The Skill Collector

"The killer is in here. This is a secret room murder!

The man pointing out to us at the murder scene was dressed strangely.

A specially shaped hat with shelter (hiccups) at the front and rear of the trench coat. He has a pen in his mouth for some reason.

"If my memory is certain, this is a complete crime! That's what my grandfather would say!

Was this man indeed an enthusiastic fan invited by the writer, the master of the mansion?

Here are two young people, me, a butler and a maid of honor. And a writer who doesn't move while sleeping on the ground.

The butler stiffens his hair with a surprising hair conditioner and looks serious.

The maid is putting her hair together in one behind her, with a face that is not particularly distinctive. You look just like me, so you're a twin.

I'm the only one floating around who's a merchant on a scene like the one in the reasoning novel.

I haven't been able to grasp the situation so I decided to evoke my memories from this morning.

Today's client is a weirdo writer who lives in a mansion on the island.

He hates people and seems to be a man with only two maids and one butler in the mansion and no family.

It's a common story that rich people sniff out the existence of collectors and try to make contact this way. Judging by his personality, if he's okay, he's going to buy and sell if he's a skill that's not dangerous.

It was the isolated island that boarded the boat of a writer, also a bourgeoisie, from the port and reached the end of his half-day sailing journey.

It usually seems to be a hall only for maids, deacons and lords, but today there was a man who was a passionate fan of writers.

The unusual dressed young man seemed to love his heartfelt work, and he spoke enthusiastically of the passion to me the first time he met me. Honestly...... it's noisy and disturbing, so I'll hammer it while listening appropriately.

The meal behaved at dinner was made by the butler but brilliant, and when he 'appraised' his skills with interest, 'culinary' skills existed at a high level.

Enjoying an elegant bath in a splendid bathroom, at a time when I was taking a breath, the butler finally tells me, "I need to talk to you about a request from the Lord," and I head to the Lord's room.

But the thick wooden door was locked, and I didn't hear back from knocking, so I looked for a butler to explain the current situation.

Only the Lord has the keys to this room, and there are no master keys, so we broke the keys, and when we jumped inside, there was a bloody writer rolling around.

And to this day.

"Whoa, don't touch the teacher. There's a risk of evidence being destroyed by the killer."

That's what the young man, who was rushing first to the writer to ascertain his pulse and injuries, says.

The strange outfit of the young man seems to be an imitation of the characters who appear in the writer's work. Was he a famous detective to solve any difficult cases?

"As you can see, this room is a complete chamber"

The writer's room is a killer landscape for the bourgeoisie, with a sturdy looking desk and a comfortable cushioned chair to sit on. The rest is only about a bookshelf.

The windows have one big thing, but at the end of the windows is the great sea plains. There is no scaffold outside the window because it is built on a cut cliff, and it will be difficult to break in through the window because it is on a pretty high ground.... and you would normally think.

"This window was locked, and if there was a way to unlock it, it wouldn't be possible to break in on this cliff."

What the youth are saying on Doya's face was just like what I thought.

"Furthermore, the room is locked and the room keys are only owned by the teacher. The teacher was in possession of the key."

You were complaining about maintaining the status quo, but this young man is the one who's vandalizing the scene the most.

Surely the key to the room would not be able to be opened without a key in a special shape.... originally.

"Cause of death is a dagger to the back. I don't have to resist, so even sleeping pills take defenseless stuff from my back, like that."

He puts his right hand on his chin and his left hand is scratching his head tight when he removes his hat and places it on his desk. The young man seems completely ready to become a famous detective.

"Let's go back to the hall first. The noise here won't make your teacher sleep peacefully."

Everyone leaves the room and moves from the writer's room upstairs to the hall on the ground floor.

The detective temperament young man glanced around the table placed in the hall, stopping at the pitch and being on this spot, staring at me, the butler and the two maids.

"There is one possible culprit from this situation. Whoever killed the teacher, Mr. Butler, is you!

I look at the young man pointing at the butler with cold eyes.

"It can't be that I kill the killer ⁉ the venerable Lord! And why do you think I'm the killer?

"You're not the only one who planted sleeping pills in your dishes!

"I did make it, but it was the maids who carried the food, wasn't it?

The deacon's best point is that the face of a confident young man is frozen.

Besides, what is famous as a sleeping pill is certainly susceptible to heat, so the effect disappears when it is served in hot dishes. It would be common to put it in a cold drink.

When that happens, the maid who catered is more suspicious than the butler in charge of cooking.

"And what happened to the Chamber of Secrets? Only the Lord has the keys."

"Oh, that's it. You, the butler, were making the key."

"That key is made of special metal, and the key is chained and the Lord has it in the bathroom as a necklace. How from the Lord I owned without letting go of my skin?

"Um, there, here, that, that. Take your sleeping pills and take away your keys..."

I don't want to break my reasoning, even though I'm in a lot of trouble.

In the first place, even though it's the only inference I can make.

He seems to think of himself as a famous reasoning, but that reasoning is fatally flawed. - Skills exist.

Normally, it would be impossible, but if you have the skills, you can override the status quo.

Secret room keys are 'unlocking' skills.

Cliffs are 'climbing' skills.

Killing unnoticed is an 'assassination' skill.

With this, it's enough. Skill levels are necessary to some extent, but we have the right people for the occasion.

Instead, everyone on this scene, except the youth, has skills in 'unlocking', 'climbing' and 'assassinating'. That's pretty high level, too. Of course, I own it, too.

This would mean that it is possible for everyone but him to commit this clandestine murder (tentatively).

It's too much to call it a coincidence that just a butler and a maid own this skill. Bandit collapse or... active duty?

Either way, it's a dangerous situation for me and him. The butler and the maids should be seen as more connected than that, someone to be wary of, even if they weren't the killers.

"Mmm, even though the main character's reasoning is centered in the teacher's work. It's painful that the teacher is dead, but I'll make sure I clear that carelessness!

The main reasoning of the novel centers on the convenience of the story, and for some reason there are unusually few people who own the skills in the writer's work. Also, there are frequent demonic items that are convenient to seal your skills.

It would be a bitter measure, I guess, because if skills existed, they would be anything like they are now. Besides, the actual story, it's pretty rare to have high-level skills.

I tend to forget because I often encounter occupational patterns, high level people, but the basic skill level is normal around 5.

Even so, both butler and maid are above level 10. This skill is one that can be remembered acquired, so it follows that they were planted somewhere.

Well, you're sure you're an active bandit or experienced. It would be more reasonable to assume that it belongs to the same organization as well.

A young man wielding a hot valve has only about a 'quick read' level of skill. After that, he has low levels but also skills such as' negotiation 'and' calibration '. It's only certain that he's not the killer.

"I don't have much information yet, and isn't it too early to decide? It's a storm outside and the boat can't leave. There's no fear that the killer will escape, so why don't you take some time off this evening and we'll get you all together again tomorrow for a brief interview?

"Right. The merchant is right. That's not a good decision. Deacon, I'm sorry."

"No. This is the situation. Naturally lost his cool judgment. Because I can't contain the upset either. The maids are frightened."

The maids haven't spoken a word since entering this room.

You look surprised and frightened, but your eyes see a strong light. Is that anger?

The maids were surprised and angry when they saw the body. The killer's emotions are uncomfortable. Deacon has no emotional swings. I'm activating 'Psychology', but I don't see any emotions at all.

The 'cover-up' level is not Dade. If you're a bandit, this butler is pretty capable.

"It's dangerous to act in pieces, in a current situation where we don't know who did it. What do you say we all spend the night together in the hall?

"No, I don't trust anyone. I'm sorry to spend the night with the killer. I'm locked in my room by myself."

That said, the young man went back to his room.

That's a development like a novel. I've read a few of his books since I took the writer's request, but I feel like whoever said this was killed first.

"How about a merchant?

Deacon asks me and I get lost responding. Other than the writer, they haven't let me know who I am. I'm supposed to be just a merchant.

If you know you're a collector, you might be wary of me, but if you recognize you're a merchant, you might get bored. With them overnight, it's easy to identify the killer if you do something odd.

"So do you mind if I stay safe and let you spend some time in the hall with me?

I got an understanding from the butler and the maid, and I was supposed to reveal it overnight in the hall.

Throughout the night pretending to sleep, none of the suspects acted strangely, although they were exploring the signs.

As the butlers don't attack me, and the time passes quietly, there are a few pieces of information I have obtained from "Listening Ears".

"Why the Lord..."

"Is it from an organization that's been after us?

"Probably...... Such an imitation to the gracious Lord. Unforgivable."

Something like that. To observe from the conversation between the butler and the maid, that the three were picked up by the writer where they had left the criminal organization in the same company and lived and worked here.

They admire the Lord and there can be no killing him. I just found out.

I was wondering if the criminal organization had sent the butlers in and killed them for the writer's asset purposes, but that prediction went a long way off.

When that happens, only young people, among the characters, who are enthusiastic fans of the writer, will be the possible culprits. If the famous detective temptation is the real killer, it might be interesting as a story......

and until last night, I would have thought so, but not now.

"We're almost done with breakfast, so I'm calling Master Anima"

What the maid calls anima is about that fan youth.

The signs haven't stepped out of the room, so he might still be asleep.

The other maid and butler are preparing breakfast. The maid went to wake him now. Now I'm alone and I have no one's eyes.

"Is this the only time?"

I haven't been in a writer's room since, but at this time, I can break in without anyone finding out.

I killed my footsteps and signs and moved to the front of the room.

Move the large bump that was placed in place of the broken key so that no one could enter it, and gently slide it indoors.

Almost the same indoors as yesterday, there are no bodies of the Lord.

The writer kept his back in the chair and roared in front of the manuscript.

"Uh, I can't go on. What can I do...... Ha! Collector, how did you get inside ⁉"

When a writer dressed in bloody clothes notices me, he opens his eyes to the point that his eyeballs are about to fall out zero.

"Again, were you pretending to be dead"

I hadn't looked into any of the writer's skills because it was the first time I met him at the time of the body discovery, but now I have a grand float over his head of 'pretending to be dead' skills.

"Pretend Dead" is a pretty major skill that can sometimes be owned by herbivores and weak demons, but it's rare for people to own it.

When activated, it only appears dead on the surface, and it is also possible to temporarily stop pulses and heartbeats. They can also imitate stiffness after death, so they just think it's a corpse when they look into it. Signs will also be faint, so they will remain almost unchanged immediately after death.

I was brilliant enough to mistake it for a corpse when I explored the signs, too.

... I was looking into all the signs in the middle of the night and all of a sudden I was surprised that the writer's signs had come back to life and started moving around the room.

"How could you do such an imitation?

"Excuse me. I didn't mean to fool you. I just wanted to trick that editor into buying deadline time, so sooo!

…………

My facial muscles stiffened with a bitter laugh.

I thought you'd be asked to make a serious confession... I didn't know that was the case.

"I also called you to sell me skills that I could use in my novel or to tell you a story that would help me. He said he bought this lonely island and worked out measures so the editing wouldn't come right away...... I can't believe he came this far to remind me of the manuscript!

"Uh, are you referring to that young man as an editor?

"Yeah, he's a guy who likes my work too much and has a bad habit of being a character in the making"

... No, I was talking publicly about being a fan, but you didn't hear the profession. I didn't know you were the editor in charge of the writer.

"Because the butler or maid knows you're 'pretending to be dead'?

"Don't you say from your side first to deceive your enemies? I haven't even told them. I'm going to tell you when the editor gets home."

He said the setting of the butler and the maid's former bandit had nothing to do with it.

What are you going to do with the aftermath of this important matter, this writer?

If the editor returns to the city deceived, the manuscript reminder will be gone...... he is a bourgeoisie and celebrity. There's no reason to leave it like this. What do you do when you bring in soldiers and vigilantes?

Plus, the information on the author's death will be in the paper right away. How much effort and money will it take to correct that?

The deacons can also leave the island with the editor, mistakenly believing the Lord is dead, and challenge the criminal organization to a writer's condolence battle.

I'm sick and tired of saying I'm other HR just to think about future responses.

"So the collector. Do you have any novel stories or skills to overcome the adversity of the name this deadline!

He opened his mouth slowly, staring down at the writer who clung to me.

"Right. Good luck with your excuses as we sell 'Talking Arts'"