Returner Fantasy-Chapter 171: Murder - Part 4

Whatever motives Jeff could think of would remain nothing more than speculation.

"We won’t be sure unless we confront them directly," He’s said, getting Jess’s attention.

Right then—Ring~!—his smartphone rang, and the familiar ringtone instantly made Jeff know who the caller was even before picking it up and checking the screen.

After all, he had set a similar ringtone for Jess, Nubia, and Veena.

"It’s Nubia-senpai," Jeff said, showing the screen of his smartphone to Jess, as well as to Mira and Mina, who had finally managed to escape Jess’s iron grip on their faces.

"Vee is probably with her," he added, assuming that they were either at Capital City University or at Nubia’s apartment.

—Ring!~Ring!—

Aside from knowing who was on the other end of the call, Jeff could also guess what it was about, and it wasn’t something he could ignore any longer.

Jeff put down his almost-finished meal on the low table, then proceeded to answer the video call.

[What kind of stupid things are you doing there, Jeff?!]

Nubia shouted, complaining the instant they saw each other through their smartphone screens. Her worried look, however, betrayed her harsh words and angry tone.

She must have heard about the news of Cindy’s murder and Jess’s impending arrest, Jeff thought, but Nubia was trying to hide it from Veena, who was peeking from behind her.

[I miss you, Jeff-senpai~! Where is Jess-senpai? Isn’t she with you?]

Hearing Veena’s voice, Jess quickly let go of Mira and Mina, leaving them on the bed as she lunged onto the sofa beside Jeff and excitedly looked at the screen to see Veena.

However, the instant Jess and Nubia saw each other—even before either she or Jeff could say anything—the smartphone on the other end slipped from Nubia’s hands and fell onto the floor, accidentally ending the call.

"What happened?" Jess asked, snatching the smartphone from Jeff’s hands and redialing the call.

"Nubia-senpai probably won’t answer another video call," Jeff said, confusing Jess and even Mira and Mina, who were silently watching their conversation.

"And why is that, idiot?"

"Have you forgotten? That was actually the first time you’ve seen each other."

"Ehh?"

"Huh?"

Jeff had to explain to Mira and Mina—and remind Jess—that aside from Jess secretly watching his intimacy with Nubia over a video call, the two had never actually met.

Nubia wasn’t even aware that Jess had approved the Harem x Yuri plan, much less that Mira and Mina had been included as Jess’s mistresses.

And Nubia was still scared to meet Jess.

"And why is that?" Mira asked, followed by another suspicious remark from Mina.

"You pervert couple, you’re just teasing her, right?"

"We’ll tell everything to Nubia-senpai at the right time," Jeff said, barely holding back his mischievous grin, followed by a rather threatening request from Jess.

"Even Vee is keeping it a secret, so don’t tell her anything if you two ever meet her."

---

Leaving Jess, Mira, and Mina to prepare whatever they thought they would need for their search and investigation, Jeff called Nubia back—this time using a simple voice call instead of a video call.

"Did that surprise you, Nubia-senpai?" Jeff teased the instant she answered.

[Don’t surprise me like that!]

[Ehh? Why isn’t it a video call?]

[Stay there for a bit, Veena.]

[We’re are you going... Please open the door! Don’t be a meanie, Nubia-senpai!]

Listening to Nubia and Veena squabbling over the call, Jeff could only assume that Nubia had locked herself in her bedroom so Veena wouldn’t overhear the next conversation.

[Is Jess really going to get arrested?]

The fact that Nubia was more concerned about Jess than about the reputation of the PoruMerc company or the vacation island project showed just how caring she truly was.

"I really love that about you, Nubia-senpai."

[Stupid Jeff...]

Her stammering voice alone made it clear how flustered she was by his sudden affection. Still, Nubia endured her embarrassment and returned to the topic.

[You’re doing something to prove Jess’s innocence, right?]

"Don’t worry, Nubia-senpai. I’m not going to let anything bad happen to Jess—even if I have to burn the island just to smoke out the culprit."

It was meant only to reassure her, but Nubia’s response made Jeff fall for her even more.

[Then do it. I’m giving you permission to do anything just to save Jess.]

And Jeff wasn’t the only one moved by her kindness.

"Thank you, Nubia-senpai," Jess said after overhearing Nubia’s worried voice as she sneaked up behind Jeff.

[Crash!—Tut~!]

The loud crashing sound over the phone before the call ended made it clear that Nubia would probably have a new smartphone the next time Jeff saw her—and when Jess finally met her.

"I told you, didn’t I?" Jeff whispered, embracing Jess and pulling her closer.

"You’re definitely going to love Nubia-senpai."

"Pervert..."

—Don’t you two perverts dare get intimate in this situation!—

Mira and Mina shouted in unison, stopping Jess and Jeff before they could kiss, then dragging them out of the room to begin their investigation.

---

Crossing Nubia’s call off their list of things to do, the group proceeded to the next task at hand:

Finding out who had drawn Excalibur from the stone—or rather, who had stolen Jess’s greatsword that she left embedded in the ground in the hotel garden.

There were, of course, security cameras all around the island, especially near the villa and the hotel.

However, when they went to the control room with Lena’s permission to check the hotel garden’s camera footage, they discovered that all recordings from the previous day—from morning until the time of Cindy’s death—had been erased from the system.

"Right, I guess I forgot to tell you about that," Luke said when he met Jeff and everyone in the hotel lobby.

"Luke-senpai..." Jeff muttered, stopping himself from complaining since it wouldn’t change anything.

Luke explained that their information technology personnel had already examined the hotel’s computer systems and confirmed that nothing could be recovered.

If that was what the professionals concluded, then that was that, Jeff thought.

Even with his programming knowledge from twelve years into the future, there was nothing he could do if the data was completely gone.

Setting aside the second task on their to-do list, the group moved on to the third:

Searching for the thief who had ransacked their previous room and stolen all of Jess’s undergarments.

"Just to remind you, Jeff," Luke said—and Jeff already knew what he meant.

Not only the hotel staff and PoruMerc staff, but even the police had searched the hotel, the villa, and the entire island, yet they still hadn’t found the thief recorded on Jeff’s extra smartphone.

"Is there any other place the thief could hide?" Jess asked, recalling that Jeff and Nubia had explored the island and villa before the hotel was built.

"I’m not sure if those places have already been checked," Jeff replied, "but let’s go through them one by one."