Chapter 84: Necklace

Ephnel accompanied Yanase Takuma in collecting data at the stadium.

After gathering data at the site of Ephnel’s battle with the Apostle, they traversed the stadium in the direction Yanase Takuma had calculated and arrived beneath a building.

Yanase Takuma glanced at the computer screen, then looked up.

“It’s up there.”

Ephnel followed Yanase Takuma’s gaze and found that the place he was pointing to was her own preparation room.

She frowned slightly but said nothing.

“Let’s go up.”

The third floor was the level where the preparation room was located.

The preparation room was the place where Ephnel met Yukina, who was in Sync with “Fifina.”

It was also the place where Ephnel finally made the decision to abandon her past and confess everything to Yukina.

After that, her relationship with Yukina had moved forward in a delicate and bumpy way, until last night.

Ephnel hadn’t returned here since the battle ended, but she hadn’t expected to be standing in front of the preparation room door again after only three days.

Three days could be long or short, and Ephnel just felt a little dazed.

But there was no doubt, as long as it was what her sister liked, what her sister wanted, then she didn’t care what happened to herself.

“What is this place? Why are there so many of your posters on the wall?”

At that moment, her mother, Yanase Kaoru, looked around and suddenly asked.

“This… is my preparation room before the performance, and also my break room…”

“No wonder…”

Yanase Kaoru didn’t seem to have any particular thoughts about it, merely sighing with emotion before putting down her briefcase.

The door to the preparation room had long since been damaged, hanging askew from the frame.

The glass in the hallway and on the opposite side was already shattered, scattered across the floor.

The furnishings and items inside showed no signs of being touched by the investigators, still in the same messy state as last time.

Due to the site being sealed off, no one had even come to clean up here.

And ordinary investigators wouldn’t deliberately focus on this place; the focus of their investigation was on the secret passage that Yukina had opened and the area where Ephnel had fought the Apostle.

“Let me see if I can find anything…”

Yanase Takuma squatted down on the spot, opened the briefcase in his hand, and his fingers tapped on the keyboard.

Just then, Ephnel’s phone suddenly rang.

The caller ID showed Masaki Hinaki.

“Commander?”

Ephnel was a little surprised.

She had just left the organization’s headquarters and now she was receiving a call from Masaki Hinaki.

Could it be that her parents’ matter had been discovered?

“What’s wrong?”

Her father cast an inquiring gaze.

Ephnel thought for a moment, shook her head, and said, “It’s nothing, Dad, Mom. I need to take a call first.”

“Go ahead.”

Although Ephnel didn’t know why Masaki Hinaki would suddenly call at this time, she knew that with Masaki Hinaki’s personality, she would never do such a thing unless it was something important.

She didn’t know if it was related to her parents’ work, but in any case, she had to confirm it.

So Ephnel didn’t delay.

She took a few steps back, not going far, and stood by the broken door panel to answer the call.

“This is Ephnel.”

“Ephnel, you went to the United Hospital yesterday, didn’t you?”

On the other end of the line, Masaki Hinaki got straight to the point, asking at a rapid pace.

“Yes, I did.”

“You were probably there to see Nishizaki Yuuki, right? Was she still at the hospital when you left? What was her mood like at the time?”

“Nishizaki Yuuki?”

It wasn’t about her parents, but about Nishizaki Yuuki.

This made Ephnel feel a little relieved, but also confused.

Although Nishizaki Yuuki would occasionally do jaw-dropping things for her experiments, Masaki Hinaki had never bothered with such trivial matters.

What was going on today?

A bad premonition arose in Ephnel’s heart.

With some suspicion, she answered honestly, “She seemed perfectly normal when I saw her yesterday. I even spoke with her before I left. After that, I got on the elevator, and I don’t know what happened after.”

“Is that so… Ephnel, I have to tell you some unfortunate news…”

Masaki Hinaki’s grave tone made Ephnel frown slightly.

“What… happened to her?”

“Nishizaki Yuuki has gone missing, along with Uzuki Saori and Shiina Rin.”

As Masaki Hinaki’s words fell, Ephnel was stunned.

“What did you say? Missing? Since when?”

“Yesterday evening,” Masaki Hinaki replied.

“According to the hospital’s surveillance, Uzuki Saori went to her office after you left. Then, they left the hospital together with the unconscious Shiina Rin. After that, it was as if they vanished. We can’t find them on any street surveillance or anywhere else. We’ve tried many ways to contact them, but we can’t get through. I think they’re intentionally avoiding us.”

“How could this be…”

“Ephnel, not many people know about this right now. You know that Shiina Rin is currently a ‘Numbered One’ who must be kept under surveillance, and her condition is still very unstable. Her leaving our surveillance is a very serious matter for the organization. And Nishizaki Yuuki’s actions of bypassing the organization to issue a discharge permit and take Shiina Rin away is also a major issue that cannot be ignored. To put it seriously, her career could be ruined over this.”

Masaki Hinaki said seriously, “Of course, I believe in her character. She would never do something like this. The investigation into this matter has officially begun, and an investigation team has been dispatched to the hospital. I’m calling you to ask for your help. You are more familiar with both Nishizaki Yuuki and Uzuki Saori than I am. And you were one of the last people on the scene. I hope you can assist in the investigation and provide me with any clues you think are valuable.”

“I…”

Ephnel was contemplating something when she suddenly heard her father exclaim from behind her.

“Kaoru! Look, I found it! This is undoubtedly a preserved ‘trace’!”

Yanase Takuma excitedly placed the briefcase on the ground and called over to Yanase Kaoru.

Ephnel looked over at the sound and saw her father half-kneeling on the ground with an excited expression.

After hastily putting on his gloves, he carefully picked up a box from the floor.

“That is…”

Seeing the familiar small square box, Ephnel’s pupils constricted slightly.

That was the thing Saori had given her, saying it was a gift from Shiina Rin, and had specifically told her not to open it right away.

At the time, Ephnel had placed it on the table, and after the battle happened, she had completely forgotten about it.

Yanase Takuma carefully opened the box.

Inside was a gray, crystal-like object with a chain attached to it.

It was a necklace.

…