"I won't bother explaining popular concepts like the Grandfather Paradox; I'll use a hypothesis to explain it first."
As Vil-V spoke, Curios Maker No. 3 began its work. The brush drew several... abstract human figures on the wall.
"Haha, sorry, maybe my imagination is too rich, so the reality reflected is a bit hard to understand." Vil-V gave a sheepish laugh, clearly not expecting her thoughts to look so strange when drawn.
Lin didn't care about that. He watched Vil-V silently, signaling for her to continue.
"Now, suppose this is the timeline we are in."
The abstract figures were labeled "Present," and afterward, another figure was drawn, looking like it had some rather conspicuous decorations on its body.
"This one is a person from the future who possesses a time travel device."
"He uses the time travel device to come to our era, appearing before us. So, what happens now?"
What would happen?
"...Nothing much."
"Exactly, nothing much. We just saw him—that is, we 'observed him'."
Vil-V drew the figures from both sides together and wrote the word "Observation."
"So, have there been any recorded events of observing people from the future, now or in history?"
Lin understood Vil-V's point. It was indeed a simple and easy-to-understand explanation.
If people really did create a time machine in the future, they would certainly want to interfere with history. Therefore, events of observing future people would definitely occur. Since there are no such records, it means either interfering with history would trigger the Grandfather Paradox or something else leading to the collapse of the entire history or material world, or time travel simply cannot be achieved.
"The same applies even if it's consciousness performing time travel. If we treat parallel worlds and timelines as horizontal and vertical elements respectively, then parallel worlds are like independent slices of bread; removing any one of them won't affect the other slices."
"A timeline, however, is an infinitely long icicle. If you try to pull a part of it out... it will cause the entire icicle to shatter or break. Consciousness is also a part of that icicle, so there is no situation where the matter hasn't changed but the consciousness has traveled back to a previous point in time."
After Vil-V finished speaking, the wall was already covered in abstract symbols and images. She clapped her hands, and Curios Maker No. 3 immediately cleaned the entire wall.
"Now, about the 'hallucination' of time travel you mentioned."
Curios Maker No. 3 immediately drew the entire process Lin had described on the wall. This time it looked exceptionally clear, likely because Lin description was precise and detailed, making Vil-V's thoughts exceptionally clear as well.
The database theft, Erwin's death, Pardo's disappearance, Vil-V's death, and the headquarters massacre...
Each icon was connected by a single arrow; the entire sequence followed the order of events as Lin had encountered them.
"Now that I've finished explaining that time travel cannot exist, let's analyze this under the premise that 'it is not time travel.' Of course, Lin, from now on, I hope you can maintain an attitude of suspicion toward everyone and everything—even me."
"Why?"
"Because if time travel cannot explain everything you've experienced, then what do you think caused all of this?"
It couldn't be explained.
This was exactly what Lin wanted to know: what caused this cycle phenomenon.
"Therefore, you must pay attention to everything around you and suspect all possibilities. Even now, you have no way to confirm if this Vil-V talking to you is an impostor relaying false information to you."
After Lin nodded, Vil-V gave a radiant smile and continued sharing her views.
"The starting point of the whole process is September 11th at 11:30, and the end point is September 18th at 18:30. Since your death was at 18:30 on the 18th, it's impossible to be certain that was truly the end point."
"After all, we have no way of knowing if the 'point in time' before you returned here was actually the time of your death."
In other words, was it possible that some time—perhaps even years—had passed after his death before he returned to this moment?
"Since the entire process of the event bears traces of human intervention, we can first assume that a mastermind does indeed exist."
"The first event, the database theft. Because the information is too vague, I can't analyze much in detail, but it's very likely that information is still hidden."
"The second event, Erwin's death."
"The time point is 5:00 AM on September 12th."
Vil-V paused and glanced at Curios Maker No. 3. It immediately drew a picture of Erwin lying on the ground.
"This incident was a murder. The killer didn't leave any useful information, but it did reveal the intelligence that 'it' had asked Erwin out. In other words, 'it' has likely already made contact with Erwin."
"So, among the people who made contact with him at the ball, someone is lying. Specifically: Elysia, Pardo, and Chiaki."
"Among them, Pardo's disappearance might be because she knew some key information and was dealt with by the mastermind, or she might be the mastermind herself."
"Compared to the other events, this one has a clear time of occurrence. So, you can stake out the deck before five o'clock and try to catch the person who kills Erwin."
Lin had intended to do this anyway. It would be best if he could take down the killer in one go, but he felt it wouldn't be that simple.
"Next is my death. According to you, Unit 1 was killed after receiving the order from me to instruct you to investigate. That means I likely possessed information at that time as well. It's just... how did I obtain that information in such a short time? Truly interesting."
Talking about her own death without any reservation, Vil-V's bold heart and her smile of pure interest easily infected others, helping them calm down together.
"Finally, the massacre at headquarters. Actually, I don't believe that hacker named Chiaki did it."
"..."
Lin didn't rush to contradict her; he just looked at Vil-V calmly, clearly asking her, "Why do you think so?"
"The most direct reason... I don't think she's capable of it. Even if I make the most unreasonable assumption that she turned into a Herrscher, based on your description, the victims were all killed with a single blade—even Kevin. I don't think a Herrscher would only cause injuries of that level."
"The other reason is... your final memory is blurred."