The next morning--

    We woke up to the sound of the innkeeper rushing up the stairs in a panic.

    Looking outside, the sun had long climbed up to the sky. Usually, I wake up when it''s still dark, but I must have been more tired than I realized after the long-distance ride.

    The innkeeper shouted in front of the door.

    “We''ve a problem! Your magic vehicles are—”

    Innkeeper had just brought the “mana vehicles—” word, and Dui had already pushed past the innkeeper and leaped outside.

    We quickly followed Dui, heading out through the back door of the inn’s dining room, and what we saw made us doubt our eyes.

    The place where our bikes had been parked last night was now completely empty, as if they had vanished into smoke.

    ◆◆◆

    "T-There''s no way. Asim-san had said you would need a measure as heavy handed as an industrial grade mana-powered cutter to cut the chains, so how could something happen here? And besides, it''s impossible no one would have noticed the unusual happening if they''d used so..."

    Viz buried his face in his hands, utterly puzzled.

    Allen carefully examined the pillar where the bikes had been chained, and clicked his tongue.

    "...Tch, no wonder no one noticed anything... The pillar here doesn’t have its foundation stone buried. It wouldn’t be impossible for apt users of Body Strengthening magic users to forcibly lift it along with the stone. This trace of friction is the dead giveaway the pillar has been shifted."

    "Ah, I see. If they lifted the pillar along with the stone, pushing the roof up, and then slipped underneath, they wouldn''t need to cut the chain to steal the vehicles. That’s a blind spot. The magic two-wheelers are not that heavy, so with enough strength, they could have carried them off still chained."

    Just then, the middle-aged farmer from the town gate, whom Allen''s group had seen guarding the entrance with a pitchfork, came pulling a handcart.

    "Hey! These are yours, right? We found them dumped in a field to the east of the town!"

    Everyone hurried over, and sure enough, the cart held the 1st and 2nd bike, still chained with anti-theft chains.

    However, both vehicles had marks that looked like they’d been struck with an axe or something, and they were both destroyed.

    "Why would they do something so awful... And there should have been three more, chained with a different chain...?"

    Senior March inquired for the sighting of the rest of the bikes, however received a shake of denial from the uncle.

    "No... these are the only ones I saw lying out in the open."

    "...The wagon shouldn''t be big enough, so they gave up on loading these two and smashed them to prevent any tracking... I guess?""

    Ban gritted his teeth, suppressing his frustration.@@@@

    Duid stood motionlessly on the spot, staring sadly at the destroyed bikes. After wiping his eyes with his sleeve, he gently lowered the two-wheelers from the cart and began inspecting the damaged parts.

    Allen captured that back in silence, turned on his heel and headed for the inn.

    "...Where are you going, Allen? Hey, Allen—"

    Viz tried to call out  Allen, but lost his words midway when he saw the striking white complexion, something he had never seen, on Allen''s face.

    After a while, Allen emerged from the inn, carrying his belongings and with a face that revealed no emotion. He walked over to Duid and quietly set down a toolbox beside him.

    Shit. Shit. Shit.

    With a visible display of anxiety on the expression of Zair, he barged into the village chief''s house—the only possible place for him to dispatch a magic card in this countryside town.

    "Prepare the magic bird immediately! I have urgent news for Eclair City!"

    In lieu of any stampede or similar emergency, the service of magic bird communication had been made necessary so that they could promptly inform their neighbouring city.

    The information relay by magic bird referred to training them to fly towards a specific target. This training was extremely expensive, and they couldn''t be dispatched to any location willy-nilly. They''d set a transfer point.

    But in Zair''s mind, everything was painted by the present situation. *Why of all places, Allen Rovenne was here?* From what he had heard, he was the walking mass of unprecedented, and belonging to that Royal Capital, a nest of behemoths.

    Lately, the rumours about him had been so exaggerated and ambiguous—like how he saved the kingdom with his power to roll up the girl''s skirt, had requested for a mere raise in hourly wage when His Majesty personally allowed him for any kind of reward, and so on—that he had no idea what to believe.

    The last time he had seen them, he wasn''t among the members heading to Viscount Moonlit territory. Perhaps, the thieves could’ve called off their plan had it been hinted Allen Rovenne would be joining in the return ride.

    However the dies had been cast. Allen Rovenne had sought for support directly, and the request had been made courteously while wearing the knight order''s mantle, and the witnesses were several people, including himself and Royal Academy''s student. He couldn''t quash this situation by himself anymore.

    If this news spread out, he wouldn''t be able to explain himself, and he would be risking exposing all his present and past connections!

    He himself was a mere pawn, so he wouldn''t know how far the connection of his superior led to, plus they must be dealing with a heavyweight group if they''d knowingly made a move on a student of Royal Academy.

    The earlier appearance of Allen Rovenne flashbacks in Zair''s mind. In contrast to the grand status he had as the student of one and only Royal Academy, and also being a rising supernova who made his way into knight order, he had exuded a rather harmonious vibe.

    And yet, that mask... it was something unsettling, like a strange and ominous presence.

    But beyond that, it was his drive to capture the culprit, there was a kind of conviction in his tone that he would absolutely chase down the culprit.

    It''s alright, I am safe. Zair seemed to be cheering himself.

    They could throw all the police officers from around the city on this case, but it would be a futile endeavour without spinning the investigation in a peculiar way. And even if preparators were caught, he shouldn''t be linked anyhow.

    In fact, that could be his chance too. The mana vehicles must have to have an incredible value, and a deep secret, if Allen Rovenne was serious to that extent.

    If he showed himself to be the major contributor......

    ''No, I need to calm down,'' just as his thoughts had flown in flight of fantasy, Zair reminded himself to take it slow.

    His present task was to report the situation to his superior as it was. Everything afterward would be according to how the situation played out.

    The Viscount Capione should be in Eclair today.

    If that''s the case, the message would definitely reach him, and with him around, the situation shouldn''t spiral out of control unnecessarily.

    Zair began writing down the facts on the letter for the magical bird, keeping it calm and concise.

    - A theft of mana vehicles belonging to the Royal Academy’s Magic Car Club has occurred in the  town Ado.

    - Following the incident, Allen Roven of the Kingdom''s Knight Order, who was present at the scene, has requested assistance from the neighboring areas.

    - Allen Rovenne had dubbed the stolen objects as...

    —"Yuglia''s future."

    .........Great, there was no error in his plan. Zair mustered such thoughts, and yet, he couldn''t help as his hand trembled slightly when the image of the boy with the eerie mask flashed in his mind.