Chapter 225

A look of shock crossed her face.

【Death completely erased her...】

Stelle guessed aloud.

【Impossible.】

【The issue now isn't "she's dead," but "it's as if she never existed at all."】

【I'll just come out and say it — this Miss's situation...】

【Forget you lot, even the Hound family line has never seen anything like it.】

Gallagher denied Stelle's account.

【Never before... so in Penacony, death does truly happen, yes?】

Himeko pressed for an answer.

【You saw it all with your own eyes — what is there left to hide?】

【A city with a glossy, bright surface must have a dark, unspeakable underside. I shouldn't need to spell out adult matters.】

【If you mean to question the Family over just this, you're being awfully naive.】

【Accidental deaths happen even in Sweet Dreams — so what?】

【These kinds of extremely low-probability events...】

【Affect only a tiny handful of people.】

【If you truly want to dig into this case, you first have to understand the Family's real difficulty.】

Gallagher pointed the three of them toward the true direction.

【I suppose it's time to get to the story of that Mikhail, isn't it?】

Himeko seemed to have guessed what Gallagher was really trying to say.

【You're sharp.】

【The Astral Express received that music box too, didn't it?】

【Do you know what secret it hides?】

Gallagher countered with a question.

【A single message: gather every impossibility within the dream with your own eyes, seek out the legacy of Penacony's father, the "Watchmaker," and then answer: why do lives fall asleep?】

Himeko recited that ciphered passage once more.

【Word for word.】

Gallagher laughed and nodded.

【Hey, what are you laughing at... Could it be that you wrote it?】

【Nicely written, too.】

March 7th quipped.

【I'm the investigator in charge of the case — how could I possibly not know...】

【I suppose you've all noticed too that this message didn't come from the Family itself — and that the two sides aren't exactly on good terms?】

Gallagher posed a question.

【For now it's only speculation; we find it hard to believe that Penacony's father and its actual administrator are so at odds.】

Himeko answered.

【Now I can tell you — you're absolutely right.】

【The Family long ago came to view the Watchmaker as an enemy, but the latter was a dragon that showed its head and vanished its tail, living only in the commercial myth he himself created...】

【The Hounds could never catch him.】

【So, I'll press my question further — have any of you wondered why the Family would tolerate the Watchmaker sending out such a joke of a message to the outside world, Ren Ping you to come when invited, and turn this place into a mess?】

Gallagher posed a question for the three to answer.

【...】

【You wanted to use this chance to make the Watchmaker show his hand?】

Himeko murmured for a moment before speaking.

【Now you can understand why the Oakfamily line authorized the Nameless to assist in the investigation, yet kept things hidden from you at every turn.】

【... Because the Watchmaker is no legend of the Land of Dreams at all, but the most unspeakable stain on the history of Penacony's branch families...】

【He is the mastermind behind every anomaly in the dream.】

Gallagher explained.

【But what does any of this have to do with Mikhail?】

Stelle felt that what Gallagher was saying didn't seem to connect to the name Mikhail.

【Haven't you caught on yet?】

【What I mean is...】

【... Mikhail, the Family's traitor — he is none other than the famous Watchmaker.】

Furina: "What Mikhail — he's that Watchmaker?!"

Furina: "Just as I said, this Mikhail must be no simple fellow!"

Furina: "I really called it — Mikhail is the true mastermind behind the scenes!"

Hu Tao: "Should I say I'm not surprised?"

March 7th: "But we just can't figure it out — as Penacony's father, why would he betray the Family?"

March 7th: "And deliberately sabotage the dream?"

March 7th: "Come to think of it, Penacony was his life's work too!"

Amber: "Yes, this is indeed puzzling."

Stelle: "Is there any chance...."

Stelle: "It's not that the Clockmaker betrayed the family......"

Miss Sushang: "Uh.... what does that mean?"

Aventurine: "It means, perhaps it was the family that betrayed the Clockmaker?"

Aventurine: "What, you actually believe the family's side of the story?"

Aventurine: "When all is said and done, the family is the one that came later!"

Aventurine: "And now, the one controlling Penacony is the family!"

Aventurine: "If there's no story behind all this, do you think that makes sense?"

Furina: "To seize control of Penacony, the family didn't hesitate to smear the Clockmaker, the father of Penacony, to push him out of the dreamscape, and even wanted to do him in, so that he would never able to speak again!"

Furina: "And the Clockmaker, alone and powerless, couldn't afford to offend the powerful family, so he had no choice but to spread information to the outside world to call for help!"

Furina: "What do you think — could this be the truth of the matter?"

Zhong Li: "Speaking by ordinary reason, Young Lady Furina's analysis has a high probability of being correct!"

Himeko: "Mhm.... it fits the logic, and the reasoning holds up."

Collei: "So.... this Mr. Mikhail the Clockmaker was actually just a victim?"

Welt: "We can't jump to conclusions that quickly."

Welt: "After all, this is only everyone's speculation."

Welt: "Still... the likelihood of this speculation is indeed quite high."

Welt: "Because Miss Huang Quan mentioned earlier that Penacony's dreamscape is shattering, but that stems from human nature, as well as the family's deliberate indulgence."

Welt: "In other words, the dreamscape under the family's management now has problems."

Stelle: "Damn, this is getting messier and messier!"

Stelle: "Is it the family crying 'stop, thief!' when they're the thief, or does the Clockmaker have some unspeakable agenda, or are both of them just unlucky sods, and there's actually some heavyweight player who hasn't shown up yet?"

Boothill: "That's right, there really is a heavyweight who hasn't shown up yet!"

Gui Naifen: "Who? Who else?"

Boothill: "Meow, of course it's me!"

Boothill: "The me in the video is still rushing over like crazy!"

Boothill: "Once this heavyweight guest arrives, all the treacherous and evil things will have nowhere to hide under my guns!"

Stelle: "Buddy, stop bragging — by the time you get here, the whole thing will probably already be wrapped up."

Stelle: "Feels like you're at best just some random extra background prop...."

Boothill: "Meow!!"