"I am not sure myself."

The Section Chief replied honestly.

"We were all there. We… we saw what happened to you. I thought you'd lost your node, just like everyone else. Worse than that, I thought you were dead, and well…"

The Section Chief's lips tugged into what could only be called a wry smile as his gaze dropped to the papers resting on the bed.

"Somehow, you only came out with these injuries. I say only, but considering everything you went through, I suppose it's fair, wouldn't you say?"

"Haha, right...

Kyle scratched the side of his face, only for him to stop as he suddenly recalled what he wanted to say to the Section Chief.

He looked at the Section Chief with a hesitant expression.

"About Seth..."

"He's currently detained at the BUA. The Guild Master has also been brought into the headquarters."

The Section Chief replied honestly, his expression turning a little bit more serious.

"The Guild Master?"

"Yes."

The Section Chief replied as he set the papers aside, leaning back in his chair and crossing his legs. "They're interrogating him about what happened during the incident. I don't know how clearly you remember it, but it was during the moment he chose to side with Seth. They just want to understand why he made that decision."

"Oh, right."

Kyle had a sort of idea of what he was talking about. His memories weren't perfect, but he could still recall that much.

'If I don't remember wrong, I also did push for it...'

"There's no need to worry about the Guild Master. He's going to be fine."

"But what about Seth?"

"....."

The Section Chief fell silent a moment after.

Kyle's heart sank at the sight.

At the same time, he sat up.

"Section Chief, I don't know what you know, but Seth is definitely innocent. You... must get the BUA to contact me. I can testify for him. I... don't know exactly what happened, but I am certain that my body was taken over by a sort of entity. Seth... He's innocent. He was just trying to—"

"I know, I know! Stop talking!"

Pushing Kyle back onto the bed, the Section Chief cut Kyle off.

Massaging his forehead while mumbling, 'You've just woken up from a coma, and you're already worrying about Seth.'

With a big sigh, the Section Chief brushed his hair back.

"Regarding Seth's situation, you don't need to worry too much. As I said before, I'm aware of the circumstances. The entire Bureau is. I don't know exactly what happened, but after the Jester was eliminated, something changed. The memories of several people changed. No... that's not quite right. You could say their original memories of the events returned."

"Returned?"

Kyle blinked a couple of times, struggling to follow along.

"Think back to the events that occurred within the Gate. Try to recall your moments with Seth."

Blinking once more, Kyle did as told, and in that same moment, his eyes widened as he looked at the Section Chief.

"That's not all. The footage we previously believed to be accurate has also reverted. And it was through that footage that we finally noticed the discrepancies in what we once thought was true."

"In that case..."

"Yes, it's very likely that Seth was aware of what was going on, and he was actively trying to stop it while the entire world was against him."

"....."

Kyle took a deep breath, trying to force his expression to stay composed as he looked at the Section Chief.

However, despite his best attempts, he was doing a very bad job at it as he found the entire situation to be unbelievable.

To some extent... It was unbelievable.

The Section Chief was essentially saying that not only was Seth going up against a terrifying Gate of the SS Rank, but he was also doing so while fighting against the top members of the entire world?

Make it make sense!

"Although I can't be completely certain, it seems Seth was working with the Jester right up until the very end. I don't know what kind of entity he was actually fighting, but…"

The Section Chief paused, taking a deep breath. His expression gradually darkened as his thoughts sank back to everything that had happened, and his tone turned heavy.

"For something to deceive so many of us… I can only hope this was a one-time occurrence. Because if it wasn't…"

He trailed off before finishing quietly,

"…I don't see much hope for us at all."

***

BUA Headquarters.

Following the events in Malovia, the entire Bureau was thrown into chaos. From dealing with reporters to compiling damage reports and calming public outrage, the Bureau found itself buried under a mountain of responsibilities.

It had been quite a long time since they had been busy to such an extent.

"Haa..."

A long sigh slipped from Jensen as he stared at the pile of documents in front of him, one hand lifting to scratch the back of his head in frustration.

"I don't think I'll be able to get done with these anytime soon. Don't tell me I won't be able to sleep for the next week or so?"

Pinching the middle of his brows, Jensen considered quitting on the spot. Although the pay was good, he had enough savings to retire.

"Yeah, maybe I should ret—"

CLANK—!

Just then, the door to the room opened, and a cold, authoritative voice followed from beyond the threshold.

"No, not on my watch."

"Haaa..."

Jensen sighed again, his head lowering in exasperation as he turned back.

"Why are you doing this to me, manager?"

"Because the bureau is in need of talented people like you."

Patting Jensen on the shoulder, Rosanne's clear blue eyes briefly caught onto the numerous papers on the table.

She licked her lips briefly before turning her gaze away, pretending to miss them.

Jensen opened his mouth, but eventually gave up.

There was no point.

In fact, there was even a chance of her adding to it.

Rosanne wore a light brown coat that matched her curly brown hair perfectly as her eyes moved over every detail. The room itself was simple: a plain window set into the wall, a large metal desk positioned at the center, and several chairs arranged around it.

But despite the plainness of the room, this was no regular room.

"How is he doing?"

"He's doing alright as of now. As things stand, he didn't sustain a lot of injuries. They were mainly superficial."

Jensen replied, walking up to her and staring at the window before them. The two of them stood in silence, neither speaking a word as they stared at the window.

Eventually, Rosanne turned her head to look at Jensen.

"It looks like he's finally waking up. Do you want to take it?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Not really."

"....Ah, fuck."

Jensen covered his face, trying his best to suppress his groan. In the end, he could only shake his head before walking back to his desk and grabbing several papers.

"Although I have a rough idea of the entire situation, I still find him to be suspicious. We both saw what happened. I don't—"

"Get on with it. Stop trying to procrastinate."

"Tsk."

Clicking his tongue, Jensen glared at Rosanne's back before heading towards the door.

His expression turned sharp.

'Suspicious. He's definitely suspicious.'

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