III

III

Placing a sheaf of papers tied together by a black ribbon on the desk, Noelle sank into a cushioned chair.

"Well, shall we begin?" she asked herself.

Luckily, there was no sign of anybody in the director's spacious office. She relaxed her shoulders and closed her eyes, focusing on her power. Instantly, her internal "third eye" opened and a scene unfolded around her. It looked like a photograph negative.

"Now then, where did the director spend most of his energy?"

Here and there in the negative scene, fluorescent lights sparkled. The light turned various colors ranging from blue, which indicated intellectual curiosity, to orange, which showed greed. This room's occupant tainted the bar's liquor bottles a shiny salmon pink with his desire for a drink.

Noelle was able to read living beings' emotions as colors. She also could observe traces of emotion left behind, like infrared imaging. It was a power that had saved her often since she'd become an AX agent.

"A hidden safe ..."

Sure enough, in the corner of the office, underneath a model of the city landscape, stout iron doors appeared. That was a cinch. Noelle delicately inserted two hairpins into the keyhole.

She recalled Abel's worried face as he asked her if she would be all right. He hasn't changed at all, has he?

Although he earnestly worried about people, he positively avoided letting others worry about him, as if convinced he wasn't worth caring about.

When she'd been on active duty, there were many occasions in which she'd wanted to support him. She'd believed she wanted to be by his side forever. However, a dark shadow always hovered around Abel, and so she'd hesitated to express her feelings.

It was as if a pure black darkness always stalked him. He was harboring a dreadful secret. Noelle didn't have the self-confidence to ask him about it, although she loved him all the same. Therefore, Noelle left AX without telling him anything.

The keyhole made a small clicking sound, pulling her bitter thoughts back to the present. The doors opened automatically, revealing the safe's contents: one thick file.

"What is this? Head Office Building Transfer Project Plans." Noelle blinked at the title written on the face of the document. It was a completely normal document about plans to relocate.

"Maybe I missed something?"

Leafing through the file, she lightly clicked her tongue.

The only strange thing she saw involved a building that the Dominic Company had bought for its new headquarters, which previously had been bought and sold by many private enterprises. It certainly was a large purchase, but it wasn't suspicious. Of course, the relocation purchase was a legal transaction.

After Barrie bought the building, why did he have so much remodeling done? This looks just like . . .

After hesitating a moment, Noelle flicked her earpiece. "Hello, Abel, can you hear me?"