268: Source of the Exorcism

"……. The situation is moving."

" " "……" " "

Vilijanira murmurs.

At the same time, I subtly step forward from behind Vilijanira, while Memokushi moves behind her, and Joharis begins scanning for heat sources using the equipment hidden inside the craft.

At the same instant……

"Ugh……!?"

" " "!? " " "

One of the participants suddenly clutches his throat and abdomen, drops to his knees, and begins groaning in pain.

"Ah, I see. So it was Tōgotto Shimēunan kun, was it?"

"Aa...?"

At the sudden onset of this abnormal situation, several staff members immediately rush out to assist the man—Tōgotto.

Yes, this is a natural reaction, so there's no need to worry.

What matters more is why Tōgotto collapsed and why Vilijianira is reacting this way.

Depending on the cause of the former, we might need to evacuate as well, and depending on the reason for the latter, we may need to prepare for what could come from here—so we must investigate.

So, I squint and take a closer look… it seems Tōgotto must have eaten the meal prepared by Zalocker.

That means he must have ingested a sauce containing Hekyomoryu....

"Magatsuki?"

"Yes. Satu, please handle it."

"Understood."

Tōgotto writhed in agony, struggling fiercely, leaving the staff members at a loss as to what to do.

The reason the staff hesitated to forcibly subdue him was because, by now, a short blade—Magatsuki—was clutched in Tōgotto’s abdomen.

Ah, now it makes sense.

Tōgotto had been under Magatsuki’s brainwashing.

Magatsuki’s brainwashing operated through a custom-mod based on a unique OS, manipulating electrical signals within the brain.

The brainwashing currently affecting Magatsuki here should have been difficult to detect even with the use of the 'Hishui Kyō', but it had low output and minimal side effects.

That meant the mod was weak... which implies she was directly hit by the poison of Hekyo Moryu, designed to dissolve mods based on any OS other than 'Vanilla OS'.

And that brings us to the present.

"Alright."

"---!?"

Well, it's just thrashing around aimlessly, so containing it is easy.

With that in mind, I simply pin down Tougotto's body as usual, spray the mod-deactivation ink onto the Magatsuki I'm holding, and erase the brainwashing caused by the body-control mod that was imposed on Tougotto.

That's all it takes—Tougotto stops moving, goes completely limp, and calms down.

Now, from here on, it's Vilijaniira's turn.

"Please rest assured, everyone. I will now explain the situation."

Vilijaniira proceeds to explain what has just occurred.

The existence of Magatsuki—a short sword-shaped cosmic monster whose mere touch can brainwash even an ordinary human.

The properties contained within the source, specifically the effects of Heikyo Morelyu.

An explanation of the behaviors exhibited by brainwashed individuals, and that Tougotto is likely not responsible for any of this.

I possess the means to disable the mod, given that I am a cosmic monster.

Though I haven't revealed everything, I'm sharing what should be commonly understood, aiming to calm the situation.

"Sat. Is it possible to destroy or neutralize Magatsuki?"

"I'll try, though it might no longer serve as evidence."

"That's fine."

"Understood."

I pulled Magatsuki away from Tōgottō's grasp and sprayed ink containing the same Magatsuki-specific toxin mod used in the Shiblasmis system.

"——!?!"

"……!"

Magatsuki let out a final, agonized scream.

More precisely, a sound like metal colliding and shattering echoed through the dance hall—so intense it felt like a hallucination.

After the sound stopped, I lightly touched it and checked Magatsuki's OS status.

Yes, it hasn't triggered an event collapse, but I successfully caused a critical failure that shut down its functions.

Magatsuki's OS here seems subtly different from the one in the Shibarasmith system, and there might be something worth extracting from this... but analyzing it properly is the kind of work that specialized research institutes should handle.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Now we just need to figure out who's taking it where..."

I grabbed a random piece of cloth and wrapped up Magatsuki.

Then I looked around to find someone to hand it over to...

"Sorry to keep you waiting. We're from the Imperial Army's Intelligence Unit."

"Vee?"

"Hand it over."

A group of Imperial Army Intelligence Unit members had apparently heard the commotion and arrived.

I checked with Vilegianiura as well, and it seems there's no problem with handing it over.

So, I handed over Magatsuki wrapped in its cloth to the person wearing that peculiar-looking collar.

"Everyone, the threat has now passed. Please feel free to continue the ball."

"「「「——！」」」"

The situation seemed to have been resolved for now.

Yeah, it ended quite easily.

It ended easily... yet...

"Satou, should we head around to the back as well? We need to undergo a statement review."

"Ah, yes."

Well, yeah, a statement is necessary, that's true.

With that, Tougotto was carried away on a stretcher by staff, and we moved to the back for our statement review.

Though I don’t know the full details, perhaps because they’re acquaintances of Tougotto, Harwatto, Tarkotton, and Kykirausto follow us, moving secretly to the back.

I wonder what kind of story will come out this time?