F-Rank Soul Eater-Chapter 194: The Mastermind 2

The waiting room was just as Soren remembered it to be.

Calm.

Quiet.

Spacious and...

Isolated.

The walls were empty of decorations. Just chairs in rows and a big clock carrying the academy’s insignia behind.

However, this room suddenly felt stuffy.

Soren had spoken as soon as he stepped into the room.

No fluff.

No guessing.

Just words with an accusing gaze.

Dr. Kaya sat opposite him. Dressed like she always was.

A lab coat over a green dress.

She had been enjoying a candy bar.

But his words made her pause mid bite.

When she had heard Soren wanted to see her, she wanted to dismiss him, but his timing for a visit had fallen perfectly with her free time.

Also, from the red Swords, she learned that he might have found something interesting about the Shade Stealer.

Ever since the first time she had saved Soren after his fight with Goldsworth, she had been really busy.

And therefore did not have the opportunity to catch up with the latest in the academy.

She did not know that Soren had come out victorious.

So one could only imagine her surprise when he entered the room.

Firstly, he was completely healed of his injuries.

And secondly...

A pause—

~Silence.

Her gaze narrowed."How did you figure it out?"

Soren’s brows knitted.

Another pause—

"You just confirmed it."

He replied.

"Also..." Soren raised his left hand, pointing to his wristwatch.

"You were so smooth, that I nearly missed it."

Dr. Kaya smiled even wider.

But Soren did not. If not for his loops, he would have never been sure.

He even had to ask Instructor Hector for the video clip of that day.

The day the Shade Stealer attacked him in the dormitory.

That day left the first clue.

In all the loops, Soren never won a fight against the Shade Stealer.

They were just too skilled.

And getting to unmask the Shade Stealer was the best he could do.

—And that had been with Bloodshine’s help.

At the end of that fight, all they had gotten was an individual with Neuralink runes so bright they obstructed any facial features.

From that battle, it was obvious that the Shade Stealer was skilled.

So skilled that back then Soren had used Ivory’s shade and Blackfield, and still could not harm his opponent.

Dodging attacks even felt like a miracle.

It was the first opponent he was meeting with that fighting skill difference from his own.

On the other hand, the Shade Stealer he caught in the False Glass could barely throw a clean hit at him.

Back then, Soren had thought it would be like the fight in the dormitory, and wanted to use Ivory’s Shade.

—although he could not find nor use it, he simply used his Blackfield and dodged the attack.

Also, the one he met in the false Glass had used a dagger to fight when it was cornered on that cliff.

While the one that attacked in the dormitory used long needles.

And then they were the markings.

After facing the Shades that had taken over their Soulbound warriors’ bodies, Soren had noticed that the white neural link patterns on their bodies were quite unique to each one.

And no matter what happened, the marks never changed.

It reminded him of the Neuralink marks he had seen on the Shades Chronovore had consumed.

It was easy to deduce that the Neuralink marks were unique to each Shade.

However, the one on the cliff did not have white Neuralink on its head—glowing enough to blur its facial features—unlike the one that attacked him in the dormitory hall way.

With these facts laid before him, Soren came to a clear conclusion.

There was not one but two Shade Stealers.

The one he met in class—who would end up being the person in the false Glass—the one that was captured.

And the one he fought in the dormitory.

Furthermore, during his one hour research, he had gotten information on the only cadet that had survived the attack on another train when coming to the academy—the one that would become the Shade Stealer, and found information on the ability he had.

Of course, it had to do with the manipulation of technology.

It was no wonder the CCTV footage of Soren’s fight in the dormitory Hall way had been easily altered.

But even that guy was not so good that a simple touch would hack Soren’s wristwatch easily.

That was when soren decided to rewatch the fight clips between himself and the Shade Stealer again.

Of course, the Shade Stealer never appeared in the tapes, but Soren noticed something at some point in the fight.

It was for a slight second. But it was there.

His wristwatch had disappeared, and then appeared back.

Best guess, it had been changed.

So it was not that his wristwatch had been hacked, but that the one he had been wearing all along was not even his.

This was Spacial Manipulation.

In the entire Academy. There was only one person Soren had seen with that ability.

The one person that seemed to remove infinite amounts of candy bars from her green puffy hair.

"One might think you hide candy bars in your hair, but the truth is that every time you dig your hand into it, you activate your spacial manipulation ability—I’m guessing you take the candy bars from a store somewhere within the building."

This also explained the reason he could not capture the Shade Stealer when he was attacked in the dormitory.

No matter the number of times he repeated the loop, it was the same thing.

They just disappeared, leaving behind only a coat as evidence.

And lastly—the cherry on top.

This one had happened by a slip.

She must have never wanted him to see it, but he did.

It was after the three days of operating on his body.

When he was waiting the three hour time limit she gave before he could move—

—Dr Kaya had rushed into the room staggering, hands vibrating as she scattered equipments looking for a particular thing.

A box with a syringe.

Soren had seen the label clearly.

Insulin.

"You are diabetic. And yet you eat a lot of sugar. It must be very bad for your health. You must be suffering , and be in a lot of pain.

Both of which are negative emotions Shades feed on.

You are intensionally suffering your body."

With this, Soren had made his conclusions.

They had been two Shade Stealers. The one that attacked him in the dormitory, and the one that he met in class.

Two.

Both bearing the same identity. Both working hand in hand.

Soren suddenly whipped out his new dagger, taking a fighting stance.

His gaze was fierce, like they had already declared Dr Kaya’s fate.

"You Killed the real Dr. Kaya, and you wear her skin..."

(Author’s Note: I have Written a beautiful Book. Haven’t I?)