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Battler had narrowed down all the possible suspects to just one obvious suspect thanks to Dlanor's reasoning. It absolutely... had to be her. Sayo Yasuda. His Auntie Rosa's clumsy assistant. The girl who loved mystery novels. The girl who seemed more fragile than even Maria. The girl with a self-esteem that fluctuated like ocean waves. The girl who had spent time with him outside of their home and inside of their home. The girl with whom he had fostered a romantic relationship in which talking about their interests in the mystery genre was far more intimate than any act of intimacy.
All the signs pointed at Sayo, though. She easily could get around without being noticed. She had a prior knowledge of mysteries. She was known (at least in Battler's time with her) to be kind and gentle to someone and then immediately express her dislike for them once they had left earshot. Considering it wasn't who the police had in custody, and no other people could have possibly done it (how even in the world had he considered Maria being a culprit, or the old lady, too). Naturally, though, because Battler had begun a relationship with Sayo, he was trying to lay out his possibilities. On the one hand, he had promised to capture the culprit. On another, he genuinely cared about Sayo, he wasn't too certain it was her, and accusing her would jeopardize their relationship, for good.
Dlanor and Keiichi picked up on Battler's lack of a response. "Hey? Something wrong, Partner?" Keiichi asked, patting his best friend's back. "Did you think of something?"
"No... it's just... I can't think of anybody who would ever wanna hurt Maria... If the killer knew how the inside of the world in the TV works, then... they knew it would hurt Maria." Battler fell to his knees, mulling over the other tragedy that had struck him recently. His adorable little cousin had died in the hospital after she had been saved, but due to a recovery that seemed more like someone took pity and granted a miracle, she was now in a coma. If Battler factored Maria in, it was especially hard to see Sayo as a culprit, as Maria loved Sayo like an older sister, and Sayo softened up around Maria.
But still, Sayo was the only one among the people he knew who could have done it. It would have been ridiculous for any of the others to have committed crimes that they had little to do with, and she had enough power as a detective assistant to know further information that could normally be disclosed. Yes, Battler realized, there is no escaping it. Sayo Yasuda is your culprit. The very thought of it made him want to go throw up the meal he had just finished.
He cared far too much about Sayo to have everyone confront her. Though most of the circumstances pointed to her, she wouldn't be able to handle being slapped with being accused of murder so easily, Battler figured, and it could permanently break their relationship. He had an obligation to protecting Sayo as her boyfriend, but he also had an obligation to Sakutaro and the others to solve the murder case...
>Protect Sayo
-Tell everyone about Sayo
Battler stood up and dusted snow off his clothes. "... I just... can't think of anyone... Sorry, guys... Maria..."
Dlanor looked at him for a moment and proceeded to look at the sky. "Ah.... I guess the mystery, for NOW... even with our numerous minds, cannot be SOLVED..."
Time flew by as Battler spent the last few months of his stay in Koganechou. Each day, he visited Maria in the hospital to update her with what had happened to him that day, and thanks to the few sewing references Rosa had left scattered around the house, he had made her a stuffed doll version of Sakutaro that waited by her side for her to wake up (since nobody could find the real Sakutaro anywhere). Rosa rarely was in the house, although since she and Maria had only just patched up their relationship before Maria had been kidnapped, Battler assumed that Rosa was trying to avoid most things that reminded her of Maria when they weren't visiting her. Battler had cut down on how much time he spent with his former Investigation Team, and most of them had accepted it, since they assumed he was just taking care of the house and Maria. They sometimes came by just to check on him, but even Battler couldn't deny that he wasn't as close to his friends as he had been. And there was a part of his memory that felt like it was missing. A blue-haired girl close to his age... but he couldn't recall her name nor why she kept fading in and out of his memory. Kari? Hanami? Rina? Rena? It hurt his head to think about that girl he assumed he once knew, so Battler just came to accept that she was just someone in a dream.
Battler finally finished packing his items he had brought and what he had got while in Koganechou, and stared at the small television in his room with dread. "... I still haven't even tried to ask her..." he mumbled to himself. If anything, Battler was purposely trying to avoid anyone who reminded him of Sayo, especially Sayo herself. Meeting Keiichi, Dlanor, and the others would remind him of how he was the one preventing them from putting an end to the case, and if he met Sayo, he was scared of hurting her. No amount of breathing could clear up the doubt in his mind, and he punched the TV screen, still somehow fazed by the fact his hand went into the TV. "... Do it at least for yourself... you coward..." Battler gritted his teeth and once he pulled his hand out of the TV, he went to put on a heavy jacket due to a flurry that had struck.
Battler's feet trudged in the snow and ice already on the ground outside. "... Shit, maybe I should call the station and make sure she's actually there," he snapped at himself, and yanked his phone out of his pocket. "Uh... what even is the phone number... maybe I can just call the local police number... Why didn't I ever bother to get Sayo's number..." After about ten minutes of messing around on the phone trying to get someone who could find Sayo, he finally got a response from her. "Hey, Sayo-chan.... Can we meet at the police station? I want... no, need to talk to you. Okay. I'm already on my way. Yeah, I know. Thanks. See you there." Battler eventually got through the snow and made it to the police station he had been involuntarily been taken to twice in the past, and waited in the questioning room where he found out Maria had been kidnapped.
After what seemed like a long wait, the young girl walked through the door and closed it. "Battler-san, sorry for keeping you waiting. It took a long time to get here," Sayo said in her usual softspoken tone. A quick look at her sweet blue-eyed face, surrounded her her short bob of blonde hair, made Battler reconsider even bringing her out to accuse her. He clenched his fists and looked her in the eyes. "... Battler-san? I really hope you didn't just call me out here and not follow through on it... Again..."
"Sayo-chan... I have a mystery for you," Battler said after taking a deep breath. "It may be considered a cliche... even against Knox's Decalogue... for a killer to be a detective, right?" Sayo looked confused, but she nodded in affirmation. "I figured as much... But if the detective/killer never does anything remotely investigative, can they really be considered a detective, and if someone else is doing the investigation, then that's not a violation of Knox's 7th, right, Sayo-chan?"
Sayo's expression looked more unamused than before. "... I would suppose so, yes, Battler-san. I really hope that's not all that I came out here for. It seems almost ridiculous for... wait a moment, why are you asking me questions that you already know the answer to? It's very rude of you to waste someone's time. I would appreciate it if you apologize for it... though I know you'll do it again, you know I'll forgive you."
Battler thought it odd for Sayo to say that, but proceeded to move on. "Sayo-chan... I..." He slammed his hands down on the table. "What would you do if I told you... that there's a chance that I considered you to be the serial killer?" Much to his surprise, Sayo kept her annoyed poker face. "You're the only one who could have done it... if I'm wrong... then you can hit me..." Sayo walked over to Battler and put her hands over his. "Sayo-chan...?"
"You're... accusing me of killing those two... Jessica something and Natsuhi something... that's what you're saying, right?" Sayo laughed as if Battler had something embarrassing instead of accusing her of murder. "That's a really funny joke, Battler-san, although a fairly twisted one. Why in the world would you accuse your girlfriend of killing people? Rosa-san said it herself. There's no way somebody like me could kill a mosquito sucking my blood, let alone two other women."
Battler got up and put his hands on Sayo's shoulders. "Sayo-chan... I want you to know... that I'm absolutely on your side. I will not back down. I promise you this." She slapped away his hand, and Battler felt that if there had been on a bug on the floor, her glare would have killed it. ".... Sayo-chan?"
"You promise me?" She repeated with an eyebrow raised. "That's hilarious, coming from your mouth. But that's a promise to the killer, saying that you'll support them... you of all people..." She turned away from him. "... Anyway. So, say I was the killer. That means you'd protect me from harm, right? At any cost?" She left the room for what seemed like an eternity, and came back carrying an envelope. "Hm... let's see... If I am the killer, this means I sent you this letter. A nice envelope, isn't it? The killer certainly took effort to make it look beautiful, and it only had a simple message inside. What was it...? 'Stop your line of investigation or someone dear will get hurt,' wasn't it?" She took the letter out and read over it. "Indeed, indeed. I'm wearing gloves right now not to, you know, contaminate anything, but... it's funny. Ever since Maria was in the hospital and Rosa-san was also injured, I've had more than enough of my share of work. I just simply never got around to processing it, you know?"
Battler glowered at the letter and the envelope. "... What exactly do you want me to do?"
Sayo smiled sweetly at Battler and pat his hands. "Well, my dear detective... if you plan on helping the killer, who you presume to be me... then you would get rid of the letter in any way possible. There's a 4907128063% chance the killer's fingerprints are on it, and if it gets processed, that means they'll be able to find the killer. And since you swore your ever-swaying loyalty to the killer, you can't let that happen. They'd be in <mortal danger>, you see?" Sayo put her hands together and rested her head on them. "They say there's only one way to destroy something's physical form in this world. You know what that is, right?" She removed a lighter from her pocket and slid it on the table. "Do what you like."
Battler gulped, recalling a story where someone had to kill their mother and burn her remains to obtain what they desired. To him, this was essentially the same thing. He had to throw away all his inhibitions and the relationships he had forged by burning this... to protect Sayo.
-Do Nothing
>Burn the letter and envelope with the lighter
Battler reassured himself of his resolve and grabbed the letter and envelope, and began to burn a small corner of the papers. Sayo, who had been observing with a stoic expression, now watched with a wide-eyed face. "There. I proved my loyalty to you. I am loyal to none but you, Sayo-chan."
Sayo's shoulders began convulsing with her laughter. "You actually did it....! Battler-san, you...! Ahahahaa!!!" Her hand went over her mouth as if to cover up her witch-like laughter. "Battler-san, you just committed a felony! I... I honestly can't believe how incompetent you are...!! No... no wonder you can't hold true to... your promises... AHAHA!"
Battler grabbed Sayo by the shoulders and forced her to stare into his eyes. "Sayo-chan, what the hell are you talking about?! You keep mentioning promises and how I never hold true, but I don't know what shit you're talking about!! Stop playing around and tell me!" Her face immediately morphed from a seer to as if she had watched Battler murder a small puppy. "Sayo-chan, answer me!" He snarled at her.
"You... you don't remember...?" Sayo asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "That... that's just some cruel joke, right.... Battler-san? You... you remember me from before, don't you? Hey, Battler-san... you remember how you hurt me before, right? Right?" Battler simply dropped his hands off Sayo, stunned by her reaction. "You... you came back because you wanted to see me and apologize, right....? You remembered...?" Battler just looked at Sayo, perplexed, and Battler could swear he could see her heart break in that instant. "... How... how dare you...!! You leave Kouganechou, promise me you'll come back for me, and... it all turns out to be a lie! Who am I even to you?!" Sayo's heart-wrenching sobs scared Battler even more than her laughter had. "... Who... am I... Battler-san...?"
Battler stepped toward Sayo and held her tight. "... I'm sorry.... Sayo. I... I don't know what I did to you... but... at least... I want to atone for my sin, by helping you. If it means helping you elude murder, and even committing more crimes, I will do it... for you. Sayo." What Battler did was a betrayal to the others, but whatever he did to Sayo... it must have been even more monstrous... so there was no turning back from his decision now. "I'll tell you what. I will start being a better boyfriend... by asking for your number... You can have mine, too... I won't change my number so you can always reach me. I'll always answer to you."
Sayo held tightly onto Battler, so he programmed their numbers into each other's phones. "Battler-san... please... don't go... again..."
"I have to, Sayo... but I'll make up an excuse to come for you if you need me back here," Battler stroked her hair in an attempt to reassure her.
Jester Link Rank Max! Battler now has the power to create the Ultimate form of the Jester Arcana, Beatrice Portinari, the Guide to Paradise!
Battler Ushiromiya has forged a bond that cannot be unbroken!
>Obtained Yasu's Number
Later that night, as Battler returned home, Rosa sat, searching through paperwork. "Hey... Battler-kun... I know I've told you multiple times to stay out of the case, but... do you think there's something missing in the case?" She rubbed her forehead. "In hindsight, there's very little credence to Krauss being the main culprit... and they want to close the case soon... but something just... what do you think?"
-"I'm not sure."
-"The killer's still out there."
>"Krauss definitely killed those two."
Battler tried to laugh it off. "I mean, he did admit to kidnapping my friends, you know? And since it's kinda weird, maybe he doesn't have a good alibi? You should take a break, Auntie Rosa. Maria wouldn't want you to stress yourself even more than you already are."
"It's all I can do... since I failed her as a mother..." Rosa tried to snap at Battler, but she began coughing. "I'll just review these in my room. Oh, hey, did you know that Sayo's getting transferred to the sane city as you soon? I'll drop you off at the station tomorrow. Good night, Battler-kun." Battler felt something eating away in the pit of his stomach, but he chose to ignore it.
The rest of the Investigation Group and Rosa saw him off at the train station. "Hey, Battler-kun, be careful, or we'll come bother you while you get better," EVA warned him.
"Ooooh!! I discovered a remedy that uses duct tape I want to try out! EVA, let's get him sick!!" Erika began drooling excitedly as she clutched EVA's hands.
Ange sighed. "Just ignore them. Just take care of yourself and see us when you can, Battler-Onii."
Dlanor nodded but grimaced when Willard tried using her as a headrest. "We still cannot FIND Sakutaro, but... we'll keep looking for HIM." "Yeah. What Shorty said." "Be QUIET."
Keiichi pat his best friend on the back. "Well.... good luck, Partner. Hopefully, the city welcomes you back with open arms. We'll always be there for you."
"Thanks guys.... Thanks, Auntie Rosa. Hopefully, Maria gets better soon," Battler said with an anxious smile.
Rosa hugged Battler tightly. "I'm going to keep watching her... But come back to see how she'd doing, please, Battler-kun. I want you to be the first person she sees when she's up." Battler nodded and hugged every last one of his friends, then boarded the train. He pulled out his phone to read the texts from Sayo.
"You really are leaving today... My dearest Accomplice... <Bye bye>..." he read.
"I'll come back to you, this time, on top of the train, saying, <I love you>."
"Don't make promises you can't keep."
The first murder Battler committed in the city, Sayo assisted with in obtaining. The victim was a witness in a murder in the city, and Sayo had recognized him from Koganechou. She had drugged him and taken him straight to Battler's place in the city. Battler's suggestion had been to "stick most of his body in the TV, and try strangling him with his head out of the TV, then shove him in when he's done."
Their second victim, Battler had only called up Sayo after he had beat the guy's head against the TV. "I'm gonna need a lot of bleach, Sayo," he explained dryly to her when she came to his house.
"I can't do it anymore... Battler-san..." Sayo began texting him as they plotted the third murder.
"You say that as if you didn't start the murders," Battler texted her angrily.
"Please... I'll turn myself in... I don't want to do this anymore. I'm not handling things well."
"No. We promised. Sayo..."
It wasn't until Battler had calmed down that he realized that he had turned Sayo into the third victim. Her blood was spattered all over his room and in spite of it all, she had held onto her phone while he was stabbing her. "That's right... I'm the murderer... a true monster.... Ihihihi... ha ha..." Battler laughed and cried as he clutched her lifeless body to his, even as the police came in to pry him away from her. All he could think about was her final message.
"Thank you... Mister Accomplice... and... Sorry... I love you... No hard feelings."