"This is what you call a 'secluded spot'? This area is too remote, just empty buildings. No one comes here. Come to think of it, I used to be in the Occult Club and explored these empty places. It was quite interesting."
Akane Nanao brushed the hair by her ear. The nearby buildings brought back some memories. Although she later joined the Swim Club and became the captain, she initially joined the Occult Club. The so-called 'ghost hunting' activities back then were quite fun.
In contrast, Alistair, who was using [PURSUE] to search for 'traces,' had a peculiar expression upon hearing Akane Nanao's recollections.
"It's truly lucky that you guys didn't encounter anything."
Alistair looked at Akane Nanao with surprise. In this world, ghosts and urban legends genuinely exist, yet they encountered nothing. He had to admit they were incredibly lucky.
"It was just an exploration game. Why would anything happen? We didn't go to any dangerous places, just walked around the empty areas of the school. The atmosphere was exciting."
Akane Nanao was confused by Alistair's attitude. She didn't know why Alistair thought they were in danger. She guessed Alistair thought they went to abandoned, unfinished buildings, but they never went to those places, so she explained.
"You just explored? You didn't do any of those weird rituals?"
Alistair heard her and could roughly guess why they had remained safe. Their Occult Club probably just ran around some relatively remote areas, meaning places that weren't frequently visited, not entirely deserted ones. Also, they were just running around, not foolishly performing rituals, so no strange things came knocking.
"No. We just wanted to experience the atmosphere. Even if we wanted to do a ritual, the preparations are too troublesome, and hardly anyone was brave enough to prepare them, so we just ran around."
Akane Nanao blushed a little, feeling embarrassed because this exposed their true nature as a group who were both scared of and loved ghost stories.
"It's fine. Many people are like that. Don't be embarrassed."
Alistair said casually.
Alistair had already found the 'trace.' There was a 'Casting' type of 'trace.' As long as there was a 'trace,' everything was manageable. With this 'trace,' he could roughly track the location.
However, the opponent was clearly skilled. Alistair followed the 'traces' and found another 'Casting' 'trace' not far away, and then nothing. It was obvious, even without thinking too hard, that this bastard could teleport.
"Koyasu-kun? What are you looking at? Didn't you say you were here to ask your subordinates for an update?"
Akane Nanao watched Alistair look around, then walk aimlessly as if following something for a short distance. It made her feel inexplicably confused. Everything here looked the same, and she didn't see anything; she did see a few bugs, but Alistair's behavior was perplexing.
"Oh, nothing. Just casually looking around. Wait a moment; I'll make the call now."
Alistair brushed her off casually, took out his phone, and prepared to call Hisae. Most of the day had passed. According to Alistair's instructions, their investigation was continuous. After all this time, they should have some findings.
Doot—doot—
"Young Master Koyasu, the documentation for raising a cat that you requested yesterday is ready. Should I deliver it to you now?"
Before Alistair could speak, Hisae's voice came through the phone.
"Cat? What cat? I don't own a cat."
Alistair was puzzled. He didn't own a cat, so why would Hisae get him documentation for one, especially one he had requested? He blurted it out subconsciously.
"It's the adoption certificate for a black cat that you requested yesterday. You also sent me information later about another white cat's documentation, but because you didn't send a picture of the white cat, I haven't completed it yet."
Hisae was also confused, but since the person on the phone was her boss, she suppressed her questions.
"You adopted cats? Two of them?"
Because the call was on speakerphone, Akane Nanao clearly heard their conversation. She loved cats and was very interested in the topic.
"Perhaps, but I have no recollection of it. At least I definitely don't have pets at home right now."
Alistair was also perplexed. Hisae wouldn't act without his orders, and he was sure whether he had pets at home or not. If Hisae had done it on her own, she would be too foolish. She was in her thirties and couldn't possibly be that dense. So, this must have been his instruction, but he had no memory of it at all.
Wait, Hisae said 'yesterday'?
"Hisae, did I ask you to do this yesterday?"
Alistair wanted to confirm again. A significant part of his memory from yesterday was erased, but he had no way of knowing exactly what was erased. If he had called Hisae and told her something, the information he got from her might help him deduce some of the truth.
"Yes, around six o'clock yesterday evening, I believe."
Hisae didn't know what her young master meant. He seemed strange, forgetting his own instructions. But that wasn't her concern. She only needed to follow orders. The debt on her family was largely dependent on her salary from this job. If she lost it, her husband alone would struggle to pay it all back.
Yesterday evening? A large part of my lost memory is from after yesterday afternoon. It seems my memory started to cut out after school, and the evening's memory is a complete blank. Perhaps that memory contained their identity and abilities.
"Send me the black cat documentation later. For now, do you have any new information about the matter I asked you to investigate previously?"
Alistair thought for a moment. He couldn't get the documents now, so he might as well ask Hisae about the investigation into Katsuse Shōno's situation.
"Yes. After a day of investigation, we found that this Katsuse Shōno seems to be taking some kind of medication to dramatically improve his physical fitness. However, this improvement appears to be temporary. Our observer saw his normally strong body rapidly become emaciated."
Hisae pulled open a drawer in front of her, took out a file, and reported to Alistair.
"Temporarily strengthened by drugs? That's not unexpected. Continue."
Alistair nodded. This was not surprising. After all, Alistair himself relied on his cheats to quickly become powerful. How could an ordinary person become so strong?
Moreover, even physical enhancement type superpowers require systematic training to be effective; otherwise, they are at most comparable to systemically trained athletes. They would be strong enough to perform the level of basketball he played before, but did he undergo 'systematic training'? Obviously not. Furthermore, there wasn't even the slightest fluctuation of supernatural energy, which ruled out the possibility of a superpower.
"The second piece of information about Katsuse Shōno is that he appears to be gay."
To be honest, although she had seen a lot of information about this online, seeing it truly happen in reality was a first for Hisae in her thirties. Her tone couldn't help but sound a little strange.
"Gay? A nan-tong (man-bro)?"
Alistair asked subconsciously. Putting everything else aside, this news was genuinely shocking, especially to Akane Nanao standing beside Alistair, who looked completely stunned.
"Yes. After repeated observation, Katsuse Shōno is cohabiting with that muscular man, and last night, including him, there were five men at his house."
A group of gay men having an orgy. Several of them were notorious players with chaotic private lives who used to cheat on women but were now having a gay party. This truly broadened Hisae's horizons. It was the first time she had witnessed such a thing in her life. Could a bisexual person be that extreme?
"?" (Alistair)
"?" (Akane Nanao)
When I type a question mark, it's not because I'm the one with the problem; it's because you are.
Even Akane Nanao, who was about to protest, was thoroughly shocked by Hisae's news.