It was around 1 in the afternoon and Amelia and I were in front of the 6th unit’s barracks. Even though another explosion happened, I decided to just ignore it as I rang the doorbell.
A knight ushered us inside and led us to the captain’s office. When we entered it, Captain Magus was reading a thick grimoire.
Amelia cleared her throat and when Captain Magus didn’t respond, she threw a coin and hit his forehead. Captain Magus finally looked up from his book and saw us.
“Oh yeah. Vein told me that you have something to tell me”, he said.
“Captain Noel is innocent”, Amelia told him.
“Oh? Are you saying you found something wrong with our analysis?”
“No. Your analysis is correct. I checked it myself and I arrived at the same conclusion as you guys after I took a look at the raw data. The memories aren’t falsified and no one was using transformation magic in those memories.”
“Then how can you say that Noel is innocent? Did we miss something?”
“What if the culprit did this?”
Amelia began to explain the trick used by the criminal. When she was done, Captain Magus laughed loudly.
“That’s genius! Why didn’t I think of that?!” Captain Magus grinned.
“I analysed the wavelengths and they were encrypted. However, I applied several tests and can safely conclude that that kind of magic was used. Also, I managed to figure out who was the one who casted that magic after further analysing the mana wavelengths. Of course, my calculations might not be reliable so I want you to analyse it yourself and see if you can arrive at the same conclusion”, Amelia said as she handed him an envelope.
Captain Magus took out the papers inside the envelope and read them.
“Wait… All of these are handwritten… Did you manually analyse the raw data? Without any machines?” he looked at Amelia.
“I’m confident in my skills since I was trained by a legendary detective. But if you feel uncomfortable, you can go ahead and rely on your machines. I’m pretty sure the 1st unit will only take analyses from high-end machines operated by the 6th unit”, she said.
“From a quick glance, I don’t spot any obvious errors in your calculations. But I’ll still analyse it on my own to see if it’s correct. Like you said, the 1st unit is very picky with their sources.”
“Thank you, Captain Magus.”
“This is actually very interesting. If you are correct and this trick is actually possible, it would change how memories should be analysed and bring lots of possibilities for criminals.”
“But this is the only method that can frame Captain Noel. I’m sure of it.”
“Alright. I’ll analyse this myself. It shouldn’t take long.”
After that, we returned to Amelia’s office. We opened the door and saw Shellin sitting on the sofa.
“Did you gather all the information you can get?” Amelia asked.
“Yes. And I’m confident that he’s part of them”, Shellin answered as he gave her an envelope.
“I knew it… This is concerning. They really have eyes and ears everywhere.”
“And if they’re taking out a captain, then they are becoming bolder.”
“That just shows how desperate they are to get Mikage.”
“I’ll return to my apartment now. I hope you guys will catch the criminal.”
“Thanks, Shellin.”
###
It was already evening and Amelia, Temma, and I were standing on an empty lot. We were waiting for Captain Vein and another person.
“Yo. We’re here”, Captain Vein arrived along with another man.
That man was wearing the uniform of a regular knight and had brown hair. Despite his unimpressive appearance, he was a knight captain.
“Captain Vein said that someone wanted to meet me no matter what. How can I help you?” he asked.
“Welcome, Captain Reagan. I’m the one who wants to meet you”, Amelia said.
“Oh. Amelia Watson. It’s been some time since we last saw each other. It was unfortunate that Spade Echo escaped you. What do you need me for?”
“Oh. It’s not that much of a big deal. I’m just here to prove Captain Noel’s innocence.”
“I see… I’ve heard about Captain Noel’s situation. How can I help in proving her innocence?”
“It’s actually very simple… I just need you to admit that you are the mastermind!” she pointed at him.
Captain Reagan wasn’t fazed by what she said.
“Me? The mastermind? How can I do such a thing? I understand that you might suspect me because of my expertise in Mind Magic but I believe the 6th unit said that the memories weren’t falsified. Are you saying that I developed magic that can make false memories look like natural ones? If that’s the case, how did you know that they were false in the first place?” he asked.
“That’s right. The memories weren’t false. The person did experience those events and met Captain Noel who gave him instructions.”
“Then are you saying someone impersonated Captain Noel? The 6th unit said that transformation magic wasn’t detected in the memories. Unless someone managed to disguise as Captain Noel without any magic but if that’s the case, why would you suspect me?”
“There was one odd thing that’s present in all of the memories that involved the person meeting Captain Noel. Mikage, can you give me a quick rundown on the events that happened in those memories?”
“In all of those memories, the man would wake up from his sleep and fix his bed. After that, he would go out and meet Captain Noel. When he received instructions, he would go back to his home and sleep”, I said.
“That’s correct. Don’t you think it’s odd, Captain Reagan?”
“What do you mean by that?” Captain Reagan asked.
“A person woke up from his sleep and immediately went to meet Captain Noel. After receiving instructions, he would go back to sleep. This person must really love sleeping… or it’s required for the trick.”
“Trick? Are you saying that I managed to trick the 6th unit? What method could I use to make a false memory look like a natural one?”
“Dreams.”
Captain Reagan’s face turned serious when he heard her say that word.
“The person did experience those events. That’s why the wavelengths of his memories were natural. However, the events themselves were falsified. The person only dreamed of those events. The reason why the person would wake up and go to sleep is to make sure that the transition between dreams and reality would be smooth.”
“If that’s the case, then the person’s memories should show him going to bed and he must have memories about me”, Captain Reagan argued.
“That’s why the person took the pill. Captain Magus said that the pill would deteriorate the mind. If he just turned himself in and the 6th unit analyzed his memories, the gaps in his memories would be suspicious. That’s why you erased all of the memories involving you and made sure to protect the memories about Captain Noel so you can successfully frame her. Because the pill would deteriorate the mind, the 6th unit would just ignore the missing pieces of the man’s memories.”
“Good deduction. But you forgot one part: the pill would kill the user. If I wanted to frame Captain Noel, I would use a less riskier method. That trick would be useless if the person died since probing the memories of a dead person is impossible.”
“Not unless you give him a weakened version of the pill. You’re involved with the creator of those pills. It would be easy for you to just tell them to make a weak version of the pill to make sure that the user won’t die but instead, enter a vegetative state.”
Captain Reagan was being unnaturally silent.
“Give up. I told Captain Magus about my deduction and he said it’s possible. He’s analysing the memories right now and I’m sure he can decrypt the wavelengths and arrive at the conclusion that everything was a dream. And once he is sure of that, he can further analyze the wavelengths and see that your mana wavelength is present in the memories. That is enough to prove Captain Noel’s innocence and pass the suspicion to you”, Amelia said.
“... The motive. Why would I want to frame someone as amazing as Captain Noel? I don’t have any grudge against her and I won’t gain anything from making her a criminal”, Captain Reagan said.
“That’s true. You don’t have a grudge against her. But the organization you belong to does. Captain Noel killed someone important in your organization and you will not let her get away with it. And she helped in foiling your plans to capture the Primordial Dark’s vessel.”
That’s right…
Captain Reagan Liam was a member of the Unkindness.
###
A/N: The truth is revealed! Did you like how it was resolved or was it too much of an asspull? Now let’s head to the climax of this arc!
