༺ Black Butterfly (6) ༻
[But this Watson is nice, so I’ll give you a chance.]
An Object with a high and mighty personality.
That was my initial impression of Watson, the flying gas lamp.
Even at a glance, it exuded haughtiness.
On top of that, it smelled like blood, wasn’t cute at all, had an extremely creepy voice, and was far from being an interesting Object.
Despite it not being anything worth paying attention to, I still quietly listened to their conversation. I believed it was necessary to find the location of the mirror.
If it didn’t say something useful, I would at least flick its head…
Watson, who had been talking smugly to the detective, was startled all of a sudden when our eyes met, and it did something completely unexpected.
Smoke spewed out endlessly from the lamp, covering the entire camp.
I felt like I was in a cloud.
Probably because the clouds served as some kind of sound dampener, the fuss that the detective and his assistant made sounded like a faraway echo.
The moment no sound could be heard anymore, blood-red lightning bolts flashed within the cloud, creating a cool spectacle.
Is it a horror attraction like a haunted house? Just as the thought crossed my mind, a massive shadow appeared within the clouds.
Watson, looking down from its mountain-like body, appeared formidable and mighty.
However, to me, it resembled nothing but a frightened puffer fish, cutely inflating its body in order to seem intimidating.
[Is it the ‘Eye’?]
[I definitely felt the presence of the ‘Eye’.]
[Am I mistaken?]
Watson looked at me and spoke.
Since the concept for my current life was of an Object that could not communicate, my only option was to tilt my head and pretend that I didn’t understand its words.
[An Object without intelligence? Is it possible to lack sentience while possessing the ‘Eye’?]
[It didn’t show foresight, clairvoyance, or mind reading abilities as well.]
[Yet, I can sense the ‘Eye’ from it? Am I mistaken?]
‘Eye’? If it was talking about a special eye to see something, I indeed had one.
An eye that showed me the most efficient way to kill something.
The giant Watson circled around me, observing me, before retracting all the smoke back to the lamp and returning.
This ‘Eye’ seemed to be related to a very bothersome story, but since we couldn’t communicate at all, I could skip the boring stuff.
As expected, I was right in choosing the concept of being unable to communicate!
***
The smoke abruptly emitted by Watson engulfed everything in its vicinity before disappearing just as quickly.
“Senior, what is happening?”
“Not sure… It doesn’t seem like anything has changed though….”
My junior, unsettled by the sudden change, clutched the hammer tightly in her arms, ready to hit anyone who approached.
Meanwhile, the Gray Reaper was looking at Watson with its usual sour expression, while Watson was acting calm even though it was clearly paying attention to the Gray Reaper.
“No, something has changed. Watson’s attitude has changed a little.”
Watson was an Object that exuded an air of superiority, looking down on others. But right now, it seemed to be acting cautiously.
But at a second glance, rather than being cautious of something, it seemed to be afraid of something.
Watson averted its gaze from the Gray Reaper and addressed me once again.
[Even though you should’ve died for cheating,]
[I’ll still give you a chance.]
[Because Holmes is special.]
“What kind of chance are you going to give me?”
Watson pondered my question for a moment before answering.
[I will give you a very light penalty.]
[You cannot leave this camp, at least until you complete the request.]
[I believe this is an appropriate penalty.]
[If Holmes fails to solve the request, you will die here.]
[You will die burning, consumed by the missile’s explosion!]
As Watson said, it was really a ‘light penalty’.
With less than 24 hours left, it was unlikely that I would find an effective way even if I left the camp.
It was in everyone’s best interest for me to try to solve the problem here, even if it meant having to crawl into the sinkhole.
However, just because the difficulty level hadn’t changed didn’t guarantee a solution.
Right now, only one solution came to mind.
Watson was an Object that understood words and had a clear sense of self.
Objects that demanded a price would often do things beyond their capabilities if the price was right.
Couldn’t Watson also be considered a type of Object that demanded payment?
Moreover, it was an intelligent Object capable of communication, which meant striking a deal was possible.
No, it was not a matter of possibility, I must strike a deal with it. Whatever it took.
“Watson, let’s make a deal! Tell me the location of the Object that is spawning the butterflies!”
[I don’t want to.]
[Are you trying to avoid a trial?]
[Are you giving up on the case?]
Trial, giving up, request, cheating—these were the keywords that Watson was obsessed with.
The ‘Holmes’ that Watson often said was inconsistent and confusing, but it was clear that he was a being who could overcome arduous trials and solve any kind of case.
If that was the case, then perhaps the key to negotiation was the word ‘Holmes’.
“Let’s make a deal, Watson! I will complete another trial befitting of Holmes. So, tell me the location of the Object that spawns the butterflies!”
[A trial?]
[The trials we will give you may be even more difficult than this case, though?]
[Truthfully, this case is something Holmes can solve, isn’t it?]
[It might reduce the 0.1% possibility of success into a complete 0%, you know?]
“I know, but I still want a deal!”
Could it be that I was making a hasty decision? Even though I felt so, I decided to trust my gut’s feeling and conviction.
My instincts told me that I would never be able to solve the problem by directly searching for the Object.
Even if I did find it, it would likely be too late.
[Okay, then I’ll give you a trial.]
[A trial befitting Holmes!]
[If Holmes fails the trial, you will be mine.]
[If you succeed in the trial, I will destroy the Object.]
Watson smiled meaningfully as it unveiled the trial.
[It’s a formidable trial. A difficult ordeal.]
[This Holmes is unlucky.]
[You have to select the Object you are looking for here.]
***
Watson’s challenge was simply to select an image.
The detective appeared to be contemplating various variables as he stared at the photo.
His junior, who was holding a hammer, stood next to him, but it seemed unlikely that she could offer much help.
‘An object that produces butterflies’
To find the correct answer from over a hundred photos with only that vague clue?
Looking at the probability alone, it was a mission with a success rate of less than 1%.
An Object that looked like a large door could have butterflies pouring out from it, and an Object shaped like a butterfly cocoon could be seen as something from which butterflies were continuously born from… and so on. Since the reasoning depends on the answer, it seemed impossible to think logically and choose the correct one.
However, because I knew more information, I was able to make a logical decision.
I knew that the Object that produced the butterflies was a ‘Black Mirror’.
Still, I kept my knowledge hidden, not allowing it to show on my face.
Because I didn’t know how Watson would react if it realized that I knew.
For now, I would have to see what the detective does.
***
The trial Watson gave me was ridiculous.
It gave me exactly 152 photos and told me to select one of them.
The only clue given was that the Object I needed to find produced butterflies.
But that was hardly a hint.
Choosing something based solely on the hint that it could create butterflies was not a matter of reasoning, it was simply a ‘Multiple choice Questionnaire’.
Watson was right.
It was an impossible problem to solve.
Should I just rely on my luck and take a guess?
If I knew I would be relying on luck, it would have been better to not make a deal and search the camp myself.
After all, It would have been better than the moronic odds of 1 out of152!
Not to mention, I wouldn’t have had to do something absurd like leaving it to chance!
“Ha…” I took a deep breath. Regaining my composure.
Even my junior was looking at the photos intently, trying to figure something out.
If I couldn’t come to my senses here, then I didn’t deserve to be a senior.
If I really had to rely on luck and take a random guess, there was something I needed to do first.
I took out the ‘Luck Measuring Coin’ and tossed it into the air..
I swiftly caught the falling coin with my hand and opened my palm to check the result.
The number that I got was 20. In such a dire situation when I was about to leave everything to chance, the number I needed appeared.
Suddenly, a thought occurred to me.
When 20 appeared on the coin, my mind turned to the other side.
Perhaps I was missing something?
My junior, standing beside me, was looking at the photos with a worried expression.
Meanwhile, the Gray Reaper was looking at me with curious eyes.
No, it felt more like a professor observing what their student was doing.
It looked like when a professor, who already knew the answer, was looking at their student to see whether they would make the correct choice.
Did the Gray Reaper know something?
“Watson! Must I be the one to choose? Can my junior or the Gray Reaper solve it?”
[I will allow your junior to solve the problem for you.]
[What about the Reaper?]
[Isn’t it okay because it doesn’t have the ‘Eye’ and didn’t borrow the ‘Eye’?]
[Hmm… okay, I will allow the Reaper to solve it for you.]
I trusted my observation skill.
Rather than leaving it to luck, with a success rate of less than 1%, I would rather leave the choice to my observation skills.
“Gray Reaper. Please help me.”
The moment I said that, the Gray Reaper who was looking at me smirked faintly and hopped towards the images.
Trod-! Trod-!
It picked an image and held it high above its head.
The photo depicted a ‘black mirror’.
[Holmes has to be the one who solves it? Can his colleague solve it for him?]
[‘Eye’?]
[Didn’t we give permission?]
[It’s not the ‘eye’?]
[Isn’t it a foul?]
[Strange.]
Watson mumbled in confusion.
The amorphous shadow twisted around in confusion as red blood flowed.
At some point, the twisting abruptly ceased.
[Congratulations, Holmes.]
At that moment, the butterflies I saw through the monocle took flight, filling the sky.
And then, the sound of a mirror breaking was heard from somewhere in the camp.
Clap-! Clap-! Clap-!
Watson’s applause rang out.
[You have passed the trial.]
[Let’s see each other again on another occasion.]
[You survived today, huh?]
Leaving those words, Watson disappeared in an instant.
Meanwhile, I could see the Gray Reaper gazing blankly at the sky.
As I followed the Reaper’s gaze, I saw the sky filled with the torn corpses of black butterflies.
“Junior! Run! Quickly!”
I ran with my all to escape the camp, lest I be swept away by the endless cascade of butterfly corpses falling from the sky.
Meanwhile, the Gray Reaper had already disappeared.
