“No way!”
‘If they really use this as a clue, Kamui will end up a criminal!’
“Wait, Miss Alice!”
Clara hurriedly began to explain.
“That’s something I dropped in the storage room!”
She had to clear this up. Clara didn’t want to cause Miss Kamui to bear an undeserved blame.
“Hmm? Yours?”
Alice seemed to need more explanation, so Clara continued.
“When we Magic Girls’ combat suits leave our bodies, they disappear after a while because they’re generated by magic. Without the support of magic…”
Alice shook her head.
“No, I remember clearly. Your clothes didn’t have a gold button like that.”
‘She even remembers my outfit in such detail?’
Clara twitched the corner of her mouth. How should she explain this now?
If she said it was Kamui’s button, Alice would definitely ask something like, “Why doesn’t Kamui’s button disappear even when it’s in your hands?”
‘It’s not like I can say I’m a clone of Kamui.’
“Anyway, that really is something I dropped! It’s unfortunate that it can’t serve as a clue… Besides, you found this button after you sent me to the elevator, right? The relic was already gone by then.”
Clara was asking knowingly.
“It’s something you dropped?”
Alice rested her chin on her hand and stared obliquely at the lacquered tabletop, lost in thought.
Just then, a café server set a cup of hot milk on the table and nodded at them.
“Really!” Clara nodded emphatically.
She glanced at the menu hanging behind the counter…
‘The price of a cup of hot milk here could buy a whole bucket at the supermarket.’
Alice finally spoke.
“Actually, I suspect the relic was stolen exactly during the time I was taking you to the elevator. I hadn’t completely closed the door.”
“You mean someone sneaked into the storage room during that time?”
“Yes.” Alice nodded.
Clara lowered her head and sipped the hot milk, leaving a ring of “white beard” on her lips.
She licked her lips and asked.
“By the way, the relics were things without physical form. Could they really be stolen?”
The regular yet irregular substances floating in the light pillar had left a deep impression on Clara.
She had never seen such esoteric things in her life. They seemed not to truly exist, but were like creations from a dream.
Clara hadn’t licked all the milk off her lips. Alice took out a handkerchief and wiped away the remaining trace.
Though her appearance was identical to a human’s, Clara still felt a chill through the contact between fingertips and lips.
Alice explained.
“Not all ‘God’s Relics’ are geometric or energy-based. The relic that was stolen this time happens to be something with a concrete form… Or rather, if a thief wanted to steal, they could probably only steal that one.”
“To be precise, it was the contents inside.”
“The glass jar from before?”
Clara was still asking knowingly.
Alice had once said that for the sake of her own mental health, Clara shouldn’t be curious about what was inside…
But now it had been stolen, and Clara didn’t even get a chance to see it for herself.
“…What exactly was inside?”
“You don’t need to know. Don’t be curious about relics.”
Alice still didn’t intend to tell Clara. She continued.
“I called you out because I wanted to know if you had any information about this button. Since it’s something you dropped, the Association will handle the rest—”
“Huh? I can help too!”
Clara quickly said.
She couldn’t let Alice exclude her from this matter. Investigating this herself would kill three birds with one stone for Clara…
It would bring her closer to Alice and help investigate the truth behind Fran’s father’s death;
It would raise her standing with the Hero Association and fulfill her duties as the Undercover Department Head;
And it would even let her steal the stolen relic and satisfy Nyx’s request.
“Do you have any leads or clues?” Alice countered.
Of course… no clues.
When Clara followed Alice into the storage room, the glass jar was already empty. How could Clara possibly know what happened before that?
Alice put on her over-ear headphones and looked up at Clara.
“I’ve already paid for the coffee and milk.”
“If you have the intention, you could try accepting requests on the Hero Network. It’s a very convenient platform for both civilians and heroes. I believe the industry will be completely transformed by the Hero Network in the future.”
Wrapping a blue wool scarf around her neck—though whether a robot needed one was debatable—Alice stood up and walked toward the café door.
“See you another time, Miss Clara.”
“Yeah.”
Watching Alice leave, Clara didn’t rush out of the café.
It would be cold wind outside, so she stayed in her seat, continuing to sip her hot milk while organizing information with Nyx in her mind and discussing their next move.
[Can’t you find a reason to keep her here?]
“How? I have no justification to join this investigation. Being too eager would just make me look suspicious.”
[So you need a reason to intervene?]
“Whoa?!”
Fran’s voice suddenly came from the glasses, startling Clara.
“Hey, you didn’t forget about my existence, did you?”
“N-no…”
“She did.”
Nyx joined the voice channel and mercilessly exposed Clara’s lie.
At times like this, her trusty little assistant always seemed to lean outward…
“Does Fran have any good ideas?” Clara asked.
Fran relaxed and spoke unhurriedly.
“Ideas? Be flexible in your thinking. Nothing is difficult under heaven.”
“Since you can’t get permission from the Association, why not go to the Administration Bureau? Offer to help, and have Nyx show off her hacking technology. They’d have no reason to refuse a capable assistant.”
“Hmm?”
Clara sat up straight.
Alice had just said that the Bureau’s agents had already been stationed at the Association to investigate. So now the Bureau was in charge…
“That idea might actually work? I can wait until tomorrow to go to the Company and decide…”
Fran continued.
“But the Association is on lockdown, and this case won’t be easy for you to investigate. Let’s go back to the dorm first.”
“Besides, any organization capable of sneaking into the Association and stealing without being caught must be quite formidable. Even if you find out something, there’s no guarantee you can get it back.”
“By the way, can’t we ask the ‘Hero Network’ about this?”
Clara muttered softly.
The all-knowing network had no reaction to the theft at all.
‘Probably it can’t predict this. Otherwise, things wouldn’t have gotten this far…’
“Heh. Seems like that ‘Hero Network’ isn’t so impressive after all?”
Fran didn’t seem to believe the Hero Network could really predict the future.
She grew more excited as she spoke.
“Saying it can predict the future is all fake. In my opinion, this platform is just a project the Association cooked up to scam funding. There’s no need to take it seriously.”
When Fran said such things, it always made Clara uneasy.