200: Changeling Kidnapping ※

This story is told from Vee's perspective. Please note.

"So that's the situation. I've set a trap for Magatsuki, at least for now."

"I see. Thank you, Sata. You've done well."

Sata, having returned from the personal colony, told us with a visibly exhausted expression about what had happened inside.

Yet the content was clearly wrapped in multiple layers of obfuscation... which is precisely why I could imagine just how horrifying what Sata had witnessed truly was.

"Anyway. Sorry, but I need to rest for about an hour. I'll keep the trap active."

"Understood. Please take your time and rest."

So, no one here tried to stop Sata from choosing to rest on her own.

With my permission, Sata lay down in the corner of the room… and immediately fell asleep without so much as a sigh.

Likely, Sata’s main body in the Ether Space is also sleeping right now.

"……. Ah… I didn’t expect something like this… no, something I never wanted to see at all has come up…"

"That’s for sure… Sata kept brushing over the details, but that just means there was nothing but dangerous situations she couldn’t afford to reveal…"

"There's no doubt Sata-sama must be utterly exhausted. There are notes indicating information is being transmitted from the local mechanical intelligences, but the situation is nothing short of appalling."

We all let out sighs in unison.

We've stumbled upon the base of a group so extreme even among the oppressors they're considered heretical—yet the circumstances are simply too... unbearable.

There are growing rumors suggesting that Magatsuki comes across as far more human than the others, and it's almost enough to make one agree.

"Actually, the method this oppression faction used for kidnapping—that's the Change Ringing technique, right?"

"Yes, exactly. They'd kidnap a person, then leave behind an artificial human created from that person, which would die almost immediately. It's an extremely insidious and cruel method."

The kidnapping method known as "Changeling" has been a persistent issue within the empire for the past few decades.

After all, if the victim isn't discovered to have been replaced by an artificial human, the case could be dismissed as unexplained memory loss leading to death, with no actual investigation ever taking place.

And as the very term "replacement" implies, this method is inherently one where the perpetrator never intended to return the victim to their family in the first place.

If a kidnapped person is alive as a tool or slave, that's actually the better outcome. The worst case would be falling into the hands of those oppressive forces we're seeing now.

"Let us pay our respects to those who have passed. That's all we can do now."

"Yes, that's right."

"Understood."

We silently offer our prayers.

And once our prayers have ended, Johalys spoke up.

"So, ultimately, what's Magatsuki's goal, anyway? Was causing chaos in the personal colony just a coincidence, right?"

"That's right. The chaos in the personal colony was purely coincidental. Originally, I believe they intended to directly infiltrate either the Sixth Primeval Colony or 'Jichikaneto'... If so, then their objective might have been sabotage there."

"Lord Vee. If that's the case, then there'd be no reason for the first one to cause chaos in the Fifth Primeval Colony. The first one was an art dealer specializing in swords. If he had been manipulated, he could have brought Magatsuki into the Sixth Primeval Colony legally."

"Yes, that's true..."

I重新 open the documents regarding the incident that occurred in the Fifth Primeval Colony.

Just as the note stated, the man controlled by Magatsuki was indeed an art dealer specializing in swords.

The first man killed was an ordinary office worker, with no confirmed connections—professional or personal—to the art dealer.

Similarly, the two police officers killed just before Satā made contact had no relationship whatsoever.

If asked whether any of these individuals had ties to the Oppression Faction, the answer would naturally be no.

At least, no connections have been observed between the users and victims so far.

Hmm, who exactly sold Magatsuki to an art dealer? You've naturally looked into that, right?

Yes, of course it has been looked into, Lord Johalis.

The art dealer who sold Magatsuki was another art dealer from a different star system... that's the official story.

This other star system, being somewhat distant from the Syblasmiss system, is likely still in the early stages of investigation—whether the search command has even been issued yet remains uncertain.

However, this place is likely a dead end.

Moreover, it seems those who have already become involved with Magatsuki have already fled.

Additionally, there is one shipping company intermediary between the art dealer and the first dealer who was used. This shipping company is confirmed to be completely innocent—or rather, it's known to be an excellent, reputable shipping company.

What stands out from his testimony is the instruction to never remove the item from the case prepared by the sender during transport.

The local authorities are searching for the case, as it seems to contain something significant—but they haven't found it yet.

"So, we can't trace the origin, and we're left with no choice but to track the whereabouts of the main item...?"

"That's right. We're currently using machine intelligence to analyze the footage they recorded, trying to identify the current owner. Once that's completed, we may see some progress."

"It's clear just how ruthless those colony members were, given even machine intelligence is taking time to process this."

"Yes, despite their efforts to handle it mechanically, the system is still under heavy load."

"Perhaps we should try to persuade His Majesty to give a small consolation payment to those directly involved once this matter is resolved..."

The only thing certain at this point is that the incident involving the destroyed personal colony will remain unknown to anyone except a very limited number of people—about as much as can be said.

It was truly an appalling situation, after all.

And so, we continued waiting until Satu awoke.