The Mysterious Person had retreated and the remaining monsters had been dealt with, but the situation was far from good.
The formula for a hero's victory had always been to save people, eliminate threats, and ultimately survive themselves.
In contrast, Mysterious Persons didn't care whether they abandoned their monsters or not—they were solely focused on destroying buildings and creating victims. Humans, with so much to protect, were naturally at a disadvantage.
Especially when a hero died.
There was no reason to celebrate. A gloomy atmosphere soaked the air.
The corpses needed to be handled and funerals arranged, but it was difficult to determine where one body ended and another began as they lay in grotesque disarray, creating a horrific scene.
As a hero, one might expect to face such sights someday, but when actually confronted with the unbearable, terrible scene, everyone hesitated to speak.
They all stood frozen in silent mourning.
What they offered was praise, like pure white flowers.
Though the departure wasn't good, they held hope for a better place beyond.
In a hero's heart, there is always a chrysanthemum in bloom.
Everyone prepared themselves for the possibility of having to send someone off, but naturally, no one wanted to face that moment.
Yet if they must, they would send them off with glory and praise carried on flowers.
"..."
Asrad and the other heroes bowed their heads and closed their mouths.
Both the heroes who had fought together here and those who had arrived late as reinforcements were contemplating what to do with the bodies that couldn't be moved in the heavy atmosphere.
As the unbearably heavy mood continued, making it difficult for anyone to move, something caught Asrad's eye.
"Come to think of it..."
Asrad recalled that during their final confrontation, the Mysterious Person had brought their hands together as if gathering something, then spread them open to reveal something.
The purple cubic blocks that appeared made him suspicious and confused about their identity.
Counting the cubes scattered on the floor, there appeared to be at least twenty.
It seemed excessive for the small figure's hands to have produced so many, but if they were created by magic, there was nothing more to say about it.
The issue was what to do with them.
The Mysterious Person hadn't used them for any tricks but had simply scattered them before fleeing.
Though they looked harmless, Asrad was worried about touching something of unknown purpose created by a Mysterious Person, so he just stared at them.
Asrad fell into thought.
He wasn't sure how much of what the Mysterious Person said could be trusted, but recalling their earlier words, there were several concerning points.
A traitor. Someone who had begun passing information to humanity.
If that was true, then there was a person who had switched sides to humanity.
Or was it one of the Mysterious Person's kind?
He stroked his chin, continuing to ponder.
But answers weren't coming easily.
Having just begun to consider the problem, it would be strange to suddenly arrive at a solution.
"Mr. Asrad, what are you looking at so seriously?"
Polton, who had just arrived as reinforcement and helped deal with the remaining enemies, approached and asked.
The hammer in his hand made a heavy thud as it hit the ground.
Then his gaze followed Asrad's to the cubes.
Asrad confirmed it was Polton and turned his attention back to the cubes.
Silence seemed to stretch between them, but eventually, he spoke.
"Something the Mysterious Person left behind. We should dispose of it, but I'm wondering if it's safe to touch."
"Can't we just destroy things like that?"
"But what if that's also a trap? Might be risky to interfere with it."
"I... guess so?"
Polton had spoken lightly at first, but Asrad's serious demeanor weighed on him, and he matched the gravity of the situation.
However, Polton, unaware of the context, couldn't contribute much to the thinking.
Even if you brought in a genius detective, they couldn't begin deducing anything without evidence. This was especially true for ordinary people.
Asrad, keeping Polton beside him like an assistant, thought two heads might be better than one and spoke up.
"The Mysterious Person mentioned a traitor being here. Perhaps these were meant for them? A final act of mercy, maybe."
Since there was nothing to hide—the heroes, teachers, and students present had all witnessed the same events—he could speak freely.
Polton tilted his head at those words.
"Wouldn't a traitor to the Mysterious Persons be a good thing? It means they're sharing information with us, right?"
"But it also means they were on the Mysterious Persons' side before. If someone betrayed humanity and then betrayed the Mysterious Persons again, what's to stop them from betraying us again?"
"That's true. But shouldn't we be grateful they came back? Though if this mess was caused by that 'betrayal,' that would be problematic."
Asrad groaned.
"I suppose. The Wall has been collapsing more frequently lately. Other heroes have been trying to find the reason for these anomalies, but if it's because of this betrayal—if someone is manipulating information from within—they need to be held accountable."
"So what do you plan to do with these? Not touch them at all?"
"Hmm."
Ignoring Polton's question, Asrad fell silent again, replaying the Mysterious Person's words in his mind.
Polton, frustrated by Asrad's dismissal, furrowed his brow as he stared at the serious face.
"Hello? Mr. Asrad?"
"Polton."
"Yes?"
"If the Mysterious Person dropped these to send a signal to the traitor, wouldn't they contain a message?"
"What?"
Polton didn't understand, but Asrad, unwilling to lose his flash of insight, moved to where the Mysterious Person had been standing.
However, no matter how much he looked, nothing appeared to be hiding a message. Frustrated, he looked up.
He saw heroes cleaning up, teachers and students preparing to leave, but he felt they shouldn't all be sent away yet.
"Polton, tell everyone who was here to stay."
"What? But the bodies..."
"Leave that to the reinforcements."
"Ah, I understand."
Polton couldn't comprehend Asrad's thinking but nodded and moved away, assuming Asrad had his reasons.
"I'll relay Hero Asrad's instructions. All heroes, teachers, and students who were present, please remain here! And to the heroes who came as reinforcements, I apologize, but please handle the fallen heroes."
Asrad tilted his head.
He tried to recall where the Mysterious Person had been looking and what they meant by their words.
A traitor to the Mysterious Persons. Someone who had returned to humanity but was responsible for this tragedy was inside the Academy.
A teacher? A student? Or perhaps someone who had already become a hero?
Were they repeatedly breaking through the Wall to eliminate the traitor?
If this person was troublesome to the Mysterious Persons, would it be better for humanity to protect them or eliminate them?
The Wall was designed to be easily broken from the inside but difficult to breach from the outside.
Even so, it was a barrier that ordinary people couldn't break.
So was this "traitor" someone who helped break the barrier from inside?
Or was their mere existence...
Asrad grabbed his throbbing head and shook off his thoughts.
"Heroes, teachers, students, I apologize, but I have something to say."
Clapping his hands to get everyone's attention, all eyes focused on him.
It was best to avoid overly direct or harsh words.
But since the Mysterious Person had already mentioned it, and everyone would need to verify it anyway, he spoke.
"Since this comes from a Mysterious Person, we can't blindly trust it, but if it's not just meant to sow discord among humans, we should check it out. I ask for your cooperation."
As he spoke, he felt the gazes intensify.
The atmosphere even turned hostile.
Asrad had spoken up, but he wondered how to identify this so-called traitor.
Asking if anyone recognized these blocks seemed pointless—the culprit would deny it. Yet he worried about asking people to touch them directly, fearing what might happen to everyone, including himself.
Setting those concerns aside, he continued.
"If anyone here has had contact with Mysterious Persons, witnessed such encounters, or has suspicions about someone, please let us know. This could bring peace within these walls."
Only one person was disturbed by Asrad's words,
And several pairs of eyes were watching that one person.