“Yuugo, what do you think of this case? Do you know what might be behind it, or what they could be after?”
Meanwhile, Yuugo was done with the morning meeting, and was going to the village to investigate, as Marcos accompanied him and asked him a question.
Yuugo looked around to see if no one was there, and stated his thoughts to his buddy who was trying to solve this mystery with him, making full use of his knowledge as a nichiasa otaku.
“Let’s assume everything Shiroi said is true… I think these people are not acting weird because of something like hypnosis or a parasite, I think they were replaced. So basically, the culprit is mimicking the villagers.”
“I agree, otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense for Melt to be in two places at once. But what happened to the villagers who were replaced…”
“…I don’t know for sure, but I think there’s a good chance they’re alive. But I really am not sure.”
“…Can you tell me why?”
Whatever attacked the village had the ability to mimic someone else. That much was certain, because Marcos saw Melt going into Egos’ room while she showered in his.
Yuugo went one step further, thinking about what happened to the villagers, and continued talking, as Marcos asked why he thought there was a good chance the villagers were alive.
“What is the culprit after? I’ve given that some thought, but… I can’t find a good answer. Even when I think of something that might make sense, there are contradictions.”
“Yes… It’s strange that they attacked a whole village, but the story didn’t really go anywhere from there.”
Yuugo could not understand why the culprit mimicked villagers and lived in the village.
If the idea was to pretend to be human and live in a way that did not attract suspicion, while once in a while attacking people, they did not need to mimic the entire village.
Conversely, if they attacked to get more allies like the toad stinger in the Yum Yum Mountain, they would have moved on to other prey after the village was destroyed.
Basically, there were contradictions.
Yuugo and Marcos were having a hard time understanding why the culprit created a relatively big case, but did not go further.
If the idea was to gain more allies, Yuugo and the others would have been attacked the day they arrived at the village… But they did not even do that.
What they knew at this point was that Melt and Angel were copied, and that they used their likeness to seduce Shian and Egos.
But in the end, they felt like as long as they did not have a grasp on their goals, they could not really take action.
“We don’t know why they’re doing this, but… Could it be that they can’t leave the village?”
“Can’t leave? What do you mean?”
“Like, whatever it is that’s mimicking the villagers can’t act according to its own will. Someone’s giving orders, and they’re only doing as they’re told… Like marionettes of the real culprit.”
“Hm… That makes sense. That would explain why the boy managed to easily escape the village and run into the forest, and the villagers didn’t go looking for him. Maybe they didn’t have precise instructions from the commander.”
“The commander is giving commands to the marionettes in the village. Then, since this village is the base, they can’t give instructions to the marionettes if they get too far from it. That’s why they’re not showing their next move… Is what I’m thinking.”
“But how does that relate to the villagers being alive?”
“…I don’t know for sure, but I imagine it takes a lot of magic energy for one person to control dozens of marionettes, right? Then couldn’t they be siphoning it from the villagers somehow?”
“…”
Marcos knew that this was less a conclusion reached after careful thought, and more what Yuugo was hoping was the case.
Yuugo’s conclusion was a little far-fetched, because he wanted Shiroi’s parents to be alive, but Marcos did not point that out.
It was a soft, warm way of thinking that could be a weakness sometimes… But he knew this was a quality of his rival.
Also, Marcos was not wishing for a sad ending either, and also wished for the villagers to be safe.
“…If you’re right, that means the villagers are being held somewhere. Let’s look for clues.”
“Yes… Let’s.”
Yuugo’s conclusion was too optimistic, but not unrealistic.
If they solved this case, they might really end this without anyone being a casualty, thought Marcos as he tapped Yuugo’s shoulder, and prompted him to keep investigating.
“Y-Yuugo! We have trouble!!”
“President? What happened?”
Precia was out of breath, as she ran towards them and called out to Yuugo.
Both thought that was odd, until she spoke.
“Please come quick! They found Shiroi!!”
“What!?”
Yuugo and Marcos’ expressions changed, as they heard it was discovered that they were harboring Shiroi.
Both ran like bullets towards the room where they were hiding him… And gulped when they saw the crowd there.
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