Chapter 58: Rashomon Effect

  The former hunter said it had four legs, a long, slithering tail, and long, terrifying horns.

  The old woman said Devil beast is humanoid, walking on two legs, with arms reaching the ground and terrifying red eyes. And it has two heads.

  The boy, however, said the Devil beast had two legs, wings, a red body, and no arms.

  The accounts of the three eyewitnesses were completely contradictory. While there might be some similarities between two of them, when combined with the third, their accounts differed drastically.

  Princess Pailin frowned, lowering her head in thought. She continuously flipped through the encyclopedia of Devil beast, one after another, quickly passing before her eyes. If any seemed plausible, she would stop and jot it down.

  Everyone looked puzzled. City Guard units usually fight humans, so they had never encountered or heard of such a strange Devil beast.

  Nitaan is also deep in thought. He suddenly remembered an old book he used to read in the school library. It was a book about old words or events used in the past.

  What was it called… Nitaan murmured.

  “Sila, you fought it, so you must have seen it up close, right?” Princess Pailin looked up at the village’s only Engraver.

  He was the only one who hadn’t yet revealed details about the Devil beast, and he should be the one that is able to describe it most clearly.

  Sila bit his lip slightly. He frowned before beginning to recount the story.

  “I didn’t find the bodies, but I heard the screams. At the time, I was in the forest not far from the village, so I hurried back as quickly as possible.” Sila began to explain.

  “As I got closer, I saw a Devil beast tearing apart a villager's body at the edge of the village wall. In my rage, I rushed in, hoping to finish it off.”

  “But…” Sila paused.

  The entire room looked at Sila, waiting for him to continue.

  “I am skilled in close-range combat, so I charge in without thinking much. But it...it...lifted the villager's body to block my sword. " Sila clenched his fists.

  The room fell silent. An atmosphere of oppressive anger permeated the air. Nitaan sensed the village chief's fists clenched in rage, while the old woman and the boy trembled, their eyes filled with fear.

  Only Unit 3 and Princess Pailin showed no expression.

  "Of course, I was furious, hoping to kill it. But then...h..he suddenly opened his eyes and started pleading for help..." Sila's voice grew fainter as he recounted.

  "I couldn't stop my attack, so I bent it to the ground to avoid injuring the villager. It seized the opportunity to roar. The roar was almost inaudible, yet it struck my very soul with such force that I almost lost consciousness."

  "At that moment, I thought I was too reckless. With that much impact, it should be First word Engraver as well. But it didn't continue to attack me."

  "It abandoned the villager's body and hurried away. By the time I regained my senses, it had disappeared into the forest, leaving only the villager’s lifeless body." Sila sighed.

  "After that, I arrived with the guards," the village chief added.

  No one spoke a word, as if still lost in thought, recalling the events of that moment.

  Using the villager's body as a shield.

  Using the surviving villagers to distract attention.

  Assessing the situation before acting.

  Choosing to flee even though the prey in front of them could not retaliate.

  Nitaan took a deep breath after summarizing what he just heard.

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  "Frighteningly clever," Leader Mei remarked.

  Leader Mei’s word is what everyone was thinking. What kind of Devil beast could possess such high intelligence as a First word Engraver?

  Everyone nodded in agreement. Princess Pailin carefully jotted it down. In the silent atmosphere, as everyone pondered, a trembling voice spoke.

  "If...if I were more capable..." Sila seemed about to cry.

  Princess Pailin held Sila's hands tightly to comfort him. She was certain that Sila had done his best at that moment.

  “And what does it look like?” Princess Pailin asked. She had to. She needed every possible piece of information.

  “It resembles an insect, with four pairs of legs, the two front legs being large sickles. However, its face is human-like,” Sila explained, trying to draw a picture.

  Another different appearance.

  Princess Pailin nodded slightly. She reread all the information automatically recorded with her pen.

  “Is it possible that they are all different Devil beast? Maybe there are more than one Devil beast?” Napha asked.

  “I’ve thought that too, but the characteristic of killing its prey without eating them and leaving bodies at the village wall to taunt us is too unique. It shouldn’t come from multiple Devil beasts," the village chief said.

  “Or perhaps there’s a very intelligent pack leader, commanding all four or more Devil beasts," Kasa tried to help.

  “Devil beasts usually only group with their own or closely related species. There are few cases where they can coexist. It’s even harder when multiple species are grouped together like this,” Tawan shook his head.

  “Maybe Engraver Devil beast with hallucination or illusion-related abilities?” Gion asked.

  “It couldn’t possibly hallucinate me. I have a Word of Power that can block abilities activation,” Sila confidently stated, though he didn’t reveal his Word of Power.

  “But I can’t cancel out the Word of Power that is already in effect. So maybe it has shapeshifting abilities.

  Everyone fell silent again. Many things seemed impossible, yet there was no evidence for any speculation.

  "Thank you all so much. We'll go and see the place where the body was found. Perhaps we'll find some traces there." Princess Pailin stood up and thanked the four witnesses.

  "Yes, please follow me, Princess." The village chief eagerly rose and opened the door.

  "We might visit again to inquire about the incident for more details. Sorry for all the troubles." Princess Pailin said to the four witnesses.

  They simply nodded slightly before dispersing. Everyone remained filled with sorrow. Before leaving, the boy still stroked and hugged Kiita for a while longer, as if trying to regain his courage. His trembling body finally stopped shaking. The boy withdrew his face from Kiita's soft, fluffy fur and bowed respectfully to Princess Pailin and Nitaan, and then hurried away.

  While making way to the scene, Nitaan, who was lost in thought, was woken up by Princess Pailin.

  “Nitaan, what do you think?” Pailin suddenly asked.

  Nitaan frowned slightly, deep in thought, before speaking.

  “There are too many possibilities, but I think it’s more likely there’s only one Devil beast.” Nitaan replied.

  “Why?” Princess Pailin raised an eyebrow.

  “Have you ever heard of the ‘Rashomon effect’?” Nitaan asked.

  “It sounds similar to a word from the language of the Tailless race. You can speak ancient Taillessese?” Napha scratched her head in curiosity.

  “It means a phenomenon where many people witness the same event but describe it differently. It’s an old term found in ancient scriptures in the library. This scripture is said to contain strange knowledge from many eras.” Princess Pailin explained.

  “I think it’s quite similar. Even though they didn’t see the same event, the details are completely different.” Nitaan nodded in agreement with Princess Pailin’s explanation.

  “In theory, it happens because many people lie to cover up something, but this time, I think it's because they were misled by the abilities of the Devil beast.”

  “The behavior of those Devil beast is too strange. If it were ordered by the pack leader, there would be no reason for them to constantly hide and act secretive like this. Besides, the body wasn't actually eaten. It's as if their goal was simply to spread fear in the village.”

  “Such behavior is difficult to command. Even if the pack leader is intelligent, the pack members must also be intelligent enough to follow orders,” he explained.

  Pailin nodded in agreement. This analysis came from the perspective of someone who frequently interacts with Devil beasts.

  “So I think it should be a single Devil beast, but with some ability to distort people's perceptions. That's why people who saw it described it differently.”

  “Meaning it's a beast that can change its shape or has hallucinogenic powers, but Sila insists it's not. Conversely, we don’t really know if his power is effective or not," Pailin pondered.

  “Is it possible that Sila is able to disrupt it to some extent, causing it to flee? Because it knew it couldn't fight Sila in that state?” Princess Pailin speculated.

  “That's possible. But there's an even simpler possibility," Nitaan said.

  Pailin raised an eyebrow, urging him to explain further.

  "Shapeshifting abilities at the level of an Engraver should have certain limitations. They shouldn't be able to transform so drastically."

  "Hallucination abilities come in many forms, but their range is usually limited. Using the power to coat oneself is also possible. But the main point of doing all that is to conceal itself.” Everyone nodded in agreement.

  "If it wants to conceal itself, why would it stand on the wall that is very easy to be seen? And even after being seen, it didn't deal with Granny. Most importantly, leaving the body beside the city wall repeatedly is tantamount to admitting it was its doing. It's contradictory." Pailin lowered her head, pondering Nitaan's words.

  "It might want to intimidate the village, but it's very cautious, so it keeps disguising itself," Kasa countered.

  "Don't forget that Sila has fought it too. Even if it was only for a short time, First word Engraver should have sensed its disguise," Leader Mei added.

  "Not always," Napha shakes his head. "It might be so adept at this that Sila can't tell the difference."

  "Or maybe it's stronger than Sila, so he can't tell the difference," Tawan added.

  Unit 3 start exchanging their opinion, except for Princess Pailin. She feels like this isn’t what Nitaan wants to convey.

  "Or maybe someone is lying," Princess Pailin said it with a hoarse voice.

  Nitaan finally nodded in agreement. This was the simplest and most plausible scenario Nitaan mentioned.

  Someone might be lying.

  Everyone looked at Princess Pailin. Her expression was clearly serious. If someone was lying, then there was something else to be wary of besides a Devil beast.

  "Use the lie-detecting pearls from now on," Princess Pailin said softly.

  "That's what I think. The simplest possibility is that this might actually be a grand deception," Nitaan shrugged.

  “I don’t want to cloud my opinion, so let’s summarize in case everyone isn’t lying.” Princess Pailin shakes her head. For her, Devil beast with shapeshifting ability is far more plausible than someone lying.

  "So, if it really is a Devil beast, what kind of monster do you think it is? Give me a summary," Princess Pailin asked calmly.

  Nitaan gently stroked Kiita's head while summarizing all their discussion.

  "There are no packs. It's possible it has abilities related to hallucinations or shapeshifting."

  "First word Engraver at the very least. Also clever enough to manipulate this village," Nitaan summarized the thoughts in his head.

  Princess Pailin nodded slightly. “What about your opinion?"

  "Maybe there was never any Devil beast in the first place. Someone created this situation for some motive," Nitaan said softly so that the village chief, who was walking ahead not far away, wouldn't hear.