"Where was the temple you encountered?"
Megan asked at that moment, and the tearful Kruger answered:
"After I took the gem, I fled from the temple. When I got home, I felt as though I'd had a dream, but the gem was lying right there in my pocket. Later, I went looking for that temple again, but I could never find it."
He named a small area in the city's northwest, near where he went ice fishing in winter. But both Shade and Megan believed that even if they went looking again, they would probably have a hard time finding that so-called "temple."
This sounded unlike anything that had happened on the island in the past. As for why he had come here to live alone after his family had all suffered misfortune, it was because he feared that if he grew close to anyone, they too would become the price of his good luck. He still did not understand why the price he had to pay today had been so great.
Megan then put the weeping young man into a deep sleep.
"What do we do next?"
"Take him away. In a moment, please contact Vanessa and have Siris come over. I want to take a look at his memories of that so-called temple and Mr. Snake. I still suspect that Demon is running some kind of scam. At this point, I equally suspect that every unknown matter on this island is connected to the Demon."
"But isn't it the Demon of Weapons? Does it also have the power to manipulate Destiny?"
"Perhaps it's some kind of relic. Without evidence, I can't say for certain."
This probably counted as "kidnapping," but Shade planned to give Mr. Kruger some crown afterward as payment for buying information from him. Shade even