Hearing the voices, the people inside the temple also rushed to the area we were in. We all went inside. I immediately crouched down and began examining the corpse. When I removed the priest robe, it was clear he had been struck in the head and killed with an axe. The people around didn't want to look at the corpse. As I continued examining it, the body appeared to have been killed a few days ago—it didn't seem fresh. Akari came over and started examining the corpse as well. Since we weren't experts, we couldn't determine exactly when he had been killed, but based on the events, it looked like he had just been murdered.
I touched the blood with my finger. The texture of the blood felt a bit strange. The old man stepped in between us and examined the corpse.
"What an insolent act! What is this? Who did this?"
The temple guards got involved. They told us not to get any closer to the corpse. The area was cordoned off, and we were forcibly moved a little away from the body.
When the guards examined the corpse a bit more, they found a strand of yellow hair. They showed it to the old man and the head priest.
The old man grew suspicious and pulled back the hood of the priest beside him. We didn't know the priest's face, but the old man was surprised and said this was a different priest.
"Who the hell are you? This isn't Imei!"
The head priest cut into the conversation.
"Father, clearly he took the priest's robe and wanted to swap places. He also planted someone else's strand of hair there beforehand. Otherwise, the priest would have been the same priest!"
"You're right!"
"It really wasn't me, sir! The priest robes are all the same, that's why you're confusing things. There must be a mix-up!"
"What mix-up? Guards, seize him! This man is our prime suspect!"
The guards grabbed the priest's arms, holding him tight enough to prevent any escape.
"I'm telling you, I didn't do it!"
The head priest checked his phone. They saw the player icon on his phone.
"I really didn't do it!"
"I am a just man, so I won't make a decision right away. But you are the prime suspect. Guards, throw him in the nearby dungeon until the verdict is reached."
They took the man toward the dungeon. His shouts could be heard as they dragged him away. Then the head priest continued examining the room.
He looked at the corpse and began to grieve, barely holding back his tears.
"Ah, my good man..."
I tried to scan the surroundings with my eyes. Everyone was examining the room along with me.
The head priest turned to us and said we needed to check the cameras.
When everyone moved to the small room where the cameras were, a third priest could be seen advancing through the corridor. Judging by the height difference, it was clear this was the priest who hadn't been seen around.
"This must be Arthur. So the two of them are working together?"
"Is there no camera in the storeroom?"
"No, there isn't. That's an old room, so we never installed one."
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Based on the evidence, the culprits were these two priests. The public was already beginning to believe the evidence.
"We apologize for what happened. Clearly, the guilty have been caught. The other man will also be captured and sent to the dungeon. I'll have to ask you to leave now."
Everyone obeyed. Most of the people had already left the temple out of fear. Only those of us who had to worship at nine, the very devout, the head priest and his priests, and also the old man remained. The old man came over to us.
"We're so sorry, children. Both of them will be imprisoned. Please give this place another chance."
"I feel tense. Can we get some fresh air in the garden with my friends?"
"Of course..."
The four of us went out to the garden. Haru touched my arm; he wanted to tell me something.
"Yes, Haru?"
"This murder seems solved, but I sense something."
"The murder is actually a trap. I understood it when I pieced the parts together. If we do nothing, we won't fall into the trap."
"Huh? What trap?"
Lie was curious about the trap and asked me. They were all looking at me with curious eyes.
"Akari noticed it too. The corpse looked like it had been killed a while ago. That's the first step."
"Yes, it looked that way."
"I think my deduction about the old man is correct. First, he deliberately acted warm toward us but forgot to treat others the same way. He predicted we could all coincidentally gather in the hall. Then both priests left with excuses. The reason—they wanted to create people who had the time window to form a murder gap."
"Ah, that makes sense. Go on."
"Shortly after, the man came running to us, shouting. They pulled us all to the place where the man was supposedly killed. Looking at this situation, one of the first visible suspects can be counted as the person who called us to the murder scene. When we examined the corpse there, they had deliberately left the strand of hair. And because he could be a suspect, the man pulled back the priest's hood and pretended as if he saw someone else. But in reality, it wasn't a different person. We didn't know his face anyway—they could have known because they were the head priests. They used this. Also, the priest robe on the corpse had just been put on him; it didn't carry the smell of the corpse. The killed person wasn't actually the priest who had been with us—it was someone else. The priest who was made to appear dead probably wasn't even a player, just their helper. After doing his job, he disappeared."
Haru found my words logical. Akari looked like she understood. Lie was trying to grasp what I was saying.
"They showed the other priest's icon so people would report him to the God, right?"
"Yes, exactly. The most important part is that the corpse was killed before the game started. So even if you correctly identify who killed him and present the evidence to the God, it won't have any effect because he wasn't killed during the game. The evidence will be deemed false. They tried to stage someone who had been killed beforehand as if he had just been killed now. This way, the unknown players in the temple would try to eliminate them by writing evidence to the God. Of course, they specifically targeted our group too, but the main goal was to direct all players to file complaints with evidence. No matter how correct they think they are, it doesn't matter—since the corpse was killed before the game, the evidence will be considered false, and the complainers themselves would be eliminated. All of it was staged. The existence of the cameras is another suspicious thing. Also, the individual in priest robes entering the room on camera was deliberately directed there. They're all working together. The non-players will leave the area after doing their job. The one with the icon will probably be taken out of prison in a different priest robe and blend back in among us."
Lie looked at me with curious eyes and asked a question.
"But why do they need to be eliminated? Aren't they already thrown in the dungeon?"
"Remember the rules. It said the rules apply everywhere. So even if they're thrown in the dungeon, they're still players inside the game. They need to be reported to be eliminated."
"Ah, right. I understand now..."
"Of course, we won't report them. Either they'll betray him too, and he'll be eliminated on his own in the dungeon on Friendship Day, or he'll blend back in and continue the game. Everyone who reports him with evidence will be eliminated. Even if a genius solves all the events, finds the real killer, and presents the evidence perfectly, they'll still be eliminated because the killing didn't happen during the game. Since the temple is under their control, the only thing we need to do to survive in general is nothing at all. It's a trap so pre-planned that no countermove can be made."
Akari nodded in agreement with what I said.
"Let's wait then. Maybe some will fall into the trap. As you said, so they knew the rules, the game, and that we were players beforehand."
"Exactly. We won't fall into their trap. I'll give them credit—even if it's not flawlessly constructed, the key thing to notice is understanding that since the corpse was killed beforehand, it doesn't count as a rule violation in this game. And that doesn't seem so easy to notice. That's why someone will probably fall into the trap."
"Anyway, someone falling into the trap could work to our advantage. Indirectly, we'd earn more points if we win the game."
"You're right."