"But what good are these clues? Alas, it's been so long, that person must have vanished long ago..."
Arataki Itto sighed. This red-haired kid had analyzed so much with such limited clues, which was indeed impressive, but it seemed useless. The person drinking with the Fatui Harbinger must have already fled.
"That's not necessarily true. I've investigated briefly. This Delusion production factory only has two exits: the main entrance and this back door..."
Kazuha Kaedehara slightly shook his head, a confident smile appearing on his face.
"According to the information I've gathered, you all attacked from the main entrance, defeating all enemies you encountered. Therefore, the suspect absolutely could not have left through the main entrance..."
"The only escape route left is this secret passage behind the back door. However, beyond the secret passage is a wide-open tidal flat with nowhere to hide. If he weren't too stupid, he wouldn't have chosen that path!"
Putting himself in the suspect's shoes, Kazuha Kaedehara imagined the scene: while toasting with the Fatui Harbinger, he heard a report from a Fatui soldier that the Raiden Shogun had broken in.
In his panic, his options were few. If he retreated from the front, he would have to face the Raiden Shogun directly, which was likely a dead end with a less than 0.000001% chance of survival.
If he retreated through the secret passage at the back, and if he was lucky enough not to be discovered, his survival rate would be 20%.
"I went to the beach outside the back door secret passage and found no signs of hiding..."
Feng Yi added in a timely manner.
"I can attest to that too! I was chasing the Fatui Harbinger to the beach, and I was just a little bit away from catching that Harbinger. Unfortunately, he still managed to escape in the end..."
Arataki Itto looked regretful. That was 500,000 Mora! Although he had come to terms with it now, every time he thought about it, he felt like he had missed a great opportunity.
"In the detective world, there is a famous saying: 'When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.'"
"Since all possible escape routes for the suspect have been ruled out, there is only one truth: the suspect is hiding somewhere in this Delusion production factory!"
Kazuha Kaedehara said with firm conviction, this was his detective's intuition.
He looked at Kujou Sara, his unspoken meaning was clear: cleaning up the Delusion materials could wait, but they must not let this big fish escape!
"Pass down the order. Captains, lead your Shogunate soldiers to set aside their current tasks and immediately search all rooms in the factory, every corner, and every place where a person could hide!"
Although Kazuha Kaedehara was young, he possessed not only boundless imagination and meticulous logical reasoning abilities but also detective intuition that amazed others.
Whenever a crime occurred, while his colleagues were still relying on experience to find a direction, he would cut in from an unexpected angle and then pursue the correct answer, achieving considerable success.
It was precisely because of their trust in Kazuha Kaedehara's detective skills that Kujou Sara immediately ordered a search of the entire Delusion production factory, in an attempt to apprehend the elusive suspect.
Everyone sprang into action, leaving no corner of the Delusion production factory unsearched. Even passing mice were stopped and thoroughly questioned.
The person hiding in a cardboard box in the corner of a room watched the Shogunate soldiers pass by, his heart filled with panic, praying that the barrier set up by the Fatui Harbinger would not fail at this moment!
His name was Hiiragi Dawei, a collateral descendant of the Hiiragi family of the Kanjou Commission. He was ordered by the head of the family to deliver a batch of precious crystallized bone marrow and bring fine wine, planning to discuss further cooperation with the Fatui Harbinger.
However, before he could fully enjoy the drinks, he suddenly heard that the Raiden Shogun was attacking.
As the Fatui Harbinger retreated, he set up a hidden barrier in the corner of the room for Dawei to hide in, allowing him to sneak out later when an opportunity arose.
Facing such a crisis, Hiiragi Dawei felt powerless. His mind began to replay memories of the past few days like a movie.
If heaven gave him another chance, he would not have taken this mission even if he were beaten to death.
Half an hour later, the search outside concluded. The Shogunate soldiers seemed not to have discovered his hiding place. Hiiragi Dawei rejoiced silently and let out a heavy sigh of relief.
"Lord Kujou Sara, the Delusion factory has been thoroughly searched, and no anomalies have been found."
A Shogunate captain glanced at Kazuha Kaedehara, thinking to himself that even such a genius young detective could make mistakes.
Upon hearing the captain's report, Kujou Sara did not immediately make a decision but turned her gaze to Kazuha Kaedehara.
"That's not right. If escape is impossible, then hiding is the only option. But why can't we find him?"
Kazuha Kaedehara frowned, muttering to himself, rubbing his chin as he re-organized the information he had gathered.
But the result of his re-organization remained the same...
This was the first strange situation he had encountered in his many years of detective work.
"This is damned frustrating! Did he break through space and fly away? Or did he use some unknown method to conceal himself?"
Kazuha Kaedehara complained, finding supernatural powers to be too unscientific and greatly increasing the difficulty of his investigations.
"Wait... Heizou, you've reminded me. Illusions? Secret arts? Concealment? Let me take another look!"
Feng Yi, upon hearing Kazuha Kaedehara's mutterings, suddenly thought of how Scaramouche had dealt with Arataki Itto earlier. He had set up a small illusion trap, blinding Arataki Itto's senses, making him mistake a large rock in front of him for Scaramouche.
So, by the same logic, could Scaramouche, who was proficient in illusions, use a larger illusion trap to blind everyone present?
Making them subconsciously ignore a certain area?
Considering Scaramouche's personality of toying with people's fate, Feng Yi felt this scenario was highly probable.
Using such a method to trick the entire Tenryou Commission's search team might be a form of entertainment for Scaramouche.
With this thought, Feng Yi condensed his spiritual power into his eyes and used an immortal technique to break through falsehoods, observing the direction and speed of the elemental particles drifting in the air.
"Found you!"