An outcast dropout, surviving on the frontier and rising to become an S-ranked counter-magician.

Sherry was currently stationed in front of the base, along with the other first class anti-magicians. The orders were abstract, don't let anyone out........ An order she couldn't understand, yet she couldn't disobey the instructions from above. And she felt uncomfortable about it. It was the concentration of too strong magic element in this first ward city. Until now, she hadn't been able to sense something like this. And yet, the current Shelly had that feeling, albeit vaguely.

''Hey, what are today's orders...''

I wonder... I wonder...

The anti-magicians around him were talking about such things too. It wasn't just Shelly. Other humans were also feeling uncomfortable. Besides, there was another concern. That was the fact that the anti-magicians gathered in this place were only second level anti-magicians and first level anti-magicians. And all of them were from the Dusk Task Force. But Sherry just had to wait here.

(Julia, I wonder what she's doing now.)

Shelly hasn't seen him since he broke up with Julia the other day. He's not particularly anxious about it. Reasonably, they're just separated by another mission. Even though he thinks so, he feels an uncomfortable intermingling of the current situation and Julia's current situation. Such thoughts, which could be called Shelly's premonition, sadly became reality later on.

◇

I was ordered to come to the base conference room today. But the mystery is that we weren't given an overview. There was no advance information at all about going to twilight, meeting with someone, etc. To be honest, I've never had anything like this happen before. And yet, I received a mysterious summons. But I can't just go there just because it's so creepy here.

And I opened the door to the conference room.

"...Huh?

The people I've been with, all of them together...?　No, Ellie's not there. Anyway, it's unusual that almost all of the special class anti-magician people are here as well.

''Well, Julia-kun, I'd like you to take a seat. We'll start the meeting right away.

At that prompting, I take a seat. And then I talk to the senior who is next to me for a moment.

'Senpai, what are you doing here?

I haven't gotten the gist of it yet but, well, it sounds like a bad idea. And I hear you've found out a lot of things. Otherwise, there would be no way this call would have happened.

I see.....

We've learned a lot. Could it be that they had found out about the traitor? Besides, I wondered, would it be good for the special class anti-magicians to gather again in one room like this? Like before, they might all be trapped in the wards. Aren't they being a little too careless?　

But that turned out to be unfounded.

''Well, special class anti-magicians. Thank you for responding to my urgent summons. Also, about that ward, I have already finished analyzing it. That's a magic that was used hundreds of years ago, but it takes quite a bit of time to activate. That's right ... years of time. The amount of magic element is the same, but it's still quite difficult to construct a magic form. We already have the means to counter that, too. So, we've asked you to gather again this time, but that's not the main issue.

Suddenly, Silas-san's gaze sharpened. And in the next moment, the words that came out were largely unbelievable.

The cause of death was hemorrhagic shock death. There were no signs of resistance and a single stab to the heart with a knife. She died a few minutes later. He has now been sent for an autopsy to further determine the cause of death.

"...Wha...?

I'm not the only one. The other special class anti-magicians also shouted in surprise.

''Hey, hey, hey, Silas.......are you kidding me?　Ellie was definitely a research mainstay, but that guy was a pretty do-able guy. His combat skills aren't low either. And that was a stab to the heart without resistance?　How could that be so ridiculous?

Roy that's a fact. And that murder, we've identified the killer.

The voice didn't rise next. They've already identified the culprit, which means they've got a clue that leads to the traitor but I couldn't be honestly happy about it. Ellie's dead?　I had only spoken to her a few days ago. I had only met Ellie for a short time, but I still respected her. I just admired her attitude towards studying twilight. That's why I told her everything I know. Surely, Ellie-san might be able to solve the mystery of this twilight...I thought so...and then...she was killed?　Oh no, that's ridiculous........

I clenched my fists as tightly as I could. Already I was almost able to do something with my anger. Causing that attack and killing more special class anti-magicians?　It wasn't that I was particularly careless. But that was only in regards to myself and self-defense. Since the Intelligence Bureau and other special-grade anti-magician people are working on it, there is no way for me to get out of it... I thought so, but there was no way I would ever be able to tolerate this kind of thing.

However, the situation has turned out to be the worst, despite such thoughts.

I'm not going to be able to say that I'm not the only one. The time of the murder coincides with the time of Ellie's arrival and departure from the laboratory. And the other researchers have caught sight of you do you have a story to tell?

...What?