156: The mastermind is far, far away.

"With this, the meal preparations for today are complete. It's fortunate that the shops in the Niliani Potz system have such a good selection."

The day after the Nincubic Speed Tournament.

There was no urgent report to file, no incident-related report to submit, and the brief report on yesterday's attackers had been swiftly concluded. Today was truly a peaceful day.

So today, I'm buying various groceries near the dock where 'Sexy MiAzuma' is moored, and preparing a meal that takes time to cook.

If I make full use of the time-saving cooking tools created by the duplicator aboard 'Sexy MiAzuma,' along with my customized time-saving mod that I've fine-tuned... theoretically, even dishes that would normally take several days without the mod could be completed.

Hehehe... I can't stop drooling now...

"Just gotta wait now, might as well check the news site again after such a long time..."

"... "

Having finished preparations, I headed into what had become my living room—the rest room—and there was Viljaniela, frowning deeply.

Behind her stood Memoxi, though her expression remained unchanged as always.

Joharis... was sleeping, half-out of her usual unit.

"Vee, what's wrong? From the look on your face, I can tell something's happened."

"Satu. Yes, something did happen."

Well, it seemed something had indeed occurred.

I casually lowered myself onto the floor, adopting a listening posture.

"As you know, Satu, there was a large-scale crackdown yesterday in the Niliani-Potz system."

"Looks like it. We were involved in catching them infiltrating the Nine Cubic quick-match tournament venue, after all."

"Indeed. As a result, the tournament we were asked to attend tomorrow has become optional."

"Hmm. Maybe the one who was leading us on got caught yesterday, or perhaps they’ve gone too deep and can’t reach out anymore?"

"Likely so."

For now, that's good news.

Also, even if watching the tournament becomes optional, I'd probably still go if it's something reasonably interesting, so my plans for tomorrow are likely unchanged.

And there's probably another reason for that serious expression.

"So, what's the reason for that serious expression?"

"There's simply no trace of information linking to the mastermind behind the creation of these alien monsters. It's not that such information never existed—it appears to have been deliberately destroyed in a way that makes recovery impossible, both data and people."

"……"

"What's even more infuriating is that this destruction is being framed as the fault of the imperial army, police, and intelligence units responsible for the scene."

"That's bad news indeed..."

I knew as much, but it seems the mastermind behind this is not someone easily dealt with.

They're systematically eliminating any information connected to me.

And whatever it is that the mastermind fears, they're still unwilling to lend a hand, even in this situation.

Either they can't act without concrete evidence, or there's something else at play... In any case, it's clear this person isn't someone I can trust or rely on.

"But if we keep pressuring the ones treating this as bad news..."

"It seems the entire area has been deliberately destroyed to prevent pursuit. No matter how many layers of information concealment we overcome, by the time we reach the destination, it's already an empty shell. That's pretty much the situation. So even though the Nelianipotts system appears clean and orderly, we haven't actually reached the real threat. It seems both the field operatives and the upper ranks are thoroughly frustrated."

"Ah, I see."

Hmm, this is really troublesome.

Moreover, the fact that Viridianiya insists they can't be tracked suggests the destruction has been thorough indeed.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it. So all we can do is focus on what we're capable of handling."

"That's true. However, considering our past encounter rate, I believe we should consider ways to counter this meticulous information suppression..."

"Ah, I see... That's certainly true."

How to deal with information suppression, huh...

If it's electronic restoration, the machine intelligences should be able to handle it effortlessly—there wouldn't be much for us to contribute there.

Even if we're reconstructing from the damage traces, there must be countless methods within the empire that offer far greater precision than my tongue, even if they take a bit more time.

If those methods don't work, then no matter how we try to erase the information... it would still be insufficient as evidence, unless we could rewind time or gain objective sight of the past.

Incidentally, even with mods, rewinding time is extremely difficult—practically impossible in reality.

Unlike stopping or speeding up time, rewinding it is orders of magnitude harder.

The theory... I wonder if it's somewhere... maybe just an inference from the Pachimon mod sent by Seiryo Corporation?

Anyway, it's definitely not something I could create myself.

As for past-viewing... I do recall a method that lets you visually reconstruct results by reverse-calculating from traces at the scene.

But even that felt subjective, and the evidence it provided was rather questionable.

"I don't have any clear idea about such methods right now. At best, I could only suggest the mod I made during the Megalina incident—designed to prevent external interference. Should I prepare a few copies in advance, just in case we need them later?"

"Yes, that sounds reasonable. Let's do that."

Well then, let's just stick to what I can actually do, and avoid relying on impossible solutions.

To be honest, I'd like to see that shadowy figure caught as soon as possible—both so we can enjoy meals without hesitation and so we can savor the brilliance of human society. And I'd love to knock sense into that powerful figure who just seems to be playing around, clearly afraid of something—but that's impossible right now.

Reality forces us to accept what we can and can't do, what we are able to achieve and what we aren't.

For when the time comes, it's best to simply set aside distractions now, so we can act without hesitation with full effort.

"For now, let's eat. The soup and braised pork, which would normally take several days to prepare, are ready. You can't think clearly if you don't eat properly."

"Indeed. Then let's get ready."

Let's have dinner now.