AB put on her uniform for the first time in a while.

She returned the casual clothes she had grown fond of to packet form, then inserted the uniform she had carefully washed and stored into her biometric terminal. A pressure that casual clothing could hardly replicate enveloped her entire body, making the sensation feel a little unfamiliar.

Still, she had worn these clothes every day for years. She soon grew accustomed to them again.

She had been told to nurse Anna, but nursing was not a Military State captain's role.

AB was a communications officer. Besides conveying information throughout the Military State with unique magic, gathering information was also part of her duties.

There was nothing she could do at Anna's bedside, but there were things she could do as Captain AB, communications officer.

"I will track down those who disrupt public order."

The captain pulled her stiff service cap low over her head and left the room.

"Anna said she was going to the market in District 13. Surely she meant the citizens' market there."

District 13's citizens' market sold packets, groceries, and assorted small tools needed by low-level citizens.

It was permitted to sell luxury goods up to Level 2, so ordinary people would occasionally visit when they had money to spare.

Naturally, there were pickpockets and robbers who coveted those citizens' money, but this was the Military State. The consequences of getting caught were so enormous that only the truly determined would even attempt it. Without equally meticulous planning, their trail would soon be discovered, and they would be dragged off to a labor camp.

"Since an unlawful act has come to my attention, I have a duty to gather information concerning this incident."

She could not leave it to the police or the military police. They would not investigate crimes committed against Level 0 citizens. They merely recorded them, intending to pin them on some criminal caught later.

That was why AB had decided to act in her capacity as a captain. She would gather irrefutable evidence and hand it over to the military police.

She could not reveal that she was a communications officer, but a captain was still a captain. She had the authority.

"I'm going to die anyway..."

Saying it aloud made her body go rigid for a moment. But AB steeled herself and stepped forward.

Was it because she had enjoyed so many things before her death?

Because she had experienced so much that was new?

AB no longer feared death. If she could die carrying these memories with her, perhaps that alone would be enough.

"Before I go, I will gather information for Anna."

With that firm resolve, AB walked the streets of the Military State.

It was late at night, and only the occasional convict laborer passed by, returning from the night shift. Upon reaching District 13, AB stood with her back against the wall of a large building.

She pressed both palms to the wall and extended her mana in every direction. A faint magical glow spread out through her hands.

Partial Bloom of Unique Magic: Morning Glory Vines.

With her fingers as roots, intangible energy wound around the walls and ground. Searching for something to wrap around and climb, the Morning Glory vines instinctively sensed the direction of the mana's flow and followed it.

Using mana-conducting metal as a trellis, the vines climbed until they reached its end. Seeking empty space, the mana seeped into the gap. And then...

CREAK, CLICK.

Somewhere in the Military State, a "window" prepared exclusively for communications officers raised its head with a harsh metallic scrape.

This was a short-range method: rather than accessing it remotely through a biometric terminal, she deployed her unique magic nearby to synchronize with it.

AB's unique magic was Morning Glory, a Synchronization spell specializing in short-range encroachment.

The nature of her unique magic was why the Military State had assigned her nearly fifty synchronized-type magic golems known as "windows."

All the windows assigned to her had been destroyed, so she had not had a chance to use it until now...

"This is part of gathering information. Communications officers have the authority to operate magic golems stationed throughout the Military State."

Synchronization magic left no traces. Therefore, this would not expose her identity.

Besides, AB was operating the golems solely to gather information. They would neither intervene directly nor attract anyone's notice.

Thus, this was not a violation of the rules. Having persuaded herself of that, AB raised her head.

And every golem entwined in her vines opened its eyes at once.

"I am exercising my authority."

So devoted was she to the rules that she had used those very rules to squeeze through a loophole.

Invisible vines coiled around a tiny golem housed at the top of a clock tower, a golem standing on a rooftop overlooking the street, and a golem consisting of nothing but a head concealed beneath a searchlight.

The golems stationed throughout the area opened their eyes in unison, responding to the communications officer's Synchronization. Having gained control of them, AB channeled her mana.

Parallel Window Connection: Kaleidoscope.

Dozens of views, each showing a different location, entered AB's vision in separate fragments like a shattered window.

Despite the darkness of the night, the overwhelming volume of information pouring into her mind made her dizzy. AB staggered and leaned more heavily against the wall.

But she was an information specialist, one of the few communications officers capable of parallel connections. The single root greedily drank in the information transmitted through all its vines. Dozens of different lights shone in her blue eyes.

"Beginning search."

Her eyes darted rapidly, comparing and analyzing the scenes appearing throughout her field of vision. The flow of people. Unusual speeds. Strange noises. Sights that should not be there.

She was the Military State's eyes, ears, and mouth.

Communications officers were the Military State's head. The nerves through which fragmented information flowed.

That was why only those ranked general or higher were permitted access to information about their identities. Even the Six Generals could not use them for private purposes.

"Searching, searching, searching."

If they had entered an enclosed building, she would have no way to find them. But AB expected them to move under cover of night. Having stolen something, they would want to dispose of it before the next day.

"Searching, searching, searching, searching, searching, searching..."

As she surveyed the streets throughout District 13 without leaving her spot, AB discovered a suspicious man. Bleeding from his shoulder, he was running with a limp, clutching his stomach.

He looked more like a victim than a perpetrator, but either way, the scene clearly suggested a crime.

"Search complete."

AB severed her connections to the other golems and headed toward the location where she had spotted the suspicious man.

Judging by his escape route, he would pass through the next block. Having finished her calculations, AB went ahead to intercept him.

Sure enough, she encountered the man as he came running in terror. His eyes widened at the sight of her uniform.

"An officer?!"

If he was a robber who had committed a crime, he would flee from AB or show fear. If he was a victim fleeing a robber, he would ask for help.

It did not matter if he was not the robber she was looking for. There could not be many people bold enough to commit crimes in the Military State. If she kept following the trail, she would eventually find the robber who had attacked Anna.

AB was preparing responses to both possibilities when he spoke.

"I-I did it! Arrest me! I'm Number One!"

Yet the man's behavior matched neither possibility.

Calling himself Number One, he dropped to his knees before AB, drawing ragged breaths.

"I committed robbery! With Number One, Number Two, and Number Three! Number Two is Milsen, and Number Three is Galen! Please, arrest me!"

This was outside her predictions, but she would be no communications officer if she let it fluster her. AB replied stiffly.

"... Please explain what happened clearly and concisely."

"There's no time for that!"

The man seemed out of his mind. Or desperate to relieve himself. Or both. AB's understanding of the world offered no other explanation.

After all, he was confessing his crimes while clutching his stomach, his face consumed by pain and fear.

"Number Two—no, that bastard Milsen told the whole organization. That there's gold in my stomach...! They're all coming to cut me open...!"

"I am having difficulty understanding the full circumstances, but I gather that you feel your safety is threatened. Are you requesting protection?"

"Yes! Yes! P-protect me!"

The man nodded frantically. In any case, AB questioned him, hoping to obtain some information.

"Accepted. First, however, I require information. To understand the circumstances, I must know what you stole and from whom, as well as what was done to you and by whom."

"I don't know who she was. Some middle-aged woman trying to sell poison—no, spices at the market... We took it and were celebrating, but he, he... Put it in my mouth."

From the circumstances, he clearly seemed to be Anna's attacker. She had not expected to find the culprit so easily.

But finding him and arresting him were separate matters. His face was filled with far more fear and pain than that could account for.

"He... The man in that strange hat. A glass bottle full of poison. To me."

As he muttered, Number One suddenly clutched his face.

AB revised her assessment. Compared to his contorted face now, his previous expression had not contained even a fragment of terror.

"Aaaah. The magician. Yes. The magician...! It has to be him! Why, why didn't I remember...!"

After repeating those words to himself like a madman, he began to cry and grabbed the captain's trouser cuff. His other hand still clutched his stomach, as though he believed it would split open the moment he let go.

"Please. I don't want to die like this. Having my belly cut open by comrades I trusted—what the hell is this...! I-I. This wasn't. I didn't do it for thizh, I didn't... Hhng. Ah, ah."

In the midst of his pleading, Number One's eyes suddenly widened. Despite night air cold enough to make him hunch up, beads of cold sweat formed on his face.

As though something had seized his head and legs and was twisting him, he made a garbled sound that seemed wrung from his lungs.

"Aagh. N-no..."

Then, all at once...

"Gaaaaaagh! Aaagh, graaaaaaagh!"

Number One crumpled to the ground. As though he alone had absorbed all the pain in the world, he flailed both legs and hammered the ground. He did not stop even as his fists were scraped raw and his body bruised.

Eventually, his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed. Something like soap suds spilled from his mouth.

Along with his life.

Throughout it all, there was nothing AB could do.

She was a communications officer, not a military doctor.

"... Death confirmed. This is a murder."

Even the Military State did not leave murders unaddressed. Murder was a grave crime that eliminated valuable manpower capable of continued labor, so murderers were made to pay an equivalent price through labor of their own.

That forced even criminals to exercise restraint. One wrong move could get them caught in the Military State's security net.

Or so it should have been...

"... Why were you pursuing him as a group at this hour of the night?"

The captain spoke as she looked at the approaching crowd. From beyond the shadows of the dim street emerged a thin man with cold eyes, a longsword resting on his shoulder.