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Chapter 240 - Chapter 240: Missing Persons Case

"Didn't take you for the type, kid. Didn't know you liked them robust."

"Sister Beidou?" Victor's face flushed red. He stammered, "I was just joking with her…"

"Hahaha! Liking someone isn't some secret you have to hide, is it? A man's taste should be shouted loud enough for the whole world to hear!"

The thought wouldn't leave Victor's mind. Where have I seen this before…? He remembered reading that Yae Miko had the ability to change her form. That ridiculous alias, "Lightning Shadow," her fondness for books, the way she teased people, and—most of all—that look in her eyes… no ordinary woman could fake it.

He searched his memory and finally recalled it, buried in Yae Miko's Character Story 3. But it wasn't something he could explain aloud.

Beidou didn't give him the chance anyway. She suddenly grew serious.

"Follow me."

They pushed against the current of sailors and merchants, heading into the ship's passageways. Through the cargo holds stacked with crates, until finally, Beidou opened the door to a secluded room.

Inside, Kazuha was already waiting—along with a boy Victor had never seen on deck before.

"Huff… g-greetings, everyone! My name is Munakata—no, that's wrong! I'm Windwheel Maru! Windwheel Maru is my code name. I-it's an honor to work with you all!"

"Don't be so tense, lad. We're not villains," Beidou reassured him. "Just tell us openly about the current state of the organization in Inazuma, and any intel you've gathered."

Even with her encouragement, Windwheel Maru was visibly trembling. He started haltingly:

"W-well… it all began after the New Year, around January 9th, I think. A strange message appeared on the Adventurers' Guild commission board in Inazuma City. It read: 'I'm so hungry, I'm going to starve to death. Will someone please bring me some food?'

It was New Year's, so who in their right mind would be starving with paper and ink in hand, posting notes at the Guild? Still, a few took pity. I heard three people brought food to the designated location. But when they arrived… the place was nothing but wasteland. Nothing there at all!

We called the mysterious poster 'the Hungry Ghost.'

But the Hungry Ghost posted again soon after. Same message, different location. More people went, angry that he'd waste the board on a prank. All they found was a fox statue…"

Windwheel Maru swallowed hard, his face pale.

"We figured the Hungry Ghost would try again, so everyone agreed to keep watch around the commission board twenty-four hours a day. But before anyone noticed—somehow another message appeared! It said: 'I'm full now. Thanks for the meal~'

I-I saw that third message with my own eyes. And when I think about what came after… that bastard must've been eating people!"

His voice broke into a gasp.

"From then on, false commissions began to appear. At first they seemed real, so comrades accepted them without suspicion. But they led nowhere—or worse, caused harm instead of good.

Trust collapsed. Nobody knew what was real anymore. The Hungry Ghost even went so far as to forge the codename of the Nightingale, one of our leaders, and framed an innocent comrade as the culprit. Everyone nearly tore him apart—until the real Nightingale appeared in person to stop the mob."

Victor interjected, "This Nightingale—he's the head of your branch in Inazuma, right?"

"Yes," Windwheel Maru nodded. "He's often busy, so he overlooked the first odd messages. By the time rumors spiraled, the communication network had already collapsed.

Nightingale then appeared outside the falsely accused comrade's house, and announced a temporary halt to all coded messages. We switched entirely to in-person communication.

But that was when we realized… comrades were going missing. Not just one. More, and more.

Two would arrange to meet, but only one returned—without noticing the other was gone. Sometimes neither returned at all.

Whether by code or in person, communication across Inazuma was destroyed. Nightingale tried to investigate the Hungry Ghost's first two messages. Nothing was found.

But the Hungry Ghost is still out there. If one day he comes for us himself…"

The boy shuddered.

Victor's thoughts turned grim. The very worst of social engineering. But in truth, the Sakoku Decree and Vision Hunt Decree made it possible. With borders sealed, information flows were strangled. If foreign couriers or Vision holders could've carried messages across, the culprit would've been caught eventually.

Beidou and Kazuha both frowned.

"This is like nothing I've ever seen," Beidou said. "So far, we can assume two things: the Hungry Ghost can break our codes, and he's deliberately sabotaging communications. Did the disappearances begin before you switched to face-to-face?"

Windwheel Maru nodded frantically. "Yes. I said three people answered his first message, but others later remembered there had actually been four. Yet the three who returned had no memory of the fourth at all. Same for the second message."

"So, people were vanishing right from the start," Beidou mused. "That means it wasn't just to wreck offline comms. He actually needed them to disappear…"

"He's eating people!" Windwheel Maru blurted. "Like a giant mouth swallowing them whole, erasing them completely!!"

"Calm down. They may be gone, and chances are slim… but eating them?" Beidou shook her head. "That's too far-fetched. Victor—your thoughts?"

Victor took over the analysis. "Two goals only: causing disappearances, and breaking communications. Two abilities shown: cracking coded messages, and… mental interference. Maybe memory manipulation. It sounds crazy, but eliminate all impossibilities, and the last one standing is the truth."

"Go on," Beidou pressed.

"Three key details. First: the third message appeared even while the board was under constant surveillance.

Second: the first vanishings happened with companions present, yet no one noticed. They only came to light later.

This suggests the Hungry Ghost altered their memories or perceptions. So only those unaffected—and who happened to know the truth—realized something was wrong."

Beidou nodded. "Mental manipulation, memory tampering… If we can't do it ourselves, we can't dismiss that others can."

"And if he can read memories too, that might explain how he cracked the codes. Unless…" Victor hesitated, "he tortured captured members for information instead. In that case, tracking the very first disappearance becomes critical."

Beidou shook her head. "You've never led an organization, so you don't know. If someone even thinks of betraying us, everything about the group vanishes from their memory. That's the Wingmaster's power. In five hundred years, our codes have never once been leaked. So, it's only the Hungry Ghost's ability we must consider."

Victor blinked. "The Wingmaster… erases memories of betrayal?"

Even Kazuha and Windwheel Maru froze in shock.

Beidou's tone was firm. "That's why we've survived this long."

"Then—can't the Wingmaster just deal with the Hungry Ghost?" Windwheel Maru pleaded. "Their powers sound alike, right?"

"She has reasons she can't intervene. Back to the point. Victor, anything else?"

Victor tapped his chin. "Three questions matter. One: where are the missing members, and why take them? Two: why destroy communications? Three: why does he have this memory power? Any of them could be the breakthrough. The simplest is to start with the missing members."

"I've got them!" Windwheel Maru exclaimed, raising a hand. "Though everyone hides behind codenames, we risked everything to uncover identities. We've identified five missing so far!"

He recited carefully:

"Yuichi and Koji Kasano, brothers from Konda Village. Time of disappearance unknown.

Makoto Furuya and Eri Seto, one man, one woman, both from Inazuma City. No connection, disappearance time unknown.

Masatoshi Gen, from Ritou. The most recent disappearance confirmed."

"Useful?" he asked nervously.

Victor exhaled. "Only one way to know. We'll have to investigate." Then his eyes narrowed. "And the cursed blade? You haven't said yet. It's appeared in Inazuma, hasn't it?"

Windwheel Maru's eyes lit with recognition. "Oh, right! Yes, the Isshin Blade has been sighted near Tatarasuna after the New Year. But it's far from the disappearances. Doesn't seem related."

"…Tatarasuna?" Victor's expression grew thoughtful. After crystallized bone marrow, is it now after the Mikage Furnace too…?

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