As you know, a mask of night covers my face. Otherwise, my shyness would have caused my cheeks and ears to blush.

–William Shakespeare, Romeo And Juliet1

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I looked at the debutantes who stepped into the ring.

They were each armed, glaring at me with weapons on their belts.

They remained silent, if only because the police and their chaperones were watching.

Yet I could sense their firm resolve—should my deduction wrongly accuse them, they would not hesitate to refute me in the oldest language of all time: force.

Of course, I had no intention of catching innocent people.

Having already prepared everything to capture the culprit, I didn’t want to hurt the pride of the innocent.

“The culprit is undoubtedly hiding among us. But before revealing their identity, I would first like to speak about the debutantes gathered here today.”

At each corner of the ring stood four individuals, including Lady Sunshine who withdrew from the duel, and the men and women who demonstrated strong martial arts in another ring.

Among them, Lady Sunshine, whose identity I had already uncovered, was glaring at me with cold eyes.

She seemed curious as to why I deliberately summoned her to such a conspicuous spot.

The irritated gaze from inside the luxurious gold-adorned mask felt as if it was searing my skin.

In the left corner from her, there was a small man with striking orange hair.

He wore a mask resembling a fox’s face, and his main weapon seemed to be the knuckle duster on his fingers.

The tails of the tuxedo were long, and the vest was puffed up, suggesting he also knew how to handle concealed weapons.

Is he a new agent from the Secret Intelligence Bureau’s Secret Intelligence Service? He must be working under Mycroft.

The third debutante was the woman in red standing diagonally with a halberd in the opposite corner.

Maintaining a rigid upright posture, she wore a gilded mask covering her entire face, and with a bear fur hat, it was evident she was a skilled member of the Queen’s Guard at a young age.

Lastly, there was a man behind me dressed in green and wearing an owl mask.

Seeing the bow and quiver he carried, it was clear he was part of the Merry Men, who had long been treated as outlaws but became a member of the Orthodox faction after making substantial donations to the The League of Gentlemen and The Royal Combat Society.

It was remarkable that their relations with other clans and families had improved enough for them to participate in the Debutante Ball.

“The heir of the Drake family had his upper body completely blown off. As you know, he had mastered ascending martial arts and possessed formidable martial prowess, ranking among the top ten of the debutantes gathered here. To blow up and kill such a strong figure at once would require explosives or a large amount of internal energy.”

I took a puff from my pipe and continued.

“Unless Drake was insane, he wouldn’t have swallowed a bomb, so the suspects are limited. Those of you in the VIP seats on the second floor. Or, those among the attending debutantes who are stronger than the victim are the likely suspects.”

Those among the debutantes around me who were unrelated to this murder would take on roles similar to assistants drawn from the audience by a magician.

The magician who will pull the culprit out like a dove from a hat is, of course, me.

And in magic, the role of the assistant is always predetermined.

“If someone from the VIP section had used such power, it would have been immediately noticed by those around. The level of internal energy needed to burst a person is unmistakable. It might be possible if everyone in the VIP section was in on it, but The Royal Combat Society and the chaperones would not collaborate just to kill a fledgling. Therefore, my conclusion is that the culprit was on the lower floor, and not the second.”

As I said that, the eyes of the debutantes occupying each corner of the ring began to waver.

It seemed they had only taken my declaration with the cane, that the culprit was within this circle, as a metaphor.

However, I was truly convinced that the murderer was within a 5-yard radius of me.

“Based on my analysis from watching the duel intermittently, the martial prowess of the four present here surpasses that of the deceased Drake family heir. If the victim was off guard, they could have easily been split into upper and lower halves in one strike.”

As I finished speaking, the woman from the Queen’s Guard cautiously stepped forward.

“This is sophistry. If you intend to frame someone with such flimsy logic, I will stake the honor of the Queen’s Guard and demand a duel to the death.”

“You’re overreacting, considering I haven’t even pointed out the culprit yet.”

-Thud!

She struck the floor with the staff, interrupting my words.

“No one witnessed what happened to that scoundrel in the first place, did they? He was always engaging in cowardly acts, like consuming elixirs before duels. It is clear that he relied on the power of drugs to compensate for his lack of skill and suffered side effects.”

“It seems you were acquainted with the victim.”

When I asked, the skilled woman from the Queen’s Guard hesitated for a moment before responding.

“Drake defeated me last year using the power of elixirs and then attempted to court me.”

“Interesting.”

“I’ve worked tirelessly for a year to knock him down a peg, but I swear on my hat that I’ve never committed murder.”

The reason she didn’t remove her mask was likely because she was acquainted with the victim.

She could have just kept quiet, but unable to restrain her fiery temperament, she stepped forward because she didn’t like being identified as one of the suspects.

However, for interrupting me, she only provided useless chatter.

I understand she’s anxious about being labeled the culprit, but assuming I’m a third-rate detective who makes rookie mistakes is unacceptable.

“I’ve heard your words, Miss Heroine. May I continue with my story?”

“Ugh…!”

When I publicly embarrassed her, the woman from the Queen’s Guard gritted her teeth and stepped back.

“It seems there are more than a few people who held personal grudges against the victim. Do the three of you harbor similar grievances?”

Lady Sunshine remained silent as it didn’t apply to her, but the other two men reacted.

The Secret Intelligence Service agent chuckled as if amused, while the Merry Man nodded quietly.

Seeing the woman from the Queen’s Guard honestly confess her situation, they likely judged that hiding the truth would seem suspicious.

Even in a situation where she might be accused of being the perpetrator, her honest acknowledgment of malice offered insight into how the late Drake lived during his lifetime.

“I didn’t want to speak ill of the deceased for the sake of his honor, but it seems he was quite the scoundrel.”

As I finished speaking, I noticed the elderly man in the naval uniform lowering his head in anger and shame.

Beside him stood Lestrade.

As I instructed earlier, he had brought Drake’s chaperone.

“I understand that many people despised the victim. However, to determine who committed the murder among them, there are a few more considerations. As the lady mentioned earlier, none of us witnessed what caused Drake’s death.”

The next point to consider is the means used for the murder.

“I examined the victim’s lower body at the scene. The explosion near the waist turned the entire upper body into a mass of flesh, but there was no smell of gunpowder. Although I considered the possibility of a powerful chemical reaction from an elixir injected into the body, I found no residue.”

If neither gunpowder nor a drug caused the explosion, only one method remains.

“Someone injected energy into his body and detonated it internally.”

I turned towards the large ice sculpture of a teddy bear, which the police had moved to the ring.

The sculpture, seated on the floor, was melting slowly.

It was evident at a glance that considerable effort had gone into the piece, but to assist in understanding for those unfamiliar, using it as a teaching tool was necessary.

I drew the sword from my cane and stabbed the tip into the bear’s paw, infusing it with internal energy.

“Like this.”

-Boom!

In the next moment, the head of the statue, which was at least 2 yards above the spot where the sword was planted, exploded.

Turning my head, I saw Lady Sunshine, who had just recognized the technique I had displayed, smiling faintly.

Inner Heavy Hand Technique.

A skill that strikes the opponent’s exterior while simultaneously channeling energy to damage the interior, known by many in the first-class and Peak realm, including myself.

“Everyone here can easily accomplish this, although there may be differences in accuracy. However, the important part here is the medium used to transmit the energy.”

This time, I stepped a few paces away from the statue and swung my fist towards its body.

-Bam!

Despite the considerable distance between my outstretched fist and the statue, a mark identical to my fist was clearly imprinted on its surface.

“As you can see, even if you fire energy through the air, it is impossible to cause an explosion from the inside. I hear that even the 1200 Inch Punch used by the Kingswood rangers only strikes the surface.”

I learned the basic principle of the 1200 Inch Punch from my master but have yet to internalize the essential understanding, so I can only mimic it.

Honestly, I was embarrassed to showcase it here, as my limit is still 10 feet, far from a hundred steps.

“In summary, whether it’s a hand, foot, or any other weapon, unless it directly touches the victim’s body, causing an explosion in that manner is impossible.”

Having said that, I looked around and, for some reason, the area below the ring was in an uproar.

“My goodness.”

“What did I just see…?”

“That fellow Holmes, can he even use the secret techniques of Kingswood?”

“……”

The Kingswood masters would scoff at such a claim, given the limited information available on the 1200 Inch Punch technique.

There’s no time to correct misunderstandings, so I must finish the story for now.

“But as you know, none of us saw a weapon touch the victim’s body. There were five of us, including myself, who could have killed the victim with a single blow, but we were all either dueling from a distance or waiting for our turn.”

At this point, a deep sense of doubt began to appear on the faces of the audience, including the later disciples on the ring.

The first to raise a question was the Merry Man.

“Are you saying that none of us killed that Drake child?”

“That’s correct.”

“Then what do you mean by saying the culprit is among us?”

“As I mentioned, the culprit is still here. However, there’s one more secret that needs to be revealed first.”

-Thud!

I returned the sword to my cane and struck the floor hard.

“Watson.”

“There you are.”

“I’m sorry, but I’ll need your help. Could you fire two or three shots of your finger technique? About twenty percent of your remaining power per shot should suffice.”

“Where exactly am I supposed to shoot this finger technique?”

“Watch carefully.”

I threw the cane.

Towards the ballroom wall, which held a mirror covering about one-third of its surface.

-Bang!

-Crash!!

The mirror shattered with a loud noise.

Through the fragments falling like rain, reflecting the light from the gas lamps and chandeliers, the dimly lit tiered seats, where dozens of gentlemen and ladies were seated, came into view.

“Please handle the other two places, Watson.”

In order to uncover the truth behind this case, we must first reveal the secret spectator seats where the gamblers had been placing their bets on us.

1. TL/N: "Thou know'st the mask of night is on my face, Else would a maiden blush bepaint my cheek." ️