The next day, I arrived at the council room earlier than usual.
I had assumed everyone else would arrive at the regular time, allowing me to be the first one there.
Apparently, that assumption had lasted all of three seconds.
The moment I opened the door, I found everyone already inside.
I sighed.
“Good morning, Katsuhito-kun. Or should I say, President?”
Shirohana was standing right in front of the door, as if she had been anticipating my arrival.
Behind her, the others also turned toward me.
“Good morning, Katsuhito-sama.”
Celestria and Reinhardt greeted me at exactly the same time.
Both of them were busy arranging things around the room, yet the moment their voices overlapped, they turned toward each other and glared.
It was almost as though they were competing over who could greet me first.
Seems like they've developed a rivalry.
Reinhardt immediately pulled out a chair for me, as he always did.
At nearly the same time, Celestria hurriedly served me the tea that Shirohana had prepared.
Shirohana's eyes shifted toward her.
Her expression remained mostly unchanged, but the slight narrowing of her eyes made her displeasure obvious.
Celestria noticed it a moment later.
She froze.
I decided not to interfere.
I also didn't drink the tea.
It had frozen solid.
Apparently, it was destined to remain there as a decorative object.
To make the atmosphere more professional before the commander arrived, I began assigning everyone their tasks.
“Celestria, make a list of the returns we're getting from our current budget consumption.”
“Yes, President.”
“Reinhardt, make a list of the resources we're using the most and the ones we're using the least. Adjust the supplies accordingly, then submit the list to Celestria so she can calculate everything.”
“Yes, Katsuhito-sama.”
“Shi...”
“Yes, President?”
Shirohana looked at me with her usual expression, her eyes half-closed and the lower half of her face hidden behind her sensu fan.
“...Nah. Nothing.”
She tilted her head slightly.
I looked at her for a moment.
Having her standing beside me as the vice president did make the council look professional enough, I suppose.
I began reviewing the documents on my desk.
A short while later, someone knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
The door opened.
A woman entered and stopped in front of us.
She stood straight, her posture rigid and disciplined.
“I am the commander of the Knights of Order.”
Her voice was loud and serious.
“My name is Isolde Vaelgrave. I have been informed that members of the student council will be working with us to solve this case.”
She greeted us without losing her straight posture.
“Nice to meet you.”
I gave her a polite smile.
“My name is Katsuhito Kurogane. I'm the president of the student council.”
Then I turned toward Shirohana.
“My name is Shirohana Yukimori. I'm the vice president of the student council.”
Celestria and Reinhardt introduced themselves afterward, both accompanying their introductions with proper greetings.
As always, Reinhardt didn't quite manage to do it properly.
Well...
At least he tried.
“It seems like this conversation will get long.”
I gestured toward the seating area.
“Take a seat, Vaelgrave-san.”
“Hah...”
Vaelgrave gave a small sigh before sitting down on the sofa.
Once she sat, however, she became strangely quiet.
She simply sat there with the expression of a statue.
Where did her voice suddenly disappear to?
Do I need to ask her about the details myself?
“So... Vaelgrave-san, can you fill us in on the details of this case?”
I rested one arm on the desk.
“Ah... yes.”
She seemed to remember her purpose for being here and handed the case documents to Reinhardt, who then passed them to me.
Celestria served Vaelgrave a cup of tea.
“Thank you.”
I nodded toward Reinhardt as he attempted to hand me the documents gracefully.
Nice try.
But your face and movements aren't matching.
I glanced toward Vaelgrave.
She didn't seem comfortable around people she didn't know.
Or perhaps she was simply more comfortable leading an operation than dealing with social or interpersonal situations.
Well...
None of my concern, I guess.
I opened the documents and began reading.
They contained the reports compiled from the beginning of the investigation up until now, including the evidence and information the knights had gathered.
If I summarized the whole case so far, it went something like this...
It had all started a month ago, when someone reported finding a dead body near a noble's house.
As usual, the knights began investigating.
They searched the surrounding area and questioned the nobles whose houses were nearby.
After that, the knights contacted the Information Department and asked them to search for information about the corpse.
They hadn't found anything.
According to the Information Department, they hadn't been able to trace the victim's identity or obtain any useful information.
The knights then began patrolling the area in order to prevent further murders.
Several days later, they found another dead body a considerable distance from the first location.
The second victim was wearing the same type of clothing as the first.
From this, the knights concluded that the two cases were connected.
They also suspected that the victims belonged to some sort of faction, since there wasn't much evidence suggesting that the killer had simply dressed the victims in matching clothing afterward.
From that point onward, the case was given greater priority and the search was expanded.
Then, one morning, four knights were found hanging from the top of a noble's house.
A board had been hung around each of their necks.
Written on them were the words:
**“I'M USELESS.”**
The strange part was that the knights hadn't been killed.
They were alive.
The incident caused an uproar among the public, and the knights increased the number of personnel assigned to the investigation.
The Information Department still failed to provide much useful information.
Several days later, two more bodies were found.
Once again, they were wearing the same type of clothing as the previous victims.
After that...
Well, many more things had happened.
I lowered the document.
“Vaelgrave-san, can I ask you one question?”
“Yes. What is it?”
She immediately placed her teacup down.
“Does the Information Department always behave like this?”
I rested my head against my crossed fingers, my arms supported by the desk.
“I mean, their responses are extremely vague. On top of that, almost all the information they've given us is so basic that it's practically useless at this point.”
Vaelgrave's expression tightened.
She seemed slightly uncomfortable before finally answering.
“I thought the same thing and tried pressing them for more information. But then they simply showed me their processed data. I couldn't press them any further because I lacked evidence to support my accusations.”
She straightened her posture and slowly lowered her gaze.
It's like she wants to solve this case with all her might...
But her own organization is becoming another constraint on her.
“Hm...”
I thought for a moment.
“Then how about the possibility that the people who died were also members of the same revolt faction that the criminal belongs to?”
Vaelgrave looked at me.
“And now, for some reason, the criminal is killing them and hanging knights?”
“It's less likely,” she quickly replied. “There hasn't been any revolt in this kingdom for almost a decade.”
So this got her invested.
“From the reports, it seems the killer is trained in combat and is possibly male.”
I leaned back in my chair.
Vaelgrave's expression changed slightly.
“Well, I do agree that the criminal seems to be trained in combat. But how can you say that the gender is male?”
There was a hint of enthusiasm in her voice now.
“Because it's less likely that a female could stab someone with this much raw force and hang four people on top of a mansion unless she uses some kind of magic, skill, mechanical trick, or has trained her muscles to an extraordinary degree.”
I paused.
“Though, let's say the criminal is female and she did use magic, a skill, or some mechanical trick.”
I rested my head against my hand.
“Why?”
Vaelgrave listened silently.
“It's also possible that she was enraged and therefore used her skill or magic at full force before leaving the knights in that state.”
I continued thinking aloud.
“Or perhaps she's doing it intentionally, trying to deceive our perception into thinking she's male.”
I shifted slightly in my chair.
“Since several scenarios are possible, I used 'possibly male' as a placeholder rather than a definite conclusion.”
“Ah... that makes sense.”
Vaelgrave nodded, becoming absorbed in the reasoning as well.
“Also, I think you must have noticed this by now, but it's likely that this criminal has something against knights.”
She paused, thinking.
“Though, as far as I remember, in the cases I've handled, we've tried our utmost.”
The last part came out differently.
Almost as if she had taken the accusation personally.
Well...
How good would it be if efforts, will, and intentions worked the same way people thought they did?
I leaned back and thought for a while.
But there was only a pool of possibilities in my head right now.
I needed more information.
“Show me the crime scene.”
I suddenly stood up.
“Haa...”
Vaelgrave stared at me, startled by my sudden movement, before putting down her cup.
---
Shirohana, Vaelgrave, and I headed toward the crime scenes in a wagon used by the knights.
This wagon was much more luxurious and sturdier than the one I had ridden in last time.
For some reason, however, Shirohana didn't seem particularly interested in the case.
She hadn't even read the documents.
Well...
Maybe it's good for my psychological stability that she doesn't do anything.
But if she's thinking about something useful for this case, I might want to hear it.
Just as I was beginning to get comfortable inside the wagon, we reached our destination.
The commander got down first, followed by Shirohana.
Getting down from this wagon was psychologically harder than waking up on a winter morning.
Still, after finally stepping outside, I looked around.
We were in a part of the kingdom where the mansions were noticeably larger.
Everyone here wore luxurious clothing.
Even the stores looked expensive.
For now, let's focus on the case rather than sightseeing.
Wait...
Nah.
Sightseeing is also part of the investigation.
I continued walking.
Then I noticed something.
Or rather...
Someone.
We had another guest who hadn't gotten to sit in the wagon.
So he had apparently chosen to stalk us from the rooftops of the surrounding mansions.
I glanced behind us from the corner of my eye.
There he was.
Valdrik.
He was tailing us.
I'd already had some doubts about Valdrik's master.
But now...
I think I should start taking the intentions of his master much more seriously.
The wagon hadn't dropped us directly into the narrower streets.
Instead, the main roads connected to numerous narrower roads, which in turn connected to even narrower roads that...
Let's just say you wouldn't want to visit this place at night if you wanted to avoid danger.
And that was exactly where we were heading.
Eventually, we arrived at the location where the first crime had occurred.
The area was being guarded by knights.
They saluted Vaelgrave as we passed through.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Vaelgrave returned their greeting.
“This is where the first corpse was found.”
She stopped and pointed toward a wall.
“The body was lying here, with its upper half supported against the wall.”
I examined the area.
There were several cut marks on the wall.
Cracks spread across parts of the wall and floor as well.
According to the documents Vaelgrave had given me, these marks had been interpreted as evidence that a fight had taken place before the murder.
But after examining them more carefully, I could make another assumption.
The killer had possibly been stretching out the fight.
All the marks had been made by the sword that belonged to the victim.
It's as if the criminal's attacks had been too precise...
As if he had simply allowed his prey to struggle in vain.
Though there was another possibility.
It could have been a coincidence.
Perhaps the killer simply hadn't been within range when the victim swung his sword.
But one thing was certain.
The killer had overpowered the victim.
Wait...
There could also have been more than one prey.
Or more than one culprit.
No.
There couldn't have been multiple culprits.
The killings followed the same pattern.
They were carried out in the same way.
The same type of weapon was used.
The same kind of message was left.
And the timing...
It seemed too consistent.
Multiple culprits were unlikely.
But then...
What about the prey?
“Vaelgrave-san, is there any victim who had a wound that was older than the day they were possibly killed, but not much older than a week or two?”
I continued looking around for more clues.
“No. As far as I know, none of the victims had that kind of wound.”
So it could be assumed that either this victim was alone when he was killed...
Or someone else had been there but simply hadn't been killed.
“By the way, was every victim found in the same position as this one?”
I pointed toward the wall.
“Yeah... Every victim was found in this position. But out of the total eight bodies, two were simply lying in different positions.”
“Did they seem to have been killed more recently than the other corpses when you found them?”
“Yeah...”
Vaelgrave's eyes widened slightly.
It seemed she'd just realized what I was getting at.
“So these bodies were intentionally arranged in this position.”
“And the killer didn't have time to arrange those two bodies this time.”
I finished her sentence.
“Though then the question is... why was he arranging the bodies like this?”
I looked around the area again.
“It is possible that it didn't have any meaning.”
Shirohana spoke.
I looked toward her.
She was observing the place where the corpse had been found.
She had finally opened her mouth about the case after all this time.
If I think about it that way...
And add up everything we've learned so far...
It was possible that the killer's intention wasn't specifically to kill these people.
That eliminated many possibilities.
Of course, I couldn't say with certainty that the arrangement had no meaning.
But since this assumption explained several things, it was worth following for now.
We then proceeded to the next crime scene.
There wasn't much new information there.
Except for two things.
First, the location was almost on the opposite side of the area from where the first corpse had been found.
Second, there were no significant signs of scratches caused by the knife that the victims had reportedly been killed with.
Before we could reach the third location, the sun had already begun to set.
The sky was slowly darkening, and the last traces of daylight were disappearing behind the buildings.
“Well... it's already gotten this late.”
Vaelgrave looked toward the fading sky.
“Let's continue the investigation tomorrow. I'll drop both of you at your homes.”
She began walking toward the wagon.
I remained where I was.
“Why not...”
Vaelgrave stopped and looked back.
I glanced toward the roof of the mansion.
Valdrik was still there.
Watching us.
A slight smile appeared on my face.
My eyes met his.
“...I assist you with your night patrol?”
---