Chapter 32

Three months have passed since that incident.

The details of the case have been suppressed, and the public has been told that Princess Victie is unable to appear in person due to poor health.

It’s likely a temporary measure. I have no idea what they ultimately plan to do.

Perhaps no one knows what the right move is anymore.

Leo effectively vanished from the public eye in Shark. The Baal family was reportedly split into several branches, with various relatives becoming heads of their own smaller houses. There must have been some kind of backroom negotiation involved.

In any case, the House of Baal—once the preeminent Great Noble family of Shark—is gone.

Everyone involved was sworn to secrecy and given some form of compensation, almost like hush money.

I don’t know the specifics of who got what, but I heard Bob’s Meijin family acquired several interests that originally belonged to the Baals. Arle reportedly became the primary physician to the King and Queen, and I’ve heard that Raika is due for a promotion soon as well.

Jin resigned as a Holy Knight and returned to being an adventurer. I suspect he was simply handed a pile of cash.

I don’t know about Yasha. I can’t even begin to imagine the state of mind of the woman who was like a surrogate mother to the Princess.

Kirio’s Rahura family, which had been on the verge of fading away, avoided dissolution through the mediation of the Royal Family. Thanks to that, her parents—who had been possessed by their own delusions—seem to be slowly returning to their senses. Kirio herself is currently undergoing training to become a court physician.

And as for me.

It’s been decided that I will take the position vacated by Geralt, who was promoted to Director of the Royal Detective Agency. In other words, I am the Assistant Deputy Director.

Even though my name is known thanks to that book Leo and I wrote, it’s usually unheard of for someone fresh out of the Military Academy to be appointed to such a post.

Furthermore, both the Royal Family and the Church have been actively endorsing the investigative and deductive theories I’ve proposed.

Now, I’m apparently drawing attention not just domestically, but from other countries as well, as the pioneer of Shark’s new method of criminal investigation.

But for now, I’m in the middle of training to become a court detective.

Under a pleasant sun that made the freezing cold of the incident feel like a lie, I sat on a wooden bench in a park located in the center of the royal capital.

I sat there, waiting. In one hand, I gripped the stationery that had been delivered to me yesterday.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

I looked toward the cheerful voice and saw Kirio. Her hair was a bit longer than it had been during the incident.

She was still wearing a jacket and trousers, but the colors were bright, and the design had a somewhat feminine touch.

“Ah, it’s been a while.”

“Sorry for calling you out on your rare day off.”

“Don’t worry about it. We’re both in training; holidays are basically non-existent anyway. We have to meet when we can.”

I stood up and began walking through the park with Kirio.

“So, where are we going?”

“Hm? Didn’t you call me out because there was somewhere you wanted to go?”

“There’s a restaurant where I want to have lunch. But it’s still a bit early for that, isn’t it?”

I pulled out the pocket watch I’d received as a graduation gift to check the time. Indeed, it was still early for a meal.

“We don’t have that much time until noon, so why don’t we just take a stroll?”

“Sure, that works… but what’s that paper?”

Kirio’s eyes fixed on the stationery in my hand.

“Oh, this? It arrived yesterday. It’s from Jin. Sent from wherever he’s adventuring.”

“Heh, were you two that close?”

“Not at all. I actually dislike the guy. He’s so arrogant.”

When I said that, Kirio let out a delighted laugh, covering her mouth with her hand.

Since that incident, I feel like Kirio has become much more feminine. Her expressions are softer, and her behavior more graceful.

“I’d asked him a favor.”

“Eh?”

“I was curious about it, so I asked him to tell me whenever the time came that he was allowed to speak of it.”

“Ah.”

Kirio clapped her hands together.

“The story of why Jin was chosen as the guard?”

“That’s the one.”

Just recently, Archbishop Mintz stepped down from his role managing matters related to Saint Fata and reportedly went into semi-retirement. It was likely his way of taking responsibility for everything.

Strangely, rumors say he seemed relieved rather than disappointed. In the streets, people are whispering all sorts of things, connecting Mintz’s behavior with the disappearance of Princess Victie and Leo.

“He sent me a letter saying it’s probably fine to tell me now. Though the tone of the writing is as arrogant as ever.”

After letting the letter flutter briefly in the breeze, I folded it and tucked it into my pocket.

“So, what did it say?”

Walking beside me, Kirio asked with deep curiosity.

“To put it simply, it seems Jin wasn’t chosen so much as a guard, but as a lookout. That’s why he was deemed the right fit.”

“A lookout?”

“Yeah. It seems Archbishop Mintz, sensing something might happen, arranged for Jin.”

“Then, did Archbishop Mintz anticipate the incident?”

I shook my head at Kirio’s wide-eyed question.

“No, rather than anticipating it, he was afraid. Specifically, he was afraid of being killed himself.”

“What?”

“Apparently, he was terrified that Princess Victie or the Royal Palace side would harm him. According to Jin, at the time, the Archbishop was practically borderline paranoid.”

“I see. He felt guilty.”

“Probably.”

He felt guilty about how Princess Victie was treated, and convinced himself he was hated by both the Princess and the Royal Family. I can somewhat understand the old Archbishop’s feelings.

I wonder what he’s doing now.

The thought crossed my mind briefly.

Perhaps he is praying. For the peace of the Princess’s soul and for his own atonement.

Since Jin had to keep an eye on the movements of the Royal Palace, he had been vigilant enough to notice even King Uraenus bringing in a razor.

If he had been watching Leo’s movements as well, perhaps the incident never would have happened. It’s a regrettable thought.

Kirio and I walked together down a path shaded by thick trees, avoiding the direct sunlight.

“That reminds me—congratulations, Van. You’re becoming a nobleman, aren’t you?”

Kirio squinted in the sunlight filtering through the leaves.

“Yeah.”

This, too, was likely a form of hush money. Or perhaps they simply couldn’t have a commoner serving as the Assistant Deputy Director of the Royal Detective Agency.

The territory I’m to govern will reportedly be a portion of the former Baal lands.

“Did you come up with that family name yourself, Van?”

“Yeah. They told me I could choose whatever I liked.”

“What does it mean? ‘Holmes’?”

Van Holmes.

That is my new name.

“Well, it just has a nice ring to it.”

I could hardly tell her the real origin.

“My family will be the Holmes family by extension, so everyone seemed surprised. I got a letter; apparently, my younger sister is already acting like a noble princess.”

I couldn’t help but give a wry smile. My parents had sent a letter mixed with complaints about the trouble they were having with my sister, who was forcing herself to act like a high-born lady.

“Hey, Van? Once training is over, would it be okay if I went to meet your parents and your little sister?”

Kirio looked up at me, her eyes searching my face expectantly.

“Oh? I don’t mind, I guess.”

“Really? Yes!”

Kirio’s face broke into a radiant smile.

She really had become much more feminine.

“Hey, on the flip side, would you come to my place too?”

“I mean, I don’t see why not.”

“Well, you know how my parents are. To be honest, it would have been hard to invite you over when you were still a commoner.”

“Yeah, I suppose so.”

I’d never met them, but I could easily imagine that Kirio’s parents wouldn’t have welcomed the student version of me.

“But now that you’re a nobleman, I can introduce you without any worries. Besides, you’re the ‘Great Detective’ everyone’s talking about right now. My parents will actually be thrilled. They’ll probably wonder how their daughter managed to have such a distinguished friend.”

Daughter. Right, she was their daughter again.

Now that the family was back on its feet, Kirio’s parents were slowly starting to face reality and had finally acknowledged Kirio as their child. That was likely part of the reason she had started acting more like a girl.

Still, “the Great Detective everyone’s talking about,” huh?

“Even though the reality is that I haven’t actually done anything yet,” I muttered.

With the backing of the Royal Family and the Church, my investigative and deductive theories had spread across the world and become a hot topic. My name had preceded me long before I had any actual achievements to show for it.

I wanted to believe they supported me not just as part of the hush money, but because they had witnessed the resolution of that case and judged my methodology to be effective.

Regardless, the fame that came first, the unprecedented appointment as Assistant Deputy Director of the Royal Detective Agency, and the simultaneous disappearance of Princess Victie and Leo—people linked these facts together, weaving rumors upon rumors. Now, the figure of “Van Holmes” was becoming something far larger than the man himself.

“There’s a rumor going around that the Six Detectives of Pangea are going to become the Seven Detectives of Pangea soon.”

“I haven’t actually solved a single case since then, though. It’s a bit embarrassing.”

Being put on a pedestal like this felt incredibly strange.

“What’s wrong with that? Everyone is paying attention to you and your methods. I’m actually quite jealous.”

“I heard you’re drawing plenty of attention yourself as Arle’s top disciple. Isn’t your graduation thesis becoming quite the talk of the medical community?”

“Hehe.”

She let out a happy laugh.

As we walked and talked, we had already made a full circuit of the park.

“Should we head to that restaurant you recommended now?”

“Hmm? Let’s go around one more time, okay?”

“Sure, why not.”

It wasn’t like I was particularly starving yet.

“I like just walking leisurely like this, without having to do anything in particular,” she said.

“I see.”

We continued our stroll through the park.

I started noticing other pairs—couples walking together just like us.

It occurred to me then that this park was famous as a popular date spot.

Looking to my side, I saw that Kirio’s face was faintly flushed.

“Hey, Kirio?”

“W-what is it?”

“Since it’s a bit awkward just walking in silence, do you mind if we talk about the case?”

“Ehh? I mean, sure, but you really lack a sense of romance, don’t you?”

Kirio laughed mischievously, and I laughed back.

“There’s just something I wanted to ask you.”

The sunlight felt wonderful.

I stretched as I walked and asked, “Kirio, what do you think Leo’s motive really was?”

“Wasn’t it exactly what he said? That he couldn’t stand looking at Princess Victie because she was like a corpse? It’s very ‘Leo,’ if you think about it.”

Kirio rounded her eyes like a curious cat.

“Yeah, I don’t think that was a total lie. But I can’t help feeling like it wasn’t the whole story.”

“Why?”

“The head.”

I stretched again, letting out a satisfied breath.

“He said he ate the head, but do you think that’s actually true?”

“I wonder…”

“Let me rephrase that. Based on the Leo you know, would he really do something so senselessly macabre as eating a head?”

“I… don’t think he would.”

“Right? We were friends for three years—well, even longer in your case. You two used to see each other at social gatherings back in the day, didn’t you?”

“We didn’t talk much, but we certainly moved in the same circles. He seemed to know who I was even before we met at the Military Academy.”

“Yeah. Anyway, to both you and me, Leo just isn’t that kind of person. In my opinion, he probably just threw the head away or buried it somewhere.”

“Then why did Leo lie? What for?”

“I think he wanted to say something shocking to derail the questioning at the time.”

“Derail it? But wasn’t Leo the culprit?”

“He was.”

I nodded, looking out at the distance where a student-aged couple was whispering to each other in the shade of a tree.

It was so peaceful.

“So, if there was something he wanted to obfuscate back then, it had to be the motive. I think he was trying to hide the fact that there was another reason behind it all.”

“Then what was this ‘other motive’?”

For a moment, with a mysterious smile playing on her lips, Kirio looked hauntingly beautiful.

“Probably this.”

Without stopping, I simply spread my arms wide.

Kirio seemed to immediately understand that my gesture—referring to “this”—meant the very situation we were in now.

“The fact that you became a Great Detective?”

“That’s part of it. That incident… how should I put it? It was remarkably similar to the ‘whodunit’ riddles I used to give, wasn’t it?”

The case had been far too much like a mystery novel.

The switching of places, the locked room, the headless corpse.

It was a crime that would be difficult to solve using the logic of a world where mystery fiction doesn’t exist—but it was an easy case for someone like me, who talked about nothing else.

“To commit a crime in front of the most powerful people in Shark—one that couldn’t be ignored, and that no one but me could solve. I think that was the core of his plan from the very beginning.”

And ideally, it had to be the kind of case where the full truth couldn’t be made public—the kind that forced them to promote me as a way of ensuring my silence.

“And in doing so, he made me prove the utility of my methodology.”

“But why? Would Leo go that far just for your sake?”

Kirio tilted her head blankly.

Why?

Did she really not understand?

“No, ultimately, what Leo did was for himself. When he said, ‘To live is to act with intent,’ I don’t think that was a lie. I think those were his true feelings. That’s just the kind of person he was. Do you remember what Leo said his goal was?”

“Yeah.”

Shading her eyes with her hand, Kirio looked up at the blue sky.

“To change the world, right? Based on that paper you and Leo wrote.”

“Yeah. I think that’s what he wanted to do.”

He saw it as his mission, as someone with the ability to do so.

“In fact, at the rate things are going, the contents of that paper are going to have a real impact on the world in the very near future. I’ll be the figurehead for it, much as I hate to admit it.”

If it hadn’t been for that incident, the theories in that paper wouldn’t have permeated the world this quickly within my lifetime.

“But even if he achieved that, Leo won’t get any credit for changing the world. He won’t even be able to see the world as it changes.”

Kirio’s expression darkened slightly.

She was right. After everything he did, I couldn’t imagine Leo was still alive.

“I don’t think that mattered to him.”

That was the kind of guy he was.

His own reputation, or even his own life, didn’t matter; the act of doing it by his own will was the goal in itself. To him, that was what it meant to be alive.

He was just too different from us.

“He said something strange at the very end, remember? About ‘holding’ and ‘being held’?”

“Eh? Did he?”

Kirio furrowed her brows, not seeming to recall it well.

“I didn’t understand it at the time, but I think I’ve finally figured it out lately.”

The answer was hidden within my memories.

“I once asked Leo a question. I asked why he was so ready to admit that a commoner like me was superior to him, and whether he felt any resentment about it.”

“What did he say? Leo, I mean.”

“He told me that just because a sword is stronger than a fist, it doesn’t mean the fist has no value. That was his answer. Leo was the fist, and I am the sword.”

Yes—those final words of his were a continuation of that metaphor.

“I thought he just meant we were simply different types of people, but it seems that wasn’t it. The fist represents the ‘hand.’ It can utilize tools. If the sword is stronger, then you just open your hand and grip the sword. You use the sword. He used me—he swung the sword that is ‘Van’—with the goal of changing the world. That’s what I believe now.”

“Heh, so that’s what it was.”

Kirio nodded repeatedly in understanding.

As I watched her face, a question I had intended to keep locked away in my heart suddenly threatened to spill out.

“Hey, Kirio.”

“What is it?”

Kirio leaned her face closer to mine.

It was a beautiful, innocent face. Her cheeks were faintly flushed.

“Leo said at the very end that he might have been ‘held’ as well. In other words, that he might have been the one being used.”

“Yeah.”

“What do you think?”

I watched her face intently as I asked.

“I wonder… I really have no idea.”

Rather than the content of the question, Kirio seemed embarrassed by the way I was staring at her; she looked away with a shy grin.

“Kirio,” I called out to her as we basked in the pleasant sunlight filtering through the trees.

“Eh?”

“Do you like me?”

“Wh—huh?!”

Her face turned bright red, and she began to mutter incoherently.

A couple passing by looked at us with the kind of expressions people save for something heartwarming. They likely took us for a fresh, young couple.

“Setting that aside, is your work going well?”

“Eh? Oh, yeah, um…”

Though she seemed bewildered by the sudden change in topic, she continued.

“Right now, I’m working with Miss Arle to gather various data and categorize them by type. It really is different from trying to do it alone as a student.”

Back then, Kirio had mentioned she was collecting data on her own. She’d said that data on frostbite was among her findings.

She had also said that when she examined the Princess’s body with Arle, her mind had gone blank and she couldn’t understand anything.

Was that true? Is it possible she noticed the wound had been frozen once? If she had pointed that out then, the possibility of Geralt reaching the truth wouldn’t have been zero.

“I’m glad to hear things are going well.”

“My family is back on its feet, so I have nothing to complain about.”

Because Kirio and I didn’t know the face of the Fata statue in the cathedral basement, Leo was able to plan the incident with terrifying speed. Forget the face—we didn’t even know of its existence. But that, too, was strange. In fact, Leo had found it mysterious that Kirio, a noble, didn’t know about it.

It was true her family was a falling house on the verge of vanishing, but even so, her parents should have had her attend social gatherings at every opportunity. Was it really possible for her not to have heard even a single rumor about the statue?

“Your parents and your house really are important to you, aren’t they?”

“I suppose. They treated me as a son, refused to see the reality that was fading away… I thought that the noble status and the house they tried so hard to protect were all worthless. But still, my parents are my parents.”

She gave a lonely smile, as if she couldn’t bring herself to hate them.

It wasn’t strange to think the nobility system was worthless.

Given her upbringing and the state of the Rahura family before it was restored by this incident, it was only natural. One could even argue she ought to have some twisted feelings regarding the very existence of the nobility.

That’s why it was odd.

On the day it was decided we would meet Princess Victie, why did she seem so genuinely happy about that quintessentially noble honor? Why had she talked about Princess Victie constantly in front of Leo?

If Kirio had dismissed the meeting with Princess Victie as worthless right then and there, would Leo have been able to successfully guide us into sneaking into the cathedral basement?

“You’re on better terms with your parents lately, aren’t you?”

“We’re finally at a point where we can have a proper conversation. Their rigid values are the same as ever, though.”

Kirio laughed as if troubled.

The three years for me, Kirio, and Leo.

What had each of us been looking at during those three years?

In particular, Kirio and Leo had moved in the same social circles even before that, and they must have heard various rumors about each other.

Is it possible that Kirio and Leo understood each other’s true natures at a level far deeper than I could ever reach?

“It feels like more than one person must be lying,” I whispered.

“Eh?” Kirio asked, puzzled by my mutterings.

“No, it’s nothing.”

It was Kirio’s comment that had triggered my deduction of the case. It was an obvious hint.

In other words, Kirio might have grasped the general overview of the incident at that very point.

“By the way, I haven’t heard the answer to my question yet.”

“Eh?”

“About whether you like me or not.”

As I spoke, Kirio’s face flushed red once again.

Looking at her face, I remembered the knife.

The throwing knife that had been confiscated by Yasha. Why did Kirio even have such a thing in the first place?

She’d said she just happened to have it on her because she’d brought it to class. But was that really the case?

Could it be that she had brought it along as a precaution because she anticipated something might happen? However, it was taken away during a body check that was stricter than she’d expected.

“Mean,” Kirio suddenly muttered, and she wrapped her arm around mine.

I could feel the warmth and softness of her slender body. A faint, flower-like scent tickled my nose.

“I do like you. You know… I’ll tell you now.”

Kirio stared into my eyes from point-blank range.

“It was love at first sight.”

I stared back into the beautiful eyes of the flushed girl. They were clear, without a single cloud.

They looked like the eyes of a simple, innocent girl in love. Or was it just that the things hidden within them were too complex for me to read?

Our second circuit of the park was coming to an end.

“Well then, let’s go for real this time. I heard it’s a delicious pasta place.”

Kirio spoke with her arm still linked in mine.

“Hey, Kirio.”

The words left my mouth naturally.

“Are you happy right now?”

“Of course.”

Kirio answered instantly, peering into my eyes.

“I’m happy. More than I’ve ever been. I feel like everything is going to work out.”

The parents she couldn’t abandon were gradually recovering thanks to the restoration of their house, and Kirio was finally allowed to act like a normal girl.

The person she fell in love with at first sight had become a nobleman and gained fame; there would be no problem introducing him to her parents.

And she had the job she wanted, and now she could walk arm-in-arm with that person.

Indeed, everything had worked out perfectly, and it seemed things would continue to go well.

“Hey, what about you, Van?”

“Hm?”

“Are you happy right now?”

Kirio didn’t look away from my eyes.

All my doubts from moments ago were just my own delusions. A dreamlike story with no evidence. No—even if there were grounds or evidence, as Geralt had said, there is no such thing as absolute truth.

People have no choice but to select the illusions that are most convenient for them. That is true even when a detective solves a case.

And so, I have to choose the dreamlike story that is most convenient for me here.

“Of course.”

I smiled at Kirio.

“I’m happy.”

At those words, Kirio’s face lit up.

“Then… do you like me?”

“I suppose so.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

With our arms still linked, Kirio and I walked toward the park exit.

Kirio had a brilliant smile on her face, and her step seemed to have a bounce to it.

I briefly asked myself if it was true that I was happy.

No answer came.

I quickly gave up on verifying whether it was the truth.

There must be an exhausting number of things in this world that are better left unanswered.

The warm sunlight made everything before Kirio and me appear to be sparkling.

Everyone I saw was coming and going with a smile, as if enjoying the spring weather.

It was as if this very scene itself were a dreamlike story.

“Yeah, I’m happy.”

I muttered it as if to convince myself, and then smiled at Kirio once more.

May there be fortune for every dreamlike story. (May all fantasies be blessed.)

ED/N: Next chapter is a character list.