Chapter 121

Initially, the search was assisted by informants, and it wasn't until Shirou had been following those two informants for quite some time that she began to get involved.

Her initial goal was to identify this suspicious individual, but she later discovered that he had disappeared, while her informant had just found a new suspicious target.

Unfortunately, their good fortune didn't last long. Although they caught the person, they didn't obtain any useful information before he was gone.

All she can guess now is that there's another group targeting infected people behind the scenes.

Otherwise, it's impossible to say where those who disappeared went.

But this was just her personal opinion, which is why she approached the person in front of her who was also investigating the case, hoping to obtain some different information from him.

It was just a bit awkward that he didn't expect to get anything out of the other person after pursuing them.

At this point, Chen could only hope that Shirou had his own perspective, otherwise the current stalemate could not be broken.

"I suggest you start with the victims. According to my statistics, the vast majority of the victims are infected people who live alone and do not have stable jobs."

Seeing that Shirou had been thinking for a long time, Isv finally spoke up and pointed out a clear path.

"Start with the victims?"

Shirou, who had racked his brains but couldn't come up with anything, felt as if he had heard heavenly music when he heard Isv's voice.

"The victims? We've already investigated that. They're mostly living alone, so the perpetrator probably targeted that aspect."

Chen has gathered all the necessary clues, and this was naturally taken into consideration.

However, most infected individuals have no other commonalities besides living alone.

"Well..."

After being told that, Shirou couldn't think of anything useful to say.

This was never his forte, so it was really putting him in a difficult position.

These past few days have been so busy that it would be more accurate to say he's been on patrol rather than conducting an investigation.

The one who's really investigating is Isv; he's just a figurehead henchman.

"Tsk, this won't do. Let me explain."

Seeing Shirou's expression, Isv didn't want to make things difficult for him any longer, so he communicated directly through the microphone on the drone.

Of course, I changed my voice. Although people know I'm from Penguin Logistics, it's a professional habit ingrained in my DNA.

Shirou is relatively inexperienced in this regard, but this put Isv at ease. After all, a perfect person is hard to approach, especially a kind-hearted person like Shirou.

They used the drone to exchange intelligence with Chen and share their views on the whole situation over the past few days.

Both sides have similar views, pointing to a group behind the scenes manipulating everything, and it can be clearly determined that this is an operation targeting the infected.

The only difference was that Chen didn't notice that all the missing infected people had unstable jobs.

After all, it's not unusual for infected people to have unstable jobs, but if the situation remains the same when the number of infected people increases, then there's a serious problem.

This is indeed a very good starting point.

Unstable employment indicates financial problems, and if there are financial problems, then money may be used as bait.

While Isv and Chen were exchanging words, Shirou continued to gaze out for any suspicious people.

He's okay with simple reasoning, but it's best to avoid him for deeper questions.

He's just a high school student, so let's not make things difficult for him.

Isv was a smart man, and the Hooded Figure also seemed to be a smart man. Shirou couldn't understand what the two were saying when they were talking, but Shirou could understand the conclusion they came up with.

Indeed, it would be better to have less riddles and more sincerity in this world!

Just as Shirou was thinking this, the sound of an explosion came from afar.

Boom—

The roar was accompanied by a large amount of fire and smoke.

Although it was some distance away, the explosion was clearly visible even without any Reinforcement Magic.

"I'll use this to contact you from now on. I'll head over there first."

Seeing the thick smoke drifting around, Chen frowned slightly, then threw the communicator hanging from his waist toward Shirou.

The explosion was very loud, and as a member of the Knights of the Round Table, she had a duty to deal with it.

"OK."

Shirou caught the communicator thrown to him and put it directly into his coat pocket.

He also planned to go and check the situation. If he wasn't mistaken, the explosion should have occurred in an apartment building.

It's difficult to make a clear diagnosis now because of the thick smoke.

If it's an apartment... then the situation is terrible.

"You want to go there?"

Through the drone's footage, Is naturally able to see what Isv Shirou like now.

This guy is really fearless. The first thing he did when he saw this kind of incident happen was not to leave, but to rush over.

He even suspected that Shirou might be someone with some kind of life-saving system in web novels.

If not, Shirou has an illness that needs treatment!

"Yes, I have to go over there."

After glancing briefly at the residents evacuating nearby, Shirou nodded and said.

"Sigh... Remember to prioritize your own safety."

At this moment Isv felt like the grandfather of the Texas group, worrying about a lot of trivial things for their mother.

There's nothing wrong with that. Shirou is like a mother to them, and he's like an old father to Shirou, worrying about them.

All that's missing is helping Shirou find a partner; I'm not even this tired from working overtime for the Emperor.

"I will."

After saying that, Shirou jumped down.

"He jumped right after saying * the Longmen Curses *?"

The moment after Shirou promised Isv would take care of his safety, Shirou jumped off the seven-story building.

Isv was watching this scene through the drone, almost smashed the screen.

"What the hell?"

Chen, who was climbing down the stairs on the other side, also noticed a red figure flash by outside.

She was on the fifth floor, looking down from the window by the stairs. She could see Shirou landing steadily on the ground, then leaping onto the low-ceilinged building and heading towards the location of the explosion.

"?????"

The scene was so surreal that Chen wondered if she was seeing things.

However, watching the figure quickly disappear into the distance, Chen then ran downstairs.

She hadn't forgotten what she was supposed to do.

If the people at Penguin Logistics are working this hard, then she, as someone from the Knights of the Round Table, should be working even harder.

This is what she should do as the head of the Knights of the Round Table's inspection team.

There have been a lot of acts of bravery and righteousness lately in Lungmen 129!

With the help of Magecraft, Shirou quickly arrived at the scene of the explosion.

He was absolutely right; this was an apartment building, the kind without an elevator.

There are even many burglar bars on top.

"Help... help me..."

Fire, smoke, cries for help, and rubble everywhere.

Shirou felt as if he had returned to that day.

That day, that great fire.

The images from that time kept flashing through my mind.

Broken and dilapidated, buried under stones, choked by thick smoke...

"Shirou? Are you alright? You look a bit bad, don't push yourself."

Through the drone's footage, Isv could clearly see what Shirou looked like at that moment.

His eyes were fixed on the fire, and his breathing gradually became rapid.

Moreover, you can see that Shirou's face is constantly covered in cold sweat.

If you look closely, you can see that his body is trembling slightly.

All indications suggest that Shirou seems to have some past connection with such large-scale fires.

It could be called a psychological trauma, but Isv had never seen anyone so calm when facing a psychological trauma.

Shirou is currently... remarkably calm?

"Phew... I'm fine. Could you help me check which floors are occupied?"

Shirou took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

Although the scene was still one of raging fire and billowing smoke, he was different now; he was capable of helping others.

He was no longer the little boy who could only wait for his father to rescue him from the fire.

Just as he was able to rush into a fire to bring out Snow Pheasant before, he can do it again this time.

"... The building has five floors in total. There are people on the rooftop and by the right window on the fourth floor. We need to confirm the others."

By raising the drone and using the angles seen from the air and calculations from a dedicated program, Isv quickly located two places where people were.

"There are some on the right side of the third floor, by the window against the wall, and there seem to be some on the left side of the fifth floor as well."

Due to the thick smoke obscuring his view, Shirou couldn't see very clearly. Isv could only tell Is about the floor where he suspected someone was and ask Is to check the situation.

Isv was in charge of scouting out where people were, while he... was going to rescue them.

The building in front of us is five stories high and has a top floor.

Although it's a bit low-rise, each floor has about six units.

From the side that Shirou can see, there are at least six windows, most of which are designed with burglar bars.

Normally, security windows should be able to be pushed open, but there are still a few people who cannot.

It's either old and dilapidated, has heavy objects on top, or simply doesn't have a design that allows it to be opened.

"Enhancement, begin!"

Enhanced vision is necessary to pinpoint the victim's location.

Strengthening the feet is essential to ensure the victim can be rescued.

In order to climb the building, strengthening both hands is also necessary.

A large amount of blue magic surged from Shirou's body, causing his red coat to flutter continuously.

"This is..."

Isv felt that he was still too ignorant; this was the first time he had ever seen someone generate their own air currents that made their clothes crackle and pop.

Although I don't understand the intention, he looks pretty cool.

He remembered that the boss had previously complained that the entrance was too monotonous, so perhaps this was something to consider.

"Just as the BOSS predicted, are there other people besides those from the Knights of the Round Table involved?"

Below, a man wearing a round top hat was hidden among the onlookers, watching the red figure behind him.

It wasn't that the other party made a big commotion, but rather that he was constantly watching his surroundings for any suspicious people.

The intervention of Chen, the head of the Knights of the Round Table's inspection team, was expected, but the appearance of those arrows also made them realize that there were other people involved besides the Knights of the Round Table.

"Was this explosion... even meaningful?"