Aragi entered the room. The room where he was already being waited for. Not "greeted," not "welcomed." Waited for, and that says a lot about the mood.
"Where were you?" Yahweh began.
"Walking... around different corners of the mansion."
If we're being honest, it doesn't sound very convincing. But who has the right now to accuse anyone of implausibility?
"Since we're all here," Kamiki's voice shot out like a countdown to the inevitable. "I suppose it's time to discuss what happened... after the murder."
Gerudo's murder. As expected, they'd returned to this topic again. A topic I couldn't escape from even if I wanted to, even if I died. I need to come up with something, anything. At least a phantom possibility to lift this curse of suspicion from Enua.
"Then let's begin. Aragi, you remember the writing on the wall... the kind left after Gerudo's death?"
Ah... right, I completely forgot. Forgot about those red scrawls, written in his blood. Horrifying script, written in the most convincing ink in the world. But if we're talking about them now... it means this isn't directly about Enua. Though it's too early to relax.
"Yes," I nodded. "Back then I was too shocked. Death... you know... knocks memory out of you. I rushed to you, to report what happened, and the inscriptions, they just... fell out of my head."
"We decided to postpone that topic then. Catching the killer is more important after all," Yahweh responded. "Good thing Cheryl and Morgana reminded us about it when they went to clean the kitchen. The problem is we can't decipher them, no one knows what language they're written in. Even the servants don't know, we thought they'd help... but no. Complete zero."
"In the end... the inscriptions remained untranslated. And Enua, as you know, avoids us as if we're already his sentence. Which, however, isn't far from the truth," Hov added.
"Still... this could be the key to the real killer. The inscriptions are a trail, even if in an incomprehensible language, but still a trail."
"So... you've decided to stop trampling the version with Enua?" I finally asked.
"Not at all," Yahweh's words followed instantly. "He'll remain under suspicion until he proves otherwise, and his time, let's be honest, is short. Everything will be decided before the second murder."
"Second?" My body twitched slightly. "What do you mean?"
"Consider it a postponement. We're waiting for the second nightfall. If we assume there'll be a new murder each night... we have little time."
So they'll leave him until the next murder. If he doesn't prove his innocence by then... they'll simply cross him out.
"I hope you understood," Kamiki's voice sounded as if from afar, though they stood nearby. "We know you're on his side, want to protect him. Therefore... you also have this time. Use it."
"Alright," Hov exhaled. "Let's return to the inscriptions. There were four, right?"
"Four lines, each of several words. One after another," Yahweh stated. "Only we have no idea how to translate them. No one knows this language."
"...Library," burst from me.
"There's a library here?" burst simultaneously from Yahweh's and Hov's lips.
"I only learned about it recently myself, it's on the second floor, right side, at the very end. I think there might be an answer there."
"And you're only saying this now?! Why were you silent?" Kamiki said.
"Because the entrance is locked. Gerudo had the key, there are no copies."
"Damn. So it's locked."
"Then... we break in? Or just knock it down. Two of us, three, the door won't hold," this option could be suggested by none other than Yahweh. By the way, he's accustomed to the radical method of solving problems.
"The problem is different, it's not just a door. Five meters high. Solid, as if magic itself holds it."
"Five meters?! In a library?! What kind of mockery is this?" Hov's dissatisfaction poured out.
"Grimoires are stored there," Morgana suddenly cut into the conversation.
Like a knife into fabric. Soundlessly, sharply. Without permission.
"There are thousands of grimoires there. Some of them... can give power beyond comprehension."
"So everything's that serious... Then one option remains: find Gerudo's keys."
"Only even Cheryl and I don't know where he kept them. According to him, the keys were given to him by the mansion's first master. The one Ryujin trusted most of all. He even entrusted the library, all his knowledge collected over a lifetime."
"Then we need to search everything, the entire mansion. I suggest we split up."
The search began. Everyone rushed to search the mansion. Everyone except fear — it remained. It always remains.
Gerudo's room. A logical first choice, if I were a key, I'd hide at my place too. It was me and Morgana there. Morgana, by the way, agreed to help. Which, generally speaking, seems not an uncommon occurrence.
"We've been searching for half an hour already," Morgana snorted. "Nothing. Maybe he hid them somewhere else?"
"Maybe..." I muttered. "We turned everything over. No results."
"Then let's go tell the others, they're probably hoping we'll find the key first."
The message was brief: no key. The room is empty.
Everyone gathered in the living room. Again.
"Are you sure you searched everything?" Yahweh asked.
"Absolutely. The room is tiny, hidden places zero. We even went through a second time," Aragi stated.
"I see... The other rooms are empty too. Then... where?"
While they hadn't decided what to do... I had one chance left.
"Allow me..." I stepped forward. "I'm ready to prove Enua's alibi. Right now!"
"You... really have proof?" Yahweh said astoundedly, as if preparing to hear an irrefutable alibi.
Everyone froze. Even the air.
"Yes. It's all about the inscriptions."
"Inscriptions?" Kamiki, like a question mark.
"Think about it. Why would the killer leave inscriptions in the victim's blood in a language no one understands? Not us, not the servants."
"So you deny his guilt... only because you don't understand the language? Seriously?"
Of course. The first to attack me is you, naturally.
"You can't know what languages he speaks. Don't forget who he is. Creator of civilizations. He could know a language beyond understanding," this was said by Yahweh, who knew better than the others who his longtime enemy was.
"He's right. Enua could create his own language and use it. That's just like him, to confuse us," Hov agreed.
"And yet... what's the point of that? He himself knew suspicion would fall on him. It would be too obvious, any of us could invent a language. This doesn't make Enua unique. On the contrary, it makes the suspicions too convenient."
"That would be fine, but only he has no alibi. We've already proven this. He's the only one who left his room. Did you forget that?"
"Accept it, Aragi. You want to help your comrade — it's commendable, but you have no real proof. This is for the good, yours and ours. The faster we remove him, the fewer losses," as if closing a book on the final note, Kamiki said.
As expected, no one listens to me. Kamiki especially, he's ready to do anything to refute my every word.
"Why are you so sure it's not the witch?! She herself said the game's goal is: defeat her by any means!"
"That's what the killer is taking advantage of. Victory 'by any means' doesn't equal teamwork. It means every man for himself. Survival of the fittest, which means eliminating competitors. Do you understand where I'm going?"
Kamiki approached closer, leaned toward my ear. The smile, unchanged. A smile from which even shadows hide.
"The goal isn't to kill the witch, but to survive until the seventh nightfall, and receive... a wish. One single wish. And it goes to only one person. Do you understand now? You pathetic piece of shit. Agh-hah-ghah-hah-agh-hah!"
Laughter. Sweeping arms. A mad gaze at the ceiling.
"By the end of the sixth day, one will remain. One! Whether you want it or not! It doesn't matter what you've invented there about 'teamwork'! That's why we need to get rid of the killer faster, before he strikes again!"
And then they were interrupted.
"Forgive us for interrupting," Morgana, Cheryl beside her. "We found the key to the library."