Magician in Type-Moon

Page 161

Putting aside his connection with Ryougi Shiki, and his recent encounters with Matou and Touko, Kokutou Miki is just an extremely ordinary man.

That gentle face still retained the shadow of a boy, and a pair of warm, dark eyes without a trace of impurity.

Just like his personality, his hairstyle was very natural, without any dye or styling gel.

He wore outdated black-rimmed glasses that even elementary school students wouldn't wear nowadays, and his simple clothes were all black.

This uniformity of color is arguably the only fashionable aspect of Kurogiri Kanya.

I need to find something to do.

Kurogiri Mikiya thought to himself.

He's a man who can't stop.

After seeing Matou Ike approach Ryougi Shiki, Kokutou Mikiya had a question lingering in his mind.

It is necessary to ask in person to clarify.

But looking at the empty school corridors, Matouchi was nowhere to be found.

Kurogiri Mikiya was at a loss for what to do.

“Perhaps I could ask Miss Orange…” Mikiya Kurohiri muttered to himself.

—Kurotou Mikiya was thinking about these things when he arrived at the Hall of the Immortals.

Since there was no elevator, Kurogiri Mikiya climbed the stairs to the fourth floor.

As soon as he entered the office, Kaneya saw a fitting figure standing amidst the usual messy surroundings.

She had a cigarette in her mouth and was still dressed in simple clothes.

"Why are you here? Didn't I tell you there haven't been any suicide cases lately? Study hard and come home early. It's been quite dangerous lately."

Orange didn't look at Kurogiri Mikiya; she was carefully examining a stack of documents in her hand.

"Miss Orange, do you know what Matou-senpai has been up to lately?" Kokutou Mikiya asked.

"Huh? Didn't I tell you? You'd better not get involved in what he's doing now. That's not something you can interfere with; you'll die if you do."

Aozaki Touko did not give a direct answer, but instead warned Kokutou Mikiya again.

"But Matou-senpai suddenly transferred to my class, which is a bit troubling for me."

Upon hearing this, Orange put one hand on her hip and slapped the documents in her hand onto her forehead with the other. This kid was really stubborn.

"I forgot about that. He went to your school only because he had an important goal and was connected to the mastermind behind those murders. That has nothing to do with you, does it?"

Orange still didn't take it seriously, but she still explained it to Mikiya Kokutou.

"Is it that person named Ryougi Shiki?"

"...It seems he acted quickly. I thought it would take longer...Yes, what's wrong? What does that Ryougi Shiki have to do with you?"

Hearing Orange's sentiments, Mikiya Kurokiri seized the opportunity to continue asking questions:

"Could you please tell me what the connection is between Ryougi Shiki and those events? Please!"

"Hiss!" The kid's persistent spirit made Orange feel a little troubled, but his eyes had already told her—

Even if it means death, I must find out the truth about this.

"Alright," Orange sighed helplessly, "Do you know the murderer's motive?"

"Motive?" Kanya really couldn't figure it out. In his opinion, Shirai Rio was simply influenced by that so-called magic, which is why she ended up like that.

"Because he likes Ryougi Shiki, his goal in killing is to turn her into a serial killer like himself..."

A voice came from behind the office door; it was Matou Ike, who had disappeared after school.

Matou Ike pushed open the non-existent security door, strode in, and found a seat as if it were his own home.

"Senior, what brings you here?"

"You're not even my employee, don't you know how to knock?"

Two voices, belonging to Kokutou Mikiya and Touko, rang out simultaneously. Matou Ike simply waved his hand, giving a symbolic greeting to the two.

"I don't have anything to do right now, so I came to check on how my custom-made doll is coming along."

"You idiot, a doll can't be made that quickly, unless you just want a defective one."

Orange spoke before Kurogiri Mikiya could, leaving Kurogiri Mikiya to wait and slowly ponder what Matou Ike had said.

"You're a Grand Puppeteer certified by the Clock Tower, and you can't even make a decent doll in a day?" Matou Ike teased. "A defective one isn't unacceptable, but it should be cheaper, right?"

"No way! A discount is impossible, absolutely impossible!" Orange firmly rejected the idea, then, as if remembering something, her expression turned somewhat serious.

"Also, when you mentioned my name just now, were you thinking something unpleasant?"

Aozaki Touko stared intently at Matou Ike, as if she wanted to devour him alive.

"No no..."

Matou Ike suddenly froze.

This is really bad. Spending too much time with that guy Angra Mainyu has made me like to say a few words. Words can be dangerous!

"You've always been like this, how can you blame me?" Angra Mainyu glanced blankly at Matou Ike's inner monologue.

"...Kurotou-kun, is there anything else you want to ask?" Matou Ike chose to steer the conversation toward Kurotou, trying to avoid the questioning from "Red of Pain".

"Senior, I still don't understand why Senior Bai Chun turned Shiki into a serial killer? What does this have to do with Bai Chun liking Shiki?"

Gan still couldn't understand this.

"That's a long story. You should know that behind Shiro Jun Rio is a magician like me and Touko, right?" Matou Ike said with a smile.

Kurogiri Kanya nodded, waiting for Matou Ike's next move.

"What he and Shiro have in common is that their goal is Ryougi Shiki. For some reason, after Shiro Rio was rejected by Ryougi Shiki, he met that magician and used magic to activate something called Origin."

Matou Ike paused, picked up the unopened juice next to him, took a sip, and continued:

“You might not understand the word ‘origin’ right now, but you can think of it as one of the main reasons for those missing persons cases.”

"Missing case?" Kokutou Mikiya clearly realized that Matou Ike was narrating the murder case and the missing person case separately, but were these two things not done by the same person?

"Yes, you can understand missing persons cases as originating from the source, but the main motive for murder cases is..."

Matou Ike took another sip of juice, completely ignoring Aozaki Touko, whose eyes were already blazing with fury beside her.

This juice was squeezed out of Orange's already precarious finances like toothpaste.

"Is it the style?" Kurogiri Mikiya's voice was somewhat dejected.

"You could say that, because Ryougi Shiki is a special person, and she has a special significance in the field of magic."

Matou Ike smiled and casually tossed the empty juice bottle into the nearby trash can.

Luckily he threw it in, otherwise...

"Special meaning?" Gan ignored the subtle exchanges between Kiriichi and Touko and continued to press for an answer.

"When a child of the Liangyi family is born, he or she is given two names with the same pronunciation. One is a masculine name and the other is a feminine name."

"As for why this is done, it's because children of the Ryougi family have a high chance of being born with dissociative identity disorder, commonly known as dual personality disorder."

"Kanya, you must have noticed when you were talking to Ryougi Shiki, right? Sometimes she suddenly starts talking like a boy."

Matou Ike spoke very quickly, but Kokutou Mikiya heard every single word clearly.

"Yes, that's true..."

"Yes, this is a specific person created by the Ryougi family over countless years. Although it seems to be free from the interference of magic, the final effect it achieves is the ultimate pursuit of magicians—the root."

Matou Ike noticed that Kokutou Mikiya was also a little confused, but signaled him to be quiet and wait until he finished speaking.

"And that's why the magician behind Shiroi Rio set his sights on Ryougi Shiki, wanting to achieve his own goals through her."

"So, more than half a month ago, he found Shirai Jun Rio, who committed his first murder, and activated the Origin for him, which led to this series of murders."

Even Orange was somewhat surprised when she said this.

Is this guy really that good at investigations?

Based on the information she had, she only knew that the Ryougi family wanted to create a perfect person, but not as clearly as Matou Ike had said.

Seeing Orange's expression, Matou Ike understood what she was thinking.

An investigation? Although it has been ongoing, it has only been about investigating missing persons and murders, as well as the locations where monsters hide.

These things were simply because he knew about them in advance.

Thinking of this, Matou Ike suddenly realized.

It seems that since the Holy Grail War ended, the memories of my past life have become much clearer, though I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

"But what does this have to do with Ryougi Shiki, senpai?" Kokutou Mikiya finally couldn't help but ask.

“Because the current Ryougi Shiki is incomplete for that magician.” Matou Ike paused. “In other words, what that magician wants is the Ryougi Shiki with its origin awakened.”

Matou Ike paused, seemingly pondering how to describe it to Kokutou Mikiya.

"But because of the difference between Ryougi Shiki, the method he used was naturally not as brutal as the one he used on Shiro Junri – directly using the Awakening Origin Technique."

"Regarding Ryougi Shiki's awakening, that guy used a relatively gentle method, using real-world events to stimulate Ryougi Shiki's spiritual body, using emotional impact to make Ryougi Shiki awaken her origin on her own."

"How could this be?" Kurogiri Kanya exclaimed in surprise, and after saying this, he understood more or less.

"Wait, let me finish. According to my recent investigation, Ryougi Shiki has a personality that is a serial killer. To the best of my knowledge, he has no actual experience in carrying out such acts, yet he craves to kill humans, his fellow beings."

"But Ryougi Shiki herself has always restrained herself from doing this. Since she has taken the initiative to restrain herself, there must be a reason. Just imagine what would happen if Ryougi Shiki had actually done this."

Matou Ike said with a smile, but Kokutou Mikiya was already stunned:

"She told me that a person can only kill once in their lifetime, and that it would break her..."

"Bingo, you got it right, but there's no reward." Matou Ike glanced at Aozaki Touko and noticed that she was listening attentively as well.

"Let's think about this further: what if a serial killer keeps killing in front of a potential serial killer? If you were that potential serial killer, and someone died in front of you every day..."

Before Matou Ike could finish speaking, he saw Kokutou Mikiya squat down and hug his head; this guy was completely immersed in the role.

"I'd probably go crazy wanting to kill people, if it were me," Aozaki Touko interjected, then glanced at Matou and continued:

"So this is the purpose of that chess piece named Shirasumi Rio?"