The Elusive Zodiac

“Without Prezen Meredith, we ultimately cannot leave the Mirror Castle.”

Team Leader Hank spoke to the gathered people with a stiff expression. We had to find Prezen Meredith.

And given the circumstances so far, that meant… we had to find Zodiac, the Elusive Phantom Thief who made a fool of even the DCPD.

But how? I tried asking the System Assistant for help, but it was of little use. It was different from when we were finding Alexandra’s location.

Phantom Thief Zodiac was being protected by a prototype AI. The Tenant in my head, with its relatively inferior specs, could only offer the excuse, “I do not know.”

In the first place, we didn’t even know Phantom Thief Zodiac’s identity - who he really was or who he had used a disguise to come in as - so blindly commanding, “Find Phantom Thief Zodiac!” was pointless anyway.

“How about we get out of this trap first and then think? Staying right here seems too dangerous.”

Alexandra said with an anxious expression.

It was a valid point. Standing still here and pondering a method wouldn’t make Phantom Thief Zodiac show up on his own two feet.

It might be better to escape first this brutal labyrinth trap where we didn’t know what would happen.

“Anyway, Phantom Thief Zodiac said he prepared a gift…”

Whatever it was, I had an ominous feeling it wouldn’t be a surprise gift that made you feel good to receive.

Everyone accepted Alexandra’s opinion and was about to move out of the vacant lot.

Buzz.

My Cyberwatch rang. I thought communication was cut off, but a message popped up naturally.

It was the unidentified Helper!

[J: Phantom Thief Zodiac is]

Who is Phantom Thief Zodiac? Did anyone have some important information about Phantom Thief Zodiac?

Since it was exactly the information we needed in this situation, I waited for the next part with a sense of urgency.

[J: in here]

…!

It was a shocking piece of information I hadn’t expected in the slightest.

I stopped dead in my tracks and shouted.

“Wait!”

They could have easily ignored the words of a mere escort like me, but everyone stopped and turned their heads.

It was quite touching, especially how Alexandra and Team Leader Hank looked at me and threw questions like, “Why? What’s wrong?'

Underground

I was about to confidently say, “Phantom Thief Zodiac is in here,” but I was suddenly at a loss for words.

Was Phantom Thief Zodiac really in here?

He could be. But he also might not be.

The only basis I had was a single text message sent by the unidentified Helper.

Could I trust this one hundred percent?

If the others asked why I was so sure the phantom thief was in here, could I answer them?

My answer was 'no.'

The Helper’s information could be right, or it could be wrong. But once I relayed this information, everyone would fall into confusion.

Phantom Thief Zodiac was a master of disguise. No matter whose appearance among our companions he had taken, using discernment to figure out his true identity would by no means be an easy task.

We had barely managed a reconciliation of the conflict between Schneider and Sedouforne as it was, and perhaps a dispute would start all over again on the grounds that Phantom Thief Zodiac was definitely on their side.

What should I do? Should I reveal this, or not?

“Aaron? Why are you standing still? Say something.”

“Hold on, just a moment. Please give me a little time. I think I might have figured something out about Phantom Thief Zodiac.”

Making that excuse, I gritted my teeth.

I let reactions like “Is that true?” and 'Beggar' go in one ear and out the other, falling deep into thought.

My mind was in turmoil. At times like this, I needed to calmly organize my thoughts.

What did I think?

Was Phantom Thief Zodiac in here?

I thought he was.

If it was that bold Legend of the Criminal underworld, it seemed likely.

He had worked hard on his disguise to make it look like he had left with Prezen, but in reality, he hadn’t left our side and remained right here.

Using a Disguise as one of our Companions, deceiving everyone. It was truly a trick a phantom thief would use, and the environment of the dark labyrinth was optimal for it.

After all, wasn’t there a rule of investigation that said, “The culprit returns to the scene”?

If so, who was Phantom Thief Zodiac?

Let’s use the process of elimination. I would start by crossing out the people who couldn’t be the phantom thief.

I was obviously out of the question, and Team Leader Hank could also be crossed off the list of suspects. Team Leader Hank had been with me since we fell into the trap.

We had been separated for a moment in the middle, but it was too unreasonable an assumption that Phantom Thief Zodiac had harmed Team Leader Hank and even put on a disguise as him in that short amount of time.

If there was something suspicious about him, maybe, but Team Leader Hank was exactly as I had always seen him. There was nothing suspicious at all.

It probably wasn’t Alexandra either. Her unexpectedly incredible combat prowess made me think, “Could it be?”, but the possibility was still too low.

No matter how amazing Phantom Thief Zodiac’s Disguise Technique was, the sculpted appearance that employees who had reached the level of a master craftsman spent hours putting together wasn’t something that could be copied in a short amount of time.

Besides, she was far too Alexandra-like for it to be someone imitating her. It was a separate issue from Phantom Thief Zodiac’s acting skills.

I could tell just by looking at how Team Leader Hank, who had been with Alexandra for much longer than I had, didn’t suspect a thing.

That fresh and flamboyant nature wasn’t something you could copy after seeing it just once.

If it were someone who had watched Alexandra’s demeanor from the sidelines for a long time, maybe… but there was no way Phantom Thief Zodiac had done that.

It wasn’t Invincible Iron Dog Maximus either. Copying that overwhelming physique, aura, and Steel arm made no sense… but above all, how on earth could he imitate a severed arm?

Unless Phantom Thief Zodiac cut off his own arm, it was impossible.

Then there were five left.

Matilda Sedouforne, her three escorts, and Eres Shore.

I had no information about the three escorts, so it was hard to figure them out. Let’s set them aside for now.

The first one I suspected was Eres Shore. He had been separated all by himself when we fell into the trap.

He had also spent most of his time alone in the guest room in the Mirror Castle. If he was Phantom Thief Zodiac, he had plenty of time to plot a conspiracy.

However, another possibility came to mind.

'Maybe he’s not the phantom thief, but the Helper.'

The Helper saying “is in here” was a meaningful statement.

It meant that Phantom Thief Zodiac was in here, but at the same time, it also meant that the Helper was in here. If the Helper wasn’t with us, how could they pinpoint this situation and say that?

I had always considered them a Helper with an unidentified identity from a completely different place, but thinking about it, it wasn’t strange at all for a Helper sent by Eugene Schneider to be mixed in among the Schneider escorts. In fact, it was quite natural.

Furthermore, Eres Shore was an expert in electronic warfare.

Wouldn’t he know how to ignore the communication jamming and send me a message, just like the Helper did?

The next most suspicious person was Matilda Sedouforne.

Would Phantom Thief Zodiac really use transformation to turn into a woman, and a noble young lady at that? I didn’t know.

But would a master of the disguise art be unable to pull off cross-dressing?

He might even enjoy cross-dressing to avoid suspicion. Or maybe he has a secret preference for it.

I remembered playing detective in a similar situation recently. The Chainsaw Man Murder Case!

The culprit was Felix, the amiable and handsome young man who was closest and most intimate with Miguel. At first, no one suspected him, but in reality, he was the one who committed the murder of Chainsaw Man.

If there was one thing I realized back then, it was that you shouldn’t make a judgment based solely on what you see.

Setting aside other external factors and looking only at the behavior she had shown so far, it was true that Matilda was the most suspicious.

Wasn’t she blatantly acting like an imposter, ordering the other escorts to attack Alexandra?

But because of that, it also seemed like she wasn’t Phantom Thief Zodiac. There was no way that legendary criminal could be that bad at acting.

I raised my head and asked.

“Young Lady Matilda, have you been with these two escorts since we first fell into the trap?”

“Yes! But didn’t that crazy bitch of yours knock down all my subordinates?! She’s acting like that because I saw what she did! Alexandra! Sedouforne will not forgive you - “

Look at that. She was completely out of her mind. The Sedouforne Security Team Leader looked troubled, trying to somehow cover the mouth of the Young Lady he served.

Still, I got the answer I wanted.

It wasn’t Matilda Sedouforne. Nor was it the two escorts under her command. Since they had been together since falling into the trap, the chances of them being Phantom Thief Zodiac were slim.

Then there were two people left: The Sedouforne Security Team Leader and Eres Shore. Phantom Thief Zodiac was among them.

Which of the two was it?