The magus of the Department of Law, Hishiri Adashino, twisted her lips in a false smile and declared. “We can't find out who did it unless you're all here.”
Our arrival appeared to be the last.
Yvette L. Lehmann──the girl with a single Mystic Eye.
Karabo Frampton──a priest of the Holy Church.
Olga Marie Asmleit Animusphere──Successor to the Celestial Family Animusphere.
Melvin Weins──Tuner.
Jean-Mario Supinerra──the former TV show magus.
Hishiri Adashino──The magus of the Department of Law.
Next, the main staff of the Rail Zeppelin.
Conductor Rodin.
Auctioneer Leandra.
Including myself, there were a total of nine members. If Melvin was removed from the list and then the trio of Trisha, who had passed away, Master, and Caules were added to the group, it would be the same group of people who had initially boarded the Rail Zeppelin.
(...)
The carpet was so soft that it seemed to sink down to my ankles. There are elegant baked goods and tea on the table, and I realize now that it is still late afternoon. My senses have been completely deranged, having been knocked out, albeit for a short time. The events of only half a day since this morning were so compressed in time.
At one of those tables, with a hum, a white hand waved. “Welcome back, Gray!” Yvette, her pink twin-tail hair swinging from side to side so much it hurt my eyes, was calling out to me. “I knew you would come back!”
"...Oh? Were you not saying something about whether there would now be a slot available to become the instructor’s apprentice due to the vacancy?"
"No, I didn't say… that- Father?!"
Yvette became rigid as she turned around to see Karabo sitting next to her. I blinked to myself at the thought of this square-faced priest making a joke or two. I was surprised to see the unexpected side of this man I have lived and died beside for hardly an hour.
After a laugh at the priest, who cleared his throat, Yvette spoke to us again. “Still, I don't know how you survived that avalanche.”
"A little... luck came to help me..."
As you can imagine, it's hard to say that you were saved by a Heroic Spirit. And if I were to say that it was someone with whom I had engaged in life or death battle only yesterday, then an entire night would not be enough to explain it with my poor communication skills.
The priest moves his eyes and asks. "What happened to the other disciple of El-Melloi?"
“If you speak of Caules, he is watching over my master. He said I should come over here."
On the way here, I stopped by the carriage room once. As Caules had said, Master had not regained consciousness yet, but he was looking much better. That much gave me peace of mind. It was satisfying enough to know that the battle in the frozen forest had not been in vain.
“Thank you for your help with the Child of Einnashe."
“As I said in the beginning, I approached for my own sake. There is no need to thank me. …Still, I hope your master gets better soon."
“Thank you." After thanking him, I turn around. There was another person I had to talk to in the lobby car. I take one deep breath and then walk over to her. "Olga Marie… Miss. ...?"
"..."
The silver-haired girl didn't look up.
She remained slumped all the way down, a box the size of a travel bag at her feet. It was an oddly intriguing box, but right now, I was more concerned with her.
"Olga Marie."
“I don't know you. Don't talk to me." And so, the girl turned away. When I hesitated, unable to get to the heart of the matter, she added one more comment. "...Your master, how is he?"
“Thanks to receiving so much help, he has stabilized. Caules is looking after him now." I said roughly the same thing as I did to Karabo earlier.
I wonder if it is a characteristic unique to Master that she is so concerned about him, even though I don't think she had much contact with him. It is because my master is such a person that I am able to avoid falling down. It is difficult to keep standing up for myself, but if it could lead to even the slightest support for that grumpy person — if I could think such an arrogant thing, I felt that I could keep myself from cowering just a little longer.
"I see." Olga Marie muttered.
The conversation stopped after that, but I didn't feel bad about it. I was tempted to ask about the box under my feet, but something unusual happened first. Words arose from the previous table.
“So, what is this business we're gathered here for, miss Department of Law?”
When Karabo tried to fish for information, uh… Hishiri slapped his hand.
“Didn't I tell you? Since a certain someone seems to be sleeping peacefully, I thought I would play detective. It would be beneficial for the Rail Zeppelin to have all of its cases settled before the auction."
"...I see." Suddenly sounding more awake, the dark-skinned priest rose from his chair.
“What's the matter?”
“I'm retiring,” Karabo says concisely.
“I'll do the same.” Yvette stood up too.
"Oh, even you?"
“Isn't it obvious? I don't care if your guess is right or wrong, whether one of us is really the murderer or not. It's better to stay in my room until the auction.”
"...I'm right there with you. In addition, I belong to the Holy Church. I do not need to be restricted by the Department of Law."
Their words were very much like a magus and very much like an agent.
Truth and human life do not carry much weight. It is always possible to kill or be killed. That is why they say it is natural to avoid unnecessary risks. As magi, no one would have the words to deny them.
However. "... I think it's a good idea! A mystery drama!" Melvin raised his hand. The young albino who had come to the lobby car with me stood proudly in the midst of the gazes of the magi and Rail Zeppelin staff. “I'll stand by your guess. Isn't it nice, a mystery play? I've always wanted to experience it, not once, but two or three times!"
“Melvin Weins... The Tuner of Trambelio.” Once more, Olga Marie whispers.
Trambelio was another name I'd heard glimpsed. As I recall, it was one of the three Great Families that Yvette had mentioned. Along with Valualeta and Bartholomeloi, they were the most prestigious of the prestigious in the Clock Tower.
Perhaps it was the power of the name, but Yvette also mouthed an. ‘...Oh’
(...Ah) Somehow, I can see why the master did not mention this friend.
After all, Melvin is a friend of interesting things. If there is pleasure in it, he will not hesitate to open it, even if it is Pandora's box. He knows the meaning and effect of his family name, and he behaves thoughtlessly nonetheless.
Then, the conductor stepped forward. “The Rail Zeppelin has also decided to support mistress Hishiri in this matter. I apologize for this, but I would like to ask everyone to please bear with it for a while." The conductor's face was as emotionless as when we first met him. It was not an expressionless face, but rather a face that had no such thing from the beginning - or perhaps a look that was far removed from that of a magus.
I wonder if Hishiri was laying this groundwork while we were fighting in the frozen forest.
"...I understand."
"..."
As if giving up, Yvette and Carabo returned to their seats. With the addition of one of the three Great Families to the Department of Law, and even the endorsement of the Rail Zeppelin, they thought it would be a waste of effort to resist any further.
After making sure everyone was back in their chairs, “thank you very much.” Hishiri bowed like a flower. “Now, I would like to advise you on this case from the standpoint of the Department of Law-”
"Hello, detective!" Artificial to the situation, Melvin loudly claps.
If you think about it, this would be an extremely selfish act, since he is the only one who is a later participant, and he has no damage to suffer from this reasoning act.
“First, I'd like to present some preliminary information.” With that, Hishiri smiled. The white nape of her neck swayed in the light from the window. Her shadow swayed with it. At the same time, everyone in the room may have felt an unpleasant sensation. It was as if this woman, who resembled a beautiful snake, was manipulating everything. “A familiar returned from the Clock Tower just now.”
“A familiar?” Melvin asked back, and Hishiri gave a small nod.
“Yes, I had the Department of Law provide me with information about an incident seven years ago.”
"Hey, hey, you! You said the Department of Law isn't so lax to easily view cases outside your direct charge! What was that all about?” It was Jean-Mario Supinerra.
Hishiri's response to the TV station magus, who protested with exaggerated gestures, was nonchalant. “It's not easy, but it's clear enough by how you spoke that this is relevant.”
"...Tch, you just whatever you want."
“Eh, seven years ago? What do you mean?" Melvin poked his head out with interest. Of all of them, only the strange tuner seems to be unafraid of the name of the Department of Law.
“Yes. Shall I take a small moment to explain?” Hishiri asks, her head slowly turning around. Something is not right, I thought. But before I could utter a word, the woman from the Department of Law continued to speak. "Seven years ago, there was a string of murders where the M.O. was the same. A case where several bodies were found with their heads removed.”
I felt my blood freeze for a moment at those words. A headless corpse, which was gruesome even among magi, must have seemed so abhorrent to the general public.
In contrast, Melvin hmmed and tilted his head. “If there had been such an incident, I would have remembered it.”
“There was information control. The Department of Law controlled the matter." Hishiri, on the other hand, lifted up the sleeves of her elegant folk dress and casually confessed it.
Information control. For the Department of Law, it's their core business. The Enforcement Bureau of the First Principle carries out the Clock Tower’s foremost task of concealing Mystery.
"...Hey, that’s supposed to be my line." Despite Jean-Mario's dissatisfied lips, the female magus continues.
"However, The information I've received tells me other things as well.”
"U-huh. What else?"
“There was another organization that intervened in that matter. Namely, the Holy Church."
"…!"
A hint of unrest floats over the train for a moment.
It was Karabo's, of course. Turning her wet obsidian-like eyes slowly, Hishiri spoke to the dark-skinned old man.
"The agent at the time was Karabo Frampton. It was you, correct?"
“...Correct."
Karabo conceded it concisely. His lips were quivering and tight. An agitation that had not been seen even when he had run through the Child of Einnashe was now gripping the old man of the Church.
“Why didn't you tell us before?”
“It would be a breach of confidentiality to leak information about past cases needlessly. It's only natural." In a hard voice, the dark-skinned priest states so.
But there is no way that everyone will agree with that explanation. Hishiri continued to ask the obvious question. “Is that all?"
"..."
She stared at the silent Karabo for a moment and then, “Let us proceed to the next stage of this discussion,” Hishiri declared.
She passed between the tables in the lobby car and looked down at a single spot. It was only after a few seconds or so that I realized this was the carriage where Trisha had died.
“In this case, despite Master Karabo's vision of the past, he could not see the scene of the crime. Despite Trisha's vision of the future, she was unable to protect herself. In short, neither the past nor the future could see the moment of the crime." Hishiri raised both her hands as if singing.
The fingers of one of her hands bend down from above, and the other lifts up from below. Does it represent looking at the past and the future? She stopped at a point where the two sets of fingers overlapped, then continued her speech.
“If so, the answer is straightforward. It's very simple — the crime scene wasn't 'here' at all."
“Ah...!” Yvette clapped her hands at that opinion. “I see. That’s right. That must be it."
"As expected of a Mystic Eyes specialist. You seem to understand quickly. Hindsight and Foresight only transcend the time axis. If that is so, then no matter how much you try to envision it, you can’t see it if you are not at the real ‘scene’ of the crime. It is a matter of course. It's different if it's a type of Clairvoyance that can also see into the distance, but it's not like that, is it?"
In shock, I find myself staring wide-eyed.
The surrounding magi seemed to be ruminating and verifying her reasoning. Even if one can see through time in a particular direction, space cannot be transcended. In that case, they wondered what kind of phenomena could have occurred.
Only one person, Melvin, was nodding his head, idly rubbing his chin. "Hmm. Well then, who on earth killed Trisha?"
“Yes, perhaps it has come to that.” Hishiri gently shifted her gaze to the natural question. “Now, let's bring forth another witness, shall we? …Miss Olga Marie.”
The girl's shoulders shook with a startle. The heir to the Celestial Animusphere, who had been silent until then, stifled a low moan at the sound of the woman's voice.
“That bag, please lift it for all to see.”
At that command, the girl who had been depressed bit her trembling lip. It was as if she was ashamed of her fear. After taking a few deep breaths, she reached for the travel-bag-sized box at her feet.
The first thing that peeked out from within was long blonde hair. Of course, it is not a huge box that a person could fit into exactly like a person. However, the blonde hair, followed by the forehead, eyebrows, closed eyes, and nose, revealed a familiar face.
Only the face.
"T-Trisha’s…" Groaning to myself, Hishiri nodded slowly.
“Yes. The missing, freshly severed head of Trisha Fellows."
********************
With elegance, Hishiri lifted the severed head amidst everyone's gazes. Like Salome, the seductress who had craved John the Baptist’s head, the female magus of the Department of Law was terrifyingly captivating.
"...What is this?"
She replied calmly to Karabo's hoarse voice. “Her head was concealed by Imaginary Numbers Magecraft. In all likelihood, I believe that she sealed it herself."
“Trisha, on her own… to her own head?”
It just doesn’t make sense.
How could such a circumstance occur?
Trisha's head, which was supposed to have been stolen after her death, was concealed by Trisha herself. If that is the case, then who cut off her head? No, how could she hide her own head? Maybe it’s possible with an illusionary decapitation, but this is a real severed head, right?
This was too incomprehensible, and as I was simply dazed, Hishiri resumed speaking slowly.
“Most likely, Trisha Fellows realized she was going to die by decapitation. In advance of that, It seems that she created an imaginary pocket for her head to fall into."
It was too much; Hishiri's statement was ridiculous. And yet it can not be denied. You can't interrupt her and say that she's crazy. I sense nothing except truth in the idea. I can’t help but feel anxiety wrap softly around my heart.
Karabo's words when he saw the crime scene were the following.
"I can see up until the point she sat down on this chair, but the time immediately before and after her head was removed is unclear."
Alternatively, he was able to see the situation when Trisha entered this room.
However, the head that was cut off disappeared just as it fell. Then, as it was vague, he misinterpreted that as not being able to see? No, if that is the case, shouldn’t he be seeing the shape of the killer?
Not caring for his confused self, Jean-Mario wrung his own neck.
"Hmm, what do you mean? Even if she sensed she was going to die…"
“That would be Foresight.”
Yvette interrupted.
“I don't know the exact timing ─ perhaps just after she sat down in the chair ─ but she saw a future where her head would fall off, and she would die. So at the very least, there was something necessary she could still do. Possibly, the magic to create the imaginary pocket was a one bar, one count incantation or something like that?"
"... Yes."
Olga Marie nods.
Her beautiful silver hair swayed sadly.
“For Trisha, it was little more than a minor telepathic spell."
“I envy her. Magic attributes are irreplaceable.”
After stretching, Yvette pouted. I think my teacher once said something similar. Magic Attributes that depend on the individual are basically something that cannot be interfered with, even by the greatest of Mysteries. That is why those with dual attributes, such as the previous Lord El-Melloi, are so highly regarded.
Thus, Hishiri opens her mouth once more.
"Ah, yes, yes. Trisha's head was not yet dead when Olga Marie took it out of the pocket of the void. After all, time stands still within the Imaginary Numbers space. Yes, with not enough time to even write a single word, I can say that she opted for the perfect dying message. With her final breath left in her throat, what do you think was her final word?"
She asked the question and laughed in the lobby car, where naturally, no one dared to answer.
“'Karabo,' is what she whispered.” It was too decisive.
A stiff tension swirled among the magi. The hostility of monsters who can kill with - or in some cases without - a single word of incantation.
The enchanting magus of the Department of Law manipulates words as if she were waving a conductor's baton. "Karabo Frampton." And so, she called out his name again. "Your Retrocognition— no, strictly speaking, it can not be distinguished as such, granted that it’s more Calculation than Prediction, correct?"
Karabo held one of his eyes.
Prediction and Calculation. That's what Caules was talked about earlier. There are two types of Precognition and Retrocognition, known as Prediction and Calculation, the former is an extension of the normal human imaginative capacity, while the latter is a kind of strange power that anchors the time axis to one’s actions.
“It is often said that, for the past, there is no such thing as Prediction or Calculation. Unlike the future, the past cannot be changed, so it doesn't matter how you look at it. But that's just under normal circumstances. ーYes, I heard someone talking about the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception yesterday. The "Rainbow" ranked Mystic Eyes that can impose death to those it sees equally.”
Suddenly, the subject changed in mid-sentence.
The Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. The one that Olga Marie had mentioned in her lecture before the auction. If the explanation at that time was correct, they are Rainbow Rank Mystic Eyes, which are the top of the line, surpassing even the Gold and Jewel ranks.
“I have never seen such Mystic Eyes. However, with some attempts at imagination, I can infer what they might be like. Yes, they must be the highest form of Foresight. At the very least, it is one such ability that can glimpse the strings of fate.”
"...Are you saying that these Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, or whatever, are truly the ultimate form of Foresight?"
As Karabo groans, Hishiri nods. “I hear that is the case. Everyone will die someday. As everything is flawed, there is a hidden desire in all of us to destroy all that is fair, so we can start it anew. If you can see that ending and could bring it into the present, then what would it be called if not the highest form of Foresight?”
"..."
Hishiri's words started making a little more sense.
As I am imperfect, I want to change. I want to destroy that imperfection. If one day, my personality and unknown future will come to an end, then I would rather have my neck strangled right now. Surely everyone thinks about it. A terribly simple and grim desire. As it was so simple, that one description at the end made uncanny sense.
“If that is so, then the reverse is also true. Everyone was born at some point. As we are born imperfect, we may resent that beginning at all is a mistake. If you can see and bring that beginning into the present, then how can it not be known as the highest form of Hindsight? Ah, moreover, if that is so, then the world might even look like a bubble.”
(...Bubble?)
"By any chance, would that be a reference to space-time bubbles?" It was Melvin who interrupted.
“Are you aware of it?"
“What I do know is that it is a scientific concept. It is said that at an extremely small scale, an object may be like a collection of bubbles. I do not think he is looking at such a scientifically accurate image, but would you also say it's a similar concept?"
“Roughly, you are correct,” Hishiri affirms it.
I feel a pang of irritation rising in the back of my throat.
Seeing the world as a bubble. I don't know why, but that idea made me feel terribly uneasy. People, animals, trees, fish, flowers, earth, stone, water, light: what would it feel like to see all of it as mere bubbles? What sort of life is it to spend every day confronted by the fact that everything and anything appears the same?
Wouldn't that make you feel like you were squeezing your own eyeballs?
“...Ah, unfortunately, unlike the rumored Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, these Mystic Eyes are unlikely to have reached the end of all things. It also falls short of glimpsing the beginning. At the most, these Mystic Eyes recognize and evoke events that have happened in the — past It seems that they are that sort of Mystic Eyes, don't you think?"
The more polite Hishiri's words were, the more dreadful they became.
It's like being traced on the back of your neck with the tip of a knife. The blade is coated with poison, and though it doesn't leave a scratch, it seems to rot even one’s core.
"Foresight fixes the future as it will be." As if singing, she says so. “If that is so, then it is only natural that Hindsight should establish the past. Yes, if the end of things is 'to die', it is natural that the beginning of things is the ‘to live'. Those Mystic Eyes can resurrect past truths in the present."
Like a detective in a mystery novel, Hishiri carefully arranges everything one by one. She moves to expose. She moves to eviscerate.
This is the kind of person she was, I think.
From the first time I met her at Castle Adra, she had been this sort of person. It was as if that were all a lie that I had forgotten until this moment, but now Hishiri had regained that initial impression.
The Department of Law. A magus who presides over magi.
“... So you're saying that these Mystic Eyes recreate events that happened in the past?”
Yvette spoke.
Hishiri nodded as if she had been waiting for someone to say so.
“Yes. It is likely that the actions that can be reproduced from the past are limited. In this case, it may be used in advance to record and retrieve past slashes with specific timing — that would be one such use. Yes… like this, for example."
Hishiri casually takes a knife and an apple from a table.
First, she moved the knife vertically. "I'll record these slashes, then leave it for you."
Thus, she moved to the same spot as the apple. Similar to something she did earlier, Hishiri swung the knife and scratched the surface of the apple. "After that, as long as the holder of these Mystic Eyes observes it, the target can be severed with the recorded slash at any time. That is the purpose of these Mystic Eyes I have been talking about. …Say, this is you, isn’t it?
With that, she looked back at the old man once more. "This is you, isn’t it? Karabo Frampton."
"...I am, that is..." The dark-skinned old man was trembling as if he were having a fit. Between the female magus and the older man, it seemed like there was a terrible curse sneering.
“In this situation, the Rail Zeppelin was probably the easiest gimmick for you to use. After all, the train runs on rails.”
She moves her index finger. The movement was as if tracing the railway. Along the way, the knife swung, cutting through the invisible line. “If you cut the void with a leading train car, Trisha's head would eventually come to those coordinates. It would have been easy enough to see where the chairs were located in the room. It wouldn't even matter if you cut a slightly larger range or not.”
She took the apple from earlier and placed it at the point where the knife flew through the air.
“The train had been stopped in the forest when Trisha’s body was found, and you, Karabo, were also found outside, weren’t you? It must have been good enough for you to take a short peek from the outside window. After that, the empty air was rented for a second time, pulled into the present by your Hindsight. The air was cut, together with the head of Trisha Fellows. And so, her head was sealed in a dimensional pocket by her own Imaginary Number Magecraft."
"..."
With the knife, she cuts the apple apart.
With a ‘shin’, silence fell. Once more, it was like a confirmation of what she was saying. As long as it is at the hands of a magus, there is no such thing as an impossible crime in the first place. But even so, her argument was too outlandish for even the magi gathered here to swallow immediately.
Roughly scratching his head, Jean-Mario opens his mouth. “Hey, hey. Wait a minute. Does that mean the serial murders seven years ago were also...?"
Several gazes focused on the old man.
The series of murders seven years ago. It was obvious to everyone that Hishiri had spoken of the case underlining the fact that a number of heads were lost and that Karabo had been the Church agent at the time.
And yet she deliberately shakes her head. “I'm not saying you're the killer of seven years ago, and I'm not saying you're the killer of this time. We certainly don't have that kind of evidence. But with all these circumstances, don't we have reason to take certain measures?" The beautiful smile now held terrible meaning. "Can you not show us? I wonder if you ─ with your Mystic Eyes, long after the beheading, could use this location to bring forth a result."
“Such a thing, my Hindsight is-” An upset Karabo was about to say something.
“...I want you to wait for a moment." But, I heard a voice.
The doors of the lobby car open.
It started with wheels treading on the carpet, as if emerging from the depths of darkness. Next, a pair of fine leather shoes appeared, and a figure in a wheelchair looked gloomily around the room. The wheelchair was being pushed by a bespectacled, curly-haired boy named Caules Forvedge, and it should not be necessary to name who was in the wheelchair.
“Master...!”
“Waver…!"
Even Melvin, who had been happily watching, stood up.
“So, you are finally awake. Lord El-Melloi II."
Hishiri narrows her eyes and moves her gaze from the Master's head to the wheelchair.
In contrast, the master only touched his glasses.
"I had somewhat of an accident. I still can not walk properly, so I asked my apprentice to get me a wheelchair from the staff of the Rail Zeppelin ...Though, I didn't expect Melvin to be here as well.”
“Yup! It's only natural that you would run into your best friend when you are in trouble!"
“This is none of your business. You're the only one who calls me best friend in the first place."
“Friends aren't decided on some sort of mutual contract! It's a meeting of the minds! It's about unconscious approval! Maybe we should be more open and confident with this friendship! Oh, and by the way, you can give me a hug!"
“Please shut up already,” Master says so as if spitting.
From the faintly raspy breaths, it is likely that he has only just regained consciousness. In fact, even I had not dreamt that the master would appear at this time. It was also beyond the scope of my imagination that he would come in a wheelchair.
Instinctively, I rushed over to him.
For this one moment, the incident and everything else were so far away.
“Master, your body…”
“Is not a problem. …Not necessarily a problem. I wouldn’t have bothered to come out here if it was.."
Master stroked my head from the top of my hood when I ran up to him. It was more painful for me to see my master, who was usually so prickly, show such kindness to me, and I felt helpless.
“Caules told me what happened. He said you've been through a lot."
"... Yes." I nod.
It took so much effort just to keep the tears from falling. I know I’m not the one who is really in pain, but the words to convey that did not exist inside of me.
“Truly... Truly so many things happened. But, you could have… much better… than the likes of clumsy me…”
How powerless words can be. No, how incompetent I really am.
I should have been more prepared. I knew Master was recovering; I should have been ready for this moment. My thoughts are spinning, and I can’t formulate any words. I had planned to speak with him when he woke up, but all that would come out of the back of my throat were sobs.
"Hah, and as for that servant?" Master grimaced and said that in a whisper, so as not to be heard by any of the others arround us.
The grimace betrayed his pain. It wasn't just physical pain. In meeting with the Heroic Spirit who called herself Hephaestion, Master’s spirit was imbued with extraordinary sorrow.
“After all, in all that time, there was the Child of Einnashe, Imaginary Numbers Magecraft, and even the results of looking into this Hindsight. That's a lot to pack into just half a day or so."
“...Oh my, how much have you heard?” Hishiri tilts her head.
“I heard from words, 'the empty air was rented for a second time, pulled into the present by your Hindsight.’ But hearing that much, I can roughly guess your conjecture. ...Gray, we'll talk about that Servant later." Whispering the last part in my ear, Master slowly turned his wheelchair. He regarded Hishiri directly and lifted three fingers. ”Miss Adashino. On three points, I have issues with what you said."
“It seems that sleep has given back your spirits, so please allow us to hear your renowned reasoning without any delay.”
“First, we do not know whether or not Mr. Karabo's Mystic Eyes are capable of such a thing. Second, even if he did have such an ability, who is to say that a different magus could not have also been able to kill Trisha?” Unconcerned with Hishiri's words, the master spoke in quick succession. "Third, there is no motive in your current reasoning." With that, he pressed her for an answer.
“Karabo Frampton killed Trisha Fellows; there is no need for a rational motive knowing that. Investigating any other person would be faulty then, correct?."
“I see. Is that your specialty, the whodunit?"
With a single nod, Hishiri’s smile deepens.
“As you say, none of us know why. And possibly, there are magi who could do something similar. However, how do you explain Trisha's dying message? Besides, we do not follow the rules of modern society, and I do not represent a state-sanctioned police force.
In dubio pro reo (to be innocent until proven guilty). There is not a shred of a need to adhere to such legal principles.”
Was the Latin that Hishiri murmured a remnant of the time of Roman law? She says readily that no such thing like that was needed. Thus, within this train, that would make her words the only truth necessary.
And so, with a pop, she slaps her hands together.
"Ah, if there really needs to be a reason, then why not look back with your Mystic Eyes while identifying yourself as the killer? Perhaps by gazing too long at the murders of seven years ago, you started confusing yourself as the killer? If you started losing control of your Mystic Eyes, then it is not so unlikely, is it?"
"...You can't be serious."
“Does it matter if I am serious? It won't make much difference if we're serious or just playing around. We are magi, after all.” Shrugging, Hishiri shakes her head.
I can't tell whether she is joking or serious. Though, I think that there are more examples of such in the history of the Clock Tower than one might think. As if to resemble the story of ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, is there such a case that could be etched into the very history of the Clock Tower?"
“As magi of the Clock tower, is this not enough material to detain Karabo for the time being?” Once more, she stared at the priest. “Besides, if the subject is his ability, then all we need is his testimony.”
"...I… that is something I can not talk about.”
Karabo says, his voice strained as if it was being squeezed.
“Oh, you say you can't speak with us? Even so, that is perfectly fine!" And so, Hishri laughed, becoming even more repulsive. “As for your Mystic Eyes, why not put them to auction? If that is the case, then the side of the Rail Zeppelin should be able to explain just how well these Mystic Eye perform.”
"...Yes, these Mystic Eyes are Transient." Suddenly, I heard a voice. No, it wasn't a voice. Strictly speaking, it was not even a thought. It was as if the notion itself had suddenly seeped into all of our brains.
Just like that notion, the Rose Woman appeared. I was told that she was the Deputy Manager of the Rail Zeppelin — I myself had seen her many times.
For once, it seemed I wasn't the only one who could perceive her.
The magi gathered in the lobby car all held their breath slightly and focused their attention on her. “As it has become the appointed time, the collection will proceed before the auction.”
"Appointed… time...?"
"The staff has already informed you. Half a day before the auction, Mystic Eyes are to be extracted and stored.” Mystic Eyes extraction for the purpose of auction.
Of all the moments, for the timing to be this moment — no, that's not it either. It is precisely because of this timing that Hishiri had engaged in such an act as a public detective demonstration.
(It had… all been a reversal…)
I shuddered as I realized that fact.
Hishiri naturally knew that the evidence was too incomplete to convince the magi around her. Aside from Trisha's dying message and the fact that Karabo was present at the incident seven years ago, there was no way she could convince all the magi on board with a method that assumed an arbitrary ability to interfere with the past.
However, no matter how outlandish or ridiculous, she was confident that the Rail Zeppelin would confirm her theory. The normal procedure of tracking down the culprit with witnesses and evidence was impossible, but this was a turning of the tables that could only be achieved in this place and by a magus. A detective of inversion.
No.
From the very beginning, she never wanted to be a detective. This is not a mystery drama for her. It's a political drama. Hishiri is dealing with this incident as if it were one of the many power struggles swirling around the Clock Tower. It implicitly demonstrates to all the magi here that this is the method of the Department of Law.
Recoiling, Karabo took several steps back. “B-but wait! Not now..."
The old man tried to resist the invasion of his personal space, but as if drawn in, the rose woman broke through. He, who had shown such brilliant physical skills with the Child of Einnashe, was so easily approached either because of his constant shaking, or because of the superior Mystery of the Rose Woman.
Her fingers sank into half of Karabo's face.
It was unusually natural as if she was sinking into mud or something. Not a drop of blood was spilled, which could have been a technique similar to psychic surgery. The index, middle finger, and thumb pushed in all the way to the second joint, then slid out in just a few seconds. At the same time, perhaps unconscious, Karabo collapsed.
Deputy Manager.
With that, the auctioneer held up a glass cylinder filled with a solution. When the Deputy Manager waved her hand, two eyeballs fell with a clatter into the tube. During the extraction, no one could even flinch.
“That concludes the removal of the Mystic Eyes.” The auctioneer told us, her voice trembling as if she had seen the work of God.
Their voices were trembling. Ours were too. Maybe that's what happens to all of us when we see something so far removed from the rest of the world. From the viewpoint of magecraft, I had no clue how superior of a Mystery that extraction was, so even I couldn’t catch a single breath.
Even the fact that the Deputy Manager had disappeared again was not immediately noticed.
“We can handle the transplantation, but only the Deputy Manager can do the removal. This is the reason why she is always asleep. Once she's done it, she will probably fall asleep again for a while.” The auctioneer caressed the glass cylinder. Much gentler than patting a baby, much prouder than feeling fine art. "Ahh ... Ahh, how magnificent." She raised her voice once more towards the eyeballs in the glass cylinder.
Genuine emotion. Genuine impulse. It was a tone of voice that seemed to come from the depths of the mind and even further down. Yvette and Karabo had said that the staff of the Rail Zeppelin were not necessarily obsessed with Mystic Eyes, but at least this auctioneer seemed to be an exception.
What is it that she saw from behind her tightly wound eyepatch that covered both eyes?
Surely, it was a distinct sense from sight, right? She continued by rubbing her face against the inside of the tube, as if she were smelling it, and as if she were listening to a voice inside of it. Then, she said. "It reaches the rank of "Jewel", although I don't think Karabo was aware of this. It is worthy of being the centerpiece of our auction, the eye-catcher. It makes the shadows of the past, which should have ended long ago, appear like bubbles in the present — shall we call them the Mystic Eyes of Transience?"
The Mystic Eyes of Transience.
As soon as that name was announced, Hishiri Adashino turned around at once. “Well, it looks like we have sorted everything out for now.” She looked down at Karabo, who was still lying on the ground, and gently pulled on the sleeves of her kimono. “I am very sorry to have taken up so much of your valuable time. Please, may you resume your comfortable journey on the Rail Zeppelin."
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Originally Posted by Arashi_Leonhart
