Not a detective

Page 45

"You did nothing wrong."

Asakawa Riku responded softly, "You are neither a snow woman nor the murderer."

The girl's voice could no longer be heard; her breathing gradually calmed down from its rapid pace, indicating that she had reached her limit.

I hope she heard the last sentence.

Her center of gravity gradually became unbalanced, and it was clear that Yukie was losing her last bit of life force.

The time has come; it's time to end everything. Asakawa Riku is mentally prepared.

He lifted the girl's body, facing her, and whispered two words in her ear:

"【YouKai】".

The moment those two words were uttered, everything around faded in color; it was an incredible brightness. It was dim, yet not gloomy.

Inside the house at night, which should have been completely dark except for the area around the fireplace, things were eerily clear.

It didn't go completely black; it just lost its color, and the world became gray.

Only the girl was black.

Yuki, who was originally unconscious and on the verge of death, tilted her head back, and a black liquid gradually flowed out of her body, as if it were flowing out of her internal organs.

It engulfed her body, from which a life-sized shadow slowly rose, while the girl's real body fell to the ground, as if the shadow and the person had switched places.

It was an extremely abstract expression, and Asakawa Riku even doubted whether what he was seeing was real, but he soon ran out of time to think.

The shadowy figure reached out and grabbed his wrist!

A bone-chilling cold followed, and in just an instant, ice spikes and frost climbed up and covered his entire right hand.

Asakawa Riku reacted extremely quickly. He immediately clenched his fist and used force to shatter the frost on his arm, causing it to crack open.

Taking advantage of the rising mist, he used his other hand to strike the shadowy figure in the abdomen without hesitation.

"Well--!"

The terrifying palm strike transformed into a real impact, instantly bending the dark figure into a sharp angle, sending it flying out uncontrollably.

The shadowy figure was not seriously injured. He felt that the final blow was not to his flesh, but to a temporarily formed ice shield, which relieved the force of the impact for a moment after it shattered.

She adjusted her body in mid-air and landed on the wall inside the room, her legs turning into sharp spikes that pierced into her body and secured her.

It's impossible to tell that the weak girl from before could have made those movements.

She finally spoke: "It's you... I failed to kill you last time."

Although she has the same gentle voice as Yukie, the emotions are different, and the feelings one experiences are completely opposite.

At this moment, she was not gentle at all, but rather like the coldest winter.

Instead of giving chase, Asakawa Riku stood calmly in place, slowly shaking off the remaining ice shards from his arms.

"The truth of this incident, as I said, is that there is a real culprit, but the culprit is neither Yuki-onna nor Yuki-e, but you."

"What are you pretending to be, some famous detective... I never intended to hide." The shadowy figure sneered.

Yes, she didn't intentionally hide it; in fact, Asakawa Riku saw her true form on the very first day.

The shadowy figure had no facial features or specific appearance. Although its outline resembled Yuki's, it was still just a shadowy figure.

At the time, Asakawa Riku mistakenly believed that his eyesight had not recovered and that he could not see the murderer's appearance in the dark, but this was actually the truth.

...Principal Komiya's dying words, "Beware of the dark," also illustrate this point.

"The structure of this snow-covered mountain lodge is very complete. The murderer is not from the outside world. It is not wrong to say that the murderer is among us. What is wrong is that the initial assumption that the murderer is among the six of us specifies a number. This method of elimination will not lead to the answer because there were more than six people here from the beginning."

"Isn't it strange that there are eight rooms in this house? There are only six of us. Who are the other two rooms for?"

"Haha, that's a bit of a stretch, of course, and it's hardly evidence. However, if we broaden our perspective to include the eight suspects, the whole truth becomes quite clear."

"Besides me, Yukie, Hiroki, Mr. Takagi, Mr. Matsuyama, and Principal Komiya, the remaining two are the [Yuki-onna] and the [murderer]."

"The Snow Woman and the Murderer are not real people. We did not find any other survivors when we searched the house. Their true identities are split personalities of Yuki, her alternate forms."

"Yes, Yukie is a schizophrenic. When Chizuko-senpai said that there are three shrine maidens, one on duty and the other two on rotation, she was referring to this, right?"

Summer of the Snow Woman: Chapter Thirty-One: Snow Falling in the Snow (4K)

"Once I figured out the identities of the remaining two hidden characters, my immediate priority was to figure out when they would appear."

"Based on previous experience, the Snow Woman and the Murderer do not appear randomly; they must meet certain conditions."

Asakawa Riku deftly dodged the ranged items thrown by the shadowy figure with a few quick sidesteps.

Those were sharp ice spikes, moving at the speed of bullets, piercing the ground with a loud cracking sound, probably capable of piercing a person through.

But his speed was even better; his dodge was perfectly timed, like a dancer gracefully and effortlessly moving through a hail of bullets.

This is his exclusive "detective time":

"First of all, there's the Snow Woman. If the murderer is the killer, then the Snow Woman is the accomplice who created this environment. She created this endless blizzard, trapping all of us in this mountain and this hut. If she didn't exist, I guess we could all find a way to escape and survive."

"The condition for the Yuki-onna to appear is [cold]. When Yukie feels cold, the Yuki-onna will appear and create ice and snow."

"That's why she's so afraid of the cold. I got the inspiration from the last story. Eight-year-old Yuki was sitting in the car on her way home when the air conditioning was too cold, which awakened the Yuki-onna personality and caused that tragedy. That should be the real reason."

"On the first day, Yuki got lost in the mountains. Because of the cool night wind, it started to snow lightly. If she could still be saved at this stage, she could have warmed up immediately. However, she also felt the cold wind and snow. As a result, the Yuki-onna's magic was enhanced. The stronger the wind and snow, the colder she became, which created a vicious cycle."

"She was trapped in this house, wearing only a thin shrine maiden's robe, shivering from the cold, and the blizzard was getting worse and worse..."

"This might be temporarily improved by heating, but no matter what, living in this environment will eventually get worse day by day, until she finally gets a fever and the snow will stop."

Asakawa Riku paused for a moment, realizing that the blood was slowly freezing, just like the cause of death of the previous victims, freezing from the inside out.

If he hadn't put up any resistance, he probably would have been turned into an ice sculpture. That's what makes the shadowy figure so terrifying—its silent freezing ability, like an invisible grim reaper.

This ability once killed Principal Komiya right before his eyes.

But he only paused for a moment, and continued speaking:

"If we had kept her by the fire from day one, even while she slept, would things have turned out differently? Perhaps. In that case, the Snow Woman would have disappeared and never appeared again, and the blizzard would have stopped. But I didn't think of that crucial point at the time, and by the time I realized it, it was too late."

"Now that we've talked about the Snow Woman, there's also the hidden third personality, which is the culprit... I should give you a name, let's call you [Black Snow]."

Hei Xue didn't comment on her name, but for the first time, a voice filled with fear rang out: "You... what exactly did you do?"

The person in front of me wasn't frozen, so logically his blood and bones should have stiffened, and he shouldn't be able to make a sound.

Asakawa Riku had to pause his reasoning and explain: "It's very simple. I explained it to Haoji once: by vibrating the hand knife at high speed and in minute, repeated motions, it can create a saw-like effect to split firewood. It's like eating steak with a knife in a Western restaurant; simply cutting it is not enough to cut through the meat. You have to rub it repeatedly to cut it."

"I used to only use this in my fist and palm techniques to make my attacks deal more damage. But not long ago I discovered that if I extend the high-speed vibration to the whole body, I can make the body heat up faster through friction and shaking. In winter, everyone shivers to keep warm, right? It's based on that principle."

He did seem to be shaking his body, but the amplitude was so small that it was almost impossible to see any shaking.

It would be very difficult to capture without ultra-high-speed photography, which makes it hard to imagine just how terrifyingly fast it was moving.

"Thanks to this technique, I can control my body temperature, even raising it to around 70 or 80 degrees Celsius, so you can't easily freeze me."

This is true invulnerability to water and fire.

Hei Xue listened, seemingly deeply shocked. She gritted her teeth and said, "You... are the real monster, aren't you?"

“That’s right, that’s the word.” Asakawa Riku snapped his fingers, just in time to get back to the point: “The condition for the appearance of [Black Snow] is—[Yokai].

"This isn't some difficult-to-understand statement; it's just that the word itself, when Yukie hears it, triggers the appearance of [Black Snow]."

"On the first day, I asked you out alone to consult about the shrine and exorcism. I mentioned 'yokai' in my conversation, so I was the target that night. Although I managed to escape, I didn't become the first victim. On the second day, when Haoji was watching me chop firewood with my bare hands, he joked that my superhuman strength was a 'yokai,' so he was killed that night. On the third day, Mr. Takagi explained to everyone that the murderer might be a Yuki-onna (snow woman), and naturally, he also mentioned the word 'yokai,' so he was frozen into an ice sculpture. On the fourth day, when the three of us were discussing the murderer, Mr. Matsuyama and I, having seen a Yuki-onna, were careful to use the term 'Yuki-onna,' but Principal Komiya didn't have this awareness. She subconsciously chose the term 'yokai,' so she died in front of me."

"Does it seem a bit far-fetched? But every time we talked about yokai, Yukie was there, heard the word, and showed a strange, resistant reaction. Conversely, when I discussed yokai with Matsuyama-sensei in private, we weren't targeted. Isn't that obvious? You are the murderer lurking in Yukie's body, choosing your targets during the day and appearing in the darkness at night to freeze those who triggered the keywords to death. That's the truth."

“I remember Chizuko telling me about ‘Migoshi Nyudo,’ a kind of yokai that haunts mountain paths and kills anyone who stares at it. But if you know how to break it, you can shout ‘Migoshi Nyudo, I see through you!’ Chizuko said that language is power. In that story, language could dispel yokai, but here, language becomes a way to summon evil spirits…”

"Now I finally understand why there is a rule in the shrine that Yukie cannot come into contact with yokai. This is not discrimination based on bloodline, nor is it that only Chizuko, as the biological daughter, has the right to inherit. Rather, it is a strategy they made to protect Yukie. They knew the conditions for Kuroyuki's appearance a long time ago, but unfortunately Yukie herself did not know."

Kuroyuki finally realized that no matter what kind of ranged attack she launched, it would be completely ineffective against the man in front of her.

He wasn't dodging; he was just stalling for time to talk. It was practically a lighthearted game for him, something that wouldn't even qualify as a "battle"!

She flew into a rage, and the black mud on her arm gradually froze into a long sword, its icy chill gleaming with a sharp, fierce light.

"...In your eyes, I am an utterly wicked person, right? Yet you are indifferent to the Snow Woman, even though she is the one who caused this snowstorm!"

He leaped up and slashed down!

"Yes, I always felt that although the Snow Woman was an accomplice, she was not evil, so I did not go to find her."

"As long as you stay indoors and don't go out, no one will freeze to death in the winter of the Snow Woman. She is part of the natural disaster, a mechanism. Although she is ruthless, she is not malicious."

"For example, on the fifth day, when Mr. Matsuyama got angry with me, he called me a 'monster'... It's strange that he wasn't frozen into an ice sculpture by you, but was frozen to death by the Yuki-onna. This shows that [Kuroyuki was killing people intentionally, and it wasn't an involuntary mechanism]."

Asakawa Riku sneered. Having dodged Kuroyuki's attack, how could he possibly be a match for him in close combat?

"Since he'll freeze to death in the snow, there's no need to chase him down. That's what you must be thinking, right?"

He seized the arm that was frozen in ice and broke it off without hesitation!

"This is your sin."

With a crisp crack, taking advantage of the moment when Hei Xue cried out in pain, he kicked out, sending her flying and crashing into the wall of the house, even blasting a hole in it.

The house was about to collapse when Black Snow completely lost his balance, broke through the wall, and slid dozens of meters along the snow.

With a calm expression, the boy walked out step by step. Although the snow had stopped falling outside, the night was still cold.

"Therefore, I can confirm that you intentionally and deliberately committed murder, and your actions are undoubtedly evil."

In the distance, Hei Xue shook off the snowdrifts from her body and slowly stood up; her figure was barely noticeable in the blizzard night.

But today the moon is bright and the stars are few, so we can see them clearly.

"...Just for this reason? I killed someone, and now you want to kill me. Aren't we both just as freaks?"

Few could withstand Asakawa Riku's kick, let alone stand up. He noticed that Kuroyuki's body was filled with snow, which meant that her abilities could heal her injuries in this way.

But it doesn't matter.

Asakawa Riku hoped that the other party would hear everything before dying: "You also stole Mr. Takagi's ten million yen, right? After killing him, you must have hidden that briefcase somewhere. You have the ability to freeze objects, so you just need to freeze it and stuff it into a pile of snow... You committed robbery and murder, which is not something a monster could do."

He looked at the other person coldly: "The Snow Woman is a monster, you are just a murderer, Black Snow."

"Hahaha...hahaha!" Kuroyuki laughed, clutching her stomach. Her voice echoed in the silent forest. "Yes, you're right. I did take the money. A lot of money! I've never seen anything like it before. With this money, I can go to Tokyo and live on my own. Yukie, that stupid girl, only she would want to grow old and die in these mountains."

"Yuki is a gentle girl... You are not qualified to judge her."

Asakawa Riku charged forward, piercing through the snow and frost spewed out by the black snow.

Since he narrowly escaped catching the murderer last time, he vowed never to miss such an opportunity again, and his speed has been further improved as a result.

Even in knee-deep snow, it can speed along as if on flat ground.

He grabbed Kuroyuki by the throat and lifted her up: "It was you. You killed my classmates and teachers, you killed completely innocent strangers, you caused Yukie's childhood trauma, you killed her family, you are the culprit behind all of this—I will kill you and end it all."

Black Snow's body didn't have the feel of normal skin. Although her figure was still that of a girl, her throat was covered with a layer of cold, viscous liquid.

She struggled relentlessly, frantically summoning frost-covered spikes, and even at the very last moment, she coldly stabbed him in the heart with a smile:

"Asakawa Riku... Of course you can kill me. But do you know that if I die, the girl you like will die too?"

These words were deafening, more damaging than any previous attack, and even caused Asakawa Riku to experience tinnitus.

He didn't remove the icicle from his chest, even though he could have dodged it long ago; he simply left the sharp blade embedded there.

"Yes, I guessed that too. After all, they are different personalities in one body. Although you will act in different forms, you must share life. So when I learned about this, I was very sad and wanted to wait until the rescue arrived to see if the people in the shrine had any other solutions. But unfortunately, there wasn't enough time."

His tone was tinged with lingering sorrow; Yuki's death was inevitable, and an unavoidable compromise.

"So... in Yukie's final moments, I wanted to take care of him as she wished, to fulfill all her desires. She said she was satisfied, but I still feel unsatisfied. Kuroyuki, this is not the way you should die, so I woke you up. I will break your neck with my own hands and make you suffer the greatest pain."

Even though he was injured, his hand remained steady. He grabbed Hei Xue's twisting neck and held her firmly in mid-air, unable to escape.

Their bodies were connected by ice spikes, preventing the black snow from escaping; it was like a cross of judgment.

"...Does it make any sense?" Kuroyuki showed no remorse, her forced tone sounding like a mockery of the boy: "If we leave it unattended, I'll freeze to death too."

Yes, she's right. Even if left unattended, after Yukie freezes to death, Kuroyuki will also die, and the Yuki-onna will also die.

Everything can be resolved; the three personalities are originally one.

Even more cruelly, if... Asakawa Riku had killed Yukie from the beginning, he might have saved more people.

“I didn’t know the truth at first. Even if I had known the solution, I wouldn’t have chosen the trolley option.”

Asakawa Riku answered decisively and resolutely. He gradually increased the force in his hands, and the solid ice was being pulled and torn apart in a terrifying way.