Walking in the Question and Answer System of Heroic Spirits

Chapter 259 - The Mystery is Solved!

[Grey: "Death cannot be concealed..."]

In the first round, Fernando, the Skeleton King, or rather, the mother who gave her body, died.

Does this mean that this is the only fact that, even if it recurs, cannot be concealed?

[This is why Fernand's corpse appeared so abruptly, and why the Skeleton King died after obtaining Magdalena's body. Perhaps, in their dying moments, everyone witnessed their own alter ego.]

[Second Generation: "Well then, let's get to the conclusion."]

"As I mentioned earlier, a solitary spirit cannot maintain its original form for so long in the real world. Sir Kay was able to maintain his form because of the presence of Ad as the main body, and normally it wouldn't last even a whole day. However, the Skeleton King said that she awoke ten years ago, around the same time that Gray began to transform into King Arthur's body."

As if he had expected this, the Second King looked at the location of the Skeleton King's corpse and asked, "So, how did you maintain your existence?"

[Kai: "Hey, what's going on here?"]

[Without anyone noticing, the corpse of the Skeleton King actually stood up.]

Rin Tohsaka: "Holy crap! He's come back to life!"

Lion's Tribulation Realm: "Could it be that the fusion was successful?"

Kenneth: "No, death is irreversible. She did indeed return to the situation in the first round and died."

[Second King: "Skeleton King, no, that name no longer suits you. The reborn you is neither Magdalena nor the spirit of King Arthur, but the entity that draws heavily from the underground source to perform calculations."]

"You are Logos React!"

Kenneth: "What! A rational reaction!"

Weber: "Teacher, what is that?"

Kenneth: "...The Rational Reaction, one of the seven great weapons of the Atlas Institute, is said to be able to generate a limited observation space based on input conditions and conduct hypothetical experiments."

Kenneth: "I see. I should have realized it sooner. This isn't the past at all, but a scene space generated by the reaction of reason and law!"

Rin Tohsaka: "So, everyone else, including Trimmau, is a fake!"

Kenneth: "...That's right."

Although I'm very unwilling, this is the truth.

Their El-Melloi family's supreme formal attire is something that anyone can easily fake.

Tokiomi Tohsaka: "This is the power of the Atlas Institute."

[Kay: "Huh? Those weapons from the Atlas Institute are actually people?"]

[The Second Shinobi stared at the Reaction of Reason and said, "There are some differences. To be precise, she is the Reaction of Reason's own avatar in this world."]

"The Seven Weapons of Atlas possess the power to replicate the spirit of King Arthur. After all, they were created to save humanity from extinction, yet they ultimately lead to the destruction of the world."

【"..."】

[The Skeleton King, no, it should be said that the Law of Reason did not speak.]

[Unbeknownst to her, her face had become as hazy as Kai's.]

[Second King: "Yes, this is neither the past nor the Loop. That's why the recurrence can only continue until the moment of the Skeleton King's death is confirmed."]

"What kind of world is it where death is both the beginning and the end, where the past repeats itself endlessly? The answer is obvious."

"This is the graveyard, the smallest afterlife calculated by the laws of reason!"

In an instant, as if a heavenly secret had been revealed, the noise intensified, becoming almost deafening.

[The Second King proclaimed loudly: "Listen up, Atlas Academy! I have solved the mystery, and summer is over! Now, show yourself, Tsbia Eltnam Atlasia!"]

This sentence cleaved the world in two; everything vanished without a trace in an instant.

The swamp, the temple, the grandmother, the villagers, Belsak, Trimmau, Ilumia—all vanished. Only Tsbia remained, standing there with utter naturalness.

Rin Tohsaka: "They escaped!"

Kenneth: "Hmph, although the mystery of the death of the Skeleton King has been solved, this matter is not over yet."

Kiritsugu Emiya: "That's right, Tsbia. What exactly is this guy's purpose? He's spent half a year here just to make the Second Prince figure out the truth back then?"

Tokiomi Tohsaka: "And where did everyone else in the village go?"

Weber: "Indeed, there are still a lot of questions that haven't been answered."

The three individuals found themselves in a strange space, dimly lit and hazy. Many crystal balls floated in mid-air, and the ground emanated an inexplicable sensation that was neither soil, metal, nor resin.

[Tsbia: "Congratulations, you've found the answer, Lord El-Melloi II."]

[Kay: "Sigh, even I got dragged here? Since the main focus is on Yad, it's understandable, but aren't you going a bit too far by making me do all this work for free? This amount of work used to be enough to buy me a territory. Ah, no, once I got that kind of thing, I'd just not have time to chase after women."]

Seeing that Kai was still there, Gray couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, instinctively tightening her grip on the large scythe.

The Second Prince stared at the other man and said in a deep voice, "Tsbia, does this mean that my answer just now was the correct answer to the riddle you posed?"

[Tsbia: "That's not a problem. In modern terms, wouldn't you say it's like beating a game?"]

"You engaged with the law of reason, unraveled the mysteries it created, and actively allowed that world to expel you. Your performance was remarkable."

"Ah, setting aside the Skeleton King as the subject of rational reaction, if we include external humans who have already deciphered the world's structure in the recreation, a paradox will arise."

[Second Generation: "So, you're not in that world either."]

[Tsbia: "That's exactly right in principle."]

[Grey: "Teacher, where is Miss Trimmau?"]

[Second King: "That Trimmau is merely a product of the recalculation of the Trimmau left behind by Reines in the first round by the Law Reaction. The real Trimmau should be taking care of Reines and brewing black tea right now."]

Grey breathed a sigh of relief at the Second Prince's answer, but at the same time, new doubts arose.

[What about Belsac and Illumia? What about the rest of the village? And what about Fernand and his mother, who were mentioned as having "died in the first round"...]

【"teacher!"】

Just then, footsteps sounded behind them; it was Flat and Sven.

[Flatter: "I just felt the teacher could do it!"]

[Sfen: "Flatter, you're so nagging! A teacher can't possibly make a mistake! Worrying about this is rude! Even without your meddling, a teacher could easily solve this little problem!"]

[Flatter: "Ah! But it was you, dog, who suggested we have to help the professor! And you even had that look on your face like a stray puppy being abandoned in the rain!"]

[Sphinx: "Our teacher taught us magicians to always have a backup plan, and I was just following that! Besides, it has nothing to do with facial expressions!"]

Shizi Jieli: "The appearance of these two always eases the atmosphere a bit."

Weber: "What a pair of clowns!"

Watching the two bickering, Tsbia smiled faintly and said, "Looks like you have two good students. How enviable."

[Second Generation: "Yes, I feel the same way."]

[Tsbia: "So, as the one who finds the answer, what do you wish to ask of me, Your Excellency El-Melloi II? For example, the whereabouts of Hatteres? Or do you hope that I will reveal the Atlas Academy's knowledge of the Holy Grail War?"]

[Second Generation: "No, I haven't found anything yet. The mystery I should be finding is further ahead."]

The moment those words were spoken, the air seemed to change color.

[Tsbia: "...Oh, you mean the mystery lies further ahead?"]

[Second Generation: "Exactly. I'm not playing word games. What's the point of simply saying that the second round isn't the past but a grave? The essence lies further ahead. Yes, since it's a grave, then whose grave is it that matters?"]

For a fleeting moment, Tsbia instinctively froze.

[Second Generation: "And why did you so hastily bring up our rights?"]

[Tsbya: "...Is it really that unbelievable?"]

[Second Generation: "Yes, because you won't do anything unnecessary. Although you may talk about topics we can't understand, it's simply because we're not yet capable of processing that information. Why would someone like you stay in this village?"]

[Tsbia: "Is that so strange?"]

[The Second: "I've found it strange from the beginning. As you said before, with the technology of the Atlas Institute, you can issue orders from anywhere in the world. And, putting aside the other members, as the Dean, you don't need to abide by the Atlas Institute's rules of staying indoors. However, that's not the reason you deliberately came to this village."]

Kenneth: "Indeed, being able to do something doesn't mean there's a reason to do it. Even if this village really does possess one of the Seven Great Weapons, it's not a reason for a dean to personally intervene at this time, let alone stay for more than half a year."

Tokiomi Tohsaka: "Unless, there is another purpose."

Lion Jie Li: "Or perhaps we're overthinking it, and he's just simply bored."

[Second Generation: "This case is too convoluted. Did you really send us into the second round? No, that wasn't your doing; you just knew things would turn out that way. However, you probably wouldn't admit to drawing conclusions based solely on this one incident. So, please allow me to first summarize the first round."]

"Sir Kay."

[Kai: "Oh dear, why are you calling me at this time?"]

"I didn't expect to be called upon during the magician's boring conversation. It's not too late, though. If possible, I'd like to get out of here quickly, but what exactly do you want?"

[Second Generation: "Although it should be correct, just to be on the safe side, I want to confirm. You inherited Ad's memories, didn't you?"]

Kai: "Yeah, I guess so. Because of that, I'm a bit different from the person I was in my previous life."

[Second King: "So, on the third day of the first round, do you remember what Priest Fernand was doing after I met Grey?"]

Chapter 260 The Response of Reason and Law

[Kay stroked his chin and said, "Hmm, Priest Fernand... I remember meeting him at dusk, and then I, or rather, Ad and Grey, went to bed as usual. Sigh, that dinner, which was just like any other, must have been laced with sleeping pills."]

[Second King: "In that case, in the first round when we didn't intervene, the temple did indeed rise according to the original mechanism, and the Skeleton King and the Skeleton Soldiers came to the ground. Priest Fernand should have died in battle at this time."]