ODD 9

Chapter 9

“If the Cores have disappeared, doesn’t that mean the Central Neodymium’s power has weakened?”

“That would be the case. When I asked why they didn’t report something so important, they said they thought the Cores could be found. Besides, Headrons were classified information to begin with.”

Aidan shook his head several times as if it were a headache.

“And then they said — but the neodymium is still functioning properly, so it doesn’t matter?”

“That’s insane.”

“It’s complacency. It’s been eighteen years since the gates disappeared. They probably think it’ll never happen again.”

Even so, that’s no excuse. If something like this happens, shouldn’t it be reported to the higher-ups immediately?

“So here’s the thing.”

I met his clear, refreshing eyes.

“Today, we’re going to investigate the Cores. Cores don’t have legs, so this is probably a theft case.”

“You’re not suspecting my father, are you?”

“Even if I suspected him, I couldn’t announce him as a suspect. You’re the only one who remembers Ashford.”

That’s still suspicion, isn’t it?

“Why would my father do such a thing! What would he even do with a Core!”

“That, I don’t know. But why gates appear, what’s beyond the gates, the identity of those monsters — none of it has been uncovered.”

“So what.”

Sharp words flew out of my mouth without meaning to.

But wasn’t it natural?

My father was being suspected as a thief — there was no way kind words would come out of my mouth.

“That’s why I’m saying — I’m not telling you to suspect him blindly. It’s just that a person’s existence disappearing from everyone is absurd. Something that can never be proven scientifically. And yet, the Cores happen to not be of this world.”

“…You’re saying that whatever made Father disappear from this world might be the work of the Cores?”

“Yes, that’s it. Whether your father intended it or it happened by accident, I don’t know. But I think that’s the most likely possibility.”

A Headron that emits frequencies. A Core extracted from that Headron.

“If Father disappeared because of the Core…”

I turned my head toward the window.

We certainly don’t know anything about the gates.

“Can we… find Father?”

All we know about the gates is that they close with magnetic fields. Was it even possible to bring Father back?

“Nothing’s been confirmed yet. That’s why we’re here.”

Just then, with a rattling sound, the door opened.

“Come on, let’s get out.”

The knights guarding this place bowed politely the moment they saw Aidan.

“Young Master Winslow, we received advance notice. Do you need a guide?”

“No. I don’t need one separately. I’ll call if I need help.”

“Yes.”

So he’d given them advance notice that we’d be visiting today.

Aidan walked as if he’d been here several times, and I bowed briefly to the knights before hurrying after him.

“Wow, this is incredibly imposing.”

“Is it.”

He seemed indifferent, but I looked around eagerly, filled with curiosity.

Normally, neodymium is a black tower shape.

A massive black pillar with four corners extending vertically upward.

Unlike ordinary towers, however, the pillar soaring as if to pierce the sky grows narrower toward the top, forming a sharp spire.

But unlike regular neodymium, the Central Neodymium had four black pillars forming a square outer wall, and inside that, progressively smaller pillars repeated in the same pattern.

The pillars grew lower as we moved toward the center, until at the very middle, they were only waist-high.

“This is said to be the space where the Core was placed.”

The black pillar at the center, unlike the other neodymium, had a flat top — truly a rectangular pillar — and at its center was a round groove.

“Was the Core in this groove?”

“Yes. It was designed so it couldn’t be removed by ordinary force, but somehow they took it. They evaded the eyes of the knights stationed all around and vanished with it — so they must have been incredibly skilled.”

I knew well that the “skilled person” he spoke of implied my father, but for now, I pretended not to notice and examined the groove.

“Can I touch this?”

“Yeah.”

Having received permission, I carefully ran my hand over it. As I traced around the groove, subtle marks invisible to the eye met my fingers.

“What’s wrong?”

“When I touch here, I feel a strange texture.”

“Really? I haven’t heard any report about that.”

“It’s not visible to the naked eye, so maybe no one thought to touch it.”

As soon as I removed my hand, Aidan took off his gloves and carefully touched the edge.

“…I see. There are quite a lot. It seems these are traces from when the Core was removed. I should have them investigate these black marks.”

“No, you don’t need to. These black marks are definitely my father’s.”

Invisible to the eye, yet thin as thread — these black marks.

No one in the empire except my father could leave traces like this.

Did Father really steal the Core?

Why?

“I see.”

Aidan answered calmly, as if he’d expected it.

“Let’s look a bit more.”

We examined the Central Neodymium from various angles.

We checked all thirteen neodymium pillars one by one, but the only one with black marks was the one at the very center.

“They gave it the grand name ‘Central Neodymium,’ but it’s really just multiple regular neodymium placed together.”

“Right. With the Core that connected and amplified all these magnetic fields gone, it’s no different from ordinary neodymium.”

He sighed and shook his head.

“As expected, there don’t seem to be any particular clues.”

“How about asking the knights?”

At my suggestion, Aidan nodded.

“Hey. Let me ask you something.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

A knight quickly approached.

“Has anyone suspicious ever approached this place?”

“Goodness, no. If there had been, we would have reported it immediately. That’s why we’re frustrated too.”

“How far do your regular patrols go? Do you come inside this far?”

“Of course. We check the entire neodymium every thirty minutes.”

“All of you?”

“Of course not! As you can see, we operate in teams of five, so two guard the entrance and three patrol inside.”

There was no negligence in security.

I called up the date Father had last visited this place.

“Then did anyone come on April 18th of this year?”

“Uh, let me think. That was months ago… I’ll check who was on guard that day.”

He ran off somewhere, and after some time passed, he returned with another man.

“This man was on guard that day.”

The man who came with him bowed and spoke of what happened that day.

“That day, I heard something from the back. But everyone else said they heard nothing.”

“Didn’t you check yourself?”

“I went toward where the sound came from with another person, just in case, but there was no one there either. Everyone said I must have heard an animal. Actually, squirrels and rabbits do appear here sometimes.”

“Which direction did the sound come from?”

“Toward the neodymium in the center.”

“Was the Core there that day?”

“Yes. The day the Core disappeared was June, as stated in the report.”

A few days before the academy graduation ceremony, the Core disappeared.

“All right. You may go now.”

The two bowed and moved to resume their guard duty.

“In the end, all we’ve learned is that the one who took the Core was my father — nothing else.”

“With all traces except the diary gone, it’s strange to think we’d find things easily.”

He answered indifferently.

Was that so? Was it strange?

I don’t know anything anymore.

In the end, what did Father do with the Core?

Why did he collect them? What was he trying to do with Cores that increase magnetic force?

I searched my memory, but there was no mention of Cores anywhere in Father’s diary or work logs.

“Anyway, the fact that the Cores are gone will be reported to the Emperor.”

“Right, there’s no helping that.”

Even if Father is the culprit, others can’t know right away.

Once Father returns, we can sort it out somehow.

“After that, a special investigation unit for the Cores will be formed.”

“An investigation unit?”

“Naturally, you and I will be that investigation unit.”