Deduction

The vice-leader of the Order uses the lighthouse to enter the sacred ground where the God’s fountain pen is sealed. In other words, the secret of the lighthouse is the method of operating the lighthouse.

It was a lighthouse described in a single line of text. If a secret was created in a place where plausibility was arbitrarily applied due to the lack of detailed settings, wouldn’t solving the secret also require plausible plausibility?

Hundreds of years ago. The piece of wall made while repairing the lighthouse and the Bible that had been passed down to the lighthouse keeper for hundreds of years. It’s more plausible that they are related than explained by coincidence.

Because it’s a book made in the old way, if you peel off the outer skin and untie the leather-woven string, you can fix the messed-up pages back to their original state.

However, this book is not my property. It could be a necessary book for the next lighthouse keeper, and there’s a possibility that my guess is wrong.

But even if I take that risk, it was worth trying.

Finally, I carefully examined the book, looking for other special points, but the only clue was still the disordered pages.

,I have something to apologize for.”

I started with those words.

Delan, who was talking about Navier and the car, turned his head and gave me a puzzled look.

,An apology for what?”

He said, looking down at the book on the table. He seems to suspect that I damaged the book. I spoke before misunderstandings arose.

,Actually, the purpose of coming to this lighthouse was not just a simple viewing as I said. I saw a book saying that a secret was hidden in the lighthouse at the end of the barrier, and I came here because I wanted to solve it.”

Delan stroked his beard as if he understood now.

,So you diligently investigated the underground warehouse. I thought you were just a curious student. A secret… I wonder if there’s anything like a secret in this old lighthouse.”

,There is. A desperate reason to light the lighthouse every day. You’ll know it when you solve the secret of the lighthouse.”

Delan’s eyes widened. Navier, who was next to him, also looked at me with a surprised expression.

,I’ve got a rough idea of how to solve the problem. So I revealed the truth. To find out the secret of the lighthouse, you need the lighthouse keeper’s permission.”

A moment of silence filled the room. While Delan was contemplating, Navier glanced at me. She tucked her silver hair behind her ear and asked in a seductive voice.

,Did you figure something out?”

It was a well-timed question. It’s an opportunity to break the awkward silence and add credibility to my opinion. I nodded slightly and said.

,Yeah, the clue is this book. If you check the book, you can see that the order of the pages is messed up. At first, I thought the pages were intentionally mixed up to leave clues. I checked to see if there was a certain pattern hidden, but it wasn’t. Then why is the order of the pages in this book messed up? You’ll know if you put the pages back in their original order.”

I can predict the plausibility. Because I was the author who created this world with imagination, I know how to plausibly create stories.

Not in detail, but I can make opaque predictions. This is definitely something worth calling bait.

I opened the book and held it out to Navier and Delan. The two, who confirmed that the pages were different, exchanged glances with surprised expressions.

,Would you allow me to change the order of the pages?”

When he heard my words, I didn’t miss the fact that Delan’s gentle face was momentarily filled with 고민.

Without waiting for Delan’s agonizing conclusion, I said that the piece of wall and the book were related to add persuasiveness.

Ignoring Navier’s gaze, who was looking at me with surprised eyes for some reason, I stared at Delan. Eventually, Delan nodded with an awkward expression.

He was uncomfortable with arbitrarily changing the pages of a book that had been passed down for a long time, but on the other hand, he was curious about the secret of the lighthouse.

He is Delan, who has been living here, lighting the lighthouse every day. He must have had questions in his heart as well.

What is this lighthouse for, and hasn’t he spent his life on futile things? He must have been anxious and curious.

He couldn’t know the answer, so he buried his questions in his heart. But now, he has a chance to solve the secret of the lighthouse that Delan’s father and the previous lighthouse keepers couldn’t solve.

There aren’t many people who can resist this temptation.

When Delan gave permission, I carefully peeled off the outer skin of the book and untied the leather끈. Navier and Delan helped me arrange the pages in order.

I arranged the pages in order and tied them back together with the leather끈 that I had untied. I checked the contents of the book with anticipation, but all I saw was an ordinary Bible.

Could it be that my guess was wrong? Maybe there was a pattern hidden in those messed-up pages that I didn’t know about. Thinking about that, my back became damp with cold sweat.

Just as I was about to close the book and check it from the first page, intending to check it again from the beginning, Navier suddenly shouted.

,There are letters on the side!”

At first, I didn’t understand what she was saying and stared blankly at Navier. Navier, who met my gaze, shrugged as if asking why I was looking at her and pointed at something.

When I shifted my gaze to where Navier’s finger was pointing, I could finally understand what she meant by saying there were letters on the side.

I just thought it was a trace of ink splattered. But when the pages were arranged in order, the dots gathered to form letters.

Maybe the reason why the order of the pages was messed up was to hide the letters written on the side of the book.

As expected, her observation skills are good. I gave Navier a thumbs up and checked the letters.

Gal 5:19 1 Cor 4:26 Phil 6:18 Ps 71:3

The moment I saw the letters, I knew. This is a Bible verse.

I immediately turned to Gal 5:19. I heard someone swallowing 침 next to me. I read the verse I found out loud.

,A shepherd leads the sheep….”

Shepherd and sheep, the content carved on the wall. When I said that, Navier and Delan’s eyes widened and they groaned. I’ve been thinking since earlier, their reactions are really good.

While Delan and Navier were checking the piece of wall, I wrote down the verses from the Bible based on the letters written on the side in a notebook I took out from the space warehouse.

Gal 5:19 A shepherd leads the sheep.

1 Cor 4:26 There will be a sun in the sky.

Phil 6:18 Look down for the weak.

Ps 71:3 Death will be fair.

I took the notebook and went to check the piece of wall. The contents of the piece of wall and the text written in the notebook matched.

I took a moment to look at the piece of wall and organize my thoughts. After a while, I realized. The reason why the lighthouse keeper left the piece of wall and the letters on the side of the Bible a long time ago.

The secret of the lighthouse is solved. Now, all that’s left is to light the way to the sacred ground.

Navier, who was peeking at the contents of the notebook next to me, asked.

,I don’t understand even if I look at this….”

I wondered if she was serious, so I looked over her shoulder, and Navier frowned.

,What’s with that arrogant look like, ‘You don’t even know this’?”

,I read it accurately. You still don’t understand?”

I shook the notebook and said that, and Delan, who was listening to the conversation next to me, asked with a puzzled expression.

,Did you figure out the answer?”

It doesn’t seem like a joke anymore. I shrugged slightly.

,Yes. As expected, the piece of wall and the book were a set.”

As soon as I finished answering, Navier leaned towards me as if urging me and said.

,If you know, hurry up and explain!”

With a light sigh, I opened the notebook and held it next to the piece of wall.

,You understand that the verses on the side of the book and the contents of the piece of wall match, right?”

The two nodded diligently at my question.

,Then, based on what the piece of wall represents, manipulate the reflector-“

,Wait, wait! A reflector? The story suddenly changes!”

At Navier’s words, I scratched my head and looked at Delan. He was nodding diligently, agreeing with Navier’s opinion, so I sighed. I’m not confident in explaining.

,The piece of wall tells you the direction. A shepherd leads the sheep, which is towards the lower left path as seen in the piece. There will be a sun in the sky, it’s the same with this. If you look here, the sun is in the upper right. The other pieces also record the direction in that way.”

For some reason, Navier was staring intently at my face.

,…You figured this out at a glance?”

,It’s a coincidence.”

I don’t want unnecessary expectations. To be honest, this isn’t even a coincidence. It was a plausible clue that could be understood at a glance.

Navier asked with a dubious look.

,I understand that the piece of wall records the direction. But what about the reflector? You can’t tell what reflector it represents with just this.”

I silently held the notebook to the piece of wall. Feeling Delan and Navier’s gaze following me, I moved my steps and repeated holding the notebook to the other pieces of wall.

,…What are you doing?”

I thought they were following well, but they were blocked again. I wanted to sigh, but it’s also my fault for not explaining in detail. I explained in a kind voice.

,Look, the sizes of the pieces of wall are all different. Some are bigger than the notebook, and some are smaller. Then you can tell. There are 4 pieces of wall. The sizes are all different and there is a direction. Doesn’t it match the conditions of the reflector?”

I met Navier and Delan’s eyes to confirm if they understood my explanation, and I added in a calm voice.

,This is how to operate the reflector that a certain lighthouse keeper carved for future generations.”

Navier’s eyes widened for a moment. Delan stared at me with a blank look on his face, his mouth open.

Their reaction reminded me of a line from a novel I had read sometime ago.

,Watson, the secret is solved.”

It was a little sad that no one understood this joke.