Hyouka - Volume 03 - The Kudryavka Sequence - Welcome to KANYA FESTA! (1)

500 yen coin, which is a mixture of brass and nickel, I guess?)
I wondered if I should take a peek inside, as I placed my hand on the door
handle. I'd better not, while it might help in catching the phantom thief
Juumoji, it's too unrefined of me to peek into the Magic Club's backstage.
Besides, as long as I just stand here, I would easily see if anyone went in or
out.
As I looked at my own notes, I immersed myself in enjoying this unexpected
turn of events. While seeking out knowledge at my own pace is also fun in
itself, I relish in these kinds of unforeseen incidents. Then again, based on my
own experiences, sadly speaking, it would seem my wits, which are required
in such a case, are by no means superior to the rest. In essence, I am unable to
deal with such sudden situations with a calm head, but this time I have
prepared sufficiently in terms of intel, so I should be able to do something
about it.
I killed time while going along such thoughts.
"Hmm? Why, if it isn't Fukube," said a surprised sounding voice. It was Tanikun,
with his firm jaw and round nose.
"You did rather well in the Wild Fire tournament."
That reminds me, we did beat his team during the cooking tournament. Upon
discovering the declaration of crime, we'd totally forgotten about our duel.
I smiled and said, "Well, it's thanks to my pork miso soup, after all. My
teammates also worked their best as a result, making my work look rather
incomplete though."
"Team competitions sure are tough. I should have stuck with individual
tournaments. Those two girls were incredible, even Suhara was amazed."
"Though I don't feel like I've won, as there weren't many participants. We
were just lucky."
"By the way..."