"Oh and by the way, the one who had asked me to eliminate the members of the El-Melloi classroom was Rejina," she said, pointing at the maid.

 The maid no longer showed an air of confusion.

 Perhaps she had had the time to resolve herself, having spent all that time listening to my master's explanation. She stood with her hands clasped in front of her apron, her gaze unwavering.

 "What she offered in exchange was the secret behind the beauty of the Princess of Gold. So it was something like this, was it? I see. I guess you weren't lying, though. You probably could have told me easily. You just never mentioned that it was a beauty that I would never have been able to take for myself. However, if that's how it's going to be, then I have no obligation to keep your identity a secret either, right?"

 Suddenly, Touko nodded.

 Everyone's gazes were focused on Rejina.

 "Then, you-" Reines was the first to speak. "You are the one responsible for blaming the Princess of Gold's murder on me?"

 In response to Reines' question, the maid said nothing.

 Next to her, the Princess of Silver also had her mouth shut tight. Whether he had been taken completely by surprise by the situation, or he was still rattled from learning of the fate of the Talisman, all Lord Byron could do was blearily look between them.

 "Well?" Reines asked again. "The Caleena that visited my room with the Princess of Gold must have been you as well, no? Go ahead and deny it, or even acknowledge it, just say something. Or your master could say it for you, I don't really mind."

 As expected, the maid said nothing. With a cold expression, she stood unfazed by Reines' attack.

 Atram snorted with a sneer.

 "Has our brilliant Lord El-Melloi II come up with some conjecture for this as well?"

 "I was wondering if I should just come out and say it."

 "Of course. You're the one who made a big deal about taking on this case. It's the job of the detective to tear apart even the smallest mystery involved, isn't it?" Perhaps still angry from learning the fate of the Talisman, Atram Galiasta's previous eloquence had turned sharp.

 In response to that sharpness, my master's brow furrowed.

 As if shedding light on this case was a punishment for himself, he just took a drag on his cigar. With a puff of strongly scented smoke, he spoke slowly.

 "...the real Princess of Gold was likely killed as a by-product of Iselma's research. Progress in Iselma's magecraft was already eating into the test subjects' genetic nature, so if that was to be pushed far enough, death of some sort is more or less inevitable."

 As the Princess of Gold had said before, Iselma's magecraft had already failed. At this point, it was hardly a surprise that the result of that failure was death.

 "However, Lord Byron didn't stop there. At least, not until the end of his display party. Though the original Princess of Gold Diadra had died, he invited Touko Aozaki in, and through her efforts Caleena was made into an even more successful case. As a result, the Princess of Silver and her maid Rejina must have had to steel themselves as well."

 "Because...the Princess of Silver...would eventually die as well...?" Islo said, his speech faltering.

 But my master shook his head. "No. There's a bigger issue than that. After that party, many magi must have thought - with her, they could possibly reach the Root. If the Magic Association heard that, then?"

 "Ah..." I unintentionally blurted out.

 Because we had heard a similar story just recently.

 With a bitter smile, Touko whispered. "...a Sealing Designation, huh?"

 A talent recognized in a magus limited to only a single generation, unmatched and unmatchable in both their past and future. The answer, to preserve them forever alive. The greatest honour possible for a magus. So Lord Byron should have had no worries. So Estella should have had no reason to refuse.

 "Strictly speaking, the Princesses of Gold and Silver aren't actually magi, so they may not qualify for a Sealing Designation. And even regardless of that, Iselma's research isn't something bound only to this generation, so it wouldn't apply anyways. But, if the Clock Tower thought there was a possibility for the Root to be reached, there's no way it could just leave it be."

 Touko nodded. "-So, before running away, the Princess of Gold's body needed to be destroyed. I see, so after doing so, the Princess of Silver and her maid planned on fleeing. Is that right?"

 That possibility had already been taken from them. No doubt, Iselma needed to make that clear.

 Before news got back to the Clock Tower from the Assembly and a judgment was reached, there was a need to show Iselma's research had had a crippling setback.

 "Most likely. The false accusations against Reines were likely for the same reason. If someone from another faction - ideally, someone famous from the Aristocratic Faction, could be roped into it, then everything could be resolved within Iselma and Valueleta. For that role, Reines was perfect."

 "...thanks to a certain someone, my name's gotten pretty famous in the Clock Tower, hasn't it?" Reines remarked sarcastically, glaring at my master. Though her gaze was full of enmity, I felt it was of a completely different nature than that shown by Atram.

 My master continued.

 "In short, the fact the Princess of Gold had requested asylum wasn't entirely a lie."

 "Most likely, they had seriously considered it. But, they didn't trust Reines enough to actually bet on that."

 Naturally.

 Entrusting your life to a magus you had never even truly spoken to before was insane. It was no wonder Reines herself had been suspicious when she was asked. You couldn't trust a magus to act with common sense, let alone morals or ethics. While it was likely a plan they considered, there was no way they would have actually attempted it.

 As a result, rather than abandoning the idea entirely, they used it as a roundabout lure to draw Reines and myself into finding the body of the Princess of Gold.

 "In general, the moment Lord Byron saw the body of the Princess of Gold, he should have known it was the true Princess of Gold. After all, none other than he could have cut her to pieces like that. Oh, and I feel like I shouldn't have to explain the need for the body to be cut apart. As a magus, it is a matter of course to retrieve as much data as possible for the sake of the next test subject."

 Lord Byron's mouth was firmly shut.

 Neither did any of the magi gathered around him cast him any blame. After all, that was the ethics and common sense of a magus - the natural course for someone so immersed in that world.

 "So, Lord Byron must have struggled to pick a culprit to blame. At that stage, there were any number of possible choices. After all, it made sense even for his supposed friends in the Valueleta faction to take action to trip him up. As far as he was concerned, virtually everyone had sufficient motive."

 Factional Warfare.

 The magi that would struggle with each other even within those factions.

 The world in which my master and Reines had been ensnared since long ago.

 "However, the second incident is different."

 Suddenly, his tone changed.

 "...master?"

 "The first incident was entirely a farce, a front to cover up for the death of the Princess of Gold. During the chaos that ensued, the Princess of Silver and the maids should have made their escape. As such, the death of Caleena was entirely unnecessary."

 "...what do you mean?"

 "Of course, there is an actual murder here. One is Lord Byron's accidental killing of the original Princess of Gold. And second was Caleena, who was killed by-"

 At that point, he stopped.

 A silence so thick settled over the room, even the sound of someone swallowing could be clearly heard.

 Faintly, the Princess of Silver and her maid began to shake.

 "-by you," my master finished, pointing.

 At the other end of his finger was standing only one person.

 From the Neutralist Faction.

 The young, pale man from the Faculty of Folklore (Brishisan).

 The pharmacist Maio Brishisan Clynelles' eyes went wide.

 In the center of the lobby, Maio shook his head in a daze.

 With a thump, he fell on his backside, scrabbling away from my master as his head moved from side to side.

 "N-no...I...I..."

 "Perhaps I should explain a bit further," my master's voice was terrifyingly cold.

 As before, I felt a kind of self-recrimination in his tone.

 "Flat."

 "Yes!" As if he had been waiting just for this moment his hand shot up, showing off some clothes and a bag he had been carrying. "Like the Professor said, these were hidden near that spring!"

 A travel bag, and the Princess of Gold's clothes.

 By seeing those, I somehow understood what had happened. Once the magecraft had dissolved, Caleena went to that spring to change clothes. And in order to escape Lord Byron, she had prepared a travel bag and hidden it near that spring so she could make her escape right away.

 "In many of the legends of Siegfried, he also spent time near such springs. For example, washing off the blood of the dragon, and also when he went out to meet his death. Of course, that has meaning too when it comes to Magecraft...but no, it's not so difficult. I was about eighty or ninety percent sure before, but it was just now that I became absolutely sure that you are the culprit."

 The whodunnit was meaningless, my master had said.

 Even the howdunnit was meaningless, my master had said.

 If the culprit was a magus, there were any number of ways they could obfuscate those things. There were more tricks than you could count. Walk through a wall to make a closed room if you felt like it. Throw a single curse, and your job is done.

 But.

 Whydunnit, however meagre a finding, is the one exception to the rule.

 "The only ones who could cover for Rejina and the Princess of Gold are you and Islo, correct?" my master whispered.

 For the first time, at those words, the Princess of Silver and her maid began to waver.

 "And the reason it couldn't be Islo is Trimmau. If it was the Grand Touko Aozaki or Lord Valueleta, then putting a stop to Trimmau would be possible. Even Atram Galiasta might be able be able to accomplish that."

 "...no need to say 'might,'" Atram spat.

 The fact that he left it at that was ample evidence that he had no confidence he could stop the mercury maid standing right in front of him.

 "However, you two are far too specialized. For a weaver or a pharmacist, forget stopping her, they could hardly defend themselves. Stopping her completely would require an intimate knowledge of the formulas and construction of the Mystic Code. While my student Flat is particularly skilled at that I guess, in reality it's a rather difficult thing to accomplish. At the very least, I certainly couldn't. For you, it would require a chance to see and inspect Trimmau from up close. And as I heard from my sister here, apparently she did in fact let her guard down for a certain someone."

 "...I was nervous from being in enemy territory. Don't be so harsh, dearest brother."

 Ignoring Reines' pleading, my master continued.

 "On top of that, adding the blood to Trimmau's hand was a step too far. There was just no need for it. Reines was already cornered, a suspect for the murder of the Princess of Gold. That made me think the culprit behind the Princess of Gold's incident and Caleena's murder were different people."

 "...then, actually..." Islo said, pain clear in his voice as he turned around.

 Looking at his childhood friend, his eyes seemed only to see a monster wearing an old friend's clothes.

 This time, the pharmacist denied nothing.

 Still sitting on the floor, he began to smile. His shaking stopping completely, his mouth spread in a wide, crescent grin as he sat their perfectly calm.

 "...but..."

 Finally, Maio spoke.

 "...why...why is what I did wrong?"

Case FIles III, Chapter 3, Part 3