Traveling With a Beautiful Girl - Chapter 57: Clue

“…huh…”

A metallic taste spreads in my mouth. Maybe I’ve cut myself somewhere. But as a price for revival, it’s a small wound.

Thanks to it, I’ve awoken. It occurs to me anew. At this point, I am the only one in the world who cares about Nanase. If I were to give up, Nanase would truly be left all alone. That is absolutely, absolutely unacceptable!

Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely!

“I will definitely find her!!”

I gather strength in my legs and stand up. And then, about to move my feet again… no, I need to calm down.

Am I about to act without thinking again?

Am I about to repeat the same mistake again?

I need to stay calm. I need to cool my head and think….I should come up with a hypothesis. If Nanase decided to end her life today…

Where would she go on her last day? 

What would she eat? What would she experience?

What would Nanase… want to do at the end?

In order to find that out, I need to trace Nanase’s thoughts.

[When you encounter difficulties, you should organize the information you have at hand and analyze it calmly.]

[If you think logically, you will come up with similar solutions most of the time.]

I recall Nanase’s words. That’s right, I need to remember more. I shouldn’t get emotional, I should think with my head. I need to organize the information I have.

What did Nanase Riho like and what did she dislike?

What did Nanase Riho base her decisions on?

Who… was Nanase Riho?

Based on that information, where would Nanase go logically at the end? As I let my thoughts wander deep into these questions, something sparkles in my mind. I quickly pull out my smartphone and open the photo album. A picture I took four days ago.

I remember looking at a photo of her smiling with Mount Fuji in the background, a picture I took right here. At that time, Nanase said something like this…

[I seem to have liked sunsets.]

“Could it be…”

One by one, the scenes come to mind.

Nanase, who was staring at the sunset in this place, utterly mesmerized. Nanase, who said from the top of Hamamatsu Castle’s main tower, “I like the sunset more than the blue sky.” Nanase, who was disappointed that she couldn’t see the sunset at the sea in Okinawa.

Nanase, who, even though she looked lifeless at the observation deck of the Garden Park yesterday, seemed disappointed about not being able to see the sunset. Could the sight Nanase wants to see at the end be the sunset? Something seemed to drop heavily in my chest.

Even though I felt a sense of conviction, a hypothesis is just a hypothesis. Honestly, it’s a gamble. But at present, no matter what hypothesis I come up with, it’s all a gamble. However, among all the hypotheses I’ve come up with so far, this one feels the most likely.

So, I have no choice but to bet on this.

However…

“Now… where does she plan to watch the sunset?”

I almost black out again. The sunset can be seen anywhere in Japan where the view is open. It’s impossible to pinpoint Nanase’s location from all those places… no, don’t get weak!

Think.

From the numerous spots where the sunset can be seen, where would Nanase choose to watch it?

Think.

Trace Nanase’s thought process!

Think, think, think!

Consider Nanase’s thought process, which is completely opposite to mine…

“…opposite?”

I catch my breath.

“Yes, the opposite…”

That’s right, it was opposite. On second thought, Nanase always took a certain action. That’s a big hint in figuring out her behavioral pattern. I take out my smartphone with shaking hands.

I type into the search engine. A few minutes later, I finally left the observation tower.