"I know who it is."
Lin looked at one person in the crowd. He pointed his finger at…
…
"It's Kalpas, or rather, Kevin disguised as Kalpas."
"…"
As the indifferent voice interrupting the story-telling rang out, the carefully built atmosphere immediately dissipated.
Everyone looked silently at the helmeted man who had ruined the mood. He calmly took a sip of tea, seemingly oblivious to the looks he was receiving.
Elysia, who had deliberately turned off the lights and used her tone to maximize the suspenseful atmosphere, stared at him with a look of resentment.
"It's not hard to guess. You specifically reminded us of the appearance and voice of the replaced Kalpas. Everyone should be able to hear it," Lin scanned the room. "…Why are you looking at me like that? Vil-V, at least you can hear it."
"Uh…" Vil-V spread her hands under Elysia glare, "Lin, do you know what the biggest taboo in magic is? It's having the technique and method seen through. If it's exposed during the performance, it's a failed trick."
"But isn't Elysia talking about the novel she plans to write?"
"…"
Vil-V slapped her forehead.
He was a lost cause.
"Was the murderer…Brother Kevin?"
At this moment, Griseo raised her hand and asked, directing the question at Lin.
Lin looked at Elysia.
"…Hmph, fine, since you've already said it, just finish it," Elysia puffed out her cheeks and huffed.
Since the person concerned had agreed, Lin naturally didn't hold back and revealed the answer to the mystery of the unfinished story: "There are two killers. One is Kevin, who killed Kalpas and disguised himself as him. The other is Su, who was missing from the beginning."
"Lin, wait a moment," Su asked, sounding a bit strange at the mention of his name. "According to the analysis of the story's Lin, shouldn't the other killer be a woman?"
"The Lin in the story never thought the other killer was a woman. Footprints are the easiest misleading evidence to fake. The simplest deduction is the depth of those footprints," Lin explained calmly, holding up one finger. "The story specifically mentioned the depth of the footprints. In a normal mystery novel, the killer is always a character who has been introduced; a completely un-introduced character won't just appear out of nowhere. However, the women in the story are not heavy enough to leave such deep footprints in the snow."
At this, Mobius gave a subtle look toward Elysia, who returned it with a smile.
"So the footprints were actually the killer wearing women's shoes to mislead others. Based on the men present and excluding Kevin and Kosma, who were ostensibly dead, there is only one man without a body: Su."
The others looked at Elysia for confirmation, and she nodded, "This was also what I planned for the Lin in the story to say… Does this count as jumping out of the original framework to arrange a new story?"
"Then let's continue analyzing the clues in the story. First is Su's disappearance, which is the first trick—misleading information about the time." Lin held up a finger and analyzed soberly. "The story deliberately mentioned the signal problem before and after the blizzard to create the illusion that 'Su was late and was killed on the way to the villa,' leading readers to believe that Kevin and Eden only called after Su was already killed."
"But this raises a problem: the phone was dropped not far from the villa. Can Su, who had already reached the vicinity before the blizzard, be considered 'late'?"
"And one of the missed calls should have been Kevin testing whether Su's fake death disguise was perfect and whether the signal had been blocked. The figure Griseo saw was Su, who had arrived early and was preparing for the murder."
It must be said that when a complex and bizarre event is simply explained and analyzed for its underlying reasons, the initial sense of mystery and horror is completely gone. Moreover, under Lin seemingly flat tone, it appeared even less terrifying…
"However, this is a reverse deduction based on the information that 'Su is one of the killers.' It would indeed have been difficult to guess the other killer was Su before the clue of the footprints outside was revealed."
Lin sincere praise made Elysia nose wrinkle in delight.
"Next is the occurrence of the story's real first murder, the killing of 'Kevin.' 'Kevin' was tied to a barren tree and burned to death, and the killer locked the room door before returning to the group. There are actually some relatively obvious loopholes here. For example, to lock the door without using the spare key, all the killer needs to do is lock the door, exit through the window of another room to the outside, return to Kevin's room, and then go back the same way. This would create the illusion that 'the spare key was stolen.'"
"The actual process of the murder is similar to the locking procedure. The killer enters the victim's room, knocks them out, exits through the window, ties them to the tree, sets them on fire, returns to their own room through the window, and then comes out from another place to claim they just arrived at the crime scene."
"The reason I could tell that the later Kalpas was Kevin in disguise is that, given Kalpas's personality, he would have confronted Aponia immediately upon hearing what she said, not secretly reported it to me. Aponia probably told me this very thing before she died, which in turn exposed Kevin's disguise."
"Of course, there were other hints, such as the unusual traces I found while investigating the footprints, likely the different marks outside each room's window. Kevin's room had signs of entry and exit. This was also what the story was going to say when the mystery was about to be revealed."
Kevin and Kalpas, who were used as material, showed no reaction. Kevin closed his eyes, thinking about something, while Kalpas listened intently to Lin explanation, seeming quite absorbed.
"The second murder involved luring Kosma to the second floor for Su to attack. The method was for Kevin, disguised as Kalpas, to tell Kosma he needed to discuss something privately and have him wait on the second floor. After seeing Kalpas and me talking alone, Kosma would let his guard down. He would then be ambushed on the second floor. This way, Kevin, who was not at the scene, would not be suspected."
"The third and fourth murders happened simultaneously. The method was simple: a diversion of attention. Based on the order of the Thirteen Paths of Fate, it was expected that Pardo would die first, but in fact, after Su killed Sakura, amidst the confusion of everyone else, Kevin returned to the villa and smothered Pardo."
Pardo, clutching her blanket, looked pale. She looked tremblingly at the resting Kevin: "K-Kevin, you wouldn't do that, would you?"
"…" Kevin shook his head speechlessly.
"The subsequent plot is unknown, but based on the current clues, the killers can already be confirmed, so the Thirteen Paths of Fate can't continue. Your story structure has a problem."
Lin critique made Elysia pause for a moment, then she smiled, "I-I know that, of course! The Lin in the story was also about to reveal the killer's identity. The subsequent Thirteen Paths of Fate would lead to a third killer hidden in the shadows after the first reveal… but the plot hasn't reached that point yet. Hmm… I still had so much love and hate to tell."
"…Who is it?"
"Of course, it's me! Hehe, the storyteller herself is the biggest killer. How about that? Isn't it stunning?"
"…Perhaps."
Lin shook his head and stood up, glancing out the window at the heavy snow: "Let's rest… Our vacation should be over now."
"To be precise, the vacation of the Thirteen MANTIS and the working hours of their supervisor," Mobius corrected appropriately, her gaze playfully fixed on Lin.
Lin said nothing and walked toward the second floor of the villa. His steps were firm and steady.
Yes, their time was running out.
How much time was left before the next Herrscher appeared…
…
"The storyteller herself is the biggest killer, huh…"
The pink-haired girl sat by the window in the moonlight, smiling softly.
Neither the story she told nor their story was over yet.
Whether it was the killer in the story or the real killer…