Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume7 Chapter3 3

Umbrella Maker's Wife. Part 3

Ronin umbrella maker.

Why that particular phrase?

It was frequently used in period dramas, someone who made their living attaching paper to umbrella frames – was that what she meant by it?

"Hmm…"

Ronin umbrella maker.

Minako typed the phrase into the word processor once more.

She let it stand for now, but wasn't it an antiquated term? By and large, the whole samurai / ronin concept was extinct in the modern age. The term "ronin" still existed, but it was slang to describe someone who failed to get into university, or couldn't find a job after graduation, rather than the traditional meaning of a masterless samurai.

Marriage. Who on earth to?

She fretted, alone, in the club room. Overhearing the conversation between Fukuzawa Yumi and Rosa Foetida in the entrance had been a stroke of luck, but while she had picked up two or three jigsaw puzzle pieces, she still couldn't see the whole picture.

In this kind of situation, usually she would pick up the torch and keep going until the picture appeared. But, recently, even dimwitted Fukuzawa Yumi was on guard –

"Ahh, geeze."

When she first heard about the Rosa Foetida scandal, she didn't think there would be this much interesting material, so she'd jumped at it straight away. But, what of it. Club Members A, B, and C had provided the initial information, but after that she hadn't been able to use it at all.

The problem was that the eyewitness accounts of Rosa Foetida weren't the result of a stakeout or from tailing her, the reality was that the three of them had just accidentally stumbled upon her while they were out.

Someone had said that since it had happened three times, it must have happened more than that, and while she wasn't sure about that, the heavy crime of the three club members had been in deluding Minako into thinking that if she waited quietly another report would just fall into her lap.

While they had targeted Rosa Foetida, there were limits to what first and second-years could do to follow a third-year, who could come and go as she pleased. Even if it was for the school newspaper, they couldn't just openly ditch class.

The club members had gone out after school in search of gossip, but they'd probably catch nothing today either. While she'd never say it out loud, Minako herself and the first-year club members she used as her arms and legs had half given up.

How many days had it been now? … One week exactly.

Minako deleted "Ronin Umbrella Maker" from the word processor's display and typed in "Teach Us! OO-sensei."

Speaking of material that could be readily turned into an article, the only thing available was previously shelved notes about a teacher on maternity leave. There was no choice but to once again pad the next week's issue of the "Lillian Kawaraban" with bland material.

(The failure to get Takeshima Tsutako on our side hurts too.)

Spitefully, Minako banged away on the keyboard.

She could write an article for the Lillian Kawaraban just from the three first-years' testimony. But it was as plain as day that it would be a dubious report.

Three members of the newspaper club all coincidentally spotted Rosa Foetida at three different locations. Minako herself would laugh it off as a fabrication.

That was why she'd sought cooperation from the photography club's Takeshima Tsutako. She was certainly proficient with the camera, but it was her ability to sniff out a good photo opportunity that really set her apart. If they took her along, she would undoubtedly catch the scent of Rosa Foetida. Even a single photo would substantially improve their credibility.

(That camera geek.)

Busy after school, every single day. What on earth was she doing?

Thump, thump, thump.

(Her hobby's watching evening baseball matches, and she enjoys a nightcap every single day?)

It was depressing that she had to write such a boring newspaper article. Minako was growing more and more irritated. At the very least, if the story had revolved around the Rose Mansion, then she would have enjoyed typing it more.

Thump, thump … psheww.

"Ah!"

The monitor emitted a noise then switched off, perhaps protesting her rough treatment. The screen in front of her was as black as the Lillian Kawaraban's future.

"Gah, even the computer's mocking me."

On closer inspection, the power cord had come loose. But head of the newspaper club, Tsukiyama Minako, wasn't the sort of timid person to reflect on whether her own aggressive actions had knocked it out.

"Come take a look, Rose family!"

Alone in the clubroom, she raised a fist.

Looking back on it later, it appeared that something within Minako snapped when the computer lost power.

She couldn't write a newspaper article based on guesses.

But why shouldn't she turn the tables on that rule? People called that line of thought "defiance."

"Now then."

Minako checked the computer cord and powered it on.

It would have been nice to pack up, but she wholeheartedly rejected the evening game and nightcap.

"Muahahaha."

Ominous laughter mixed with the sound of someone tapping on a keyboard could be heard coming from the newspaper club's clubroom.