"Huh? A peeper? Good grief, some people have way too much time on their hands..."
Yugo muttered, an exasperated look crossing his face as he took in Melt’s report.
He wasn't downplaying the victims' plight, but given that the boys had just been discussing a massive conspiracy capable of plunging the entire island into the depths of terror, the sheer disparity in scale prompted his reaction.
"Hah... I suppose even with terrifying crimes plaguing Wind Island, these kinds of moronic misdemeanors never truly disappear. Should I be relieved or depressed?"
"I think 'exasperated' covers it," Marcos added. "I have no idea who it is, but as Yugo said, the culprit clearly has nothing better to do."
"This is no time for idle chatter! The culprit is still at large, you know!" Melt snapped.
"Is that so? Didn't anyone catch a glimpse of the guy's face?"
"That’s the strange part... No one actually saw a face. But there is no doubt they were being watched."
Yugo frowned at Setsuna’s somewhat cryptic explanation. "Wait. No one saw him, but you're sure you were being watched? How does that work?"
In response to his question, the girls began to relay the story they had heard, prefacing it by noting they hadn't witnessed it personally.
"It seems the incident happened in the Large Public Bath," Melt explained. "As I said, the group of girls who went in before us were the ones who found him."
"I'm sure the bath has windows, but don't they usually have anti-peeping measures? Wouldn't it be incredibly difficult to see anything from the outside?"
"That is not the case, Yugo-dono! The perpetrator was not watching from the outside; they were inside the bath area with the girls!"
Yugo had imagined someone jumping the fence of an open-air bath or peering through a window, but Sakura’s information completely overturned his assumptions. As he stood there, surprised that the crime sounded more like a home invasion than simple voyeurism, Ryuga directed a question toward the girls.
"Are you saying the peeper just walked right in? Entering alongside a crowd of students without anyone noticing? That seems highly improbable."
"We thought so, too," Setsuna replied. "But it seems the culprit is anything but normal."
"...Not normal? In what way?"
"In the literal sense! That thing was probably not human!" Melt declared.
Despite the bizarre nature of Melt’s claim, Yugo and the others didn't look puzzled this time. They immediately realized she was suggesting the non-human intruder was likely a Magic Armor Beast.
"Apparently, the previous group found them purely by chance," Melt continued. "While they were splashing water at each other in jest, one of them noticed the water hitting the wall was dripping strangely. When they looked closer—"
"A human-shaped silhouette was clinging to the wall!" Sakura finished. "Everyone panicked once they realized what it was, and the culprit apparently used the confusion to flee."
"I see. So that’s why they’re sure there was a peeper, even though no one saw a face."
Yugo nodded deeply, finally understanding the odd report. Meanwhile, Marcos, who had been listening with his arms folded, spoke up with a downward glance.
"That would imply the opponent is a Magic Armor Beast with an invisibility ability. To use such a power for voyeurism... I suppose they are either exceptionally bold or incredibly honest about their desires."
"Hey, is it possible the culprit isn't a beast, but just a person using an invisibility magic item?" Yugo asked.
"Unlikely," Marcos countered. "Establishments like this have anti-voyeurism wards and magic items installed specifically to nullify such tools. Therefore, an external device is out of the question."
"Then it definitely has to be a Magic Armor Beast. And since a wild beast wouldn't bother with peeping..."
"Nine times out of ten, it’s a human who transformed," Yugo concluded. "There’s a high probability the culprit is a Clear Plate Possessor."
A heavy silence fell over the group as they realized the implications. If the culprit was a Clear Plate Possessor, the situation was far more serious than it appeared.
Setting aside the issue of side effects, the stealth capability required to infiltrate a crowded bath area undetected was truly formidable. While it had only been used for voyeurism this time, the same power could have been used to launch a surprise attack on defenseless students.
If the culprit had singled out a specific target, they could have stalked them without a trace and struck at the perfect moment. Furthermore, an ability like that had terrifying potential for theft or assassination.
In truth, it was a stroke of luck that the presence had been detected during such a minor offense.
"We can't just leave this alone. But the problem is..."
"We have no idea where they went," Ryuga noted. "Now that their presence has been discovered, it's unlikely they'll return to the same spot."
"Then there's the nature of the Plate's ability," Marcos added. "The power to disappear can be interpreted in various ways. We might be able to deduce something from the remaining alphabets on the Plates, but that remains to be seen."
Though it was technically a petty crime, the group judged that it carried the risk of escalating into something far worse. Realizing that professional insight would be more valuable than their own amateur investigation, they decided to report the incident to Shepherd, who was already on his way.