Shirou Calls Caules in Again / Shirou and the British Butler

"I can't say the exact time, sir. It's definitely before two o'clock."

"And then what?"

"After that, sir, I remained seated until dawn."

"You never went back to the Greek carriage?"

"No, sir."

"Perhaps you're asleep?"

"I don't think I'll fall asleep, sir. I'll wake up as soon as the train stops."

Have you seen any passengers walking around in the aisle?

He considered it for a moment.

"I think there was a lady who went to the restroom at the end of the corridor."

Which one?

"I don't know, sir. It was at the other end of the aisle, too far from me. The lady had her back to me. She was wearing a bright red cloak, the color was so vivid, like flowing blood, I remember it very clearly."

Shirou nodded.

"And then what?"

"Nothing, sir. Nothing happened before dawn."

Are you sure?

"Oh, sir, please forgive me, you opened the door yourself and looked outside for a while."

"That's right, friend." Shirou clapped his hands and said, "I just wanted to know if you'd forgotten about this. By the way, I think I heard something heavy hit my door. You know what that means?"

He glanced at Shirou.

"That's not true, sir. I was sitting right there and didn't hear anything."

"Is that so? Then I must have been having a nightmare." Shirou chuckled casually.

"Perhaps..." Mr. Frederick said, "The sound is coming from the next room."

Shirou ignored his hints; he didn't want to discuss the topic further in front of the train conductor.

"Let's talk about another question," he said. "Suppose a murderer boarded a train last night, killed Old John, and couldn't escape. Is it possible that he's hiding somewhere on the train?"

"The carriages have been thoroughly searched; there's no trace of anything, neither on the doors nor in the protective barrier," Mr. Frederick said. "Shirou, this hypothesis is impossible."

"Yes, sir," Hartless said with a sense of pride in his profession, "No one who boards this train can escape my eyes."

Chapter 1229 Shirou summons Caules again

1229

It seemed unlikely that Shirou would be able to find out the identity of the woman in the red cloak in the corridor, so he turned his attention back to her.

"Where did the train stop at the previous station?"

"Romania border."

"What time?"

"The departure station was originally scheduled for 11:58, but due to bad weather, it was delayed by 20 minutes."

"What if someone runs over from a regular carriage?"

"Impossible, sir. The door between the ordinary carriages and the sleeper cars is locked right after dinner." Hartless shook his head.

Did you get off the train in Romania?

"I got off, sir. Just like at every station we've passed, I got off onto the platform and stood by the step at the carriage door, just like all the other train attendants."

"Is that door in front locked? The one closest to the food cart?"

"I bolt the door there every night."

"This time it wasn't latched."

The train conductor looked surprised for a moment, then quickly regained his composure.

"Some traveler must have opened the door to go out and see the snow."

"Perhaps," Shirou said.

He tapped his fingers lightly on the table for a minute or two, seemingly lost in thought.

"Sir, you won't blame me?" the train conductor asked timidly.

Shirou smiled kindly at him.

"You just had a restless guest, relax," he said. "Ah! I've just remembered something else. You said that when you knocked on Mr. Old John's door, there was another bell ringing. Indeed, I heard it too. But who rang that bell?"

"It's Lord El-Melloi; she wants me to summon her maid."

"You went?"

"Yes, sir."

Shirou looked thoughtfully at the picture in front of him, then lowered his head.

"Let's stop here for now," he said.

Thank you, sir.

He stood up and glanced at Mr. Frederick.

"Don't be sad," Mr. Frederick comforted him kindly. "You are a competent train conductor; you have not failed in your duty."

Hartless left the dining car with great pleasure.

Shirou pondered for a moment.

"I think," he finally spoke, "That based on the available information, it would be best to have a more in-depth discussion with Mr. Caules."

"Well, let's do it your way." Mr. Frederick told another conductor to go and fetch someone.

Before long, the young German arrived.

"Hi, gentlemen," he said, "Any progress on the case?"

"Not too bad. After our conversation last time, we learned some things and what kind of person Mr. Old John is. Please have a seat."

Caules leaned forward and sat down, intrigued.

"Really?" he said.

"Just as you suspected, Old John is merely an alias. He is actually Darnic, the original initiator of the Greater Holy Grail System, which was popular for a while and is still quite popular today."

Caules's face immediately showed an expression of extreme surprise, which then turned gloomy.

"So it was this guy!" he said in a deep voice.

"Mr. Caules, you knew nothing about his identity before?"

"Yes, sir," the young German replied decisively, "If I had known, I would have preferred to starve rather than become his secretary."

"Mr. Caules, do you have some grudge against Darnic?"

"It's not so much about hatred, but even if I were given more money than I could ever spend in a lifetime, I wouldn't want to stay by Darnic's side. In fact, my family also received an invitation from the Thousand Tree, but fortunately, my sister suddenly gave up the Magic Crest at that time, and the family was in chaos. We didn't accept, and that's how we escaped a disaster... After that, it's said that almost all the families that agreed to ally with Darnic were wiped out."

"That bastard deceived his allies, organizing Sub-species Holy Grail War for him. He's like an arms dealer who deliberately creates conflict and instigates war. Because of him, familiar Magecraft have died tragically, and the world has been thrown into chaos. The already difficult-to-maintain Magecraft tradition may also be cut off in my generation."

Caules's face darkened again as he said, "How could I possibly want to have anything to do with a guy like that again? Or rather, Darnic deserves his just deserts; such a person doesn't deserve to live."

"It seems you really want to do this good deed yourself?" Shirou said abruptly.

"No... I just... sigh, I'm digging my own grave." Caules sighed self-deprecatingly.

"Alright, Mr. Caules, if you show excessive grief over your master's death, I'll start to doubt you."

"I don't think I would do such a thing, not even to save my own life," Caules said firmly.

He hesitated for a moment, then couldn't resist asking out of curiosity:

"If you don't mind the trouble, could you tell me how you figured this out? I mean, how did you find out Darnic's identity?"

"Based on the fragments of a letter found in his room, and his cane, although he was very careful not to reveal his identity, there was still a barely visible Thousand Tree mark on the cane, which represents his identity." Shirou did not reveal his secret of being able to use Magecraft, but only stated the information he had obtained.

"But... well, I mean, that old man was really careless, wasn't he?" Caules paused for a moment, then changed his words.

"Everyone has their own opinion," Shirou said.

The young man seemed puzzled by Shirou's answer. He stared at Shirou, as if trying hard to guess the meaning of his words.

"My current task," Shirou said, "Is to find out what everyone on the train did last night. Please don't be offended, it's just routine, do you understand?"

"Of course. Just keep doing it. If you can manage, I'll let you see what kind of person I am," Caules said amicably, maintaining his usual humble and polite attitude, like a good person with a clear conscience.

"There seems to be no need to ask for your compartment number again," Shirou said with a smile. "We did share a room for one night. It was second class, berths six and seven. You'll be staying alone after I leave, won't you?"

"That's absolutely right."

"Mr. Caules, now I would like to ask you to recall what you did after leaving the dining car last night."

"That's quite simple. We didn't have anything else to do on the train, so I went back to my room and read for a while. When the train reached a station in Romania, I went to the platform, but it was too cold, so I came back on the train. I chatted with a young British lady next to me for a while, and then I chatted with that US Colonel."

In fact, you happened to walk past us while we were talking, and I even asked you a question."

"Yes," Shirou replied, gesturing for Caules to continue.

Chapter 1230 Shirou and the English male servant

Caules continued recounting his experience from the previous night:

"Later I went to Mr. John's private room. As I've already told you, I would take notes of important things for him every night, and then I would say goodnight and leave."

The US Colonel was still standing in the hallway, and my bed was already made, so I suggested we chat in my room. I ordered some wine, and the two of us sat down and started drinking.

We discussed world politics, the situation in Syria, the US financial difficulties, and the crisis on Wall Street, among other things. I'm very interested in the US policy toward Syria, and if possible, I'd like to do some business there."

Do you remember when the US Colonel left you?

"It's quite late, I think it must be around two o'clock."

Have you noticed the train has stopped?

"Yes. At first we were quite surprised. We looked out the window and saw a terrifying amount of snow falling, then the train activated its protective barrier. We didn't expect it to be so serious."

"What happened after the US Colonel said goodnight to you?"

He went straight back to his room. I called the train conductor and asked him to make my bed.

Where were you when he made the bed?

"Smoking while standing in the hallway outside."

"And then what?"

"Then I went to bed and slept until dawn. We were trapped here by the ice and snow, what else could we do but sleep?"

"Have you ever left the train at night?" Shirou asked.

"The US Colonel and I were planning to go down... um... what station was it again? The one on the Romania border, we were going to stay there for a while. It was freezing outside, and a blizzard was raging, so we turned around and came back."

"Which door did you get off the bus from?"

"The one closest to my private room."

"The door near the back of the train, next to the dining car?"

"Yes."

"Do you remember if the door was bolted at the time?"

Caules thought for a while.

"Yes, I remember it seemed to be a latch. There was a stick stuck across the handle of the sliding door. Is this what you mean?"

"Good. Did you put the stick back when you came back?"

"No, I don't think so. I joined the army after the colonel, and I can't recall touching that stick again. It should still be leaning against the wall..."

He suddenly added:

Is this important?

"Perhaps, Caules. I have another question. When you were talking with the US Colonel, was the door to your private room facing the aisle open?"