"He" was waiting.
The discovery of the corpse was within "his" expectations, and the fear and unease these foolish mortals were displaying right now was exactly what "he" wished to see.
In fact, these mortals were not merely the audience of this performance.
They were also offerings—sacrifices—for that terrifying and great being that was about to descend upon this world!
Rejoice, foolish and lowly mortals.
How fortunate you are to gain the privilege and glory of being the first to face that existence—and to merge with its soul and flesh.
Thinking of this, "he" revealed a cold smile.
But just as the corners of his mouth lifted, the girl standing at the doorway, holding a holy tome in her arms, suddenly looked toward him curiously.
This frightened "him" into immediately lowering his head.
At the same time, deep within his heart, "he" mocked the girl's foolishness.
Believing in a god that doesn't even exist—how utterly stupid.
I really want to see what kind of expression you'll make when you face the true god…
Thinking this, "he" clenched his fists and laughed inwardly.
The time of the great return is near!
And here, I will display the boundless divine power of that existence before all of you!!
While someone was curled up somewhere, indulging in such daydreams, Duanmu Huai was leading the others in searching the rooms.
They found nothing useful in places like the medical room and the storage area.
As for Williams' room, Duanmu Huai had already checked it once.
Since Lingnu had shown no reaction, there was likely nothing there.
Next, he came to another guest room.
That was the room of Fred Winston, the one who had discovered the body.
Although he was the first to find the corpse, that didn't mean he wasn't suspicious.
On the contrary, in many cases, the first discoverer of a crime scene was often even more suspicious.
This wasn't because Duanmu Huai had any real investigative experience.
It was simply because he had seen this kind of situation far too often in games.
These cultists were all like award-winning actors.
Pretending to be the first discoverer was nothing.
Some even pretended to be victims themselves.
After seeing it enough times, it became second nature.
However—
When Duanmu Huai pushed open Fred's door and saw what was inside, everyone was instantly shocked.
The entire floor of the room was covered with circular magic formations similar to the one around the corpse earlier.
Candles were lit all around, creating an eerie, sinister atmosphere.
At a glance, something was clearly wrong!
"Could Mr. Fred be the culprit?!"
Seeing this, the bodyguard and the doctor were both startled.
As ordinary people, they naturally assumed that the first discoverer wouldn't be the criminal.
The logic was simple.
Normally, if someone committed a crime, they would want it discovered as late as possible.
Who would expose their own crime instead of hiding it?
But now, the evidence seemed undeniable…
"Alright, Fred isn't necessarily the culprit."
Duanmu Huai remained calm and waved his hand.
"But these strange magic circles here are clearly the same as the ones in the smoking room!"
"Similar—but whether they serve the same function is another matter."
As he spoke, Duanmu Huai stepped into the room and lowered his head, sniffing lightly.
"Does Fred smoke?"
"Uh…"
Hearing the question, everyone looked at each other.
Then the female student from the Graduate Institute nodded.
"He smokes! When I came out earlier, I saw him holding a pipe!"
"Good. Let's continue."
Duanmu Huai silently made a note in his mental list and turned to leave.
Since Lingnu hadn't reacted, it meant there were no useful clues in this room.
And honestly, Duanmu Huai couldn't be bothered to rummage through everything himself.
With Lingnu as an expert, he was more than happy to play the role of a tool.
After that, Duanmu Huai checked the other rooms.
All the rooms on his side had been searched.
Aside from Fred's room, which had suspicious elements, the others were normal.
Next were the three cabins on the opposite side.
They belonged to the deceased Williams and his bodyguard Dort, and then Arthur.
Duanmu Huai had already checked Williams' and Dort's rooms.
Nothing unusual was found.
However—
Arthur's room gave him an unexpected surprise.
Originally, he had only planned to go through the motions.
But the moment he pushed open the door and stepped inside, the black cat on his shoulder suddenly reacted.
"Meow!"
It cried out sharply, leapt down, and rushed straight into—
—the trash can.
"Hey, hey, don't go poking around everywhere."
Duanmu Huai was momentarily stunned, then quickly reached out and pulled Lingnu out of the trash can.
He then looked inside.
There was a pile of shredded paper.
And not ordinary paper…
It looked like photographs.
"What is this?"
Duanmu Huai picked up the scraps and pieced them together.
Sure enough—it was a photograph.
A group photo.
That alone wouldn't be strange.
But the problem was—
The people in the photo.
At the very center was the victim, Williams Ford.
And among the group, Duanmu Huai spotted another familiar figure.
"Doctor Rose."
He turned to look at her.
Her face had already gone pale.
"You didn't tell me you knew Williams."
As he spoke, he tapped the photograph.
Rose's expression changed drastically.
She gritted her teeth.
"I—I did meet Williams a few times before, but I didn't kill him! And I didn't even know he was on this airship!"
"Then where did you meet him?"
Duanmu Huai stared at her as he asked.
He clearly remembered what was written in Williams' diary.
When he was young, he had joined an elite upper-class club—
Silver Twilight Lodge.
If this photograph was from that club, then Rose was also one of its members.
Which meant—
She was a cultist.
And there was another issue.
This photo was found in Arthur's room.
And Arthur also smoked.
Not only that—
Although Doctor Rose was a woman, she also smoked.
If she were the cultist, then the earlier conclusion that the culprit was an adult male could be overturned.
"Wait!"
At that moment, the bodyguard Dort suddenly noticed something and stepped forward.
She carefully examined the photo, then pointed.
"Look here!"
"Hmm?"
Duanmu Huai followed her finger to the edge of the photo.
Then his eyes widened.
At the edge of the picture, half of a maid was visible.
Only half her body and head were captured.
But it was clearly the airship's maid—
Ethel.
"Oh ho… now this is getting interesting."
Duanmu Huai stroked his chin.
Originally, he thought this was simply a cultist committing murder.
But now it seemed that at least three people aboard the airship had past connections with Williams.
From the photo alone, Doctor Rose and the maid Ethel couldn't escape suspicion.
And since the photo was found in Arthur's room, even if he wasn't in it, it still connected him to it.
Which meant—
Aside from Fred, the arrogant Arthur, Doctor Rose, and the maid Ethel were all suspects.
After all, Williams had clearly written in his diary that he fled because cultists from Silver Twilight Lodge wanted to use his blood for a ritual.
So the killer was very likely someone he had known from that club.
If everyone in the photo were members of the lodge—
then neither Rose nor Ethel could escape involvement.
The only problem was—
The photo seemed to have been taken twenty years ago.
But the maid Ethel only looked to be in her twenties.
Of course, that assumed she was human.
And not some kind of monster.
At this point, everyone began to panic.
Duanmu Huai stared at Rose.
She gritted her teeth, then finally lowered her head.
"Fine… I'll talk. Actually, Arthur threatened me…"
"Threatened you?"
"Yes. Arthur wanted me to provide him with some illegal drugs—you know. Of course I refused. Then he threatened to expose my past…"
"Your past?"
"…I used to be a doctor. Once, I treated a young girl. But after the treatment, the girl disappeared. I ended up taking the blame for it. I lost my medical license and had to leave. Only after twenty years did I think enough time had passed, so I boarded this airship to go back and take a look… I didn't expect to run into Arthur…"
At this point, Rose looked at the photograph with a complicated expression.
"As for this photo… yes, it was taken when we were in that club. But why Arthur has it—I don't know…"
"… "
Duanmu Huai frowned.
It was true that nobles using drugs wasn't exactly news.
That explanation was plausible.
But—
That was only if the club wasn't Silver Twilight Lodge.
Otherwise, this might be a carefully planned murder.
And the killer might not be just one person—
but a group.
"…Let's go."
After hearing Rose's explanation, Duanmu Huai simply glanced at her and withdrew his gaze.
Dort had already moved to stand beside Rose, gripping her arm.
The female student kept her distance.
Rose herself looked completely defeated.
What was supposed to be a routine investigation had uncovered more and more evidence.
And yet, the more evidence appeared, the more confusing the truth became.
Duanmu Huai quickly refocused and left Arthur's room.
He headed toward the final two rooms—
the crew lounge and the crew quarters.
These rooms were connected to the observation deck and were normally restricted to crew members.
But at this point, that didn't matter.
He first entered the crew quarters.
There were four bunk beds.
Simple and crude.
Nothing like the luxurious guest cabins.
Which made sense.
"Meow!"
At that moment, the black cat reacted again.
It jumped down, circled around a suitcase, then looked up at Duanmu Huai.
"What an amazing cat…"
The female student couldn't help but marvel.
After following Duanmu Huai this whole time, she had realized how incredible the cat was.
It was always the one finding the clues.
How could a cat do that?
Did it have a sense of smell like a dog?
Duanmu Huai just chuckled.
Lingnu's investigative ability was far stronger than a real detective.
He stepped forward.
The suitcase was locked.
But that wasn't a problem.
He grabbed the top with his right hand and the lock with his left—
and twisted!
Crack!
With a sharp sound, the lock was snapped clean in half.
"Hiss—!!"
Everyone gasped in shock.
That was a steel lock.
Yet in Duanmu Huai's hands, it was like wood.
Just how strong was he?
Duanmu Huai ignored their reactions.
He tossed the broken lock aside and opened the suitcase.
Inside were mostly clothes.
Nothing unusual.
No weapon either.
Too bad. Would've been nice if there was one.
"Wait!"
Just then, Dort spoke again.
"This is Williams' pocket watch!"
"You're sure?"
"Of course. Open the cover—his initials are inside!"
Duanmu Huai opened it.
Sure enough, inside were the initials:
W.F.
"Did Williams mention losing his watch?"
"No. When I left his room this morning, it was still on the table."
"Now that's interesting…"
Duanmu Huai closed the watch.
Fortunately, the suitcase had a name tag.
No need to investigate further.
It belonged to—
Navigator Bart.
Alright… another name on the suspect list.
Duanmu Huai stared at the name for a moment, then looked away.
"Alright. Let's head back to the observation deck."
"Next…"
"It's time to find the culprit."
(End of Chapter)