Tantei Gakuen Q 20

Note: One line is one speech bubble unless otherwise indicated. In order of reading, right to left and up to down.

Page 1

Text: Under instruction of DDS, the Q class was sent to a village deep in the mountains to unravel the riddle of the mysterious disappearances.

Text: Q’s group of five had checked in to the old inn of ‘Ryozanbaku’, where they met a TV crew investigating the mystery of the Japanese Army Treasure.

Text: The next day, a member of the TV crew who had mysteriously disappeared, Azegami Rio…

Text: was found dead in a cemetery grave by the Q class.

Text: To unravel the mystery, Q, Kinta and Kazuma will stay in Hyotan Village…

Sfx: Wear

Text: While Ryu and Megumi will head to Kamikakushi Village to investigate!

Text: Chapter 20 The Kamikakushi Village Murders Part 4

Text: Tantei Gakuen Q

Text: The cause of these mysterious happenings

Text: Are shrouded in the thick fog.

Text: Controlled by Ekagi…

Text: Kamikakushi Village!

Page 2

Iwashimizu: Che! Why is the fog so thick here, Anzai?

Anzai: It really is, Producer Iwashimizu!

(Probably) Iwashimizu: The last time we came here, the fog was equally thick. Don’t tell me that it’s like this all year round?

Oowada: …

Anzai: Isn’t it, Oowada?

Anzai: Oi, Oowada!

Oowada: Eh..?

Oowada: Ah… ah… ah… What did you say just now?

Anzai: Forget it! Isn’t it, Kagami?

Kagami: That’s quite true, Director Anzai.

Kagami: When I came here previously, I heard a rumor that…

Kagami: Kamikakushi Village and Hyotan Village have more days of fog than clear days in a year!

(Probably) Anzai: Oh

Page 3

Ryou: Dear guests,

Ryou: When you go out here in Kamikakushi Village, please keep your masks on.

Ryou: This is village that worships the Ekagi.

Ryou: If you do not abide by the cult’s rules, you will be chased out, and the rules state that you can only return 7 days later.

Ryou: Not only that, it is most likely that you will incur the wrath of Ekagi-sama, and you might mysteriously disappear.

Ryou: Before this, there was one university student who lost his mask. The next day, he disappeared in the middle of a field.

Ryu and Megumi: !!

Ryou: That’s true, you TV guys should know it, right?

Ryou: You must be careful!

Ryou: Come… we are at the ‘Ryozanbaku’ Resort.

Megumi: Ry-Ryou-san! What is that?

Page 4-5 Double Spread

Ryou: The Temple of Ekagi-sama.

Ryou: The High Priest resides behind that wall.

Ryou: Other than the High Priest, no one is allowed to cross those walls.

Ryou: In other words, it is the Headquarters of the cult!

Ryou: I would like to implore all of you to stay clear of that place.

Megumi: …

Ryu: …

Page 6

Text: On the other hand, Q and the others in Hyotan Village…

Kinta: That’s weird… What’s wrong with you, Q?

Kinta: All this moping about… This isn’t like you at all!

Q: I’m worried… I’m worried about Megu-chan and Ryu-kun going into that creepy village by themselves.

Kinta: Kekeke! I think you’re more worried about the fact that Megu-chan and Ryu-kun are going to be alone together ~~?

Q: Wha-What are you saying!? Kinta!

Q: Let’s not talk about that anymore. Where’s Kazuma?

Kinta: He hooked his computer up to the phone line. Tappity, tap, tap, typing away. I have no idea what he’s doing.

Q: Phone?

Kinta: Yeah!

Kinta: Hmph. Since he’s doing things his way, let’s do things our way!

Q: That’s quite true.

Q: Actually… There was something I’m curious about…

Kinta: Something you’re curious about?

Page 7

Q: Yeah! Just now, when we went to Kamikakushi Village…

Q: I thought of something. For towns and villages, there should be a criterion for people who want to stay there, right?

Kinta: That’s true! Humans are social animals. We settle down in groups

Kinta: People would gather at an oasis in the desert. They would settle down there!

Q: Then… This Hyotan Village and Kamikakushi Village…

Q: What is the reason for their formation?

Kinta: Eh?

Q: Because, to reach Hyotan Village, we have to travel for a long distance on the highway, and can only take public transport before walking a long distance through a tunnel, right?

Sfx: Whoosh

Q: The village is surrounded by perilous cliffs, just like an isolated island on land!

Text in picture (Right to Left): Kamikakushi Village

Text in picture (Right to Left): Entrance

Text in picture (Right to Left): The only tunnel connecting the two villages

Text in picture (Right to Left): Hyotan Village

Text in picture (Right to Left): Tunnel To Hyotan Village

Q: That and to reach Kamikakushi Village, we have to walk for thirty minutes through a tunnel.

Q: Just digging that tunnel must have been incredibly difficult, no?

Page 8

Q: This type of village which is nothing more than “Difficult to access” and “Unnoticeable”,

Q: When was it, and for what reason was it set up?

Q: If it really was to be unnoticeable,

Q: Does that mean that it really contains the Japanese Army Treasure?

Kinta: The people in these two villages have committed unforgivable acts.

Kinta: That is why they hole themselves up in this unnoticeable place.

Q: Unforgivable acts?

Kinta: That’s just something I thought up.

Kinta: It was what my instincts told me.

Kinta: I think that in these two villages, someone must be up to no good.

Page 9

Sfx: Whoosh

Sfx: Hmph!

Q: That’s that then! Holing ourselves up in here isn’t going to accomplish anything!

Q: Let’s also go investigate this village!

Kinta: Alright!

Kinta: Detectives were meant to go to the crime scene to investigate anyway. What kind of conclusions can we draw by sitting in front of the computer?

Probably Kazuma: Achoo!

Kazuma: Eh? I’m down with flu?

Sfx: Sniff!

Kazuma: Or is someone saying things about me behind my back?

Kazuma: Che! I couldn’t care less.

Kazuma: What an old-fashioned telephone! I’d never be able to connect to the network like that!

Kazuma: Seems like bringing along the dial was a good choice after all!

Sfx: Beep!

Kazuma: Nice! I’m connected to the Internet!

Kazuma: Now, connected to the mysteriously disappeared university student’s society’s website!

Kazuma: Now to…

Sfx: Tap Tap

Sfx: Tap Tap Tap

Page 10
[T/N Note: The following in italics is in an email format. Please follow the format in the Chinese raw to typeset this in]
Request For Help In Investigation

Poster: Narusawa Kazuma

Time of Post: 14:05:21

Greetings, Members of the Treasure Hunt Society,
I am DDS, the Dan Detective School’s Narusawa Kazuma.

I am currently investigating the mysterious disappearance of one of your Society members, Oshima Yasushi-san. I would love to have your aid in my pursuit of truth. Any information regarding Oshima-san, Hyotan Village and Kamikakushi Village, and anything at all regarding this case would be very welcome. This will help me a lot.

Thank you for your advice!

Kazuma: That should be fine!

Kazuma: Now to wait for a reply.

Kazuma: Oh!

Kazuma: It’s here! It’s here! What a quick reply!

…have your aid in my pursuit of truth. Any information regarding Oshima-san, Hyotan Village and Kamikakushi Village, and anything at all regarding this case would be very welcome. This will help me a lot.

Thank you for your advice!

[T/N Note: This is where the next chunk of text comes in]

RE: Request For Help In Investigation

Poster: Shimazu Kosaku

Time of Post: 14:13:05

Narusawa Kazuma-san,
Thank you for logging into our community.
I am Takada Baba University Treasure Hunt Society President Shimazu Kosaku.
We are all willing to help with the investigation in whatever ways possible.
Regarding the many disappearances in Kamikakushi Village, the police do not seem to have taken any action.
As for Oshima’s disappearance, my fellow students and I are all worried that the police will form yet another sketchy conclusion.
Thus, at the moment, we can only pray for Oshima’s safety, and our situation…

Kazuma: Yosh!

Kazuma: [Thanks for your reply. I’ll get straight to the point then…]

Sfx: Tap Tap

Page 11

Kinta: What is it? Q! Have you thought of something?

Q: …Yeah… This village… How queer!

Kinta: Queer in what way?

Q: Take this building for example. In a mountainous region such as this one, there exists such a well-created concrete building!

Kinta: That’s quite true. This is a very old building. Probably a post-war construction?

Kinta: Seems just like a place you can only enter but not leave…. Just like a prison.

Q: … Prison…

Q: Eh?

Text on Sign: Entry Is Forbidden

Page 12

Kinta: Is it a… dam…?

Q: …

Kazuma: Where did the two of you go?

Kinta: Sorry, sorry! It’s just that with your eyes glued to the computer screen, it’s no wonder you didn’t know we had gone out.

Q: Did you find anything, Kazuma?

Kazuma: How would I know?

Kazuma: I found many interesting topics regarding these two villages.

Kazuma: Turns out the Japanese Army did do something here before!

Q: Heh! And then?

Kazuma: You two come and take a look! This seems to be classified information from the Japanese Army regarding these two villages.

Page 13

Kazuma: The text has been encrypted into numbers!

Chinese text: E-707 Report

Smaller text: Please be careful while handling this report.

Q: Wah! Just looking at that gives me a headache!

Kinta: Can you really decipher these kind of things?

Kazuma: No matter how complicated the code, there are always rules to follow.

Kazuma: As long as we find the rules, there is not code we can’t crack!

Q: Rules?

Kazuma: Yeah! In this kind of situations, the letters are usually replaced with numbers in accordance with strict rules.

Kazuma: To crack this code, we have to take out the repeated letters and organize them to find out what they mean!

Kazuma: Just like [35 1 33 28 9 28 (28) 48] or [5 24 18 24]…

Kazuma: Or [31 48 38 39 24 (42) 19 31 48]… Don’t they turn up quite a few times?

Q: O-Oh… I see…

Page 14

Kazuma: In any case, I’ll be here for some time,

Kazuma: Using the computer to crack any phrases we can guess.

Kazuma: This was a message sent within the Army itself, and it was in the times during war before cryptography methods before the technology was truly advanced. As such, it should be quite simple.

Kazuma: It shouldn’t take up too much of my time.

Kazuma: Uh… I won’t be going out for a while, so you two don’t come and disturb me!

Kinta: Heh! Even though you are quite irritating, at least you’re not bad at this eh?

Q: Do your best, Kazuma!

Q: If you can crack the code, we’ll probably be able to get to the heart of the matter!

Kazuma: Yep! Leave it to me!

Sfx: Clench

Text: Kamikakushi Village, Ryozanbaku Inn.

Page 15

Ryu: This is the room where the missing university student stayed in!

Megumi: Ryu-kun! Come and see! It really looks like the model!

Ryu: Yeah…

Megumi: Were the footprints really made by using the rubber raft from before?

Ryu: They should be.

Megumi: If it’s like that, then that missing university student…

Ryu: Is probably no longer with the living…

Ryu: Just like that news reporter buried in the cemetery…

Megumi: …

Page 16

Ryu: …. Wait!

Megumi: What is it, Ryu-kun?

Ryu: If the university student really was killed,

Ryu: How would the murderer take care of the body?

Megumi: Uh… Shouldn’t it be buried somewhere?

Ryu: Somewhere? Where?

Megumi: Should be the cemetery, right?

Sfx: Rustle

Megumi: Eh? There doesn’t seem to be a cemetery in Kamikakushi Village!

Megumi: Then could it be that they dug a hole somewhere and just buried him?

Ryu: There is no cemetery here?

Ryu: Does that mean that if anyone dies here, they have to be carried through the tunnel to be buried in Hyotan Village?

Megumi: Wu…. Isn’t that a huge waste of resources?

Megumi: The tunnel takes 30 minutes to travel, and there even is a spiral staircase!

Ryu: …

Page 17

Ryu: That’s….?

Anzai: …

Megumi: That’s the director, Anzai!

Megumi: That man said that he knew what the infinity sign from before,

Megumi: As well as the Japanese Army Treasure was all about! I’m not sure if he really knows, though.

Ryu: …

Ryu: Well… Up to now, two people who knew what those circles were about have mysteriously disappeared.

Ryu: He’d want to be careful.

Sfx: Shiver

Page 18

Megumi thinking: For some reason, Ryu’s expression just now was one of excitement…

Megumi thinking: The light in his eyes… It was as though he was just waiting for something to happen.

Megumi thinking: The feeling he gives me…

Megumi thinking: Is a creepy and frightening gaze!

Megumi: …

Ryu: …!!

Ryu: What’s wrong, Megumi?

Megumi: N-Nothing!

Megumi: Oh yes! Ryu-kun!

Page 19

Megumi: Why do you want to be a detective?

Ryu: …

Ryu: … You say that…What about you?

Megumi: Uh… I…I… uh…

Megumi: Because of something… How do I say it?

Megumi: I want to be a detective… it’s probably because I am in awe of Dan-sensei’s achievements.

Ryu: …

Ryu: Is that so…

Page 20

Ryu: As for me…

Ryu: I came to DDS for various reasons.

Ryu: But…

Megumi: …

Ryu: This mystery that unfolds before my eyes…

Ryu: It enthralls me.

Ryu: That’s why…

Ryu: Faced with such a chilling inconceivable case,

Ryu: It makes me think of this!

Sfx: Hmph!

Page 21

Ryu: Let the mystery…

Ryu: Be even harder to unravel!

Megumi: …

Page 22

Ryu: Come! It should be time for dinner.

Megumi: Eh... Yeah!

Sfx: Wear

Text Box: What they saw then, was the last anyone ever saw of the director, Anzai.

Text Box: … That night, he mysteriously disappeared!

Text: What were the ‘unusual circumstances’ which befell Anzai?

Text: The next chapter, the two obstructing ‘mysteries’!

Text Box: What could only be seen as a mysterious disappearance…

Text Box: The unfathomable scene…

Text Box: Was captured in the camera tapes he had with him…