“Wow. Two in one single day.” Azrael commented, “Definitely not wasting any time.”
“Servalia!” Youma immediately rushed inside, pushing Shiria aside. She knelt beside Servalia, on Lan’en’s opposite side.
Servalia’s chest was torn open. She sat in a pool of blood against Lan’en’s bed.
“What about Lan’en? Is she okay?” Tsukasa asked, stepping inside next, as soon as she saw the girl, she covered her mouth.
Youma didn’t waste any time, she grabbed Lan’en by the arm, trying to raise her, “Lan’en! What happened?”
She looked at everyone while she slowly stood up again, her eyes glistened as her lips trembled.
“I woke up...and she was like that,” She shook her head, “I couldn’t do anything to save her...even if I WAS SLEEPING HALF A METER FROM HER!!!!” She screamed, punching the wall.
“Come, let’s go outside…” Tsukasa took her around her arms, leading her out of the medical bay to calm her down.
“This is messed up,” Alicia grimaced, “Another murder the same day we found Noir. This is happening too fast...”
“Another victim…” Youma raised slowly, looking at everyone with furious eyes, “You...whoever you are...you are a monster!!!”
“Everyone, please calm down,” Kaeron intervened, “Let’s assess the situation. Let’s just...let me think. I need some time to think about this horrible mess. Alicia, you stay inside, everyone else, out.”
“Oh? So you’re in the mood to boss us around again, Kaeron?” Lilin spoke with a snarky tone. “I thought you went into a rebellious phase.”
“Now’s not the time, Lilin! Shut your dirty mouth and go outside!” Youma pushed Lilin with violent force.
Shiria immediately put an arm between the two, “Whoa! Youma! There’s no need to-"
“Damnit!” She muttered through her teeth, stomping loudly outside.
“Do your best Kaeron and Alicia,” Shiria nodded at the two.
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Everyone walked outside of the medical bay. Lan’en calmed down and she was explained the whole situation by Tsukasa and Shiria.
“...it’s all my fault.”
Shiria looked at Lan’en with a frown, “What? Why?”
“I fainted, right? Then Servalia was all alone with me,” Lan’en facepalmed, “And then I fucking let her die…”
“It’s nobody’s fault,” Shiria said.
“Yes, indeed,” Youma suddenly joined the conversation, taking a deep, cooling breath, “Let’s wait for Kaeron and Alicia to investigate the body...we must find this monster as soon as we can. I’m sick of all this.”
“Well then, I’m curious about what the perp did this time…” Azrael crossed her arms.
Everyone looked at the medical bay’s door, which was still open...the reek of blood reached Shiria’s nose, making her nauseous.
image [https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mvbl25km5mk8b6wbuxiv1/Kaeron-Montemira.png?rlkey=6bacwbhyy0vxu29t82xmc0kn2&st=3e7dva2i&raw=1]
“Alright, let’s analyze the crime scene, Alicia.”
“Why did you ask specifically for me?"
“Because you’re a technician. The door was locked...probably something happened to it. I want you to check if anything is wrong. Can you do that?”
“Sure thing. I’ll leave you to the crime scene itself then.”
Alicia dutifully nods, going to work immediately.
Let’s start.
Servalia’s environment is a bit more complicated than Noir’s.
image [https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/8fff85amgagfu7veopvso/Lan-en.png?rlkey=b4sn2tceshrfyna6jh5nwuyvd&st=576a8vk6&raw=1]
The room is small. Four beds, filled with stools and random machinery.
Servalia was killed in front of Lan'en bed. There are blood splatters above the sheets, the pattern and the height mean that Servalia was first killed while she was standing...and then she fell on her butt against Lan’en’s bed. In fact, the bed is slightly moved from its original position.
I kneel beside her corpse and examine the wound carefully, tracing it with my gloved hand. It’s the same exact wound as the one Noir had. This time, since she was attacked from her front, the mess is all behind.
A deep, pointy, and monstrous “something” pierced through the chest. Our perp didn’t change the weapon. Why?
Is it something they brought on the Elysium?
I need to find other clues.
“Kaeron, come over here,” Alicia beckons me, “Check this out.”
“Hm? What’s up?”
Alice is showing me a similar set of wiring that was also on the outside, hidden by a plate she skillfully unscrewed off the wall. One of the cables is loose and it’s falling off, its color is red.
“Someone tampered with the door. This cable was ripped out.”
“What would this specific cable imply? Do you have any idea?”
“Hm...I mean, this is a classic hydraulic door system. I saw a lot of them already and I’ve worked on some of them during my young age. Basically, these doors rely on three main systems. The electrical control, the mechanical and hydraulic system that moves the door, and the input console that lets users interact with it. The cable that is ripped out here is tied to the second of these three things.”
Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
“So, the hydraulic system of the door was tampered with...which locked Lan’en and Servalia inside.”
“Not only them,” Alicia corrects me as she muses over her own words, “The door was closed, remember? When the hydraulic system faces malfunction, the door automatically closes to avoid getting stuck inside the wall, so that the staff can check what's wrong with it. Pair this information with the fact that the cable was ripped out from inside...and you get..."
"The door was locked from the inside," I reply.
"Exactly."
A closed-room murder. Great.
“Alright, anything else?” I ask.
“No, I guess this is all...unless you found anything else that I could help you with.”
“No, nothing much.”
Servalia’s death was a bit more complex, but also the same as Noir’s. The killer got inside, stabbed her, and locked themselves inside the room...no, that cannot be it. How would they leave before we got to the scene?
There’s only one person that could have pulled it all off.
I want to make sure about what the others have to say first, though.
----------------------------------------
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Alicia and Kaeron finally get out of the room.
“Alright, girls...why don’t we have a little chat? A little debate about the murder, just like we did this afternoon,” Kaeron said, crossing her arms, “I need to ask you all a few questions.”
“It’s almost dinner time...can’t we do it later?” Lilin complained.
“The sooner we catch the culprit, the sooner we can eat our meals without a knot in our stomachs. Come on. To the lobby.”
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Everyone was gathered in a circle in front of the fountain. The atmosphere was tense, the gentle humming of the Elysium’s ambiance didn’t help at all.
They looked at each other suspiciously. Some were calm and collected, some nervous...and some both.
Kaeron cleared her throat and began.
“Now then. Let’s start with the basics. My power doesn't work...it didn't pass enough time to see the state of her body...so we have to figure out when Servalia was killed and where everyone was during that time."
“According to Lan’en, when she woke up it was 6:45 PM. Servalia was already dead. She was probably killed around that time."
“When we split up because of my...burst of anger...it was still 6:35 PM. What happened to you all when I left?” Kaeron asked.
Youma spoke first, crossing her arms and looking at everyone else, “When you left, Shiria was first to leave...I was against that, but Tsukasa convinced me to let her go. She wanted to talk to you and calm you down. Azrael and Lilin left shortly after that and said they were heading to the pub. It was only me, Tsukasa, and Alicia at that point. Tsukasa went to the dorms, Alicia went to the library.”
“Leaving yourself out, Youma?” Azrael interrupted her.
“If you would let me finish…” Youma groaned with frustration, “I went to the medical bay to check on Lan’en. There, I also met with Shiria, who was checking on her as wellf. Servalia was still alive at that point.”
“Time?” Kaeron briefly asked, seemingly distracted by her own glove as she pulled it tight toward herself.
“It was around…uhm…”
“It wasn’t even 6:40. Some minutes after you let me go,” Shiria helped Youma.
“What did you two do after that?” Alicia asked Youma and Shiria.
“I went to search for Kaeron. I tried the library first and I can also confirm Alicia’s alibi. We both saw each other. Then I tried the SPA, the casino, the arcade, the souvenir shop, the theater, and then I finally found her in the pub,” Shiria explained, counting the places on her fingers slowly.
“I just went to my room.”
Youma’s explanation was shorter and less convincing.
“Okay…” Kaeron nodded, “So, Azrael and Lilin...why did you lie?”
“Lie? What do you have on us this time?!” Lilin chuckled and looked over her friend with an amused smile, “Azrael, did we lie?”
“You said you were going to the pub. However, Shiria and Kaeron were there,” Tsukasa chimed in, “Care to explain what changed your minds?”
“Oh...do we really have to waste our time like this? Azrael sighed and shook her head, “Come on. Why don’t you leave us aside? We overheard your conversation inside the medical bay...Alicia and Kaeron. Why don’t you tell everyone who is the true murderer already?”
Kaeron bit her lip. She didn’t want to reveal the closed-room dilemma yet.
“What is she talking about?” Youma curiously asked.
“You moron…” Alicia huffed in disdain, “The murder is a closed-room puzzle. According to our investigation, the door was locked from inside. Whoever locked it, had to be inside during the tampering.”
“Oh, really? Can we trust Alicia’s expertise?” Youma asked, rubbing her chin with interest, “That’s unexpected.”
“Yes we can,” Tsukasa nodded knowingly, “I can see her prowess. She is well versed in engineering.”
“Thank you, Tsukasa,” Alicia smiled shyly.
“Don’t you all know what that means yet?” Lilin’s smile grew suddenly wider.
Suddenly, a particular person became the eye target of the rest of the passengers.
image [https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/unqpb250d61p2uao1hky7/artist_missile_228-amazing-quality-very-aesthetic-absurdres-dark-background-s-780729174.png?rlkey=vufks0w5zhc6eq4xy6no7v8q3&st=2vn9fvll&raw=1]
“T-The are fuck you all looking at?!”
Lan’en swallowed loudly.
“Lan’en…” Youma nodded. She held her chin and nodded slowly, “You’re the only one who could have pulled that off, aren’t you?”
“It’s a dead giveaway!" Lilin exclaimed, crossing her arms and looking away. She sighed through her nose, "It's so obvious that it's boring!"
“W-Wait, wait, wait...wait a second. What the fuck are you all talking about? I was drugged! How could I have killed her?”
“I’m sorry to admit that I concluded that it must be you as well,” Kaeron calmly said. She was crushing Lan’en’s spirit with her cold eyes, “You could have drugged yourself with purpose, knowing very well that Servalia, a follower of Hagea, would have stayed with you while the rest of us would have left.”
“This is fucking crazy! No! That’s not it!” Lan’en shook her head frantically.
Youma pointed her finger at her, “Is it really that crazy?! Everything points at you! Who else could have done such a thing and then vanished into thin air from inside the room?”
“Maybe one of us has phasing powers! I saw some black magic shit during my countless trips that did even worse! You can't possibly rule that out!" Lan'en retorted.
“Tsk, tsk,” Youma shook her head slowly, “No one here has such a power, don't be a fool!"
“Lan’en, you’re panicking. That only makes it all worse,” Shiria muttered with a frown.
“W-Wait, wait a second…”
Lan’en’s mind rushed with possible rebuttals, everyone kept quiet as she squeezed her brain.
“What about Noir’s murder?! I slept with Shiria all night! How could I have killed her?”
Kaeron replied, “You could have been aware of the emergency button. Shiria may be a heavy sleeper.”
“How would I even create such a hole in Noir’s and Servalia’s chests?!”
“Everyone saw the claws that appeared all over your fingertips during that fight with Azrael. You have beastlike powers," Alicia said.
“F-Fuck that...I fight with a fucking claymore...I don’t even use those powers! I rarely do!”
image [https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/dt55o88inzrammj68jpu3/youmu_konpaku-artist_missile_228-amazing-quality-very-aesthetic-absurdres-s-2802440152.png?rlkey=dmzygtkuk7hh3euxdm8sboa1h&st=0kd01szx&raw=1]
“Futile excuses, Lan’en! You're the murderer!
Youma unsheathed her katana.