2. The Case of the Murdered Magician

Take a good look. Is that the other girl you came here with?

Yes... That's Aozaki Aoko. But, how did this happen!?

Huh? Aozaki? Didn't she say her name was Suse Ritsuka?

？！

I see... Well, I used to be in show business. I can understand why someone might want to keep a low profile.

Anyway, now that you've confirmed the victim's identity, we need to go back to the lobby.

That nasty detective told me I need to gather all the guests in one place.

？！

Ahem. I believe some of you already know what I'm about to say, but as the proprietor of this inn, I have tragic news to share.

One of our guests was found dead at today's secret wish spring, the Spring of Youth.

Her name was Aozaki Aoko. The cause of death seems to have been a rear cranial fracture. The back of her skull and her brains were caved in.

Aozaki? Did you just say "Aozaki"?

I did. She was staying here under a pseudonym, for personal reasons.

I'm sad to say she's confirmed deceased, so the public baths will be off-limits for a while.

I've already notified the police, so things will probably get a little crazy around here soon.

But before they arrive...

...that detective over there requested that I ask you all what you were doing last night. Heeheehee.

...

Huh? You're telling us a detective just happened to be out here when something like this went down? Ain't that awfully convenient?

I know what you mean. Why in the world did he come all the way from Tokyo now, of all times?

Still, the fact remains that someone died.

I doubt there'll be any harm in doing what he says until the police get here.

Go ahead then, detective. All of you, please do what he says.

I'm Tsukiji Tobimaru. I run a detective agency in Tokyo.

I was here on a company trip with my two assistants.

I'd like to ask each of you your name, address, hobbies, and purpose of your trip, but unfortunately, we don't have the time for that, and honestly, I couldn't care less.

So for the time being, all I want from each of you is to testify where you were last night.

Also, which of you discovered the body? I'll need to get a detailed statement from you later.

I guess I'll start then. I'm Kumanoin Yoshisuke. Last night, I closed the front desk at one in the morning and went back to my office.

I was just about to check on the hot springs a little before five o'clock when a guest knocked on my door and told me there was a dead body.

I went with that guest to the public bath, where I confirmed there was a body, and then I hurriedly contacted the rest of my guests.

Right. I have the time for that at 5:32 a.m. I know because you woke me up then, too.

...You know, this is going to take too damn long with this many people here. Let's get this all done at once.

Those of you who slept in your rooms last night, raise your hands.

Everyone, huh. Guess I should've known. Not like there's anything else to do this far out in the mountains.

Let's see, Mrs. Ryougi, was it? You're staying with your husband and daughter, right? Where are they?

I had them stay in our room. My daughter's still just a child, so I couldn't expose her to something so terrible.

If you need to interrogate me, I'll come to your room later, by myself. Will that do?

Sorry, I can't let you do that. We're not supposed to interview suspects alone.

Oh? Why's that?

Having a third party present makes sure no one can claim the interviewer was bribed or unethically influenced.

It also reduces the risk of any unfortunate accidents.

Oh my, how prudent. All the more reason I'd rather have my family not meet you.

...(This pretty lady's with the yakuza, all right. I can feel her murderous intent all the way over here.)

Now then, who discovered the body again?

Me. That'd be me.

...Seriously? After you disappeared yesterday, I thought you'd gone back to living in the mountains.

Some helpful assistant you turned out to be, Soujyuro. The hell were you doing? No, wait, don't tell me.

We still don't know what happened to the deceased, but I can tell what happened to you.

You look awful, like you're at least ten years younger now. Guess those wish-granting springs really do work.

Hey, yeah! I remember now! You're that guy who came here with the detective!

So you got your youth back from the spring!? Does that mean the stories about them are true!?

Great. Just great. So much for our restful company retreat.

Huh? Why's that?

Because now, it's looking a lot more likely that we're dealing with a homicide. When will the police get here?

It'll take them some time given our remote location, but they should still be here by the afternoon.

All right. No one's to leave this inn until they arrive. No one.

You can make yourself scarce if you want...

...but keep in mind, doing that means you'll be subject to a thorough questioning by the police.

What's that supposed to mean?

The proprietor said the victim's skull was fractured, right? She probably just slipped and hit her head.

But now, you're talking about us like we're murder suspects, before you've even investigated anything?

You're not "like" suspects. I don't believe for a second that she of all people would slip and kill herself.

I don't need to wait for the autopsy. In case I wasn't clear the first time, let me spell it out for you:

Aozaki Aoko was murdered.

And the killer...is right here in this room.

Okay, all the other guests have gone back to their rooms. What are you going to do now, detective?

You're going to show me the crime scene first. Don't worry, I won't touch a thing.

Soujyuro, you're obviously coming with me, since you're my assistant, but I'm gonna insist you come along too, Kuonji.

You might be acting like this has nothing to do with you, but with Aozaki dead, that makes you my top suspect.

I see you're still as blunt as ever, Tsukiji. I can't say you're wrong, though.

？！

Yes. I haven't seen him in years, though. He works with Sizuki now, and he was a friend of Aoko's in high school.

He originally moved to Tokyo to go into corporate detective work, but he ended up working many disturbing cases that he became better known as a private eye.

Isn't that right, Tsukiji?

Are you enjoying life, now that you've lured my friend into pursuing your hobbies instead of letting him work an honest job?

Well, that's sure one way of putting it. I'm surprised to see you here too, Kuonji.

Now, you two. I know I asked you to stay put since the guest ledger said Aozaki was staying with you, but if you'd rather not see her body, I understand.

That said, if you've got the stomach for it, then come with me. I have some questions for you.

(What do you think, Senpai?)

(He may not be putting it in the friendliest terms, but I think he's genuinely trying to be considerate.)

？！

Got it. You said your names were Fujimaru and Mash, right?

You seem like decent enough folks compared to some of these other guests. I'd appreciate any help you can offer.

I can't be sure seeing as it's a bath, but I'd say the time of death was less than two hours ago, since rigor mortis hasn't set in.

Anything unusual stand out to you?

？！

Right. It sure doesn't look like she was about to go in.

Which means she probably came here for a different reason.

Then the killer showed up and bashed her head in from behind.

So she died from blunt force trauma... I don't suppose there's any security camera footage, is there?

Haha. A camera in the public bath? That'd be a big problem on its own.

But no, there are no security cameras anywhere on the premises. Soujyuro there confirmed as much when we checked in.

I did? Wow, go me.

What a hard worker you are, Sizuki.

By the way, did you and Sizuki really come here together?

Yeah. He checked every corner of the inn before saying he was going to go off to take a look at the surrounding area...

...and that was the last I saw of him until he came back looking like his teenage self again and said he had found Aoko dead.

I've got questions for you, too, Soujyuro, but Aozaki comes first.

I don't usually go around avenging the dead, but I'm going to make sure whoever did this to her pays.

Wow, Tobimaru... So you still haven't gotten over Aozaki...

Really? You poor thing. I can't believe you were still carrying a torch for Aoko even after high school.

I don't have feelings for her, and I don't need your pity! Quit giving people the wrong idea! When did the both of you get so into lockstep, anyway!?

(Senpai, Senpai! Aoko, Alice, Soujyuro, and Tsukiji all seem like very different people...)

(...but seeing them like this, I get the feeling they were very close friends, too.)

？！

All right, kids. Stop whispering to each other and get me a towel from the locker room.

I know there're rules about preserving the crime scene, but I can't leave things like this.

They'll forgive me if I at least cover Aoko's corpse with a towel.

Hm? Did you say my corpse? Did I die or something?

Oh wow, I did, huh? Yikes. What happened to my head? That's gnarly.

？！

Man, it's actually kind of embarrassing to come across your own dead body. Ahaha.

Well, the good news is, I'm here, and I'm still alive, so there's no problem!

Anyway, hey everyone. Oh, I don't believe I've met you two before. Nice to meet you.

I'm Aozaki Aoko. Could we go somewhere a little more comfortable so you can fill me in?

I see. So that's how the two of you met me before I died.

I only just got here myself, so I obviously don't know you two all that well yet...

...but I could tell that you were really grieving for me.

That makes you trustworthy in my book. Thank you for caring.

Do you think we can still work together?

？！

Right, fair enough. This is a headache for me, too.

Okay, obviously, there's the me who died at the spring. I'll call her "Aoko One" for short.

Then there's the me who's here now, "Aoko Two." Both of us are the same person.

I'm from a point in the future... Quite a while from now, actually.

Basically, I time traveled.

I came back because there was an anomaly happening in this time period.

You know what a Singularity is, right?

It's when a time and place falls out of sync with the standard time axis and eventually messes up the surrounding historical events if it isn't stopped.

I usually ignore them because most of them go away quickly on their own, but this one looked like it could get especially bad.

Long story short, it caught my eye. Made me realize I have a personal connection to it.

That's why I time traveled here to the year 2001, from the future.

To figure out what happened, of course. You with me so far?

...

...

Well? Why isn't anyone saying anything?

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Oh, that? That's because this is a unique situation.

As long as a Singularity is intact, anything that happens in it has no effect on history.

That's why I'm still alive and well in the future even though the other Aoko died here.

My future self learned of Aoko One's death, so I jumped over here as Aoko Two.

But that doesn't mean the future Aoko isn't there anymore.

She'll be fine as long as this Singularity doesn't grow, saturate, and take root in human history.

Basically, even if I die here, there'll be another one of me along to take her place. I call this the Aozaki Rocket Pencil Experimental Method.

？！

So it's no problem that Aoko One is dead. Just think of her as a kind of debt I've racked up.

Once this Singularity is gone, it'll be like I never borrowed anything! So I'll definitely help you get rid of it in any way I can!

So, your future self can send copies of yourself here, like clones... Doesn't that sound a bit like the Servant system?

Right. Even if I'm okayand I'll admit, that's debatablemy death is still real for everyone else.

You probably think this is all ridiculous, don't you? Well, it is. And there's no good way to engage with the absurd.

So you're better off treating people like me who do all this funny business as just a part of the problem.

Don't even worry about my rights or whatever. You'll just end up regretting it.

Still...thank you. I'll be more careful from now on. You're a lot like Sizuki, aren't you?

You don't show it much, but you're actually really angry on my behalf. I appreciate that.

？！

All right, I understand how you got here. So, does this mean you still remember our conversation from last night?

Of course not. I only just got here.

Any information Aoko One acquired in this Singularity belongs to her alone.

As Aoko Two, I'm going to have to do my own investigating to learn the same things she knew.

So whatever you and she talked about, only you know what it was now.

I see. Well, last night, I only confirmed two things with you.

The first was whether you were from this time or not.

You admitted that you weren't, and said that the key to solving this incident must be here somewhere.

Key? Not the killer?

Yes. That was all Aoko One had to say. She was a lot more desperate than she seemed.

It almost felt like she was the last person on Earth in some kind of sci-fi story, making one final gamble.

But that's not the case for you, is it? It seems like you're only here because you had some vague hunch about a Singularity.

Well, yeah, pretty much. It's not like I was here at the same time as Aoko One, after all.

In fact, I can't visit any time and place I'm already in. My future self can travel to the past all she wants...

...unless it would result in two of me occupying the same time and place. It's like a max occupancy I'm not allowed to go over.

Things might be different if this were a parallel worlds kind of situation, but with time travel, there's no joining an event if I'm already there.

The only exception to that rule would be if

...If you weren't there anymore.

So Aoko Two showed up here because Aoko One was killed? Do I have that right?

I knew you'd be quick on the uptake, Student Council Vice President! How did you know? Do you see a lot of these kinds of cases in Tokyo or something?

Hell no. I've never heard the words "preservation of humanity" or "Singularity" before in my life, to say nothing of goddamn time travel.

But I know better than to ask why you do anything, Aozaki. It'd just be a waste of everyone's time.

All right. All this stuff sounds wild to me, but I'm willing to accept it at least while we're here.

Now, let me make sure I've got all this straight. Fujimaru. Mash.

You two are here to erase this Singularity thing, which is being caused by a Holy Grail...

...so your primary objective is to find the Holy Grail and secure it. Is that accurate?

Yes, that's right.

Meanwhile, Soujyuro and I would usually have nothing to do with any of this stuff, but now, he's a Servant because you've summoned him as a Heroic Spirit or whatever.

Hmph. Putting aside the question of human rights, he definitely ought to make a good familiar.

He's always been good at skating by with his skin intact no matter what happens.

I don't skate by. I'm always barely hanging on.

As for you, Aozaki, Kuonji...you said you're here because the whole world could be in danger, yeah?

That'd mean your objective is to get rid of this Singularity, too. Sounds like a hero's work to me.

Me, I'd rather just take off and forget about all this, but I know too much now.

'Sides, if the whole world's in danger, there's no point in running, so I'm really hoping all of you can solve this case.

Anyway, we've all got the same goal, so we may as well all work together to improve our chances.

That was...very concise. How can you be THIS quick on the uptake?

Simple, I don't wanna die. Speaking of which, you're probably in the most precarious spot here, Aozaki.

The odds are high that whoever killed Aoko One is one of the other guests.

When they find out you're still alive and kicking, they're gonna lose their shit.

They might well try to kill you again the moment no one else is around.

I wouldn't go down that easily. Besides, how are you so sure I was murdered?

I died at a hot spring, right? Maybe I just got unlucky and slipped.

You? You once walked away fine after you got pushed off a roof. There's no way a little slip would be enough to kill you.

I agree. If a little careless accident was all it took, you'd have died when you were still sixteen.

？！

Right. We saw you were far more, um, durable than any normal human back in Hell's Pavilion. It almost made us wonder if you weren't a Servant yourself.

So none of you see me as human, huh. Gee, thanks.

Well, no, on my part I'm not so sure.

Aozaki's head is just as vulnerable as anyone else's. Who's to say she wasn't just unlucky?

Soujyuro...

In fact, I think it was more likely to be an accident. I mean, wouldn't it be just like her to get herself killed doing something stupid?

Thanks for the moral support, as always. I'm dragging you down with me next time.

Either way, we can be sure that somebody killed her.

But we should also figure out whether it was accidental, or intentional.

Right. Because Aoko was trying to resolve the Singularity!

That would give the killer their motive. They could have killed her in order to preserve the Singularity.

I don't know. Aoko One couldn't have been that defenseless, right?

I know I wouldn't tell anyone who I was or what I was doing until I knew who I was dealing with.

What do you two think? Did I seem like someone who was here on a mission to erase the Singularity?

No. You just seemed like you happened to be on a hot springs vacation.

In that case, the Holy Grail's owner wouldn't have any reason to go after you...

So far, that seems more likely to me, too.

Almost everyone here is a shady-looking self-proclaimed psychic looking for an easy score.

So if Aozaki was causing a stir the way she usually does, they probably saw her as their biggest rival.

Oh come on, I couldn't have been THAT bad.

It's not like I was going around firing magical energy beams in front of regular people. Right, Fujimaru?

...I was!?

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Well, we'll figure these things out as we make headway on our investigation.

You wait here, Aozaki. I shouldn't need to tell you that you'll draw attention if you tag along.

Fujimaru. Mash. Soujyuro. Us four can go around the inn making inquiries.

...Yeah, I guess it would be pretty weird for a dead woman to suddenly be up and walking again.

Okay, Fujimaru, Mash, Tobimaru. Don't leave any stone unturned.

That goes for you too, Sizuki. Don't get too reckless just because you're a Servant now.

Of course. We'll be back with some good news. What about you, Alice? Are you coming with us?

Sorry, but no. I'm terrible at reading people's expressions.

Wasn't there a gift shop? I'll go have a cup of tea there.

Stop by if you're missing anything. I should be able to come up with a simple magecraft item if you need one.

I can't believe someone died here. I was gonna go for a midday dip in the springs, but knowing there was a dead body there put me right off.

...What was I doing last night? I just tended to my valuable merchandise and went straight to bed.

What, you think the killer's one of the guests? Well, good luck with that.

People don't just kill on a whim. They need a strong emotion to drive them to those lengths.

There's plenty of that kind of feeling to go around on a battlefield, of course, but this place ain't that.

Whether they kill for money or revenge, it's always someone they know. And connections like that can't help but leave behind signs.

You can hide a murder weapon, but you can't hide your relationships. But then, I guess a private eye like you doesn't need me to tell you that.

Anyway, everybody here's a perfect stranger. They got no connection to anyone else, and no reason to kill someone without doing something about the body.

Me, I think a bear got the poor girl. Not that it's any comfort.

You want my alibi? Well, I don't remember when I fell asleep.

I'm usually pretty good at keeping a regular schedule, but I had a little too much to drink last night.

Anyway, I can't believe the paper bag woman is dead. Those other "psychics" aren't in the same league as me...

...but I thought she could at least give me a run for my money. Can't believe a curse got her first.

...Why do I think a curse did it? A hunch. As a gunslinger myself, I could tell right away she was one hell of a sharpshooter.

There's no way another guest could've killed someone as talented as her, so it must've been a curse.

Man, this sucks. I was hoping we could've had a drink together before our inevitable duel to the death.

After my evening prayer, I went straight to bed at ten o'clock and didn't wake up until five.

No, it wasn't the commotion that woke me up. I've always been an early riser.

...What do I think of Aozaki's death? Didn't she just slip and hit her head?

She was probably in such a hurry to go in the secret bath before anyone else that she wasn't watching her step.

I do understand how she must have felt, though. I could have made the same mistake if one of the secret baths improved your financial luck.

It wasn't me. Aozaki Aoko wasn't my target.

I only twist people I've been asked to twist. Trust is everything in this business, after all.

Oh. You weren't talking about that, were you? Well, I'm afraid I can't verify my alibi very easily.

I was all alone in my room, but without any security cameras in this inn, I have no way of proving that.

Although, I did notice that the door to Ryougi's Chimera Room stayed closed all night...

...so I can verify her alibi.

Hehe. She said she's here with her family, but I never heard a peep out of her room. If that isn't suspicious, I don't know what is.

You know, even in the most peaceful places, there are things in this world that no one should ever see.

Good person, bad person, it doesn't matter. The very act of seeing such terrifying things is a sin.

I think that's what happened to Aozaki. She must have seen a boundarya glitch in our world that no living person should.

Perhaps she gazed into the bottomless abyss endemic to human societythe kind of abyss no one can escape except through death.

All right, that's everyone we could find in the halls. The other guests must still be in their rooms.

？！

They all had the same kind of opinion about Aozaki's cause of death, too.

None of them seemed all that disturbed by the fact that someone died here...

...and none of them thought that she was murdered, either.

Since they're all psychics, maybe they're used to dealing with dead bodies?

Or maybe they all think it's normal that someone would die at this inn.

...Anyway, it's already two in the afternoon. The police sure are taking their sweet time.

Pardon me, everyone. As a matter of fact, I just spoke to the police on the phone.

They said they don't know when they'll be able to get here because they "can't enter the mountain."

Can't enter it? Why not? Was there a landslide or something?

I asked them the same thing, but all they would say was they can't do it.

The officer I spoke to sounded pretty confused as well.

The only other thing he said was to prioritize the guests' safety until they can figure out the situation.

Anyway, it's not unusual for there to be issues with the mountain roads at this time of year.

I'm just glad nothing happened to the inn. The new building is built to withstand anything...

...but the older building dates back to the early Showa period in the late 1920s, so it would collapse in an instant if there was a landslide or such.

Excuse me. Does that mean the old building has remained in its current form since it was built?

Yes, that's right. Though I do keep it tidy.

It does seem like a blast to the past, yes. Though I also notice the posters you've got hanging are of idols from the 90s.

Yes, I did. I borrowed a few spares from the shopping district near the station to help liven the place up.

They say there's no price higher than free, but if you ask me, free is the best price you can get. Hehehe.

Aha. So that's why you have all these cheap-looking posters of idols from the 90s in here.

You should've gone with posters of Showa-era enka singers. At least they'd fit the theme.

？！

I really like these posters. There's just something...encouraging about them.

That reminds me, Mr. Yoshisuke said he used to work in the entertainment industry. Had you heard of him, Tsukiji?

I've never been big on watching TV, so no, I hadn't. I couldn't tell you if these posters mattered, either.

Like, do they advertise like this because they're popular, or are they popular because they advertise like this?

Either way, it's all just a bluff. It's ridiculous. They should know you can't drag things out forever.

If you want to sell a product, that product should be the star. If you want to make a star look good, then you should be using your budget to give them a place to shine.

And that's not even getting into the whole problem of how inherently interchangeable these posters are.

Whenever the next trend rolls around, you can just take them down and swap them out no sweat. They may as well be screaming "Don't bother caring about me! I'm replaceable!"

I won't go so far as to say marketers ought to make their own museums or anything, but they should be trying for campaigns that people'll remember forever.

I see you're quite conservative, detective. Or perhaps I should say you were well raised.

What do you mean by that?

People don't think in such lofty terms. They don't want something that'll last them all their lives.

They just want to get through their day and have fun doing it.

But what about life-changing masterpieces, you say? Beacons of hope?

Sure, those still emerge now and then. But they never last more than six months in the public eye.

Emotional experiences are just compost for the public, detective. There's always someone new waiting in the wings to provide the next dose of entertainment.

Stars come, and go, and come, and go. That's what they do. And there's as many of them as there are real stars in the sky.

That's the kind of world we made: an industry where stars rise and fall swiftly, and there's no end of them to choose from.

Besides, any culture that hangs on to a single emotional experience forever like a crutch is a culture that's gone stagnant.

But emotionsthe brilliance that people want to see? Now THAT is as varied as there are stars in the sky.

And that's the nature of entertainment: the new is always ready to overwrite the old.

Oh, but that's enough out of me. I still have to do something about the springs.

Would you all be so kind as to carry the deceased for me? Hell's Pavilion should be perfect for it.

That place is a natural icebox. There's no better place around here to preserve a dead body.

Holy hell. I can't believe I'm gonna have to carry Aozaki's dead body, of all things.

You know, maybe I oughta make her carry it herself! What better way to say goodbye to her past life?

As if her luck wasn't already bad enough, that would be the nail in the coffin. Besides, nobody should be carrying a dead body unless it's been cremated.

Why don't you all go back to the room? It'll take some time and effort, but I can move the body to the cave myself.

In the meantime, you should have an idea who the killer is now, right? I can't wait to hear your answer when I get back in an hour.

Huh? Do you have any idea who he was talking about, Senpai?

Me neither. But Sono-G's always lived his life by following his hunches. Sometimes, you really need to get him to spell out what's obvious to him but not to us.

Anyway, if we all put our heads together, we can probably come up with something. Let's head back to the Sky Room.

Yeah? That's encouraging. But I guess it makes sense that you'd know your stuff when it comes to the paranormal.

Probably makes it easier to see things and arrive at conclusions that ordinary people would never get.

Right then, back to the Sky Room. I hope you've got something good, Fujimaru.

？！

Welcome back☆ Learn anything useful?

Eh, more or less.

Soujyuro'll be back after he carries the body to the nearby cave.

Oh... Right. Guess they can't just leave me like that.

But bringing me to a place called Hell's Pavilion? I just hope I don't come back as a zombie.

Heh. I could definitely see that happening with you, Aozaki. If it does, I'll lay you to rest with a bullet filled with all my years of frustration.

Hang on. You have a gun, Tobimaru? In Japan? You're not even a police officer.

It was just a figure of speech. Don't worry about it. Now, as I was saying...

We still don't have a lead for either the killer or the murder weapon, but there are still other angles to consider.

Like the motivewhy did the killer go after Aozaki?

Anyone have any ideas?

Fujimaru, you said you have an idea of the situation. Mind filling us in?

？！

？！

What do you mean? Soujyuro, obviously.

Like Kumanoin said, the springs only work on one person per year, so it must have been him.

Sorry, that's not quite correct. I'm afraid we may not have explained ourselves sufficiently earlier.

Soujyuro looks the way he does now because he was summoned as a Servant.

He didn't regain his youth from the spring.

So if the spring really does work, and someone here went in it

There's a very good chance they would have run into Aoko One.

Fujimaru, did you see anyone among the guests who looked like they got younger?

？！

Okay, this is the Peng Room where the cowgirl is staying.

We can knock if you want, but are you sure you don't want to wait for Soujyuro to get back from the cave?

That's all right. Me, Fujimaru, and Mash should be able to handle her.

Go on, Tobimaru, knock. She might run away if we take too long.

All right. If things get rough, I'm tagging you in.

Hello? Ishtarin? It's Tsukiji, the detective.

We'd like to talk to you about Aozaki Aoko. Mind opening your door?

Ahem. You have reached the room of Jolene the Ghost Hunter. Unfortunately, she's not available right now.

If you wish to speak with her, please try visiting her in Texas in a few days.

？！

That...might be one of the stupidest "I'm not home" acts I've ever seen. Well, nothing we can do now but wait for

Um... It looks like a familiar magic bullet just broke down the door for us...

Oh my, I wonder what happened? Maybe this inn is older than it looks if doors are just falling apart on their own.

Well, let's just chalk it up to a stroke of good karma, shall we? Hi! Don't mind if we let ourselves in☆

Hey! What do you think you're doing in here!? I could sue you for property damage and invasion of privacy!

Believe me, I come from the land of lawsuits, so don't think I won't do it! Do you know who you're dealing with!?

You're looking at the famed genius exorcist who's sent countless ghosts (deadbeats) to the next life in the court of law! They even call me Astraea, the goddess of justice! The one and only Ish

Eeeeeeeeeeeek! Y-y-y-you're alive!?

I don't believe it! This can't be happening! Evil spirit, begone! Begone!!!

She's got a gun!?

Look out!

It's equally hard to believe, but these bullets are made of popcorn!

Really? Oh, huh, you're right. Pretty good popcorn, too. The heat from her gun is causing her segaki rice to expand like puffed rice.

That's pretty clever. She might even give my sister a run for her money.

Eeek, she looked at meee! Save me, Jane! The demon's coming to kill me!

？！

Aaaaaah! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorryyy! I wasn't thinking straight! Stay away!

We just want to talk! If you've got nothing to hide, then there shouldn't be any need to run!

Ishtarin's heading for the old building!

Wait. This hallway... This is

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Huh!? Are these ghosts? Sweet!

After ten long years of ghost hunting, I finally saw my first spirits!

Wait. That means...I'm in trouble! Aaah! Evil spirits, begone! Evil spirits, begone!

Crap! Now I'm even more dead meat! Heeeeeelp! Save meeeeee!

Evil spirits are going after Ishtarin! We have to help her!

？！

Huh!? I thought they came to help, but now they're gone! You can't trust anybody these days!

？！

Master, something supernatural is at work! Portable Sheba's temporal calculations are in flux!

It looks like whenever we try to cross this hallway in this state, time gets rewound by the same length of time it took us to cross!

And since it's time that's getting reset rather than distance...

...we'll never be able to reach Ishtarin at this rate, even if we could cross these hundred meters instantly!

So that's what makes this hallway endless, huh? It goes on forever, in a sense.

All right. I didn't want to have to use this, but I'm going to cheat a little.

If we don't do something soon, those ghosts are going to kill her. Saving lives comes first.

？！

I'm just going to go straight to her. How do you think I came to this Singularity in the first place?

If reaching the goal sends us back, then I just have to jump to a point past the goal.

I'll show you what real Magic can do. It might not be as flashy as you'd expect from a Magician, though☆

I... I'm saved?

Hardly. That depends on you.

You might be safe from the hallway ghosts now, but we're not done with you yet.

So, tell us. Why did you run away the moment you saw my face?

Senpai, it's great that Aoko took care of this problem for us, but...

...I think that was... Um...

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Something like that. I guess I was kind of showing off. It might seem handy, but it's a really tight squeeze.

I have to be really careful about how I use it, or I'll need to work three times as hard later to make up for it.

It's kind of like, the more I use it, the more debt I rack up, you know?

Phew, I finally caught up. So? Did you apprehend the suspect?

Nice of you to join us, Tobimaru. We were just about to start questioning her.

So, Ishtarin. Did you kill me?

Yes. I confess. I did kill that zombie...

Or, well, I guess I did. It was more like I was so scared I couldn't do anything...

You...couldn't do anything?

Yes. The truth is, I'm no exorcist.

I'm a bounty hunter who goes after a different kind of ghostdesperate people who "ghost" their debts, scammers, and so on.

The only reason I came to this country is because I heard about the Spring of Youth.

So last night, um...after the proprietor left the front desk...

...I snuck into the Spring of Youth around one in the morning and waited for it to come in. It was REALLY cold.

？！

It began bubbling up around four, and I was all, "Yay! I'm gonna kill it this swimsuit season!"

But then, I heard the door to the bath open. I thought it was the proprietor, so I panicked and hid.

I didn't want to get in trouble, after all. But it wasn't him. It was herthe zombie woman.

I get how you feel, but would you mind using my actual name?

Where did you hide? I didn't see anywhere to hide in the bath.

I hid in the spring itself. I kept my whole body submerged and my back flat on the ground, like a flounder.

Damn. That's... Wow.

Still, that could work. The bathwater from a natural hot spring can get pretty murky.

I'm not even gonna ask how you managed to breathe.

It wasn't easy. I'm pretty sure I'd be dead right now if you hadn't died first.

So, that was when Aozaki was killed?

Yeah. I saw someone else come up behind the zomuh, Aoko, while I was hiding.

I couldn't make out more than a silhouette through the water, though...

Anyway, I soon heard what sounded like arguing...

...and the next moment, they started attacking each other!

I couldn't hold my breath any longer, so I poked my head out of the water as quietly as I could...and there was Aoko, dead as a doorknob!

It was horrible! And I couldn't do anything to stop it because I'm a coward who only cares about saving her own skin!

If only I'd made a show of getting out of the bath, this would never have happened... I may as well have killed her myself!

？！

Don't be stupid. If the killer couldn't see me, then of course I couldn't see them, either!

So you didn't get a good look at their face, huh. Well, that's fine. They probably won't be coming back anytime soon anyway.

The fact that there's no trace of the killer means I probably blasted them away somewhere.

Probably outside the Singularity, so they couldn't interfere.

Hmm. Maybe you vaporized your killer without a trace?

If I had, then a whole side of the bath would've been gone, too. I'm not THAT brutal, you know.

？！

Right. Since the inn remains a Singularity, it seems that whoever did it wasn't in possession of the Holy Grail...

At least we know how Aozaki died now, so we can put that subject on hold for now.

You and Mash are here to find the Holy Grail, right, Fujimaru? We can take our time with Aozaki.

So what are you going to do now, cowgirl? If you're planning on sticking around, I can place you under protection.

Hell no. I'm not sticking around a scary inn like this any longer!

I put out an SOS to my partner first thing in the morning, so she should be here to pick me up soon.

I wouldn't count on that. Not even the police can get here right now.

Hmph, you don't know Jane. She's a world-class scout, and there's no place on Earth that can keep her out.

Anyway, before I get out of here...

...I'll tell you what I heard in the bath as thanks for saving my life.

You mean, back when you were acting like a flounder?

Yeah. Before the other person showed up, I heard Aoko muttering to herself...

"I'll kill anyone who tries to go in the springs." "Nobody's getting their wish granted on my watch."

So Ishtarin's gone now, huh. I guess that's one less suspect to worry about.

If we're just talking about who has the Holy Grail, then yeah.

Too bad you and Mash haven't made any progress on your investigation, Fujimaru.

No surprise there, seeing how this whole inn and everyone in it is suspicious as hell! I'm jealous at how much work you've got cut out for you, hahahaha!

Hmph. I see you're completely in spectator mode now, Tobimaru. But then, you always did have a habit of sneering at other people's suffering.

I'm sorry he's such a jerk, you two. I'll make sure he gets what's coming to him later.

Oh, no, it's fine. I can tell he's trying to encourage us, in his own way.

He may seem cold at first, but I've seen that he's actually very thoughtful and considerate.

Tobimaru, thoughtful? I think you might be confusing that with "high-strung"...

Anyway, never mind him. How's the water, Fujimaru?

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This inn might be ridiculous, but I love that it lets you reserve this awesome outdoor bath!

Though I didn't think you were going to join us too, Alice.

...I just came to hear how things went today. I don't have any interest in outdoor mountain baths or anything like that.

Five to four. Alice is so uncoordinated she could drown in a puddle.

There's no way she'd ever visit a bath like this where one wrong step would make her sink like a stoglub glub.

Anyway, I couldn't believe the Spring of Youth was real. I thought for sure those stories were all made up.

I'm more surprised that people actually believed them enough to come here.

What about all of you? Would you like to be young again if you could?

It depends on whether you mean young in heart, body, or both, but...

...I think I'd pass on all of them. Now, if I could be another version of me entirely, then I'd have to think about it.

I'd pass, too. Besides, the whole question is pointless.

I don't want to get any older, but I'm not exactly raring to be a kid again, either.

Maybe I'd go for it if it was just my body getting younger, but if that cowgirl's any indication, it looks like it's a package deal.

I still have a lot of growing up to do, so I'd rather do that than get even younger!

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Huh, so none of you would go for it. Guess we'll have to see how you feel in ten years then.

What about you, Aozaki?

I knew Kuonji hadn't changed, but how come you still look the same as you did ten years ago?

Uh, because I came here from a future where I still look the same as I did ten years ago, obviously.

There's another Aozaki Aoko outside this Singularity, somewhere on this Earth of 2001, who looks every bit a grown-up.

Maybe she's even back in Japan right now. What, are you disappointed you won't get to see her?

Nah. I already know she's just drifting around aimlessly with no more than a guitar and the clothes on her back. I can see it so clearly it's actually boring.

Hey! At least call me a rock singer!

I'm glad we're all getting along, but maybe we should get back to the problem at hand.

We still don't know who killed Aozaki, but we do know that they're gone from this world now thanks to Aozaki herself, unfortunately.

It was a cruel and excessive form of self-defense, but at least it means the threat is gone now.

Hey, I didn't kill them. I just sent them somewhere far away.

The real problem now is, what did Aozaki One find out before she was killed?

Fujimaru, do you remember what she said to us last night before you went your separate ways?

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If this Singularity isn't resolved, a wishing star's going to come here and wipe out humankind.

Huh!?

Whoa, whoa, come on. She must have been exaggerano, wait. That kind of joke's way too clever for Aozaki.

So then, she was serious?

Believe me, that's what I want to know. Humankind wiped out? A wishing star? What could she have been talking about?

What a joke. This is less than helpful.

Is there no way you can recover what Aoko One experienced, Aoko?

Actually, yes. I can't do it now, but as time passes, the information we had should merge.

So I should know what it was Aoko One saw in about two more days.

Good things come to those who wait☆ So in the meantime, I'll help you out with your job, Fujimaru.

For the time being, we can start by questioning the rest of the guests staying at this inn.

They're bound to have a real reason they came here, like Ishtarin. Once we find that out, the answer's sure to present itself.

Right! I feel very good about this investigation, knowing you'll all be here to help us!

No problem! I might not have been able to do much today, but I'll make up for it starting tomorrow!

Oh. Would this be the two questions Alice had for Aoko One?

I see. Well, last night, I only confirmed two things with you.

The first was whether you were from this time or not.

You admitted that you weren't, and said that the key to solving this incident must be here somewhere.

Oh, right. You still haven't told us what the second thing you asked Aoko One was, Alice.

So? What was it?

...Are you sure you want me to say it? I let it drop on purpose to try and be considerate.

Yes, I'm sure. It must be an incredibly important secret, right? I won't be able to sleep until I know what it is.

...(Sigh) Well, speaking as your friend who hadn't seen you for several years...

...I asked you if you were still single.

...

Well, Alice, you've done it again. You don't mind if I sue you for defamation, right?

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