'Nuh-uh. I just feel like I'm going back in time.
''Yeah, right. It feels like a normal continuation of what happened earlier...

　The loli hag and Anna are taken out of the mansion and are dizzy with their heads in their hands.

'Neither of them are wrong, so I'll take that perception.

　Instead of explaining the situation to the two of you, I gave you both a memory of what happened in the virtual universe, including the resolution with Iris, and it's nice and easy.

'Now that we're out of the way, though, we can continue with the deduction.
Hm?　Isn't that the work of the now-dead wise man ... and that settles it?
'To tell you the truth, it's incomplete. That was a false deduction by your husband to keep Iris from reaching the truth. I was just taking advantage of the guy.

　If it wasn't for that, I would have told the truth in front of Iris.
　I don't know what he would have done, but if I had taken him to that place as planned, well, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have gotten myself into trouble. Or maybe, after all this was settled, he would have escaped without revealing himself if he was sure he could get out safely. The detective's husband would have wanted to prevent the risk of letting Iris go free at all costs.
　Again, this is all just a prediction, but I think he knew Iris didn't stand a chance in all likelihood if she showed her legs in front of me.

"The booby trap that was set up in the mansion, was it?　Does that make a difference?

　Anna nodded her head as her eyes fluttered.

'The trap theory seems like it at first glance, but there's no evidence of a magic trap being set up. Including the traces. Plus, there are a few things I can't explain. I know I was just casually going through it earlier, but when the fat man died, how could he kill the squire at the same time and disappear? Of course, there's still the possibility that it was a coincidence. The rest is the door of the room that was unlocked at the right time when Anna left. It's impossible to say that a homunculus with no decision-making ability was in charge of something invisible like that. There's no evidence to show that he was an accomplice.

　I wouldn't have understood if Teene actually had an ego or something.
　From what I just saw with my own eyes, she is definitely a doll without a soul.

"Especially in that secret room. If the 'real culprit' was the one who unlocked the door like your detective husband said... then Anna should have seen it in real time when she came to the front of the room.
Hee....

　Anna cowered.

'No ... the 'real killer' is still looking at us as we do this.
Where are you?　Where the hell are they?!

　Don't panic, old Lolita.
　Let's find out who it is and expose him now.

　There's no more bondage by the quantum eye.
　I'm going to activate the evaluation eye and take a look at it.
　Bingo, that's right.

"You are the 'real criminal'.

　He sticks his index finger in the guy's face.

"What?
Hm?　There's no one there, though.

　Certainly no one.
　Yes, people.

Isn't there?　There's one building, a big one.
What are you talking about?　No, no way....
The unthinkable.

　It's the mansion of the abominable wise man with whom we slept and ate.

The 'true culprit' is the sage who assimilated the spirit body into the mansion. No, should I properly call him by his true name?



Hey.　"Kazuki Saito.



'This is ... amazing. I'm really surprised.

　A voice sounded out of nowhere, and then a light stretched out from the mansion like a projector, and a young man was projected in front of us.
　Black hair and black eyes. Unmistakably Japanese.
　For saying he was surprised, he had no expression on his face.

'I never thought I'd see the day when I'd be called by my old name again.
'Because me and my husband's local cuisine was served at the mansion. In other words, the Sage has 'modern knowledge of Earth'. So I knew the Sage would be a transferee or a reincarnator.

　But seriously, I didn't know the mansion itself was a wise man.
　If I'd come here with a connoisseur's eye, I'd have found out the truth all of a sudden.
　This was the stage for a mystery, but I would have ruined it like I always do. Oh, watch out!

"Are you the wise man himself?
"Wise man!　You're alive after all!

　Saito, aka the Sage, shook his head at Lolita and Anna, who couldn't hide her dismay, and Anna, who looked pleased.

''No matter. Unfortunately, he's dead. The body I used when I was called the Sage is dead. Anyway, how did you know that?　The mansion itself is me.
It's like I said. There's no way to keep killing sorcerers with traps alone. If the sorcerer who suspects the trap discovers the trap, that's all there is to it. If the mansion itself is the main body of the sorcerer, he can drop the fat squire out of sight...for example, by forced transfer to a needlehole pit prepared under the floor to secretly kill him, or he can open the lock to let Anna discover the body. The extreme part is that the room was intact from the vacuum wave magic.
Oh...!

　Anna gasps and holds her mouth.

''I see........the principle of exclusion of surgeons!
Yeah, yeah. It's the specifics of magic in this world. You don't 'self-harm' unless there's a reason for it. Isn't that right?

　If the mansion itself is a surgeon, then the room is like an organ.
　It's perfectly natural that they weren't hurt by the attacking magic.

'If that's the case, you can see there's no trick in the case, right?　Even a locked room murder is 'the surgeon was in the room, but he wasn't there'. The fat man was only killed in that room by the vacuum wave magic that you activated 'inside' the room.

　A series of murders in the virtual universe of the Quantum Eye is really quite simple, too.
　In the second case, the body of a squire who had been murdered before was simply transferred to the lobby and hung in mid-air using levitation magic.
　The third, of course, is the murder in the basement, where the two of them tried to escape by simply firing a ray of molecular decomposition magic from the house.

　Perhaps Detective-Husband was the next to realize the mystery of the return blood, and he exactly assumed the possibility that the surgeon might not have a human body.
　He'd gone out of his way to preface the Lori hag with "in case the culprit was human," and he'd even talked about astral projection.

''Then the key.....
That one?　I just thought it would be a convenient way to signal the start of the selection process. There's nothing deep about it. The content of the invitation was whatever it was that lured them here. As long as I can get them to come inside me, it's just a matter of passing judgment.

　Judgement, you know.

'Why, wise man. Why did you do this to me?
Why?　Of course it is. It's revenge.

　Saito replied to the loli hag's tragic cries in a matter-of-fact manner.
　No emotion could be read from his voice.

'You're an earthling too, aren't you?　Then I'm sure he'll understand. You're suddenly reincarnated in another world, and you're hyped up as a wise man or something. He was used to his heart's content, and when he died, he was left with his inheritance. What would a man who lived his life like that think about?
Yeah. I can see that.

　Saito must have also worked hard with modern knowledge and post-reincarnation magic bonuses and cheats.
　If he wanted to survive in another world, he had no choice but to win his position without pretending to be.
　However, no matter how you do it, the have-nots will envy you and the stakes will be driven down. And of course there are those who will try to sidestep that achievement, and the privileged classes whose status is threatened will turn against you.
　To the summoners, we're not the same people. We're monsters and messengers. They can use us, they can dispose of us, and if they don't like us, they can kill us.
　Even Iris is a typical summoner. To that guy, his husband was just a pawn in his game.

　Whether you curse or accept that as unreasonable depends on the individual.

And most importantly, they left Tine to die.
Tine that homunculus?
She's not a homunculus!

　The magic hologram showed emotion for the first time at Lori Hag's muttering.

'I see. So that's your primary motivation.''
They told me that she was safe, so I left her with them. But when the Demon King's army came to the castle, they abandoned her and ran off with her!

　Hmm.
　So it's a homomunculus in the likeness of a former lover.... That's why I was so concerned with the sculptures.
　But when you think of the homunculus you made yourself as the original...

I don't know...I wasn't even there, so I don't really know. Were those guys the kind of people who would shield the VIPs that were entrusted to them by the wise men?
'Of course it was!　Oh, poor Tine....

　Yeah, I guess this is still a bad idea.
　Even if the original Tine had volunteered to buy Shinigari, it would still be the same for Saito.
　It would never change his perception that someone important had been killed.

''How could such a thing happen...?''
Poor Sage, poor thing...

　Lori and Anna seem to be sympathetic to the wise man's story........

'What are you talking about. You're probably all in the same boat. You're a filthy, dirty sorcerer who wants to steal from me. I'm not going to be tricked any longer. You are going to rob me of my inheritance and take Tine away from me. In that case, you all deserve to die. We're not gonna kill you all in one fell swoop. One by one, I will kill you one by one, starting with the person who shows the least amount of forethought in searching for their inheritance.

　Well, it would.
　Perhaps he was reincarnated into the mansion itself through a magic ritual. But from the looks of it, Saito's spirit body doesn't have enough soul energy left in it to correct the delusional thought vector. In other words, he's undead.
　As for me, I'm emotionally inclined towards Saito, so I don't really want to do it, but I'll just have to end it this way.

"So-so-so. I'm sure you'll get your maid back. Here, unseal it.

　He tossed one of the sealing beads.
　As soon as it falls to the ground, Teene appears from inside.

''Ah, Teene you're okay.
...My lord.

　Teene's eyes widened when she saw the hologram.

'Come on, come into the mansion. I'm going to be a little busy.

　Okay, you're on target.
　The items in the item box can be placed in the sealing beads in the box as well. If someone is inside, they can be equipped with it.
　I gave Teene a powerful protection to turn the undead into instant Buddhas.
　According to my master's program, Teene would return to the mansion where the spirit resides, and that would be the end of the story.

　However, Teene seems to be thinking for a while.

"We've been waiting for your return, master. Please come this way.

　I didn't walk to the mansion, but to a different direction.
　And that way.....　

Tine, where are you going?

　As Saito's hologram disappeared, a spirit body appeared from the mansion and flew after Teene.

''Mmm?　Where do you think you're going?
The house isn't over there, is it?

　I was going to show it to the old lady alone after what happened with Iris, but I guess it's no use.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find it.

I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this.
Wow. That tower was nowhere to be found until just now!

　Teene and the ghosts were headed to.
　There was a small, compact stone tower.

I've undo the cognitive blocking spell that was on both of them. That's normal for an exorcism, and I didn't even go through with it at first.......

　When I first entered this forest, I saw a large mansion and a sorcerer's tower.
　A sorcerer would naturally be attracted to the tower with its workshop.
　And yet, aside from the snobbish old woman Lori, even the handsome sorcerer headed straight for the mansion without even giving the tower a second glance.

　I felt a sense of discomfort when I witnessed that scene, but that's nothing.
　The two of them were under the spell of recognition inhibition and couldn't see the tower.

　Because I forced my way through the security, I was the only one who saw the true scene from the beginning.
　Thanks to my inability to resist the recognition-blocking magic in the virtual universe of the quantum eye, I was able to realize that the tower was hidden, ironically.

'Since the mansion is a dummy to lure the sorcerer in, that naturally means that the sage's real residence was elsewhere. In other words, that's the real sage's workshop.



　When we caught up, Teene was bowing to the spirit body Saito in front of the tower.

''Welcome back again, Master.
Oh, yeah.

　Teene was as expressionless as usual, but on the contrary, Saito looked puzzled.

''And everyone, you can already see the tower, right?　Congratulations. This is the legacy of the wise man.

　Teene held up her hand and carefully introduced the tower as if she were a bus guide.

The research facility as well as all the memoirs and books left behind by the Sage Master before his death have been left inside this place. I am responsible for keeping them in perfect condition on a daily basis.
'What are you talking about, Tine!

　Saito interrupted Teene's commentary.

''These guys are looters who came for my inheritance. That....!''
'With all due respect, my master. I have been entrusted by my master before he died to look after the tower and write letters to the candidates on his behalf. And it is my mission to provide every possible hospitality to ensure that the selection goes off without a hitch.

　While Teene spoke indifferently, Saito, the spirit body, was clearly swimming in his eyes.

''Ah, I don't think that guy is anything but a bug.

　It may not be necessary, but let's just say it.

'You didn't order Teene to kill the candidate, did you?　In fact, he wasn't an accomplice, and all the murders in the compound were done by you. So, I guess the kid is just sticking to the pretense that you've set up for him.
I really didn't order you to give me a legacy!
Really?　Well, let's ask him. How come we're supposed to be able to carry on the legacy?

　Teene bowed politely to me, who was frightened, and then opened her mouth.

'It is true that there are no specific conditions set for succession, but all of you have passed through the ordeal prepared by the Sage Master, defeated the magic of recognition inhibition, and discovered the tower. Therefore, as we have written in the invitation, we have decided that you are the most suitable people to inherit your master's legacy.

　I see........if the guide was written on behalf of the wise man, it could be interpreted as a written order to Teene as it is.

　Now that I think about it, Teene's words had no backbone.
　Whether it was an unfeeling response that lazily ducked the intuition of our lowlife, or a reaction or apology to an incident that occurred inside the mansion, she kept silent because she didn't have the authority to answer.
　She really hadn't been informed of anything.
　She was simply carrying out the selection as she was told, without unraveling the wise man's secret intentions.

　But what is it?
　The current Teene is a bit different.
　I'm not going to be able to get it right.

''Nonsense. That's ridiculous!　I didn't approve of it!
My lord.

　Saito's spirit body, which was still trying to bite down, was gently wrapped by Tine's slender arms.

''Please go to sleep now. Thank you for your hard work.''
Yeah, Tine, I'm...

　At that moment, Saito's spirit body disappeared into the light.
　Of course, the anti-undead amulet I had equipped Tine with was only effective........

　The loli hag mutters.

''Is it really a homunculus........?　She,
Yeah. I'm supposed to.

　I'm beginning to lose confidence in myself in return.
　Because Teene was smiling.
　It's a truly ambiguous smile that I can't quite get around to calling a smile.
　It's as if she seemed to be both compassionate and mourning for the deceased Lord.

''Sage-sama........''

　Anna looks up to the heavens as she follows the residue of light.

　--In this way.
　The curtain was lowered on the incident caused by the delusion of the one reincarnated person called the Wise Man.




'And so?　What happened!

　A different place, an adventurer's tavern in the town where I stopped on my way to slay the Demon King.
　Ituna leaned over the table and urged me to continue.

I'm not going to be able to tell you what happened. I couldn't see you off, but Anna was supposed to have gone back to the country to report that the wise man was dead. And I freed all the survivors. I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make your wish come true by inheriting the sage's legacy. And that's how they fulfilled their vows.
'What!　
'I don't know. Aren't you with the lolly hag?

　He didn't see or hear anything else.

"I mean, isn't that the English Dandy guy for sure?　You're a very famous detective!　Even I know that!
Even I don't have to go through all the trouble of dissing myself.

　When I patted him, he cooed happily.
　He's not just a dog. He's a dog now.

But I don't understand. Too bad.

　I was compelled to tell him an interesting otherworldly story, so I was telling it to him, but it was apparently incomplete in terms of Ituna.

It's just that the old lady has decided to take over the inheritance. But, well, it's not so much about ambition or glory, it's more about protecting the place, and there's no way he can manage that place by himself to begin with. I don't think Tine will be so bad, either.
'Isn't that right?　Thank God!

　Ituna gave me a big smile, so let's call it good.

　
　When I checked with my eyes before putting it in the item box, Teene did not have a soul.
　But Teene was clearly disobeying his master, Saito, and it looked like he knew that if he touched Saito, he could make him become a Buddha.

　Was it just a coincidence, following the program?
　Or did he have an ego the moment he saw his master?
　I don't think so, or..........

'No matter how strange what is left after excluding all impossibilities, that is the truth........'

　I remember a phrase my husband used to say.
　Come to think of it, I think it was also a pretty famous line.

　There.

'Excuse me. Are you by any chance, Lady Toris Gallinoy?
'Huh!　How did you know that name...!

　.........Come to think of it, there were plenty of other alternate worlds with decently interesting punchlines, so why did I choose this gruesome story?
　It's not a coincidence that there are no coincidences in the different worlds I travel through.
　It's a good thing that I'm not the only one, because in front of me is a girl with skin as beautiful as porcelain, smiling as if she were happy to see me again.






　A quiet moment (for that matter).

　The final mystery.
　I hadn't given her my full fake name.
　There was no way she would have had a chance to know it in the real world, let alone in a virtual universe where a handsome magician called me.
　That means ................................someone who knew.
　There was only one culprit.

　Looks like it's been a long time since we've had a torture stick!