“Big brother, have you heard? People keep disappearing around here lately.”
“I heard. That includes students of the academy too, right?”
Phi brought up the recent missing person cases, and nodded to his big brother’s response.
It was not a cheerful topic, so they had uneasy expressions on their faces as they continued.
“…I feel like there have been more weird incidents lately. This city didn’t use to be like this…”
“So it really is strange that so many incidents are happening?”
Phi once again nodded.
Even Yuugo, who reincarnated from another world, thought something strange was happening to the city, and muttered to himself with a puzzled expression.
“The incident in the tunnel, the guy that transformed into a monster armor beast in the children’s home… And now people keep disappearing. It would be weird if this sort of thing wasn’t weird.”
“Yes… It’s scary. Weird things keep happening one after the other.”
“Dammit! If we caught that guy then…”
Yuugo clenched one fist and smacked it into the palm of his other hand, in frustration about letting the crab kaijin get away.
Where did he go, after he fainted and disappeared into thin air? Could he be the perpetrator of the missing person cases? Thought Yuugo, and Phi continued.
“Big brother… I heard father talking, and apparently that man left a piece of a monster in that place. And a vicious one too.”
“Monster? What do you mean?”
“I don’t know either, but I looked it up, and it was from a monster that doesn’t live around here. There’s a chance that he took it down somewhere far away and brought it here, but also…”
“…If that piece of a monster transformed that man into a monster armor beast, it would make sense to assume someone gave it to him.”
Phi nodded for the third time, as his brother had the same idea he had.
It was still not leaving the realm of conjecture, but could there be someone orchestrating this incident behind the scenes?
But then what could this person be after…? Thought an anxious Phi, who was then cheered up by Yuugo.
“Don’t worry. The current head of the noted Clay family is on the case, right? It’ll be all right then. If students like Marcos and I beat it, there’s no way real magic knights are going to be outdone.”
“Yes, you’re right…”
“And also, we’re taking turns guarding that home. That includes Melt, and even Marcos is tagging along, so I wouldn’t worry too much.”
Yuugo and the others had been going to that children’s home almost every day since the crab kaijin appeared.
Is there anything out of the ordinary? Have any other suspicious people shown up? They knew guards had been sent to patrol, but they felt responsible for letting the perpetrator get away, so the three of them took it upon themselves to check out how the home was doing, and guard it.
“Melt and Marcos are there now, but maybe I’ll pop up there too. I’m not doing anything anyway.”
“Then I’m coming with you. I guess I’m still a bit worried…”
Yuugo wished that the perpetrator was caught quickly, the case was solved, and the air of uncertainty was wiped from the city, but as he talked to his little brother and was about to get up, he noticed multiple people approaching from behind.
He turned to look, and saw students whose faces he recognized walking towards him, and an expression of suspicion formed on his face.
“What? Do you need anything with me?”
“…Is it you? Are you the one pulling the strings?”
“Ah?”
Yuugo looked puzzled, as the students who suddenly walked to where he lived said something he did not understand.
One of the boys’ emotions exploded upon seeing his reaction, and he yelled while grabbing Yuugo’s collar.
“Did you do it!? Did you kidnap them!?”
“Hey hey, what are you talking about!? I seriously don’t get it. Wait… You’re one of the guys hanging around Rush, aren’t you?”
Yuugo bat the boy’s hand away, in a state of nothing but confusion, but then he noticed that he was hanging around Rush when they dueled.
Looking at the other students more closely, Yuugo noticed that he also saw them that day. He was confused by how they suddenly walked up to him and started wailing about things he did not understand, and the student who grabbed him continued.
“You’re the one doing it, right!? Our friends keep disappearing! They just vanish one day, and never get back to the dormitory! And it keeps happening! You’re taking revenge on us, right!?”
“Ah? What are you talking about? How am I gonna kidnap people and keep them locked up when I’m sleeping outdoors? And I beat your boss too. It’d be one thing if I lost and sneakily took revenge, but why would I do that after winning?”
“But you’re the only one who could be doing this! Even a middle school girl is missing!?”
“It’s the other way around, right? I don’t know your relationships, so why would I know if a middle school girl I don’t even know is friends with that Rush?
I get why you’d want to suspect me, but lately I’ve been going to the children’s home nearby all the time. The employees and the kids there can attest to my alibi.”
“…Then who? Who is attacking us…?”
Maybe he actually thought his suspicion was unreasonable from the start, or maybe Yuugo’s confident attitude led him to question what he thought, but the student stared blankly at the ground and muttered.
The other students also turned pale, as they felt both fear and despair.
“…Are you saying all the students that disappeared know Rush? That’s strange… What do you think, Phi?”
It was hard to look at them and think they were acting or joking.
Yuugo thought it was strange that the missing people were all hanger-ups of Rush, and when he turned to Phi to ask for his opinion…
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No hurt phi