6. Your Reason for Being Here (Part 1)

Oh, right! I'm sorry! This is no time to be standing around in shock!

We need to put out the fire, and then check if that's Aoko or not!

I'm impressed, Mash. You never lose your cool, no matter what the situation.

There aren't many people out there with the humanity to voice what they believe even when they're not entirely sure.

I wish a certain burning someone would take a page from your book. She should be showing up any moment now, right?

Ah, dammit, I was afraid I might be dead. Just when I finally linked up with my memories, too.

...Oh, wow, there sure are a lot of people here. Did I, um, get to know you all here or something?

If I did, you must be really confused right now, huh? Sorry about that. Could anyone tell me what's going on?

Got it. Thanks for the detailed explanation, Fujimaru. That was all I needed to know exactly how you all feel.

So that's the story, huh? Ahaha...ha... Funny.

But, are you sure you didn't embellish anything for a laugh? No? Oh, okay...

Oh man. I'm so sorry, Fujimaru. On behalf of all five of me.

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Okay, Aozaki, now that you're all caught upagainwhat do you make of this latest murder?

Let me see...

Well, I can tell you right now that I was the killer. I can recognize the results of my own magic bullets.

You said that Wanwan created imposters of the other guests, and those turned out to be the killers, right?

Ishtarin wanted to become younger... Bazett wanted to find romance...

Sugitani Reiinbou wanted a male body again... And Ryougi wanted a happy homelife for her family.

The other Aokos were all killed in different ways: ambushed, a duel to the death, taking a bullet for someone else...

But this murder looks pretty one-sided to me.

Can you tell why, Fujimaru?

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Exactly!

Ishtarin went in the first secret spring, and she really did come out younger.

Normally, that would be when the Wanwan system kicked in...

...and an exact imposter of her would show up and kill her now that her wish was granted.

But Aoko One stopped that from happening, and ended up dying in her place.

That makes Ishtarin the only guest here to have her wish come true and live to tell about it.

Oh, right. None of the people who came here for the second to fourth springs had their wishes granted.

In fact, to begin with...

Aoko was already in the bath, making sure they couldn't get in. But their wishes were still genuine.

That's why the imposters showed up. They don't need an imposter to enter the bath first.

As long as someone with an applicable wish is present, their doppleganger will appear and kill them in exchange for granting it.

At least, that's how Wanwan's curse system was supposed to work, but Aoko threw a wrench in the cycle.

We can tell because the baths were still full.

The magical energy in the water is presumably what grants the wish, so it probably disappears once that occurs.

But on the second, third, and fourth days, the water was still there. The dopplegangers appeared, but the corresponding wishes never came true.

Damn, really? I had no idea the secret spring system was such a hassle!

...Hang on. So, the fact that the Spring of Stiff Shoulder Annihilation is empty now means

Aozaki must have gone in. I won't say what her reason probably was, but I bet she was thinking:

"I've already stopped the curse three times and Wanwan is gone, so there shouldn't be any harm in trying the spring for myself now!"

Or something along those lines.

Whaaat? Don't be silly. Of course I wouldn't think something like that. I swear, Sizuki, you're always so perceptive when it matters the least☆

See?

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Let me rephrase. I swear, you're always too perceptive when I don't want you to be.

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Anyway, I'd guess my other me's reasoning was half wanting to try it, and half needing to try it.

She probably went to verify it on her own because she didn't want to ruin the "Case closed!" celebrations.

After all, you guys never did find out why Aoko One came here in the first place.

Anyway, on a different note, why aren't you more fazed by all this, Tobimaru?

Why would I be? It's a simple numbers game. You die, you get replaced. That's how this system works.

Day One: Aozaki One appears. Day Two: Aozaki One dies, replaced by Aozaki Two.

Day Three: Two dies, replaced by Aozaki Three. Day Four: Three dies, replaced by Aozaki Four.

Day Five: Aozaki Five appears and dies. Aozaki Four remains alive.

But since Aozaki Five wouldn't show up unless Four was dead, I knew she would have to die at some point.

And now, here we are. I'm guessing Aozaki Four picked up on this paradox, too.

...

(So you knew all along, and you never said anything. I see you're still shouldering everything so nobody else has to.)

At any rate, it seems the springs' power is still working, so I suppose Wanwan wasn't responsible after all.

Yeah. But so what? Let's just forget about this and go home already. The worst that happens is Aozaki dies again.

Maybe so, but no, we can't leave yet! Seriously, the whole world's gonna end unless we solve this!

Really? You mean you're finally going to destroy the world, Prez?

Not her, no. But I don't blame you for reacting that way, Kinomi. It really doesn't feel like the world's in any danger.

Fujimaru, you originally came here to repair a Singularity, right? What do you think?

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Well, all right then. Let's all put our heads together and try to figure this out.

Besides, Tobimaru, do you really think you could go back to Tokyo now without a bad taste in your mouth?

...No, I guess not. And I suppose we did start this investigation because we didn't want the world to end.

Okay, we can have one final discussion. It's the vice president's job to support the president, after all.

We still don't know what Aozaki One saw that made her jump here in the first place.

But you should at least have an idea of when she saw it, right, Aozaki? Seeing as you're her and all.

Of course. I knew that when I came here. The first me was originally sent here in 1999.

So that's our only lead: 1999.

I guess we can take a look at the hotel register from back then. Where do you keep it, Kinomi?

My old registers? Those are in the lobby. I can show them to you right now.

Oh, but don't get your hopes up, okay? There's really nothing interesting written in them.

Okay, here's all my old registers. There's one for each year.

Thank you for sharing these confidential documents with us.

I know this information should usually be kept private, but this is an emergency.

Don't worry, it's fine. The only things written down are the guests' names, addresses, and whether they caused any problems during their stay.

And that's mainly just so we can be sure we tell any egregiously entitled customers that we're all filled up the next time they want to book a room.

I-I see. So inns rate their guests just like guests rate their lodgings. I'll have to remember that.

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That's strange. What could this mean?

Aside from us, those are the exact same guests as this week. They were even staying on the exact same days.

Wow, that's one hell of a coincidence. But I guess these things happen when everyone goes on holiday at the same time.

Let's see... Two years ago, I'd already taken over the inn, and I think Lady Kashin was here, too.

So it was the same situation two years ago. What's going on here, Kinomi?

The thing is, I don't remember May of two years ago at all. It's like it poofed out of my mind.

Can you elaborate on that?

Hmm... It's hard to explain. The best I can do is, I forgot I'd even forgotten.

I was just as surprised as you guys when I saw the hotel register just now. It feels like something that happened to someone else.

Oh. Hey, I think it was like that for the other guests, too. I mean, nobody else said anything about how this is just like last time either, right?

Oh!

So it's not just you. None of the other guests remember being here two years ago, either. Which means...

Khh!

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It all makes sense now. I finally know what Aoko One did.

Guys, let's continue this in the Sky Room. I've got to tell you something.

Hm?

Hang on. What's your name doing in the register for this year...?

This case would have gone a lot smoother if Aoko One had actually explained what was going on.

So I need to start by apologizing on her behalf. I'm sorry.

Even if she felt like she couldn't trust anyone...

...she should at least have let you all know what was going to happen in 1999.

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I do. It was only bits and pieces, but I managed to sync up the memories of what Aoko One saw.

In May of 1999, an unidentified entity that can only be described as a star shows up at this location.

The moment it does, it blows away everything in the Kumano area, then it releases a magical energy wind that razes the rest of the region.

My guess is, the star will keep emitting magical energy forever, generating storms as long as humans exist.

As long as humans exist...?

Speaking hypothetically, does that mean the star will run out of magical energy and stop if it wipes human civilization off the face of the planet?

No. I wouldn't have been sent here if that were the case. Civilization destruction isn't part of my jurisdiction.

I'm in charge of matters involving the extinction of humankind. Not that anyone assigned it to me, but still.

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Oh, I know this one. Nostradamus prophesized way back when that a great and terrible king would come to Earth from Mars in July 1999!

I don't know if that prophecy is true or not, but I can say for sure that nothing happened in 1999.

Not to mention the month is all wrong. You said this star appeared in May, right, Aoko?

That's right, Mash. This star has nothing to do with Angolmois.

And if it was just an ordinary meteorite, humankind would have ways to deal with it.

We can track meteorite trajectories years ahead of time, and we have the moon to shield us.

Which means this star is an existential threat to humanity that would never exist under normal circumstances.

Even if a meteorite were to somehow snake its way past Jupiter, it would be drawn in to the far side of the moon, and that would be that.

So instead of coming from space, this star must have come out of the ground.

Out of the ground... So, there's a star buried in the Kumano mountains?

That's right. Which brings us to the question of what happened in 1999...

Please don't freak out when you hear this next part. Especially you, Mash and Fujimaru.

Back in 1999, Aoko One decided this situation was too much for her to handle on her own...

...and decided to trust that a solution would be found in the future.

Specifically...she took this entire Singularity and kicked it two years down the road.

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YOU made this 2001 Singularity!?

I-I guess so. That explains why you haven't found the Holy Grail yet, too. How could you, when I'm the source?

Man, no wonder my magical energy's been so low. I'm still maintaining this Singularity even as we speak.

I wonder how long I'll have to keep this up for. Ahaha.

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Oh, sure. It's like when you're about to lose at a board game, so you sweep away the board so no one can play anymore.

Of course, in this case, that doesn't change the game's outcome at all, and it arguably makes it even worse...

So this 2001 Kumano Inn Singularity is that even worse outcome! And you're responsible, Aoko!?

I SAID I was sorry! There was nothing else I could do at the time!

As much as Aoko needs you to teach her to have a heart, Mash, we should save that for later. Let's focus on the present.

So, this unidentified star that showed up in 1999. That happened in a Singularity, right?

Then Aoko One sent this 1999 Singularity to 2001, and 1999 ended without incident.

I get all that. But then, what happened to the Kumano Inn in May of 1999 after it was sent to the future?

The historical record for that time should be blank. Bazett's documents said as much, right?

It also means that Kinomi and the other guests staying here at that time have no memory of that month.

And now, this unidentified star incident that was going to happen in 1999 is happening now, in this year.

I guess this is history's corrective power at work. It always tries to cause events to occur if they should have already happened.

So, because this incident was pushed from 1999 to now, all the same factors from 1999 have gathered here again.

Which means...if this incident began two years ago with the same guests, then one of the guests here now must be the culprit.

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Exactly. Lady Kashin was just under the ox god's influence, and you guys already took care of that.

So doesn't that mean this star isn't gonna show up anymore?

Good point. I'm sure Aoko One came here looking for the culprit...

...but she got killed before she found them. The other Aokos may not have known exactly what was going on...

...but they must have thought that the secret springs granting a wish was the trigger, which is why they kept watch over them every morning.

But it turned out that the Wanwan system was producing the doppelgangers, so they never realized what this star really is or the suspect responsible for it.

We're officially out of leads.

...

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No, there's still a suspect. Someone who fits that bill better than anyone else here by far.

Really? You can tell?

Yeah. I don't usually like relying on the process of elimination, but in this case, that's the quickest way to arrive at the answer.

First, let's get the timeline straight. You said Aoko One came here from two years ago...

...because this is when the star is supposed to emerge and destroy humankind. But why now, two years later?

Obviously, because nothing happened until now. And until it did, there was nothing for her to find.

To put it another way, it means this unidentified star thing requires two years to emerge.

It probably takes that long to charge up or something. And that should have been true in 1999 as well.

So if the star's first emergence was in 1999, that would mean whatever created the star happened two years before that, in 1997.

Oh, yeah. I didn't think about that since I can't send things to the past, but you're right.

That brings us to our possible suspects, the inn's guests.

Each one had their own reasonstheir own humble wishes, for being here.

But while those wishes may have triggered the Wanwan system that kept killing Aozaki every morning, they had nothing to do with the star.

Which means we can eliminate every guest with a clearly known reason for being here from the list of suspects.

So let's go over every guest and their reasons now.

Fujimaru and Mash came here from Chaldea to repair this very Singularity.

They in turn summoned my assistant, for reasons I still don't understand, to help them.

Then there's the eccentric who came from 1999 to save the world, and me, a detective who came to find a missing person, despite usually rejecting such requests.

There was Ishtarin, who wanted to become younger. Bazett, who ostensibly came here on work but was actually here for the secret springs.

She came here with Caren, who in turn wanted to see what would happen to Bazett.

I won't publicly disclose Sugitani Reiinbou's objective here, but I'd say it's known fact by this point.

Ryougi came here with her family to wish for a happy homelife, and to procure a new sword.

Fujino was Ryougi's hired bodyguard, and Shirou came here to sell Ryougi the sword.

Kumanoin might have seemed suspicious, but he was just an ordinary comedian. And Kashin was just a victim of unfortunate circumstance.

And there you have it. Those are all the guests whose reasons for being here are clear.

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That just leaves one person. Someone who still has yet to share what it is she's doing here.

So tell us, Kuonji. What ARE you doing here?

I didn't think anything of it at first since you and Aozaki are close friends, but you were here at this inn from the beginning.

Aozaki is here from the future. You could say Soujyuro was summoned here from the past.

But you're from the present day. Friend or not, it makes no sense that you would have accompanied Aozaki here.

You mean, you were here for your own reasons, Alice? I thought you'd come to help me.

What a strange thing to say, Aoko.

Have I ever been the sort of person who would come to help a friend out of the goodness of my heart despite not hearing from her for years?

Ouch. Wouldn't hurt you to sugarcoat it a little.

Kuonji. Nobody thought twice about why you might be here because we were all so used to seeing you and Aozaki together.

But then, I noticed a certain name on the hotel register from May 1st, 1997...

"Kuonji Alice."

Which means you were here right at the time when the unidentified star would have been "planted" to emerge two years later.

It's time to fess up. You're the culprit, aren't you?

I just came here to recover something I left behindor rather, what was stolen from me.

Four years ago, one of my Ploy Kickshaws went missing in this inn: Only One / Number One Shiny Star.

It looks just like an ordinary gumball machine, except that it can grant a single wish.