83: On-Site Verification of the Cosmic Monster Case

"Excuse me. This is the kind of thing..."

"Who are you...? Ah, yes, please wait a moment... Confirmation has been received. Please come this way."

Having teleported near the scene, I immediately moved forward and showed my identification to the officer guarding the site, gaining entry after receiving permission.

It seems the authorization obtained by Memokshi has already reached the location.

You can tell just how effective the security forces of the Flaretanbo system are.

Which only makes the abnormality and severity of this serial murder case all the more apparent.

In addition, the scene is swarming with media and onlookers. Since I, looking like an ordinary civilian at first glance, have just walked in, I’m getting a noticeably curious gaze from everyone around.

Considering what I’m about to do, I’d prefer not to have onlookers… but in this case, I’ve been asked for a full assessment from Vilijanira.

I’ll ignore the eyes around me.

"This bloodstain is it, then."

"Yes, that’s correct. However, the scene has already been photographed, and any notable evidence has already been collected. Once we bring in the specialists to clean everything up, this case will be concluded."

"That's about the right amount. We're here to gather evidence that ordinary methods can't reach, using unconventional means."

"Ah, I see?"

I touch the dried blood scattered and spread along the roadside near where the victim fell, using my bare hands.

While this yields some information, it doesn't seem to contain the specific details we're looking for.

So, I deployed a slight liquefaction mod onto my fingertips, adding moisture to the blood on the street and transferring it to my hand. Then I brought the blood to my mouth.

"Hmm, hmm."

If examined properly, blood is a treasure trove of information.

It can reveal the victim's health condition, and whether they regularly used body-enhancement mods or electromagnetic sensing mods.

Additionally, based on the ambient humidity and temperature at the scene, I was able to determine that the blood had slightly more moisture than usual.

And yet, there was a faint trace—something akin to an anomaly not normally present in human blood.

"……"

I observe the room where the Margelina of the Spafarna noble family resides, viewing it through both the doll and the main body.

Through the doll's eyes, I see nothing, blocked by the wall, but a slight, unpleasant sensation—something I hadn't felt yesterday—lingers faintly.

Looking into the room through the main body's eyes, I see Magelina in my own room, peering at what appears to be an information terminal, doing something. Again, I feel that faint, unpleasant sensation I hadn’t noticed yesterday.

This peculiar unease… yes, it’s the aura of an OS that isn’t ‘Vanilla OS.’

But the fact that it’s only slight doesn’t mean it’s entirely off the mark.

“Did you figure something out?”

"There are some things I’ve figured out, but there’s still insufficient evidence. I can’t take drastic measures based on this."

"I see."

At this point, from my perspective, Megalina had become entirely black.

Whether it was like that from the start, or had been taken over, or had simply changed—it was impossible to tell. Megalina had become something akin to a space monster, or something very close to it.

It would be fair to say it was an unpredictable force whose actions could not be foreseen.

But there was no objective evidence to prove it.

If we launch an attack under these circumstances, it won't matter whether the opponent is the nobleman's daughter or suspected of being a fake alien monster— we'd be the ones seen as guilty.

That would be bad for both me and Vilijanira.

Even if we try to force things using the royal family's name, we'd still need solid evidence to back it up.

"I'm heading over to check the autopsy. There's likely more information there."

"Understood. Be careful."

Honestly, I don't want to look away from Maeglinia right now.

Still, I leave the scene, moving from alley to alley out of sight, and make my way to the precise location where the autopsy is being conducted.

Once there, I go through a bit of procedure before coming face to face with the body.

"What exactly are you trying to examine? I thought we'd already covered the basics—there's no need to go over it again."

"Look here. It'd be especially helpful if there's damage near the optic nerve... Ah, here it is."

"W-What are you...?!"

The coroner suddenly interrupted me, initially giving me a less-than-friendly expression.

When I began probing around the victim’s eyes with my bare hands, the coroner either showed anger or stared at me with a look of disbelief, as if questioning my sanity.

Then, when I brought the severed end of the optic nerve to my mouth, his face turned pale, and he started trembling in fear.

Well, I suppose that’s reasonable—or rather, normal reaction.

To him, I must look like a monster devouring a human.

But the most sensitive and precise sensor on my body is my tongue.

Even with just my fingertips, I can roughly gauge things, but my tongue can gather even more information.

I'll endure this, and please take me to the graveyard.

"……"

"Ah, what are you thinking…?"

"Guh… gah… cough… cough…"

Next, as a standard sample, I lick a single drop of the victim's blood.

Yes, information is flooding in.

Hmm, if this and that align, then this spot becomes a foreign object, taking into account the influence of the Sw in the Flaretanbo system, and considering the unpleasant sensation I felt earlier from the Maglenia...

I've got a general idea now. The perpetrator seems to have manipulated ice blades generated at high altitude using a force akin to telekinesis, attacking the victim. And with that same telekinetic ability, they appear to have gouged out the victim's eyes. There were traces of mod residue on the cross-section. However, judging from the fact that they didn't directly interfere with the eyes from the start, it seems the target is either near death or the action is conditional. There was no apparent need for mod-based targeting, so they're likely using surveillance cameras or satellite imagery. Currently, identifying the individual is difficult, but tracking the destination of the removed eyes might offer a lead.

"Ah, aaaaahh!?!"

Amidst the startled exclamations of the forensic officers, I sent the examination results, my observations, and my conclusion that the iris was black to Villigianila.

Now, what should I do from here?