Bonus chapter thanks to @taelrak and @Gingerth3gr8 from Ko-fi!
Frondier lowered the 3D map he had created so everyone could see it.
The horizontally floating map depicted all the elevations and terrain, including mountains and valleys.
Everyone stared at it blankly. Some even compared it to the materials they were holding.
Confirming that everyone’s attention was focused, Frondier spoke.
“Then I’ll explain.”
“No, no, no, no. Wait a minute.”
One of the pros raised his hand and stopped Frondier.
The man pointed to Frondier’s 3D map, the Obsidian.
Frondier shook his head.
“It’s not important to the operation.”
“Huh?”
“Let’s just say it’s my ability. It won’t harm you.”
At those words, another man gave him a suspicious look.
“Does that mean you can harm us if you want to?”
“Yes. Just like your swords, magic, and aura.”
“Are you kidding me right now?”
The man was enraged by Frondier’s words and stood up, but…
“Hey, that’s enough.”
He was stopped by another man.
“Do you go around blabbering about all your secret tricks? When you’re not sure when the enemy will acquire that information or who among them will become your enemy?”
“…No, that’s not it, but.”
“At least that child has shown us the ‘appearance’ of his hidden weapon so far. To help us with our operation. We should be grateful.”
At his words, the man scratched his head in embarrassment and sat down again.
No pro reveals all of their tricks or abilities.
This applies to both enemies and allies. Information can leak out in any way, and leaked information can come back to bite you at any time.
Therefore, asking about Frondier’s Obsidian was actually crossing the line. They had inadvertently underestimated Frondier because he was a student.
“Then I’ll explain.”
And Frondier opened his mouth again.
“First, this is a collection of locations where people have been infused with Mana.”
Frondier waved his hand once, and the Obsidian flew up and landed on the map again.
Small black droplets floating on the map indicated the locations. It was easy to understand at a glance.
“…You’re not saying you remember all the sighting information so far, are you? And you’re controlling this black liquid one by one based on those memories?”
Someone else asked a question to Frondier, who was manipulating the map without hesitation.
Frondier tilted his head slightly and said,
“It’s roughly similar.”
“…Unbelievable. I can’t believe it.”
“Whether you believe it or not is not something I can control. I’m just here to explain.”
Of course, the reason Frondier could accumulate all this information was because of the power of the ‘Workshop’.
But he couldn’t explain that. The Workshop was also the core of Frondier’s abilities.
But if he didn’t explain, they wouldn’t believe him. And explanations without trust lacked persuasiveness.
Therefore, Frondier added one more sentence.
“Many of the materials you have received so far will be false information.”
After saying that, Frondier picked up one of the materials.
“For example, this. It’s quite detailed information about the victim, but it’s false. This person isn’t even on the victim list, and they were reported to have been seen in the central part of the continent on the morning of the incident. The locations are too far apart for them to have been witnessed and then become a victim. It’s a place that’s difficult to reach even if you drive in a straight line.”
Saying that, Frondier picked up the victim list and one sighting report and showed them the three sheets.
The others reviewed the materials as they listened to Frondier’s explanation. As Frondier said, it was definitely fake information.
“This kind of false information is not simply a mistake or misunderstanding in the report. If it were, the witness and the victim wouldn’t have the same name.”
“Then what does this false information mean?”
This time, it was Azier who asked. It was a question to help Frondier’s explanation flow smoothly.
“Someone is combining real information randomly to create fake information. There’s a high probability that they’re among you here.”
“…!”
The tension in the conference room rose at Frondier’s words.
Another man asked,
“No, how can you be sure it’s one of the people in this conference room? We’re not the ones making the reports, are we? We’ve been busy investigating with our respective teams!”
It was a seemingly plausible objection, but Frondier shook his head.
“This kind of crude data, made by combining random names and place names, is filtered out by headquarters first. The fact that this kind of data has reached the conference room means only one thing.”
Hearing those words, Philly smiled brightly and clapped her hands lightly.
“They inserted the false data between the time the data was filtered out at headquarters and the time it arrived at the conference room!”
“Yes. Perhaps when the data was being transferred to the conference room, or after it was transferred. Either way, it’s something that couldn’t be done by anyone other than the people here. One or two could be passed off as a mistake by headquarters, but I’ve already found more than 20.”
Of course, Frondier had found far more false information than that, but there were about 20 that were easy to identify as false in case a pro asked him to verify them.
“In other words, whether you believe me or not is not my role. You’ve been verifying the authenticity of the data here from the beginning. My explanation is just one of the many pieces of data that have been poured out to you.”
At Frondier’s words, they were all finally ready to listen. They had been a little flustered after seeing the amazing sight of the ‘3D map’ right in front of them.
However, if they thought about it carefully, Frondier wouldn’t think much of the 3D map since he created it, and his explanation might not have much meaning either.
So let’s not be surprised. There’s no need to be surprised…
“Now then, I’ll omit the information that has been judged to be false from the sighting information you are looking at.”
“What? How can you…”
Someone opened their mouth again unconsciously, then quickly closed it when they realized.
Swoosh-
When Frondier withdrew his hand, this time the black droplets on the map decreased. It was a considerable amount at a glance. However, the remaining sighting locations were also significant.
This meant that this incident was not just false information, but something that was actually happening simultaneously in many areas.
“…Um, Frondier, was it?”
The man who had been quietly looking at the map, the one who had defended Frondier earlier, opened his mouth.
“Yes.”
“To me, even with the false information removed, the overall shape of the main branches seems similar.”