Otherworld TRPG Game Master

[Q. Why is Deduction Necessary?]

During an intermission, I crouched in a corner and conversed with the Mad Wizard.

He remained shrouded in darkness, even though we weren’t in the midst of a battle. Was he perhaps preparing in case “Goat” revealed his true nature? Maybe he intended to kill him outright?

Anyway, a question came to mind.

The Mad Wizard could forcibly prevent lying, and he claimed to be peering into their inner thoughts. So why was deduction necessary?

Couldn’t he just make them declare, “I am the culprit,” once and be done with it?

I asked him bluntly.

“Can’t you... just see right through it?”

“That’s the point. You've hit a rather good mark, Watson.”

Who’s Watson?

The Mad Wizard’s eyes curved into a smile. His expression seemed amused, but the cold gleam beneath his eyelids was too terrifying for it to feel like a real smile.

But despite that, my mind felt strangely calm. Was the Mad Wizard protecting me in some way?

“I’m looking deep into the hearts of our juniors and seniors alike, tracing even the contours of their souls. Yet I haven’t been able to apprehend ‘Goat.’ Do you understand what that means?”

“......”

“It means he’s equipped with some disguise intricately functioning within the black box of his soul—or some other... tricky method. Personally, I’d say it’s definitely the latter. If it were the former, he’d have turned himself in ages ago.”

A disguise that even this man couldn’t penetrate. So, was it even possible to uncover the culprit?

“Of course it is. In this world, there are no secrets that can’t be unveiled, no tricks that can’t be unraveled.”

The Mad Wizard offered a hint.

“Imagine someone craftily hiding their true personality. After committing a crime, they revert to the innocent ‘me’ who knows nothing. Even if there’s nothing visible from the inside, it’s different from the outside.”

“So... even if they’re verbally claiming innocence, there must be something suspicious in their behavior.”

“Exactly. The behavior. You just need to catch someone who’s acting unnaturally, as if in service to ‘Goat’ without actually being him. That person is the culprit.”

I see.

That means there’s no need to trust the voice protesting innocence or the gestures of frustration. I just need to point out the person acting the most suspiciously.

This was my chance.

My master, the “Hypnotic Detective,” had helped many people. Now, as I inherited that righteous title, I would uncover all secrets in detective fashion and expose “Goat” as the culprit, fulfilling my revenge.

This had been my dream ever since I first inherited the spirit of vengeance. I clenched my fist tightly. It was time to resume the mystery.

“Hey.”

“...?”

The Mad Wizard lowered his voice and spoke to me. It sounded like he was about to share something important, so I focused intently.

“A person under hypnosis... doesn’t know they’re under hypnosis. Same with a character on stage. Only the audience can distinguish the roles.”

“...What are you talking about?”

“Don’t be flustered or nervous, Detective.”

It was a rather cryptic statement, and he didn’t seem inclined to elaborate further, judging by his expression. I continued the investigation with a question mark in my mind.

[Interrogation: Who Turned Off the Lights?]

“No one raised their hand, meaning no one touched the system panel, right?”

“......”

“......”

The suspects exchanged glances, observing each other’s reactions. The lights had turned off, yet nobody claimed responsibility. It was an impossible scenario.

But... the Mad Wizard remained silent.

If anyone were lying, he would’ve issued a “punishment.” This meant all suspects genuinely believed they hadn’t turned off the lights.

This was a crucial hint.

In other words, at the time the lights went out... “Goat” must have been present. They must have turned off the lights, released the familiar, and then hidden themselves, erasing all memory of the deed. Now, I just had to observe their actions.

As the uncomfortable silence lingered, Lorei cautiously spoke up.

“But... truly, none of us touched it. To be specific, we couldn’t have touched it. We were...”

“Explain.”

“I mentioned it before. I stopped Senior Charlie when he tried to operate the system panel. After that, I kept thinking that no one should touch the panel... so I led everyone to the corner.”

The corner?

Charlie interrupted, and he and Lorei spoke alternately.

“Yeah, that corner of the room where you were chatting with that junior of yours. Lorei led everyone there. Lorei held my hand and Luche’s, and Melburton went to the corner on his own.”

“Right after that, the lights in the Central Control Room went out. It was dark enough that we couldn’t see, but we were all holding hands. There was no way to reach the system panel physically.”

“Then, there was a sound of something scraping against the wall... and then the lights came back on. Everyone was still huddled in the corner.”

The “scraping against the wall” that Charlie mentioned was likely the result of the Mad Wizard reversing the hypnosis on “Goat’s” familiar and sending it back.

Because of Lorei’s decision, no one in the room could have reached the system panel. And after that, the lights went out in the Central Control Room...

Because of this, Lorei claimed everyone was innocent.

“So, perhaps the lights in the tower were turned off from the outside. Someone might have tampered with the power supply.”

“Couldn’t someone have stretched magic to the system panel?”

“The panel requires physical contact to operate—pressing «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» buttons, turning levers... I heard it was designed this way to prevent remote hacking.”

Physical contact, huh?

That did make sense. They were far from the panel before the lights went out, so at a glance, they seemed innocent...

But there was a flaw. Something needed to be clarified.

“Can anyone confirm the exact time the lights went out in the Central Control Room?”

“Hey, Detective. We’re not monsters like you. We don’t walk around with precise biological clocks in our heads or have the presence of mind to check the time in the heat of the moment...”

“I... I know. I know the time.”

“...?”

It was Melburton. He pulled up the sleeve of his Purple Tower robe, revealing an obviously luxurious, intricate, and very expensive wristwatch.

“It’s something I bought when business was booming... It records time, has a voice recording function, and even a jukebox. Back then, my research funds were plentiful, but now my purse is empty. Oh, God.”

No wonder he’s broke, buying things like that.

“When the lights suddenly went out in the Central Control Room, I tried to turn on my watch’s light. It even has an embedded light spell... but no matter how many times I pressed the button, it wouldn’t turn on. I was flustered and accidentally started the stopwatch.”

“You really did something useful, didn’t you? Hand it over.”

“Ah, please don’t confiscate it! Senior, this is a treasured...”

“Who’s taking it? I’ll just look and give it back. Geez.”

The Mad Wizard checked the time recorded on the watch and compared it to his internal clock before concluding firmly.

“There’s a time difference. The lights in the Central Control Room went out first, and then ten seconds later, the tower’s lights followed suit. We’ve got someone by the neck, don’t we?”

“......!!”

The time when the Central Control Room lights went out didn’t match when the tower’s lights went out.

“But... how could anyone turn off the Central Control Room lights? If someone had done that, everyone would’ve noticed.”

“Melburton’s watch functioned properly. The light spell worked. But it didn’t show up visibly. That’s because... it wasn’t just the lights being turned off but ‘darkness’ being released.”

Exactly. When the Mad Wizard and I climbed the stairs, the light tracking “Goat” vanished in the darkness. Simply turning off the tower’s lighting couldn’t explain that.

“Goat” must have released that spell first in the Central Control Room.

Then, in that unseen moment of darkness, they secretly operated the system panel. At the same time, they spread “darkness” through the mana lines connected to the panel, even casting it on the staircase where the Mad Wizard and I were.

Charlie placed a hand on his chin, then raised an objection.

“That theory doesn’t hold for two reasons. First, we were all in the corner, holding hands. We didn’t let go even when the lights went out. Without stretching our arms, we couldn’t have reached the panel.”

“......”

“Second, if someone cast such a dark magic spell, we would’ve sensed the flow of mana, whether it came from inside or outside... We’re innocent. Lorei, Luche, Melburton—all good, honest juniors. So, let’s drop it here, junior. That’s enough.”

He glanced at the Mad Wizard, as if trying to defend his juniors. But the ominous light in the Mad Wizard’s eyes didn’t waver in the slightest.

Because there was a flaw in Charlie’s argument. I pointed it out immediately.

“That’s incorrect, Mage Charlie.”

“What part is?”

“Back then—and even now—the Mad Wizard’s grand magic was covering the entire tower. Against a larger spell, smaller spells are harder to detect. ‘Goat’ could’ve concealed the casting.”

And—

“Everyone was in the corner, holding hands, away from the panel. The suspect must be someone capable of manipulating the system panel from a distance, someone who can summon illusions with physical power.”

“......!!”

“It was noted in the data from the Mad Wizard. The ‘Hologram’ magic can manifest physical power among illusion spells—so the one who turned off the lights was you, Luche!”

“I... I... I...”

[Argument: Is Luche the Culprit?]

Whirr—!

The Mad Wizard flicked his finger, and a black current coiled around Luche’s body. Though I couldn’t tell exactly what it did, it was clear it served as a restraint and suppression.

“Mmph... mph...!”

Luche couldn’t even speak. The spell was blocking her incantations.

For caution’s sake, I made a request to him.

“Mad Wizard, could you check Luche’s background? If she’s an impostor disguised as ‘Goat,’ there’s bound to be a gap in her history—like an uncertain birth record.”

“Oh, taking on a police role now, are we? I know someone in the Bureau. I’ll call and ask. Should have an answer soon.”

“...What’s a call?”

“It’s... making contact. I’ll reach out through a communication crystal. Keep talking.”

The Mad Wizard took out a crystal and started contacting someone outside. From the other side, I could faintly hear a woman’s voice. It was the pink-haired woman I’d seen in his laboratory.

So, she was a Bureau agent.

After the identity of the one who turned off the lights was revealed, silence hung over the Central Control Room. Melburton looked despondent at the revelation that his colleague was the culprit, and Lorei closed his eyes quietly.

And Charlie... the oldest mage, stared at Lorei intently. After a moment’s hesitation, he spoke.

“Detective, this isn’t over yet.”

“...?”

“The detective’s deduction is indeed correct. In that blackout, the only one who could have reached the panel was Luche with her physical ‘Hologram’ magic. After all, we were all holding hands.”

Charlie acknowledged my deduction readily. But then, he added a sharp counterpoint.

“But were we really all holding hands?”

“......!!”

“If you’ve got information from the junior, then you’ll understand. I didn’t want to put her in a tough spot, but... we can’t let an innocent person be wrongly accused.”

“I understand, Senior Charlie. If we want to prevent that, we need to bring all suspicions to light.”

Lorei let out a deep sigh.

Yes, Lorei is a user of the “Puppet” technique. Its effect allows one to transfer control of their body to another. It has the power to penetrate even a strong mental defense.

Handing over control of one’s body means transferring even one’s sense of touch.

Charlie clasped his own hands together, as if shaking hands alone.

“What if, like this, I used ‘Puppet’ on the people on either side? The person under the spell would feel as though they were holding hands with the person next to them. Even if, in reality, they weren’t.”

...So, by maintaining the alibi of holding hands, they could reach the panel.

While hidden in the darkness, they could secretly manipulate the device and return to their original position, acting as if nothing happened. This allowed for manipulation without arousing suspicion.

“Lorei, it was your idea, wasn’t it? For everyone to hold hands and move to the corner.”

“...Yes.”

“There you have it, Detective.”

It was possible to shift suspicion onto Luche, who was the only one with the unique “Hologram” magic.

“....”

Another suspect had emerged. Just when I thought everything was revealed.

But it’s fine. The Mad Wizard is investigating their backgrounds. So, I can simply point to whoever has an uncertain past as the culprit.

At that moment, the Mad Wizard slipped the communication crystal back into his pocket. The call seemed to have ended. He spoke up.

“There’s nothing.”

“...Nothing in their background?”

“No, I mean none of them have a suspicious history.”

What?

I stared at him in astonishment. He nodded, understanding my confusion, and added a detailed explanation.

“I took the opportunity to check the backgrounds of everyone here, not just Luche. My friend in the Bureau... Yuri Ranster sent me the files. All four suspects have a well-documented history from birth to joining the Purple Tower.”

“....”

“They’re not fabricated identities. They were born, lived, and eventually came to the Purple Tower. These aren’t disguises created by ‘Goat.’ And, Detective... I have bad news.”

“Bad news?”

The Mad Wizard pointed his thumb behind him.

On the once-empty wall, a door slowly began to materialize.

“The ‘Gate Succession’ spell is about to expire. If we can’t identify the culprit before it ends, I’ll have to resort to a rather harsh method—restraining all four and subjecting them to a very unpleasant session.”

“....”

“So, Detective, is your deduction at a dead end?”

“...No, there’s still one area we haven’t discussed. The deduction isn’t over yet.”

I reviewed the timeline once more.

● The Mad Wizard was attacked by Purple Tower members under ‘Goat’s’ mental control. He subdued them with an assassin’s help.

This part.

The mental control over the tower members and concealing an assassin. That hasn’t been investigated yet. There’s still more to uncover. This deduction... isn’t over.

Click-click-click.

Creak. Squeak.

A peculiar sound echoed in my ear. A tiny noise, alternating between rhythm and irregularity. Was it the ticking of Melburton’s watch? Or a broken wall clock?

“....”

One thing was certain: the Mad Wizard wanted this deduction to continue to reveal the truth... probably.

I tapped the file I’d received from the Mad Wizard.

“Alib Lonto, a trainee who joined the Purple Tower a month ago. He was an assassin in disguise. He ambushed us on our way up and was taken down by the Mad Wizard.”

“....”

“I heard entry into the Purple Tower requires either an internal recommendation or an official visit. How did this Alib Lonto gain entry?”

This was a critical point.

If someone had let an assassin into the tower, that would be incredibly suspicious. If either Luche or Lorei had done it, I’d have solid grounds for suspicion.

However, the one who answered my question, sweating profusely, was...

“W-Well, I... I recommended... him.”

It was Melburton.

I instinctively slammed my fist onto the table with a bang!

Thunk.

“...How can everyone be this equally suspicious?!”

Could they all be in on it...?