One-way traffic

"Whether it's good or bad, in the end it's just a mess that kid has to clean up himself. I don't need to care at all, right?"

"We're all in the same class, after all. If you say that, Shido-kun might cry."

"Let him cry until he dies," Accelerator thought to himself, swallowing the char siu he had picked up with his chopsticks in one gulp.

And so, dinner was over.

Generally speaking, if there's nothing important to do during this time, Accelerator will most likely go to the sofa to rest, or start reflecting all sounds from now on and enter the most comfortable state of sleep.

But at that moment, he simply stood up from his chair.

I'm going out for a little while.

"Hmm...? Where should we go shopping?"

Before she had finished eating the food in her bowl, Hatsune Miku asked in a somewhat unclear voice.

"In that case, I'll go with you. I'd also like to take a stroll in the streets after dinner!"

Accelerator turned around and casually raised his hand.

"It's just to do some boring chores, you don't need to come along."

"Huh? Why is it like this?!"

"Don't look so disappointed. Trust me, when you get there, you'll only be greeted by boring scenes."

As Accelerator draped his standard white winter coat over his shoulders, he sighed softly.

"So, what exactly are we supposed to do...?"

"It's nothing, just the same thing I've been doing for a while now."

Click.

Accelerator, who opened the door, left behind his last words.

"It's just some incredibly boring intelligence gathering work, damn it."

————————————————————————————————————

DEM's Japanese branch is a very large complex.

Around 8 p.m., what appeared before my eyes in the darkness was a series of black buildings, each of which was of a higher standard than ordinary buildings.

Even though it's just a branch office built in Japan, it still represents an incredibly vast territory for the entire Tengu City.

Then, in the tallest building, called the First Office Building, which is about twenty stories high and located in the very center.

"What's the situation to the north of queue A?"

"Everything is normal, there are no abnormalities."

"Very good. Although what I have to say is the same as before, you must take it seriously today. Do you understand?"

"Yes!"

After the western team leader finished speaking, the members in line A couldn't help but show their displeasure.

"What's going on? He's clearly the captain of the West Team, what right does he have to yell at me, a member of the North Team?"

"Alright, alright, it's only one night anyway. We can have a whole day off tomorrow. We northerners can go to the nearby pub and have a good drink then."

"I wasn't complaining, I was just saying it casually."

The guards standing on the second floor of the north area said this after turning off their radios.

They are the floor guards of this main office building. Their daily job is to guard the building and prevent suspicious persons from breaking in.

Moreover, these guards were all equipped with display devices and weapons manufactured by the company.

In this way, even if an entire terrorist force broke into the building, their small team could easily suppress them.

It's fair to say that they don't encounter any real threats in their daily work.

"Ugh, this is such a hassle... I have to stand all night tonight, and I can't even find someone to switch shifts with."

"There's nothing we can do; it's what the higher-ups want."

"So, which of you knows the details?"

After confirming once again that no one was nearby, the four-person team from the north continued chatting.

"We're never used normally, so why are you suddenly making such a big deal out of us lowly guards today?"

"I heard that the company's chairman has an important shipment that needs to be transported."

One of the guards, who had managed to gather some information, quickly offered an explanation.

"It seems to be some kind of material, but I'm not quite sure. Anyway, it's not something that people of our level would know."

"It's such a hassle. That's how big companies are. Even a simple document requires so many people to look after it."

The four looked at each other helplessly and returned to their original positions.

"Let's double-check the situation on the west side."

"Tsk, you're going to talk to that captain over there again? You can have my turn. I don't want to hear that guy's voice again."

The guard gave a wry smile. Since the other party wasn't going to do it, he would have to do it himself.

So he turned on his radio.

"This is queue A, the western queue. What's the situation? Please continue reporting if you hear anything."

"Queue B, all intelligence here is normal."

Upon hearing the reply, the guard then prepared to turn off the radio.

The three people standing nearby also burst into laughter.

"You're being too nervous. I knew it; how could anyone possibly try to break into such a big company—"

"Whoa?! Who are you?! If you keep going, we'll shoot... Pfft—!!"

sizzle--

And so, the noise from the radio, which sounded like a snowy screen, spread all around.

The four people in the north line were completely stunned and stood there in place.

"...Team, Queue B?"

"Damn it! No, don't come any closer! What are you... Pfft! Waaaaaahh ...

A series of screams continued to erupt, and gunshots could be faintly heard over the radio, but...

Without exception, the screams were all from members of queue B.

What exactly happened? Can anyone explain what's going on?

Everyone in queue A was thinking the same thing.

Then--

"Hey, you bastards over there."

A chill ran down the backs of the four people, as if they were standing on ice.

A magnetic sound, like gears grinding together, emanated from the infinite power, carrying a sense of madness.

“I know you’re using a radio, and your location is on the north side of the first office building, right? That’s good. I was just worried about not finding a suitable place to get in. This place is terribly cramped.”

"Who are you? Where's Queue B? What have you done to them?!"

The team member wearing a radio shouted, barely suppressing his suppressed emotions.

Do you want to know the result?

The sound came from inside.

wrong.

In that instant, the player's expression froze completely on his face.

The sound didn't come from the radio at all.

He slowly, almost uncontrollably, stiffly moved his head backward.

In front.

What came into view were two red eyes that gleamed like a demon in the darkness.

"Then I'll let you experience it firsthand."

————————————————————————————————————

Click.

Accelerator, who had sneaked into the building, casually twisted his neck with his hand.

All those lying around him were guards from the north floor.

These idiots didn't die; he simply knocked them down because he wasn't planning on making a big fuss yet.

"I've really changed a lot."

If it were the Accelerator of the past, regardless of how the situation was handled, he would never have chosen such a secretive method to sneak into this building.

At that time, Accelerator would definitely unleash his power to the fullest extent, probably creating a huge hole in the entire building.

Thinking this, he immediately placed his hand on the head of one of the guards.

Behind him, six purple, crystal-like generators were faintly visible.

"Hmph, so that's the structure."

By using the "psychic generator" to manipulate the other person's mind and thus read their memories, one can obtain a map of the entire building.

He glanced around from bottom to top, then narrowed his eyes slightly.

"The top floor?"

According to the guard's memories, it seems that the DEM records important information on the top floor.

The entire building is about twenty stories high, and there are cameras and guards on each floor.

Encountering them would be extremely troublesome. Even if Accelerator could instantly control their minds, there are still numerous cameras and infrared sensors throughout the building.

Humph.

The first one, on the contrary, revealed an extremely cold expression.

With a single breath, the crystal-like purple generator behind him transformed into another form.

Those were jet-black spikes.

"If there's an elevator, who would choose to take the stairs?"

He smiled contemptuously, surrounded by the power to manipulate time and space.

In the next instant, Accelerator arrived at the top floor.

He didn't even need a key card; after familiarizing himself with the layout, he went directly into the locked door.

"Is this all there is?"

What appeared before us were some very large computers.

It seems to be a machine specifically designed for homework, completely lacking the functions of a regular computer. Once turned on, it can be used directly using specific methods.

This also saves Accelerator the trouble of cracking these computers.

He walked straight to the computer at the far end. Before using it, he had already determined that the computer at the far end must be the one used to store the most important files.

"Ha! Just as I thought."

He completely cracked the computer in less than ten seconds.

All that was presented to Accelerator were documents, mostly about the history of DEM company, as well as information about display devices and personnel.

Those were just appetizers.

Accelerator looked down to the bottom, where a very prominent word was displayed.

— An elf.

This world-class conglomerate, which specializes in producing display devices, actually harbors information about elves.