-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: Arrest
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Hmm. Arte Isys. So, Arte Isys, huh..."
"What do you think?"
"What is there to say? It's utterly suspicious."
"...You think so too, right?"
"Anyone who doesn't find this suspicious should quit their Association job. There's no way such an incompetent person exists."
He looked at the document detailing the investigation results of the recent incident.
The summary wasn't difficult to grasp.
It was caused by an incident famous enough to make the news.
Some villain audaciously infiltrated the academy, and the students from the exploration club who caught them received a reward, which they used for an outdoor activity.
The mountain lodge they went to for that activity just happened to be on the same mountain where the villain organization Ubermensch had their hideout, and they were attacked.
Roughly summarized, that was the story.
It was utterly suspicious. What was suspicious about it?
"...There are too many coincidences."
"Students who coincidentally caught a villain went into that mountain, and coincidentally, the organization that villain belonged to had a hideout there, and coincidentally, at that exact timing, someone massacred them all. ...It's a bit much, isn't it?"
"That's not all. Look here, at this."
He pointed to the section listing the students' abilities in the basic personal information provided by the academy.
"Yoo Si-woo, Intuition. Amelia Lindberg, Acceleration. Dorothy Springfield, Lightness. These students aren't a problem, but... here, this female student."
"Arte Isys, Thread Manipulation. ...It's almost like she's parading herself as the culprit."
"Exactly. Anyone would find it suspicious. Her ability, too."
Threads were presumed to be the cause of death for the massacred organization's corpses. And a super-powered individual who could manipulate threads.
Finally, there was even an overtly drawn spider symbol. It was more than enough to raise suspicion.
"Then why aren't you going to apprehend her?"
Tsk.
He clicked his tongue lightly and put a cigarette in his mouth.
She really looked like the culprit to anyone. That's why it was suspicious.
"Because she looks too much like the culprit."
"Excuse me?"
"What idiot would handle a job like this? Don't you think it's strange?"
Even a ten-year-old would think Arte Isys was the culprit.
That fact felt off.
"A villain who draws pictures on the wall proclaiming themselves the culprit, spreading it around so foolishly like 'I'm the culprit'?"
"...So you think she's being framed."
"I don't know about that, but it's weird. Villains whose goal is self-aggrandizement usually enjoy causing confusion in the investigation."
This was someone who called herself 'Arachne' and even left playful notes.
There was no way such a villain would handle things so sloppily. He thought. Based on his experience so far, most of these types were highly intelligent.
"It's not like there aren't abilities that can slice people up similarly, either. Even I, right now, without any special ability, could slice up that many. Two hundred, though... that would take too long."
"So you're saying someone disguised themselves as a thread manipulator to frame Arte Isys as the culprit?"
"Perhaps. Nothing is certain. It's also possible that they set it up like this, and Arte Isys really was the culprit."
"Ugh, what a headache."
"Tell me about it."
He watched the white smoke billow out, calming his complicated mind.
This damned world was terribly complex. They say that a long, long time ago, about 500 years ago, there was no mana in the world.
If it were a world where people didn't have abilities, tracking criminals would be so much easier. He envied the detectives of that era.
After mana appeared, no matter how strong the circumstantial evidence, one couldn't move rashly in this world.
There were so many cases where someone was directly witnessed at a murder scene and arrested, only for it to turn out to be the work of an ability user who could control others' bodies.
Or an electric ability user making all electronic devices useless, as if CCTV didn't exist, and then leisurely committing robbery.
Or someone thought to have a solid alibi turned out to be a duplicator who could clone themselves.
Or someone reported and caught after being seen leaving a murder scene turned out to be a shapeshifter who had transformed into a stranger.
There were too many variables.
Of course, the Association registered abilities in their database, but they didn't know the exact limits of what was possible.
It was common for an ability user who could supposedly manipulate a cup of water to suddenly control all the water in a pond.
Invisibility, transparency, transformation, miniaturization, ability replication, and so on.
With so many abilities perfect for framing someone, being hasty in concluding who the culprit was would likely lead to being blindsided.
If it were a normal crime, he wouldn't need to worry, but since it had been transferred to the Association, it was definitely a super-powered crime. Possibilities always had to be kept open.
"Still, she remains the primary suspect. We need to keep an eye on her."
"Should we assign someone?"
"No."
He stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray and stood up from the chair.
"I'll go."
After all, he knew someone at that school.
He'd just have to bring some gifts.
***
"No way, there was nothing in the academy database..."
[Heh, heh. I forgot...]
Normally, this would be the time to get angry.
If a student with such little information enrolled in the academy, wouldn't it be strange? He should be furious.
...Perhaps she was still holding a grudge about what happened back then. That thought inadvertently crossed his mind.
So he couldn't scold the author too much.
[But I've put it in now, so it should be fine, right?]
"Yes, well. I suppose so."
And his background didn't matter anyway. That wasn't what was important.
"By the way, what are you going to do for the next month?"
[Hmm, I don't know. What kind of incident should I cause...]
A much bigger problem had arisen. There was a gap until the final exams.
After the final exams, there would be the summer vacation event, the start of the second semester event, and so on, giving them some breathing room...
What should they do with this floating period of time?
Wouldn't it be awkward for the author to just skip nearly a month?
They needed to cause some kind of incident, but it felt awkward to use important plot points right away.
While discussing future developments with the author, he heard Professor Claire calling him.
"Ah, there you are. Arte, do you have a moment?"
"...Yes, I do. What's wrong?"
"An old friend of mine is looking for you. She said she has something to tell you."
"An old friend?"
"...It might be a little unsettling, but don't worry. Nothing serious will happen."
[Ohh, a premonition of an incident...!]
The author's delighted voice echoed in his ears.
...An old friend? Professor Claire's?
A sense of unease washed over him. Professor Claire was supposed to be a retired famous hero.
An old friend of such a person. It felt like an incident was about to happen.
He should definitely be happy if an incident occurred. But he couldn't just blindly be happy.
...He just wished nothing would happen.
***
"Nice to meet you, student. I'm Lee Ha-yul, in charge of super-powered crimes at the Association."
"I'm Arte Isys."
"Good. ...I can speak informally, right?"
"Yes. As you wish."
"I'll be direct. ...At that mountain lodge, what happened?"
Just as he thought.
He had a bad feeling about it.
From the moment they started talking about super-powered crimes or whatever, he had a hunch.
It was finally here.
"If I said I didn't know anything, would you believe me?"
"Haha. That's a funny joke. Do you think I would believe that?"
"No."
"Good. Then you must know what I'm going to say next."
Of course, he knew.
Honestly, he even thought they were a little late.
The threads he couldn't gather in his hasty escape from the hideout.
Being one of the members who went up to the mountain lodge with the exploration club members.
The spider drawing found in Ubermensch's hideout, and his ability.
If they hadn't come looking with this much evidence, he would have doubted the competence of this world's law enforcement.
...Personally, he wished they were a little incompetent, though.
"Lee Ha-yul. Are you threatening a student right now? You said you'd just have a quiet conversation."
"And I am just having a conversation. It's not a threat. Your overprotectiveness never changes, Claire."
"Arte is my student. Be careful."
"Alright, alright."
Professor Claire hastily interjected into the conversation.
Hmm. He appreciated her concern, but it seemed this person had come to investigate the hideout cube steak incident.
He felt a little guilty because what she was investigating was indeed something he had done.
"So, Arte. The Association considers you a suspect."
"...Why are you telling me this?"
"It's a warning. A warning that if you make any reckless moves, you'll be in danger. I came here today to tell you that."
"Lee Ha-yul!"
"Alright, alright. I'm getting up now."
He gave a slight smile to her as she stood up, almost pushed out by Professor Claire.
"I appreciate your concern, but it won't be of much help."
"...Oh?"
"No. Because I'm not the culprit."
"Ah, Arte...! Yes! My student isn't the culprit! Get out, quickly! Go!"
With a reluctant expression, she was pushed out of the room by Professor Claire and watched her back as she left the school.
Yes. He wasn't the culprit. And she would find out why tonight.
***
"Next up, the news. Recently, there was an incident where hundreds of villains were massacred at a villain organization's hideout. The suspect in that case has been apprehended. The suspect is..."
"What the hell."
Lee Ha-yul stared blankly at the TV.
...Caught?
The culprit?
Suddenly, the student's amused expression from earlier that day came to mind.
The person introduced as the culprit on TV was a man in his late 30s, who looked nothing like her.