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Fuzzy Dice could have easily come from somewhere like that.

(It’s probably best if I take the time to properly prepare for this.)

So far Mira had seen Fuzzy Dice as a thief with some skill who just happened to have a rabid fanbase. But after hearing the detective’s story, and how much was still unknown about the thief, she realized she needed to think more seriously about the matter. She could not afford to underestimate him.

(Still, Forbidden Arts…and a righteous thief… Hmm, that’s not too far from being a hero…)

For now it was safe to assume Fuzzy Dice could use powerful Forbidden Arts, and his work was centered in justice, making him be seen as a hero by most people.

Thinking of that, a certain person suddenly popped up in Mira’s mind.

That person was none other than Lastrada the Mysterious, the Wiseman of Forbidden Arts.

(I haven’t heard anything about him so far… So at the very least I can’t rule out the possibility…)

Mira did not recall hearing anything about Lastrada through her travels and adventures so far. All of the Nine Wisemen had their quirks and traits, but Lastrada really stood out a head above the rest.

Lastrada the Mysterious had a self-admitted obsession with heroes, which was the trait that reminded Mira of him.

He was especially a fan of super-heroes, and there was a time when he would dress up as one and go out patrolling at night, in the real world.

According to him that was a necessary step for justice, but people who saw him would instead get afraid, and in the end he was reported to the authorities for being a suspicious character in the streets.

That resulted in receiving a lengthy talk from a group of police officers. But that did not disparage his righteous heart whatsoever.

Instead, he decided to bring his justice to the virtual world instead.

The internet saw a large surge of popularity at the beginning of the twenty first century, before Mira and her friends were even born. At the start it was nicely moderated, and the VR world was also peaceful. But as humanity had proven time and time again across all generations, people with ill intent would always find ways to skirt along the rules and systems to carry out their wicked desires.

And so he stood against them. He began developing a program to sniff out anyone doing something illicit, and report each single one of them to the internet police.

Having a burning passion could sometimes lead to impressive results, and through the twists and turns of life, he ended up going from having an unhealthy obsession with heroes to the director of the national network security bureau. He had become an actual hero keeping the internet safe.

His determination did not waver even after gaining such an important position though. He never stopped being on the side of justice, even when he started playing Arc Earth Online.

(No matter how hard I think about it, I can’t think of a single instance where he wasn’t like that.)

Someone so obsessed with justice would certainly stand out, but she had heard no rumors like that.

One might think that maybe he had stopped caring as much about justice, but Mira could not imagine that happening. His determination for being a hero was essentially ingrained into his very being.

So it would not be too rare if there were rumors about someone like that already, and the ones that fit the bill the most were those about the Phantom Thief Fuzzy Dice.

(A thief that brings out the evidence of crimes for law enforcement to take over. There’s certainly some points in common there…)

Thinking about it, there were many signs that he could be the one behind Fuzzy Dice’s mask, but Mira was not fully convinced because she knew him very well.

(I really can’t imagine him sending warning notices beforehand.)

Mira knew very well how Lastrada’s justice played out, and any time he acted, he would never disclose his involvement willingly.

Along with his efforts for justice in real life, he would often donate to charity or do volunteer work. Whenever that happened, he would never make posts on social media gloating about it, or pose for selfies while doing volunteer work. Going to such places was simply part of his daily life.

When he was independently keeping the internet safe, he also kept that to himself, never revealing he was the one sending all those reports.

(I remember being shocked that he was so obsessed with justice when he first told us that.)

Mira had only learned all of that when her group of in-game friends began to discuss what each of them did for a living.

Until then he had simply seemed like he had some obsession with heroes, and that was it. But when he told the story of how he obtained his current position and all the surrounding experiences, she understood that his obsession went much deeper than she expected.

According to him, justice was not something that should be advertised. He never mentioned it unless he was asked about it directly, and that was also part of his philosophy about justice.

Justice and evil were two sides of the same coin, wherever there was justice, there was also evil. So if he kept publicizing his deeds, that would also lead to evil existing there.

There was no need to make people who were living their regular lives aware of the presence of evil. That was the reason why Lastrada never mentioned what he did to others.

(A warning notice goes directly against that… It can’t be him.)

Fuzzy Dice’s warning notices were like an announcement that evil was present, and that justice would follow soon after. Regardless of how those notices had started, they went fully against Lastrada’s philosophy, so Mira could not believe it was him.

The thief’s identity had to be someone else who was also capable with Forbidden Arts.

But the result of the thief’s work was easily the same Lastrada would have achieved. The means were the only discrepancy.

Then again, the warning notices also carried an amount of justice with them. Raising awareness of an issue made the general population look at the problem, making it harder to continue existing. That way it was impossible to swipe evil deeds under the rug in secret.

The issue was public, and the public would want to see a proper resolution.

Judging from the results, sending warning notices was a really good idea too. But Mira was still not convinced.

(Would he really be able to look so deeply into that…)

The Lastrada that Mira knew was too hard headed and set on his ways to really think about the effects attention from the public would have, and its after effects.

So no matter how much Mira thought about it, the warning notices were too conspicuous. That and all the riches brought forward alongside the evidence of crimes were superfluous for Lastrada’s justice.

But Mira could not help but wonder what kind of reason could have pushed Lastrada to do that, if it actually turned out to be him. Either way, like every time Mira tried to think about something, she quickly gave up on it.

(Well, I can just ask him when I catch him.)

She simply had to catch the thief and pull his mask off to know if he was Lastrada or not. Thinking about it would get bothersome, so she stopped thinking about it and instead focused on enjoying her pudding soft cream.