A person... although no, rather something that once wore human form, a higher being merely pretending to be human, still answered with agreement to the extended hand of another, equally pretend "human."
He extended his hand, and at this moment everything was decided. The final answer, placed like a period in an argument where each desperately insists on being right. After all, they all came to this island for their dream, right? That's precisely what it exists for. And if not? If the answer is "no"?
Then I don't know what any of this is for.
In his eyes, which for so long hid infinite contempt beneath a layer of indifference, a tiny spark finally flared. Hope, too small to call it light, but it was there. And, strangely enough, he found salvation in me. In an ordinary guy who himself doesn't fully understand whose side he's on or if he's even right at all.
This time I refused the familiar path of logic. This step isn't by facts but by heart. Further I'll go not by mind but by feeling.
He stood, accepting my hand, and said with gratitude:
"This is gratitude not superficial, not polite, but real. From the whole soul, never would have thought that someone could stand up for me and see it through to the end."
"Don't mention it. I'm an ordinary, banal, absolutely unremarkable guy. I ended up here just like you," I said. "Better tell me, what do we do now?"
Here something strange happened. No, not magic. Just... strange. It turned out Enua knew the translation of the inscriptions all this time. And simply... didn't say.
"You understand, no one will believe us without proof," I said.
"I thought about this the whole time you were deciphering the lines... and realized, in their eyes not a single argument will become proof. Not one," Enua answered, as if resigned.
And he was right. Everything happening is staged too skillfully. The witch directed this perfectly, to come now with a confession is the same as surrendering. No one will buy an "error." This looks... too artful to be coincidence.
And then cold. Sharp, instant, like a breath through a broken window. Someone touched my shoulder.
It was Morgana.
"Ah... it's you... Nearly killed me," I exhaled.
"Sorry if I frightened you," she answered so quietly, as if trying not to wake reality itself.
And behind her back stood he, Cheryl. Eternally serious, so serious that perhaps he jokes, but we simply never understand.
"I hope we didn't disturb you? You were talking so seriously... We thought maybe we could help..."
"Don't lie," Cheryl cut her off. "You simply couldn't bear the helplessness because you couldn't help with the translation."
Morgana looked away and lowered her head.
"Forgive me..."
"Trifles. We'll manage, while the others haven't returned, there's a bit of time."
But before I could ask, Kamiki and Tiamut appeared.
"Well, well. And you seem to have already finished," Kamiki said, as if we were late with homework.
And then Yahweh's team, but something in them wasn't right. Too serious, too quiet. They didn't look like they came to share results. More like jurors who already delivered a verdict.
"Can it be that... you're... an accomplice of the killer, Aragi?" Kamiki asked. His voice was heavy, like a hammer blow on glass.
...
"Answer. How will you explain this? Everything points precisely to you."
...
I was silent. Not because I didn't understand, but on the contrary, I understood everything perfectly. I simply didn't know where they learned it from.
"Stop it! Mister Aragi doesn't even understand what you..." Morgana intervened.
"Morgana, don't interfere. They know more than you," Cheryl said calmly but sternly.
"He's right," Yahweh agreed. "Don't get in the way."
Silence fell. The kind from which even walls begin to whisper. Kamiki stepped forward, as if delivering a verdict.
"We gave you a deadline, the second night. But you still haven't justified yourself. Look out the window, see?"
...
Enua looked. His eyes... no longer sought light. They already knew nothing remained.
"Time's up. You didn't even try to defend yourself. Pathetic."
"I...! You...! You can't...!!"
Enua's voice exploded. Anger, rage, despair, all at once. But Kamiki only smirked and pulled out a device, a listening device. One press, and the world heard the truth. Their conversation with Enua, his confession.
With this move Kamiki delivered checkmate.
"Sometimes it's worth accepting reality, Aragi," Hov placed his hand on my shoulder. "Everything was leading to this."
"We saved your life," Yahweh added. "Be grateful. We found the real killer."
"And now what?" I asked.
"No one will kill him," Kamiki said. "He'll simply leave the mansion, and then... let him live as he wants."
Leave the mansion...? This is the sentence.