Frondier menurunkan peta 3D ciptaannya agar semua orang bisa melihatnya. Peta yang melayang horizontal itu menampilkan seluruh kontur dan medan, termasuk pegunungan dan lembah. Semua orang terdiam menatapnya. Ada yang bahkan membandingkannya dengan materi yang mereka pegang. Pastikan perhatian semua orang sudah terfokus, Frondier mulai bicara. "Tidak, tidak, tidak. Tunggu sebentar." Salah satu pro mengangkat tangannya dan menghentikan Frondier. Pria itu menunjuk peta 3D Frondier, Obsidian. Frondier menggeleng. "Itu tidak penting untuk operasi ini." "Anggap saja itu kemampuanku. Tidak akan merugikan kalian." Mendengar itu, pria lain meliriknya dengan curiga. "Apakah maksudmu kau bisa merugikan kami kalau mau?" "Ya. Sama seperti pedang, sihir, dan aura kalian." "Kalian bercanda, kan?" Pria itu murka mendengar kata-kata Frondier dan bangkit berdiri, tetapi... "Hei, sudah cukup." Ia dicegah oleh pria lain. "Apakah kau akan mengocehkan semua trik rahasiamu ke mana-mana? Ketika kau tidak yakin kapan musuh akan memperoleh informasi itu atau siapa di antara mereka yang akan menjadi musuhmu?" "...Tidak, bukan begitu, tapi." "Setidaknya anak itu sudah menunjukkan 'wujud' senjata tersembunyinya sejauh ini. Untuk membantu operasi kita. Kita harus bersyukur." Mendengar itu, pria tadi menggaruk kepalanya dengan canggung dan kembali duduk. Tidak ada pro yang menunjukkan semua trik atau kemampuannya. Ini berlaku untuk musuh maupun sekutu. Informasi bisa bocor dengan cara apa pun, dan informasi yang bocor bisa kembali menyengatmu kapan saja. Jadi, bertanya tentang Obsidian Frondier sebenarnya sudah melewati batas. Mereka tanpa sengaja meremehkan Frondier karena ia seorang siswa. Dan Frondier kembali membuka mulutnya. "Pertama, ini adalah kumpulan lokasi di mana orang-orang telah disuntik dengan mana." Frondier mengibaskan tangannya sekali, dan Obsidian terbang naik lalu mendarat di peta lagi. Butir-butir hitam kecil yang melayang di peta menandakan lokasi-lokasi tersebut. Mudah dipahami sekilas. "...Kau tidak sedang bilang kau mengingat semua informasi penampakan sejauh ini, kan? Dan kau mengendalikan cairan hitam ini satu per satu berdasarkan ingatanmu?" Orang lain mengajukan pertanyaan kepada Frondier yang sedang mengendalikan peta tanpa ragu. Frondier memiringkan kepalanya sedikit dan berkata, "Kurang lebih begitu." "...Tidak masuk akal. Aku tidak bisa percaya." "Mau percaya atau tidak, itu bukan yang bisa kukendalikan. Aku di sini hanya untuk menjelaskan." Tentu saja, alasan Frondier bisa mengumpulkan semua informasi ini adalah karena kekuatan 'Workshop'-nya. Tapi ia tidak bisa menjelaskan itu. Workshop juga merupakan inti dari kemampuan Frondier. Tapi kalau ia tidak menjelaskan, mereka tidak akan percaya. Dan penjelasan tanpa kepercayaan kurang meyakinkan. Jadi, Frondier menambahkan satu kalimat lagi. "Banyak materi yang kalian terima sejauh ini adalah informasi palsu." Setelah berkata begitu, Frondier mengambil salah satu materi. "Misalnya, ini. Informasi yang cukup detail tentang korban, tapi palsu. Orang ini bahkan tidak ada di daftar korban, dan ia dilaporkan terlihat di bagian tengah benua pada pagi hari saat kejadian. Lokasinya terlalu jauh untuk bisa dilihat lalu menjadi korban. Tempat yang sulit dijangkau bahkan dengan perjalanan lurus." Sambil berkata demikian, Frondier mengambil daftar korban dan satu laporan penampakan, lalu menunjukkan ketiga lembar kertas itu. Yang lain memeriksa materi-materi itu sambil mendengarkan penjelasan Frondier. Seperti yang dikatakan Frondier, itu memang informasi palsu. "Jenis informasi palsu seperti ini bukan sekadar kesalahan atau kesalahpahaman dalam laporan. Kalau begitu, saksi dan korban tidak akan memiliki nama yang sama." "Maka apa arti informasi palsu ini?" Kali ini, Azier yang bertanya. Pertanyaan untuk membantu penjelasan Frondier mengalir mulus. "Seseorang sedang menggabungkan informasi asli secara acak untuk membuat informasi palsu. Kemungkinan besar orang itu ada di antara kalian di sini." Tegangan di ruang rapat meningkat mendengar kata-kata Frondier. "Tidak, bagaimana kau bisa yakin itu salah satu orang di ruang rapat ini? Kami kan bukan yang membuat laporan! Kami sibuk menyelidiki bersama tim kami masing-masing!" Itu terdengar seperti bantahan yang masuk akal, tapi Frondier menggeleng. "Data kasar seperti ini, yang dibuat dengan menggabungkan nama dan tempat secara acak, akan disaring oleh markas dulu. Fakta bahwa data semacam ini sampai ke ruang rapat hanya berarti satu hal." Mendengar itu, Philly tersenyum cerah dan bertepuk tangan pelan. "Mereka menyisipkan data palsu di antara waktu data disaring di markas dan waktu data sampai di ruang rapat!" "Ya. Mungkin saat data sedang ditransfer ke ruang rapat, atau setelahnya. Kapan pun, itu sesuatu yang tidak bisa dilakukan oleh siapa pun selain orang-orang di sini. Satu atau dua masih bisa dianggap kesalahan markas, tapi aku sudah menemukan lebih dari 20." Tentu saja, Frondier menemukan jauh lebih banyak informasi palsu dari itu, tapi ada sekitar 20 yang mudah diidentifikasi sebagai palsu kalau ada pro yang memintanya memverifikasi. "Artinya, mau percaya atau tidak padaku bukan urusanku. Kalian sejak awal sudah memverifikasi keaslian data di sini. Penjelasananku hanyalah salah satu dari banyak data yang telah dituangkan kepada kalian." Mendengar kata-kata Frondier, mereka akhirnya siap mendengarkan. Mereka sempat sedikit kaget setelah melihat pemandangan menakjubkan 'peta 3D' tepat di depan mereka. Namun, kalau dipikir baik-baik, Frondier tidak akan menganggap peta 3D itu luar biasa karena dialah yang membuatnya, dan penjelasannya pun mungkin tidak bermakna besar. Jadi jangan kaget. Tidak perlu kaget... "Baik, aku akan menyisihkan informasi yang telah ditetapkan sebagai palsu dari informasi penampakan yang sedang kalian lihat." "Apa? Bagaimana kau bisa..." Seseorang kembali membuka mulutnya tanpa sadar, lalu cepat-cepat menutupnya saat menyadari. Saat Frondier menarik tangannya, kali ini butiran hitam di peta berkurang. Jumlahnya cukup banyak sekilas. Namun, lokasi penampakan yang tersisa pun tetap signifikan. Artinya, insiden ini bukan sekadar informasi palsu, tapi sesuatu yang benar-benar terjadi secara simultan di banyak area. "...Emm, Frondier, begitu namanya?" Pria yang tadi diam-diam melihat peta, yang membela Frondier sebelumnya, membuka mulutnya. "Bagiku, meskipun informasi palsunya dihilangkan, bentuk keseluruhan cabang-cabang utamanya terlihat mirip."
Kapitel bonus, terima kasih untuk @taelrak dan @Gingerth3gr8 dari Ko-fi!
Frondier lowered the 3D map he had created so everyone could see it. The horizontally floating map depicted all the elevations and terrain, including mountains and valleys. Everyone stared at it blankly. Some even compared it to the materials they were holding. Confirming that everyone's attention was focused, Frondier spoke. "No, no, no, no. Wait a minute." One of the pros raised his hand and stopped Frondier. The man pointed to Frondier's 3D map, the Obsidian. Frondier shook his head. "It's not important to the operation." "Let's just say it's my ability. It won't harm you." At those words, another man gave him a suspicious look. "Does that mean you can harm us if you want to?" "Yes. Just like your swords, magic, and aura." "Are you kidding me right now?" The man was enraged by Frondier's words and stood up, but... "Hey, that's enough." He was stopped by another man. "Do you go around blabbering about all your secret tricks? When you're not sure when the enemy will acquire that information or who among them will become your enemy?" "...No, that's not it, but." "At least that child has shown us the 'appearance' of his hidden weapon so far. To help us with our operation. We should be grateful." At his words, the man scratched his head in embarrassment and sat down again. No pro reveals all of their tricks or abilities. This applies to both enemies and allies. Information can leak out in any way, and leaked information can come back to bite you at any time. Therefore, asking about Frondier's Obsidian was actually crossing the line. They had inadvertently underestimated Frondier because he was a student. And Frondier opened his mouth again. "First, this is a collection of locations where people have been infused with Mana." Frondier waved his hand once, and the Obsidian flew up and landed on the map again. Small black droplets floating on the map indicated the locations. It was easy to understand at a glance. "...You're not saying you remember all the sighting information so far, are you? And you're controlling this black liquid one by one based on those memories?" Someone else asked a question to Frondier, who was manipulating the map without hesitation. Frondier tilted his head slightly and said, "It's roughly similar." "...Unbelievable. I can't believe it." "Whether you believe it or not is not something I can control. I'm just here to explain." Of course, the reason Frondier could accumulate all this information was because of the power of the 'Workshop'. But he couldn't explain that. The Workshop was also the core of Frondier's abilities. But if he didn't explain, they wouldn't believe him. And explanations without trust lacked persuasiveness. Therefore, Frondier added one more sentence. "Many of the materials you have received so far will be false information." After saying that, Frondier picked up one of the materials. "For example, this. It's quite detailed information about the victim, but it's false. This person isn't even on the victim list, and they were reported to have been seen in the central part of the continent on the morning of the incident. The locations are too far apart for them to have been witnessed and then become a victim. It's a place that's difficult to reach even if you drive in a straight line." Saying that, Frondier picked up the victim list and one sighting report and showed them the three sheets. The others reviewed the materials as they listened to Frondier's explanation. As Frondier said, it was definitely fake information. "This kind of false information is not simply a mistake or misunderstanding in the report. If it were, the witness and the victim wouldn't have the same name." "Then what does this false information mean?" This time, it was Azier who asked. It was a question to help Frondier's explanation flow smoothly. "Someone is combining real information randomly to create fake information. There's a high probability that they're among you here." The tension in the conference room rose at Frondier's words. "No, how can you be sure it's one of the people in this conference room? We're not the ones making the reports, are we? We've been busy investigating with our respective teams!" It was a seemingly plausible objection, but Frondier shook his head. "This kind of crude data, made by combining random names and place names, is filtered out by headquarters first. The fact that this kind of data has reached the conference room means only one thing." Hearing those words, Philly smiled brightly and clapped her hands lightly. "They inserted the false data between the time the data was filtered out at headquarters and the time it arrived at the conference room!" "Yes. Perhaps when the data was being transferred to the conference room, or after it was transferred. Either way, it's something that couldn't be done by anyone other than the people here. One or two could be passed off as a mistake by headquarters, but I've already found more than 20." Of course, Frondier had found far more false information than that, but there were about 20 that were easy to identify as false in case a pro asked him to verify them. "In other words, whether you believe me or not is not my role. You've been verifying the authenticity of the data here from the beginning. My explanation is just one of the many pieces of data that have been poured out to you." At Frondier's words, they were all finally ready to listen. They had been a little flustered after seeing the amazing sight of the '3D map' right in front of them. However, if they thought about it carefully, Frondier wouldn't think much of the 3D map since he created it, and his explanation might not have much meaning either. So let's not be surprised. There's no need to be surprised... "Now then, I'll omit the information that has been judged to be false from the sighting information you are looking at." "What? How can you..." Someone opened their mouth again unconsciously, then quickly closed it when they realized. When Frondier withdrew his hand, this time the black droplets on the map decreased. It was a considerable amount at a glance. However, the remaining sighting locations were also significant. This meant that this incident was not just false information, but something that was actually happening simultaneously in many areas. "...Um, Frondier, was it?" The man who had been quietly looking at the map, the one who had defended Frondier earlier, opened his mouth. "To me, even with the false information removed, the overall shape of the main branches seems similar."
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