あゆみ