I started with a detailed analysis.

 

If it had been just me and Pinkbales, things would have been a little tricky. I would have had to use the academy or the Purple Magic Tower’s research lab, or I would have had to rob a nearby artifact shop to buy a lot of magic stones.

 

However, there was a Magic Tower Lord here. I held out my hand like a doctor asking for a scalpel and said,

 

“Magic Tower Lord?”

 

“Yes, here.”

 

Snap. The Magic Tower Lord held out his hand.

 

The Magic Tower Lord is close to being a walking power plant. It’s not for nothing that I grew up drinking the Magic Tower Lord’s yawns. I clasped his hand and held it tightly.

 

I received an unimaginable amount of magic power and built an artificial brain on the spot. A hologram image that looked like a mannequin’s head was projected into the air.

 

I transferred the illusion magic that had been implanted in the boy’s head to the artificial brain and played it back. Based on the flow of magic power and the feedback from the artificial brain, I figured out the specific effects of the magic.

 

This is an illusion magic that works on the subconscious.

 

1) It prevents the victim from noticing that they have been affected, 2) it makes them obey commands, and 3) it forces them to commit suicide if they are discovered by others.

 

After hearing my explanation, the Magic Tower Lord said as if he had remembered something.

 

“…Hypnosis app?”

 

I was shocked. How do you know that?

 

“What kind of comic book have you been reading?”

 

“No, I just, happened to see it when I was passing by!!”

 

I should censor the modern map I left in the Magic Tower. I had copied everything I had seen and heard in my previous life, and it seemed that the curious Magic Tower Lord had seen things he shouldn’t have.

 

The analysis results so far show that it is an ordinary hypnosis app.

 

Up to this point, even an ordinary wizard could figure it out if they put in enough time and effort, but there was something… something cleverly twisted in the magic. Was it a hidden function?

 

What kind of trigger does it react to? Visual images? No. Sound? That’s not it either. I’ve checked all five senses⋯⋯ Time? It reacted to the passage of time. I accelerated the passage of time that the artificial brain felt by hundreds of times.

 

Thump thump. The artificial brain’s perceived time passed by about a week.

 

Just as a tightly closed flower bud blooms over time, the twisted part unraveled and the hidden fourth function was activated. The artificial brain began to pray to someone in a trance-like state.

 

And it muttered information that was encrypted and compressed. Let’s sort it out.

 

“…So, people who have been hit by this hypnosis app. They regularly leak information somewhere every week.”

 

“…”

 

It was a magic that turned people into CCTVs. The overall level was quite high, and the hidden part was so difficult to figure out that even I wouldn’t have been able to do it. Who the hell made this?

 

Pinkbales, who had been listening beside me, also had a grim expression on his face.

 

“I didn’t know there was such an illusion magic. Can anyone in the Purple Magic Tower use this magic?”

 

“No, most of them can’t. Even I took about six months to complete it at Zero Base… It would take a talented illusionist at least a year.”

 

Pinkbales asked me to pursue it, and I honestly told him my opinion. This was a serious matter.

 

It was still unknown how many people had been affected by this magic, but if it could be used on a petty thief like the boy, then it was possible that it had spread to a wider range than we thought.

 

In other words, there were a large number of spies of unknown origin operating in the imperial capital. Without even knowing that they were spies.

 

Pinkbales pushed up his glasses.

 

“I don’t think this is something I can just report on my own. I’ll report it to my superiors and go to the Purple Magic Tower for an inspection.”

 

“Oh, rather⋯⋯ I hope you do. I, I don’t want to be suspected of anything unnecessary⋯⋯.”

 

The Purple Magic Tower Lord also nodded obediently. And he added.

 

“B, but it won’t be inside the Magic Tower. I, I… definitely. I erased it all, cleanly. There’s nothing like this in the research that’s currently going on inside…”The groping voice of the Tower Master contained trust in the purple Tower members. Rather than firm belief, it was a tender trust that was closer to “please don’t let it be.”

 

It was heartbreaking, but I had to put a dent in that optimistic thought.

 

“But, Tower Master. This is.”

 

“Yeah…”

 

“Doesn’t it resemble the magic of the senior with the facial scar?”

 

“…Ro, Rolay’s magic?”

 

The Tower Master’s eyes widened in surprise. Pink Valleys opened her notebook and wrote it down with a pen, asking again for confirmation.

 

“Are you referring to Rolay, the ‘puppet’?”

 

“If he calls him the senior with the facial scar, then it must be Rolay… Why, why do you think that?!”

 

“The basic framework of the magic is exactly the same. I’ve read the senior with the facial scar’s thesis. However, I’m not saying that the senior is the culprit. The framework is similar, but the completed result⋯⋯ seems to be a mixture of this and that.”

 

“Ge, get out of the way. I’ll check.”

 

The Tower Master put the artificial brain on the floor and kicked it. Crack, and the illusion magic shattered. The halo scattered, and the broken fragments of magic power rolled on the floor.

 

Feeling the familiar framework in the sensation, the Tower Master crouched down in a depressed expression.

 

“This is, really Rolay’s…”

 

“Let’s dig a little deeper. If our research data has been leaked to the outside⋯⋯ I think it’s something that we should actively address in the Tower dimension.”

 

“Ye, yeah. If it’s, if it’s been leaked. We have to, we have to erase it all…”

 

“…”

 

I closed my eyes gently. Purple Tower. It’s where I spent half of my life. I couldn’t remember the name, but I remembered the memories I had with them clearly.

 

It wasn’t pleasant to suspect people I had known for a long time. It was an unpleasant feeling.

 

Even more so if it was the Tower Master. I patted the Tower Master’s shoulder quietly, as if to comfort her. However, she slowly pushed my hand away.

 

“I’m fine.”

 

Shake.

 

Along with that one word, something ominous swayed faintly beyond the Tower Master’s pupils. It was like anger, or sadness… a form of determination. If a sin has blossomed, I will reap it myself.

 

That appearance, like a huge meteorite that had been floating in space finally falling down. To the appearance of that powerful force moving with will.

 

I think I felt a little creepy.

 

—- —-

 

I needed to find the caster first.

 

First of all, I decided to identify the magic as ‘Big Brother’.

 

‘Big Brother’ is magic. In any form, the caster exists, has cast, and has walked. And in our hands, we had a victim who had been hit by the magic. If you remember the appearance of the caster, the work will be solved easily.

 

Extracting an image from a person’s head and making it 3D is an easier task than eating. Even if it just passed by faintly, if there is even a piece of information left somewhere in the brain, I can extract it.

 

However, the world is not that easy.

 

“I, I really don’t remember being hit by anything like that.”

 

“I am Yuri Lancaster, an agent of the Imperial Defense Agency, and I have an unlimited murder license to investigate dangerous individuals of level 2 or higher. Think carefully and answer again. You don’t know anything?”

 

“…”

 

At the ominous words that ‘if you’re kidding, I’ll really dig into it’, the boy pickpocket froze blue without being able to groan. I waved my hand to stop Pink Valleys.

 

“No need to press further. He really doesn’t know.”

 

“Confirmed.”

 

“Instead, you… come with me to where you live. I need to look around your living area. If you just listen to what I say, there won’t be any damage to the people around you.”

 

“…Yes, sir.”

 

I walked into the alleyway with the boy in front.

 

I don’t remember being hit. There are two possibilities. Either he’s a veteran who can erase other people’s memories, or he’s under a hypnosis spell without knowing it.

 

I lean more towards the latter.

 

The reason is that it’s really difficult to naturally erase someone’s memory. If it’s difficult for a genius like me, it would be just as difficult for anyone else.

 

The human mind and memory interaction in a complex way. Even erasing a seemingly insignificant memory can dramatically change a person’s personality. And that’s something that’s easy for people around them to notice.

 

If I were to erase evidence, I would choose the cost-effective method of disguising it rather than the complex and difficult method of erasing memories.

 

“Why don’t you develop such magic and deliver it? Then you wouldn’t have to worry about research funds.”

 

“If that were easy, I would have been working with the Defense Agency long ago.”

 

If that had happened, wouldn’t it have become a cyberpunk city?

 

Magicians who manipulate people’s minds, agents who protect the city in the dark, and a skinny emperor… This is just session material.

 

But when something that should only happen in a session happens in reality, my head gets a little dizzy. It’s not a good feeling to suspect people I know, and I’m worried about when the Defense Agency will investigate the Purple Magic Tower.

 

There are quite a few research materials that are a bit difficult to show to others.

 

“Um, Pinkbales. Would you mind investigating my room?”

 

From Noble mtl dot com

 

“What… Do you have a record of human trafficking?”

 

Pinkbales looked at me with a doubtful expression. She looked like she was wondering how far she had to cover up, so I quickly added an explanation. Not that kind of embarrassment.

 

“It’s not that. When you get past your passionate teens, you inevitably get into it…”

 

“That interesting sounds.”

 

I was afraid of how other agents would look at me if they investigated. Fortunately, Pinkbales was interested. It seems that I won’t need to develop a ‘shame suppression’ spell.

 

Even in the capital of the glorious empire, there were shadows.

 

I walked into a dirty, dark alley hidden behind the bright and bustling streets. It was a place where ordinary citizens never set foot. I looked around.

 

It didn’t seem that chaotic or serious. There were no signs of corpses lying in the streets or people dying standing up from drugs. It seemed to be under some kind of management.

 

Also, it was relatively wealthy. Even though it was a den where the poor lived, it was the ‘imperial capital’s’ poor. The people seemed to be in good nutritional condition.

 

In the darkness, a few pairs of eyes gleamed. They were peeking out through the cracks in the windows and doors, watching us. Vigilance and identification of outsiders.

 

There is always some kind of order in places where people live together, but most of these places look more like the wild than society.

 

What happens when another herd of animals invades a territory in the wild?

 

“Hey, this isn’t a place for outsiders to wander around.”

 

“Hmm, classic.”

 

“…Don’t get into trouble for nothing and get lost.”

 

A bald punk came out and threatened me. He didn’t have a club, and he looked pretty and spoke politely for his appearance. It seemed that he was being careful because he knew that the party was a party.

 

The Magic Tower Lord snapped his fingers anxiously.

 

“Sh, should we just leave it…”

 

“I’ll handle it, Magic Tower Lord.”

 

Among the beasts of the wild, it is important to establish a clear hierarchy. If I make it clear that I am far above them, they will not dare to show their teeth.

 

I could intimidate them by saying that I came from the Magic Tower or that the beautiful woman in the tight suit next to me is from the Imperial Defense Agency, but… The process of proving that would be complicated.

 

With power that works everywhere.

 

I flicked a gold coin.

 

“…Just this kind of thing.”

 

I flicked a jewel.

 

“I don’t know where you’re from…”

 

I flicked a large ruby.”My lord. Just give me your orders, and I’ll guide you wherever you wish.”

 

A large amount of money is a form of identification in itself. Of course, I’m not a real noble… but the mage next to me is a real noble, so it’s not entirely wrong.

 

Pakpak. He took the ultimate submissive posture. I turned on my arrogant noble mode and waved my hand slowly. Pink valley quickly noticed and matched my pace.

 

“The mage you hired ran away, and we are tracking him down, but…”

 

“Don’t bother me, you fool. I won’t ask for your help, and I’ll investigate it myself. If anything breaks, I’ll pay you double, so tell your group to shut up.”

 

Pakpak bowed deeply and disappeared into the darkness. For a while… they won’t bother me. I patted the back of boy, who was thinking about casting ‘I don’t know you, my lord’ even at this late hour .

 

“Let’s go. Do your usual routine. Where do you sleep, which route do you take when you wake up in the morning, where do you eat, and so on. Just like that.”

 

“Yes, sir…”

 

Male muttered and turned into the back alley. From the place where the children who had learned pickpocketing lived, to the place where they paid their dues, to the path they usually took. I even followed them to the bathroom.

 

I looked around, but there was nothing special. This… should I just blow up my magic and do a wide-area scan? Or should I invite Niole from the academy and ask him to investigate?

 

While I was thinking about how to do it, Pink Valleys grabbed boy and asked him.

 

“Is there anything else special? Think carefully. There must be a place you visit regularly. In any form.”

 

“That, that… well, ah. We have a prayer meeting every week.”

 

“You should have said that from the beginning!”

 

Anyway, I have to check everything before I make a decision!

 

—- —-

 

It was said that the forces of the underworld changed as quickly as the seasons. The time before last, the Red Viper gang ruled the back alleys, and the time before that, a wealthy merchant entered the underworld business and wielded his influence before disappearing in a flash…

 

For a pickpocket boy at the bottom of the hierarchy, such power struggles were a distant story. The life of a pickpocket did not change because of the people above them fighting with swords and fists.

 

Only the people who collected the money changed from time to time.

 

If someone else came into the pickpockets’ den and said, “From now on, you will pay your dues to us,” they would nod and accept it.

 

However, the force that began to dominate the back alleys about a year ago was a little different from the previous forces. This was because it had a slightly religious aspect to it.

 

Once a week, they held a prayer meeting in the central square they controlled. In the middle, they placed a stone statue of an unknown person and instructed people to pray to it for anything they wanted.

 

According to boy’s description, the stone statue depicted a figure of indeterminate gender. He said that its face was badly damaged, giving it an eerie feeling.

 

At least it didn’t seem to be a statue of a goddess. Statues depicting goddesses definitely have breasts.

 

Anyway.

 

If you failed to pay your dues, you would get beaten up, but if you missed the prayer meeting, you would be punished severely. They gave you a verbal warning, and…

 

There was a friend who couldn’t go to the prayer meeting because he had a cold, and he ended up disappearing.

 

I listened to this story and prepared quietly my magic. It may be prejudice, but no matter how I look at it, it smells like a black magician. Pink Valleys must have felt the same way, because he was loosening up.

 

I had a premonition of a battle.

 

As expected, as soon as we entered the central square under boy’s guidance, a large number of people were ready to welcome us. Their eyes were all turned upside down, showing how much they wanted to welcome us.

 

The number… is about 70.

 

Did they gather to drive out the outsiders? Or are they just trying to have a warm-up?As I watched how they would come out, a middle-aged man with slicked-back hair aimed at us through the twisted window.

 

“You guys have been doing too much.”

 

The latter. It really couldn’t be a kind neighborhood.

 

I also noticed the bald guy who had taken the jewels in the middle. I should take them back after the battle is over.

 

If I had been alone, I would have run away. It was a dangerous situation where I could be hit by a surprise attack if there was even a black magician in the middle.

 

However, there was a master tower spear on this side. It was the strongest spear that could overturn everything if necessary. It was reliable.

 

Pingbales, a master of hand-to-hand combat, was also guarding me.

 

So what can a wizard do with a solid vanguard and insurance for contingencies? The answer is simple.

 

I took out three bottles of potion from my robe pocket and scattered them on the floor, chanting. The red, blue, and green potions mixed up and spread out along the ground.

 

The magic devoured the space and locked it up, and doors appeared on the surface of things. From ordinary wood to iron bars, all kinds of doors that humans could imagine. The chanting was complete.

 

“A thousand doors, a thousand stairs, no place for eyes, no place for mind. ‘Stepping on the Door and Ascending to the World’.”

 

Almost everything.