After checking only the rough details, I immediately told the kid to put it back where it belonged.
I headed back to the church, calmed the villagers down, and, watching the sunset fade, sent everyone home.
Rustle.
"Are you really sleeping here, mister?"
"I’d be worried leaving you by yourself."
"I’m fine, though..."
I went into the house where the kid had lived with his grandmother and said something suitably reassuring.
I might have made it sound like I was trying to be cool, but this was also part of another experiment.
‘How exactly does this restriction on moving at night apply?’
I wanted to know whether it simply meant I could not leave my assigned house, or whether I merely could not go outdoors.
If it was the latter, that was effectively one more option I could use tomorrow.
Clack!
"...What are you doing by the door, mister?"
"Timing something."
"Timing...?"
After answering his puzzled question, I opened and closed the front door at roughly one-minute intervals.
I had no proper timer, so I had no choice but to wait like this.
Then, after the moon rose and some time passed—
[Night has fallen]
[The Inspector’s movement is restricted]
[Time remaining until confinement is lifted: 8:00:00]
‘...Okay.’
I smiled in satisfaction at the message that appeared.
I had learned that it did not matter where I was, as long as I was indoors.
"Mister, I’m sleepy..."
"All right, all right. Let’s go to sleep, kid."
And, as a bonus, I had also learned that I could spend the night with someone else.
*
‘It really is strange.’
Lying beside the kid, I blankly stared at the farmer’s [Incident Notebook].
Notable Details
- Goes to bed early every night.
- Hears the forge ringing loudly every night.
There was one contradiction I had discovered after settling the commotion at the church.
Could someone who fell asleep early really hear the sounds from the forge?
The two places were not even close together.
After asking the blacksmith and testing it out, I found that it was extremely unlikely for someone at the farmer’s house to hear it while asleep.
The blacksmith himself had also said that he did not do work that would make particularly loud noises.
And if it had been loud enough for the farmer to hear, other people would have told me the same thing.
In other words, there was a very high chance that the farmer had actually heard those noises while outside.
‘Though I don’t know whether it was by his own will or not.’
A split personality, sleepwalking, being controlled by someone...
The farmer himself had probably really gone to bed early.
And he had genuinely heard the forge ringing late at night, too.
That was why he felt wronged, looked exhausted, and trembled in fear.
‘He must vaguely remember the reality of killing people as a dream.’
Perhaps he kept the diary because he was afraid it really might be his fault, and afraid of what would happen after he died.
At least based on my deductions so far, this was the most likely explanation.
Everything fit perfectly if I looked at it this way.
If he was being controlled... the nun was suspicious, but...
‘They said they found nothing at the nun’s house.’
The reason I had gathered everyone at the church and caused a scene in the early evening was so I could have my assistant search the homes of the two people I found suspicious.
The overly confident nun and the overly anxious farmer.
The farmer must have been anxious because he did not want to reveal his diary or the fact that he had such dreams.
The nun had been confident because her house was so spotless that nothing would turn up.
‘Tomorrow, I need to dig up information on the nun by any means possible.’
To use my one and only lie detector effectively, I had to learn everything about her tomorrow.
Whether she was merely a truly pure cleric, or the mastermind behind all this.
"Mom... Dad..."
"..."
At the voice beside me, I turned my head slightly and looked at the sleeping kid.
Tears streamed from his eyes even in his sleep, whatever dream he was having.
I knew this world was fake, yet it still left me feeling complicated in many ways.
Living as an orphan could not be easy.
I knew better than anyone that becoming an orphan was harder than being born one.
It was harder to lose something you once had.
Even knowing this world would disappear anyway, I found myself feeling sorry for the kid’s future.
Rustle, rustle.
"Don’t turn out like me. Be kind and smart."
Don’t do things you’ll regret like I did. I hoped he would keep living as perceptively as he was now.
*
"──Thank you. No, I was just curious."
"Yes, please take good care of things, Inspector."
On the third day, after finishing my conversation with the village chief, I left his house.
‘It’s quiet.’
Perhaps because of the incident I had instigated yesterday, the village was incomparably quieter than it had been during the first two days.
It was so desolate that I found myself thinking this was how a place where serial murders happened should be.
Step.
As I walked toward the kid’s house, I organized the information I had gathered by asking around.
‘The nun was the most recent person to arrive in this village, aside from the merchant.’
Apparently, a year ago, Masa had found her staggering outside the village, soaked to the bone by rain while gathering herbs.
Her face had been gaunt, and her arms and legs were emaciated.
Her clothes had been torn, as though she had fallen somewhere, and she bore numerous wounds across her body.
She had lived as a nun in the capital, then returned home after hearing that her parents back in her hometown were critically ill.
When she finally arrived, her hometown was somehow ablaze, and in the end it collapsed.
‘And she wandered around in that state before arriving here.’
Could someone really arrive in this village purely by chance?
I had heard there were no other cities or villages nearby, so how had she stayed alive even if she had been skeletal and on the verge of collapsing?
‘I heard she gradually brightened up here and began praying for everyone, but...’
There were too many suspicious points to count.
Yet even as I suspected her, I also wondered whether, if she were the culprit, she had needed to wait an entire year.
‘Something will happen tonight.’
And during the night, I could keep one person under certain surveillance.
There was a chance I could be targeted as well, but since the first victim had been the old woman, I did not think they would kill me.
‘Then should I watch the farmer?’
If I watched him, I would know whether he was the culprit, but would that really mean anything?
The farmer was almost certainly the one who carried out the murders anyway. I was curious what state he was in when he did it, but if he was being controlled, it would amount to wasting a precious opportunity.
In that case—
"Whew."
I was not eager to do it, but to investigate properly—and to shake this inexplicable unease—the wisest choice was to watch the nun.
‘I still have the lie detector, too.’
Knock, knock.
"Mister!"
The moment I knocked, the kid came running out.
"Sorry, but I think you’ll have to stay by yourself tonight."
I spoke with a faint smile, lightly pushing his forehead.
"Why?"
"I’m going to keep one person under close watch."
"The nun?"
He was quick on the uptake.
When I gave a small nod, the kid looked uneasy.
"It’ll be fine. You can stay at the blacksmith’s—at Otto’s house tonight. I’ll go ask him."
"Okay."
"Oh, there’s somewhere I want you to take me before evening."
"Yeah, just tell me where. I’ll take you anywhere."
"Take me to Hans’s field."
After ruffling the hair of the kid who nodded, I followed his lead and set off.
*
The sun set, and the moon rose.
After leaving the kid with the blacksmith, I stood in front of the nun’s house.
[Night has fallen]
[Move indoors immediately]
[Time until forced return: 1:14]
I had been worried because I did not know exactly when the movement restriction would begin, but the tower kindly told me.
As long as I entered the nun’s house before that timer ran out, I would not be able to leave afterward even if I wanted to.
I was curious what would happen if the nun threw me out, but surely it would work out somehow.
Knock, knock.
"Oh my, what brings you here at this hour?"
"I know it’s late, but there’s something I truly want to ask. Would that be all right?"
"Of course. Please, come in."
The nun opened the door without hesitation, stepping aside and smiling at me.
Creak.
Once I entered and shut the door, I opened it again, and the movement restriction message immediately appeared.
Beneath the message, I noticed a vase holding a single withering flower.
‘If you want to live, don’t hesitate, Han Seol.’
Alone with her, I took a deep breath, squeezed my eyes shut, then opened them.
I turned around, determined to uncover everything within the next eight hours—
"Welcome, Shepherd."
‘Was that my imagination?’
I frowned at the voice accompanying her sweet smile.
"So, may I ask what brings you here?"
"...I was worried something might happen to you tonight."
"Hehe, there’s no need to be. I’ll be fine."
"Even so, I want to make sure. Would it be all right if I stayed by your side and watched over you all night?"
The nun blinked at my words.
Her eyes widened slightly as they traveled up and down my body. Then she smiled even more brightly and nodded.
"You suspect me, don’t you?"
"..."
Thump! Thump!
"How strange. I’m sure I welcomed you..."
‘So I didn’t imagine it.’
A disbelieving laugh escaped me.
She was making it obvious. Why? Did she think I would never get hold of any evidence?
"If you suspect me, then I suppose that would be best. As you said, why don’t you stay by my side until morning?"
"..."
"It just so happens that tonight is the night the incident occurs."
The nun turned her back as if telling me to do whatever I pleased.
"It’s time for me to pray," she murmured quietly, as though she wanted me to hear, and did not spare me another glance.
Rustle.
Following her, I found a space with a huge cross and a statue standing in for a god.
The nun knelt devoutly before it, hands clasped in prayer.
The scripture resting on her lap, the soft lighting illuminating her.
She was the perfect image of a nun, without a single flaw to criticize.
‘Is she really just praying?’
I could not think of how to use the lie detector.
Every one of my senses screamed that she was the real culprit, yet I did not have a shred of evidence.
Still, thinking something might turn up if I kept watching, I bit my lip and watched her from the entrance without moving.
One hour, then two.
Even after three hours had passed, she had not moved a muscle.
‘If she has an ability to control the farmer, how does she do it?’
Hypnosis? Brainwashing? Or something like magic?
If she had that kind of ability, did she really need to use the farmer?
‘...No.’
Using the farmer was not the goal.
If she had a goal, it was murder itself. Whether it was simple thrill killing, or whether there was something that could only be done with human lives.
"...Hehe."
"...!"
My body froze at the sudden laugh.
When I frowned and looked at the nun, her shoulders were trembling faintly even as she remained in a posture of prayer.
As if she had thought of something delightful.
"Whew, I should take a short break."
"..."
"Shepherd, rather than simply watching me like that, would you like to look around the house if you find me suspicious?"
"Would that really be all right?"
"Yes. If it helps you, Shepherd, then by all means."
For some reason, goosebumps rose on my skin.
At the sight of her stretching as though loosening up her stiff body, at her smile as she looked at me, and at that laugh from earlier.
‘She’s definitely the culprit.’
I became certain that she was the culprit.
"Though I don’t know if you’ll find what you’re looking for."
"You never know."
"I hope you do."
I would make her regret telling me I could search wherever I wanted.
*
[Time remaining until confinement is lifted: 0:00:12]
"Whew..."
Dawn had come.
Watching the timer by the door approach zero, I quietly steadied my breath.
In the end, the nun had done nothing but pray all night.
She had looked exhausted, as though this was the reason for her dark circles, but when morning came, she gave me an innocent-looking smile and went, "Hehe."
"Inspector!! Inspector!!"
‘They’re here.’
Bang, bang, bang!
"I heard you’re in there!! There’s been another victim...!!"
I let out a hollow laugh at the voice outside the door.
I had expected it, but the incident had indeed occurred. Even though the nun had prayed all night.
Step.
At the sound of footsteps, I slowly turned my head.
The nun had somehow already left the prayer room and was smiling sweetly at me.
"You saw, didn’t you? I’m not the culprit."
"..."
"You were here all night, weren’t you? Did you see me do anything?"
She was confident.
So confident that it gave me chills instead.
"I need to pray for their repose, so I’ll be going first. You may look around as much as you wish before you leave."
As she passed beside me, she spoke, then changed her expression as she gripped the doorknob.
Creak.
"W-who was the victim...?"
"Rosa... The innkeeper has been attacked...!"
"Rosa...!!"
Tap!
Looking tearful, she covered her mouth upon hearing the village chief’s words and ran outside.
Like the heroine of a movie who had suffered a shock, as though she could not bear the grief.
"Hah."
"I-Inspector...?"
Ding!
Just as the nun disappeared from view, a notification arrived from the Wiki, which had been silent until now.
[Tower of Wisdom]
- First-run 50th Floor Guide: You can clear it only by finding the true culprit.
Temporary [Incident Notebook] activated.
Temporary [Single-Use Lie Detector] activated.
Temporary [Single-Use Footprint Tracker] activated.
Heh.
‘That settles it.’
I smiled at the guide written in the Wiki.
My hypothesis had become certainty. Since it said the ‘true’ culprit, it had to be just as I expected.
[Single-Use Footprint Tracker]
- Upon use, allows you to check the route the target traveled overnight.
Whether it felt sorry for having remained silent until now, or whether it was giving this to me because another incident had occurred, I had even received a new gift.
"I-Inspector? You need to go quickly...!"
"You go on ahead. I have something to do first."
"Pardon...?"
I smiled faintly as I answered the village chief’s urgent voice.
‘She told me to look around as much as I wanted.’
I recalled the nun, speaking with such confidence both at dawn and now.
Thanks to her, I had searched every corner thoroughly and found something to hold onto. How very kind of her.
It was time to peel away that confident smile of hers, layer by layer.
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