Not a detective

Page 206

In real-world investigations, one must confront a multitude of useless distractions. Even if suspicious points are discovered, they may not necessarily be helpful to the investigation, and could even be deliberate misdirection by the perpetrator.

But under the influence of the "blue text," any attack will become a fatal blow.

"Yes, this is the ultimate application of 'Occam's Razor,' an absolute simplification process where there can be no useless entities. Isn't that interesting?"

Asukai Shi opened her arms wide: "So—"

[Blue text: The murderer escaped through this door using a mechanical method such as fishing line. Therefore, I need the list of victims to be received today.]

[Red text: Today's guest list is the same as before: wife, servant, doctor; no one else has come or gone.]

Asakawa Riku's expression remained calm.

It's okay, yes, it's okay if it only goes this far.

Rather, the current flaw is just right; if Shii Asukai continues to think along these lines, she will fall into an even deeper trap.

"Come on, choose an answer and describe his method."

"...Senior, you seem to be in a hurry."

Asukai Shi's lips curved into a beautiful smile: "However, my answer is—"

She picked up the piece of paper, but the section for the murderer was completely blank.

【murderer:--】

"The murderer is not one of the three of them."

"……what?"

Asakawa Riku frowned: "I should have made myself very clear. Today's guest list only includes my wife, servants, and doctor."

"But that's only for today, right? What about yesterday's guest list? Can you provide it, senior?"

Asukai Shi smiled and stared at her: "Or, can you write the words 'The murderer must be among them' in scarlet letters?"

Riku Asakawa gritted his teeth.

This kid is good-looking, but his tone is getting more and more irritating.

“I can provide this.”

[Red text: The autopsy revealed that the victim died today.]

This is a genuine clue that was given last time.

"This is also a classic word trap. The autopsy report does not represent complete truth. If we remove this prefix, will it still have the same effect?"

Asukai Shi was not deterred by the simple railing, but continued to stride forward:

"This can only mean that the murderer misled the autopsy results. For example, the simplest method would be to alter the body's temperature. Let me guess—"

[Blue text: This room has an external temperature control system. The murderer pressed the knob beforehand to lower the temperature during the crime, thus deceiving the autopsy's determination of the time of death.]

"no……"

Asakawa Riku, who had intended to maintain a serious atmosphere, couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"A regular air conditioner can't preserve a body, this isn't a freezer, who would convert their room into a refrigeration facility like this?"

"Oh? I thought this was a cyberpunk world. Isn't this level of modification normal? ... Okay, no need to write it in red."

She suddenly reached out and grabbed Asakawa Riku's hand, which was about to write.

Under Asakawa Riku's surprised gaze, her smile was confident and firm: "It's okay, I have other answers."

Asukai Shi snatched the paper away and began writing in blue before the red pen could even touch the ground:

[The killer: A person with the superpower to manipulate temperature and freeze liquids.]

[Method: The killer entered the room 8 hours in advance, before morning and before midnight, just in time to avoid the "today" restriction. After entering the room, the killer cut their palm to release blood, which congealed in the air into a serrated blood blade. This blade was used to kill the victim and dismember the body. As the blood splattered, the killer simultaneously manipulated the blood mist to condense into a thin ice-like shield, preventing blood from staining their clothing. Upon leaving, the killer used blood to form fine threads that hooked onto the doorknob from the outside, locking the door from the inside. The blood threads were then manipulated to dissolve into water droplets that dripped into the door cracks. After leaving, the killer remotely activated their ability to rapidly freeze the room, putting the body into a "low-temperature stasis" state. The body only began to decompose again at room temperature after thawing this morning. The forensic pathologist, based on the degree of rigor mortis and the stage of digestion of the stomach contents, misjudged the time of death as later than it actually was. At this point, the killer may have been creating an alibi outside, and the three individuals inside the mansion were mistakenly identified as suspects. Also, if you don't like the old-fashioned fishing line method for locking the door, you can use the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the room during the thawing process to close the door automatically without any assistance.]

Tamamo no Spring: Chapter Fourteen - Quick Decryption

"Isn't that superpower a bit too exaggerated?"

Asakawa Riku immediately retorted, "With such a superpower, couldn't you just freeze people to death remotely? Why go through all this trouble to go in and kill them?"

"Then we can't dismember the body, right?"

Asukai Shi smiled and retorted, "If there can be high-tech prosthetic freaks, then of course there can be superpowered people, right? The scarlet rule is that anything not prohibited by law is permissible."

Yes, just like without specifying the historical context, this world could be a cyberpunk future or a world where superpowers exist.

"But wouldn't that mean the murderer completed the crime a day early, leaving a dismembered body in the room, and then the wife, servant, and doctor went in one after another without any of them showing any unusual reaction or calling the police? The wife greeted the body parts, the servant brought food to the body parts, and the doctor examined the body parts?"

Asakawa Riku was both amused and exasperated; the scene seemed absurd, didn't it?

"So, it's just a word game. The NPCs just need to follow the rules. There's no need to try or think for themselves."

Asu, however, was already prepared for this and replied naturally, "Just as I said, this is the best application of Occam's Razor."

The so-called Occam's razor was proposed by William Ockham, a 14th-century English logician and Franciscan friar.

In short, it can be summarized in one sentence: "Entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily."

In layman's terms, when faced with multiple theories that can explain the same phenomenon, one should prioritize the one with the fewest assumptions and the simplest logic.

She explained:

"If two theories have the same explanatory power for a phenomenon, the one that relies on fewer assumptions, fewer concepts, or fewer steps should be chosen. More complex explanations usually require more evidence, while simplicity is often closer to the truth. People often regard Occam's razor as the truth, but it is actually a logical tool, not a rule for determining truth. It helps people to select better solutions under the same conditions, but ultimately still needs to be verified empirically. For example, Einstein's theory of relativity is more complex than Newtonian mechanics, but it is accepted because it can explain more phenomena."

The essence of Occam's razor is to pursue logical economy, encouraging people to think about problems in the most direct way and avoid being disturbed by unnecessary assumptions.

"Senior, your trick is based on this kind of deception, isn't it? Because most people would call the police if they saw a corpse. The wife, servant, and doctor entered the room one after another. According to common sense, only the doctor is a possible perpetrator. If the wife had committed the crime, the servant and doctor would have called the police if they saw the corpse. If the servant had committed the crime, the doctor would have called the police if they saw the corpse. Therefore, the murderer can only be the doctor who entered the room last. This is the way of thinking in common sense, and it's what you're trying to mislead me about."

Asukai Shi spoke eloquently: "But this is a [detective game], not a real-life case investigation. If you think that way, you've already lost. The NPCs here might not react at all."

As long as the "blue text" has not been explored, and as long as the "red text" has not been fixed, there are infinitely possible superposition states.

"As for why these three people weren't surprised or called the police, there's really no need to discuss that. But if you really want to know, you can give an explanation. For example, the wife might have been hoping the rich man was dead because of the inheritance, the servant might have developed resentment from long-term service and exploitation, and the doctor might not be disabled but suffer from dementia and be unable to recognize corpses and living people... Senior, your trick is brilliant. You can come up with as many reasons as you want. These issues don't affect the core of the trick, as long as they hold water."

She finished her long speech with a smile.

Although Asakawa Riku was the one being praised, he was completely convinced.

His acting skills faded, replaced by a helpless smile:

"You're the one who's really good; you won this round."

Yes, Asu's reasoning wasn't entirely accurate, but it was close. The method she described was almost 90% the same as Asakawa Riku's prediction.

This is already incredibly terrifying; even Asakawa Riku couldn't imagine how she could be so accurate.

The answer this time is: [a crime committed by someone with superpowers].

It's not hard to see that the puzzles and murderers set up by Asakawa Riku all have "prototypes." For example, the "prosthetic limb monster" at the beginning was naturally Chizuko-senpai. He originally wanted to use her "ghostly wall-walking" ability to create a locked room, but then he thought that would be too cheating and not good enough. Besides, high-tech prosthetics are already outrageous enough.

Unexpectedly, the puzzle in the first round was solved very quickly, which made Asakawa Riku feel a bit challenged, so he raised the difficulty level.

I happened to go home last night and saw Xuehui, which gave me the inspiration.

He used the abilities of "Yuki" and "Hoshino" as prototypes to create a murderer who could adjust temperature and control liquids, which is absurd and imaginative enough.

Unexpectedly, it was solved again...?

"Asui-san, may I ask, how exactly did you come up with the idea of ​​'superpowers'?"

Asakawa Riku approached Asukai Shi, staring at her suspiciously.

He admitted that he set the question with a somewhat "difficult" mindset, and was prepared that the other party would not be able to answer it.

How could an ordinary detective or a typical mystery novelist possibly solve a case using superpowers? It's simply an impossible task.

Just like how Asu Asai Shi still came in first place in an extremely difficult entrance exam, she once again created an impossible miracle.

That's impossible, unless... she knew about the world of superpowers from the beginning.

Therefore, this mystery was also a test deliberately set by Asakawa Riku, who wanted to know if there was really a secret hidden behind this girl.

"...It's very simple."

However, the girl remained unusually calm in the face of his questioning.

Instead of backing down, she moved a little closer.

Their noses almost touched, maintaining a tiny gap between them as they looked at each other from above and below.

With a fox-like smile, she gave her answer without any surprise:

"Senior, didn't you suspect that I had the superpower of mind reading? It was at that time that I came to know the concept of superpowers. Everyone's common sense is different, but people always subconsciously say things within their common sense. So from your words, senior, I learned that superpowers exist. That's all."

Tamamo no Haru: Chapter Fifteen - Final Preparations

"……What!"

Asakawa Riku was taken aback; he was the first to concede defeat in the face of their staring contest.

I never expected... it was in that casual remark?

Surprisingly, it was from there that Shii Asukai began to utilize it, using it as the final weapon to solve the problem...

Asakawa Riku felt as if he had been hit on the head by a boomerang he had thrown, and it hurt terribly.

He sat back down and quietly contemplated life.

Was I... manipulated by Shimi Asui from the very beginning?

Perhaps so. For the first time, I felt a more profound sense of "oppression" from her than from Chizuko-senpai and Shinonome Suetsuki.

This doesn't mean she's stronger than the other two, because the three of them haven't officially clashed, and no one can say for sure who will win.

However, no matter how much the senior student disguises herself as a wolf in sheep's clothing, and no matter how absurd the detective acts, both of them can at least see the "human" side.

Shii Asukai, on the other hand, was completely different; there was no trace of "authenticity" in her.

All that could be seen was a thick fog; there was no way to catch her fox's tail.

The woman is shrouded in mystery; perhaps it's only the first time the two have met, and they haven't had a chance to get to know her properly yet?

"Eh... Senior, is that it? I was just getting into it! The last trick was amazing enough. Think of another one, senior, let's play one more round~"

Moreover, this guy's provocative tone was just too irritating.

That's the main reason.

Asakawa Riku took a deep breath to stay calm. He felt that all the martial arts skills he had cultivated over the years were about to be destroyed by this guy.

Then, he slowly opened his eyes: "The final round."

"……Eh?"

Asukai Shi made a victory sign: "Really? Great!"

Asakawa Riku tore open a new sheet of paper once again.

We need to teach this girl a lesson and show her who the president of the mystery club really is.

"Come back tomorrow, I'm going to get serious now."

...

"What... you want me to set a question? You want me to set a question?"

"No, this is my battle."

When faced with Shinonome Suetsuki's request, Asakawa Riku decisively refused.

Miss Detective is a very playful person, like a "naughty child" who never grows up, and she hasn't changed at all even now that she's a billionaire.

This was evident as early as last fall; she enjoyed even the simple, playful games of wits that students played at school.

Today was no exception. When Asakawa Riku talked to her about the "Red and Blue Detective Game", her eyes lit up.

She even pestered him to come up with a question.

But Asakawa Riku's idea was the same as last time: he would not rely on his senior or her; he would defeat Asukai Shi on his own.

"If you want to play, just go and challenge her yourself. I'm not going to be your messenger."

"...Never mind then, I'm too lazy to go out."

Want to know.