The Truth of the Unicorn's Horn

Yoon Siwoo remembered it clearly. The sight of Scarlet entering that disreputable building with a balding man. The lewd, muffled sounds that had drifted from the other rooms in that place. He hadn't seen with his own eyes what the two of them had done inside, but he was old enough to know how the world worked. Yet, even if she had done such things, Scarlet was still a shining person. She was a girl who was more of a hero than anyone else, to the point where the fact that she had to resort to such work due to her difficult circumstances didn't even feel like a flaw.

But what he had heard from her yesterday was a story so shocking it couldn't even be compared to that. He didn't know the details, but having received sex education, he knew what it meant when a woman missed her monthly cycle. The birth of a new life. If it were between a normal married couple, it would be a blessing. But when it happened to those who weren't adults, it was usually called an "accident." Especially if it was the result of work she couldn't proudly reveal to others. It surely hadn't been her intention, so it must have truly been an accident.

Yoon Siwoo recalled the conversation he’d had with her in the hospital room. She had said she would continue attending the Academy even after losing her arm. She was a girl who wanted to be a hero more than anyone else, all because she wanted to save people. But no matter what, she wouldn't be able to attend the Academy in her current state. The Academy's training was grueling even for those with renowned talent, and there was no way she could endure it with a body like that. She was a person who valued life so much that she had sacrificed her own arm to protect others. Since she wouldn't choose any other path, she would surely quit the Academy.

He thought fate was truly cruel. It had taken an arm from someone who had grown up without parents, and now, as if that weren't enough, it was even trying to snatch away her dream of becoming a hero. As an orphan himself, he knew better than anyone the sorrow of growing up without parents. That was why she wouldn't even think of leaving the child at a shelter. Her difficult circumstances, the image of her struggling to raise a child on her own—it had been haunting his mind ever since he heard those words yesterday. So, even while doing paperwork or patrolling, he had been absentmindedly thinking about how he could help her. Perhaps, she might need a father.

As he followed his train of thought, Lucy spoke up, her voice dripping with disdain at the sight of Yoon Siwoo lost in such musings.

What followed was quite a stinging remark.

Since Lucy rarely said such things, Yoon Siwoo felt a bit of self-loathing. Even he knew he wasn't thinking rationally. But the girl he liked... how many people could remain calm in such a situation?

"Couldn't it be something else?"

But given the circumstances, no matter how you looked at it... Watching Yoon Siwoo, who couldn't pull himself together, Lucy sighed and said:

The crime scene we arrived at after receiving a radio call during field training. Citizens were murmuring, keeping a distance from the shop where the windows had been shattered into pieces.

"Doesn't look like anyone touched the scene. That's a relief!" Rea muttered with a laugh, then shouted loudly toward the citizens. "We're from the Public Safety Bureau! We'll catch the culprit soon, so please don't worry and go about your business!"

Seeing her shout as if it were really nothing, the citizens seemed reassured and soon dispersed. Perhaps that, too, was a form of talent. Once the citizens had cleared out, Rea glanced toward where we were and gave a sly smile.

"I don't know how many of you will end up working for us later, but if you examine a scene well, you can gather all sorts of information, so keep that in mind. You collect that information and then make deductions."

Rea scanned the scene, lightly touched the floor, and closed her eyes. After a moment, she opened them and pointed to the glass shards scattered across the floor, shattered by the explosion.

"See? The glass shards are scattered on the outside. And the traces of the explosion remain inside the shop. It's unlikely someone would smash the door and go inside just to cause an explosion, so that means the culprit is an ability user who can trigger explosions wherever they want. The explosive power doesn't seem high, but in cases like this, you have to be a little careful."

The children marveled at Rea's deduction, which she delivered as calmly as a master detective. She just shrugged her shoulders as if it were nothing and continued.

"And if you look here, there are occasionally finely crushed glass shards—these are traces of someone stepping on them while fleeing. They fled in this direction, and the culprit is a man with brown hair wearing a black shirt. So, just head that way and look for someone like that."

How did she know that? Was she Sherlock Holmes? As the children looked curious about how she had figured out the culprit's appearance, Rea gave a mischievous laugh.

"No need to be so curious. The latter part wasn't a deduction; I found it out with my ability. I can read the memories of objects or places with my ability. It's called Psychometry, an application of telekinesis."

"Then that's not a deduction at all!"

"The first part was an actual deduction, so don't worry! It was just a form of cross-verification. I wanted to show you that even people without abilities like mine should be able to collect information at a scene."

After saying that to the disappointed children, Rea focused more intently, examining the scene once more.

"Anyway, the reason I stopped by the scene isn't just for information gathering, but to find evidence. Even if I know the culprit's appearance through my ability, if I can't secure evidence that the person committed the crime, it can lead to annoying situations later. It looks like they injured themselves when the glass broke, so we should be able to find a piece with blood on it among these shards."

"Should we help you?"

"Yeah, I'd appreciate that since we need to find it quickly and go catch the culprit."

At Rea's request, everyone's eyes lit up. I bowed my head to search the floor, thinking I should look too. What I saw wasn't the ground, but a glowing magic circle. I was bewildered, wondering what was happening, when several of the glass shards scattered on the floor glowed and floated into the air.

"It's a spell to find blood. I found it, so let's catch the culprit quickly and go rest..." Dwight muttered in a tired voice.

Being a descendant of a Great Archmage and, more importantly, a hardcore magic nerd, Dwight could use all sorts of spells, but judging by his state, it seemed he hadn't slept properly again because he was practicing magic yesterday. Rea, who had marveled and collected the floating glass shards into an envelope she pulled from her pocket, asked if it was possible to track them with magic, but Dwight replied that even that was too much.

"Then we'll just have to find them on foot. There are plenty of people out today, so we'll find them soon."

At Rea's words, I glanced at Yoon Siwoo. There was someone among us whose specialty was finding people. He still didn't look to be in great shape, but Yoon Siwoo seemed to realize it was time for him to step up.

"...If it's tracking, I think I can do it. Could you give me one of the glass shards with blood on it?"

When I took a small shard from the envelope and handed it to him, Yoon Siwoo took it and pulled a dagger from thin air. The Holy Sword of Truth. Basically, a lie detector with slightly subtle performance. But the true power of that sword lay in tracking. It was an incredibly useful sword that could tell you where a person was, as long as you had their blood or hair, and could even show you what they were doing. In the original novel, it was mostly used to find heroines who had fallen while fighting monsters. For reference, every time Yoon Siwoo used that ability, he found out the heroines had died, so everyone had wailed that they didn't want to know such truths.

Yoon Siwoo, who had been closing his eyes while holding the glass shard in one hand and the Holy Sword of Truth in the other, opened his eyes wide.

"I found them. They're sitting in an alley not far from here, trembling. You have a map, right? I'll give you the location."

As Yoon Siwoo said that, Rea marveled and pulled out her phone. This is why having good gear is important. If you had just one thing like that, couldn't you get special treatment at the Public Safety Bureau? I was thinking it would be nice if I had a weapon like that too, when Yoon Siwoo suddenly approached me and held out the Holy Sword of Truth. Crazy, did he read my mind? I was flustered, and Yoon Siwoo said hesitantly:

"...Hey, could you hold this for a second?"

"...Sure."

I was slightly disappointed, knowing he wasn't giving it to me. No, this guy can store his swords at will, so why is he making me hold it? I was about to say something, but decided to let it slide since he hadn't been in a good state since yesterday. Come to think of it, I wouldn't be able to handle a Holy Sword properly anyway. They said Holy Swords were picky about their masters. Yoon Siwoo had the protagonist buff that allowed him to handle any type of sword, which was why he could wield seven of them, but if I held it, it would probably just be a sturdy dagger.

Still, I wouldn't get many chances to hold a Holy Sword myself, so I was somewhat excited. As I received the Holy Sword of Truth from Yoon Siwoo with that thought, the sword shimmered slightly. Then, Yoon Siwoo stood still for a moment, then instantly turned bright red and bowed his head deeply.

This guy, he really isn't in a good state today.

"...Are you okay? Is something wrong?"

"No! It's nothing! Give that back—no, you don't need to give it back! ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I'll make it disappear!"

When I asked if something was wrong, Yoon Siwoo shook his head in surprise and shouted. The Holy Sword of Truth he had been holding had already disappeared, likely stored away by him. But before the sword vanished, I heard a voice ring in my head upon hearing Yoon Siwoo's words.

It seemed that ability told you the truth just by holding it. It's fascinating; so this is what it feels like. But seeing as it said "false," Yoon Siwoo really didn't seem okay today.

Following Lucy's advice to have Scarlet hold the Holy Sword of Truth just once, Yoon Siwoo handed it to her. As soon as the sword in her hand shimmered slightly, Lucy spoke.

...What does that mean?

Lucy continued.

A unicorn?

A certain assumption flashed through his mind at that point. Wait, but...

Watching Yoon Siwoo, who had frozen in stupidity, Lucy giggled and said:

Yoon Siwoo asked back at Lucy's words. No, then what on earth was everything I had seen and heard until now...

Then that was all my misunderstanding?

While he was blushing, Scarlet spoke to him.

"...Are you okay? Is something wrong?"

Yoon Siwoo looked at the girl who was staring at him with a worried face while holding the Holy Sword of Truth. Then, have I been... thinking of such a girl like that until now?

"No! It's nothing! Give that back—no, you don't need to give it back! I'll make it disappear!"

He answered in such a flurry that he didn't even know what he was saying. Yoon Siwoo, who had retrieved the Holy Sword of Truth that had been shimmering in Scarlet's hand as if satisfied, thought to himself, '...Should I just kill myself?'

After giving the location, Yoon Siwoo had been dazed as if he were broken, but in any case, the group arrived at the place Yoon Siwoo had pointed out.

"No, that's not what I meant. Ugh..."

In a narrow alley, a man was curled up, trembling and muttering. The man, who was scratching his neck so hard ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it was bleeding and even letting out groans, looked to be in a mentally unstable state no matter how you looked at it.

Rea looked at the man with a stiff expression and muttered.

"...Recently, when we try to arrest people, there are those who show extremely anxious symptoms like that man, and most of them try to cause trouble if you get close. I wouldn't get hurt, but I'm worried because there are times when they go wild even if it means hurting themselves."

"Then we can just stop them from going wild."

At the same time as he spoke, a magic circle unfolded in the alley, and the muttering man collapsed to the side. Rea looked at Dwight with a flustered expression. But Dwight said calmly, as if he had done nothing wrong.

"I just put him to sleep, so don't worry. It gets annoying if it takes time. Let's arrest him quickly and go rest..."

"...Right, thanks to you, we subdued him easily. Then shall we take that person and head back?"

Rea, who laughed as if she felt hollow, went into the alley and hoisted the man over one shoulder.

"By the way, why is my neck so itchy? Did a bug bite me?"

She muttered softly and scratched her neck. No one heard her muttering.