Hero Association, temporary interrogation room remodeled from a meeting room.
A table and two chairs.
“I already told you, I went out to make a phone call at that time! If you don’t believe me, just check the door’s surveillance footage, right?”
The balding middle-aged man sitting across from her wore a stern face and gave a cold snort.
“Hmph. The Association’s surveillance cameras just happened to have a ‘malfunction.’ You were clearly prepared.”
“Then check my call logs! Didn’t you confiscate my phone already?”
“We did. But you have no call records from that time.”
“Huh? How is that possible? Sigma Series Blue Cavalier—if there are no records, you can go ask him directly. Ask him if I was on the phone with him at that time yesterday. I have no reason to lie about something like that.”
Kami’s small fist slammed the table, splitting the wooden surface.
Being arbitrarily detained by the Association in an interrogation room naturally made her furious.
The Administration Bureau agent in charge of questioning her was also a balding middle-aged man, the same type as the editor-in-chief of a publishing house—which only added to her resentment.
“If you think I’m a thief, at least show me some evidence!”
“We do have evidence.”
The balding middle-aged man’s voice was quiet, but he was completely unshaken by Kami’s aggressive attitude. He pushed up his glasses; the bottle-bottom-thick lenses gleamed coldly.
“You said you were accompanying a friend to register for the hero network yesterday?”
“Yes. Her name is Clara. She can vouch for me.”
With no way to prove herself, Kami could only rely on Clara now.
“We’ve already summoned her. She’s on her way here. Take this time to think carefully about whether you want to honestly confess the whereabouts of the relic…”
The balding man pushed up his glasses and stood.
“We’ll continue this conversation once your friend arrives.”
“Tch. You’ve got to be kidding me.”
As he left the interrogation room, Kami slammed her fist against the table again. The already stressed wooden desk split in two—perfectly symmetrical.
She was about to explode.
Anyone would be dissatisfied being locked up for such a reason.
But calming down and thinking it over, the Administration Bureau must have had some reason to suspect her. Had she done anything suspicious yesterday?
Or was it because she had mentioned the key phrase “god’s relic” at the entrance this morning?
No, there was no way she’d be targeted just for that.
Kami had no idea. Even though she was a Magic Girl, she wasn’t exactly a brainy hero. Without any clues, she was completely lost and couldn’t piece together a useful conclusion…
This was when she should let Blue Cavalier do the thinking—that guy was apparently called a strategist.
But her phone had been confiscated, so she couldn’t contact him even if she wanted to…
—A knock came at the interrogation room door.
Just as Kami was wondering if she should say “Come in,” the door swung open. A silver-haired girl wearing headphones around her neck stepped in.
“Excuse the interruption, Miss Kami.”
She wore a skintight outfit.
The surface of the fabric seemed like a second skin, etched with circuit-board-like patterns that flowed with RGB light.
Kami recognized her.
She was the Association’s direct Top-tier Hero, “Mechanical Angel” Alice.
They had met once during a previous commission. But aside from that, as a Top-tier Hero, Alice often appeared in front of cameras. There was probably no one in the entire Central City who didn’t know her.
Alice walked gracefully into the room and closed the door behind her.
Inside the now tableless interrogation room, Alice sat down across from Kami.
She held a tablet in her hand.
“You’re Alice, right? Do you see me as a criminal too?”
Kami understood the status, authority, and power a Top-tier Hero held, but she didn’t think she was guilty, so she saw no reason to lower herself in front of this person.
Alice shook her head and replied.
“Please relax, Miss Kami. I’m not here on behalf of the Administration Bureau to interrogate you, nor do I assume you’re a criminal. I just… have some things I’d like to learn from you.”
As she spoke, a faint rhythmic glow pulsed in her pupils.
“Oh? Then can you get me out of here?”
Kami asked. Alice answered in a still-calm tone.
“Unfortunately, the Hero Association is currently under the Administration Bureau’s control. Until this relic theft case is closed, I’m afraid the Association won’t be able to operate normally… ”
She paused, then shook her head in a rather human way.
“It’s a shame. The hero network had just come online, and then this happens… Miss Kami, don’t you think it’s a bit too coincidental?”
Kami crossed her arms in dissatisfaction.
“Huh? Why are you asking me? And do you think I have time to care about that?”
“Then let’s get back to the main point. Please take a look at this footage.”
Alice handed over the tablet. On the screen, a video automatically began playing—the same footage she had shown Clara last night of finding the golden button.
This was the Administration Bureau’s evidence against her?
It was almost laughable, but Kami couldn’t bring herself to laugh.
“Where was this video taken?” She frowned.
“The Relic Vault. Because of the Hero Association’s unique functions, it tends to collect ‘god’s relics’ more easily.”
“These items are difficult to transport and store, so after gathering them from commissions, they’re kept here temporarily. The Administration Bureau picks them up periodically.”
So the thing that was stolen was that thing in the glass jar.
“That button is yours, right?” Alice pressed.
Kami couldn’t deny it. The collar of her dress had an identical one.
“My outfit is made from Magic Gems. Even if a button really does pop off, it would disappear after a while.”
The button in the video was indeed hers, but that raised a new question.
When had she lost her button?
And how did it end up in that place?
Alice had an answer ready.
“Miss Clara said that she accidentally dropped this button at the scene during her tour.”
“Clara?!”
That explained it.
Clara’s Magic Girl power was copied from Kami’s, sharing the same magical origin. So if she held Kami’s button, it wouldn’t disappear.
“When did she visit the Relic Vault for a tour?”
“After the meeting yesterday morning, I originally took her to tour the Control Center for the hero network, because she wanted a reason to convince you to register.
“Later, since the Relic Vault was close to the Control Center, and Miss Clara asked to see it, I granted her request.”
And then Clara left the button at the scene?
At that moment, Kami really felt like the most wronged person in the world.
Welp.