Creak—
The sight of the forge revealed by the opening door made me frown.
Sharply honed weapons and armor.
Restraint devices such as shackles and traps, along with bizarre instruments that looked meant for torture.
And in the center, a massive—
"Coffin?"
There was a single coffin.
‘...Why would he need something like that?’
Everything here was something whose purpose was hard to fathom.
Even the swords and protective gear were far removed from ordinary items.
They were things that, no matter where I looked, did not seem intended for dealing with people...
Their sizes and shapes were nothing like what one would normally imagine.
Step.
Of course, the coffin was the least understandable thing here.
Just as I turned around, wondering what he could possibly need a coffin that size for—
"..."
"That’s yours, isn’t it?"
The blacksmith had somehow approached me, and I immediately understood.
He was a huge man, easily over two meters tall.
If anyone owned that coffin, it could only be the man standing before me.
"What have you been doing here every night?"
"I was merely preparing to die."
"Preparing to die... For that, aside from the coffin, this place is full of nothing but ominous things."
"...I was only trying to struggle. At first, I thought the culprit was human. Then I thought it was a demonic beast, and after that, a demon."
"So that’s why you made such unusual things."
"..."
I subtly turned my head away at his silence.
At a glance, the place was packed with every tool imaginable—as though no further preparation could possibly be made.
There was a wide variety of equipment, both for dealing with people and for dealing with monsters.
‘And yet a man like that prepared his own coffin in advance.’
Many questions came to mind, but the first thing I thought was that this man was not the culprit.
"Have you given up?"
"I merely decided there was no point. I won’t catch the culprit, and even if I do, there’s no point in it."
‘Those eyes the widow and the kid had...’
Had this man lost family too?
"If I had killed the village chief, found the key, and run away with my wife instead of spending time making those tools, we both surely would have survived unharmed."
"You could still do that now—"
"What would be the point?"
"..."
His wife died, and he gave up on everything.
It seemed he had made his own coffin in advance because he no longer saw any meaning in living.
I did not know whether his calmness was simply his usual personality, but he looked as though he had erased all emotion from himself.
"Why did you hide this from the others?"
"This is a space I shared with my wife. It holds the time I spent for her, so I simply did not want anyone to see it. There’s no good in letting people know I’m waiting for death, either."
"..."
"What I told you yesterday was a flimsy excuse I made up on the spot. I feel sorry for you, since you’re trying to find the culprit."
"Don’t you want revenge?"
At my words, the kid’s body flinched.
The blacksmith glanced back for a moment, then gave a hollow laugh and shook his head.
"How am I supposed to catch and defeat that demon, that monster whose identity I do not even know?"
"..."
"There’s no point. I’m only waiting because I want to know who killed my wife. We’re all going to die anyway."
"No. I’m going to stop it."
I looked up at the blacksmith and spoke firmly.
To survive myself, and to keep my promise to that kid.
"Unfortunately, the future you imagine will not come to pass."
"..."
"And think carefully about whether your wife would truly welcome you back if you returned to her after dying such a meaningless death."
Step—
Pat.
Passing by him, I placed a hand on the head of the kid who had been stealing glances at him.
"This boy, who has lost three people dear to him, is still struggling—even if the end is meaningless."
"..."
I gave a faint smile and met my assistant’s gaze before leaving the blacksmith’s house.
Thud—.
"Then the blacksmith isn’t the culprit."
"Probably not."
I looked up at the blue sky and muttered softly.
I had crossed a line. I knew that. But I wanted to say it anyway.
‘If the person left behind dies a meaningless death, wouldn’t that be a burden in its own way?’
No matter why they had left this world, they would not want someone dear to them who remained behind to die a meaningless death.
"..."
Well, I would not know. No one dear to me had ever died.
Rustle— rustle.
"Bro?"
"It’s nothing, Timi Watson. Let’s go back and organize the information first."
"Okay..."
*
"Okay."
After much deliberation, I narrowed down the likely culprits.
I put down the [Incident Notebook], which I had been staring at until my eyes hurt, and stretched hard.
The one closest to being the culprit was the farmer.
The village chief was another possibility.
‘And, as an exception, the nun feels unsettling.’
That was not to say everyone else was completely outside the scope of suspicion, but I was certain the culprit was among those people.
Though honestly, I wondered whether it even meant anything when the farmer was so blatantly suspicious.
2. Farmer, Hans.
[Suspects the blacksmith, Otto]
Notable Details
- Goes to bed early every night.
- Hears the forge ringing loudly every night.
- Did not appear at the scene of Masa’s death.
- Appeared restless when we barged into his home. Seems to be hiding something.
Beyond that, there was the kid’s testimony about what was under the victim’s fingernails, as well as the nun’s testimony about a voice late at night.
Every single clue pointed to the culprit.
But...
‘A culprit this sloppy has been slaughtering people for an entire month, and nobody knew?’
Could a man who trembled at every little thing and openly displayed his emotions really show me a pleasure killing as a welcome?
‘Using the lie detector would make it certain, but...’
There was only one thing I knew.
I wanted to run straight over and ask whether he had killed them, but I could not shake this nagging feeling.
Honestly, even if I confirmed with the lie detector that the farmer was the killer, I did not think I would be able to accept it cleanly.
‘If I can’t find out anything else by the end, I’ll name him as the culprit, but...’
There was still time, so I wanted to investigate further.
‘The nun keeps bothering me too.’
- I heard Hans’s voice.
She said she had heard the voice while praying until late at night.
Could someone who was praying have heard a voice?
Masa’s time of death had been three in the morning. If the farmer really was the culprit, would he truly have been walking around talking loudly at that hour?
"...Bro?"
"You’re awake?"
"...Bro, why do you only talk casually to me? Are you really an inspector?"
"Be grateful that you get to call an inspector from the capital ‘bro.’"
The kid, who had been sleeping in the bed in the next room, woke up. When he asked whether I had figured out the culprit, I shrugged.
"Bro, do you remember what the nun said?"
"That she heard a voice?"
"Yeah. If that’s true, doesn’t that mean we can figure out who the culprit is?"
"We can, but how?"
"Why not call them both in and ask whose story is true?"
"..."
So he was suggesting that we put the person who secretly said, ‘That person is the mafia,’ in the same room as the person they accused?
"That’s good."
"Right?"
That was a fucking brilliant idea.
I had questioned them separately because I wanted honest answers, but there was no reason it had to be done that way.
If I put them face-to-face openly, the situation would move forward one way or another.
‘There won’t be another victim until tomorrow night anyway.’
There was practically no risk.
I would lose the nun’s trust in me, but I did not need that crap.
All I needed was to find the culprit.
"Hey, Timi Watson."
"Are you still doing that? How old are you that you’re still like this?"
"..."
"Sigh... Fine, I’ll play along. What is it, Sherlock Holmes?"
"Okay, assistant. I have a secret mission for you."
It did not seem like following the standard approach would reveal anything more, so I would just turn the whole board upside down.
‘It’s my first time stirring shit up in real life. I’m excited.’
I was already looking forward to seeing what happened.
*
Late afternoon, inside the village’s small church.
"So, this nun says she heard Hans’s voice late last night."
"What...? What are you talking about...?"
"W-wait a moment, Inspector...!!"
As though they could not believe the words that had just come out of my mouth, the farmer and the nun both stared at me with their eyes wide.
The betrayal written all over their faces nearly made me laugh.
Well, the farmer was looking at the nun, not me.
"I did not leave my house for even one step!! How can you tell such lies, Sister?!"
"A-a lie?! I... I only told the truth, I swear to God...!"
"Then are you saying I’m the culprit?!"
"I-I didn’t say that...! I just... I only said what I heard, brother...!!"
‘Good. Fight, fight.’
I had started the fight, but those two were the ones fighting. I smiled as they flushed red, demanding to know when that had happened and what the other was talking about.
‘You can’t distinguish the truth with this alone anyway.’
Either one would insist until the end.
Backing down here would be the same as saying, ‘I’m the culprit,’ so how could they back down?
Step—
‘The second actors enter.’
"Hmph. Can’t we just kill both of those bastards, Inspector?"
"Oh, Jack, do you have to put it like that? What if they’re both innocent people?"
"Who knows... They might both be culprits."
"Wait, what...?"
"Why are you here...?"
As the voices in the church gradually rose, three more people appeared.
‘The hunter, the innkeeper, and the village chief.’
The three newcomers immediately jumped into the nun and farmer’s argument.
They asked the farmer whether he had really gone to sleep early last night, and why he had not come out in the morning.
They asked the nun whether she had truly heard the voice, and why she had not revealed it in front of everyone at dawn.
Barraged with questions from the three of them, the nun and farmer desperately defended themselves to assert their innocence.
Step—
‘And the third actors make their entrance.’
"Village chief, are you one to talk?"
"Because you sealed off this village... my husband died...!!!"
The merchant and the widow arrived shortly afterward and began shouting at the village chief. As though venting all the resentment that had built up, they pressed him, asking what made him think he had any right to act righteous.
The suspicion aimed at the nun and the farmer soon spread into everyone suspecting everyone else—
"I... I prayed for all of you every single day...! I can’t stay here any longer...!!"
The nun wiped at her tears and rose from her seat, about to hurry out of the church.
‘The highlight.’
"...You said you prayed? Have you ever actually prayed in front of us?"
The blacksmith stepped in front of the nun, blocking her path as he spoke in a low voice.
"I-I only offered prayers at home...! I... I feel fear too!!"
"You, who always rushes to the crime scene first to show your face?"
"Don’t corner me like that...! I only went to honor the souls of those who were sacrificed!!"
‘He’s doing better than I expected.’
I inwardly admired the blacksmith as he stood in the nun’s way.
Honestly, I had not expected him to go along with it, but he had accepted my request surprisingly easily.
He was carrying out my request to pressure the nun in front of everyone almost perfectly.
"Well... It is true that the nun prays for us every time..."
"...She’s the only young lady we can trust."
"S-see...! Why is everyone so suspicious of me?!"
At the voices from the crowd behind her, the nun cried out as if to prove her point.
She looked on the verge of tears, hurt as though asking why everyone was doing this to her.
‘She’s reacting more normally than I thought.’
I had thought I might learn something if I pushed her this far, but her response was unexpectedly ordinary.
"Hmm... Then does that mean Hans really is the culprit after all?"
"I-Inspector...?"
"The nun, whom everyone trusts deeply, said she heard his voice, after all."
I could not let the party end like this, so I threw on some more kindling.
Returning to the beginning, I set the stage again with the nun and the farmer as the leads.
"R-right... It must be. I definitely heard his voice...!"
"Don’t lie, Sister!! And there are other suspicious people too, everyone!! Otto is hiding something as well!!"
"If we’re putting it that way, everyone is suspicious as hell."
"What? You old hag, you’re the most suspicious one here?!"
One by one, their voices began to rise. I smiled as they suspected one another, cursed, and shouted.
The farmer passionately pleaded his innocence. The nun darted her eyes around in confusion at the situation.
The village chief frowned, saying everyone was suspicious, while the merchant shouted at him.
"Village chief, shut your mouth—!!"
In the middle of it all, the widow casually threw a punch... Oh, that landed clean.
Someone might call this a discordant mess, but to me, it was the most perfect harmony possible.
‘How much longer do I have to wait... There he is?’
It should be about time. As I looked outside the church, I saw the person I had been waiting for running over while wildly waving a hand.
My assistant, clutching an unfamiliar, suspicious book to his chest and running hard on his short legs.
*
"Bro, but is it really okay to just leave them like that?"
"Won’t it be fine?"
I gave the kid a vague answer while quickly flipping through the book he had brought... no, the diary.
The more I read, the more interesting it became. No, perhaps ridiculous was the better word.
The diary belonged to the farmer.
And its contents were—
- I dreamed of killing someone again today.
- Why? Why do the people I kill in my dreams always end up dying for real?
- I have never killed anyone, so why do I keep having dreams like this?
- What happens if I end up dreaming that I take my own life?
- I’m scared. I’m terrified. Every day feels like hell, and I feel like I’m going insane.
‘A diary that makes him seem like a culprit, but not a culprit, yet still like a culprit.’
I still did not know how much I could trust this diary, or what exactly it meant.
‘Like I thought, this wasn’t an ordinary mafia game.’
At the very least, I could be certain that the culprit was not ordinary.
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register