It was possible to see the rank of a devil by Examining it. That was a special ability only forr players possessed, and it gave accurate information, so Mira was certain about the rank of the devil she had defeated.
That also verified the Spirit King’s claim that there was no devil above that one giving him orders, which also convinced Mira.
『This also ans that all of his subordinates were weaker than a third rank Earl. Then there’s the barriers set up by that Union organization, which my kin tell are so powerful that a devil with a lower position wouldn’t be able to get through.』
The Spirit King’s voice was getting more excited. Thanks to the network he had built amongst spirits, he had been able to absorb mounts of information about the current world, and how people lived now. That included the United Adventurer’s Guild, and secret information usually reserved for people working tightly with them. Since then, he had been waiting for the right ti to flaunt the fact he was not only knowledgeable of the past, but also current culture.
『Ohh, those barriers were that powerful then?』
『From what I’ve gathered, yes. You require explicit permission to get through, right? Maybe if you go through the Union’s records you’ll be able to narrow down the suspects?』
The Spirit King seed pleased by Mira’s shocked reaction, and confidently made that suggestion.
The Ancient Temple Nevrapolis was a dungeon, which ant it was encircled by a barrier, put in place by the Union. A devil with a lower rank than an Earl of the third rank could not breach through it, which ant that they necessarily would have obtained permission from the Union to enter.
So if the Union could check all the people who obtained permission to enter there, they could narrow down the list of suspects. At least that was the Spirit King’s suggestion.
That was quite a good suggestion, but it failed to consider one important aspect. Naly, the current state of that location.
『Hmm, I see… But we might not need to do that. A devil appeared in the dungeon, so all entry should have been barred while it was being investigated.』
Mira faintly rembered so of the details Solomon shared about the investigation after she left Nevrapolis. The Union would never leave a dungeon open after a devil was found in it, so they would block it and conduct a thorough search to make sure it was safe. Even when the investigation was over, they would raise the rank requirent to enter for a while, just in case.
『So that’s also a factor, hmm… That would leave a very small tifra for soone to get the body part out…』
His voice was filled with regret, disappointed that his idea was also not the best.
The next obvious possibility was that soone had dug another hole to get in from outside, but after asking Solomon he quickly shot that idea down. The research team was quite adept at their job, and they searched every nook and cranny for vestiges of such an entry, but found there were no other suspicious holes there. In other words, whoever took the body part did it through the proper entrance.
That ant that the heist was carried out just after Mira left, and before the research team arrived there.
『Actually…there’s one last possibility, but I doubt you or Solomon will be pleased to hear it.』
So far, they still had no clues as to who and when the body part was taken out. But there was just one more factor they had to consider.
「…The research team?」
『I can’t think of anything else.』
Maybe soone from the research team Solomon sent had found the body part and stashed it away. So far that was actually the most likely scenario, after all other possibilities had been deed unlikely.
That was still a heavy accusation though, and it could not be handled poorly. The motivation behind it also would change things greatly.
『By the way, Spirit King. Exactly what does that body part look like?』
Its appearance. That was actually important when trying to discern the motivations behind the suspected theft. If it was sothing with a striking and important appearance, it could incite the greed of soone. And if it looked hideous, then no one would have approached it out of safety concerns.
『It’s appearance… Well, assuming that it hasn’t changed since back then, it shouldn’t look very different from the stones there. Though considering it still has the shape of a human body part, it could easily be mistaken for a statue fragnt.』
『I see…』
If it looked like a broken statue in that deep location, it was possible soone could try pocketing it, banking on selling it for a high price thanks to its likely historical value. It was still hard to think soone with such temptations would have been chosen to be part of Solomon’s research team though.
『Luminaria apparently went with the research team as well. I find it hard to believe soone would be so driven by greed that, for a mont when she wasn’t looking, they’d pocket an item without even knowing its worth.』
That was Mira’s conclusion. Given a devil had appeared there, Luminaria had been together with the research team. It was hard to believe soone would be adventurous enough to potentially compromise the search under her watch.
『Luminaria? I believe she’s as powerful as you Mira, right? That’s a good point then, greed alone wouldn’t be enough to push soone to do that. Whoever took the body part must have been driven by a far stronger conviction.』
『Right. The perpetrator didn’t do it in the spur of the mont, but had a strong determination.』
They were still discussing a potential theory, but both believed the likelihood of it being true was rather high.
『I doubt there are humans who possess knowledge about this matter though. One of the devil’s subordinates must have usurped the position of one of the researchers.』
In the end, the only entity with a motivation to steal that body part was a devil, or at least with the information they currently had available. Mira and the Spirit King also focused on that the most.
It was a rather simple plan all things considered. A devil took over the place of one of the researchers, sothing devils could do as they possessed the ability to transfigurate forms, then entered the dungeon together with the research team. Once an opportunity to take the body part presented itself, they took it, and escaped sowhere.
Another possibility was that the devil brainwashed one of the researchers and used them as a puppet. Devils also possessed that ability, invading the mind of soone with low ntal fortitude, turning them into an easily manipulated pawn.
There was one common factor between those two possibilities, a researcher acting like a different person.
Mira tried asking Solomon about that, and was told that everyone in the research team knew each other well, so they would have noticed if one of them had been taken over by a devil, or was being impersonated, and raised suspicion.
Not to ntion that Luminaria was also there, so if soone was acting suspicious, they would have attracted the attention of everyone, making it impossible to steal the body part.
With that in mind, there was one more possibility, and sothing a devil would easily do.
『So intimidation and coercion are all that’s left.』
『Yes, considering everything, that’s the current most likely scenario.』
Personally approaching a mber of the research team and threatening them was sothing very devil-like, and an extrely effective ans towards humans.
There were plenty of targets to be used as hostages as well, family, friends, a lover. The risk of losing soone like that was enough to drive a person into jeopardizing an important investigation.
『Another important fact to consider is when that devil got in contact with the compromised researcher. Especially if that devil is staying in the city.』
For such a threat to work effectively, the hostage had to be chosen carefully. Not to ntion that there was still a chance the person could end up seeking help instead. To make sure everything worked out, the devil would have likely needed to stay in the city stalking the target for a while. That also had the implication of a dangerous devil having stayed in a city full of people.
『Hmm, I see… Then I shall tell Solomon how to use the Spirit Active Formation. That boosts the spiritual power of a location, and also creates a faint cleansing aura, which devils can hardly stand. Assuming there’s a devil in the city, that should drive it out sooner or later.』
『Ohh, that sounds incredible!』
The Spirit Active Formation was sothing created to revitalize ravaged land, according to the Spirit King. The formation would change the environnt to turn it into a place where spirits could live better, and had been extrely useful after the wars of old which left the world marred in miasma.
Mira was quickly filled with excitent and gratitude when she heard she would be learning how to perform that.
『Soone will need to keep imbuing it with spiritual power once a week for the effect to remain, do you know anyone who could do that? If you don’t, I could ask soone to co.』
「Ah, hmm…I think we can do that ourselves. I know soone who’s half light spirit and half elf, and I’m pretty sure he’s adept with spirit magic too.」
As soon as spiritual power was ntioned, Mira instantly thought of Creos. While he was a summoner, he also had masterful control over his light spirit powers.
『Alright, that sounds like soone who can handle it. First off then, would you mind relaying everything we talked about to Solomon?』
『Right, I’ll do that.』
Mira took the communications device’s receiver and began telling Solomon everything she learned, about the role of the 48 Transducer Pillars of Heaven and Earth, the six secret pillars, the God of Monsters and his corpse, and the devil that was likely hiding nearby. The Spirit King also made sure to chi in every ti she forgot details.
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