Chapter 122: There Is Only Oruth

  In the days that followed, Alex remained incredibly busy. After all, the atta him was her a minor nor a major event in Hinamizawa, but it was signifit enough to stir attention. What made it even more plicated was that the attackers weren’t local residents of Hinamizawa but outsiders. This detail added airely different yer of plexity to the situation.

  If the attackers had been locals, the unity might have hesitated, w if it was merely a misuanding or a flict. But sihe perpetrators were outsiders, and giveelligehered thus far suggesting they inteo kidnap Alex, the residents quickly unified in their stance.

  Despite Alex having been in Hinamizawa for less than a month, he had already gained signifit respect across the unity. At school, he was well-liked by the children, and during the Cotton-Driftiival, he had put in siderable effort, earning the goodwill of the adults. sequently, when news of the i broke, many came to che him.

  This gave Alex a firsthand experience of Hinamizawa’s famed “unity.” To be ho, such solidarity was heartwarming if you were on their side, but terrifying if you were the enemy. Alex, who previously only had an abstraderstanding of the plight of Satoshi and Satoko Houjou, now deeply empathized with them. paring their situation with his, he couldn’t help but silently mourn for a few seds—choosing the wrong side was indeed fatal.

  The first visitor was, naturally, Chie Rumiko. As Alex’s “senior” in some ways, she was deeply ed about his ordeal. It was only after firming that he was unharmed that she finally left, relieved.

  came Sonozaki Mion and Maebara Keiichi. Mion arrived to express her family’s stance—her grandmother, the infamous matriarch of the Sonozaki family, was taking the i very seriously and had already dispatched people to iigate. Keiichi, oher hand, was more fasated by how Alex mao defeat six attackers single-handedly. He persistently pestered Alex, asking if it was some legendary martial arts teique or ninja skill.

  Following them, Rena and Satoko also came by. Like the others, they were visibly relieved upon learning Alex was unscathed. However, uzzled Alex was that Rena seemed particurly affected. She even volunteered to prepare lunch for him. Though a bit surprised, Alex naturally didn’t refuse her kind offer—after all, eating a homemade meal from a girl was far better than instant noodles.

  If visits from his students were to be expected, then the appearance of Sonozaki Shion truly caught Alex off guard. Shion’s visit wasn’t just for a courtesy che. Instead, she brought ued but someredictable news: the attackers had been taken away by the police due to their involvement in a major case. Despite Officer Ooishi’s attempts to stop them, he was ultimately overruled by higher authorities.

  As for where the attackers were taken, no one knew.

  Moreover, Shion alsht up Satoshi Houjou. inally, she had suspected that her family was responsible for Satoshi’s disappearance. But after seeing the attackers with her owhe previous day, Shion had an intense premonition—she felt there was a e between these people and Satoshi’s disappearaheir sudden removal only deepened her suspis.

  Hence, Shion sought Alex’s help to iigate further. Naturally, Alex agreed. He uood that even if he deed, Shion’s feelings for Satoshi would pel her to pursue the lead recklessly. Sihese were dangerous individuals, Alex thought it better to apao ensure her safety.

  Later, at su, Alex finally met the person he had been waiting for.

  “Mipa... Teacher, do you have a moment?”

  “Of course.”

  Looking at the little girl with long bck hair peeking curiously through the door, Alex nodded. Ever since he noticed that Rika Furude didn’t visit him alongside Satoko, he khe small girl who had experienced tless loops in this world was finally ready to talk to him.

  But seriously... you o stop using your ess to get by.

  Looking at Rika, Alex couldn’t help but think of a certain bespectacled “child” detective. Despite possessing a mature soul, they had no choice but to pretend to be i and naive. From a certain perspective, it was truly hard on them.

  “So, what I help you with?”

  “Well...”

  At Alex’s question, Rika hesitated before a shy smile.

  “Actually... I’m w on a manga, but I’m stu the plot and don’t know how to tinue. I was hoping to sult you, teacher.”

  Has what I’ve done finally vinced her?

  Looking at the girl in front of him, Alex smiled faintly. As long as he could gain Rika’s trust, this instance’s “sario” would already be half-won. With this thought, Alex nodded.

  “Of course, I’d be happy to help.”

  As expected, Rika subtly hi the Hinamizawa Syndrome in her expnation, simir to how it ortrayed in the anime. However, uhe anime, where Rika already khat the culprit was Takano Miyo and worked backward to deduce motives, this time, Rika was still in the dark about the perpetrator. This made her more eager to seek Alex’s assistan identifying the culprit.

  For Alex, the most important thing was to guide Rika and reveal the true identity of the culprit. However, this wasn’t an easy task. From Rika’s perspective, Takano and the “Mountain Dogs” were supposed to protect her. After so many loops, Rika might have even believed that while others might harm her, Takano never would.

  Because of this, Rika never sidered Takano a suspect.

  In the inal work, if it weren’t for Hanyuu—Rika’s spiritual partner—explicitly pointing out that Takano was the culprit, Rika would never have believed it.

  “Hmm... A vilge doomed if its queen carrier dies…”

  “Yes.”

  Rika nodded, looking at Alex with ear anticipation.

  “I just ’t figure out how to set up the true culprit or their motive for doing such a thing...”

  “Well, in a typical mystery, a murder must have a beneficiary.”

  Alex sipped his coffee, smiling as he looked at Rika.

  “So, if you ask me, the culprit is likely among those in the know… Especially based on your 'sario,' where in almost every loop, the queen carrier ends up being killed.”

  “But… but the queen carrier has people proteg her!”

  “Yet, from the results, every siime they fail to fulfill their duty, don’t they? That leaves us with two possibilities: either the assaint’s power is superior, or…” Alex paused, his expression sharpening. “...there’s betrayal from within.”

  “Huh?”

  Rika froze, her body trembling as a cold shiver ran through her. She looked at Alex again, her unease growing.

  “But… why would they do that?”

  “Hmm…”

  Alex pondered her question for a moment before turning his gaze back to the girl before him.

  “Well, Rika, acc to your 'sario,' this disease shows no observable symptoms during its incubation period. Only when it reaches the outbreak stage do halluations and paranoia appear, leading to aggressive behavior. Furthermore, no physical disse detect the parasite’s presence, correct?”

  “Yes…”

  Rika nodded, her fusion evident. She couldn’t uand why Alex was bringing this up.

  “Do you know what that means to an ior?”

  “Ior? You mean that group called ‘Tokyo’?”

  “Exactly.”

  At this, Alex gave Rika a meaningful look.

  “It means nothing.”

  “...Huh?”

  “A disease like this exists solely on the cims of the researchers. This is the st thing iors want to hear. The evidence supp its existence is flimsy at best. Psychology already tells us that under simir pressure, individuals react differently depending on personality, past experiences, and other factors. Some grow stronger, while others break pletely—it’s entirely normal.”

  “But… but there’s the case where a soldier who left the vilge had an outbreak and killed people!” Rika stammered, grasping for evidence.

  “Post-traumatic stress disorder is a very on battlefield rea,” Alex said with a shrug.

  “For example, in real life, simir cases are abundant. But would I cim that just because someone came from a particur vilge, the vilge itself harbors a rare disease? What if the others were from major cities like Tokyo or Osaka? Does that mean those pces are afflicted too? This is the weakest part of your 'sario,' Rika. And it’s a fatal fw in stific research—selective evidence. You only highlight the data that supports your theory and dismiss what doesn’t. Sure, tweaking facts a little to appeal to iors is uandable, but iors aren’t fools. No one’s money falls from the sky.

  “Acc to your 'sario,' the Tokyo group even ied in building a research facility in that vilge. That’s no small sum. For any anization, an iment must yield results.”

  “But… but, teacher, you still haven’t expined what this has to do with the protagonist being killed!”

  Rika was growing increasingly flustered. Her face had turned pale as she pieced together Alex’s reasoning. Though still a child oside, her tless loops had matured her mind, allowio uand his implications immediately. That realization only filled her with dread.

  Alex observed her rea and silently shook his head. Truthfully, if Rika were fifteen or sixteen years old, she might have escaped this loop after dozens of cycles. But as a child, she couldn’t leave the vilge ather suffit information from outside sources. Even after all these loops, her knowledge remained fio what she learned from Takano Miyo and Dr. Irie. This single-source dependency meant she cked the broader perspective o uhe truth.

  But now, Alex was here to fill in the gaps.

  “It has everything to do with it,” Alex said, raising a finger.

  “First, acc to your 'sario,' this disease has no observable traits from discovery to cure. Sed, its most signifit characteristic is that if the queen carrier dies, the entire vilge will be wiped out.”

  He smiled faintly, watg Rika’s face grow even paler.

  “Do you uand now, Rika? To prove this disease truly exists, demonstrating a cure is time-ing, costly, and proo skepticism. In fact, if I entered such a case, I would suspect the patients were treated with psychiatric drugs or therapy rather than cured of a parasite.

  “But, if the queen carrier is killed, and the entire vilge is annihited, it bees far easier to vince people of the disease’s existence. After all, the plete destru of a vilge isn’t something ordinary expnations at for. If we follow your 'sario,' it all makes perfect sense.”

  g!

  Rika’s teacup slipped from her hand and shattered on the floor.

  (To be tinued…)

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