Ptolemy

(Miluno)

The energy flow can transform into the appearance of the hair's owner (head only), which is his basic function as Infiltration Weapon.

However, he can only transform into the original form of a magical girl, just like when he absorbed my hair on Nabu Island, he turned into "Bai Ziye".

Twenty-three strands of hair, or some other kind of hair, were found in the garbage bag.

After removing the faces of Xiao Yi, myself, Ceruno, SpiCa, Sirius, and Metal, there are five faces left that are suspected.

They were all women.

At least they all look like...

That makes sense. Ceruno and I are in the minority. If there were many male magical girls, the magical girl profession would lack a certain dream... To be honest, I can no longer feel any dream anymore.

"The mole may not be among these people; after all, not every magical girl goes bald, but we can't give up on any leads."

After organizing the photos, Sirius said:

"Alright, it's been sent to the Intelligence Division for investigation. We'll have the results soon."

I would like to remind you of this:

"The Intelligence Division and the Association also have spies left behind by Old Man Ceruno."

"Don't worry, since I'm the one handling this, I've naturally found someone trustworthy."

Sirius put away his phone and leaned closer to me.

"More important than this, Miluno- chan~ even for my sake, you absolutely have to save SpiCa, okay? The legendary magical girl is now just me and her; I don't want to lose her no matter what..."

She clung to me with Ceruno's body, pleading in her voice. In response, I raised my hand and tapped her forehead with a chop.

"What are you saying? Xiao Yi is still alive, isn't she? Besides, I would have gone to save her even if you hadn't said anything."

Pulling my arm out of her soft embrace, I then asked:

"Aren't you going to get out of this idiot's body?"

Golden Ceruno is very cute, and Sirius is also refreshing. Although they both feel equally soft, they are a bit taller. I still prefer the small pink version, which was just the right size to hold in my arms.

No, thank you.

Sirius, however, waved his hand in rejection.

"Combining together is quite exhausting. If you want to see Ceruno- chan, I can switch her out anytime, but let's maintain this state until things are over."

The fusion of Sirius and Ceruno is indeed a reliable fighting force.

Possessing magical reserves comparable to a witch, the power of her magic has increased significantly. Even the signature ultimate move that the Fomalhaut is so proud of—the "Forty-Meter Sky-Piercing Sword Aura"—could not break through her solidified defensive bubble. If this protective shield had been applied to me this time, I might have been able to save SpiCa without even needing to become invisible, even under the enemy's firepower.

Of course, that's a joke.

"Little Yezi, what are you talking about?"

Mom hugged Xiao Yi from behind.

The spell had been broken; the frightening red light in her eyes was gone.

"I watched all the videos of longing that I watched after noon, but something's a little strange."

I asked, "What did you see?"

She shook her head, but instead of explaining, she asked a question that seemed completely unrelated.

Is this monitoring system also connected to the internet?

Xiao Yi replied, "Of course, but it's connected to the City School's intranet, which is basically a network used for surveillance."

"Is it possible to hack into the entire surveillance system through a single camera on a network?"

"It is possible."

Sirius frowned at his own answer.

"So, you didn't see anyone come in?"

"Yes, at least after the Sky Branch was hacked, apart from Ceruno this afternoon, no one else has come here... My magic isn't a recording device, so it's impossible for it to be tampered with."

Xiao Yi looked puzzled.

"No one has been here? That shouldn't be the case. Who tampered with the security camera footage in the lobby? Whose hair did we find?"

The branch's Wormhole Device indicates that Betelgeuse and her group came from the City School.

But all the records here were completely deleted, the video recordings were all normal, and there was no trace left in the control room for review. Everything was done flawlessly, and we couldn't find a single clue.

"That's why I asked if it's possible to remotely control the monitoring system via the local network."

Mom hugged Xiao Yi and rubbed her head, then said, "As for the hair, other magical girls may have visited here before, or one of you might have brought it in. It's not very conclusive evidence, but we can't rule out these people as suspects. It's better to find out their identities first, and then question them one by one."

In other words, the lockdown of the City School will continue.

Fortunately, the magical girls were quite cooperative, and there were no complaints.

Xiao Yi shook her head in her mother's arms and asked:

"Why don't you go over to the main hall and try using magic again?"

Before Mom could answer, she was interrupted by a deep baritone voice.

No, there's no need for that.

Dad and Antarctic Star had returned to the Control Tower at some point. Dad pushed up his glasses, and a sharp look flashed behind the lenses.

"I already know who the mole is!"

Dad didn't notice.

The Antarctic Star behind him also wanted to say that line.

Who is it?

When Xiao Yi asked this question, Antarctic Star seized the opportunity to chime in.

Do you know Ptolemy?

I replied, "Of course, she is, after all, a magical girl who wields the power of stars. He was a famous mathematician, astronomer, and astrologer from ancient Greece... but his adherence to the geocentric model is undoubtedly wrong."

"No, I'm not talking about this person."

Antarctic Star shook his head, but didn't keep him in suspense.

"Ptolemy is a hacker's code name, but whether it belongs to an organization or an individual is currently unknown."

Was this series of events really orchestrated by hackers?

Xiao Yi also asked, "Is this hacker currently lurking in the City School? How do you know the other party is Ptolemy?"

Dad pushed up his glasses again before answering:

"Since it was a local network that was hacked, the suspect must be somewhere on City School. As for how I know that... do you know how those famous hackers made their names?"

"Ha?"

Have no idea.

Dad offered an explanation:

"This is a bad habit of some hackers. They leave special signatures in the backend of the websites they have hacked, deliberately making them public in order to leave their mark. Although it is naive, it is very effective in publicity."

"Did that mole do the same thing?"

Are they deliberately leaving clues so we can catch them?

Dad nodded in agreement.

"That's right, although she didn't make it very obvious, I could still tell."

"Do you have a way to find her?" I asked.

"As I said before, don't treat her as a magical girl, but consider her as a hacker."

Dad seems to have some new idea again.

"Ptolemy is not uncommon as a hired hacker, so we can profile him based on clues from his Past activities."

Ultimately, the City School only had a little over four hundred students.

By extracting the characteristics of "Ptolemy" and comparing them with these four hundred-plus magical girls, even if the target cannot be locked, the range can be greatly narrowed down.