“Fried noodles?! On top of the Fairy Queen’s head?!”
Mile shrieked with delight, her eyes going wide. Without waiting for orders, her little feet immediately hopped forward, leading the way out of Mama Dari’s office. Miu, the chubby brown cat, could only purr resignedly in Mile’s arms, his head bobbing with every hurried step of his owner.
“Milea, stop! Don’t be so presumptuous and run ahead!” Mama Dari called out in a stern tone capable of making fairy soldiers tremble. But Mile only glanced back for a moment, flashing an innocent grin.
“Mama, time is the key! A true detective can’t lose the trail in any case!” Mile shot back in her know-it-all way. Her hands moved quickly, pressing her magnifying glass to the floor of the cloud-marble corridor.
Captain Fliff led them to the palace’s main hall. The scene there was utterly chaotic. Dozens of palace fairies flew around in a panic, pointing fingers at one another and crying hysterically. On the pink cloud throne, the Fairy Queen sat anxiously. Her beautiful silver hair, usually flowing elegantly, was now curling and twisting like freshly cooked instant fried noodles, complete with a sprinkling of fried shallots and floating scallion flakes.
“This is a disaster! A true insult to my beauty!” the Fairy Queen wailed, though every so often her hand was caught on camera pinching the tip of one curled lock and tasting it delicately. “…But it’s pretty savory.”
“Don’t touch it yet, Your Majesty!” Mile cut in firmly. She knelt at the foot of the throne steps, narrowing her eyes as she examined the floor. “Look at this! There’s a hugely important clue!”
Mama Dari, who had just arrived after hurrying along, folded her arms across her chest. “What clue are you talking about, Mile? Don’t confuse the Fairy Queen even more.”
“Ahem! Mile is sure this isn’t dark magic from a dark sorcerer, Mama,” Mile declared confidently, standing up and pointing at the floor with her magnifying glass. “It’s cooking-oil trails and flakes of chicken-broth powder! And look closely—there are little footprints with a bit of flour on them over here!”
Mile pointed to a line of tiny footprints leading toward the underground passage, in the direction of the Forbidden Palace Kitchen. Mile’s extraordinary sharpness had caught details that the panicked fairy soldiers had missed.
Mama Dari stared at the footprints, then looked at Mile with furrowed brows. This child… Her intelligence really is extraordinary, Mama Dari thought, though she kept her face as calm as possible.
“Miu, sniff this!” Mile ordered, guiding Miu’s nose toward the floor.
Miu slowly sniffed the air around him.
“Meow,” Miu drawled lazily, but his short tail suddenly began swishing rapidly toward the kitchen passage. The potato cat seemed more interested in the savory smell of food than in the investigation.
“Good job, Miu! A-aha! The Forbidden Kitchen!” Mile cried excitedly. “Mama, allow Detective Mile to uncover the secret of the fried-noodle culprit!”
Mama Dari let out a long sigh and looked at the Fairy Queen, who merely nodded resignedly while chewing on the tip of her own hair. “All right. But you must stay behind Mama, Mile. The Forbidden Kitchen is no place for fooling around.”
With a magic torch in Mama Dari’s hand, the three of them, along with Miu, crept down the stone stairs toward the Forbidden Kitchen. The pungent smell of cooking spices grew stronger there. From behind a steaming giant cauldron came an extremely shrill sneeze.
Huuuaaa-TCHHHUUU!
Thick orange smoke billowed out from behind the cauldron, spraying chili powder into the air. Mile grinned broadly, gripping her magnifying glass tightly.
The culprit is in there!