Chapter 203

Emperor Qin Shi Huang: "I do not know. After all, because of the burning of books during my lifetime, the sorcerers kept their distance from me. Subsequent research was all done by me, fumbling in the dark, so it is no surprise that mistakes were made."

【"So that is how it is. Is this Lord El-Melloi?"】

【Byron wore a bitter expression as he bowed. This old thing had finally relented.】

【El-Melloi II: "If it is convenient, please add 'the Second.' I do not believe I am worthy of that name."】

【Having been caught in a compromising position by El-Melloi II, Byron naturally could not stop him from investigating the case further, though he did set a time limit: no later than tomorrow night.】

【El-Melloi II naturally knew when to stop while ahead and agreed to this condition.】

【Of course, Trimau, as a suspect, was still taken away by Inorai.】

Illya: "Haha, look at that arrogant old man, like a defeated quail."

Rin Tohsaka: "That is truly satisfying to watch."

Caules: "Although he is still a suspect, at the very least, we have secured two days of time."

Rin Tohsaka: "Two days, that should be enough, right? After all, the suspect is already quite obvious now."

Shishigou Kairi: "Hmph, I am just worried that the old guy will trip us up in the dark. After all, this is his territory."

Waver: "Indeed, that head of the Izelma family clearly does not want me to conduct an investigation."

【After Inorai and the other two left, a certain woman arrived fashionably late.】

【Aozaki Touko: "Oh my, I rushed over to Matsuwanko Matsuwanko Take a look, and yet an interesting person has arrived."】

【Clearly, Aozaki Touko's appearance gave El-Melloi II quite a shock.】

【"... ou, have you stabilized?"】

【"Hey, hey, that is your first sentence? It makes me want to kill you."】

【Aozaki Touko put on her glasses and said indifferently: "Nice to meet you, Lord El-Melloi II."】

【El-Melloi II: "Hello, Miss Aozaki."】

Rin Tohsaka: "Stabilized? What does that mean?"

Emiya Kiritsugu: "It should refer to her personality. After all, this woman has previously shown personality differences, looking as if she has a dual personality."

Tokiomi Tohsaka: "In that case, the personality switching of this Grand-ranked magus is uncontrollable."

Emiya Kiritsugu: "It seems to be the case for now."

Waver: "Even a Grand is not omnipotent; they have their own problems too."

【Aozaki Touko: "Just now, when I brushed past Lord Byron and the others, I heard about the situation. Are you responsible for this case?"】

【El-Melloi II: "Exactly. Although I am lacking in talent and learning, I will do my humble best to solve the case."】

【Aozaki Touko: "Is that so? Unexpectedly possessing a challenging nature—is that an El-Melloi tradition?"】

【Gray: "Um, aren't you two meeting for the first time?"】

【Aozaki Touko: "Hahaha, although this is my first time meeting the Second, I had dealings with the previous generation El-Melloi. That person once asked me to craft a pair of prosthetic arms for him."】

【"That was, from the Fourth Holy Grail War..."】

【Gray said in surprise: "Could it be that you also participated in that war!"】

【Aozaki Touko: "Do not misunderstand. I did not participate in that war. This is my first time officially meeting the Second, but the final payment owed to me by the previous El-Melloi was paid by the Second."】

"Prosthetic arm? Could it be!"

Kayneth finally understood how he had dealings with Aozaki Touko in the original history.

Tokiomi Tohsaka: "It must have been the time he was hit by Emiya Kiritsugu's Origin Round. It seems the injury Lord El-Melloi suffered back then was even more serious than what was shown in the video."

Emiya Kiritsugu: "..."

Darnic: "It seems the work of a Grand-ranked magus is truly not cheap. The payment was not even paid in full at once, and it had to be settled by Lord El-Melloi II."

Rin Tohsaka: "But what is this woman here for? Just to join in the fun?"

Waver: "Perhaps."

【Aozaki Touko really seemed to have just come to join the fun, and she left after a short while.】

【And after this woman left, El-Melloi II was finally able to begin examining Karina's corpse.】

【El-Melloi II first moved the corpse from the spring to the shore and began to examine the wound.】

【"The cause of death is a single strike to the heart, then."】

【Immediately, he discovered an ornament under Karina's clothes, which seemed to be a necklace made of broken stones strung on a rope. The stones were carved with spiral patterns, which seemed to have some magical significance.】

【"It looks like a Celtic amulet, but unfortunately, it did not come in handy."】

【After collecting Karina's body, El-Melloi II went to the Golden Princess's room and conducted a similar investigation.】

【After the investigation was complete, El-Melloi II took Reines and the others to the meadow outside the tower to rest.】

【Reines: "Geez, I thought I was a goner."】

【"Can you not say such discouraging things right after an investigation?"】

【El-Melloi II said with an exhausted face: "I stayed up almost all night last night. After receiving Gray's call, I had to find a substitute teacher first, and then I rushed here, exhausted from the journey."】

【"I could not sleep well on the train, and because I had no transportation, I had to run all the way from Windermere station. After meeting you, I did not even have time to rest before I had to start the investigation immediately, so I hope you acknowledge my efforts."】

Rin Tohsaka: "You really worked hard."

Illya: "I feel tired just listening to it."

Shishigou Kairi: "No wonder his legs were shaking earlier. I thought he was scared of the other Lords."

Waver: "How could that be? I am not that cowardly."

【"Anyway, let's try to organize the situation so far."】

【As he spoke, El-Melloi II lit a cigar and started smoking, as if this could relieve his fatigue.】

【Reines: "Haven't I already told you about the situation of the case?"】

【El-Melloi II: "No, what I want to organize is how the Golden Princess and the Silver Princess obtained such astonishing beauty."】

【"Huh?"】

Caules: "Is he concerned about this as soon as he arrives?"

Fiore: "He is not a woman, after all."

Darnic: "No, this still has a connection to the case. Perhaps we can understand why the Golden Princess was killed from this."

【Reines was stunned for a moment, then said with a hidden knife in her smile: "Wait a minute, Onii-chan, aren't you here to help me find the murderer?"】

【Gray: "Teacher..."】

【El-Melloi II: "Do not misunderstand, this is necessary for the investigation."】

【"Really?"】

【Reines said with a suspicious look.】

【"Forget it, I will trust you for now."】

【Subsequently, El-Melloi II talked about the origin of makeup and plastic surgery, as well as the information he gathered on the way here, which was the news that Izelma had auctioned for Bodhi leaves at the underground auction.】

【However, they still do not know the identity of the Bodhi leaves yet.】

【What made El-Melloi II suspicious was the final transaction price of the auction, which was completely unaffordable for the Izelma family.】

Waver: "This is the support that Heartless gave to Izelma mentioned earlier."

Kayneth: "That guy would never do a losing business. He must have gotten what he wanted from Izelma."

Waver: "But what does the Izelma family have that Heartless could fancy?"

Kayneth: "I have not figured this out either. Could it be the doll manufacturing technology?"

【Mentioning the Bodhi leaves, Reines also remembered the dark-skinned spy, Mic.】

【El-Melloi II suspected that the Izelma family's desire for Bodhi leaves had something to do with the magic used to create the Golden Princess, but it did not match the time he calculated.】

【El-Melloi II deliberately analyzed the Golden Princess's magic just now, actually to test the other party and see if his analysis was wrong. The result was obvious.】

【Time soon reached dusk, and Reines and the others also discovered a new situation.】

【The Twin Towers, which looked like the screams of evil ghosts, actually had shadows that were a sundial and a moon dial.】

【El-Melloi II choosing this place to rest was probably to verify this point.】

【This discovery further confirmed El-Melloi II's conjecture that the time of the spellcasting did not match.】

【Thus, a bold conjecture was born.】

Darnic: "So the entire Twin Towers is a spellcasting ritual? That is a pretty good concept."

Kayneth: "Using sundials and moon dials to attract the power of the sun and moon is a good idea."

Rin Tohsaka: "But why does El-Melloi II keep saying the time is wrong?"

Feng Xi: "Because the moon dial only works on full moon nights. This ritual, built on the prototype of a moon dial, must follow the same principle."