"Hah, haha. Well, I’m not really sure."
"Oh?"
"Yes. I’ve never actually been inside there."
I gave the protagonist a vague excuse on the spot.
His eyes were full of suspicion.
Was he doubting me? Well, he had every reason to.
I’d suddenly disappeared, and in my place was a spider drawn in blood at the scene of a massacre.
Since my ability was Thread Extraction, it’d be weirder if he *didn’t* suspect me.
Then I remembered—
When I left that hideout, the Author had been acting strangely.
I’d brushed it off quickly, worried that if the protagonist’s exploits started midway, they might cry again.
…But who could’ve guessed they’d pull something like *this* in the meantime?
What? An arakne came and went? How the hell was I supposed to clean this up…?
I racked my brain, but then the protagonist spoke up.
"Oh well. Guess there’s nothing to be done. You like cake?"
"Huh? …Y-Yes, I do, I suppose."
"Then let’s have some cake. It’s a bit cheap for a life, but hey, I’m still a student. Consider this my way of letting it slide."
"Y-Yes…?"
Wait…
…Why wasn’t he pressing me further? That was odd.
Even if he didn’t think I was the culprit, shouldn’t he at least ask more questions if there was a connection?
Before I could process my confusion, the cake he’d ordered arrived.
A lavish slice topped with thick white cream and chocolate.
Ugh, it *did* look delicious. Should I eat it?
"Come on, dig in. You said you like it, right?"
"Uh, y-yes… I’ll have some…?"
What in the world was going on here?
Was Yu Siwoo, the protagonist, really this indifferent to something like this?
Well, maybe it was for the best.
It was a bit of a letdown that the protagonist wasn’t sharper, but right now, it worked in my favor. I didn’t have any good excuses ready anyway.
…Mmm, this is good.
As I cut into the cake and took a bite, the sweetness spread through my mouth.
Wow, this place was amazing. I’d have to remember it.
One of the best things about being reborn here was being able to eat desserts without a care in the world.
When I was a guy, I’d always been so self-conscious about it.
I had no idea why, but I never gained weight. It was a relief to eat as much as I wanted without consequences.
"Ah, can I order a little more?"
"Uh, s-sure… Go ahead."
And that day, Yu Siwoo’s wallet took a brutal beating.
I’d ordered slice after slice of cake and sweet drinks.
His eyes wavered as he opened his wallet, but since he’d brought up the whole “life’s worth” thing, it was clearly his way of repaying me.
Eating a little extra was fine, right? It was a steal for a life.
Then, that night—
Alone in my room, I unleashed a torrent of complaints at the Author.
"Just what in the world made you do that without saying a word?!"
[T-That... I thought there wasn’t enough time...]
"Time?! Time?! Are you serious right now?!"
[But...! I-It’s cool, isn’t it?! If you drop a hint first, you can add to the lore later and tie it all together! A shadowy figure pulling the strings...! Isn’t that cool?!]
"Then at least tell me later! What if Yu Siwoo gets the wrong idea from this?! What were you even thinking, doing something like that?!"
[Th-That’s...! I was scared of getting yelled at... Hiiing...]
Ugh, my head.
She’s not a child. She hid it because she was afraid of getting scolded?
My chest started to feel heavy.
"I’m not letting you sleep tonight, so be prepared."
[H-Hiiik! Please go easy on me...]
"What did you just say?"
[N-Nothing!]
Sigh.
As expected, the author can’t survive without me.
"...Really? That was a success!"
"S-Success...?"
Yu Siwoo couldn’t begin to understand what Amelia meant.
It was a success? How? Why?
"We talked, we ate good food. If that’s not a date, what is?"
"...I genuinely have no idea what you’re talking about."
"If you don’t get it, just do as I say!"
Was this really the right approach?
No, I couldn’t even wrap my head around the idea that it was a success in the first place.
Did she mean she successfully emptied my wallet?
Was having a conversation and eating dessert together really a date?
Seriously?
"That’s how people get closer. Naturally. You build affection for each other. ...Well, Arte already seems overflowing with affection, but."
Amelia had been telling me this over and over.
That Arte seemed to love me.
At first, I’d been so dazzled by her words that I’d believed her, but looking back, Arte had never given any sign of that.
Maybe Amelia was just mistaken?
When I brought it up, Amelia let out a sigh.
Her expression seemed to say, *What is this virgin thinking now?*
"Listen. Arte has no reason to be interested in you. I told you this last time, right?"
"...Yeah."
Once again, the heavy weight of truth hit me.
I wasn’t exactly remarkable... though I *had* gotten caught up in a lot of incidents lately. But when Arte first took an interest in me, none of that had happened yet.
I was just a student with decent grades.
The incidents only started *after* Arte had shown interest in me.
"She went out of her way to save you from the Weaver Menace’s attack, to comfort you... There’s no other explanation besides love, is there?"
"Hah, but... what if it’s not real?"
"So what if it’s not? Then we’ll find another way. We’ve got other plans, don’t we?"
There were so many things I wanted to argue against.
But her confident voice and sharp tongue left me at a loss for words.
Damn it.
"Ah, and it’s probably for the best that we dropped that topic."
"…So that’s how it is?"
"Yeah. Digging too deep could be dangerous."
Seeing Arte’s reaction only confirmed my suspicion.
That “Arachne” she mentioned—it had to be referring to Arte herself.
‘I’ve never been there’? That was a lie. She must’ve blurted it out in a panic.
Someone who knew nothing wouldn’t even bring it up in the first place.
It didn’t make sense for her to claim she didn’t understand when the very words she chose proved she knew exactly what that place was.
She just hadn’t realized her own slip.
"But it’s still weird. If she was that flustered, why would she have that carved in the first place?"
"…Hmm. Maybe it wasn’t her who drew it?"
"…You mean it was that ‘author’ of yours?"
"Just a guess."
"Sigh. So we’re still no closer to the truth. …Looks like one plan won’t cut it. We need to start moving too."
She proudly pulled something out from her hospital gown.
It looked expensive. …What was that?
"I begged my dad for it. It was a pain in the ass trying to dodge his questions about what I’d use it for."
"So, what is it?"
"A mana detector. Way higher quality than the one that senior gave you. Dad used this one himself."
"…!"
A mana detector—that was it.
The same device we’d used to track down the chameleon beastkin.
It had so many flaws we could only use it to narrow down suspects, but with this…!
"No guarantees we’ll find it, but it’s worth a shot."
"The secret room."
"Yeah. It’ll take time, but here’s the plan—we run two projects at once."
She held up two fingers.
"Seduce Arte, and find the secret room before she does. Our end goal is still to stop Arte. If either one works, that’s enough."
"…Right."
Our theory that Arte was behind everything.
Whether it was baseless nonsense or a shocking truth,
time would tell.
"Any results?"
"No matching villains. The blood tests didn’t turn up anything either."
"Haa…"
Inside the secluded mountain lodge, devoid of any presence,
several burly men bustled about as a raven-haired beauty with long blue hair received their report.
"What do you think?"
"Hmm. This is a headache. A traitor among the Webermenschen?"
"Possible. Or it could be another criminal organization. We don’t have enough to confirm yet."
With a sigh, she spat out a curse and pulled a cigarette from her pocket, lighting it.
As if understanding her mood, a subordinate forced a bitter smile and continued speaking.
"Among criminals who flaunt their crimes like this, there’s no data on a villain capable of something like this. Maybe it’s a new one."
"Why would someone this strong resort to villainy? If they just hunted monsters, they’d be praised and live comfortably for life."
"That’s true. Villains’ thought processes are hard to understand."
The memory of the villain’s den—still reeking of blood—twisted her face in disgust.
Why did I have to think about that? It’s just ruining my mood.
"A villain who shows no mercy and flaunts their crimes…"
"And they effortlessly took out nearly 200 other villains."
"Evidence?"
"Just a bunch of threads with no clear purpose. Nothing else. Probably some kind of reinforced threads that sliced people apart."
"You really gonna say it like that?"
"Ah, sorry. Slipped out."
I was trying to forget that creepy feeling, and now it’s all fresh again.
She didn’t want to relive that scene.
Some of the subordinates who went with her—those with weak stomachs—had vomited, and the ones with fragile minds still had hollow eyes, unable to sleep properly.
She wasn’t any different. She’d been dazed for a while.
She’d seen countless crimes before, but nothing that brutal.
"Threads, so maybe a spider? Ha."
"The playful handwriting suggests they don’t feel much guilt about killing people."
"Well, you saw it too. You think someone who does that would feel guilty?"
"…"
The subordinate’s expression rapidly soured, as if he’d unconsciously recalled the scene himself.
Serves him right. Now he’s making me think about it too.
"Report this to headquarters. Register a new villain."
"Understood. What are the details?"
"Villain name: Arachne. Presumed Thread Extraction Ability. Details unknown. Probably female."
"…Female?"
"Arachne is a woman, right? Don’t you know your myths?"
Villains who flaunt themselves always leave clues in the smallest places.
If they left nothing, the investigation wouldn’t go anywhere—but these types, they slip up because they want to show off.
With guys like that, you have to focus on the evidence they leave behind.
"Threat level… A-rank should do. Oh, and tell the Association to increase the Academy’s security forces."
"The Academy?"
"There’ve been a lot of incidents there lately. Feels unstable."
Weren’t the ones who reported this case Academy students?
Her instincts, honed from years of handling villain cases, were screaming at her.
Something was brewing at the Academy.