"Hey."

Whoosh

"Huh?"

Suddenly feeling a tap on his shoulder, the puny human felt something strange as he turned around.

"Who?" He muttered as he looked at the person in front of him.

It was a guy who was a little taller than him. Looking at his attire, it seemed like he was also a criminal.

"Do you need anyth...? Huh??" The puny human tried to talk naturally, but midway through his sentence, he realized why he was feeling strange.

"Black and white?"

Frowning, he looked around his surroundings to ensure that he wasn't mistaking, but no, he wasn't mistaking.

"Color blindness?" He muttered in panic as he looked at the guy in front of him.

"What did you do to me? Why do I only see black and white?" He asked.

The reason he was feeling strange was because the color in his vision had disappeared. He finally realized it when he was focusing on the guy in front of him.

"Relax; this is my ability." The guy said this as he took his hands off the puny human's shoulder.

As soon as he did so, the color in the puny human's vision returned as he felt a sense of relief.

"Sorry, but I have to do this." The guy said this as he placed his hand on the puny human's shoulder.

'...What a strange ability...' The puny human thought as he looked at the color suddenly disappearing. The time was passing as usual, but the color was gone.

"...And who are you?"

He didn't really want to know.

He had an idea about who he was, and he had a very bad feeling about it.

"I'm Officer Ray, from the south district."

He said this as he extended his other arm for a handshake.

--

Inside the inner section,

"...so you learned this from someone." General Ameri said as she looked at Tinman, who was nodding his head.

"I see," she muttered.

After questioning him, she learned a few things about him.

He used to be able to talk.

He can't take off this armor.

He didn't know who that creature was, and they didn't talk.

He had never heard of sign language before.

He can't disclose information regarding who taught him.

And he was here for murduring three people.

Clack

The door to the room opened up as the two guards returned with a pen and the document in their hands.

"General." They handed it to General Ameri as they just stood there.

Taking the document, she read through it.

"Homem Lata, a former soldier who, after returning from the battlefield, started working as a security guard for his hometown, suddenly killed three people... It says you had gone crazy being far from an environment that didn't have war." She said this as she looked at Tinman.

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"This description on your document sounds suspicious. Do you want me to look into it?" She asked as Tinman raised his head.

"But General, Senior is responsible for his supervision." One of the guards butted in.

"Not anymore, since he is dead." General Ameri spoke as she kept her eyes on Tinman.

"What?" The guards said it at the same time as they tried to process her words.

"Senior can't be-"

"The creature from before killed him before coming here," General Ameri said.

The two guards looked at each other in shock.

"T-then shouldn't we go after her?"

"She has already left the prison. I have contacted the superiors regarding her, so calm down." She replied.

"What do you say? You served the army; this is the least I can do." She said this as she waited for Tinman's reply.

...Shook

Tinman shook his head as he denied the proposal.

"Are you sure?" She asked.

Nod

"...Ok, as you wish. You two proceed with his transmission. It was handed to you by Senior; it's the last thing you can do for him." General Ameri said:

The two guards saluted her as she left the room.

Clack

--

'So let's say this.'

'When I first arrived here, I was mistaken for a spy; it worked out for me, and I went along. It can be classified as my extreme luck. But this...' The puny human thought as he looked at the real Officer Ray in front of him.

"And what did you want from me?" The puny human asked as he shook hands with him.

Judging from the way the real Ray was presenting himself, he guessed that he hadn't figured him out yet.

"Well, you are also a spy, right? As soon as I arrived here, I started gathering information, but I also had to unite with others, so I was just searching for you all." He said.

'...there it is again.' The puny human thought as he frowned. After some thinking, he finally opened his mouth.

"Can you tell me how you guessed I was a spy?" He asked as Ray stared at him with confusion.

"Why are you asking such an obvious question?" He said this as he tilted his head.

"Just answer." The puny human replied as Ray went silent for a bit but still replied,

"Your mana. Since you were keeping them loose, I could recognize you by your mana."

'I don't know if you are bold or just stupid, but keep doing what you are doing. It will help all of us.'

As the puny human heard the reply, he remembered Brent's word from earlier.

'...So that's what he meant.' He thought as he looked around.

'Due to the mana blocker, the criminals here must be unable to see, sense, or use mana. And since I am boldly keeping them loose, the spy, who can also use mana, can see me and recognize me as their own.' He thought everything made sense.

"Hello?" Officer Ray called out to the puny human who had gone silent.

"Oh, then, can't you find others by looking for their mana?" He asked as Ray became more confused.

"That's a bold move. Even a stupid or very strong person would think twice before doing that." Ray said as the puny human nodded his head.

'...not like I can do anything about it.' He thought.

Even after being aware, he couldn't do anything. He didn't know how to.

"So, where are the others?" Ray asked.

As the puny human heard the question, he went silent for a bit.

"..." Ray just stayed silent as he patiently waited for a reply.

"I also don't know about that." He replied as he secretly smiled.

'Since this much has already happened, why not take advantage of it?' He thought as he looked at Ray, who was tilting his head again in confusion.

"Well, we split to investigate on our own. We are not meeting with them any soon." He said it as Ray made a face of understanding.

"Oh. Then, what should I do?" He said this as he looked around.

"About that." The puny human quickly replied to him as he raised his hand.

"I want your help regarding my investigation." He said this as he pointed at a group of criminals.

"I am gathering information from that group. I can do this on my own. What I need your help with is something else. Can you help?"

He said this as Ray looked at the group that he was pointing at.

When he looked, what he saw was some criminals talking to each other.

'Is that the boss?' Ray thought as he looked at an individual within that group. He was tall and had brown hair, and the scar on his eyebrow made him look the scariest in that group.

"Ok. I can help." Ray said as the puny human didn't hide his smile anymore.

"Thank you."

He said with a pleasant smile while thinking, 'He fell for it.'

What he pointed to wasn't a group at all; it was just Brent questioning the criminals.

'It's thanks to him looking that scary.' He thought as he lowered his hand.

'But he hasn't seen me yet?'

Confused, the puny human looked at Brent, who seemed completely unaware of his presence.

'Shouldn't he be able to sense me by now?' He thought as Brent had done it before when he mistook him for Ray.

'...is it his ability?' He thought as he looked at Ray and his hand, which was still on his shoulder.

"So, what is it that you were asking?" Ray said as the puny human nodded his head.

"Wait a minute."

He said as he tried to take something from his cloth.

--

"Hey, where have you been?" Brent came running as he finally spotted the puny human.

"Uh, I was just walking around trying to gather information." He replied as he looked at Brent.

"Sigh. Next time, if you disobey my command, you will regret it." Brent threatened as the puny human raised his hands.

"I won't do it next time." He said.

"...then, let's go to Beth; she has found some important clues." Brent said as he started walking while dragging the puny human.

"Wait, you don't have to grab my hand like I'm a child; I will follow."