Ayanokouji carefully looked at the ground and found faint footprints in the muddy earth. Although some time had passed, due to the good weather recently, he could still see the presence of the footprints.
Because this was the edge of the forest and close to the barrier, generally, few people came to this place, and wild animals or Demon Beasts generally did not easily approach.
"Judging by the footprints, it's a woman about 1.4 meters tall. Looking closely, these footprints most likely belong to the girl who calls herself Meili, and she was running very fast at that time."
"How do you know?" Ram heard these words, her face full of doubt. She didn't know how the other party came to this conclusion. To her, these were just ordinary footprints.
How did Ayanokouji analyze so much?
"Generally, a person's height and the length of their footprints are in a seven-to-one ratio. Excluding the thickness of the shoes, she should be about 1.4 meters tall, similar to the Meili I saw. Judging from the shape of the footprints, they are women's boots, the distance between the steps is very wide, so that means she was running at that time." Ayanokouji analyzed.
Listening to these words, Ram's expression changed from confusion to shock. She lowered her head and looked at her own feet: "Is there such a ratio? I didn't know..."
"That's not important now." Ayanokouji continued walking forward along the footprints, and finally stopped about ten meters ahead, and continued: "She stopped here, and then the footprints changed."
He pointed to the ground, where suddenly there were large and numerous non-human footprints. There was no doubt these belonged to Demon Beasts, and there were quite a lot, but Meili's footprints disappeared.
"Was she eaten by the Demon Beasts?" Ram asked. She wasn't very smart and couldn't follow Ayanokouji's thinking.
"No, if you were faced with a threatening beast, would you run toward it?" Ayanokouji said calmly, "Judging from the current appearance, it seems that Meili joined the Demon Beasts here. She rode a particular Demon Beast and left from here together."
"Is it really possible to make Demon Beasts obedient... How is this possible?"
Ram couldn't believe that someone in this world could make Demon Beasts so obedient, but after thinking about it carefully, there was nothing wrong with it. It was the only explanation. Then she raised her head and her eyes were once again filled with anger.
At this moment, Ram who had finally calmed down, only wanted to rush into the forest immediately, catch up with Meili, and avenge Rem.
"It doesn't make sense." Ayanokouji always spoke in a calm tone, "The other party must have left last night. You can't catch her, and the terrain in the forest is complicated. How can you find her?"
As he spoke, he squinted slightly, and his gaze focused on Ram. This sentence sounded very disappointing, but it was actually to get information from Ram.
He wanted to know what special abilities Ram possessed.
❀❀❀
"So, does Ayanokouji still want to get information from Ram?"
"What a cruel man..."
"Although he has a brilliant mind, this person is very selfish."
In the evening, the students in the school café were chatting a lot.
It was now after school hours, and most of the students had left their classes for free activities. However, the students' terminals in their hands still displayed scenes from another world. Some students chose to go to the café to drink coffee and milk tea while watching the images on the screen as if watching a very popular TV series together.
At this moment, the café door slowly opened. As the bell on the door rang, Ayanokouji and Horikita entered the café.
"Shhh, he's here."
"He must be Ayanokouji Kiyotaka from Class D."
"Sure enough, he looks exactly like the one in the video. It's impossible to say he's a terrifying person."
Everyone's voices lowered by several decibels at the same time. Through the previous video, the whole school already knew Ayanokouji.
Ayanokouji ignored the gazes of the people around him and sat in a chair near the corner.
"You called me to the café. What's the matter?"
As he sat down, he placed his student terminal on the table, which still displayed the image of the other world. Even if the student terminal had no power or didn't function, the image could still be displayed.
"I want to ask you! I'm treating you to coffee today, so you have to tell the truth!"
After ordering, Horikita spoke with a serious face, her golden-purple eyes staring very seriously and intently at him.
"In your eyes, am I really just a tool?"
"It was just a video. I've said it no less than ten times today."
Ayanokouji shook his head slightly and shrugged helplessly.
In fact, he knew that the person in the video was most likely himself in the future, and his behavior was exactly the same as his own.
And what Horikita said was not wrong. From beginning to end, he never considered Horikita as his companion but as a chess piece.
However, even though he revealed his true feelings in the video, it was impossible for him to admit it in front of Horikita, otherwise, it would cause trouble for him in his daily school life.
Horikita just wanted to convince herself with a cup of coffee, but her idea was too simple.
"You swear."
She focused her gaze on Ayanokouji's calm face, looking for signs of lying. However, his face remained expressionless as before, as if his face was just a mask.
"I swear."
Ayanokouji raised his hand and said slowly that the so-called oath meant nothing to him because even if someone broke their oath, there would be no punishment. As a high school student, Horikita actually made him swear, which was really a bit naive.
But after seeing him swear firmly, Horikita's doubts about him really faded a little.
"Our coffee is ready, I'll get it!" Said Horikita, then walked toward the front counter.
At this moment, Ayanokouji was looking around with a surrounding gaze. Previously, he had always been low-key and did not want to become the focus of others' attention for no reason. Now he had become the most conspicuous existence in the eyes of others.
Others looked at him with admiration, surprise, and confusion.
But the biggest feeling was fear.
No one thought there was such a person hidden in the school. He clearly had a brilliant mind but was as cruel as a machine.
But at this moment, Ayanokouji did not care about the gazes of those people; instead, he lowered his head and looked at the terminal to see how the story would continue.
❰❱SKY SCREEN❰❱
"No, Ram can use the Clairvoyance ability that can be used by creatures with the same wavelength, and Ram can also use wind magic." Ram immediately said.
Listening to her words, Ayanokouji also had a certain understanding of her abilities. Although the other party had the Clairvoyance ability, she was not omnipotent. As he expected, there were some limitations, and he did not need to worry about being watched by Ram in the room.
"What can you do even if you chase her? Not to mention whether you can defeat the opponent, even if you kill the opponent, Rem cannot be resurrected."
"You!" After hearing Ayanokouji's words, Ram clenched her fists.
Ayanokouji continued: "The most appropriate choice now is to return to the mansion immediately, inform Roswaal that the barrier here has been destroyed, and let him fix the barrier. Otherwise, the village will be easily attacked by Demon Beasts."
Ram's expression became serious for a moment, but she quickly gritted her teeth and said: "Nothing is more important than revenge for Rem..."
"Is it okay if all the villagers die? I remember Rem had a relatively good relationship with the villagers." Ayanokouji paused before continuing, "This village belongs to Roswaal. It is an important supply station. If something happens to the village, then the mansion will be short of materials, and the village in his territory will be attacked. As the ruler, Roswaal may be blamed by the villagers. If this incident spreads, he may be taken advantage of by someone who thinks Roswaal does not have the ability to be a noble."
In the past few days, he learned that Ram was the most loyal to Roswaal in the entire mansion, so he used Roswaal to prevent her actions.
Although Ram was just a tool for him, even if she died, Ayanokouji would not be sad at all, but in this extraordinary time, he did not let his side lose its fighting power in vain, so he chose to persuade Ram so that she would not be blinded by hatred.
Ram bit her lip tightly, almost bleeding. She was very eager to rush into the forest, find Meili, and avenge Rem.
"Ram understands, let's go and inform Roswaal-sama immediately." She raised her head and said.
The scene changed, and Ayanokouji and his party had returned to the mansion.
"Ayanokouji, Ram..."
After seeing everyone return, Emilia ran out anxiously. Although Puck forcibly prohibited her from staying in the mansion, she was still very worried about Ayanokouji and the others' safety.
"Ayanokouji-sama, did you find anything?" Roswaal asked curiously.
"The barrier at the forest's edge has been destroyed. Please, Roswaal-sama, address this issue immediately! It's very important!" Ram bowed deeply to Roswaal.
Roswaal's eyes narrowed slightly: "Oh~ the barrier is destroyed? Who did it?"
"It should be a girl who calls herself Meili. She is also likely the one who cursed Rem. According to our investigation, she seems to have the ability to control Demon Beasts, and it appears that the one who cursed Rem wasn't her directly but a Demon Beast she controls." Ayanokouji added. "Meili should have fled into the forest. Felt and Rom have already investigated the village, and there shouldn't be any issues there now."
Felt and Rom, standing nearby, scratched the backs of their heads in embarrassment, thinking they hadn't done much.
"So Ayanokouji-sama, what is your next plan?" Roswaal shifted his gaze to Ayanokouji, seeking his advice.
"The top priority now is to repair the barrier as soon as possible. Considering the other party might launch a sudden attack, to prevent any unforeseen issues, we still need to investigate near the forest's edge. However, it's already late, and visibility isn't good, so I think investigating tomorrow would be a more reasonable choice." Ayanokouji said calmly, as if he had everything under control.
"Um, Ayanokouji-sama is indeed reliable, so I will go to fix the barrier first." After Roswaal finished speaking, he walked out of the mansion, using a spell like a cannonball to fly out.
Ram sat alone by the window, staring blankly outside. Her whole body seemed a bit listless. Although she was calm now, what happened during the day still had a significant impact on her.
"Ayanokouji, let's comfort Ram." Emilia whispered, seeing Ram's sadness.
"That's not necessary." Ayanokouji answered simply, without hesitation.