The Magnifying Glass
— Murmur, murmur……
The Disciplinary Committee room brought to mind nothing so much as a marketplace. Beyond the committee members themselves, everyone even tangentially implicated in this incident had been rounded up—the Thief Club, the White Magic Club, even the Ruby Magic Tower—so a packed house was only natural.
Oh Se-hun, for his part, had kept one step back ever since entering the room, and it seemed the rumors were true that he left most of the important work to Gwak Seung-jae. After all, it had been Gwak Seung-jae who spearheaded this entire operation.
Before long, Gwak Seung-jae stepped forward, his gaze passing over me and Dang Gyu-young in turn, and took the lead in ushering us along.
"This way, please."
Through a door set into one side of the committee room, we filed into the chamber beyond—the Disciplinary Committee's private interrogation room, the Room of Truth.
Anyone who walks in comes out a reformed soul……
Ordinarily, only three or four people at a time were brought in here for their "conversations that made you see the light," but today even this room was fairly crowded. With several clubs implicated at once, the whole affair had grown to quite a scale.
The moment we stepped inside, Jeong Chong-myeong and Hong Ye-hwa both turned to look our way—Jeong Chong-myeong with a wry snort of laughter.
"So you did get caught in the end, huh?"
"Looks that way~ Oh Se-hun was lying in wait for us."
Dang Gyu-young answered with perfect unconcern, plopping down onto an empty folding chair. I moved to take the seat beside her—only to feel a stare so sharp it pricked at my skin, and I turned my head.
My eyes met Song Cheon-hye's, glaring daggers at me.
"……"
A sizable lump had risen on her forehead, and both nostrils were plugged with wads of tissue—apparently her nose had bled from both sides. The fruits of sprinting at full tilt into a body blow against my Ice Wall. And since I was the one who had summoned that wall in the first place, I offered my apologies.
"Sorry about that. I came on a bit strong, didn't I?"
Song Cheon-hye's brow creased, and she spoke through a stuffed-up nose.
"Ob coursh. Hurry up and hand ober dose banned idems."
"Banned items? What banned items?"
I asked with a face of pure bafflement, as though hearing of it for the very first time. Song Cheon-hye's expression twisted—half incredulous, half ready to breathe fire—before she whirled around, yanked the tissues out of her nose, whirled right back, and fixed me with a glare.
"You're going to deny it even after being dragged all the way here? Seriously?"
"Denial's for people who've actually got something. How am I supposed to have what isn't there?"
"Why would you tell a lie that falls apart this quickly?"
"My point exactly. Why would I tell a lie that falls apart this quickly?"
If I were going to lie, it'd be a lie that never gets found out. Just like right now, in fact.
Perhaps my sheer brazenness got to her, because Song Cheon-hye wavered ever so slightly. But she soon steeled her resolve, and her expression along with it.
"Fine. Then let's verify, shall we?"
Song Cheon-hye drew out a terminal fitted with a crystal orb. It served much the same function as the Ban Wave: should its target possess a banned item, or have one stored in their inventory, the orb would glow red.
"……"
She promptly leveled the device at me. But contrary to all expectation of an instant red glow, the crystal orb didn't so much as flicker.
Every last thing is tucked away in the Life Cube. How would it ever get detected?
Song Cheon-hye's pupils shook violently.
"Y-you really don't have any……"
"Told you I didn't. Is it so hard to take a person at their word?"
"No—no, it's not over yet."
Song Cheon-hye turned her head toward Dang Gyu-young. If it wasn't me, then surely Dang Gyu-young had to be the one holding them—or so she seemed to believe. She asked leave with a small bow and raised the device once more.
"Pardon me for a moment."
"Eh, go right ahead."
Dang Gyu-young nodded readily. A stretch of time passed just like that, and yet……
"……"
"……"
……the crystal orb remained every bit as silent.
Song Cheon-hye grew only more flustered, her words tripping over themselves.
"N-no, this—this can't—there's no way."
The onlookers' reactions were much the same. Every last one of them had assumed that at least one of us two had to be carrying the banned items. Jeong Chong-myeong and Hong Ye-hwa's eyes took on a glint of intrigue, as if they'd stumbled onto something interesting, and even Oh Se-hun wordlessly curled the corners of his mouth upward. Gwak Seung-jae, too, stared holes into us as though trying to gauge something.
Shrugging off the weight of all those gazes, I addressed Song Cheon-hye.
"Do you see now? Innocent, like I said."
"……"
Song Cheon-hye looked about ready to apologize for hounding the wrong man—then, as if something had suddenly occurred to her, she asked again.
"……Then why did you run? Without even having any banned items?"
The question being: if I were truly in the clear, what need was there to bind her—the one standing guard—in Shadow Butterflies, or to hold her at bay with an Ice Wall?
Naturally, I had an answer prepared for this one as well.
"Honestly? I'm not exactly proud of myself. I did kick up that whole riot in the commercial district."
"So you broke into the temporary storage, but carried nothing out?"
"Precisely."
"And I'm supposed to believe that?"
"Believe it or don't—your call."
Though if she wanted to press any further, she'd have to actually produce some evidence.
Dang Gyu-young watched my shameless performance with a look equal parts proud and fondly amused—the gaze of a connoisseur beholding a truly first-rate thief. Jeong Chong-myeong must have arrived at much the same conclusion, because he leaned toward her and murmured:
"……Thought you said that kid wasn't one of yours?"
"He's an honorary member. An honorary thief."
With Song Cheon-hye still struck dumb, Gwak Seung-jae apparently judged this the moment to intervene, and came forward.
"Far too many items were stolen tonight to conclude that the two of you are innocent."
"Maybe so, but you just saw it yourself. We didn't take a thing."
Dang Gyu-young replied with a shrug. Gwak Seung-jae pressed on.
"Every person who infiltrated the storage has been apprehended. The stolen items must be in the hands of someone among them, and since those taken earlier have already been cleared, I trust you understand why suspicion falls on the two of you, detained last."
"Oh, I understand. But nothing turned up on us, did it? So wouldn't the proper course be to start checking everyone over from the beginning?"
Cool-headed and thick-skinned in equal measure—every inch the president of the Thief Club. At that, the Hell Ax Senior, who had been observing from a corner, cut in.
"Could they not have hidden the items somewhere along the way here?"
As in—rather than keeping them in their inventories, couldn't they have stashed them somewhere in the commercial district or the woods? But Gwak Seung-jae slowly shook his head.
"Given the timeline, they would have had no leeway to stop. And their routes of travel have already been combed top to bottom."
"Hmm……"
While the Hell Ax Senior rumbled in thought, Song Cheon-hye—sunk deep in her own deliberations this whole time—spoke up.
"I still find those two suspicious. Isn't there a possibility…… that they're concealing the banned items with some manner of item or skill?"
"What manner of skill, for instance?"
"For instance……. well, that is……"
Her words trailed off. She had no idea, of course, what skill or item would even make such a thing possible. She had come surprisingly close to the truth—only to fall just short.
Gwak Seung-jae studied her for a long moment before speaking.
"Song Cheon-hye."
"……Yes."
"Raising points from a different angle is commendable. However, at times it pays to think a little more deeply before you voice them."
"……I'll bear that in mind."
"And the more pressing question is this one. Suppose, hypothetically, that Dang Gyu-young or Kim Ho did possess such a skill. What, then, would you use to neutralize it?"
He's not wrong.
Even if they somehow learned of the Life Cube, it would mean nothing without a way to see through it. And yet Song Cheon-hye, it seemed, had thought this part through in her own fashion.
"……Couldn't we use a magnifying glass?"
"That would work, yes. But I trust you understand that the justification for it is lacking."
"……Yes, I do."
A magnifying glass was an item that, depending on its type, could inspect a target's skills, traits, or inventory information. Precisely because such information was never something to be shared lightly with others, a magnifying glass was not to be wielded carelessly either. True, we had violated academy rules and reduced the commercial district to chaos—but that alone didn't entitle anyone to demand, Hand over your skill information!
It was then that Oh Se-hun added, smiling pleasantly:
"If the parties concerned gave their consent, we could attach conditions and use it in a limited capacity."
"I refuse."
Dang Gyu-young shot it down without a moment's hesitation. Oh Se-hun nodded as though he found that entirely reasonable, then turned the question on me.
"Kim Ho, what about you?"
Everyone wore the look of people who fully expected a refusal. Even Song Cheon-hye, who had first floated the idea of the magnifying glass, didn't seem to be holding out much hope. But I took my time looking around the room before I spoke.
"If you agree to my conditions, I'll permit its use."
"Kim Ho, you can just say no. Why on earth would you allow this?"
Dang Gyu-young tried to talk me down, worry written plain across her face. There was no value whatsoever in baring my inventory over something like this—and besides, however well the banned items were hidden inside the Life Cube, the odds were good that a magnifying glass would see through it. But I answered with an easy smile.
"It's fine. Just trust me this once."
"Good grief……"
Dang Gyu-young still looked uneasy, but apparently concluding that persuasion was a lost cause, she gave up and heaved a deep sigh. Gwak Seung-jae asked:
"Let's hear these conditions."
"First, I'd like the number of eyes on us kept to an absolute minimum."
"That much goes without saying."
The magnifying glass was, after all, to be used for one purpose only: confirming whether banned items were present. There was no reason on earth to lay my inventory bare in front of a dozen-odd spectators.
"Second—if the magnifying glass comes up clean, I want you to drop the matter of the stolen items entirely."
"……"
Gwak Seung-jae traded a swift look with Oh Se-hun, then gave a nod.
"Very well. We'll consider the matter closed."
"And lastly……"
I turned my gaze to Song Cheon-hye as I voiced my final condition.
"If you seize the wrong person, you ought to take responsibility for it, no? If no banned items turn up, I'll be taking a Wish Ticket from Song Cheon-hye."
"A Wish Ticket, you say?"
"Her help with anything I need, once, at some point down the line."
Song Cheon-hye still owed me the three small Wish Tickets from our mentoring wager. But this was the so-called Major Wish Ticket—a thing of power on an entirely different tier from those. And with all these seniors looking on, there would be no feigning ignorance later.
Gwak Seung-jae turned to Song Cheon-hye.
"Song Cheon-hye. Do you accept?"
"……"
By this point, Song Cheon-hye seemed to have sensed that something about this whole affair had gone strangely sideways—but she was already astride the tiger, with no way to dismount. This was a mess of her own making; how could she tuck tail and run at this stage? If for no other reason, her pride would never allow it.
"I-I accept. The Wish Ticket."
"Good. Then let's go."
Gwak Seung-jae exchanged glances with Oh Se-hun once more, then made quick work of his incantation.
— Rumble, rumble……
A wooden door shot up out of the ground. Gwak Seung-jae took the lead, saying to me and Song Cheon-hye:
"Follow me."
"……"
"……"
Crossing the threshold, we found ourselves standing in the depths of a forest—a spot some distance removed from where the pitched battle with Oh Se-hun had taken place. Darkness pressed in from every side, and only the moonlight cast a faint glow over us. Gwak Seung-jae confirmed one final time:
"Is everyone ready?"
"Ready."
"R-ready."
There was a slight tremor in Song Cheon-hye's voice. Before long, a magnifying glass emerged from Gwak Seung-jae's inventory, flashing gold as it caught the moonlight.
"Song Cheon-hye."
"Y-yes."
Song Cheon-hye accepted the Golden Magnifying Glass and carefully raised it toward me. Her fingertips trembled—nerves, most likely. But after a deep breath, she fed her mana into the magnifying glass, and a moment later, a notification printed itself into the corner of my vision.
Failed to use the magnifying glass.
"Wha—what……?"
Song Cheon-hye's eyes went round with bewilderment. Wondering if she'd simply misread it, she tried the magnifying glass again.
Failed to use the magnifying glass.
The magnifying glass has been destroyed.
— Crumble.
Cracks split across the magnifying glass one after another, and in the space of an instant it broke apart, scattering on the wind as fine powder. Song Cheon-hye stared at the scene, stricken beyond words—then, little by little, began to sniffle.