The Trial Begins
“It’s exactly what it sounds like. A trial.”
“A trial?”
The dorm mother’s explanation was straightforward.
1. The seven participants first deliberate. They infer, speculate, and name a suspect.
2. The named suspect stands on the defendant’s side.
3. The person who named them stands on the plaintiff’s side.
4. The two debate. The remaining five may raise objections during the debate.
5. Once a conclusion is reached, a vote is held. If a majority approves, the culprit is incinerated.
At those final words, Terrin beside me swallowed hard. The idea alone seemed to terrify her.
“What happens if the suspected culprit changes midway through?”
“In that case, the suspect and the new nominee switch places. The plaintiff’s side will also change to whoever raised the new objection.”
“And if the vote doesn’t reach a majority?”
“Then we either select a new suspect or restart the debate.”
It was quite different from any trial I knew, but with neither lawyers nor prosecutors present, that was only natural.
Having finished her explanation, the dorm mother gazed at us in silence. I spoke first.
“The most important thing to consider right now is where we should even begin. That feels like the right starting point.”
I checked the remaining time—barely two hours left—and the moment I said that, Leah frowned slightly and opened her mouth.
“The first thing we need to think about… is probably the mechanism.”
“The mechanism?”
“Yeah. Doesn’t this murder feel a little off from the start?”
“How so?”
“It’s a locked-room mystery… that isn’t actually a locked room.”
“Huh? Oh… right.”
A locked room that wasn’t a locked room. She was exactly right.
Of the eight rooms on the third floor, only the F room where I had been trapped had a window.
Even then, the F room wasn’t connected to anywhere else. All it allowed was a view into the interior of the H room through that window.
Going back to the mechanism—when it had activated, room C had been connected to room D.
One might argue that a connection meant it wasn’t truly a locked room, but when both doors were closed, the space became a perfect sealed chamber.
While the mechanism was active, no one could enter and no one could leave. It created an inescapable room.
But once the mechanism was released, everything changed. You could exit through the door.
The culprit had apparently used that very fact.
“Now that I think about it, some rooms could only be opened from the inside, while others could only be opened from the outside.”
“…That’s true too.”
The entire floor had been designed from the beginning with interlocking structures in mind.
But why? What possible reason could there be to install such a device in a mansion like this?
While I was lost in thought, Terrin spoke up beside me.
“Come to think of it… doesn’t it seem like the culprit already knew about the mechanism?”
“What?”
“They knew about the mechanism?”
“Yeah. Otherwise there’s no way they could have killed her like that.”
“Couldn’t it have been a spontaneous act after realizing it was a locked room?”
At Maria’s sharp remark, Terrin tilted her head as if considering it.
No, that couldn’t be it. I let out a small sigh.
The sense of unease I had felt since earlier—one piece of it was finally ready to be voiced.
“That’s impossible.”
“…Why? Why is it impossible?”
“Have you already forgotten what Ariel died from?”
“…A knife.”
“Exactly. A weapon. Was there anyone among us carrying something like that?”
My question made Maria’s mouth snap shut. It was obvious.
The knife embedded in Ariel’s body had come from room B.
If the culprit had prepared an item from that room in advance, it became very difficult to call the crime spontaneous.
And that was even more true because we could use magic.
“Magic? What does that have to do with anything?”
“…Our magic is fundamentally difficult to use for harming people, isn’t it?”
“Magic can also kill people if you apply even a little creativity.”
My answer left both Maria and Leah momentarily speechless.
Even my Memory Magic, which seemed completely unrelated to murder, could be used to kill someone.
Therefore, it stood to reason that the others could do the same.
While traces of mana would remain, they were far subtler than leaving behind a physical weapon.
Above all, none of us knew each other’s specialty magic. That made it even more plausible.
Ah, except everyone already knew Ophelia’s specialty was Telekinesis.
“The culprit who planned this murder probably came up with the idea after seeing Ophelia use her magic.”
“Why?”
“They deliberately used a weapon. Since Ophelia had already used her magic for the day, killing someone with magic would have cleared her of suspicion.”
It was that risky. That was why I had assumed she would stay close to Ariel…
I clicked my tongue inwardly and continued speaking.
“But by using a weapon, they placed themselves on the list of suspects…”
“Of course, I don’t actually think Ophelia did it.”
Deep sorrow still lingered on Ophelia’s face.
It was hard to imagine someone with that expression as the one who had murdered Ariel.
If she were the culprit, she’d deserve an Oscar for Best Actress.
“So the culprit is quite meticulous. This wasn’t a spontaneous crime—it was premeditated. And if Terrin is right, they may have known about the mechanism in advance.”
“…Is that even possible?”
“Hmm.”
It didn’t seem impossible. I glanced subtly at Clarice.
She was currently engaged in a staring contest with one of the dolls.
“Clarice, how did you know there was a button in room A?”
“…I was hiding among the dolls.”
Clarice answered without once taking her eyes off the doll.
You can’t win a staring contest against a doll. Sure enough, tears welled up in her eyes moments later, and she blinked.
“…I lost.”
“Of course you lost…”
“Throw away that kind of fixed thinking.”
Having said that, Clarice immediately began another staring contest with the doll.
She had definitely seemed like a cool, mysterious beautiful girl at first. Now she was just a quirky beautiful girl.
Though the “beautiful girl” part hadn’t changed at all.
“If the culprit went to room A last night and pressed the button in advance, they would have figured it out, right?”
At my answer, Leah nodded.
“There definitely was a strange rumbling sound during the night…”
“Right. Maria, you were there with me at the time.”
“…Yeah, I was.”
Maria nodded.
“Wait a second. Then that means the four people who were together at that time aren’t the culprit?”
“You could interpret it that way. Of course, it’s only a hypothesis.”
“…Then the only one left is…”
“Terrin.”
Maria stared at Terrin with clear suspicion. Terrin immediately protested, looking wronged.
“Why me again!”
“You weren’t there at the time.”
“Who was there then!”
“Me, that idiot, the little kid, and the old hag.”
“…Wait, am I the idiot?”
I didn’t think I was that stupid. And the “little kid” was probably Evangelin.
Evangelin was the youngest, but she didn’t exactly look like a child.
Thinking that, I glanced briefly at Evangelin’s chest. She subtly hunched her shoulders.
That wasn’t going to hide a chest size like hers, though.
Apparently sensitive to stares, I looked away, only to find Leah staring at Maria with an incredulous expression.
“I’m not an old hag. I just have a bit more experience, that’s all.”
“Old hag.”
“…That’s not what’s important here! Then Clarice was also there!”
“…Do you seriously think she’s the culprit?”
“Hello, Sir Dalton. I’m Clarice.”
When I pointed at Clarice, who had already begun conversing with the doll again, Terrin flinched visibly.
It was true that Terrin was suspicious. Her claim of being in room D, and the fact that she hadn’t been with us last night.
She had a bright and refreshing personality, but personality alone wasn’t an alibi.
Back on Earth, there had been plenty of seemingly normal, socially adept people who turned out to be serial killers.
Therefore, you couldn’t judge solely based on outward personality.
“…But why is that doll named Sir Dalton?”
“Because Sir Dalton introduced himself that way.”
Clarice’s confident reply made me start to waver.
Receiving a massive shock could cause someone to act like this.
She had, after all, witnessed a murder scene.
But Clarice hadn’t been normal even before yesterday.
While her behavior was certainly bizarre, she wasn’t completely unresponsive to external stimuli.
“I never left room A from the beginning.”
“That could be a lie. When me and Aina came in, we didn’t see you anywhere.”
“I saw you two.”
“…What?”
“When I was buried among the dolls. I saw you.”
Terrin looked at her with slight surprise. I couldn’t help but be surprised too.
I had inspected the room quite thoroughly. The fact that I had missed Clarice buried among the dolls was shocking.
Had she used magic? Even though more than a decade had passed since my reincarnation, there was no way my observational skills had dulled that much.
“…Anyway. I’d like to raise an objection. The defendant is Terrin. The plaintiff is me.”
“Very well. I will accept it.”
The moment the dorm mother spoke, the two of them instantly moved to their assigned positions.
It was short-range warp magic. While all the girls were still reacting in surprise to that spell, the dorm mother struck her gavel with a loud bang.
“Then, begin your arguments.”