Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!-Chapter 1524 - 1522: As Expected, Something Happened (Let’s Meow Together)
Early the next morning, before the sun had risen, a rapid knocking on the door interrupted the dream of Fang Zheng and Hana.
"Really, what trouble are they causing so early in the morning."
Glancing at the pitch-black sky outside, Fang Zheng yawned, then stood up and went to the door, pulling it open. Soon, he saw an elderly man in a butler’s uniform standing there, looking at her with a serious expression.
"I apologize for disturbing you at this hour, but... please come to the hall immediately!"
After saying this, the old butler hurried away, while Fang Zheng glanced at Hana, who had just climbed out of the bed, and exchanged a puzzled look.
"What’s going on, Little Hong?"
Quickly putting on her outerwear, Hana came over to Fang Zheng’s side and asked curiously, while Fang Zheng shrugged.
"We’ll find out if we go and see."
As Fang Zheng suggested, when the two arrived at the hall, they immediately understood what had happened.
At the end of the hall, a woman was hanging on the statue of an angel at the center of the staircase.
To be precise, it seemed like she had been impaled on the longsword held by that angel statue and lifted up, appearing before everyone in that pose.
Even though the woman’s eyes had been cruelly gouged out, leaving only two large empty sockets, her kimono and pitch-black long hair still identified her as the representative from the Department of Law who had appeared before everyone yesterday — Kayano Riri.
"Ugh...!"
Upon seeing this scene, Hana trembled and instinctively moved closer to Miss Red Ponytail. Although she had learned magecraft, this was the first time she had seen a corpse with her own eyes, let alone a corpse in such a tragic state, which made her feel somewhat uncomfortable.
"—————"
Unlike Hana, Fang Zheng whistled.
"See, something really happened. I knew it. It would be a waste not to use this place for a detective murder case."
I just don’t know who will play the role of Conan.
At this moment, the other invited magicians also came over, and upon seeing this scene, they were equally shocked. Apart from Rosalind, who seemed a bit frightened, the others appeared very calm.
"Haine, could you help me release her?"
At this time, Lord El-Melloi II stepped forward and spoke in a low voice. Upon hearing Lord El-Melloi II’s words, Haine nodded, then extended his hand. Soon, a thread of metal wire appeared from his fingertip, cutting the longsword. Then Haine caught the falling corpse and placed it gently on the ground.
"Pardon me."
Meanwhile, Lord El-Melloi II walked over to Kayano Riri’s corpse and began to examine it quickly. Soon, he gave his assessment.
"It seems like the eyes were gouged out by a tool similar to a claw, and there are significant extraction marks on the back, most likely due to a magic crest. A magician of considerable level wouldn’t die without such a method."
At this point, Lord El-Melloi II seemed to have discovered something. He reached out and picked up an envelope that had fallen from Kayano Riri’s sleeve — from the outside, it seemed no different from the invitation letters everyone else had. He carefully opened the envelope, glanced at its contents, and then looked surprised.
"Huh? She also has an angel name, wait... this is..."
At this, Lord El-Melloi II appeared to realize something, and his expression suddenly turned much grimmer.
"Little Hong? What exactly is going on?"
By now, Hana leaned in close to Fang Zheng and asked in a low voice, to which Fang Zheng shook his head.
"I don’t know... well, let’s just watch this detective put on his show. We just need to watch."
"But... the others seem so calm..."
As she spoke, Hana looked around. Apart from Haine’s sister, the seven-year-old little girl Rosalind, who had distanced herself from the crime scene out of fear, everyone else seemed to take it as a matter of routine. This somewhat astonished Hana, as she had read detective novels before, and typically, upon discovering a body in such a setting, wouldn’t everyone start shouting, "Why would this happen?" "Who could have done it!", and become frantic and agitated? Why do these people, apart from appearing slightly stern, show no other reaction?
"Of course, these are magicians. Expecting them to react like ordinary people would be too unnatural. This group lives in a world where they’re either being killed or killing every day. Why would a few deaths cause them to jump up in shock?"
"......"
This time, Hana didn’t speak. She simply frowned slightly, watching the scene unfold in front of her. Perhaps only now did she gain a more realistic understanding of what kind of people magicians really are in this world.
Meanwhile, the detective, Lord El-Melloi II, began to speak again.
"Perhaps, we were all mistaken."
"Mistaken?"
Hearing this, the other magicians turned their heads to look at him, and Lord El-Melloi II continued.
"The angel names are not clues for the inheritance, nor are they riddles..."
"Then what are they?"
At this moment, the elderly man in a wheelchair also spoke up to ask. Lord El-Melloi II sighed as if suffering from a stomach ache, then continued.
"It was previously mentioned that the Seventy-Two Angels of SHEMAMPHORAE can transform into the Zodiac Twelve Signs, but they can also be compared to the human body. The macrocosm and microcosm often mirror each other. At this point, you should all understand."
As he spoke, Lord El-Melloi II picked up the envelope in his hand, while the magicians present all displayed expressions of sudden realization. Only Fang Zheng and Hana continued to play the role of clueless onlookers — for Fang Zheng, whether using Ratziel or Future Sight, it was easy to find the murderer, so this kind of boring deduction wasn’t necessary.
Indeed, just like how widespread surveillance cameras and DNA appraisal have robbed detectives of their jobs, Sherlock Holmes living in modern times would definitely have ended up on the streets long ago.
"Kayano Riri’s angel name is HACHASIAH, which is an angel presiding over the Aries Palace. The Aries Palace roughly provides divine protection to the body’s head, and to be more specific..."
Here, Lord El-Melloi II paused for a moment, looking again at the corpse in front of him.
"When limited to HACHASIAH, it symbolizes the eyeball."
As soon as this word was uttered, the atmosphere in the room instantly changed.
"I see."
Now, even Hana, who lacked deep knowledge of magic, understood Lord El-Melloi II’s implication. Kayano Riri’s angel name symbolized the eyeballs, and now her eyes had been removed. In the will declaration yesterday, there was also [Those who cannot answer the questions shall be deprived by the angel], so it means...
"Little Hong, could it be that the woman named Kayano Riri also wanted to inherit the estate, so she answered the angel’s question but was killed because she answered incorrectly?"
"Probably."
Fang Zheng yawned idly, then looked ahead with interest.
"However, isn’t there something more interesting than deduction right now?"
"Huh?"
Hearing this, Hana glanced forward again, only to discover that the group of magicians had already become agitated.
"Kayano Riri is the only one among the people gathered in Severance City who knows the Secret Technique and has no need to acquire it."
"Hahaha, so you’re saying that the beast carefully peeled off the Magic Crest and then gouged out the eyes before stringing the person up here? Is it really that funny?"
"So, you’re saying the murderer is among us?"
To Hana’s surprise, even though someone had proposed what would almost certainly cause a stir in a detective novel, the magicians present seemed completely unfazed.
"This... this..."
Seeing this scene, Hana couldn’t understand it at all.
"Why are they reacting this way? Aren’t they worried about getting killed?"
"That’s how magicians are, isn’t it? Even if they could kill each other, they believe they can definitely survive. You really think they’re the defenseless NPCs in detective novels?"
At this point, Fang Zheng also grinned.
"Actually, there’s no need for such an exaggerated treasure hunt. There’s a way to guarantee one hundred percent that you can get the Secret Technique—just kill off all the other heirs except yourself. Problem solved. The world of magicians doesn’t adhere to laws, and definitely doesn’t care about morals, and no one is going to report it to the police. Of course, given these people’s current level of stupidity, they won’t give up and leave either... It’s really laughable; in typical detective novels, they go to great lengths to create a locked room with an isolated island or heavy rain and snow, but here, there’s no need for external natural conditions at all because these people would never choose to run away on their own."
"So what should we do?"
"Do nothing, just keep watching the show. A first-person all-perspective locked room murder mystery, where else can you find such a good opportunity?"
Saying this, Fang Zheng turned around.
"Alright, let’s head back for breakfast and then take a stroll in the courtyard. Looking at the state of this group, it wouldn’t be surprising if a fight broke out anytime. It’s great to be an outsider who knows nothing, but if we get dragged in, I have no interest."
After this, the two of them went back to their room for breakfast, then went to the garden behind the ancient castle. Fang Zheng hummed a tune by the lake and woods in the distance, took out a notebook, and continued working on his project, while Hana quietly took out a copy of the "Casebook of Sherlock Holmes" and started reading.
Though usually not very interested in such books, reading this in Holmes’ hometown held a special charm.
"Hmm, hmm, hmm..."
A humming sound came to Hana’s ears, and she couldn’t help but lift her head, looking at the red ponytail girl tapping away on the computer beside her.
What a peculiar girl.
Speaking of which, Hana knew almost nothing about the girl in front of her. She had heard from her teacher, Fiore, "When you arrive at the airport, a girl named Red Ponytail will come to find you," but Fiore didn’t say who this Red Ponytail was. However, from Hana’s observations so far, it’s clear that she has a deep connection with the World Tree of a Thousand Realms.
And from their interactions so far, except for her rough language and boyish behavior, Red Ponytail was surprisingly easy to get along with. Although she hadn’t explicitly stated it, Hana knew that she was actually quite considerate of her.
More importantly, for some reason, every time Hana saw her profile, she would feel a mysterious flutter in her heart.
It was as if an electric current ran through her body, or her heart was tightly gripped by something, even just being brushed by those bright red twin ponytails made her tense.
What exactly is going on?
"Sorry to interrupt."
At this moment, a voice suddenly interrupted Hana’s thoughts. She looked up and saw a blonde girl in a blue dress standing not far away, watching them. She remembered the girl’s name was Luvia...
"Hey, isn’t it Gold Drill-Head? What brings you to us?"
Fang Zheng looked up from the notebook, glanced at the blonde girl, and then greeted her with a grin.
"Gold Drill..."
Hearing Fang Zheng’s greeting, Luvia’s eyebrows instantly went up, but perhaps due to long-standing good manners, she managed to suppress her emotions.
"My name is Luvia Zelita Edelfelt, please remember it, Miss Red Ponytail."
"Got it, Gold Drill-Head."
"Luvia!"
"Alright, Gold Drill-Head, so what do you need from me?"
".........."
Staring at the girl with red ponytails for a moment, Luvia eventually seemed to give up and helplessly chose to change the topic.
"I came to ask both of you where you were after dinner last night."
"Investigating alibis? Does it matter? Even if I said I did it, what would you do? Rush over for a fight? Or report me to the police?"
"... Please answer my question."
Even though she maintained her composure on the surface, even Hana could tell that Luvia’s patience was running out.
"Alright, after dinner last night, I stayed in my room working on my project plan, and Hana was reading a book. Speaking of which, this place is really old and backward, not even a cable TV, can’t even watch the evening news..."
"Sorry to interrupt."
Before the red ponytail could finish, Gold Drill... I mean, Luvia briskly interrupted her complaints and turned to leave. The red ponytail cast a glance at Luvia’s departing figure, then picked up a teacup and leisurely sipped some tea.
"Little Hong, wasn’t that a bit too rude to Miss Luvia?"
Though she found it quite amusing herself, Hana couldn’t help but cough and give a reminder at this moment.
"What can I do? It’s not my fault she styled her hair like that. If she didn’t make it look like a drill, I wouldn’t call her drill head. Besides, what’s wrong with drills? They’re a man’s romance, after all."
As expected, the red ponytail had no intention of listening, she just waved it off with a smile before looking over in another direction again.
"So, what do you two want with us over here? Could it be to investigate the alibi too?"
Hearing this, Hana hurriedly turned her head, following the direction of the red ponytail’s gaze. Soon she saw a pair of siblings emerge from the corridor on the other side.
They were Haine Istari and Rosalind Istari, siblings.
