-651- [ To strengthen oneself ]

In the forest, a girl named Frey continued her training, focusing on gathering magic between her hands, her eyes tightly closed, completely unaware of anyone hiding around.

Under these circumstances, Yaya, Charl, and Sigmund kept their eyes on Rozen.

"Why are you so sure that the 'Cannibal Candy' won't stop the attacks?" Charl asked, perplexed, a sentiment shared by Yaya and Sigmund.

In their minds, the 'Cannibal Candy' was a random murderer, akin to Jack the Ripper, without any specific targets, wreaking havoc without discretion.

Since the last encounter where Rozen repelled the assailant, almost apprehending him, shouldn't the opponent be afraid and cease the attacks, disappearing completely? Why was Rozen so sure the assailant would strike again?

Actually, the reason was quite simple.

"Why would the 'Cannibal Candy,' possessing the strength of 'Thirteen,' target and hunt down students weaker than himself and destroy their automatons?" Rozen replied with a counter-question, raising an important issue.

This caught all three of them off guard.

Seeing their reactions, Rozen smirked.

"You surely haven't considered the 'motivation,' have you?"

Indeed.

No one had thought about why the 'Cannibal Candy' would randomly murder some students, far below his own strength, and destroy their automatons.

While others might attack fellow students within the academy to eliminate rivals or settle grudges, the 'Cannibal Candy' attacked weaker students indiscriminately. It clearly wasn't to eliminate competitors or settle any kind of enmity.

If so, what was this person's motivation?

"Is it just for the pleasure of killing?" Rozen shrugged. "I don't think so."

If the assailant were merely a serial killer seeking enjoyment from murder, they could target insignificant people outside the academy. There was no need to attack students from various backgrounds in this prestigious institution, offending so many influential forces, as well as the academy itself.

Unless...

"The assailant must have a reason to carry out these attacks within this academy."

Rozen pointed this out.

So, what was the assailant's true goal?

"It's simple," Rozen said. "Think about it carefully. What disappears after each attack?"

This question immediately caught everyone's attention.

"Students!" Yaya answered.

Yes.

During the assaults by the 'Cannibal Candy,' the students who operated automatons disappeared.

However, there was something else that vanished as well.

"Could it be referring to the magic circuits of those automatons?" Sigmund pondered and provided this answer.

"That's right." Rozen affirmed these two answers and continued, "The magic circuits of both the students and their automatons vanish. The students go missing, and the automatons get devoured. This leads to certain speculations."

After learning about the actions of the 'Cannibal Candy,' Rozen had many conjectures.

One of them was regarding the assailant's motive.

"If my guess is correct, the reason for the students' disappearance is that the 'Cannibal Candy' hides them."

Rozen explained.

"Disappearance and death are two completely different outcomes. If it's a disappearance, the sponsors behind these students might assume they couldn't handle the academy's demanding courses and ran away. If it's the latter, the corporations, institutions, and even military forces capable of being sponsors will undoubtedly intervene and pose a threat to the 'Cannibal Candy'."

Given this, the assailant needed to conceal the individuals, no matter the method.

"And deliberately devouring the magic circuits of the automatons, the reason shouldn't be merely to satisfy hunger or a morbid curiosity, right?" Rozen spoke with a cold, mocking tone.

"If my speculations are correct, then these magic circuits might be the 'Cannibal Candy's' true objective."

Rozen inferred.

At this, Yaya, Charl, and Sigmund were momentarily taken aback.

"The magic circuits are the 'Cannibal Candy's' true objective?"

How could this be so certain?

The faces of the people present exchanged glances.

Seeing this, Rozen calmly continued.

"Don't you remember the divination we just performed?"

'On a moonless, lightless night, the fangs of the demon shall gnaw upon the pearl hound, to strengthen oneself.'

When this divination content came out, what most people noticed was the front part, 'in the moonless, lightless night, the fangs of the demon gnaw upon the pearl hound.'

However, what Rozen noticed was the latter part.

"'To strengthen oneself.'"

Rozen spoke calmly.

"If we add this part, along with our confirmed target of the assailant's attacks, then the content of the divination becomes, 'In a moonless, lightless night, the entity known as the 'Cannibal Candy' emerges to attack the automaton hound of a pearl-coloured young girl, to strengthen oneself.' Isn't it something like that?"

Once this was said, the expressions of everyone changed.

Evidently, at this point, everyone understood what Rozen was trying to convey.

"According to Hinowa's divination, the entity named the 'Cannibal Candy' desires not the students, but the magic circuits within the automata of the students."

"The reason for the attack is to use them to strengthen oneself."

"And then, in all the previous attack incidents, eventually, the magic circuits of the automatons would be devoured."

"Putting all this information together, we can easily deduce, can't we?"

Rozen scanned everyone's faces one by one.

"This 'Cannibal Candy' possesses some means to enhance oneself by utilizing magic circuits."

This was Rozen's speculation.

"So, why is the other party so intent on becoming stronger?" Rozen sarcastically chuckled.

"To go to such lengths within this academy, isn't it to win at the Night Party and ultimately ascend to the throne of the Wiseman?"

Therefore, before the Night Party begins, the assailant won't stop the attacks.

Hence, the reason for targeting students within this academy is because it has the highest number of automatons and the most excellent magic circuits.

"Everyone thinks 'Cannibal Candy' is just a random murderer, but they aren't aimless killings within the academy," Rozen said calmly.

"In the end, the other party is resorting to any means necessary to achieve their goal."

That's the situation.

Upon hearing Rozen's words, the reactions of the three present were varied.

Yaya bit her lip, her face filled with indignation.

Sigmund remained silent and sighed in the end.

As for Charl, she tightly clenched her hand, her eyes burning with anger.

"Unforgivable."

Charl managed to squeeze out these words through gritted teeth.

"Absolutely unforgivable!"

This statement was clearly heard by everyone.