Chapter 209: A Shocking Fact (2)

“Yeah. He planned to sacrifice his subordinates for his own scheme from the very start. In fact, he did the same thing earlier at the TV station. Once he confirmed their operation had failed, he set off a bomb, trying to kill them and cover his tracks.”

“That’s a pretty ruthless way to do things.”

“Of course, they didn’t find him at the base. That only proves even more clearly that his target had been the Holy Heir all along.”

“I see. That does make sense.”

“As for the terrorists we captured, they didn’t know the identity of the man in black—or even the details of the plan. So we couldn’t get any useful information out of them. And although Mr. Amagi and the others, along with Lord Shuke, managed to stop the plot at Flosius Palace, the culprit still got away in the end.”

“What a shame. That means we couldn’t catch any of the key people involved.”

Marquis Delance nodded, looking quite regretful.

“Still, we didn’t come away empty-handed.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

A flicker of astonishment crossed Marquis Delance’s eyes.

“Actually...”

As she spoke, Crepes Clair produced something from who knew where.

“What’s that...?”

The moment he saw it, Marquis Delance’s eyes widened.

“Yes, it’s a USB drive.”

“A USB drive?”

“That’s right. More precisely, it’s a terrorist’s USB drive.”

“No, doesn’t that seem strange? Why would you have a terrorist’s USB drive?”

Marquis Delance asked, looking baffled. His reaction was a little odd—maybe even a bit over the top—but no one else paid much attention to it.

“Miss Katsuragi found it, actually.”

At those words, everyone’s gaze naturally turned to her.

Even with so many people looking at her, Katsuragi Reimi remained perfectly calm.

“To put it simply, I found it in the room directly below the one where the Holy Heir was at the time.”

“The room directly below?”

For some reason, Marquis Delance had a lot of questions today.

“Yes. The place was practically in ruins, but I found it surprisingly easily.”

“But that still doesn’t prove it belonged to the terrorists. It could’ve belonged to someone else who was here.”

Marquis Delance offered his own theory.

“You’re right. That is certainly possible.”

“Then...”

“But there’s another possibility.”

“Another possibility?”

“That’s right. According to the people who were there, Lord Shuke nearly caught one of them as they fled. They still managed to get away at the last moment, but... we have reason to believe this may be the USB drive that woman dropped.”

At that, Marquis Delance seemed to remember something. A hint of alarm crept into his voice.

“That woman... Could it be...?”

“Yes. When the woman was rescued, the situation was so urgent that the USB drive fell from her. That would explain why it was found in the room below. In any case, they’d spent some time in that room. It was only a few seconds, but that short stay actually makes it more likely that they dropped it by accident.”

“But that’s still just a guess, isn’t it?”

“That’s a fair point. We still don’t know who it belongs to. But whoever it belongs to, there’s a good reason to check what’s on it. We can’t confirm yet that the terrorists left it behind, but that doesn’t matter. Even if it wasn’t theirs, we can return it to its owner once we know what’s on it.”

“Isn’t that making a bit too much of this? It’s just a little USB drive.”

For some reason, Marquis Delance was still trying to talk them out of it.