~~~

“Could you please tell us how the artifact happened to be in your possession?”

“That’s… quite a long story. Can I start from the very beginning?”

Izumi nodded, sitting on a chair by the patient’s bed. Emilia Spencer’s head was bandaged, an infusion system was attached to her arm, but overall she was out of danger. She peered with all eyes at the investigator and Aoi Omnious, who accompanied him.

“I wanted to find the Children of the Evolution so that they would make me a mage. Their advertisement was a total fake, but I fell for it… they finally reached me themselves and took me to some strange place on a posh black limousine.”

“Do you know the exact address?”

“I dunno. The windows were tinted, and I didn’t really care. Judging by how long it took, I can guess that it might be… well… Eastern District, or something like that.”

“Do you remember the number of the car or its brand?”

“Unfortunately, no.”

“Could you please describe the place?”

“I’ll try. It was a building behind a high fence. Not too large, old, made of red brick, surrounded by multistory houses. It looked like a factory, most likely. No identification or inscriptions. Spacious inside. I was taken upstairs to some director’s office. There was a guy who looked like… you know… like ‘the Boss’ was printed on his forehead. He said I was a VIP client and needed a special service. Then he asked me to wait and left. I waited for about twenty minutes, and I got bored… I decided to go out into the corridor, but it turned out that the door was locked. And then I realized that I’m screwed! Had to open it with my tie pin.”

The mages exchanged glances, and Emilia, noticing their reaction, shrugged. “You can learn a lot from TV shows. The lock was loose, to be honest.”

“What happened next, Emilia-san?”

“Then I was running around a lot, searching for a way out. When I got to the upper floor, I found the inner balcony. People were holding a meeting below. The Boss and some woman stood over a bunch of guys and—just imagine—they were turning them into zombies! I know that, right—just like in ‘Adventurers of the Unknown’! And I could have become one of them! Ugh.”

“What exactly do you mean by ‘turning into zombies’?”

“There was a hat on that woman; the artifact that you are asking about. The beret with a feather that was glowing green. A kind of a mind-control device. Everybody seemed totally delusional, but I was out of range, so it didn’t affect me… it seemed like the woman was preaching a sermon or whatever, and the obedient guys were mumbling to it… and creepy violet tumors covered their bodies. So… that’s it.”

“What about that Boss?”

“He was just watching over the whole process. Then the masses left somewhere, and I had to go back. Some guy almost busted me in the corridor, and I hid in the first room I saw, under the desk. After half a minute, those two higher-ups went there. The woman put her hat on the desk. They were discussing what to do with such a catch like me. The Boss said that they shouldn’t convert me; too valuable. While they were arguing, I decided to pull off the hat and force them to let me go with its power. So, I stole it…” she looked at the mages. “You’ll scold me, right?”

“What happened next?”

“To be honest, I was sure that after I put the hat on, I would control their mind. Like in those comics. But I was too anxious, had no idea what to do—so I screwed up. I was, like, dragged somewhere. To some other world. It’s hard to explain.”

“That’s right,” Izumi nodded. “You fell into an illusory space you had created. When a person without magical abilities uses an artifact, the consequences are most severe.”

“What happened next… I… I don’t know if I can find the words for this…”

“Let’s get back to the Children of the Evolution. Can you describe the appearance of that couple? Did you remember any names?”

Unfortunately, she didn’t. Emilia described them with vague terms, though she described the Boss—a robust and tough-looking Asian man—with a little more detail. However, the PRISM officials were unable to recall a wizard who could match the description. He might have been an alien—if a mage at all.

“Well, thank you very much, Emilia-san. This will help us a lot. Have a rest and get well. Most likely, we will meet again soon.”

Both mages headed for the exit from the ward, but Emilia’s voice stopped them: “Excuse me, Mister… Izumi, was it? May I ask a question?”

“Of course.”

The girl’s cheeks reddened as she mumbled, “Haven’t you by any chance starred in ‘The Last Kiss’ drama?”

Aoi laughed too loud to be considered well-mannered.