Back in Kashiwagi at a gazebo, Alice waited until everyone arrived to explain everything. "Thanks for coming on short notice. I invited you all here today to explain how Hydron died."

Katie was still struggling to hold her tears in. "Can we please get this over with? I need to report everything to his supervisor."

"Just be patient. Your injuries and Hydron's death both allude to a resident's mysterious death sixteen years ago, when the plot of land where the old oak tree grows belonged to a resident named Lawrence Kennedy. He was later found hanging by his neck from one of the branches. Dan, please take us to the crime scene."

Once the group arrived at the dirt path preceding the tree, Miyoko asked her son, "Why did you bring my garden hose here?"

"Because I need to spray water all over to recreate a rainy crime scene, Mom."

Shun pointed to the spot where Hydron's body had hung from. "The way Hydron died bears strong resemblance to Mister Kennedy's death. Both cases didn't appear to be suicide because there was nothing on the ground for the victim to step on and hang themselves, but also didn't appear to be homicide either because the entire vicinity only had the victims' own footprints. Whoever killed Hydron deliberately wanted us to recall Mister Kennedy's death."

"And I'll demonstrate how the killer created the illusion that the victim was alone." Alice took her flats off and asked Shun, "Can you carry me across the ground to the rope?"

"Uh... sure?"

With the assistant professor's added weight on his back, the raven-haired secretary treaded across the wet ground very slowly until he reached the noose. Alice reached for it and looped one hand through. "Even though Shun didn't create footprints using my shoes, you can clearly see that there are only his footprints because he's carrying me. The real killer walked here in Hydron's shoes and then put them back on Hydron's feet before jumping onto the grass near Dan to leave the scene."

"But how did the killer enter Hydron's room?" Frosch asked. "Clayf told me he had to cut the safety chain, and there was no sign of other people in that room during the initial investigation."

"That'll be my next demonstration. Dan, take us to the ryokan now." Everyone followed the brunet to Hydron's ryokan room. "On the day of the murder, only this specific window was open at the time." The redhead opened the curtains and pushed the windowpanes outwards, only to see a moving tree figure outside. "What is that?!"

"Is that the oak tree spirit in broad daylight?" Shun mused.

"I want to see!" Baron rushed toward the window but backed away immediately after seeing a lobster snare. "Professor Alice, what is that?"

"That's just someone pretending to be the oak tree spirit." Everyone gasped upon seeing Ren remove the tree costume and Fabia step out of the window's blind spot with the lobster snare in her hand. "Frosch had asked Ren and Fabia to create the fake tree blood and folding screen shadows, but none of them killed Hydron or hurt Katie. Baron saw the lobster snare clearly and escaped quickly, but Hydron was killed at nighttime when he could barely see anything outside."

"If the killer was standing outside, then wouldn't there be another set of footprints?" Soon asked.

"Not if the killer was standing above ground level, which could've been achieved by only one person in this room." Alice pointed at the creamy-blonde visitor. "Katie Lowery, would you like to explain yourself?"

Her eyes widened as she retorted. "Excuse me? You think I can fly or something?"

"No, but your room is right above Hydron's. As long as you called Hydron and gave him any excuse to look out his window—like pretending you dropped something outside—then you could strangle him from upstairs using rope. Then you used the same rope to climb down from your room into his room, which is how you left zero footprints outside. You put on Hydron's shoes and carried him to the old oak tree like how Shun carried me earlier."

"That's just your hypothesis. What makes you think that I strangled Hydron?"

Dan took out some folded papers from his pockets. "This is the forensic analysis report for the windows in Hydron's room and your room. Both windows show scratches that are consistent with rope friction, and the fibers are consistent with the rope found in your room that was used to strangle Hydron."

"What about me getting attacked by the oak tree spirit? You saw me crawling at the red gazebo that night."

"Nice try, but Billy presented the hospital notes to our medical examiner, who determined that all your wounds are superficial and self-inflicted based on the entry angle and depth. You staged your assault and made everyone think you were a victim."

"There's still one thing I don't understand," the redhead interrupted. "Why did you kill Hydron if you two worked together?"

Katie finally wiped the tears off her face and shouted, "I was never on the same side as him."

"But why come to a place that you two aren't familiar with to install high-speed internet in the first space? Unless... this isn't about installing internet at all."

The creamy-blonde visitor approached the village chief and asked, "Do you still remember me?"

"I... Well... In what context?"

"Mister Frosch, my dad is the late Lawrence Kennedy. I'm his daughter, Kaitlin Kennedy. I legally changed my last name to Lowery after my mom married my stepdad."

"Wait... but how?"

"Don't you know that Hydron is the son of Zenoheld Lyons, the man who first tried to scam the residents out of their land sixteen years ago by using the same internet installation scheme? My dad didn't fall for it, so Zenoheld killed him. I heard it myself when I was eavesdropping on a meeting between Zenoheld and Hydron at work. I started out as a receptionist when I first joined the company and worked my way up to becoming Hydron's secretary. Zenoheld passed away recently and gave the whole telecom company to Hydron, who's still adamant about acquiring my parents' plot of land. I waited for this day to come so I could kill Hydron at the exact location where his dad killed my dad."

"So I was right about the killer making us recall that sixteen-year-old case," Alice mused. "If you wanted your family's plot of land back, then you and your mother could've asked Mister Frosch to return it to you. He kept the land as intact as possible in case your mother—"

"She's never coming back because she passed away from cancer a long time ago! I learned about her cancer when I was still young. It was early at that time, and both my parents could afford her treatment with two jobs while still making ends meet. But with my dad gone, my mom couldn't afford her medications, and we moved out of Kashiwagi. My mom was fortunate to meet my stepdad, who cared for her even though his income was average and her cancer only got worse. On her deathbed, she told me what she thought happened when my dad died, which motivated me to apply to Hydron's telecom company and destroy it from inside out. I finally got my revenge, and that's all that matters."

After calling his other colleagues to help wrap up the case, Dan opened a set of handcuffs. "I'll let you explain that again to my coworkers at the police station."

Miyoko, Ren, and Fabia all went home, and Frosch went to assist the police officers that came to arrest Katie. Everyone else followed Alice to the old oak tree again. "Not only did we solve the mystery from sixteen years ago that Shiori-san wasn't able to solve, but we also solved a murder in present day."

"That means we'll have a lot to write for the anthology," Shun concluded. The redhead continued staring at the old oak tree, which made him ask. "Something else on your mind?"

"In the end, nobody won and everyone lost. If Katie's mother didn't say a word about sixteen years ago, then would Katie still be bent on revenge?"

"Zenoheld is the reason why Katie's family fell apart, but revenge isn't the solution either."

"And I'll make that point crystal clear once the anthology is published." She left the premises while beckoning everyone over. "Time to return to campus!"

-x-x-x-x-x-

The next Monday, Alice plugged her laptop into the projector and presented a new lesson. "I hope everyone spent quality time with family this past mid-autumn weekend. Today's lecture will be about mermaids. Many of us know from stories all around the world that mermaids appear around sunsets and also lure humans into their territory using their beauty and singing."

After more talking and listening, Baron raised his hand. "This sounds more like the dangerous sirens from Greek mythology."

"You're not wrong though, but have you heard about Bayview's own urban legend about the gyojin that sets them apart from other merfolk?" The assistant professor pulled a rolling whiteboard over to the front. "Would you like to participate in a brief art project?"

"Absolutely!"

"Let's see who's next... Miss Soon Spidaro! What a surprise to see you in my earlier class today. You'll be my second volunteer."

"Sounds good."

"Now I need one more... Excuse me! To the person in the back corner seat with the silver laptop—may I have you be my last volunteer?"

The individual closed the laptop and turned out to be Shun, who reluctantly approached the front of the room and whispered, "I'm your secretary, not one of your students."

"Just bear with me." Alice then handed dry erase markers to everyone. "Feel free to draw what you think a mermaid looks like." The trio finished doodling after a few minutes. "Soon's drawing looks like Ariel from the animated movies. Shun's drawing resembles a plushie version of Ariel. Baron's drawing... has a fish head and human legs instead?!"

"Anything is possible, Professor Alice!"

"Again, you're not wrong." After the trio returned to their seats, the redhead continued lecturing. "Bayview's gyojin urban legend originated in Minakami district. People reported seeing figures resembling a scaly fish the size of a young child with human hands and feet. According to locals who've lived there for a long time, the gyojin mainly eat small fish and drink chicken blood..."

Once class was dismissed, Soon received a call and rushed out immediately. "Chris, I just got out of class."

"Wow, I called at the right time! Jack and I are at a picnic table outside."

Once outside, the auburn-haired student saw a blonde girl with amethyst eyes and a blond boy with aqua eyes. "It's good to see you two again. Chris, why did you need me to attend my professor's earlier class today?"

"I have two important things to tell you, actually. The first thing is a weird object that we found in a cave the other day when finding shelter from the rain." Chris took out a tablet and opened the photo gallery. "Can you tell what the thing inside the wooden box on the gravel is?"

"Upper body looks human, but lower body looks like a fish," Jack commented. "It could be a mummified mermaid, or a gyojin that my parents talk about."

"What a coincidence... I just learned about this today." Soon zoomed in on each image. "This thing is darker than charcoal. Where did you find this? I don't recognize the background."

"This cave was blocked off for a few years due to constant flooding, but nearby construction finally ended, so this cave doesn't flood anymore. Jack and I could not believe how intact this box is after all these years."

"That cave... I've been so busy with school that I haven't had time for other activities. But Chris, you didn't have to purposely meet me on campus to show me this."

"We don't mind accommodating your schedule! This box is still in the cave, so you can see this whenever you want. The second thing is that I have an interview at GML Enterprises later today at 11:30AM."

"You're interviewing at their headquarters again?"

Chris was about to explain when Jack interrupted instead. "You have no idea how determined she is! She applied to be a clerk, receptionist, secretary... Watch her apply to be a janitor next!"

"Shut up! Soon, you're done with classes, right? Come with us! At least stay with Jack while I'm being interviewed."

"Sure, why not?"

The trio later entered the GML Enterprises building and waited in a lobby on the third floor. An employee later called Chris into the glass conference room to meet several business executives. "I'm not sure what Chris is interviewing for, but wearing a waterproof down jacket isn't helping," Jack commented.

"Maybe she's just cold from the rain."

Meanwhile, a tall blond man with spiky hair wearing business casual entered the lobby as his assistant followed. "I've already sent your two guests into your office, and after that meeting is over—"

"Give me one moment!"

The man rushed inside the conference room as the executives stood up immediately. "Good afternoon, Mister Lazar!"

"G-Good afternoon, M-Mister Lazar..." Chris greeted sheepishly.

Jack asked Soon, "Who is that?"

"You don't know him? That's Gunz Lazar, interim CEO of the entire company. He travels frequently because there are so many offices to manage."

Gunz excused his assistant and continued speaking with the amethyst-eyed applicant. "I saw you for a few minutes before entering. You had a great time talking with the other executives."

"I thought so too, although I'm suddenly more nervous now that the legendary interim CEO is standing right in front of me."

"Nah, you'll be fine. Just be yourself! It was nice seeing you. I'll see the rest of you later!" The interim CEO left the conference room and later entered his office. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Alice. I just got off a flight six hours ago."

Sitting in front of Gunz's desk were the redhead professor and her secretary, who was extremely confused and remained silent. "It's still an honor to be invited to your office despite your busy schedule. What can I help you with?"

"Actually, it's about what I can't you with." The interim CEO locked the door behind him and took a seat. "You already know that my dad has stage 4 pancreatic cancer. The accounting department told me that our educational funds are slowly running out because of less sponsors. I can continue donating to the physics department like I've always been, but I can't donate to the folklore department this year."

"I see... Don't worry about it, Gunz. Your family and company come first."

"And I had no idea that Doctor Michael is on sabbatical this year, so—" Suddenly, he received a phone call. "This is Gunz Lazar, how may I help you?" Then his eyes widened. "Got it, thanks. I'll see you then."

"If you have a meeting after this, then Shun and I will leave now."

"I'm really sorry, Alice. I know how much you love your department. Maybe I'll donate double to your department next year, but I definitely owe you a favor. Let me show you outside. We have leftover refreshments from another meeting."

"Thank you!" After grabbing some snacks and returning to the first floor, the redhead asked her secretary, "Not something you expected to hear, right?"

"You used to write several letters asking for grants and donations when you were still department secretary. How did you meet the famous Gunz Lazar of GML Enterprises?"

"As Gunz said, he normally donates to the physics department, so he knows my grandfather. Then I started writing letters to every organization out there. Gunz was the only representative from a tech company to reply and donate to the Department of Folklore."

"You must've been very convincing, then."

"Not really... I don't think Gunz would've replied if he didn't know my grandfather." The redhead then checked her phone after receiving some notifications. "This is interesting... Soon said her friends discovered a possible dead gyojin in one of the caves in Minakami."

"Are we going there to investigate then?"

"You bet. Now I need to schedule a time that works for all of us... Anyway, did everything work out with your family when you stayed in Bayview to visit Kashiwagi?"

"Alice, don't worry about it. If you need my help with anything, then let me know early so I can adjust my schedule."

"Alright, sounds like a plan!"

-x-x-x-x-x-

Soon, Alice, Shun, and Baron all arrived in Minakami at noon on Saturday. The two blond Minakami residents gasped upon seeing a huge group arrive at their meeting location. "What a crowd..."

"I completely forgot to tell you that I'm bringing some colleagues from BIU with me," the auburn-haired student apologized.

The assistant professor asked, "Is it too inconvenient for so many of us to come?"

"Not at all!" Jack insisted. "If we knew there would be a crowd, then we would've scheduled an earlier meeting time to show you around all of Minakami!"

Soon introduced everyone to each other. "This is Professor Alice Gehabich, who teaches my folklore studies class. Shun is the department secretary, and Baron is a fellow classmate and research assistant like me. Everyone, meet Chris and Jack. They're my childhood friends from this district."

"All of you are from BIU..." Chris realized.

Alice extended her right hand, which the amethyst-eyed blonde shook briefly. "We're actually here on a research assignment about Bayview's urban legends. My former professor visited here to investigate some gyojin sightings from twelve years ago. Can you show us the mysterious creature that you found?"

"Sure, follow me."

On the way to the caves, Shun whispered to the redhead, "Do Chris and Jack seem a bit off to you?"

"They definitely had a huge reaction to the term BIU." From the current altitude, she had a wide of Minakami. "This district is known for its fishing industry, commuting by gondolas, and basically living on water. Chris and Jack might not have been to college, so we should speak with caution."

"I agree..."

Inside the cave, Jack showed everyone the wooden box in question. "I took the lid off for you already. Do you think this is a gyojin from the urban legends?"

"It looks weirder in real life," Soon commented.

The assistant professor was about to touch the figure when her secretary suddenly grabbed her hand. "This is a dead body, Alice. There could be germs. Here's a nitrile safety glove."

"First the alcohol wipe, now disposable gloves? You came prepared."

"Just something I learned from Dan."

The redhead pulled away an old white piece of fabric and examined the figure. "The head and torso look human, but everything below that looks like a fish tail... and there are no fish scales..."

"Any chance that this is a fake exhibit that someone put here years ago to prank us?" Baron asked. "Like Frankenstein, for example."

"I don't see any obvious signs of stitching random animal parts together, so it's best that a professional laboratory examines this. Remind me to text Dan later." Then she moved aside a rock that was blocking the box, revealing an image of some houses built on top of water. "What an unusual design."

Shun took a picture of the image and enhanced the brightness and contrast. "I did my best to clean it up. How does it look now?"

"Send it to me." Alice then used reverse image search. "This image is the logo of some winery, but due to ownership transfer twelve years ago, the winery now has a new logo. That means nobody builds any more wine crates with this current image."

"So not only is this wine crate being used like a coffin for this weird creature, but the last time this logo was put on crates was twelve years ago when people saw gyojin in Minakami? Not a coincidence."

"It's definitely unusual timing..."

Chris glanced at the enhanced logo on the assistant professor's phone and gasped. "I've seen this before! My aunt and uncle have a crate like this at our convenience store. They remade it into a three-tier drawer now."

"Is the store nearby?"

"Yeah, we can all go there now." Suddenly, the amethyst-eyed blonde dropped a binder clip out of her pocket. "Sorry, that's mine."

"How come you folded your phone cable into this binder clip?"

"In case I need to charge my phone with a power bank in my pocket, my hands won't get tangled. Come on!" Back to the main streets of Minakami, the sextet arrived in front of an average convenience store. "I'm back with some friends!"

A young man with spiky silver hair wearing a cobalt raincoat appeared from behind a shelf. "Chris, don't forget that you're working mid-shift tomorrow."

The blonde girl rolled her eyes and faced her guests. "That's my uncle, Anubias. He always talks like that. My aunt Sellon might be cleaning the storage room upstairs. Anyway, where's the wooden drawer that you assembled a long time ago?"

The silver-haired storekeeper led the way to the item in question. "Here it is. What about it?"

Alice compared the image on the three-tier drawer to the enhanced image on her phone. "It's a match, alright. Oh my, I forgot to introduce myself. My name's Alice Gehabich, and I teach folklore studies at BIU. Maybe I ask where you obtained these wooden wine crates?"

"We used to sell wine from that winery until they got bought out by someone else." Suddenly, a woman with a green ponytail wearing a gray raincoat entered from the back entrance. "I'm Sellon, Chris's aunt. So this is why she requested a day off from work today..."

"Nice to meet you all. I'm actually here on a research assignment and was wondering if you two know anything about the gyojin sighting from twelve years ago. I also wanted to know where you obtained the wine crates with this specific logo."

Chris's legal guardians exchanged glances and shook their heads. "I know the other neighbors might've seen something, but Anubias and I rarely go anywhere far from our house or the store, so we haven't seen much. These wine crates are all over town since we and the other residents used to order from the same winery. Why do you ask? You don't look like locals."

"No, we're actually from central Bayview. A couple days ago, Chris and Jack discovered what could be a deceased gyojin in one of the caves, so they informed Soon, who then told me." After quickly checking an urgent notification, Alice bowed before excusing herself. "That's it for now. Thanks for your time!"

While the others stayed inside the store, Shun followed Alice outside and asked, "Why did you leave so quickly? I know you have more questions to ask than just—"

"We have a bigger problem." The assistant professor showed him some messages from Dan. "Bayview police just discovered that Gunz is dead."