Chapter 227: Work Experience (2)

Work Experience (2)

Libra's Intelligence Agency.

Bell Moore chuckled as he looked at the office that the Intelligence Agency team leader 'used to' occupy.

"Sly son of a bitch."

Serves him right. How dare he try to pin a crime on me.

At this moment, he could only curse inwardly, but it was also chilling.

If the team leader's plan had gone through.

No, if Shion Ascal had been fooled by the team leader.

The false charges against Sonya would have been entirely on him.

"He's totally screwed~"

Bell Moore knocked on the office door a few times for good measure and turned to leave─

"Mr. Bell Moore."

Several employees of the Intelligence Agency approached him.

"Oh, yes?"

"What's that rookie Chaser up to?"

"Well... I don't really know."

Rookie Chaser. Of course, they were talking about Shion Ascal.

That lunatic killed the team leader. He went to the mansion and, finding Benedict defenseless, sliced his neck with a single stroke.

A rookie assassinating a senior, it was a stab in the back that would make any Chaser shake their head, no matter the circumstances.

"He's probably at the university right now?"

As such, the expressions on the faces of the Intelligence Agency employees were not too pleased.

"If you want to pick a fight, go find him yourself."

Bell Moore smirked slyly.

"But be careful. That guy's a real lunatic."

"..."

The Intelligence Agency employees were silent.

These guys still don't know how much of a lunatic Shion Ascal is, or how much focus he's drawing from Libra.

"Well then. I'm off."

Bell Moore waved his hand and walked down the corridor. A person appeared from the corner of the lobby.

"Excuse me."

Riley. She crossed her arms as she looked at Bell Moore.

"What."

"What do you mean what. You called me."

"...What."

Bell Moore raised an eyebrow.

"It's nothing big. Want to work on something with me?"

"A job?"

"Yeah. I think I need a team."

"Again? Don't you know anyone else but me? Don't you have any Chaser friends?"

Of course, there are many Chasers.

But the only one he can trust is Riley.

"We had fun last time we did it together."

"You seem to be under a misconception. I'm not a Chaser to-"

"It's about [Vancheon]."

Bell Moore said.

Riley's expression hardened instantly.

"About... Vancheon?"

"Yeah. It's from Shion again."

"..."

Riley looked at Bell Moore without saying a word. Bell Moore smiled deeply.

"I can't talk about the details yet, but it's an opportunity to climb the ranks."

* * *

I drove to the scene of the incident. It was an ordinary forest.

"Wow! Shion, you have a car too?!"

Layla's eyes sparkled as she saw the SUV.

It was an SUV gifted by Bell Moore, and it was proving quite useful.

"Yeah. Here."

I handed her a bread. It was the cream bun bought by Bell Moore.

By the way, Bell Moore himself is probably forming a team right now. Vancheon is a traitorous organization with a hefty bounty on its head, not just from Libra but also from the council.

"Wow!"

Layla's expression became animated.

"Shion, how did you buy this?!"

She was dazzled by the sight of the cream bun.

I asked her a question.

"I have my connections. Where's the crime scene?"

"Oh right, let's go!"

A sorcery murder case.

Simply put, it's a case where people are killed through sorcery.

But it's different from ordinary murders. Sorcery murder is 'long-distance murder' because the sorcery is activated in one space and flies to another.

The character for 'kill' (殺) is a typical example.

"It's quite a scene."

Near the lake. A chilling talisman and threads were clinging to a tree, and nearby, a dark red liquid oozed like pus.

"It's a sorcery murder."

Suddenly, a familiar, somewhat welcome voice.

I turned to look.

It was Elise.

There were other university student pairs besides us here. They all must have chosen 'detective' for their teaming job experience.

Elise slightly lifted her chin.

"This is your first time with something like this, isn't it?"

"...Aren't you also a first-timer?"

For the record, it's not my first time. Living in the underworld, you get to experience all sorts of things.

"Hmph. It's not."

Elise approached me.

Or rather, she tried to, but Layla pushed her away.

"Elly. Can you not tail my team?"

"...Tail?"

Elise's eyes narrowed.

"──Hold on."

Suddenly, Gerkhen interjected with a rather serious expression. We all turned to look at him.

Had he already figured something out?

Gerkhen, with a face so serious that even his breathing seemed inaudible, pointed his finger.

"...That."

He pointed at Layla. Layla flinched in surprise.

"What, what?! Is there something on my back?!"

"Is that a Berry-o cream bun?"

"...What?"

Layla's eyes widened. She looked at Gerkhen baffled, and Gerkhen continued to stare seriously at the Berry-o cream bun.

"Berry-o cream buns from Balance Bakery. There's a limit of two per person."

His curiosity, criticism, and greed were all implied in his question of why she had a bunch of them.

"Just give him one. It'll be a hassle later if you don't."

I told Layla.

It's no lie. Gerkhen, if nothing else, will remember such trivial food-related details.

Layla threw a cream bun from the bag.

"...Here."

"..."

Gerkhen silently accepted it. Crinkle, crinkle—he fiddled with the wrapper before carefully tucking it into his pocket.

"Everyone! Have you all gathered?!"

Clap, clap──!

The central detective clapped his hands.

"Yes, participants of the Edsilla National University teaming program, welcome. I'm Detective Beor, and I've been assigned to this sorcery murder case. For your information, I'm also a graduate of the national university. Ha ha."

Detective Beor said with a laugh.

"Sorcery murders are definitely harder to deduce than other murder cases. They're committed from a distance, and they're closer to curses than magic, making it difficult to identify the victims and prove causality. However, there will certainly be 'traces' left behind."

Sorcery and curses are optimized for remote killings.

That's why most mages secretly take on the role of hitmen.

"Find those traces in the Magic Space and report them to me. Please be careful not to disturb the crime scene too much."

The detective handed out gloves. I put them on.

"Why don't you go do some election campaigning, Elly?"

"I don't need to help to win a third term easily. Besides, can a fool like you even deduce anything?"

"What, what?! Fool?!"

Elise and Layla were still in the midst of their power struggle.

I looked at the tree. I placed my hand on it.

Using 「Notepad」, I summoned the 「Memory」 that remained here.

......Ching, ching, ching.

The sound of bells seeped into my ears. I saw a scythe moving on its own. There was a mage performing sorcery, hopping around the pavement.

I gazed intently at the vision before opening my eyes.

I asked the detective.

"...Do you have a list of suspects?"

"Ah, yes."

The detective smiled and handed over a list of names. It was a list of people called 'mages' in the vicinity.

"This man."

I pointed to one person. A man with squinted eyes and spiky hair.

His name was [Reko].

"This man seems to be the culprit."

"...What the heck, Shion! We're supposed to do this together!"

That's when Layla turned around abruptly.

"Do what together? You're not any help anyway."

Elise sneered and picked a fight.

"Shut up, Elly!"

Layla ran to my side, and the detective tilted his head.

"Why do you think so?"

"I heard bells."

"Bells?"

"Yes. I can still hear them, kinda like a sixth sense. There are still traces left."

A sixth sense. Simply put, it's a kind of talent. Not that there's such a thing, but reading Memory is much more accurate than that.

"The only mage who uses bells is that person."

Just like magic requires a medium, the only mage who uses bells for sorcery is the mage [Reko].

The detective spoke.

"Is there no evidence?"

"There's no direct evidence in sorcery murders. However, you can simply bring the suspect in and have them demonstrate the sorcery. You'll hear the sound of bells from the leaves."

"......"

The detective tilted his head but nonetheless noted down my words in the report.

"Then—"

"Have you figured out where this 'sorcery' flew off to?"

This time it was Elise. The detective's eyes widened.

Elise continued, arms crossed.

"It's simple. They used vectors. First, measure the amount of magical power generated by the sorcery here, then measure it again at a distance of 30 meters. Since sorcery flies straight, there has to be residual magic in that direction."

The implication was that by measuring the residual magic along the path the sorcery took, one could determine its direction.

"Furthermore, measure how much the magic power attenuates at intervals of 100 meters, 300 meters, 500 meters. Gerkhen helped me with these measurements."

For instance, if 100 units of sorcery lower to 99 units at the 30-meter mark and to 97 units at the 100-meter mark, one can calculate the direction and distance the sorcery traveled based on the rate of attenuation.

Elise looked at Layla with a victorious smile, as if to say, this is the difference between you and me.

Layla shuddered, as if she hadn't even considered this.

"The sorcery went upwards."

"Upwards, you say?"

Elise shrugged her shoulders and said,

"Yes. The coordinates I've calculated are......"

Her expression stiffened slightly. She glanced at me, but then spoke nonchalantly.

"It went to Libra's Aerial Garden."

* * *

At the same time.

Soliette was underground. In the underground Bottle of Souls. She was exploring it with Jared Arkne.

Click-clack—

With a burning campfire in the middle, she kept glancing at Jared, gauging his reactions.

"......"

"Don't you need to go?"

Suddenly, Jared asked. Soliette tilted her head.

"It seems like you've been here too long. You're not from around here."

His voice had become familiar to her over time.

At first, every time she heard it, she would tear up, but now she could bear it.

It felt like she was just on a trip.

A trip she never had with her lost older brother, now belatedly together.

Was this Shion's consideration?

"......It's fine. More importantly, do you know what's beneath us?"

Soliette asked Jared.

"Um...... I don't know. However, the explosives we need to attach at the very bottom are still here."

Jared smiled faintly, pulling out the explosives from his bosom.

"Attach this underground and detonate it, and that's the end."

"......"

Soliette found Jared's words bitter.

She still didn't know if he was really Jared. Whether he was just a Jared created by programming, or if he was a reconstructed being with the real Jared's soul.

But, whatever it was.

"Aren't you afraid of what will happen if this Bottle collapses?"

He would disappear along with this Bottle.

Therefore, this journey is one to kill Jared.

"It's okay."

Jared smiled faintly.

"After all, this world is fake. Whether we succeed in liberating the Bottle or fail and get exploited by an individual, both outcomes lead to death."

Soliette listened quietly to his words.

"I want my death to be on my own terms."

He bowed his head.

For a moment, she almost cried.

Jared added more wood to the campfire.

"Why don't you get some sleep?"

"...Yes."

Soliette looked around. The underground was dark in all directions.

This place was a route that penetrated the fake Edsilla's bottom, aiming to reach the bottom of the bottle.

In game terms, it was the path that led to the ending.

She watched Jared as he sat with his eyes closed.

"Do you have... a family?"

"...?"

At her words, Jared opened his eyes slightly. He looked at her with a puzzled expression, and she mirrored him.

They were similar.

In their actions, expressions, and the way they spoke.

"Are you talking about family?"

"Yes."

"...I had one."

Jared said with a casual smile.

"I would have had one when I was alive. There was a strict father, a kind mother who passed away too early..."

Crackle- Crackle-

Jared watched the sound of the campfire.

"And a very cute little sister who resembled that mother."

Soliette wiped the corner of her eyes, pretending to get a spark in them, pretending her eyes were irritated.

"I always wanted to treat her well. She was so small and precious. I don't know if I did a good job."

She bit her lip hard, not wanting her crumpled face to be seen, so she lay back.

"......."

Jared said nothing to her.

He just kept a faint smile on his face as he scribbled small letters in the dirt.

[Soliette]

* * *

"Ha ha."

Libra's Jade was in the extreme mana stone storage. He looked around at the places filled with extreme mana stones and smiled.

"Ha ha."

The leisurely laugh of a noble. The elegance and dignity of it earned applause from everyone around.

"Hmm. What's all this fuss about."

Jade waved his hand in response.

The business had succeeded.

The efficiency of the extreme mana stones researched by Libra would soon be on the news. It would bring tens of times the profit to Jade himself.

With this profit, he would start another business, and then another...

Tadadadak──

At that moment, a multitude of footsteps echoed. Jade looked outside the storage. It was the bastards from Libra's Intelligence Agency.

"What's the matter?"

They lined up in front of Jade.

"Lord Jade. We have obtained information that the main mage has fired a 'cut' at one of Libra's direct lines."

"......"

Jade blinked for a moment. In contrast, the faces of the Intelligence Agency agents were extremely serious.

They probably thought that obtaining this information was a great achievement.

"Yeah. Now get lost."

Jade just waved his hand.

"Lord Jade could be the target-"

"I said I got it, now get lost. Business is more important right now."

Cut.

Whatever it was, Jade didn't care.

What was important to him now was the next business.

"......Besides. Davis. How is that matter progressing?"

Jade asked his newly appointed secretary.

"The negotiations are currently underway. The results of the soil research are exactly as they said."

His next target was ginseng.

A region where ginseng grew, an elixir-like herb that increased the mana of those who consumed it. If he acquired that land and farmed it properly-

"It's a scam."

Suddenly, someone interrupted. Jade frowned deeply and turned to look in that direction.

How dare an Intelligence Agency agent meddle in my business...

"Hmm?"

But it wasn't just any agent.

Jade twisted the corner of his mouth with a smirk as he looked at him.

"A scam, you say."

Among the Intelligence Agency agents, one stood out with his tall stature and blonde hair.

"Yes."

Shion Ascal.

The man confidently spoke as he approached.

"That ginseng region is a scam, Lord Jade."