Chapter 164: The City That Wasn’t the Target

Reinhard looked directly at the A-Rank who had just admitted that the operation had been planned for today. He had already learned the attack wasn’t random, and the prisoner’s reaction had confirmed the Black Moon was involved, but what he didn’t know yet was where the next part of the operation would happen.

He folded his arms. "So, after sending thirteen people to my house, what was supposed to happen next?"

The A-Rank remained silent. Reinhard waited several seconds before continuing. "You were expecting to capture Emily, weren’t you?"

The man’s expression tightened. "I already know that part, so don’t waste time pretending otherwise," Reinhard smiled faintly. "I’m asking what happens after you take her."

The man’s thoughts shifted, and Reinhard activated Mind Glance, the ability following the thoughts his question had stirred rather than searching for an answer on its own.

A dark room appeared in his mind, a map spread across a table, several districts marked.

The image changed before he could see everything clearly, revealing another map with several locations beneath a large city, and he recognized the name written across the top. Marvello.

The vision faded, and he kept his expression unchanged.

So that’s where you’re going.

The prisoner’s eyes widened, and Reinhard watched him carefully. The A-Rank didn’t answer, but his thoughts immediately returned to the same map, and this time Reinhard caught more.

Black containers being unloaded from a truck, several Awakeners carrying them into different buildings while others moved through underground passages, devices being positioned beneath streets and inside buildings.

Another image showed a schedule, today’s date written across the top.

Reinhard then stepped closer. "What are you preparing in Marvello?"

The A-Rank remained silent.

Reinhard didn’t need to rush him, continuing to speak casually instead. "It’s obviously connected to the Black Moon, so whatever you’re preparing isn’t small."

The prisoner’s thoughts reacted, and Reinhard activated Mind Glance again. The same images surfaced, black containers, devices, Awakeners carrying equipment through different parts of the city, and a large number of marked locations.

He withdrew. "Explosives."

The room went quiet. "Bombs?" Lily’s expression changed.

"A lot of them."

"How many?" Maki frowned.

"Enough that destroying one location won’t stop the operation."

Yuna’s expression hardened. "So this is larger than the thirteen people who attacked us."

"Much larger." Reinhard looked toward the prisoner again. "Why Marvello?"

The A-Rank stared at him, saying nothing for several seconds. Then he laughed, though there was no humor in it, sounding more like resignation, as though he had finally accepted that continuing to hide everything would accomplish very little. "So keeping quiet doesn’t matter?"

"Apparently not," Reinhard smiled faintly.

The A-Rank looked toward the other two prisoners, one of whom lowered his eyes, before sighing. "You already saw it, didn’t you?"

Reinhard didn’t answer directly, instead giving the family a quick glance and quietly saying, "He’s confirming it himself." Maki immediately understood.

The prisoner looked back at him. "You didn’t ask whether there were explosives in Marvello. You already knew."

"I had a pretty good guess," Reinhard smiled.

"You knew enough to ask," the man’s expression tightened.

"That’s usually how guessing works."

The A-Rank stared at him for a moment before shaking his head. "You’re troublesome."

"I’ve heard that before."

The man’s shoulders relaxed slightly, and at this point he seemed to realize that continuing to pretend Reinhard knew nothing was pointless. "You want to know why Marvello?"

"Yes."

He sighed. "Then there isn’t much point in hiding it." He looked toward the damaged room around them before continuing. "The operation needs a large number of people."

"Why?" Maki’s expression sharpened.

"Because the bombs aren’t simply meant to destroy buildings."

"Oh? You’re being honest now?" Reinhard raised an eyebrow.

The A-Rank gave a tired laugh. "No point hiding it anymore. You already know too much, and we’re already screwed because you know as much as you do."

"That’s surprisingly reasonable," Lily blinked.

"I’ve had a very bad night," the prisoner looked at her.

"Understandable," Reinhard nodded sympathetically.

He sighed. "The thirteen of us were supposed to be the first part of the operation. If we succeeded, Emily would have been taken before anything started."

"And if you failed?" Reinhard’s expression grew more serious.

"Then it doesn’t matter anymore," the A-Rank smiled bitterly.

"What does that mean?" Maki narrowed her eyes.

"It means the operation continues without us," he said, looking toward Reinhard.

"So your group was disposable."

"You can think of it like that."

"Why don’t I believe you?"

"Doesn’t matter," he looked away.

Maki stepped closer. "What are the bombs for?"

The prisoner remained silent for several seconds, his emotions shifting beneath his controlled expression, fear giving way to reluctance and then resignation. Finally he spoke. "They need the city to suffer."

Emily’s expression changed, and Reinhard remained quiet. "Fear. Pain. Anger. Resentment. Desperation," the A-Rank continued. "People crying for help. People believing they’re going to lose someone they love."

Lily’s expression slowly lost its usual brightness, and Maki understood first. "They’re trying to recreate the conditions."

"Exactly," Reinhard nodded.

Emily’s fingers tightened around Aeon as the explanation from the previous Black Moon Incident returned to her mind, the suffering, the resentment, the desperation, the overwhelming emotions that had filled Aurelius before everything disappeared into darkness. "They’re trying to summon the Black Moon."

"They’re going to try," Reinhard looked at her, and she met his eyes, understanding the difference.

Last time, she had been trapped inside the incident without understanding what was happening until it was too late. This time they knew what they were facing, and she wasn’t alone.

Maki continued working through the information. "If the purpose is to create suffering, then the bombs need people."

"Large numbers of people," Yuna nodded.

"One explosion in an empty district wouldn’t be enough," Maki continued. "They need panic, injuries, families searching for each other, people screaming for help, emergency services becoming overwhelmed, and Awakeners responding without knowing where the next attack will happen."

Her expression hardened. "They aren’t trying to destroy Marvello."

Everyone looked toward her.

"They’re trying to make Marvello suffer."

The prisoner gave a small smile. "Exactly."

Lily suddenly froze, her eyes widening as something occurred to her. "Wait."

Everyone turned toward her, and she looked between Reinhard and Maki. "Marvello."

Reinhard waited, and her expression changed. "The Lights Festival."

Emily looked at her. "It’s happening in Marvello right now," Lily continued.

"The festival has been running for three days," Maki’s eyes narrowed.

"Exactly," Lily said. "There are people everywhere."

She began counting the possibilities on her fingers. "Families, tourists, merchants, Awakeners, children, everyone goes there for the lights. The streets are packed during the evening."

"Thousands of people," Yuna immediately understood.

"More than thousands," Lily replied.

Maki nodded slowly. "If the city is as crowded as usual during the festival, emergency services won’t be able to respond to everything at once."

Reinhard looked toward the prisoner as the pieces fit together. They chose Marvello because of the festival as the city was filled with exactly what the Black Moon required: people, crowds, emotion.

If something went wrong, fear would spread quickly, panic would spread even faster, and if thousands of people were suddenly placed in danger at the same time, the suffering wouldn’t need to be manufactured slowly.

It would erupt across the entire city.

"You picked the festival," Reinhard looked at the A-Rank.

The prisoner smiled and didn’t deny it.

"There are thousands of people there," Lily stared at him.

"More than thousands," Yuna’s voice was quieter.

"And once the explosions begin, the city won’t know where the next one will happen," Maki folded her arms.

"And that’s what they want?" Emily looked toward Reinhard.

"Yes," he said.

The prisoner seemed more confident now.

Until this point, Reinhard had controlled the conversation, every question forcing another piece of information into the open, every answer giving the Ashcrofts another advantage.

Now the A-Rank seemed to remember something Reinhard still didn’t know, his smile widening slightly. "You finally understand."

Reinhard looked at him. "You can know where it is," the prisoner continued.

He paused before adding, "You can know when it starts. You can even know what we’re doing." The room went quiet. "But you still won’t understand why."

Reinhard stared at him.

The A-Rank seemed pleased with himself for the first time since being captured, but Reinhard didn’t challenge him. There was no reason to reveal how much he had actually learned.

He already knew the operation involved Marvello, knew it was connected to the Black Moon, knew explosives had been prepared, knew the festival was part of the plan, knew the operation was happening today.

But there were still questions.

Why was Emily so important? Why did Baal need her captured alive? And what exactly did they intend to do after the Black Moon appeared? Those questions could wait.

The prisoner turned his head toward one of the windows, his expression growing strangely calm.

From this distance he couldn’t actually see Marvello, but he seemed to be imagining the city anyway. "That light show is about to become a new kind of one."

Lily’s face tightened, and Emily looked toward Reinhard. His expression had turned serious. He didn’t need to ask another question yet.

They had chosen today.

The festival was already underway.

Thousands of people were already gathering and somewhere in Marvello, the operation was already being prepared.

Reinhard looked toward his family before turning back to the prisoners. "They’re starting it today."