"Eh? But didn't Lauvik and the others say earlier... that Aurett's disappearance was due to the Serial Disappearance of Young Girls?"
Paimon tilted her head, asking with a hint of curiosity.
"Paimon, you need to understand one thing first: the Marechaussee Phantom judges cases based on the clues present at the scene."
"Someone who was originally here suddenly vanished into thin air, and the missing person was a young woman. At that time, it could only be linked to the 'Serial Disappearance of Young Girls'."
"But there's another possibility—the 'mysterious person' Weil Mang spoke of was someone with a small bottle of 'primordial sea water'."
"According to Weil Mang's guess, Aurett most likely chose to commit suicide in front of him to avoid humiliation, thereby buying time to protect the theater troupe."
Speaking of this, Yuto's eyes narrowed slightly, and a flash of lightning flickered in his sea-blue eyes, as if... he was angry.
"So... there's another possibility: this fellow who likes to use money to oppress and stops at nothing to achieve his goals is still at large."
"If that's truly the case, I wouldn't mind personally dragging that beast out."
Upon hearing Yuto's explanation, Paimon first nodded blankly, and then...
Then she started scratching her head.
Regardless of whether you understood or not, nodding was the right thing to do. Yuto must have his reasons for doing so; why bother thinking about all those complicated reasons?
Seeing Paimon's actions, which practically screamed "I didn't understand" on her face, Lumine shook her head helplessly and chose to give up.
No choice, who told her own guide was both useless and loved to play?
After waiting for five minutes, Sedene placed a thick stack of interrogation records in front of Yuto, and then placed all the evidence in front of Furina.
"Hmm... because the 'Serial Disappearance of Young Girls' is quite typical and historically significant, Lord Neuvillette has placed all related information in Palais Mermonia."
"If Lord Yuto needs the Judgment records... he might have to wait until Lord Neuvillette starts work tomorrow morning."
Hearing this, Yuto smiled and nodded, saying:
"Alright, thank you, Sedene~"
"It's nothing, I'm glad I could help you~"
Sedene said as she hopped and skipped to sit on a chair in the hall, waiting for Yuto and the others to finish reviewing the documents, as she still had to return them.
...
As time passed by second by second, the last trace of red glow in the sky slowly disappeared into the night, and a new moon rose from the east, as if reflecting a new beginning.
Yuto and the others had also finished checking all the clues related to the "Serial Disappearance of Young Girls" and had gained some insights.
Yuto looked at the record in front of him, which had "Aurett" written in the victim column, and let out a long sigh.
Fortunately, the worst assumption he had made earlier did not come true.
He quickly read through the record, then sighed heavily, his heart feeling complicated for a moment.
"These beasts... truly stop at nothing!"
Yuto's voice was deep, like a volcano about to erupt the next second.
"Eh? Did you find the interrogation record of that guy?"
Paimon said as she floated over to Yuto's location, asking with some curiosity.
Furina and Lumine were also drawn by Paimon's words, temporarily putting down their search work and focusing their gaze on Yuto.
Feeling three gazes with completely different emotions, Yuto sighed faintly, then summarized everything he had just seen.
"The guy who approached Weil Mang was not some script merchant, nor some wealthy magnate, but a hyena in human skin."
"I read this guy's complete interrogation record; his identity is one of Vasher's 'headhunters,' and his targets are mostly kind-hearted young women."
Hearing this, Paimon blinked slightly, asking with some curiosity:
"'Headhunter'? Is that a new term?"
Yuto nodded, then began to explain:
"That beast Vasher used 'unlimited supply of lesse' as a condition to find three guys deeply addicted to 'lesse' to act as his 'headhunters'."
"Their task was to collect suitable test subjects for him according to Vasher's requirements, and the hyena who attacked Aurett was responsible for finding 'kind-hearted' young women."
"Aurett's previous actions of adopting orphans and performing for free were deemed by this beast as characteristics of 'kind-heartedness,' so... he began to target Aurett."
"As for slavery... that was just an excuse to hide his identity."
"Because the minds of people like them are already abnormal; they only know two things: drinking lesse and finding ways to get lesse, they won't have any other desires at all."
Yuto shook his head as he spoke, then continued:
"According to the record, Aurett was knocked unconscious with a blunt object after meeting this hyena, and then taken to a laboratory."
"Of course, to ensure the accuracy of the experimental results, they did not harm Aurett, but merely locked her up, like a little white mouse in a cage waiting to be placed on the operating table."
"During her confinement... that hyena noticed Aurett seemed to carry a notebook with her, but didn't pay much attention to it."
"After all, at that time, he still thought he wouldn't be caught, so he didn't bother much and let Aurett use that notebook to record what happened."
Hearing this, Furina and Lumine began to search for the "notebook" that Yuto had just mentioned.
After some comparison and confirmation... among the more than thirty pieces of evidence, only a single, somewhat tattered brown notebook remained.
Furina gently turned to a page, her eyes slightly narrowed as she looked at the familiar, delicate handwriting on it, then she said:
"This is Aurett's notebook; when we were settling them in at the small theater... I saw her manuscript from Claude."
Paimon, who had been examining the notebook, nodded in agreement at this moment.
"Hmm! I think so too, after all, there are some lines on it that can only be seen in plays, and some... simple sketches used to describe the placement of stage props?"
"Let me see if there are any clues about her after she was taken away..."
Furina said as she flipped through the notebook, and when she reached roughly the middle, she fell into a long silence.
"Furina...?"
Paimon looked at the serious-faced Furina, asking with some concern.
Furina didn't speak, but silently handed the notebook to Lumine, softly murmuring:
"She was still diligently recording Vasher's crimes in her final moments, and even... the truth about the girls' dissolution."
"As for the rest of the content... you can read it yourselves..."
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