D was relieving stress by playing video games on the desktop on the main floor while Lilianna was lounging on a couch. The moment a middle aged woman entered the building, D paused his game; Lilianna immediately straightened herself on the couch.
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“Excuse me,” said the woman, “Could you take the time to investigate a mystery at the department store that I work at?” Hmm, I was hoping that we could have some free time to relax and relieve stress before any further investigations of the dolls… But maybe I should hear her out to see if it relates to the dolls, thought D.
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The woman continues, “A few weeks ago, all the cameras in the store malfunctioned. Then a few days later, after our female customers finished changing clothes, they opened the door to find a mannequin in the way. At first, everyone regarded it as a prank, but then it kept happening everyday. Eventually our customers thought that the mannequins were possessed. Unfortunately, since the cameras were malfunctioned, we couldn’t check to see who would pull this ridiculous prank; we couldn’t ask the police because we’re too embarrassed.”
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The woman seems to be done talking. She’s done talking now…? D glances at Lilianna who looked like she was half asleep. D shifts his attention back at the woman. “Mam, we’ll take a look into this after business hours.” The woman thanks D and leaves.
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Lilianna yawns loudly, “Do you really think this is related to our investigations with the dolls?”
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D nods, “Apparently, the doll maker just doesn’t make dolls, he or she also makes marionettes and the guy that tells you your fortune in exchange for money.”
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Lilianna’s head falls back on the arm of the couch, “Wake me up when it’s time to go.” She goes to sleep with her arms and legs sprawled out on the couch.
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A few hours later at the department store, with all the lights inside the store turned off, the only light source was from D’s flashlight. D and Lilianna were in the clothing sections, they looked around to see mannequins scattered throughout the area in various clothing and poses.
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Lilianna spoke up, “Let’s split up and gather up all the mannequins in one place. Then I’ll just cut them all with one swing and call it a day.”
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“Wait, it’s dangerous to just casually gather up the mannequins in one place. What if a mannequin were to strike one us when we get near it?” Advised D.
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Lilianna sighs, “What do you suggest?”
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“The store employee said that a mannequin would appear behind the door of a girl’s changing room. Why don’t you go in one of them with your claymore? After you wait for a while, open the door with your claymore ready; strike the mannequin if you see it.”
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“Do I need to change clothes?” asked Lilianna.
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“If you want, the more similarities we have, the more likely that the mannequin would appear.”
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“Alright, so what will you be doing?”
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“I’ll be somewhere nearby if you need me, if I just stand right next to the entrance of the girls’ changing rooms, the mannequin probably won’t come.”
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After D and Liliana came to an agreement to the plan, Lilianna randomly picks out a dress and goes inside one of the dressing rooms. D goes to hide in a clothing rack where there’s no mannequins nearby and with a clear view of the entrance to the girls’ changing room.
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Meh… Changing out of my clothes and back is annoying, I’m going to take a small nap. He’s not going to know whether I changed clothes or not, thought Lilianna as she slumps on the bench with her eyes closed.
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45 minutes later, D’s legs were starting to ache after crouching for so long. What the heck? I knew Lilianna might take her time with changing clothes, but I didn’t think it would take 45 minutes to change into a dress and back to her regular clothes!
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D takes a look around his surrounds one more time before going out of his hiding spot. He goes through the hall of the girls’ changing room and sees a mannequin faced towards one of the room. What!? How did this mannequin get here!? I was watching the entrance the whole time!
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While looking out for opportunities, D notices a movable large container on wheels filled with clothes in the hallway out of view from the main entrance. So that mannequin was hiding in there until someone goes to change clothes…
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D goes behind the container and starts to push it. As the container full of clothes starts to move, it got easier to push. D continues to push until he got near to the mannequin, then he gives one final shove on the container. The container slams against the mannequin and continues going until it hits the end of the hallway.
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D unloads 8 arrows at it’s head; the mannequin doesn’t move. Was it really one of the doll maker’s dolls this time? It can’t be that easy! But just in case… D fires more arrows at the mannequin’s upper body; the mannequin was now pinned to the wall.
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D turns towards the room that the mannequin was facing a moment earlier. He looks beneath the door to see if there are any feets on the ground. He doesn’t see any, so he checked the other rooms. When the other rooms had not indications of being used, D goes back to the same room and tried to open the door.
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The door was locked, so D lightly taps on the door, he was answered by a faint snoring sound. After Lilianna’s presence was confirmed, D took out the keys that was given to him by the employee; unlocked the door to find Lilianna curled up on the bench.
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Typical Lilianna sleeping on the job… D goes up to her; starts shaking her in an attempt to wake her up. She stirs and finally stood up, rubbing her eyes, she then lazily looks at D.
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“Hmm? What are you doing here?” she asked.
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“You took so long changing that I came to check on you. Then I came across a mannequin in front of your room, but I took care of that now.” replied D.
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Lilianna nods with a proud looking smile on her face, “Yeah, that’s right, it came while I was changing clothes.”
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D looks at the side of the wall where the dress was still clipped to the hanger perfectly. Liar…! But… I’ll let you have your moment…
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D and Lilianna exits the changing room and notices that at the end of the exit of the hallway was blocked by a wall of mannequins. Yeah… I had a feeling that it wouldn’t be this simple…
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Lilianna decides to immediately take action by horizontally swinging her claymore at the mannequins; they were instantly in pieces with their body parts flung in the air. Any mannequins that Lilianna didn’t hit on the first swing were filled with arrows by D.
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When the path was cleared, D crouches down near a mannequin’s head. “It seems that these mannequins weren’t designed for fighting, but for surveillance, which is probably why it took almost no effort to disable them” said D.
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Lillianna lays down on her side with her head resting on her arm, “Okay, gather them up for Koban to examine; write a report on what happened.”
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“Okay, but could you at least give me a hand on picking up some of the mannequins?”
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Lilliana picks up a nearby arm of a mannequin and throws it at D.
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D dodges the arm, “No not that hand!” he cried out.
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D spend the rest of the time in the department store picking up the mannequins while Lilliana relaxes.580Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXEhaNPyAEV
