Chapter 85 - Innate Nature and Habit

After playing the Violin of Deepest Black, Limon had willingly accepted the monstrosity. It wasn't just because playing it helped dissolve the power of the constellations. From the first time he'd played it, he'd sensed a strange, inexplicable presence.

["... So the presence you've been sensing all this time is the ghost I saw, Team Leader?"]

"It's only a possibility. A Sword Master isn't a priest, you know. Even if a ghost is attached to it, I might sense its presence without being able to see it."

At Limon's matter-of-fact reply, Yu Na-gyeong shouted.

["Then it really is a haunted instrument!"]

"What's so surprising? A cursed instrument, a haunted instrument... It's all much the same."

["It's completely different! Especially for me, when I can actually see the ghost! It's creepy!"]

"Now, now. You shouldn't discriminate against a fellow ghost."

["I keep telling you, I'm not a ghost!!!"]

Limon paid no attention to her protests. Cursed or haunted, the instrument was fine by him as long as he could use it to dissolve the constellations' power.

Something else did bother him. 'The ghost of a little girl...'

Even for a cursed instrument, a magical tool of this caliber—one made by a priest of Muse—couldn't have an ordinary ghost attached to it. The ghost would need a deep connection to the instrument from when it was alive, or it would have to be special in some way. That it was a mere little girl made him all the more curious about its identity.

'Could the power to dissolve starlight itself be connected to that ghost...? No, that's too much of a leap.'

Limon shook his head. They hadn't even confirmed whether the girl Yu Na-gyeong had seen was a ghost attached to the violin. Taking his speculation that far without evidence was something a detective—or a delusional patient—would do.

["Oh, come on! If all you're going to do is tease me, you might as well leave. You're busy these days anyway, aren't you?"]

Perhaps sulking because Limon had ignored her, Yu Na-gyeong huffed and turned her head away. Only then did Limon emerge from his thoughts and answer lightly.

"Oh, that's fine."

["What do you mean, fine?"]

"I've already drawn up a month's worth of predicted attack targets."

["... You've done what?"]

"I mean I have nothing to do for the next month."

["Team Leader, you didn't just throw together a list because you couldn't be bothered to work every day, did you...?"]

THWACK!

["Ow!"]

"What's with that suspicious look you're giving your esteemed Team Leader, hmm?"

["How could I not be suspicious?! You're saying you've predicted every place criminals you've never even seen will attack for the next month! How does that make any sense?"]

She was so incredulous that, even after the flick to her forehead knocked her flat on her back, she sprang up like a jack-in-the-box to argue. Limon's answer was simple.

"And predicting one day ahead makes sense?"

["Well..."]

Yu Na-gyeong fell silent. Figuring out the killers' next target through swordsmanship made no sense either.

Limon snorted. "Whether I predict their next move or a month's worth, it's the same thing. What matters is innate nature and habit."

["Innate what and habit what?"]

"In short, people do what they've always done."

Even if they learn the same swordsmanship, a left-hander and a right-hander will perform its moves differently. The sword of someone impatient, cautious, cunning, steadfast, clever, or fickle will differ in its own way. Part of that pattern is innate nature; part is habit formed over time. It is etched so deeply into the unconscious that a person can't change it even if they want to.

That was precisely what Limon had tried to uncover by examining the bodies so carefully after the Black Dragon Construction massacre.

["... So if you know their innate nature and habits, you can tell exactly what they'll do and when?"]

"No, that's beyond me. Even if you know the pattern, applying it properly takes enough experience and knowledge."

["In plain English?"]

"A master of Go might read the endgame after just the first ten moves, but that doesn't mean he can read a chess game."

["And you're a master investigator who can tell where the criminals will place their next stone?"]

"I've spent my whole life practicing swordsmanship and catching villains, after all."

Yu Na-gyeong understood. Even for Limon, it was no easy feat. It was a remarkable ability made possible by his centuries as a Sword Master dealing with all manner of crimes and villains.

["If you could do that, why didn't you use it back at the PAB? Catching criminals would've been a lot easier."]

"There was no need back then. It's not that impressive a trick anyway."

["Oh, you say that, but really you just couldn't be bothered... Ha, dodged it—squawk!"]

"... Now I'm genuinely curious, Na-gyeong. Are you incapable of learning, or do you actually like getting hit?" Limon clicked his tongue as he watched her celebrate dodging one forehead flick, only to be struck square in the forehead by the second finger he snapped in quick succession and go down.

["Oh, damn it! You were still being lazy, Team Leader!"]

"I wasn't lazy. I worked efficiently. The PAB was crawling with people who had prophecy or information skills. What use was a little trick like this there?"

["That little trick is helping a lot now, isn't it?"]

"Only because this situation is unusual."

Limon assessed it coolly. Only in this case had the Tracers obtained remarkably little information. In an ordinary investigation, Tracers with their various skills were usually faster and more accurate than his rough predictions.

"Besides, this method has a clear weakness."

["A weakness?"]

"Yes. It won't matter if they don't notice it... but if they do, my predictions will be useless."

["... What exactly is this weakness?"]

Yu Na-gyeong tilted her head. What weakness could an ability more skill-like than an actual skill have, to make Limon so modest about it? She couldn't begin to guess. Limon answered calmly.

"It's..."

* * *

"You failed again?"

"I don't much like the word 'failed.' Say we made a tactical retreat to avoid a drawn-out fight."

"That's called failure, you moronic Comrade."

The braided man who had snapped back so coldly frowned and muttered, "I don't understand."

"What don't you understand?"

"How they know where we'll attack next and keep preparing for us."

"Couldn't it be coincidence?"

"If you think three consecutive attacks failing after the first one is a coincidence, replace that rotten brain of yours."

The man raised the knife he'd been using to cut his steak as though he were ready to split the young man's skull and wash his brain himself. The narrow-eyed young man recoiled and protested.

"But if it isn't coincidence, what other explanation is there? Our information couldn't possibly have leaked."

"Hmm, true."

"Or maybe we've been caught by some kind of prophecy skill—"

"Impossible." The man spoke flatly, his eyes full of certainty. "Have you forgotten? We have a blessing that nullifies every prophecy and observation skill."

"But even the 『Veil Beneath the Stars』 isn't perfect, is it? The Seven Dragons Society has plenty of experts with strange abilities."

"They're only dragons brought down by an ignorant swordsman, with their little tricks." The braided man declared without batting an eye that the Seven Dragons Society's warriors, who wielded mere psionics, could never penetrate the 『Veil Beneath the Stars』. The young man chose not to argue.

For one thing, he didn't want to quarrel with the man, who was technically his superior. For another, he agreed with him deep down. The 『Veil Beneath the Stars』 was a special skill. Classified as a Rare Skill, it was more useful than a unique skill. It was a key reason their organization could operate worldwide without leaving a trail. In that sense, it was more reasonable to think some other factor was involved than that the 『Veil Beneath the Stars』 had been breached.

"Then how do they know our targets and prepare for us?"

"Hmm..." The man cut a small piece of steak. He chewed it thoroughly, swallowed only the juices, then lightly spat it out before speaking in a low voice.

"If the information hasn't leaked and they haven't foreseen it with a skill, there's only one answer, isn't there?"

"What answer?"

"They predicted it."

"...?"

The narrow-eyed young man blinked blankly. A beat later, he grasped what the man meant and looked aghast. "You mean they figured it out just by thinking? Without a skill helping them? How is that possible?" His reaction was only natural.

In this Iron Age, even weather forecasts relied on prophecy skills, while criminal investigations used tracking and deduction skills. Predicting targets by inferring a criminal's thinking without any help from a skill sounded as absurd as traveling into space without a spaceship.

The man, however, was unruffled. "Perhaps you're too stupid to know this, Comrade, but in the early Iron Age there were still old-fashioned investigators who caught criminals using things like 'instinct,' 'experience,' and 'statistics.'"

"So? You're saying the Seven Dragons Society has hired one of those fossilized investigators?"

"They might belong to the clan in the first place."

"Well... the Seven Dragons Society has few players because of its tradition of venerating psionics."

"Primitive fools, even more stupid and worthless than you, Comrade. Bound to such paltry power and tradition, they neglect the truth they ought to follow."

The man smiled. The young man discreetly averted his eyes. He might seem cool and composed, but he was still their Comrade and commander—a madman who, on matters like this, was every bit as fanatical as the young man, if not more. Nothing good would come of meeting his gaze now.

"Ahem. So we find that old fossil of an investigator and beat the hell out of him?"

"Oh, what a splendid idea. If you also know who this investigator is, where they are, and how we can find them."

"How would I know that?"

"Then shut up. You'll be better off."

"... Do you have a better idea, Commander Comrade?"

"I do."

Perhaps stung that his rare suggestion had been dismissed outright, the young man sounded accusatory. The man answered at once, took an object from his pocket, and set it on the dining table.

"... What's this?"

"An adviser who will tell us our next target."

"What are you talking about?"

The young man stared at him as if he'd lost his mind, but the man didn't bat an eye. He merely rolled the object he'd produced around in his hand, a knowing smile on his lips.

"After all, no matter how skilled an investigator is, all they can do is read human psychology."