Chapter 198

Chapter 198. The Great Detective (3)

Nameless King, what exactly is a Constellation in the first place?

There have been many cases, in both East and West, where humans ascended to a higher state of existence and watched over mankind.

In some cases, like what Taigong Wang did in ancient China, people were even forcibly ‘deified’ and turned into such beings.

Then, ten years ago, something strange suddenly happened.

Every heaven and afterlife was merged into one, creating the Spirit Realm, and the many different kinds of higher beings that had existed until then were all unified under a single category.

Constellations.

Even many souls who had been suffering punishment in Hell were redeemed and became Constellations.

But there was something strange about it.

Everyone who became a Constellation came from the Fantasy Realm.

And yet the only world we could observe from the Spirit Realm was the Material Realm.

Apparently, beings similar to Constellations had watched over the world even before this happened.

Those beings had supposedly been able to observe both the Fantasy Realm and the Material Realm.

But once they became Constellations, they could no longer observe the Fantasy Realm.

Of course, the Constellations weren’t especially confused by that.

They already knew the Material Realm existed, and it was still a land of humans they were meant to protect.

So they simply accepted it.

We must have been given the duty to watch over this world.

Perhaps Constellations originating from the Material Realm were watching over the Fantasy Realm instead.

Ah, I should explain the Fantasy Realm too.

Most people believe the Fantasy Realm was torn apart and overlaid onto the Material Realm.

But I believe the same thing happened in both directions.

Some elements of the Fantasy Realm came into the Material Realm.

And some elements of the Material Realm crossed into the Fantasy Realm.

We can no longer observe the Fantasy Realm, but unless something went terribly wrong, it probably still exists perfectly well, just like the Material Realm we see now.

But...

do you really think all of that happened naturally?

Of course not.

Someone deliberately caused it.

Using a method beyond our imagination, someone caused a catastrophe on the scale of entire worlds and mixed the two realms together.

Why?

I don’t know.

There simply isn’t enough material to deduce an answer.

Maybe a true ‘God’ did it for amusement.

Now then.

Let us return to the original subject.

We Constellations are beings prepared to protect the Material Realm.

Though most of us are neglecting that duty, of course.

From what I have observed, all Constellations were not born at the same time ten years ago.

A great number did appear suddenly ten years ago, yes.

But the number continued to increase little by little afterward.

Yet all of them were figures from the past.

Not a single person who died after the Fantasy Realm and Material Realm intersected became a Constellation.

Because of that, I concluded that no new Constellations would ever be selected from the Material Realm.

And then one day...

you suddenly appeared.

I believe you were originally someone from the Material Realm.

More specifically, someone who died within the last ten years.

However, I still haven’t determined exactly who you were in your previous life.

Perhaps you were someone completely unknown.

A truly nameless person.

If the Constellation system itself was artificially created by someone, then there is a possibility that your becoming a Constellation was also intentional.

The same entity may have done both.

Or perhaps not.

Either way...

why did they make you a Constellation?

Out of countless humans...

why choose you?

There isn’t enough material to make a deduction yet.

But there is no denying that it is an extremely fascinating mystery.

A subject that stimulates my intellectual curiosity.

That is why I’m telling you, the person directly involved.

I want you to help me solve this mystery.

Normally, I prefer solving mysteries alone.

But I suspect this one will be difficult even for me.

You would be more than sufficient as my new assistant.

Naturally, I intend to cooperate with you as well.

If you want, I’ll provide you with all the information I possess.

If necessary, I’ll even tell you deductions that still lack enough evidence.

If my intellect and your resourcefulness are combined...

there should be nothing in this world that we cannot uncover.

We could make excellent partners.

After finishing my meeting with Holmes, I returned to my throne.

"..."

I sat silently in my chair.

Then I shut off every Observer screen that was always floating around me and quietly closed my eyes.

“Whew...”

Only the sound of my sigh echoed through the silent cosmos.

My head is a mess.

I needed to think about how to catch Merlin.

But the mystery Holmes had thrown at me was dominating my thoughts.

I had been trying not to think about myself.

Why had I become a Constellation?

I had deliberately avoided thinking about it until now.

But it was unquestionably the greatest mystery of all.

I had been someone from the Material Realm.

And not even an accomplished person.

I had been a bottom-tier Contractor who had achieved nothing.

Yet I became a Constellation.

An S-rank Constellation, no less.

It made absolutely no sense.

But there was no way to find out.

Even if I wanted to know why I became a Constellation, I had no idea where to begin.

If I carelessly started gathering information, my true identity might be exposed.

So I had postponed investigating the reason for my transformation.

Instead, I prioritized growing stronger as a Constellation.

But today...

Holmes’s words had dragged that mystery back to the surface.

Because Holmes saw through the fact that I came from the Material Realm, I was able to hear all of this.

Maybe this was actually fortunate.

For the first time, I had someone I could discuss the secret of my reincarnation with.

And that person possessed the greatest intellect in the Spirit Realm.

Sherlock Holmes.

At least Holmes doesn’t seem to have any ulterior motive.

He seemed to genuinely want to solve the mystery.

Unlike many other Constellations, he didn’t appear to be scheming toward some larger objective.

Until now, I had barely even heard the name ‘Consulting Detective of Truth.’

Just as Holmes said, he truly was a Constellation who rarely involved himself in anything.

If I can borrow his wisdom, it might do more than help uncover the mystery of my reincarnation.

It could become an enormous advantage.

Simply learning about the relationship between the Fantasy Realm and Material Realm, and about the structure of the Constellation system, had already benefited me greatly.

In some ways, that information was more valuable than what he told me about Armageddon or Merlin.

If Holmes supports what I do from now on... at the very least, I’ll never lose a battle of wits to someone else.

I didn’t know whether Holmes would go that far.

But if I developed our relationship further...

perhaps it was possible.

Ah, damn.

I had been thinking about why I became a Constellation.

And somehow, without even noticing...

I had started thinking about how to use Holmes to increase my own power.

I really am hopeless...

As I thought that, I sensed someone nearby.

“Nameless...?”

It was Number 49.

I opened my eyes.

She was leaning in and staring at my face.

“What’s wrong?”

“Did something happen?”

Number 49 looked worried.

“Is there some kind of problem?”

“No.”

“It’s nothing.”

“There’s no way it’s nothing!”

At my answer, Number 49 immediately became irritated.

“If something went wrong, tell me too!”

“Don’t make me suffer later because you kept it to yourself!”

“Seriously, it’s nothing.”

“Did something really happen?”

“My head just hurts, that’s all.”

“Constellations can get headaches too?”

“I didn’t know that.”

Number 49 tilted her head.

Then she suddenly rose onto her toes.

And pretended to pat my head.

“Pain, pain, go away...”

"..."

Maybe she thought I would scold her if she actually touched me.

Even so, she didn’t seem to be joking.

She genuinely seemed to be pretending to stroke my head because she wanted my headache to disappear.

“Ah... say something.”

“This is embarrassing when you just sit there silently.”

When I didn’t react, Number 49 blushed and lowered her hand.

Seeing that somehow made me feel awkward too.

“Number 49.”

“Yes?”

“How did you become an Apostle?”

“Why are you asking that out of nowhere?”

“I’m curious.”

When Bellerophon perished, I had heard that a bankrupt Constellation could become an Apostle.

Could Number 49 have once been a Constellation too?

“I don’t know.”

“I don’t remember anything.”

“You don’t remember?”

“No.”

“It feels like I was an Apostle from the very beginning.”

"..."

Come to think of it...

when Bellerophon disappeared, I think I had also heard that becoming an Apostle erased all memories from before.

Even if Number 49 had once been a Constellation...

she herself would have no way of knowing.

I should ask Holmes about that sometime.

Was there a method to discover what Constellation an Apostle had once been?

It sounded impossible.

But with Holmes...

maybe it wasn’t.

“That was truly worthwhile.”

Holmes smiled and set down his pen.

The paper before him was filled with information he had organized for the Nameless King.

“I told him quite a few shocking things, but his eyes never lost their focus.”

“An ordinary person would have been so shaken they wouldn’t have been able to think clearly for a while.”

Holmes leaned back in his chair.

“It has been a long time since I felt that I wanted to work with someone.”

“Coming from me, that is rather special.”

Then Holmes turned his head toward his visitor.

“So, what do you intend to do?”

“Do you really need to ask?”

The visitor answered coldly and looked at Holmes.

“With your deductive ability, you should already know.”

“Well.”

“My intellect isn’t perfect either.”

“I see.”

“But... I finally understand.”

“What?”

“Your behavior the other day.”

“You were doing everything you could to keep me from coming to the salon.”

“You noticed?”

“Who do you think I am?”

“Fair enough.”

“You are the world’s greatest detective.”

The visitor nodded and reached inside his coat.

“Any last words?”

“Hmm.”

“May I smoke one final cigarette?”

“That much is easy enough.”

With permission granted, Holmes took out a cigarette and lit it.

He placed it between his lips, inhaled once, then looked at the visitor again.

“Nice gun.”

The visitor was holding a pistol.

If he pulled the trigger from this distance...

Holmes would undoubtedly die.

Holmes knew very well how skilled the man was with firearms.

“May I ask one thing too?”

“What?”

“Is there anything you want to ask me before I die?”

“Are you going to tell me your deductions?”

“Not at all.”

Holmes took one final drag from the cigarette.

Then he pressed the burning tip against the papers on his desk.

The sheets immediately caught fire.

Watching them burn, Holmes tapped a finger against his temple.

“Now every answer to every mystery exists only inside my head.”

“You’ll never receive any of it.”

“What about that Constellation?”

“We’ve only exchanged names.”

“I haven’t told him anything important.”

It was a lie.

Holmes had already given him the clues that truly mattered.

That man would undoubtedly reach the truth eventually.

“Then... shoot me in the head first.”

Holmes kept one finger pressed against his temple.

“If I come up with a new deduction while I’m dying, it’ll annoy me.”

“I’ll grant your wish.”

“Thank you, Count.”

Watching the Count of Monte Cristo pull the trigger with an expressionless face...

Holmes closed his eyes.