The woman's voice could be heard throughout the Opera House. Yuto frowned at her words, and the Electro Vision at his waist instantly burst forth with a purple lightning glow.
In just a blink of an eye, Yuto leaped down from the VIP box and began to inspect the situation on the stage.
Although he had long known this outcome, when this scene truly appeared before him... he still felt a bit nauseous.
Listening to the increasingly noisy clamor, a rare hint of solemnity flashed across Yuto's scholarly face.
He suddenly turned, forcefully struck the ground with his staff, and loudly declared:
"The performance is terminated! Medical personnel, get on stage now! The Security Team, secure the scene, control all participants, and seal off the Opera House's entrances and exits! Quickly!"
As Yuto gave the order, the audience members in the Opera House finally realized what was happening, and Neuvillette also stood up abruptly at this moment, forcefully striking the ground with his staff.
"Silence—"
He exuded the aura of the Chief Justice of Fontaine, and Neuvillette was in his home ground, the Opera House.
Here, it was Neuvillette's domain of Judgment.
As Neuvillette gave his order, the originally chaotic crowd gradually quieted down, and the only sounds in the Opera House were the footsteps of the Security Team and everyone's somewhat disordered breathing.
"You're, you're right! If it's an accident, we must find out the cause! If it's not an accident, then it cannot escape the Judgment of the God of Justice!"
As the three giants of Fontaine successively expressed their stances, the originally somewhat panicked crowd in the Opera House gradually settled down, but... they were still more or less restless.
Yuto stared solemnly at the mask floating back and forth in the water flowing from the water tank, lost in thought.
Meanwhile, Neuvillette began to comfort Lumine and Paimon, speaking softly to the two of them:
"There's no need for either of you to panic; we will quickly investigate what exactly happened."
...
After roughly an hour, the Security Team's investigation finally yielded results.
Neuvillette and Yuto listened to the Security Team Captain's report, exchanged glances, and nodded in unison.
"The person inside the magic box has unfortunately passed away. The deceased is named Cowell, one of the assistant performers in Lyney's magic troupe."
Neuvillette said in a deep voice, looking at Lyney before him.
Yuto, meanwhile, let out a long breath and said, turning his head: "The fireworks on stage ignited the rope, and precisely when this concluding trick was being performed... the rope broke."
"As for the young woman who entered the magic box, she is nowhere to be found, as if she evaporated into thin air."
"All of these factors combined mean this is no mere stage accident, but a genuine murder case."
"Of course, regarding the situation of the young woman who entered the magic box... Mr. Neuvillette and I unanimously believe"
"—this incident shares many characteristics of the 'Serial Disappearance of Young Women' case."
Hearing this special term spoken by Yuto, the Assistant Administrator, the audience below began to murmur amongst themselves.
"What Lord Yuto said... it can't be false, can it? The Serial Disappearance of Young Women... isn't that...!"
"No way, w-why? Cares isn't already—"
"Water God above... bless me... bless me not to be chosen as a target..."
Listening to the audience's murmurs, Yuto slightly closed his eyes, as if praying, or perhaps mourning for his old friend.
"Hehehe..."
In the bustling hall, that charming laugh, unique to a young woman, caught everyone's attention.
They all looked up at the young woman sitting high in the sole VIP box, a hint of confusion in their eyes.
Furina slowly rose from her luxurious seat, speaking loudly as she did so:
"I see, I see~ Is it a bit condescending to use such an obvious riddle as the 'grand finale'?"
With that, Furina fixed her gaze on the young man standing below the stage and continued:
"Isn't this highly skilled, omnipotent magician, Mr. Lyney, the culprit behind the 'Serial Disappearance of Young Women'?"
Hearing this, a hint of awkwardness flashed in Yuto's eyes.
He had a God's perspective, so he naturally knew who the true culprit was, but Furina and the others didn't!
Analyzing all the available information, Furina's judgment, aside from seeming a bit quick... her remaining logic was impeccable upon closer thought.
First, choosing a target, using magic as a reason to select the target, then all of this would be explained as a "performance accident."
And the water tank falling was due to the fireworks burning the rope, precisely at that moment.
The arrows fired by these two points combined directly pointed at Lyney, and he had no way to refute them
—because the fireworks, water tank, rope, and the choice of target were all his responsibility!
But there was still a loophole that couldn't be explained.
That was, the criminals of the previous 'Serial Disappearance of Young Women' cases were extremely cautious, leaving not a single clue, but why...
Why, this time alone, did Lyney, who was identified as the "murderer," choose to perform in such an obvious place?
Wasn't this equivalent to handing his weakness over to others?
Of course, this was also the only currently unexplainable point. Under the current circumstances... even if Neuvillette and Yuto jointly came forward to deny this fact, it would be useless.
—Moreover, Neuvillette wouldn't even come forward to deny it.
Thinking of this, Yuto couldn't help but feel a pang of worry for Lyney.
"Even if it's House of the Hearth... they can't do this..."
Yuto muttered to himself.
"Why me?! This was completely an accident!"
Lyney's loud defense pulled Yuto out of his thoughts, but at this moment... he could do nothing but stand by and remain neutral.
"The entire incident occurred during the magic performance, the young woman was chosen and then disappeared, and the deceased was your assistant performer..."
"Now that I think about it, what you said at the beginning, 'from existence to nothing, from nothing to existence,' sounds like a provocation, a provocation to the God of Justice..."
...
At this very moment, in the present world.
Nonomi looked at the screen before her and couldn't help but nod her head up and down.
"See, I told you all, this magic trick absolutely couldn't be that simple~ And... this is Fontaine's true main storyline!"
"What have we done? Witnessed Rex Lapis's fake death, helped Watatsumi Island resist the Vision Hunt Decree, dispelled the endlessly looping dream, and now... it's time to solve cold cases!"
"I declare! The detective story titled 'Beautiful Girl Detective' has just begun!"