I don't know!

　Giveaway.
　I can't unravel this secret room trick in any way!

'That's fine!　In the first place, mysteries should be left to the detective to solve the mystery!　The reader doesn't have to solve it!

　I'm not even going to be able to say anything about myself.

　And I'm not sure Veerle even has a proper answer for you in the first place.

　It's the dragon.
　It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're going to do with it.

　The trick that Veerle prepared is to say, "I used the strength of a dragon to throw a corpse into a secret room. The proof is in! And it's entirely possible that it could be!

　A reasoning game with a guy like that is useless!　I'm getting a boiling feeling of "What?

'Hmm?　Hmm?　Don't you understand your master?　Hmmm?

　Holy shit! What's with that Veerle guy's face?

　Yeah!　Then let's get the answers out of your book!
　If it's a trick that requires the super power of a dragon to work, or if it's a trick that involves Knox jumping out of the way with an aid, I'll protest vehemently!

All right, let's get everyone involved back to the crime scene!　The mystery is all solved!

　　　　* * *

　Thus, we were gathered again in a room at the hot spring inn that had been set up as a murder scene.

　One of them was Baal, the great demon king, who played the role of the victim.
　........does this guy look like he took a bath?
　He skipped out on his role as a corpse to take a bath.

Gather round, ladies and gentlemen, and let me tell you that the famous detective, Veerle, is going to show you a brain cell the color of a dragon.

　What color is the color of a dragon?

'To begin with, there are many oddities in this case. A locked room murder scene, a murdered victim, a mysterious killer, all shrouded in mystery.

　You're pretending to be a detective and you're starting from the beginning of the case, but you're not very smart about it.

　Are you okay?　Do you use a watch with a popping anesthetic needle?

'But!　In the hands of this master detective, Master Veerle, all mysteries will be solved and gone!　Now I'm going to show you a reenactment of what happened in this secret room!

　With that said, Veerle, spinning on his heel, and then walking off to Stasta somewhere.
'Where are you going?' But it was a normal corner of the room.

　What is it?　Don't tell me you've got a secret loophole in there?　And then.....
　It was hard to tell in the shadows, but there was a lever there.

''Why is there a lever there?'' And without giving you time to wonder, Veerle, move that lever from top to bottom.
　And then immediately.....

The room shook.

　The room shook?　The entire room shook?

"Oh?　Huh?　Oh, yeah?

　And what's this floating feeling?
　When the shaking stopped, Veerle had a satisfied look on his face.

"This is the truth about the secret room trick!
No, I don't know!

　He just pulled down a lever and the room shook.
　What does this mean?

Oh, my God, sir!
'What?　What's up, Platy?
It's on the fourth floor!

　Huh?　What are you saying?
　The incident happened on the fifth floor, right?　Now we're on the fifth floor, where the murders took place...?

No, we're really on the fourth floor!

　The view out the window is a notch lower, and when you go out into the corridor and look around, it's definitely got a '4th floor' sign on it!
　What in the world is this?

Couldn't it be..., the shaking in the room just now...?
Master was right!

　Veerle, the lever that went down, now goes up.
　Then the room shakes again....

"The fifth floor!

　You don't mean to tell me this is.....
　The room itself is an elevator?
　So he can go back and forth to the fourth and fifth floors with the flick of a switch?

The murderer took advantage of this to create a secret room.
What's this about first?
The killer summons the victim to the fourth floor and kills him. First, he calls the victim up to the fourth floor and kills him, then he brings the rooms up to the fifth floor, and the murder scene is moved. After that, the murderer can simply walk out of the fourth floor.

　In doing so, a locked room murder is established...?

'I got the idea from an elevator my master built!　It's not surprising that they got the idea, since most of the customers who use this place use the elevator!

　No, no, no...!

Why does this have to be such a big deal?　You mean they turned a whole room into an elevator?　How did it come about?
When the inn was built, I had orcs build it for me.
"Are they the culprits?

　The Orcs, who have become building maniacs on our farm, built this inn like an extension of their hobby.

It's a complicated structure, and they were happy to help. They said it was worth it!

　Their construction technology is improving all the time, isn't it?
　I didn't know they could even make this stuff!

But this smells a bit foul, doesn't it?　As for the mystery?

　Was a loophole or a trick set up in the building itself or a trick that was fair as a trick?
　I don't want to get too close to it, because if we get too close, we might end up pissing off some people.

"If you use this trick, it should narrow down the list of possible culprits to a certain extent.

　Lukif Fokale, who was gathered as a concerned party, said.

'The Great Satan was working with me until just before he was killed. If he was killed, it would have been right after that.
Something is seriously on my mind...?
After we were separated, I went to the sky bath on the top floor. However, if I used this trick, the killer was on the floor below the fifth floor. If this room travels between the fifth and fourth floors...!

　The murderer was on the floor below the fourth floor at the time of the murder?

I was in the sky bath at the time of the murder, weren't I?
'I've been in the women's bath with Junior, you know?　There were other bathers there, so you could back that up, right?

　The doctor and Prathi had strong alibis too!
　And then there's.....

Me?
'That's right!　Master was the murderer!

　What did you say?
　I was the only one who was patrolling the inn at the presumed time of the crime, and my alibi is unclear!
　And I killed Baal when I made my move!

I don't have a choice!　Mr. Baal would try to pull out ailerons and other skilled craftsmen at every turn, and he was annoying!
'It really is so easy to see the motive for the murder.

　The victim himself was whistling when he took a step back.

　That's how the first, Veerle's hot water guessing game ended with the shocking conclusion that the culprit = me.

''It was a sad case...''
Hey, do you have a minute?

　Prathi says as he tries to get it together beautifully.

'This elevator trick........if the room itself is moved by raising and lowering a lever. You'd also have to operate the lever to move it up from the fourth to the fifth floor after killing the victim, right?
Is that right?
'If this place is going to be locked up after we get it up to the fifth floor, who's going to have the levers up?
Huh?

　The trick that Veerle came up with was full of holes.

　The theory that I was the culprit was just an alibi, and I was the only suspect, regardless of the trick.

There's a lot of things you need to rethink.
This time I'm going to come up with a perfect trick that doesn't have a single hole in it!

　Veerle was enthusiastic, but well, it was certainly a fun event, wasn't it?
　I can use my wits and the extraordinary feeling of being a detective gives me just the right amount of excitement.

So, should we adopt this as an official attraction for the hot spring inns?
No, no, no.

　This onsen ryokan was built to relieve the fatigue of its guests.
　Even if it's for fun, if they get extra tired by overusing their bodies and brains, it would be at odds with the concept of the event in the first place.

　If Veerle wants to do something like this, it would be better to shift to another event and keep it here.

'Let's try to implement it at this year's Oakbo Castle?
You mean the keeper's cabinet serial killer?

　Oh, no.
　I can't help but think that next year's Castle Okubo is going to be full of murderous charades.