Theories and Route Assignments / Sakura: The Wretched One Was Me All Along

The moment he heard Bianca's reply, Mobius didn't hesitate and quickly summoned her over.

"Long time no see~"

"Alright, stop playing around. Let's finish the treatment quickly so I can go home soon."

Bianca, who had been summoned, didn't even glance at Mobius and walked straight toward the experimental bed where Ifrit was lying.

"Tsk, this is getting more and more boring~"

Seeing that Bianca was beyond amusement, Mobius shrugged in disbelief, then abandoned his playful intentions and walked over as well.

"Everything is ready. Let's begin. It's time to complete the mission and bring that guy over. After all, the benefits and conditions have already been promised."

"Um."

Upon hearing this, Bianca nodded slightly, then took out the Abyss Flower from her spatial storage...

On the other side--

Looking at Saria sitting opposite him, expressionless as she bandaged his wounds, Muelsyse hesitated for a moment before asking:

"Um, Saria, you... you really beat up the Commander-in-Chief?"

"..."

Upon hearing this, Saria did not answer, but instead glanced at Muelsyse.

"!"

Seeing Saria's frightening gaze, Muelsyse wisely covered her mouth and stopped asking. After a moment, she muttered softly, "Never mind, I won't ask. It's between the two of you anyway..."

"..."

Muelsyse naturally heard Saria's mutterings, but she didn't react. Only after finishing bandaging her hand wound did she say calmly, "I'm leaving Rhine Lab."

"?"

His old friend's sudden remark left Muelsyse completely stunned.

Although the elf lady knew that Kristen's actions over the past few years had "gone astray," and also knew that Saria was very angry...

However, she never imagined that their argument would end like this...

"Aren't you going to care about Kristen anymore?"

After regaining her senses, Muelsyse looked up at Saria seriously and asked.

This time, she didn't use any random nicknames, but addressed Kristen by her first name as a friend.

"Yes, I will get her and Rhine Lab back on track." Faced with Muelsyse's earnest question, Saria nodded without hesitation and replied.

"But it's precisely because I have to take charge that I'm leaving."

"..."

Saria's answer successfully silenced Muelsyse. After a moment of silence, she spoke softly:

"Can't I just stay here...?"

"If I stay here... there's no way I can stop her." Upon hearing this, Saria gently shook her head, her expression resolute.

"Sigh... you guys, whatever, I can't stop you anyway. Do whatever you want." Muelsyse met Saria's firm gaze, and she quickly gave in, letting out a soft sigh.

"Okay, I'll have to keep a close eye on her from now on." Saria nodded first, then seemed to remember something and whispered a word of advice.

"Oh, please don't. I'm just a small director. How can I possibly manage the entire department?" After hearing Saria's words, Muelsyse rested her head on her raised arms and said weakly.

Saria glanced indifferently at the "lazy" Muelsyse in front of her, knowing that she had taken her words to heart, so she didn't dwell on the issue and instead changed the subject:

"I have a question for you. Why did you go to the database so early this morning? Did something come to mind?"

This was a problem that Saria only realized belatedly after venting her anger.

In her opinion, Muelsyse wouldn't have gone to the database so early in the morning unless she suddenly remembered or discovered something, especially since she had an appointment with her that morning.

"Oh, I almost forgot about that!"

Reminded by Saria, Muelsyse sat up straight and became alert.

"Do you remember the little girl named Griseo we met yesterday afternoon?"

"I remember. What's wrong? Does this have anything to do with her?" Upon hearing this, Saria frowned slightly and asked with some confusion.

Clearly, she didn't connect today's events with yesterday's little incident.

"You might not believe it, but I suddenly rushed to the database early this morning because of that child. Now that I think about it... that special little guy's identity is indeed extraordinary." As she spoke, Muelsyse couldn't help but sigh.

Not to mention that Saria couldn't connect the two things, even the elf herself probably wouldn't believe it if she hadn't experienced it firsthand.

After expressing her feelings, Muelsyse recounted the entire story to Saria was standing nearby.

"... Was she intentionally approaching us?"

After listening to her friend's account, Saria paused for a moment before speaking with some uncertainty. At the same time, she pondered Griseo's identity and allegiance.

"Well, based on my impression of him yesterday afternoon... I think the little guy's main goal was to buy gifts, and giving us clues was just a side thing..." At this point, Muelsyse shrugged slightly, his expression somewhat helpless.

To be honest, Miss Elf trusted her intuition quite a bit; she didn't think Griseo's happiness yesterday afternoon was feigned.

Can you guess who or what organization is behind her?

After hearing her friend's guess, Saria nodded slightly and then continued.

"That's really hard to guess... but maybe it's the intelligence organization we've been looking for~"

"..."

P. S.: Only one update today, let me save some drafts. Starting tomorrow, for the next 10 days, I will guarantee at least 3 updates per day. Hope you can support me.

Chapter 148 Guessing and Allocation Routes

After a brief discussion, the two reached no conclusion and temporarily set aside the question of Griseo's identity.

Because compared to the previous two problems, Saria and Muelsyse are now facing an even bigger problem.

"So, regarding Ifrit... Litt's disappearance, Saria, have you found any clues...?"

Although Muelsyse appeared to be asking a question, her tone was quite certain, as if she were sure her friend knew some clues.

As for why she was so certain, it was naturally because of the elf lady's understanding of Saria.

If she truly knew absolutely no clues or had no idea whatsoever, she wouldn't believe her friend could be sitting here "calmly" talking to her like this.

"There are clues, but they're incomplete and need to be pieced together." Upon hearing this, Saria nodded in acknowledgment.

Just as Muelsyse had guessed, she did indeed have some clues.

These fragmented clues were pieced together by Saria after she calmed down, from the things she knew. Furthermore, she had some guesses about Ifrit's disappearance.

Tell me about it.

Seeing that Saria had admitted it, a flicker of curiosity crossed Muelsyse's eyes, and she asked.

"Let's get to the conclusion first..."

At this point, Saria paused strangely before continuing, "Kristen should know where Ifrit is. Even if she doesn't know the exact location, she should know who took her away."

"Um?"

Muelsyse couldn't help but show surprise at her friend's first conclusion.

Saria ignored the expression on Muelsyse's face and coldly stated her second conclusion. "Ifrit should be out of danger in the short term."

However, although Saria did deduce from various trivial details that Ifrit was not in immediate danger, it did not mean that she was not anxious or worried.

Because just because there's no danger to one's life doesn't mean there won't be suffering...

However, her experiences from childhood have instilled in Saria a personality that remains calm the more urgent and anxious she is, though it's not outwardly apparent.

"It seems you've gleaned something from Kristen..."

After hearing Saria's words, a look of understanding flashed across Muelsyse's face, but then he asked with a puzzled expression, "But why? What benefit would it bring her to have Ifrit taken away?"

The elf lady genuinely didn't understand this.

If the [Diablo Project] was designated by someone above (the Ministry of Defense) and there are benefits to be gained from it, then it's understandable that Kristen took over and allowed his Muelsyse to carry it out.

So, she didn't quite understand why they let others kidnap Ifrit, the experimental subject, and didn't try to get her back.

Because from the perspective of the commander-in-chief, Muelsyse could not see any benefit from this, and might even be held accountable by his superiors.

"I don't know, but since Kristen tacitly approved it, it means that the interests involved must be quite significant." After hearing Muelsyse's words, Saria lowered her eyes and gently shook her head.

At this moment, though her face remained calm, her hand beneath the table clenched tightly, causing the wound to tear open and bright red blood to quickly stain the snow-white bandage...

"Huh...?"

Muelsyse, who was about to lean back in her chair with her arm as a pillow, suddenly seemed to sense something, paused, glanced under the table, and exclaimed, "Saria! Your wound!"

"... It's nothing, the wound just reopened."

"I think this is serious! You should re-bandage it right away. And don't clench your fist again for a while!"

Seeing Saria's lack of care for her own body, Muelsyse felt a surge of anger.

"Saria, you're not made of iron! It was one thing to stay up all night investigating clues, but now you're injured and still acting recklessly!"

Finally, at the insistence of a certain Water Spirit, Saria re-bandaged the wound...

"Alright, now that we've reached a conclusion, let's talk about our guesses. Which organization do you think was behind it?" Muelsyse glanced at Saria, who was no longer acting recklessly, before continuing the previous topic.

"In my speculation, there are two possibilities... The latter seems much more likely and plausible than the former."

"The first possibility is that someone higher up intervened and retrieved the rare [experimental subjects]."

"The second possibility is that a completely new organization has intervened. Although I don't know the name or details of that organization, based on what has happened before, it seems that the organization is also very interested in Ifrit."

When confronted with Muelsyse's question, Saria did not hide anything and revealed both of her guesses.

"What happened before? You mean the time someone injected Ifrit with a pain-suppressing substance? It's been confirmed that it was deliberate?" Muelsyse gently stroked his chin after hearing Saria's guess.

"Yes, if I wasn't sure before, then today's events pretty much confirm that what happened before was deliberate." Upon hearing this, Saria nodded slightly and said.

This is one of the reasons why Saria believes the second guess is more reasonable than the first.

After all, this mysterious organization had a history of coming and going silently at Rhine Lab before this incident even occurred.

Moreover, that organization is indeed more likely to do such a thing than the higher-ups (Ministry of Defense).

However, Saria had no idea what this organization had promised Kristen...

"Hmm... On this matter, I share the same opinion as Saria; I believe the latter more. In that case, let's continue the investigation in that direction."

After listening to Saria's words, Muelsyse thought for a moment and then spoke seriously.

"As for how to investigate... I don't believe anyone can do it completely without leaving a trace or flaw. Since we can't find anything at the scene, let's ask around."

"Saria, you know the Structural Department better than I do, so I'll leave that to you! I'll go have a good talk with Sakura."

"..."

After hearing Muelsyse's "reasonable" allocation, Saria raised an eyebrow slightly, a strange expression appearing on her face.

"Wow! What's with that expression? Isn't my allocation reasonable?! If I let you, as the boss, ask Sakura, what would you get out of her?!" Noticing Saria's expression, Muelsyse lightly slapped the table and said irritably.

P. S.: Give it a push.

Chapter 149 Sakura: The Despicable One Is Me

After confirming the division of labor, Saria and Muelsyse separated and set off.

Saria went to the Structural Department to question the people in the laboratory and search for relevant clues. Meanwhile, Muelsyse contacted Sakura on her phone and arranged to meet her at a certain place.

A coffee shop--

Ah~

"Breakfast has turned into afternoon tea."