Deduction
"What do you think?"
"Huh?"
I was surprised when I was suddenly asked to speak.
"I’m saying what do you think about this experiment."
Kazuhiro and I were in the art room at the far end of the second floor.
"I’m scared…"
"I’m not asking that kind of thing. I’m asking whether you think Suguru Anzai really exist."
"Why are you asking that to me?"
"Don’t you think I’m not noticed? I know you are smart enough when others said that when Shota died, you were the only one who kept your cool and led Risa and the others into the woods. You've been hiding it all this time because you don't want to stand out. Isn’t it?"
"I never thought I was smart."
"Well, I won't say anything if you deny it, but right now I want to hear your opinion. Do you really think this experiment is being run by a mysterious guy named Suguru Anzai?"
I sighed and shook my head.
"At least, I don't think it is a stranger from outside. The culprit is probably someone who is usually at this school. I still don't know if they are students, teachers, or even security guards."
"I agree, probably someone we know. To avoid suspicion, he or she set up a scapegoat called Suguru Anzai."
"To say the exact number of students and teachers remaining in a status report announcement, the culprit would have to be watching the activities of people in the school at all times via surveillance cameras or something. That means he or she has to be hidden somewhere. The fact that we have searched every single room in every single corner and have not been able to find even the trace of the culprit at all makes it most likely that the culprit is hiding either in a hidden room like we found before, or by sending the surveillance camera images to a computer or other device in real time and checking in the schoolyard. It's hard to find a place like that where no one can find the culprit unless he or she is in and out of this school on a regular basis."
"That’s right. That is why I went to the security office and checked the school's comings and goings for the past few days, but couldn't find anyone suspicious. Of course, there is no corpse of the guard."
"The most suspicious place for the culprit to hide was that hidden room at the back of the broadcast room. But…"
"That is a fake."
"I think so too. If the content of experiment is broadcasted every time, it looks like the culprit is purposefully appealing that he or she is there. Then there's always the possibility that someone will go into the broadcast room and find that hidden room."
"Yes. We can move freely like this now, but in the next experiment, we may not have time to take such a leisurely pace. I think it's better to deduce and find the culprit while our action isn’t restricted."
"Yes, I agree. But…"
"You don't want to doubt anyone?"
Kazuhiro read my mind.
"Yeah. Suspect each other, break up the relationship, and isolate each other completely. That seems like one of the culprit’s goals."
"I see. Isolate us more and more, make us desperate, and make the probability of human victory in the experiments as low as possible. Then eventually, humans will extinct…"
"I’m naive, isn’t it? I'm the only one pretending to be a good guy when so many people have already died."
"No. That feeling is the last thing we can resist the killer. You've survived all the experiments until this point and you're still rational. Remember, that mentality is your strength."
Kazuhiro opened the door of the art room.
"I believe you. That’s why I’m sharing my opinion to you. So who do you think is the culprit?"
"I have no idea who it is, but what I do know now is that all five of us are capable of this crime."
"Okay, it's true that Keisuke and I were on our own, away from you guys, during the second experiment. There was plenty of time to sneak out of the hidden room or computer somewhere to look at the surveillance footage and tape-record a status report, the guard's death, and the details of the third experiment. But I thought Minami and Risa were with you the whole time then."
"Yes. But Minami went to look for Shōta about ten minutes before the experiment was over and didn't show up until we got the email about the violator."
"However, I'm not sure she can do all the processes in such a short time."
"But what if there was more than one culprit?"
"True…"
Kazuhiro's face clouded slightly.
"But it's much more likely that the culprit is a middle school student or a teacher…"
Before I could finish my story, Kazuhiro whispered something.
"I got it. I will be careful from now on."
We began to walk up the stairs to the third floor.
"Oh my god…"
The third floor was covered in red flowers, with humans and clones lying here and there like art objects.
"A human tries to kill a clone and gets stabbed in reverse…"
"I can only assume that's the case. This game ain't about killing each other, so there shouldn't be any killing unless the clones are attacked by humans."
"If this keeps going, Minami and others will also…"
"Yeah, Risa and Keisuke saw a parent kill her own child once, so I don't think they'll be so easily get manipulated, but Minami…"
Kazuhiro kept his mouth shut in middle of conversation.
"If she stays here for a long time…"
"She might lose her mind."
We both finished one sentence together.
"Let’s find her."
We began to walk down the death-scented wedding aisle.
