"Now you know why I said this story was just a boring revenge drama, right?"
"You call it a revenge drama, but haven't you already given away the killer's name?"
Ai recalled the story details; in the version he told, the letter only added suspicion.
"The mastermind I envisioned in the setting is the biological father."
Hiko brushed it off with the word 'setting'.
"Then your work is truly terrible, isn't it? The father kills the mother, and the child still has to find the father and take revenge."
Ai listened to Hiko's imagined plot. Aquamarine, as the son, witnessed the tragedy of his mother's murder and would later discover, through his investigation, that the killer was his biological father, whom he had never met.
That would be too despairing.
"Isn't your story too melodramatic?" Ai thought for a moment, then complained, "As expected, only a made-up story would come up with something so outlandish."
'This is what you originally went through.'
Hiko watched Ai complain about the far-fetched plot, ignoring her opinion, and instead asked, "Then what do you think the motive of the scumbag father for killing the young girl would be?"
"I've already decided on the direction, but I can't think of a suitable motive."
"Motive? No matter how I think about it, it seems unreasonable!"
Ai tried to think of the killer's motive for murdering the young girl, but nothing came to mind. She ventured, "Could it be because the killer is mentally ill?"
"Perhaps. I don't know either."
Hiko shook his head.
He really did want to know who that scumbag was and why he acted, so that he could find him more easily.
"You don't know?"
Ai felt strange. The story Hiko told sounded very complete, but she didn't understand why he, as the author, hadn't considered the killer's motive.
"For a gimmick?" Ai asked tentatively.
"If I wrote a story like this just for a gimmick, readers would definitely scold me. That's why I'm trying to think of a more reasonable motive. After all, I don't understand the thoughts of a mentally ill person." Hiko rested his hand on his cheek and looked at Ai.
Ai fell into thought after hearing this.
While discussing the killer's motive, Hiko couldn't help but ponder. If he were to write this story, what motive would he give the killer for murdering her?
Yandere?
But she had never betrayed him, and she had even given birth to his children. If the motive was a yandere obsession, killing a loved one, it would only lead to more criticism.
Antisocial personality?
That was still similar to mental illness.
So that reason wouldn't work either.
A pervert who enjoys killing?
But that also felt weak, and the reasoning a bit far-fetched.
It had been several years, and only now he killed her? That was too patient, wasn't it?
'Damn it! What exactly is the motive?!'
The more Hiko thought about it, the less he could figure it out.
"Someone who likes to kill, but has to hide his identity as a serial killer?" Ai thought for a while and gave a conclusion similar to what Saito Hiko had in mind.
"This motive isn't quite enough, is it?" Hiko casually retorted.
"Then do you have a better idea?" Ai wasn't angry, waiting for Hiko to provide a more reasonable motive.
"I can't think of one. That's why I'm troubled."
Hiko scratched his head and said, "You think only such a person as the killer would seem even slightly reasonable?"
"You said the reason couldn't be mental illness, so of course, the only slightly reasonable answer is a pervert who likes to kill." Ai had already thought of the answer before responding directly.
That seemed to make some sense.
She had given birth to twins for him and wanted to reconcile, and she was very beautiful.
A halfway normal person would never harm her; they would just not contact her.
And there was no threat, she only wanted to see the children.
So it could only be a pervert, right?
Hiko thought for a moment. If it were him, he would never do something so wicked.
"You make a good point. I'll adopt this idea for now, unless I think of a better, more reasonable reason."
Hiko had always been confused about the scumbag's motive. Since Ai had provided some clarity, he asked again, "Then how should I design the process for Ruby and Aquamarine to find the mastermind?"
"Of course, DNA testing!" Ai replied without thinking.
"What if testing isn't possible?"
"Why do you ask me everything? Isn't it your story? Shouldn't you be thinking of the settings?" Ai, being continuously questioned, realized that Hiko had written the story but was asking her for ideas to refine the details, so she immediately refused.
"Uh… fine. Can you find the killer just by using the current setting, excluding DNA as a powerful tool?"
Hiko rephrased his question and continued, adding, "This method must exclude powerful tools like DNA."
"I'm listening to a story, you know." Ai didn't fall for it. "I'm not your external brain to help you think."
Hiko felt regretful.
After thinking for a moment, he organized the information he knew and said directly, "Actually, I've already figured out who the killer is and his identity, but I want you to deduce, based on the information I'm about to give you, if you can figure out who the killer is."
"Deduction? Okay, but you have to provide the characters involved, otherwise I won't be able to guess correctly."
"Alright."
After organizing his thoughts, Hiko said, "Aquamarine held his mother tightly after her death."
"He felt his warm mother's body gradually turn cold, so the day of her passing was etched in his memory, and he swore he would find the killer."
"During this time, no one passed by, and the surroundings were eerily silent."
"To avenge his mother, the boy returned to the town and found the old nun, telling her that the young girl had been killed by a man."
"However, when the old nun brought people to that man's house, he had already committed suicide."
"The old nun suddenly felt something was amiss. She knew this man; he would never kill the young girl without reason. There must be some hidden truth."
"And why did Aquamarine know where his mother died?"
"So she questioned Aquamarine in detail, saying, 'This concerns finding the real killer. I hope you can tell me, why were you there today?'"
"Aquamarine directly told her that he was waiting for his father."
"The old nun questioned him in more detail."
"She immediately realized the real killer was the young girl's illicit lover."
"For this, she launched an investigation and found some suspicious individuals who might have been the young girl's illicit lover."
"Poor serfs, generous merchants, powerful high-ranking officials."
"As well as a priest from the same monastery, a young monk who had stayed at the monastery for a period, and several male monks who had studied at the Grand Abbey during the same time as the young girl."
"They all could have been the young girl's illicit lover. So, who could it be?"