4-40: In the Shadows of Earth and Garesto (2/5)

4-40: In the Shadows of Earth and Garesto (2/5)

A-Are you alright, Teacher Doneju?

When Frire left the interrogation room, it was the vice-president of the student council that met her.

Long, orange hair flowed down her back. She was Riltina Bergman.

Frire was so exhausted that she inadvertently asked that question.

Sorry I got a little too flustered there. Send me the bill for the table. Ill pay for it, Frire said.

But when Frire saw Riltina, she feebly shook her head and avoided the question.

Her actions confused Riltina, but she nodded nonetheless, and followed after her.

In the somewhat narrow halls of this facility, she followed after her teacher and looked up at her, but she couldnt find the usual vigor she had in her.

Shed heard what Frire had talked about with the criminal in the interrogation room, so there were some things she wanted to ask, but she chose to suppress her curiosity instead.

Perhaps it would be best to take a break, after all? Since the end of the incident, you havent been able to sleep properly for two days now, right? Riltina said.

Thats true for the student council too Besides, the most troubling part is being pushed onto one person. This much isnt really

Teacher?

Ah, no, its nothing.

When Frire inadvertently muttered out that last part, Riltina eyed her suspiciously, but she immediately denied it.

With that, Frire knew that the fatigue was really getting to her, and she forcefully changed the topic.

More importantly, I really demanded a lot from you this time, Frire said.

Although she was trying to worm her way out of what shed let out the bag earlier, it was true that there were several() things she was feeling apologetic for.

Undocumented contact with the volunteer army and disclosure of unpublicized facts, while allowing another member to eavesdrop on that conversation.The source of this content nov(el)bi((n))

Meanwhile, everyone else was ordered not to approach this place.

No, it was profitable to Garesto too. Im sure it was necessary to stop her from committing the same crime again. It would be troublesome if she managed to get away again, after all. And besides, this isnt a conversation that Earthlings should hear

But she didnt seem to mind at all and just shook her head as she acknowledged the necessity of the job.

The facts disclosed by Frire and the truth that turned their motive over its head.

Though these things may not have been top secret, they were not things that could be publicized just yet either.

Of course, the discerning ones from either world would have likely already realized it.

Despite that the circumstances prevented them from publicizing these matters.

So in the end, what was the point of inspecting their weapons?

This part was not mentioned at all during the interrogation, so the vice-president couldnt help but be curious.

Before this meeting, Frire had personally investigated their equipment.

The vice president had preparations of her own to do, so she couldnt watch when Frire did the inspections.

Huh, oh, its nothing There was just something that bothered me. Sorry to have troubled you, but apparently, it was just my misunderstanding.

For a moment, shed let herself out, but she managed to worm her way out by putting on the face of a teacher.

It was her usual tone, so Riltina did not think much of it either.

And thats also why they were able to detect Masquerades movements quicker than anyone else.

The student council room was more like an office than a simple room in school.

There, office desks were lined up, and people sat before them and quietly worked.

As for the difference between that and a normal office, that would surely be the lack of paper.

But of course, that was only because the desks they were using were equipped with high-performance state-of-the-art terminals.

In the center of that room was an open space where three people stood.

Please take a look.

The president, Amamiya, fiddled with his foster and projected a globe with a diameter of about 5 meters right in front of him.

The three-dimensional planet(Earth) spun on its axis as though it were real.

On that globe could be seen dotted lights of red, yellow, and black.

The red lights show the locations that have been confirmed. America, Russia, France, China, Austria, and Egypt. Terrorists operating independently in these countries were defeated, and the evidence of their crimes sent to the local investigating authorities.

Several more detailed images appeared above the red dots of light.

Piles of smoking rubble, defeated armed men, destroyed armored vehicles, soldiers with faces twisted in fear, and a naked man rolled up in bamboo left alone in front of a police station.

The yellow dots are the ones that have yet to be confirmed, but incidents have occurred in these places. The numbers already reach up to 50 when both are added, but this number is expected to increase, Amamiya said.

You sure work hard So, where is the proof that Masquerade was involved? Frire asked.

There are no third-party witnesses and no videos, but Everyone is saying the same thing. A masked devil, a darkness approaching, a white mask laughing, Amamiya said.

Ha ha ha So its the same as last time then?

Frire laughed, but with such testimonies, there was indeed no doubting it.

If not for the last incident and this recent one, one could presume that theyd simply gone mad and hallucinated, but now, it was all too clear just what they were referring to.

Unlike the first time, however, the investigation of the victims(criminals) this time went smoothly.

According to the reports, the victims were convinced that a horrible fate awaited them if they didnt talk.

So hes making good on his word then. I suppose we can take this as proof that he meant his threat? Moreover, he made his move on the second day, so its definitely the same guy.

Yes, its too quick for a copycat criminal to have appeared. Besides, I really dont want to imagine that theres someone else out there who could do the same thing.

Amamiya said with an exhausted face, giving rise to an air of mutual understanding between the three.

As scary as it was to think that Masquerade was completely alone, losing even the advantage they believed they possessed, numbers, and the notion of there being multiple criminals responsible for these incidents was even more terrifying.

After all, if there truly were several people with such powers, then the world was already over.

Just one showing himself in the shadows of the world was already enough to cause so much trouble.

If there truly were more than one person with such powers, then regardless whether they were good or evil, the world would be theirs.

When the student council president and vice president thought that, they became depressed.

Moving on. The remaining black dots. These are much more speculative than the other places, but we believe these are the countries where Masquerade intervened politically.

He did what?

Unlike with the terrorist hunting, this was a matter that took Frire completely out of the blue.