“What do you mean everything is connected?”
“I know who’s really behind this case. Who is making the magic swords.”
“W-what!? Who’s that!?”
“…Let’s go, I’ll explain along the way.”
Yuugo said as he opened the door and motioned to the others.
They were taken aback, but listened to Yuugo as they followed him despite not knowing where he was headed.
“First, I wondered why they were spreading magic swords to people around the city. When you really think about it, it’s pretty strange.”
“Strange… What is? Aren’t they just spreading them so we don’t know when something will happen, and then enjoying the results?”
“But that’s weird in itself. If you’re creating that sort of situation, why not hand them to criminals? That would create more vicious and stronger magic sword users.”
“I guess you have a point. Why did that person with the black hood pick Cross and not Delta? Delta is definitely the stronger of the two, and holds similar darkness in his heart.”
“The one who had the magic sword I retrieved yesterday was like that too. He’s a very normal guy, and it was his wife who reported it when she noticed something was off. This wouldn’t have happened if they picked someone who lived alone, or even a homeless person.”
If the point was to spread fear in the city, this was a strange way to go about it.
They all wondered what the real goal was, if it was neither creating strong magic sword users or spreading the magic swords around in secret, but Yuugo stated his thoughts.
“This is my theory, but I think the culprit is looking for people who match specific conditions. Basically, collecting data.”
“Collecting data? To see how much stronger these people become?”
“Among other things. How long until their minds are completely consumed, how far their abilities are boosted… These magic swords are placed specifically to test this because…”
“The magic swords… Are prototypes…!?”
Said Phi, and Yuugo pointed, indicating he was right.
Yuugo continued, as the others were understanding his point.
“The magic swords being spread around this city are prototypes made by the real culprit, like by-products of training.
The black hooded person spreads them around, and the real culprit collects data on how much stronger the users became. The fact that a magic sword was recently made is proof of this.”
“And the magic swords we’ve seen are weaker than the ones in records because the one making them is inexperienced… That makes sense!”
“…And if they’re still being spread around, it means they’re in constant production, in an inconspicuous place. I have somewhere in mind.”
“Big brother, this is…!?”
They stopped when they reached Yuugo’s destination.
Phi was taken aback, and Melt groaned when she saw the building.
“The studio of the technical department…! Are you saying the culprit is a student!?”
“Most likely. Remember when An said no one would think twice about students of the technical department being here all the time? That a lot of them collapsed due to exhaustion, and because of that, not many people use the studio?
That is part of the reason why no one suspected the real culprit.”
“But that also makes it easier to narrow it down! Let’s investigate, we might find proof!”
Yelled Jinba as he ran into the seemingly deserted studio.
Melt rushed after him, but Phi turned to his brother with a question.
“Big brother, you already suspect someone, don’t you? You said before that you know who the real culprit is…”
“…What the real culprit needs to make magic swords is not time, it’s materials. There’s a good chance the black hooded person could provide them, but there’s no point in braving the risk that comes with contacting them multiple times and investing materials when it’s not even certain if it will pay off.
In that case, the real culprit would have to be someone who already had a lot of materials. Then… One person fits the bill.”
“Yuugo, come here!”
Before Yuugo could finish, Jinba’s voice echoed in the studio, and Yuugo rushed inside.
There he found Jinba, and when Yuugo saw what he found, he gulped.
“Remember this? It’s the sword Cross used. And there are others similar to this one. You were right, this is where they’re being made.”
There were several swords that looked a lot like the one that was stolen.
Jinba’s expression turned grave when he found this evidence, and Melt’s scream echoed.
“Yuugo look! H-here!!”
“What is it Melt!?”
Melt was crouching near a corner of the studio, and when Yuugo went running to her, his eyes opened wide when he saw what she was holding.
Phi and Jinba also approached her, and Melt spoke with her voice trembling.
“This is… An’s magic item, right…? Why is it here…!?”
She was holding the hammer Angel used as a work tool and weapon.
Melt’s face turned pale, as she felt it was definitely strange for her to carelessly leave in some corner of the studio what was so important to her both as a technician and knight, and Phi remembered what happened the previous night.
“An came here yesterday…! She must have seen something that was inconvenient to the culprit, and was attacked…!!”
“Dammit! This calls for emergency deployment! I’m going to get personnel to search for Angel, get a hold of the situation here, and detain the culprit!”
Jinba had no doubts that this was an emergency, as he yelled that and ran out.
Melt and Phi worried for Angel’s safety, and while shaken, they tried to think of a way to verify if she was safe.
“What do we do? Is An okay? If the culprit vanished her…”
“I should’ve come here with her…!!”
They wanted to believe she was alive, but they had no way to confirm even that.
Their anxiety kept growing… But then Yuugo’s voice echoed.
“…Don’t worry, this is definitely trouble, but… It looks like An is alive.”
Melt and Phi were surprised to hear this, and Yuugo turned to them with a smile.
He was acting in a way to reassure them, and continued.
“Let’s go save An. The culprit should be there too, so we can solve this thing in one fell swoop!”
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