He remembered the sight of Scarlett entering a seedy building and the man with his head shaved.
He also remembered the faint, lewd sounds coming from the other rooms in that building.
Although he hadn't seen what the two of them did inside, he was old enough to know.
However, even if she had done such things, Scarlett was still a shining person.
Given her difficult circumstances, the fact that she had to do such things didn't make her feel flawed; she was a girl who aspired to be a hero more than anyone else.
But the story he heard from her yesterday was far more shocking than that.
He didn't know all the details, but having received sex education, he knew what it meant when a woman didn't have a so-called "visit from the spirit."
The birth of a new life.
It should be a blessing in a normal married couple, but when it happens to someone who hasn't reached adulthood, it's usually called an "accident."
Especially if it happened because of something she couldn't openly admit to others.
It must have been an accident, not something she intended.
Yun Siwoo recalled the conversation they had in the hospital room.
She had said she would continue attending the academy even after losing her arm, driven by her desire to save people and her aspiration to become a hero more than anyone else.
But no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't continue attending the academy in her current state.
The academy's training was tough even for the most talented, and there was no way she could endure it with her condition.
She valued life so much that she had sacrificed her arm to protect others.
There was no other choice but for her to leave the academy.
He thought fate was truly cruel.
First, it took her arm from someone who had grown up without parents, and now it was trying to take away her dream of becoming a hero.
She, who had grown up as an orphan, knew the pain of growing up without parents better than anyone.
So she wouldn't even consider putting the child in an orphanage.
Since yesterday, the image of her struggling to work alone to raise a child in difficult circumstances had been haunting his mind.
While doing paperwork and patrolling, he was lost in thought, wondering how he could help her.
Maybe she doesn't need a dad.
Following the flow of his thoughts, Lucy said in a disappointed voice.
[Siwoo, you weren't focused during yesterday's sparring, and now your thoughts are really a mess.]
Her next words were quite harsh.
[You said you wanted to become strong enough to protect everyone and be a reliable man. It's only been a short time, but you're really disappointing. You can't even show a cool side, and you're thinking about such things. If I were that girl, I'd lose all respect for you.]
Lucy rarely said such things, so Yun Siwoo felt a bit of self-loathing.
He knew he wasn't thinking rationally.
But how many people could remain calm in such a situation, especially for someone he liked?
[Maybe it's not like that.]
But the circumstances suggest otherwise...
Seeing Yun Siwoo lost in thought, Lucy sighed and said,
[There is a way to roughly confirm if it's really like that.]
*
Rushing to the scene of the crime after receiving a call during a field exercise.
The citizens were gathered at a distance, murmuring as they looked at the shop with shattered windows.
"There doesn't seem to be anyone who has tampered with the scene. That's fortunate!"
Leah muttered with a smile, then shouted loudly to the citizens.
"We're from the Public Security Bureau! We'll catch the culprit soon, so everyone can go back to what they were doing and relax!"
The citizens seemed to relax and quickly dispersed at her confident declaration.
In a way, that could be considered a talent.
After the citizens dispersed, Leah looked at us and smiled slightly.
"I don't know how many of you will end up working in our field, but if you observe the scene carefully, you can gather all sorts of information. You piece together these clues to make deductions."
The children were amazed by her deduction.
Leah shrugged as if it was nothing and continued.
"And if you look this way, you can see small, broken pieces of glass. These are the traces left by the culprit as he fled. He ran in this direction, and the culprit is a man with brown hair and a black shirt. So we should look for someone like that as we head this way."
How did you know that? Are you Sherlock Holmes?
The children were curious about how she knew the culprit's appearance.
Leah smiled playfully and said,
"You don't need to be so curious. The latter part wasn't deduction; I used my ability to read the memories of objects and places. It's called psychometry, an application of telepathy."
"Then it's not deduction at all!"
"I did use deduction for the front part, so don't worry. It's just a form of cross-verification! I wanted to show you that even without abilities like mine, you can gather information at the scene."
Disappointed, the children listened as Leah, focusing more, examined the scene again.
"Anyway, we came here not only to gather information but also to find evidence. Even if you know the culprit's appearance through your ability, if you don't have evidence that they committed the crime, it can cause problems later. Since the glass shattered, there should be blood on some of the pieces around here."
"Can we help?"
"Sure, we need to find it quickly and then go catch the culprit."
At Leah's request, everyone's eyes lit up.
I also bent down to search the floor.
But instead of the ground, I saw a glowing magic circle.
Confused, I watched as a few pieces of glass on the ground glowed and floated into the air.
"It's a magic to find blood. We found it, so let's catch the culprit and get some rest..."
Dwai muttered in a tired voice.
Dwai, the descendant of a great mage and a severe magic otaku, could use all sorts of magic, but it seemed he hadn't slept well last night, practicing magic.
Leah, impressed, asked if it was possible to track the culprit using magic, but Dwai said it was too much to ask.
"Then we'll have to search on foot. Since there are many people today, we should find him quickly."
Leah's words made me glance at Yun Siwoo.
There was someone here who was particularly good at finding people.
Although he still didn't look well, Yun Siwoo seemed to realize it was his turn to step up.
"......If it's tracking, I can do it. Can you give me a piece of glass with blood on it?"
Leah took a small piece from the envelope and handed it to Yun Siwoo, who took it and then pulled out a dagger from the air.
The Sword of Truth.
Primarily, it was a somewhat subtle lie detector.
But the sword's true ability was in tracking.
With just a drop of someone's blood or a strand of hair, it could tell where they were and even what they were doing, making it a very useful weapon.
In the original story, it was mostly used to find heroines who had fallen during battles with monsters.
Incidentally, everyone learned that whenever Yun Siwoo used this ability, the heroines would die, and they all cried out that they didn't want to know such truths.
Yun Siwoo, holding a piece of glass in one hand and the Sword of Truth in the other, closed his eyes for a moment.
Then he opened his eyes wide.
"I found him. He's crouched in an alley not far from here, trembling. Do you have a map? I'll tell you the location."
Impressed, Leah took out her phone.
This is why having good gear is important.
With just such a tool, you could receive special treatment from the Public Security Bureau.
I thought it would be nice to have such a weapon.
Yun Siwoo suddenly came over and handed me the Sword of Truth.
What, can he read minds?
Confused, I listened as Yun Siwoo hesitated and said,
"......Can you hold this for a moment?"
"......Sure."
I was a bit disappointed, knowing he didn't intend to give it to me.
But why did he make me hold it when he could store it freely?
Deciding not to say anything because he seemed to be in a bad state since yesterday, I took the sword.
As I held the Sword of Truth, it glowed slightly.
Yun Siwoo stood still for a moment, then his face turned bright red, and he bowed his head deeply.
Looks like he's really not feeling well today.
"......Are you okay? Is something wrong?"
"No! Nothing's wrong! Just give it back, no, you don't need to give it back! I'll get rid of it!"
Yun Siwoo, startled by my question, shook his head and shouted.
The Sword of Truth, which he had been holding, had disappeared, presumably put away by him.
But just before it disappeared, a voice echoed in my head: [It's a lie.]
It seems the sword reveals the truth just by holding it.
Interesting, this is what it feels like.
But if it's a lie, it seems Yun Siwoo isn't doing well today.
*
Following Lucy's suggestion, Yun Siwoo handed the Sword of Truth to Scarlett.
As soon as the sword glowed slightly in her hand, Lucy said,
[Hmm? Siwoo, it seems you don't need to worry. That girl is much more wholesome than you think.]
......What does that mean?
[You have a special ability that allows you to use holy swords without restrictions, but the Sword of Truth is a weapon that can't even be held unless certain conditions are met.]
Lucy continued,
[The Sword of Truth is made from the horn of a unicorn.]
A unicorn?
[Don't you know? It's a creature also called a unicorn. You must have heard of it. It's a peculiar creature that only likes pure maidens.]
A hypothesis flashed through my mind.
Wait, but......
Seeing Yun Siwoo standing there dumbfounded, Lucy chuckled and said,
[Siwoo, congratulations. It seems the girl you like is a pure maiden.]
Yun Siwoo asked in response,
But if that's the case, what about everything I've seen and heard so far?
[I'm not sure, but the Sword of Truth can't fail to distinguish a maiden. It seems she really likes you. She's a clean girl who has no interest in men at all. It's the opposite of what you thought.]
So everything was just my imagination?
While his face was turning red, Scarlett spoke to him.
"......Are you okay? Is something wrong?"
Yun Siwoo, holding the Sword of Truth, looked at the worried girl.
So all this time...... I've been thinking about her like that?
"No! Nothing's wrong! Just give it back, no, you don't need to give it back! I'll get rid of it!"
He answered in a flustered manner, not even sure what he was saying.
After recovering the Sword of Truth from Scarlett, Yun Siwoo thought,
'......Should I kill myself?'
*
After giving the location, Yun Siwoo seemed to have broken down, but the group eventually arrived at the place he had indicated.
"No, that wasn't my intention. Ugh......"
In a narrow alley, a man was crouched, trembling and muttering to himself.
He was scratching his neck so hard that it was bleeding, and he was groaning, clearly in a state of mental instability.
Leah muttered with a serious expression as she looked at the man.
"......Recently, when we try to arrest people, they often show extreme signs of instability like this man. Most of them try to cause trouble when we approach. I won't get hurt, but it's worrying when they go berserk and hurt themselves."
"Then we just need to prevent him from going berserk."
As she spoke, a magic circle appeared in the alley, and the muttering man suddenly fell to the side.
Leah looked at Dwai with a surprised expression.
But Dwai said calmly, as if it was no big deal,
"I just put him to sleep. It's annoying when it takes time. Let's catch him quickly and get some rest......"
"......Thanks, it was easy to subdue him. Shall we take him back?"
Leah laughed in relief and carried the man over her shoulder.
"By the way, why is my neck so itchy? Did a bug bite me?"
She scratched her neck, muttering to herself.
No one heard her muttering.
Author's Note
Scarlett, a girl who is more pure than anyone and has no interest in men.