The Lowest-Ranked Hero Has Returned

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Chapter 150: The Cadet Disappearance Case (4)

Within Hero Academy, there was a cafe known for its outdated interior and remote location, making it an unpopular spot among cadets.

In that secluded cafe, the dull thud of a loud noise was accompanied by the thick groan of a man.

“You piece of crap! Didn’t I tell you to get serious about finding them?”

I kicked Berald, my face twisted with anger.

“Agh! Agh! I’m sorry, boss!”

Berald was curled up, taking a beating.

‘Oh, right.’

Suddenly, I remembered that Senior Sophia seemed to have a crush on Berald.

I stole a glance in her direction.

She seemed to think he deserved it, as she sipped her coffee calmly, flipping through documents without a word.

‘Whew.’

I let out a short sigh and returned to my seat.

Berald cautiously picked himself up, still glancing nervously in my direction.

“Make sure you investigate properly.”

“Ahem. Y-yes, I understand.”

Berald nodded, then returned his focus to the documents.

“Hmm.”

He reviewed the victim list with a serious expression.

“Hm?”

As he looked through the files, he tilted his head.

“Boss! Look at this!”

“Now what?”

I mentally prepared myself for yet another nonsensical idea from him.

“The number of Stigmas on each victim is nearly the same!”

“The number of Stigmas?”

“Here, look. There are three cadets with the Sun God’s Stigma, three with the Star God’s Stigma, and three with the Sea God’s Stigma.”

“…Hold on.”

When I counted the Stigmas of the 20 victims, as Berald had said, they were mostly grouped in threes—except for the Earth God’s Stigma, which had only two victims.

‘This isn’t a coincidence.’

The number of cadets bearing each divine Stigma varied naturally.

Due to genetic factors, the Stigmas were more likely to pass down within certain lineages, and the Stigmas of “less mainstream” deities, like the Moon God or Forest God, were relatively rare.

In my case, the Forest God’s Stigma was so uncommon that there were fewer than 30 cadets with it in my year.

Yet here, the number of victims with each divine Stigma was oddly balanced.

‘They’re intentionally matching the numbers.’

So that meant—

‘If this pattern holds, the next target is….’

The next likely target would be a cadet with the Earth God’s Stigma, which had only two victims so far.

“Nice work, Berald.”

Narrowing down the target gave us a valuable lead.

“Haha, how about that? I can be useful when it counts!”

Berald puffed up with pride, his nose in the air.

I stifled a laugh at his expression.

“Even a broken clock is right twice a day….”

“Huh? How can a broken clock be right?”

“...Never mind.”

I gave up on explaining and turned my attention back to the victim list.

‘So the next target is likely a fourth-year cadet with the Earth God’s Stigma.’

The problem was that the Earth God’s Stigma was among the most common, and with nearly 150 fourth-year cadets having it out of a total of 500, that didn’t narrow things down much.

‘I need something more specific to identify the next target.’

“Hmm….”

As I continued looking through the documents, Senior Sophia spoke up.

“I found something. A clue.”

She spread out the victim list in chronological order.

I reviewed the cadet information in sequence, but no obvious clue stood out.

“There’s one piece of information recorded incorrectly.”

“What is it?”

“The cadet’s overall ranking.”

She scanned the list and explained.

“The rankings on this list are from last year. I ranked second in the overall evaluation last semester, but here, I’m listed as third.”

“…So the rankings haven’t been updated since last semester.”

That made sense.

Cadets typically couldn’t access others’ rankings, so it would take time for the records to be updated.

“Updating the rankings to last semester's positions… looks like this.”

Senior Sophia rewrote the rankings for the cadets on the victim list.

“But, Senior, how do you know everyone else’s scores?”

Cadets were supposed to only know their own ranking.

Though people occasionally found out who was in the top ranks, no one would memorize every rank from first to last among nearly 500 cadets.

“I once saw last semester’s rankings when I was helping the professors.”

“Wait… you memorized all of them after seeing it once?”

I looked at her in disbelief, and she tilted her head as if wondering why it was strange.

“Why? It’s not hard, is it?”

“…….”

Oh, right.

This was just the kind of person Senior Sophia was.

As I suppressed a wry smile at the thought, Senior Sophia pointed to the victim list she’d spread out.

“The first victim in this case was Erica Jung, ranked 438th.”

“Then there was Darian Vigilio, ranked 387th.”

“And next was Hollis Buto, ranked 273rd.”

By now, I could see what clue Senior Sophia was referring to.

“The culprit is targeting cadets with increasingly higher rankings, right?”

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“Exactly.”

She nodded.

‘So they’re going after higher-ranked cadets one by one.’

I turned to her with a question.

“The most recent victim’s rank?”

“7th. Bertran Jean, a cadet from the Republic.”

“So they’re likely targeting someone ranked in the top six next.”

“Most likely, if our theory is correct.”

A fourth-year student.

One of the top six in the overall rankings.

A bearer of the Earth God's Stigma.

With all this information gathered, we could predict who would be the next target in the “Cadet Disappearance Case.”

“Following these conditions… the next target the culprit will aim for is likely Laios Ryu.”

Laios Ryu.

Grandson of Lionel Ryu, the current principal of the Hero Academy, known as the "Thunder God."

True to the Ryu family lineage, he bears the Earth God's Stigma and, despite the fierce competition among his exceptional fourth-year peers, holds an impressive fourth place in the rankings.

“L-Laios is the next target?!”

Berald repeated, his face showing genuine shock.

Senior Sophia shuddered slightly at Berald's face suddenly close to hers and quickly turned her head, responding.

“Y-yes. If our assumptions are right, then the next target is Laios Ryu.”

“Oh no. Brother being a target…”

Berald trailed off with a worried expression.

Even if he didn’t get along particularly well with Laios, they shared the same family name, "Ryu," and were ultimately part of the same clan.

I lightly patted Berald on the shoulder and said,

“Hey, even if he does get targeted, it’s not like he’ll vanish forever. He’ll just pass out for a few hours and wake up, so don’t worry too much.”

“Ah, that’s true.”

Berald sighed with relief, nodding as he grasped the situation.

Then he struck the table enthusiastically with a determined smile.

“Alright then! Now that we know who the next target is, let’s pool our ideas and brain-break a plan to catch the culprit!”

“Brainstorming, not ‘brain-breaking.’”

Why would you want to break your head, idiot?

“Anyway, I already have a method in mind to catch the culprit.”

“Ah! As expected of you, brother!”

“Well, it’s nothing too fancy.”

I gave a sly grin, looking back at Berald and Senior Sophia.

“If we want to catch a fish, we’ll need some bait, right?”

“…You’re planning to use Laios as bait?”

“Exactly. We attach a tracking magic device to him in advance and wait until the culprit makes a move.”

“Hm.”

Sophia crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes thoughtfully.

“It’s a good idea, but… how do you plan to attach the tracking device? Knowing Laios’s personality, he won’t cooperate willingly.”

As Senior Sophia said, there was no way Laios Ryu would willingly help us out.

After all, we knew plenty about his personality from his previous scuffles with Berald.

But.

“You don’t have to worry about that part.”

I smiled and placed my hand on Berald’s shoulder.

“With Berald’s ‘magic,’ attaching a tracking device is no big deal.”

“Really?”

Sophia looked at Berald with interest, eager to see what kind of magic he would use.

* * *

The next day.

Near Laios’s dormitory.

Berald and I, both wearing masks, exchanged glances.

“You finished the voice alteration, right?”

“Yes.”

Berald nodded, and a different, unfamiliar voice came from his mouth.

We hid at the dorm entrance, waiting silently for about ten minutes.

Then we saw Laios walking out of the dormitory.

“Let’s start.”

Quietly, I began to follow Laios, giving Berald a quick glance.

The first move was mine.

“Phew.”

Berald’s Martial Arts.

Wind Step.

I approached Laios in a flash, immediately deploying a containment spell.

A modified version of the magic-suppressing barrier I’d used before.

It was a barrier that blocked all magic within a certain range.

Of course, it had a critical flaw: even the user couldn’t use magic within it.

But that didn’t matter.

Because we had a hero who could use ‘magic’ without mana.

“What… what is this?”

Perhaps he sensed the sudden disruption in his magic.

Laios looked around in confusion.

Just before he could escape the barrier, Berald charged at him.

“Hmph! Who are you…?”

“Silent!”

“Ugh!”

Berald struck Laios on the nape, silencing him.

Laios clutched his neck, choking, and Berald followed up with another strike to the back of his head.

“Sleeep!”

Thwack!

With a dull thud, Laios collapsed on the spot.

Berald looked down at the unconscious Laios and raised a triumphant thumbs-up at me.

I quickly approached Laios and slipped the tracking magic device into the pocket inside his uniform.

Senior Sophia, who had been watching the entire scene unfold, was staring at us incredulously.

“…Magic?”

She narrowed her eyes, baffled, clearly unable to comprehend what she had just witnessed.

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