Psychological Horror Game: Dementia: Lost Memories (4)
“Lady Margareta has expressed her refusal to cooperate with all of the Investigation Bureau's requests. She says what can she expect from an incompetent organization that failed to catch the real culprit even after three months of investigation.”
“What a fucking rude bitch.”
“...It's rather crude language, but yes, I agree.”
Pletta set down the personnel file on Margareta Lancaster, the cherished daughter of Edmund Lancaster, right on the desk with a thud.
Turned out this woman was a real piece of work too.
She was an alumna of Philemon Academy like me, but she'd been on leave from her third year for almost two years now.
At this point, it was basically the same as dropping out.
And the reason for the leave? She'd gotten jealous over some commoner girl her favorite noble was involved with and slashed the girl's arm with a knife.
No matter how I look at it, this crazy bitch has gotta be the real culprit...
But it was just a hunch, no hard evidence. And no matter how much of a family-wrecking monster she was, surely she wouldn't have killed her own dad.
Best to just say Viscount Edmund Lancaster had the worst luck with servants and kids.
“Is there no way?”
“Not legally. We're already under a lot of scrutiny from higher-ups lately, and even in a noble murder case, we can't just drag in a suspect's child without evidence.”
I sometimes forgot, but this was a medieval fantasy world that tossed human rights into the dog bowl.
If Pletta had been at least a countess's level, she could've shot down a spoiled brat like that with family prestige alone.
“Tomorrow's already the trial date. If we can't overturn the testimony by then, Claude's as good as executed. For the capital crime of murdering a noble.”
Pletta had initially seen him as a prime suspect, just like the other investigators.
But after reading Claude's Dementia playthrough log, her stance had done a complete 180.
Truth be told, I was just a “temporary consultant” at Pletta's request. I had no authority to summon anyone.
If I were a noble with enough clout to shut up a viscount's daughter...
Wait a sec.
I knew a noble with that kind of clout.
“How about asking Lady Liana for help?”
“The young lady?”
“From what I heard, she has a surprising amount of interest in this case. Especially since it's the backdrop for a game she enjoyed playing.”
She'd even promised to let me play Dementia once the case wrapped up.
The original mafia game, Lancaster Family's Ripper, was on temporary shutdown anyway.
I'd tricked her by calling it a deduction game instead of horror, but whatever.
It is a deduction game, right?
“Certainly, as the head of a massive merchant guild and the Golden Duke's only daughter, her influence would be more than enough...”
Pletta pondered it, then nodded as if she'd crunched the numbers.
“Sounds good. She's asked me about cases like this before and shown a lot of interest. She even said to let her know if I needed help anytime.”
“Perfect. Let's go ask her.”
Plus, Liana had basically been on vacation as guild master lately.
She was raking in cash like crazy just from Path of Gold and churning out reprints—no extra effort needed.
Money rolling in without lifting a finger.
The dream life any modern person would envy.
And so, our own time-traveling Bill Gates, Guild Master Liana...
“Cooperate with the investigation? Lure out Lady Margareta? Hmm... So I just need to get her into the Dimension? Unconscious is fine?”
“No need to go that extreme...”
“Even I couldn't convince her to go in willingly. How about we just knock her out with some sleeping powder from our guild?”
She'd whipped up a plan that was basically kidnapping.
***
Tracking down Margareta Lancaster wasn't hard at all.
For the owner of a massive merchant guild based in the capital,
with wealth, power, bloodline, and talent to spare—
a star of noble society—finding a provincial noble's daughter was like eating cold porridge.
Especially when the girl in question had been blowing money like water for months.
“Lady Liana Aishinkiore, it's an honor to meet you. I'm Margareta of the Lancaster Viscountcy.”
“No need for formalities, Margareta. Our guild owes you a lot anyway.”
Liana approached her naturally as guild master.
Margareta frequented a high-end clothing store in the city that had a contract with Liana's guild, and today she was shopping there with a man, as usual.
According to the clerk, he was her fiancé, but Liana saw no such refinement in him.
His hands were rough for a noble. His face was decent enough—probably broke a few hearts—but his skin was tanned. And that walk, that gaze.
Definitely suspicious.
Pure commoner vibes.
No matter how much flashy jewelry he wore, he couldn't fool the eyes of someone with the true “Golden Eye.”
“Philip? Head home and wait for me. Lady Liana has something important to discuss.”
She sent her “fiancé” away, then stepped into the store's reception room.
And without a suspicion, she drank the hospitality tea Liana offered and passed out.
“L-Lady?! What the...!! Why am I in my own house!?”
When she opened her eyes again,
she was in the mansion's hall.
***
Honestly, I'm miles away from being a detective or cop.
I like deduction and puzzle games personally.
But having my whole daily life turn into that kind of nonstop drama? Hard pass.
I'm too exhausted for diving headfirst into cases, uncovering absurd truths, and yelling “Objection!” in a courtroom at the perfect moment.
I'm just a 2nd Circle space mage who's a librarian by day and games dev by hobby.
This level suits me fine.
Of course, repurposing the Lancaster Family's Ripper assets into a pretty solid horror game was pretty motivating.
Horror games have plenty of future uses. But Dementia ends here for now.
My master's telegram had just arrived yesterday.
Soon it's the library's regular deep cleaning day, right? I'll be back before then, so don't worry too much.
The reason I hadn't ended up homeless was all thanks to my sky-high master's grace.
Dimension was fun to tinker with, but if I lost my librarian gig, I couldn't play with it anymore. Time to get back to my day job.
So I planned to wrap this case up quick.
Poor innocent butler and all, but what can you do?
If the log proves admissible as evidence, it'll trigger a reinvestigation—that's my good deed done.
But...
The truth of the case turned out even graver than I'd imagined.
The moment they confirmed the name Philip, Pletta's face lit up like every puzzle piece had snapped into place.
Liana nodded too, as if she'd seen it coming.
“No wonder. Even for a viscountcy, who sets a commoner as their fiancé?”
“This looks like... parricide.”
All the circumstances pointed that way.
The reason she'd come to the capital and acted so nonchalant despite her father's gruesome murder? Simple—she was the culprit.
Her push for Claude's swift execution made sense too: only by killing off the “perpetrator” could the investigation end.
Liana crossed her legs and shrugged.
“Totally plausible. I checked with the academy alumni association—the noble boy kept pursuing her despite her constant rejections. In the end, the poor commoner girl got the worst of it.”
Then came a phrase I wasn't meant to hear.
“Alumni association...? There's something like that at the academy?”
“Of course?”
“Ah...”
So there was an alumni group, huh.
Even amid all the petty scandals I stirred up back then, did I really get erased from existence?
As I wallowed in the realization of my total loner school days in every timeline...
Pletta gathered her files and stood.
“I'll formally request a reinvestigation from the higher-ups. This log should be convincing enough. And... Young Master Yujin?”
“Yes?”
“About that artifact checkout you mentioned last time. Approval came from above.”
“Ah...!!!”
I clapped my hands.
I'd completely forgotten amid all the sleuthing.
“One of the items was a Grade 2 artifact, so I was worried, but the Bureau Chief approved it readily.”
Artifacts!
True to the Investigation Bureau, their seized goods warehouse was packed with items even my Path of Gold commissions couldn't touch.
Among them, I'd picked the “Mana Shackles” to boost mana sensitivity and duration—
and the Illusion Mask artifact.
An artifact that let the wearer change their face to whatever they desired.
It didn't alter gender or build, and any minor interference broke it—total junk tier—but that was enough for me.
I'd only use it inside the Dimension anyway.
Finally... I could make proper NPCs without portrait rights worries...!!
As I grinned like an idiot thinking of new modeling to sculpt, Pletta chuckled softly.
“You're quite the eccentric, sir.”
Then her blue eyes turned to me,
and she bowed deeply from the waist.
“Thank you sincerely, Young Master Yujin Feltro. We didn't start off on the best foot, but thanks to you, we've protected an innocent subject of the Empire.”
“No biggie. It was nice to flex my brain for once. Just keep me posted on the investigation results. If that woman gets away, I'll be too pissed to sleep.”
“Don't worry. I stake my honor on it—she'll be behind bars.”
Pletta left the library, clutching the files tightly in both hands.
And a few days later,
as the whole capital buzzed with news of the sensational noble murder case,
one elderly gentleman visited the library.