[17.3] Breaking into the M.I.B

I pulled out my wand and gave it a wave. Sparks flew out, but nothing else happened.

Why isn't my magic working?! This has never happened before!!

I screamed as I shook it before I finally gave up. I pushed the two aside and ran down the hall.

Cyrus shouted after me, "Wait!!"

However, I had already escaped and rushed outside.

Felix sighed, "I think we should go speak to the headmaster…"

Cyrus nodded, "I think that's a good idea."

Once I made it outside, the fresh crisp air woke me up. I waved my wand again and summoned the ice chunk.

As I flew up into the air, I grinned in triumph. "Just wait! I'm going to get to the bottom of this!!"

These dreams have to be trying to tell me something.

The original owner had to have done something bad.

Perhaps these dreams are warning me that everyone is trying to trick me into revealing it.

Maybe the police only let me go because they were hoping I would implicate myself.

If that's the case, I need to figure out what they know. If they have an excellent case against me, I have to run now, or else I won't have another chance.

I flew forward in the direction of the town. Luckily, I had a vague recollection of where the Magical Investigation Bureau was located. As I flew through the town, people screamed and jumped out of my way. However, I didn't care about them at all.

When I saw the building, I slammed to a stop and flew off from the force. I crashed into the door, barely managing to soften the impact using snow. The door was thrown open from my body and I rolled on the ground until finally coming to a stop in the middle of the building.

Everyone in the building froze and the familiars hid immediately.

I jumped up and looked around frantically. Then when I noticed everyone staring at me, I casually raised my finger to my lips, "Sh."

As I snuck down the hall to Chief Gonza's office, an officer turned to another. "Wasn't that Chief Gonza's niece?"

"I think so…"

"Should we do something about it?"

"Let's just tell Chief Gonza she's here and have him deal with it."

I made it to his office and pulled out my wand. I gave it a shake to pick the lock, only to see sparks shoot out once again. I screamed in frustration and kicked at the door. When I pulled at the handle frantically, it opened with ease.

I chuckled in embarrassment, "I guess it wasn't locked…"

I walked into the room stealthily and closed the door behind me quietly. Then, after making sure there was no one else inside, I ran to the filing cabinets and threw them open.

I looked through the papers with an eyebrow raised, "Eh? Just demon sightings!? Who cares about demons!!!"

I pulled out another paper with a portrait of a woman in red with the description: Demonic sympathizer. Highly dangerous. Possible connections to a powerful demon. Don't approach without backup.

I haphazardly threw the paper over my shoulder and grabbed another file from the cabinet. However, I couldn't find a single paper about the corpses in my dream.

Does he have my file in another place!?

Or was it really all just a dream??

"Reika? What are you doing?"

I answered absentmindedly, "I'm looking for the corpses!!!"

"...The corpses?"

"Yes! The corpses! I keep seeing them in my dreams and they won't let me sleep! Maybe I just need to find them and burn them or something!!! I don't know!"

I paused.

...Who am I talking to?

I turned around to see Chief Gonza with a forced smile, "What corpses?"

I jumped up and pointed at him, "You!!! You have to know! I know you know!!"

He shook his head quickly, "I really don't know…"

"Don't lie to me!!" I grabbed his shirt to threaten him, but because I was half his size, it only looked pitiful. I growled, "Tell me the truth!!"

He tilted his head in confusion, "What corpses? Tell me more about them and maybe I can help you."

I chuckled darkly, "Oh… I bet you'd like that."

He blinked completely at a loss, "Reika… I'm very confused…"

I let him go in irritation, "Don't act dumb! I know you are working against me in order to take me down! All of this was just to get dirt on me and throw me in jail! Admit it!!"

"Reika… I'm not going to throw you in jail…" He thought for a moment before speaking, "Does Aldrich know you are here?"

I threw my hands and stomped over to his filing cabinet to kick it, "Why does everyone keep bringing up that snowman!? He must be behind this!!"

Chief Gonza forced a smile as he watched me beat up the poor innocent cabinet, "Reika… Are you not getting enough sleep?"

I looked at him with frayed hair and massive bags under my eyes, "...What gave it away?"

He motioned me over and I stepped over suspiciously. He held out a small bottle, "Here."

I glanced at it without taking it, "What is that?"

He sighed and held out his hand. A few circular pills were dumped from the bottle, "These are magical supplements that will help you sleep."

I frowned and looked at him critically, "Or it's poison."

He made a hurt expression, "You think I would poison you?"

"I don't know you. I don't know what you're capable of."

"Then what if I take them too?"

I hesitated, "...That may work."

He smiled and took two. Then held out two to me which I took. As I swallowed, I watched him carefully while I tried to figure out if I did the wrong thing or not.

He stood up and motioned to me, "Come follow me. I have a hidden spot here where I like to go to nap or to relax."

He led me upstairs to an abandoned floor with just a single locked door. He unlocked the door using magic and opened it up, revealing a room with a table stacked with papers and a single beaten-up couch. I went to the window and squinted at the dust.

I raised an eyebrow, "Doesn't anyone clean in here?"

He cleared his throat awkwardly, "I… I really only clean the couch…"

I glanced at the couch which was covered with papers and trash, "Right…"

I guess messiness runs in the family.

He quickly went to the couch to clean it up, "Heh… This is… Let me just clean this really fast."

My eyes glanced around the room, "Do you live here or something?"

"Not… Technically."

"Ah. So you're a workaholic."

"..."

I mumbled under my breath, "Guess that also runs in the family."

My eyes stopped on the far wall filled with hundreds of newspaper clippings, portraits, and strings laid out along the board. I could see scraggly notes on each portrait, some saying "suspect" and others saying "cleared" or "person of interest". It was like a board straight from a crime show.

My eyes stopped on a small portrait of a family. There were two boys who were only a few years apart, standing in front of two parents. The husband was smiling warmly, but the wife had a frosty look on her face. Likewise, the two boys seemed to reflect their parents' expressions. One smiled and the other glared.

Around the picture were the words: 'Never forget'.

I leaned close to it and squinted, "Is this… You and the Headmaster?"

He paused and forced a smile, "Ah. Yeah, that's us as children."

I glanced across the board, "Are you looking for someone?"

"Someone or some group…"

My eyes stopped on another newspaper clipping.

Isn't that the image of his parents?

The headline read: "Investigators dead after discovering the location of an ancient demon"

I tilted my head, "Ancient demon?"

Chief Gonza gently grabbed my shoulders and pulled me towards the couch, "Ignore that. Just take a nap. I will be downstairs in my office if you need me."

I watched him with cautious eyes as he covered me in the disappointing excuse for a blanket. As he left the room and shut the door, I felt my eyes close.