Fairy Tail: I Am the God

Simply relying on logical reasoning to execute a plan is not 100% effective.

No, no.

There must be something I've overlooked.

With these thoughts in mind, the old butler disappeared from the kitchen again and reappeared on the living room sofa. He picked up his teacup again and fell into deep thought once more.

Zhao Rui's information began to run through the old housekeeper's mind. Of course, it wasn't Zhao Rui's information in the real world, but rather what Zhao Rui saw in this manor through the old housekeeper's eyes and ears.

Suddenly, as if he had just remembered something, the old butler appeared on the roof.

The string was still there, one end on the roof, and the other end hanging down from the eaves to the window of Zhao Rui's room.

The old butler squatted down in front of the string. He didn't reach out to touch it; that wasn't allowed. His curiosity could only be satisfied without compromising the fairness of the game.

For example, his appearance....

It will not have any taste.

There will be no footprints.

There will be no flipping or moving.

As the old butler's gaze fell upon the string, he noticed some burn marks on a section of it, most notably at the end where the string drooped.

Something burned on it.

The old butler continued to observe, now experiencing a kind of thrill as an audience member actively solving a mystery, even if this thrill could only satisfy himself.

It turns out that's the case.

The old butler stood up; he finally understood what Shinichi Kudo's true purpose was in leaving this evidence.

And so, this image came to mind for the old butler...

Shinichi Kudo placed the strings to one side, tied a string to the bottom of the strings, and then smeared a kind of kerosene-like accelerant on the string.

Shinichi Kudo stands in his room, or some other secluded place, lifts the strings of his violin, lights the string underneath, and watches it slowly burn.

Simultaneously.

The burning of the rope, with the fire rising upwards, also blackened the end of the strings.

That is, when Zhao Rui discovered that Lucy had come down from the roof, she leaned out of the window and threw the high-quality guitar strings onto the roof.

A string was tied to the end of the string beforehand. Zhao Rui could adjust the angle of the string by pulling on the string from the window below, with one end hanging down towards her window.

Later, due to the height issue, Zhao Rui chose to burn off the rope that had been coated with a kerosene-like accelerant, as rainwater could not extinguish the flames of burning kerosene.

She didn't need to risk going through the other people's rooms to get to the roof; it was raining outside, and Lucy could have quietly returned to her room from the roof to change her clothes.

Calmly control the zombies to attack Shinichi Kudo

However, Zhao Rui didn't have time. She couldn't go up to the roof to set up the strings first, then come down to change her clothes, and then rush to the kitchen to detonate the gas canister while Lucy was attacking Shinichi Kudo.

If the old butler hadn't known from the beginning that Shinichi Kudo was the culprit, this evidence alone would have left him with no room for rebuttal.

Chapter 866 The Final Victor

"Did he already know Zhao Rui's identity?"

The old butler muttered to himself, "Following this logic, Zhao Rui knew what Lucy was doing and used her to create this chaotic situation."

Then, by using the false evidence he himself had set up, he made others believe that the murderer was still alive!

"Shinichi Kudo probably didn't anticipate Lucy's zombie attack, but he already knew what Lucy was doing on the roof. After being attacked by zombies, he was actually able to choose this kind of arrangement in such a short time..."

The old steward suddenly felt a pang of emotion. If the other five survivors lost under such circumstances, it wouldn't be such a regret.

……

The matter has come full circle.

We've come back to the issue of Zhao Rui's suicide.

This time, even Montari couldn't refute anything. The reason he initially overturned the theory that Zhao Rui committed suicide was because the evidence of the string was too fake.

However, if we extrapolate based on the evidence from that string, and also consider everyone's performance and division of labor in this investigation, it becomes a complete paradox.

If Zhao Rui placed that string there, then everything seems to make sense.

She did it on purpose.

This will prevent people from believing that she committed suicide!

"Zhao Rui, what is her identity? Do you have any clues?" Shinichi Kudo asked at this moment. "To dare to come downstairs alone for a late-night snack, she really isn't afraid of death."

“She is a light-elemental mage, her real name is Prina, and I know her in the real world,” Diana said at this moment. “She changed her appearance and transformed herself into an oriental woman.”

"So, Zhao Rui, oh no, Prina's room is next to Lucy's room, and the two of them sit opposite each other when they eat, which is very close."

Do you think... Prina already knew what Lucy was doing?

Is she a light-elemental mage?

"Even ordinary people should be very sensitive to things like zombies, right?" Chen Ming said.

“No, Zhao Rui didn’t have time to run up to fix the strings after Lucy came down from the roof, then change her clothes and go to the kitchen to cause the explosion and commit suicide.”

"There's actually less than half an hour in there. Adding our reaction time and time to prevent accidents, there's only about ten minutes of real blank time. She doesn't have enough time, and she doesn't dare gamble on those ten minutes!"

Montari said to Xu Gang, "Go, go and take down the strings from the roof!"

Seemingly because Montari's previous performance was truly impressive, Xu Gang actually obeyed and got up to run towards the stairs.

Shinichi Kudo, however, looked at Montari with an unchanging expression.

……

"Alright, time's up. Now, let's vote. When I ask you who you think the murderer is, you must give me an answer, and that answer cannot be changed."

The old butler said solemnly.

Everyone nodded in unison. This rule had already been made clear to everyone when they voted for Kidd the first time. Although there was no electronic voting button, the old butler was the rule here.

The old housekeeper stood in front of Xu Gang first, and Xu Gang replied, "Zhao Rui."

The old butler walked up to Diana, and Diana replied, "Zhao Rui."

The old housekeeper walked up to Chen Ming, who replied, "Zhao Rui."

The old butler walked up to Lucy, and Lucy replied, "Zhao Rui."

The old butler walked up to Montari, who was still hesitating. The black marks on the strings were very clear. Even though all the evidence and logic pointed to Zhao Rui's suicide, Montari still felt something was off.

It's a kind of intuition, or you could call it a sixth sense.

He didn't answer, but looked at Shinichi Kudo.

At that moment, Shinichi Kudo reached for the teapot on the coffee table, poured himself a cup of tea, took a sip, and said:

"Zhao Yi."

Shinichi Kudo was the first to give his answer; he voted for himself because at this point, it didn't matter anymore. All four people had voted for Zhao Rui, and the situation was irreversible.

Lucy glared angrily at Shinichi Kudo, Diana seemed drained of all her strength, Chen Ming gave an awkward smile, and Xu Gang clutched his head.

Montari remarked with some emotion, "Is this the wisdom and strategy of advanced reincarnators?"

"That's hard to say, like that guy who got voted out in the first round." Shinichi Kudo felt no pressure to put down Kid at this moment.

"Yes, I accept my defeat wholeheartedly." Montari was quite accepting of the outcome, because the result was already decided.

Moreover, Montari is a smart man after all. He wouldn't be like that woman Lucy, who first plotted to kill Shinichi Kudo and now shows this kind of anger.

Shinichi Kudo didn't feel the elation of a victor; in fact, he could understand the feeling Kid had in this game.

Rather than saying that Kid's excessive self-inflation and unnecessary actions led Shinichi Kudo to find evidence of his crimes, it's more accurate to say that Kid was using another method to express his disdain for playing games with these narrow-minded pseudo-reincarnations.

Now that Shinichi Kudo is the victor, he can naturally and irresponsibly label Kid with all sorts of "philosophical" tags.

that's it,

Shinichi Kudo sat on the sofa, watching the old butler force Lucy, Montari, Diana, Xu Gang, and Chen Ming into the wall one by one.

"I watched him build a magnificent mansion, I watched him host lavish banquets, and I watched his mansion collapse." This line from "The Peach Blossom Fan" suddenly came to Shinichi Kudo's mind.

Rational reasoning and bloody, brutal punishment alternate constantly in this scene; the former sets the stage for the latter, and the latter enhances the former, creating a contrast in emotion and pacing.

It seems to fit the storytelling that this false god seeks, or rather, the aesthetics of the false god.

Shinichi Kudo poured himself another cup of tea, and then poured one for the old butler who had finished his work.

The old butler picked up his teacup and took a sip.

"Do I also need to be squeezed in?" Shinichi Kudo asked, pointing to himself.

“No, didn’t you find that door?” the old butler said to Shinichi Kudo. “As the winner of the game, you deserve some preferential treatment.”

"Thank you."

"You're too kind." The old butler sat down opposite Shinichi Kudo, examining him as if he were an antique.

Shinichi Kudo possessed greater courage and more meticulous calculations than the other participants in the game.

Of course, luck played a part too; for example, even Kudo himself didn't expect to be attacked by zombies that night when he was about to kill Zhao Rui.