Auralia

A week after receiving the invitation, Yol recovered his strength and set out for the city of Auralia. It was a place where carrying a weapon was forbidden, a place beyond the reach of the King's authority.

 The city of knowledge, where killing and the shedding of blood were forbidden.

As Yol rode the carriage towards it, the sight of the city of knowledge, brimming with trees and flowers, opened up before his eyes. Simple houses set beneath the trees and quiet streets carpeted with flowers made it a place that brought ease to the heart of anyone who saw it for the first time. But even the beauty of that view could not stir any feeling in that empty face.

 He asked himself why he was in a place like this.

He began to wander the streets of the city without any particular aim. He felt uneasy without his sword at his side, and it left him a little tense. Then he noticed people in strange clothing patrolling the streets with an impressive regularity.

So these are the library guards. The soldiers who uphold the laws in this city. I never imagined there was a place the King's authority does not reach.

 In any case, it seems this invitation is a ticket that lets me enter the World Library and take a book from it. 

I don't really understand it. What is so exciting about getting a book at a time like this? Still, the ticket itself is exquisitely designed, and it is pure gold. Is this library truly a place of such importance? Well, I suppose I'll go and have some tea for now.

He took a seat at a café in the middle of the city, his chair looking out over the plaza. As he gazed at the great fountain, sunlight filtered down through the leaves of the trees and wove a gentle warmth into the air.

 It let Yol's heart loosen a little.

While his eyes drifted across the crowd, a young woman about his age caught his attention. She wore a black formal suit and a black hat, with black sunglasses, and her soft yellow hair fell over her right eye.

She walked with steady steps, cutting across the pavement towards a side road empty of pedestrians. On that same road appeared a young man in his late twenties, wearing a black cloak that covered half his face and standing about a hundred and ninety centimetres tall. 

His suspicious looks would have frightened anyone who saw him. He was walking in the opposite direction. In front of the bakery, the young man's shoulder collided with the girl's, entirely by accident.

 And before the girl could apologise, the young man's head dropped to the ground, severed. When the people around saw what had happened, cries of fear rose over the place.

 While everyone in the plaza ran for their lives, the girl was calm to an unsettling degree. Far from panicking, she pulled a book from her bag with enthusiasm and began writing in it eagerly.

Yol, still seated at his table, watched the girl with close attention. At the sight of her delighted face in such a situation, something seized his heart and he stood in a state of extreme tension. But before he could take a step, the library guards arrived on the scene, levelled their spears at the girl and surrounded her. One of the guards spoke to her.

"Who are you, intruder? What is your purpose in committing this crime in the middle of the city? You have one minute to justify yourself."

Before the girl could answer, Yol placed a hand on the guard's shoulder and said:
"Could you stop for a moment? I saw everything. That girl did nothing. And besides, she isn't carrying any weapon."
The guard answered him, looking into his eyes.

"And who are you?"

"I'm Yol, a soldier of the King's army. And former commander of the Third Division."
"Yol? I've never heard that name before.

 And even if it's true, this is no business of the King's army. In this city you are nothing but a civilian. Do you understand that? But in any case, if you still want to involve yourself in this matter, show me proof that what you're saying is true."

Yol pointed towards one of the library guards and said:

"It's simple. If you don't believe me, ask that man. He saw everything as well."
The guard asked his colleague whether it was true. He told him that Yol was right, that he had watched the whole thing carefully and the girl had done nothing suspicious

. But even so, the guards could not simply let her go; after everything, she was the only suspect in that place. Yol then asked to be allowed to speak with her for a while, and they left him to do as he wished.

While the girl stood there clutching her book anxiously, Yol greeted her and began to talk.

"I don't know what happened, but don't worry. I saw everything, and I'll help you sort this problem out."
The girl answered him in a sarcastic tone, looking away.

"Even if you say that, I don't see your friends believing I'm innocent. They're a lot of slackers, after all. Instead of looking for the real criminal, they'll try to pin the blame on anyone with a direct connection to the crime. And there's no chance they'd listen to a stranger like you. Or what, are you a man of high standing?"

Yol could feel how much irritation she was letting show. For a moment he felt foolish for trying to help a girl like her.

"Ah, you're right. You can count me as a man of some standing in this place. And in any case, what is with this behaviour? I'm trying to save your life, and this is how you act?"

"And that's exactly why I'm telling you it isn't your problem."

Their shouting rose, and grave as the matter was, not a trace of concern showed on either of their faces.

When they paused for a moment, the girl caught sight of the invitation of the World Tree, and her cold manner turned warmer. She asked him, brimming with joy:

"Could it be that you're one of those invited to enter the World Tree? I can't believe it. That's truly amazing. It seems you weren't lying about being an important person after all."

Yol was taken aback by the change in the way she spoke. Her delighted face was almost enough to make him forget what had just happened.

"You nearly lost your life here, and all you can think about are trivial things. Is this invitation really that important?"

"I didn't know there were idiots in this world who had never heard of these invitations. The world really is very big, just as I expected. In any case, there's no need to worry. I didn't kill that man. Both of us know it."

"Even so, there's no proof that either of us is telling the truth. At worst, they'll try to drag me into this."

The girl gave a faint smile, resting her hands under her chin.

"So what do you say we cooperate, Mr. Policeman? I will find the real killer. And in exchange, you will do something for me. What do you say?"

When Yol heard those words, worry came over him. There was something strange about a girl who smiled at a time like that. And then he realised she had said something important.

"Mr. Policeman? How did you know I serve in the King's army? And why would I agree to such an offer? I see no reason to accept this cooperation."

"Well, it may not have been obvious, but I am a brilliant detective. It wasn't difficult to work out who you were just by looking at your build and the way you speak. And besides, a man has died here, and you aren't going to leave the matter as it stands and walk away, are you? You're more interested in finding the killer than I am. That's why you want to help me this much."

For some reason, Yol felt a flicker of irritation in his chest.

Perhaps because she was half right.

"In fact, I feel guilty about wasting my time talking with you. But I really don't mind. Today is a day off. If you find the killer, I'll accept any request you care to make."

Yol told the guards that she was helping them find the killer, so they allowed her to try.

The girl sank deep into thought, ignoring everything around her, and made her way towards the body. The crime had taken place in the middle of the city, at the pedestrian crossing in front of a small bakery. There was nothing out of the ordinary around the body.

Then she looked ahead, to a large open space at whose centre stood an enormous water fountain. The girl realised something important, a piece of evidence. Then she began to speak.

"After examining the body, I had a question. What sort of weapon was used in this crime? Looking at the place of the cut, it appears to have been severed with remarkable precision, as though it were done by a single stroke of a sword. It's hard to think of anything else that could be so effective in this way. But taking into account the span of time in which the incident occurred, the use of a sword is impossible."

Yol replied, thinking he might help her a little.

"Setting aside whether there was a sword at all, could anyone move quickly enough to become invisible? It would make sense if we said the killer possesses some kind of ability. But if we say the killer has a supernatural power, then finding him becomes an impossible task."

The girl pushed forward between the soldiers, making her way towards the water fountain.

"You're right, but that is what the killer wants us to believe. With no proof, it would be easier to say that someone with special powers killed him. But in truth it isn't that complicated. The killer simply used something that is difficult to see."

The guard answered her in a raised voice.

"And what might that thing be, in your opinion?"

"It's a thread."

The girl pointed towards the shop in front of which the murder had taken place and said:

"You can check that wooden beam at the front of the shop. Looking at it from a distance, you won't notice anything strange, but if you look closely, you'll see that it has been cut perfectly in half."

The beam served as the base supporting the shop's front awning. Its thickness was seven centimetres at most. It had been split down the middle by something extremely thin, and the gap between the two halves of the support was barely ten millimetres wide.

The girl pointed to the middle of the fountain she was standing beside and asked the guards to take a look at it. When they came close, they saw nothing strange about it. But one of them noticed something tied to the middle of the fountain's column, and when they examined it, it proved to be a very fine thread of flexible steel.

"What is this supposed to mean? Girl, do you have any idea what is going on?"

The guard who had until moments ago been looking at the girl as though she were a criminal replied, confusion plain on his face.

"Don't rush things, guard. But exactly as you suppose, this thin thread here is the murder weapon in this crime. As is plainly visible, the start of the thread is tied at this fountain. It then wraps around the wooden support of that shop, while its end is tied to something at the far end of this street. Or that, at least, is how it stood before the crime."

The girl asked one of the guards about the things that stood at the end of that street, and among them he mentioned a dry well. When she heard that, she took hold of the lock of hair hanging over her eye and spoke, boredom seeping through her flat words.

"I understand now. So that's how he did it. To cut off a person's head with a thread like this, you need a pulling force capable of piercing flesh and bone, so that it passes through his neck without difficulty. Something like that cannot be done with human strength, which is why he did it this way. He tied the end of the thread to something of enormous weight and small size, so that he could drop it into the well. With a thing like that, he could cut through an ordinary person's body with the greatest of ease."

A strange feeling came over Yol. Something about the story felt wrong to him. So he said:

"Wait a moment. If what you're saying is true, shouldn't the thread have caught you as well? You were close enough for some of the victim's blood to have spattered you."

"You're right. That is, if we had been at the same height. Fortunately for me, my body's failure to grow properly seems to have saved my life."

"Now that you mention it, that does make sense."

Yol said it with disappointment, at his inability to deduce anything useful.

The girl went on with her explanation, taking hold of the metal thread.

"This is interesting. It seems the killer has a talent for planning. But it seems he misjudged some important matters."

One of the guards asked, "What do you

 mean?"

"Look, the thread has been cut from the middle. It might seem unremarkable if it had snapped under the great weight pulling on it. But look at the thread tied around the fountain's column.

 It very nearly split the fountain itself. Perhaps the killer thought that piercing the marble of the column would not be difficult, but what the criminal did not know was that at the centre of that marble there are steel columns protecting the fountain's structure. So, to keep anyone from seeing the thread, he tried to dispose of it himself, but most likely he saw the library guards gathering in this place near the fountain and could not approach to retrieve it. That is why he cut it from the middle and took the part that was with him to hide it. Fortunately for us, he hasn't gone far."

"Wait, do you mean the killer is still here?"
The girl smiled a sly smile and returned to the edge of the crime scene.

"To kill someone in this way, you need to watch the place at all times. And the only spot that allows for that is that junk shop at the end of the street. If you're quick enough, you may yet find the steel thread used in this crime, or what remains of it."