Chapter 168

[Moreover, this person is not unrelated; he has a foster sister who is currently on the Mystic Eye Collection Train.]

Kayneth: "Heartless—I didn't expect that guy to be involved in this too."

Sola: "Hasn't that guy been missing for a long time?"

Heartless, the former head of the Modern Magecraft Department.

No one knows his real name; there are only rumors that his heart was stolen by a fairy, which is why people call him "Heartless."

In 1994, shortly after the Fourth Holy Grail War ended, he resigned and disappeared without a trace.

[Back on the train, Gray has a sudden inspiration. She uses the shield that Add has transformed into as a snowboard and successfully catches up to the train.]

[After getting on board, Add complains incessantly until an impatient Gray tosses him aside, finally silencing him.]

[Just then, Hishiri Kaieda approaches them and asks them to accompany her to the lounge car.]

[She gathers everyone and states that since Lord El-Melloi II is currently unconscious, she will Matsuwanko Matsuwanko Take over the investigation.]

[Subsequently, Hishiri Kaieda brings up the case from seven years ago and points out a specific fact.]

[It turns out that the investigator sent by the Holy Church to look into the case back then was none other than Karabo.]

[Hishiri Kaieda then states that since she cannot see the past or the future, it means the crime scene must be somewhere else.]

[She then signals to the silent young head of the Animusphere family standing to the Reverse Reverse Reverse Reverse Side.]

[The girl lowers her head and opens the box she is holding; inside is none other than Trisha's severed head.]

[Trisha had foreseen her own death, so she had set up an imaginary pocket at the spot where her head would fall, sealing her own head within it.]

[Because time in an imaginary space is frozen, the head still possessed consciousness when it was released.]

[Using the last breath remaining in her mouth, Trisha spoke the name: Karabo.]

[The murderer was Karabo.]

Gordes: "So the killer really was someone from the Holy Church. That’s not surprising at all."

Risei Kotomine: "Impossible. An Executor would never do such a thing."

Illya: "Wait, isn't this supposed to be a quiz? How did they just identify the killer like that?"

Rin Tohsaka: "Dummy, can't you see? Either the killer is wrong, or there's more to this case."

Kiritsugu Emiya: "Indeed. Don't forget the Master of that Faker; it couldn't possibly be Karabo."

Tokiomi Tohsaka: "Hmm. Just the act of stealing the holy relics alone makes it impossible for it to be this Karabo."

[Hishiri Kaieda then reveals Karabo's method of murder.]

[She explains that Karabo's Mystic Eye ability is similar to the legendary Mystic Eyes of Death Perception; he can record an attack and leave it behind, then, by observing it, he can use that attack to kill his opponent at any time.]

[For example, by slashing through the air and recording that slash, he can make that slash land on an object whenever it overlaps with the recorded point.]

Rin Tohsaka: "There's such a method of killing?!"

Waver: "It's my first time seeing it too. It's truly impossible to guard against."

[Regarding this deduction, Karabo adamantly denies it. Hishiri Kaieda admits she has no direct evidence, but says that having suspicion is enough to Matsuwanko Matsuwanko Take action.]

["Wait a moment!"]

[Just then, Lord El-Melloi II, who has finally regained consciousness, is pushed in by Gray in a wheelchair.]

[Melvin is happy to see him awake, but Lord El-Melloi II finds Melvin's arrival quite a headache.]

[Lord El-Melloi II immediately raises a doubt: Karabo has absolutely no motive to kill.]

[But Hishiri Kaieda suggests that while investigating the case years ago, Karabo might have confused his own psyche with the murderer's, effectively turning himself into the killer.]

[This is ridiculous—it's like saying a suspect has a mental illness just because you can't find a motive.]

Illya: "Isn't this woman just twisting logic?"

Kiritsugu Emiya: "But Karabo is indeed the prime suspect right now. After all, the victim specifically pointed him out before dying, unless..."

Tokiomi Tohsaka: "Unless this woman from the Department of Law is lying. In that case, the person with the most suspicion..."

Darnic: "Is this Hishiri Kaieda herself."

Rin Tohsaka: "It must be her. She doesn't look like a good person at all."

Fiore: "That woman certainly has too many ulterior motives."

[Lord El-Melloi II continues to argue that Hishiri Kaieda's deduction is purely speculation, and whether Karabo's Mystic Eyes even possess such an ability remains unproven.]

[But to everyone's surprise, Hishiri Kaieda seems confident of victory.]

["His Mystic Eyes are indeed capable of it."]

[At this moment, a woman radiating a blue light, impossible to describe, appears.]

[Leandra introduces her: "Everyone, this is the acting conductor of the Mystic Eye Collection Train."]

Waver: "What is that thing?"

Avicebron: "It looks like some kind of special familiar, or perhaps a fairy."

Kayneth: "To think they'd let a familiar act as a conductor. Hmph."

[Acting Conductor: "The designated time has arrived. I have come to collect the Mystic Eyes."]

[It turns out that half a day before the auction begins, they always come to collect all the auction items.]

["You!"]

[Lord El-Melloi II immediately understands why Hishiri Kaieda chose this moment to present her deduction.]

[She wanted to leverage the authority of the Mystic Eye Collection Train.]

["Wait!"]

[Karabo tries to stop her, but he is completely unable to resist, and the eerie acting conductor extracts his Mystic Eyes directly.]

[After handing the extracted eyes to Leandra, the acting conductor vanishes.]

["What beautiful Mystic Eyes."]

[Leandra looks at the eyes in the bottle and judges: "Although they aren't Rainbow-grade, they are definitely Gem-grade. Since they can make shadows of the past appear in the present like bubbles, let's call them the 'Mystic Eyes of Bubbles'."]

Illya: "(?⊿?)? They just dug them out like that?!"

Darnic: "But it looks like Karabo isn't seriously injured; he just passed out from the pain."

Shishigou Kairi: "That's brutal. They didn't even give the seller anesthesia or pain relief?"

Tokiomi Tohsaka: "This shows the operating style of the Mystic Eye Collection Train."

[A short while later, Karabo is imprisoned in Lord El-Melloi II's room, his hands shackled, and they have even thoughtfully bandaged his eyes.]

[Gray: "Master, did Mr. Karabo really do all this?"]

[Lord El-Melloi II: "Being able to do something and actually doing it are two different things."]

[Just then, Karabo finally wakes up.]

[Lord El-Melloi II: "I'm sorry, but given the current situation, we have to keep you imprisoned."]

[Karabo: "It's fine. It's only right."]

[Lord El-Melloi II: "I want to confirm: are you really involved in the case from seven years ago?"]

[Karabo: "...I don't know."]

[He isn't lying, because he no longer has the memories of investigating the case seven years ago.]

[It turns out his Mystic Eyes have never been under his control, and it wasn't due to his age; under the influence of the eyes, he suffered from memory collapse.]

[Karabo didn't want to hand over the eyes earlier because he wanted to use their power one last time to investigate the truth, but unfortunately, he was powerless against that eerie acting conductor.]

[Lord El-Melloi II also believes that Karabo's Mystic Eyes are a key piece of evidence.]

[But now, the only way to get them back is to participate in the auction.]

[To this, Melvin says he'll Matsuwanko Matsuwanko Take care of it.]

[Lord El-Melloi II only feels a stomachache, as this means his debt to Melvin is about to increase by a huge amount.]