#27: Chapter 25 — Great Detective of Another World (WN)

Leo laughed, Kirio looked worried, Merlin remained silent, and Bob wore a look of mockery as they watched me return in a state of total exhaustion.

The fact that I was nowhere near solving the case was likely written all over my face, so I couldn’t really blame Bob for his reaction.

As I slumped into my seat, Kirio leaned in close.

“How did it go?”

“How did it go? I’ve completely lost my confidence. It seems I wasn’t cut out to be a detective after all.”

The truth slipped out before I could stop it.

“You’re only realizing that now?” Bob sneered.

I ignored him, naturally. Or rather, I couldn’t even think of a comeback.

“Pathetically enough, when I went to investigate the cathedral earlier, I felt like I was about to pass out.”

“I felt the same way,” Kirio said, offering a word of comfort.

That reminded me of how Kirio had looked like death warmed over after she went to the cathedral with Arle.

“Because of you and Leo, I wanted to collect and systematize data in the medical field. I wrote papers and categorized data as much as I could. I gathered and analyzed all sorts of information—burns, bruises, poisoning, frostbite. I thought that even if I couldn’t match others in surgical skill, I could stand above even Miss Arle when it came to that kind of investigation. But…”

Kirio shook her head weakly.

“Once I was actually at the scene, I just couldn’t handle it.”

“How faint-hearted. Are you both saying you’re going to give up on your dreams just because of this?”

Leo spoke with an exasperated look, seemingly unable to comprehend how Kirio and I felt.

That was only to be expected. This man’s mental fortitude was built differently. It was entirely possible he didn’t even understand the concept of giving up.

“Be that as it may… as far as I’m concerned, I’m at my limit.”

“How pathetic. Why don’t you try using that logical deduction you’re so proud of?”

Leo was trying to provoke me into action.

He was right. It was likely impossible to gather any more new information. Time was running out.

Since I couldn’t even manage a proper deduction yet, I had to analyze the materials I already had.

“In the end, I think the mystery of this case boils down to when and how Princess Victie was killed inside the cathedral. Every other mystery is just a byproduct of that fundamental one.”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

Bob scowled, looking genuinely confused rather than just argumentative.

“I think I catch your drift, Van, but what about the mystery of that explosion, for instance?”

Even Merlin’s voice betrayed his bewilderment.

“Oh, that certainly seems like a different thread from the core mystery, but I’m not actually that worried about the explosion.”

I spoke in a casual tone, but the others looked aghast.

“Wait, does that mean you’ve solved the mystery of the explosion?”

Kirio’s eyes went wide as she pressed for an answer.

“It’s not so much ‘solved’ as it is that I can imagine any number of ways it could have been done. A method like the one Geralt mentioned isn’t impossible, and if you apply the logic behind his deduction, you can come up with several theories.”

Yes, ever since I heard Geralt’s deduction, a faint image of the truth behind the explosion had begun to form in my mind.

However, the problem remained.

“The issue is whether the culprit is an outsider or not.”

“Which means there is a possibility it was an internal job,” Leo replied instantly, causing a stir among the others.

“Well, yeah,” I admitted hesitantly.

“In fact, given the situation, it’s better to assume it was an internal job. To be more specific, we should consider the possibility that the killer is right here in this Grand Hall.”

The area around this ceremony hall could be considered a variation of the ‘closed circle’—like a snowbound mountain villa or an isolated island, typical staples of mystery fiction. Since the surrounding forest was crawling with the Royal Guard and Holy Knights, entry and exit should have been impossible.

Of course, nothing was absolute.

It was possible an outsider had slipped through the net, but the correct procedure was to first deduce based on the assumption of an internal culprit. Only if that led to a total dead end should we look toward an outsider. That was exactly what I had preached during my lecture on theory earlier.

The problem was that I was currently at a total dead end.

I was almost starting to feel like Geralt’s somewhat forced ‘outsider theory’ wasn’t so bad after all.

I wanted to punch myself for being arrogant enough to talk big to Geralt.

“It’s true that we actually have a surprising amount of freedom to move around within the ceremony hall,” Leo said with a hint of irony.

“Huh? What do you mean by that?”

Leo shot a look of pity at the blank-faced Bob.

“Because everyone has been ordered not to leave their rooms, it means that if you do leave your room, no one will notice. After all, there are no witnesses.”

“But after the award ceremony started, the two guards began walking around,” Kirio countered.

“They only come to fetch the recipients, don’t they? That’s only once every fifteen to twenty minutes. You could avoid them if you were careful.”

“Isn’t the real problem the fact that you can’t leave the hall? If you step outside, you’ll be spotted by Jin and Raika. Except for when they enter the hall to fetch someone or when they’re checking the cathedral, those two guards are always outside.”

When I raised my objection, Leo conceded.

“True. Even if you can move freely within the hall, you can’t exactly teleport into the cathedral in one go.”

“Ultimately, the problem is that we don’t know how they entered the sealed cathedral, nor do we know when she was killed,” I said, summarizing my thoughts.

Several people had confirmed Princess Victie’s presence during the briefing just before the ceremony began. Even after the ceremony started, we—the award recipients—had seen her. With the exception of Bob, we had even seen her face. Furthermore, Raika and Jin had also confirmed her presence every time a new recipient was presented.

“I feel like we’d make some progress if the two guards were accomplices,” I muttered, giving voice to a wish that was, at the very least, disrespectful to Raika and Jin.

“Queen Ice guaranteed those two aren’t accomplices. Even Archbishop Mintz would have checked beforehand whether Jin, the guard he brought along, had any connections with anyone else present today.”

Merlin tapped his shoulder with his staff. He seemed to be growing tired from being confined in the Grand Hall for so long.

“What if Queen Ice and Archbishop Mintz are the accomplices?”

I threw out a bold theory that had just occurred to me.

“Are you an idiot?” Bob dismissed it instantly.

“If such a large-scale conspiracy existed, they wouldn’t go out of their way to kill her on a stage like this,” Leo explained logically. “They could have disposed of her much more secretly, without anyone ever knowing.”

He was exactly right.

The fact that the murder happened in such a bizarre situation was unnatural in itself. If there had been any other way, the culprit would have taken it.

“Besides, I don’t see a motive that would support multiple accomplices. What reason would there be to kill Princess Victie, and in such an abnormal fashion? It feels like there must be an extremely personal motive. A conspiracy wouldn’t hold up,” Merlin added, dismissing the accomplice theory from the perspective of motive.

This was also persuasive. It was hard to imagine a motive for this specific murder that several people could share.

“Hey, Van. Time’s up.”

A smirking Bob gestured toward the clock with his chin. The time limit was indeed right upon us.

Damn it. It was no use.

Feeling suffocated, I stood up and walked to the corner of the room. There, away from everyone else, I fought back the urge to vomit.

At this rate, Geralt’s deduction—no, his story—would be the one adopted. Was I really okay with that?

What’s the problem? a part of me whispered. Does it even matter?

Images of Victie during the ceremony and her headless corpse flashed alternately through my mind.

I stumbled, bracing my hand against the wall to keep from collapsing.

“Are you okay?”

I turned at the sound of the voice to see Kirio following me, looking concerned.

“Yeah.”

I replied, but even to my own ears, my voice didn’t sound “okay” at all.

“Don’t blame yourself, Van. It can’t be helped. This case is just strange. It’s almost as if everyone is lying.”

“As if everyone is lying, huh…”

That was exactly how it felt. If I believed everything everyone said, it meant Princess Victie was alive until the moment of the explosion, and in the next instant, she appeared as a headless corpse inside the sealed cathedral.

That was impossible, so the culprit had to be lying. I understood that much. However, what was so bizarre about this case was that even if one person were lying, the structure of the events made it impossible for that lie to hold up.

If someone lied about Princess Victie, it would be exposed immediately unless several other people went along with it. For example, suppose I lied and said the Princess was in the cathedral when she actually wasn’t. For that lie to work, Jin and Raika—who were checking—and even Bob and Kirio, who came to the cathedral later, would all have to cooperate with that lie.

“I’m starting to lean toward the accomplice theory after all. It really feels like a situation where multiple people are lying to deceive us,” I said with a sigh.

But that was hard to imagine.

It was almost time.

“But even if several people were lying, this case is still a mystery. I wonder what kind of lie someone would have to tell for things to turn out like this.”

The words escaped Kirio’s lips like a quiet mutter to herself.

“What kind of lie would result in this?”

I repeated the words without thinking.

Certainly, even if multiple people were simply lying, that alone didn’t explain the situation.

Exactly what kind of lie would lead to this?

What kind of lie?

And who?

“Ugh—”

A shock.

That was the first thing that hit me, before anything else.

Then, everything I had seen and heard up until now began to connect on its own, forming a single picture.

I tried to laugh off the image as it began to take shape, thinking it was far too ridiculous. But the more I tried to laugh, the more vivid and precise the picture became.

No way. Is that what this is?

“Wh-What’s wrong?”

Seeing my strange behavior, Kirio grew flustered, but I didn’t have the luxury of responding.

The blueprint being constructed was raging inside of me.

No, wait.

I forced myself to calm down.

That’s right, stay calm. This is just a delusion. In reality, it’s impossible to pull off. There’s still the problem of the sealed cathedral. My delusions wouldn’t hold up against that overwhelming mystery.

The memory of being inside that sealed cathedral came rushing back.

“No…”

At a certain scene, my thoughts came to a grinding halt.

A sense of incongruity. No, it quickly ceased to be just a feeling. I realized the true nature of that discrepancy.

What does this memory mean?

“Could it be…?”

If so, it was absurd. Beyond absurd.

Had I been making a massive mistake this whole time?

I had to make sure.

“Ah, wait!”

Kirio called out to my back as I suddenly broke into a run, but I couldn’t stop.

“Wh-What is the matter?”

Yasha looked surprised as I rushed up to them.

But I didn’t have the capacity to worry about Yasha’s feelings.

“Please tell me, Yasha.”

And then, I confirmed one specific thing.

The answer was, in a sense, exactly what I expected.

But hearing that answer made me feel like my legs were about to give out.

Good grief… what a ridiculous story.

Every single one of them—they’re all liars.

Even after Yasha left with the dishes, I couldn’t move from the spot.

I swayed. The dizziness was overwhelming.

So, what do I do now?

There’s no evidence. No, is there? But can I even use that?

No, more importantly, should I even solve this?

Now, for the first time, I understood the meaning behind that forced resolution Geralt had presented. If I solved this, who would it actually save? Wouldn’t it be better if the culprit really was some phantom assassin from another country?

“Hey, what’s up with you?”

Leo approached, perhaps finding it strange that I had suddenly started running.

“Leo.”

My whole body was shaking involuntarily as I turned toward him.

“What is it, seriously?”

Leo was startled by my state, but he seemed to catch on immediately.

“Don’t tell me… you figured it out?”

“What should I do?”

That pathetic question escaped my trembling lips.

“What do you mean ‘what should you do’? You point out the culprit, obviously.”

Faced with Leo’s nonchalant strength, I felt a surge of fear and anger rather than admiration.

It was the first time I had ever felt this way toward him. He was different from me. I felt it deep in my bones—he was an entirely different breed of human, a being who existed in a realm completely divorced from weakness.

“And then, what happens? I can’t even imagine it. Will the culprit be executed? Will the Princess’s death be made public? What will happen to us? Who exactly is saved by pointing out the criminal? It might just end up hurting everyone involved.”

Pure weakness flowed incessantly from my mouth.

“I couldn’t care less about any of that,” Leo replied, his tone chillingly indifferent.

“Listen, I’ll tell you my true intention for dragging you into this. If you can solve this case, you will undoubtedly become a Court Detective and Geralt’s right-hand man. You’ll be held in high regard by the King and Queen, and even the Church won’t be able to ignore you. After that, once you build up a track record of investigations based on your own theories, the reforms you and I aim for will become a reality.”

“You’re telling me to solve this case just for that?”

“Exactly. Van, you wanted this too, didn’t you? Our values might differ, but our desire to change the current system is the same. And you possess insights that ordinary people lack, a rare talent for magic, connections like myself and Merlin, and right now—you have an opportunity.”

It was true; I was blessed. I had knowledge from my previous world, a talent for magic that could char a massive tree or freeze a lake in seconds with a single glare, and above all, I was blessed with a mentor and a friend.

But still.

“I can’t bring myself to see it that way. To see this case as an ‘opportunity’…”

The image of the headless corpse resurfaced in my mind, making me feel nauseous again.

“Real cases are heavy; they’re caked in something dark and grimy, and their mere existence hurts people. They aren’t something someone like me should be handling.”

The case was, quite literally, a monster. I was simply terrified of stepping into that monster’s territory. That was all there was to it.

“Isn’t that why people want them solved? They want the case brought to an end, if only for appearances—even if they have to drag the weight of it behind them forever afterward.”

“Solved, huh? But the Great Detective said that any solution, any truth, is just a fantasy.”

I wondered what Geralt had been feeling when he said those words.

“Hey now, get a grip. That doesn’t just apply to the ‘truth’ of a case. Didn’t you say yourself that there are no absolutes in this world? You were right. Everything is an illusion, a dream. A case is an illusion too. What’s wrong with using one fantasy to end another?”

“Is a Great Detective even necessary for that?”

“For now, yes. We absolutely need a ‘Great Detective’—an individual who can speak from an overwhelming height, spinning a dream so persuasive that it ends the case without question. That’s why Geralt has become what he is. From my perspective, it’s almost comical to watch. But you want to change that system, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” I answered weakly.

I wanted to change this field, where investigations were carried out based on personal whims and intuition. That was what I had thought.

“Then for now, you become the Great Detective.”

Even hearing Leo’s words, my heart wavered.

Could I really endure it? Even if I stayed silent, the case would still end. With Geralt’s solution.

What would be so wrong with that? I should just throw away my disproportionate desires and my dreams of changing the world.

“Let me tell you one thing. If you know who the culprit is and choose to stay silent here, I will not forgive you. Victie was my childhood friend, too. If things stay like this, she’ll never receive justice.”

I was startled by Leo’s tone; it wasn’t his usual self-assured voice, but something incredibly natural.

In that instant, something finally clicked into place in my chest.

I see. It was okay for me to solve it. At the very least, Leo—the victim’s childhood friend—wanted me to.

“Leo.”

The voice that left my throat had finally regained its strength.

“Hmm?”

“I’ve made my deduction. It’s a theory where no other conclusion is possible. I have several grounds for it. However, I don’t have any decisive evidence.”

That was the weak point of my deduction.

“But I’ve thought of a plan to find evidence that proves the culprit is deeply involved in the incident, at the very least.”

“Oh?”

Leo watched me with interest, curious to see what I would say next.

“I might not be able to carry out that plan myself—not as a commoner with no authority. So, Leo…”

I looked Leo straight in the eye.

Without flinching, Leo stared back. His golden eyes were filled with confidence.

“Will you help me? We might end up being targeted by the royalty or the Church, but even so, will you use your power as a high noble to execute this plan?”

“Of course.”

The response was instantaneous.

It was so fast I almost suspected he hadn’t thought about it at all. But there was no way this man hadn’t thought it through. In a split second, he must have simulated every possible outcome and still decided to help.

“I see.”

With that, my resolve was completely set.

“Time is up.”

A voice called out.

Ice stood up and declared that the time limit had reached its end.

“We shall take measures as Geralt suggested. Are there any objections?”

As that dignified voice echoed through the grand hall, I saw Geralt sit up in the corner of my vision, and Kirio looking at me with worry.

Don’t tremble, voice.

“That would be premature.”

I had been worried when I spoke, but surprisingly, my voice sounded calm and carried well across the hall.

Hiding my racing heart and ragged breathing, I squared my shoulders. I straightened my spine.

I had to adopt an attitude that gave my words authority. I had to play the part of the Great Detective.