(I’m much later than I intended. I have to get home quickly...)
Shortly before Yugo began his battle with the transformed Glonas, Raiha was hurrying down the road leading back to Luminous Academy.
She had gone to the station at the request of the Security Force to provide a statement regarding the recent attack by Kurotobari. Between the bureaucracy and the general chaos caused by the Society of Friends of the Night, the questioning had dragged on far longer than she had anticipated.
The officer in charge had offered to escort her back to the academy, but Raiha had politely declined. She wasn't wearing her school uniform today, and she figured that if she hurried, she could make it back before sunset. But as she hurried through the deserted streets, her heart sank.
(There’s no one out... Everyone must be terrified of the Society.)
While the setting sun played a part, these streets were usually bustling with people. Now, there wasn't a soul in sight besides herself.
They were likely barricaded inside their homes, hiding from the riots. Raiha looked down, overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness, when a voice suddenly cut through the silence.
"I have found you, sinner."
"——!?"
A low voice, echoing as if from the very depths of the earth, vibrated in her ears.
She looked up, gasping as a jet-black Magic Armor Beast descended from the sky, its massive wings unfurled. It was Kurotobari.
Panic seized her. How could her luck be this wretched? To encounter him again so soon...
Or perhaps he truly had seen through the "sin" she carried and was hunting her down to deliver his twisted brand of judgment. Just as the thought crossed her mind, Ryuga stepped out from the shadows, positioning himself like a shield in front of her.
"R-Ryuga-san...!?"
"...As I thought, he came for you, Utsusemi-san. I’m glad I followed you."
"You again? Have you come to interfere with the execution of my justice?"
"...Don't ask me questions."
Ryuga cut the monster off with his signature phrase, his gaze sharp and piercing.
The air grew heavy with tension as their eyes locked. Ryuga was the first to break the silence.
"Running won't work this time. I already know who you are."
"...!?"
Kurotobari flinched, his agitation plain even through his monstrous form. Raiha was equally shocked, looking at Ryuga in disbelief.
"You know who he is? H-How, Ryuga-san!?"
"...There was a sense of wrongness I couldn't shake until today. I simply unraveled the source of that contradiction, and the answer was waiting for me."
Ryuga kept his eyes fixed on Kurotobari. To prove his words were no bluff, he began to lay out his deduction.
"The first thing I questioned was why Kurotobari attacked us in the first place."
"Because we’re students of Luminous Academy, right?"
"No. On the day of the first attack, none of us were wearing our uniforms. Furthermore, we never actually entered the assembly hall. Under those circumstances, there was no way for an outsider to know we were students."
"Ah...!"
Raiha’s eyes widened as the realization hit her. It was true. They had been extremely careful to hide their identities that day to avoid trouble with the Society.
There was no reason for a random vigilante to identify them as academy students. And since they had fled immediately after rescuing Sakura and Mary, the average Society member wouldn't even have known they were present.
"But... what if he recognized Sakura-chan and assumed we were all from the academy?"
"If his goal was simply to purge students, Amamiya-san would have been his primary target. But that day, the person Kurotobari went after first was—"
Ryuga shifted his gaze toward Raiha.
The fact that the assailant had ignored a known academy student to target Raiha—someone whose status was unknown—was the first crack in the mystery. From there, the pieces had begun to fall into place.
"I was misled because of the string of assaults against the academy that followed... but I was wrong. Kurotobari wasn't hunting students. He was hunting you, Utsusemi-san. From the very beginning."
"He was targeting me...? But why!?"
"En-san provided the final clue. Last night, she was attacked while she was with Batz. Batz is a former criminal whose record is far more serious than hers, yet he escaped with minor injuries while she was targeted ruthlessly. Doesn't that strike you as odd?"
The official report said En was injured while shielding Batz.
However, after wounding En, Kurotobari had simply walked away, leaving Batz—the man who had just caused a massive incident with a Demonic Sword—completely alone.
It made no sense. If Kurotobari’s goal was to "purge evil," he should have finished Batz off after dealing with En.
Raiha felt a chill run down her spine as the logic clicked. Her voice trembled as she spoke.
"You mean... he wasn't after Batz-san at all? He was after... En-san?"
Ryuga nodded silently.
Raiha struggled to understand. Why would a monster like Kurotobari target her and a simple waitress like En? Ryuga provided the answer with cold clarity.
"Because the two of you were at that restaurant the other day... and you both denied his justice. That is why he is hunting you."
"...!?"
Raiha gasped. She remembered the conversation they had with Mary that day.
'Even if Kurotobari has justice on his side, I don’t think that gives him the right to pass judgment on others.'
'I think what Kurotobari is doing is robbing those people of their futures.'
They had said those words.
Raiha was staggered by the thought that such a conversation was enough to mark them for death. Meanwhile, Ryuga addressed the Magic Armor Beast directly.
"That means Kurotobari was in that restaurant. He is also someone who has the means to track the movements of former criminals. For instance... someone whose job it is to monitor convicts after their release."
"T-Then, his true identity is...!"
Ryuga’s eyes flashed with a lethal intensity. Having stripped away the armor of self-righteousness to reveal the man beneath, he spoke the name of the monster.
"It's time to drop the act. Show us your true face, Kurotobari... or should I say, Security Force Probation Officer, Garando."