The first video was surveillance footage from a hallway. The resident of Room 303 walked out, and then, three hours later, he walked back in, returning to Room 303.
The face was correct. The build was correct. Everything matched the characteristics of the Room 303 resident.
The second and third videos showed identical situations. The residents left their rooms, and then returned exactly three hours later.
The only strange thing was that the times they left their rooms were almost exactly the same, with a margin of error of only a few seconds.
It was as strange as if they were being manipulated by something.
Looking at the three videos sent by Director Xu, Jiang Yuening thought for a moment, then chose to return to Room 606.
She took out the teardrop-shaped blue gem and said calmly.
“Transformation.”
Brilliant azure light points swirled around Jiang Yuening. A Magic Circle resembling a clock’s dial and markings enveloped her, placing her at the center of the clock.
After touching her Magic Fairy and reciting her Transformation Phrase, Jiang Yuening completed her transformation into Sapphire.
“Wow~ Dear Contractor~ Are we playing detective today?! I can’t wait!”
“Quiet, Dice.” Sapphire tapped the head of the cat-like creature. “I have a question. Can you sense the presence of Magic Power in this room?”
“Hmm? Didn’t you guys recently invent a Magic Power detection device? Why bother me with something so simple?”
“Less talk. Is there or isn’t there?”
Sapphire directly lifted Dice by the scruff of its neck, showing it the scene as she questioned it.
Threatened like this by Sapphire, Dice instantly became much more docile.
It looked seriously at the scene and gave a definite reply.
“Um… it seems there really are traces of Magic Power here, but they didn’t last long.”
“So, traces of Magic Power really did appear here, but they disappeared quickly, right?”
“Yes, meow. And the total amount of Magic Power used by the other party was also very small, meow. So small it wouldn’t even pose a threat to a normal adult human, meow.”
As it said this, Dice deliberately added a cute “meow” and waved its paw at Sapphire, trying to earn a reward from her.
But Sapphire completely ignored its request for extra snacks. Instead, she frowned and confirmed with Dice again.
“You’re saying there’s no threat?! How is that possible? Three living people disappeared from their rooms. Why would there be no threat?”
“That, I don’t know, meow. I can only infer the past situation based on the residual Magic Power at the scene,” Dice said honestly. “I’m hungry, meow. I want a small Pure Shard.”
“…Help me check two more rooms. I’ll give you one after that.”
“Really?! Okay, meow! No problem, meow!”
Having received Sapphire’s promise, Dice’s voice became urgent, and even the frequency of its bouncing in mid-air increased.
Dismissing her transformation, Jiang Yuening took out her mobile phone and informed Director Xu of the information she had obtained.
Then, she went to Rooms 303 and 505 and had Dice perform on-site analysis again.
The answer she received was unchanged. The residual Magic Power content at the scenes was still similar.
Hearing Dice report this news, Jiang Yuening pursed her lips, then took out a small Purification Shard she had saved and fed it to Dice.
Dice jumped up in delight, ate the shard, then stood on Jiang Yuening’s shoulder, indicating that she should come to it more often for such good things in the future.
Jiang Yuening didn’t reply. She closed her eyes, standing near the doorway, thinking over all the details she had gathered from her investigation.
After a moment of silence, a gleam flashed in Jiang Yuening’s eyes, and a bold idea suddenly formed in her mind.
“Dice! Can I use Magic Power to create a creature that looks similar to you?!”
“Huh? You, what are you planning to do with my appearance?! Have I offended you?!”
“It’s just a metaphor! You only need to answer whether such a thing is possible!” Sapphire didn’t explain, urging instead.
“Well… it’s possible, but given your current level of control over Magic Power, I’m afraid you can’t achieve that level yet.”
After thinking for a moment, Dice gave its opinion.
Having received Dice’s reply, the conjecture in Jiang Yuening’s heart was verified. The corner of her mouth unconsciously lifted slightly as she pressed Dice further.
“Then to what level do I need to reach to directly use Magic Power to generate a creature with an appearance like yours?”
“That… you’d need to reach at least half the level of the creature using Magic Power in that room.”
“Half?” Sapphire’s brow furrowed tightly.
“Mhm, yes, half,” Dice confirmed. “The other party is a master who has reached the pinnacle in the use of Magic Power. How could you possibly compare, given how recently you debuted?”
“Older than my debut? So it’s a Shadow Beast with intelligence?”
Jiang Yuening sighed and rubbed Dice’s furry little head with her hand.
After hearing the girl’s words, Dice blinked, then instantly realized something was off and hurriedly said.
“Dear Contractor! Don’t call me out when you go to fight this time! I’m scared of dying, meow! I don’t want to be anywhere near a Shadow Beast that’s been active for who knows how long!”
“Can’t you have a little backbone? We haven’t even met the other party yet, and you’re already thinking of deserting.”
“Not my fault, meow! Even though I won’t die, I really don’t want to experience the feeling of my body being torn apart!”
Dice looked at Jiang Yuening with pleading eyes, begging her again.
Faced with her Magic Fairy’s act of raising the white flag, Jiang Yuening had no choice. She could only stroke Dice’s belly and reply.
“Alright, alright. I won’t call you out for this fight. You can stay safely in the Battle Suit.”
“Thank you, meow!”
“By the way, since this Shadow Beast is so powerful, it should be able to use Magic Power to sculpt a form resembling us humans to deceive everyone, right?”
“Well… it can. But Magic Power isn’t omnipotent. A fabricated illusion has no fingerprints and no vital signs. A normal human would know something was wrong at a glance.”
“Good. Thanks for the addendum, Dice.”
Having obtained another important piece of information from her Magic Fairy, Jiang Yuening opened the three videos sent by Director Xu again for a second confirmation.
Good. Entering and exiting the hotel and rooms didn’t require fingerprint verification, and there were no other citizens passing by late at night.
If the three people who returned to their rooms were all illusions fabricated from Magic Power, then everything made sense.
Why did they mysteriously disappear from their rooms, and why were there residual traces of a small amount of Magic Power in the rooms where they disappeared?
Because the ones who returned to the rooms weren’t living people at all, but illusions fabricated by this unknown Shadow Beast.
So clever.
Not only did it utilize its power that defies common sense, but it also took advantage of people’s habitual thinking, leading citizens who were unaware of Magic Power’s existence around by the nose.
If she weren’t a Magic Girl, unaware of the existence of Magic Power, she probably would have been led astray by this creature’s actions, wondering if these people had suddenly died and their bodies were hidden in the rooms, which was why no traces were found.
Fortunately, she was the Magic Girl, Sapphire.
Many of the current suspicious points had been answered. Some unnecessary testing work could be omitted now.
The most crucial thing now was to find out where these missing persons had gone.
Tch, have to watch the footage again…
Why does it feel like doing investigative work these days is all about dealing with video footage and cameras all day long?
Jiang Yuening couldn’t help but complain in her heart.