Scumbag Fate System-Chapter 100: Catching Up (1)

The club building felt warmer than usual with all six of them crammed into the main room. Food such as sandwiches, pastries, tea, and fruit was spread across the table from the cafe.

Everyone had claimed their usual spots while eating and catching up with one another.

"So, how did it go?" Rika asked.

"It went well. I was able to absorb the Void Energy within their minds. And after a minute, they began recovering." Yor said softly.

"And how were their reactions?" Reinhard asked before taking a bite from the sandwich.

"That’s..." Yor fell silent before sighing and saying. "It was a mixed reaction to be honest... The tall boy’s older brother was confused at first before turning silent and not speaking with anyone for the day..."

"Everyone thought he was still in shock or furious?" Alice asked.

"Yeah. So, his parents told everyone to give him space, and when I was about to go. He stopped me and apologized for causing so much trouble and thanked me."

This surprised everyone; all of them were expecting rage and anger. But not the person apologizing.

"Yeah, I was surprised too. But he pointed out that it was they who overstepped my boundary, and it was their fault."

"Good! They should understand!" Alice nodded with her arms crossed.

"What about the other two?"

"Well... The boy with glasses’ older siblings told me to screw off and never come near them again."

"Sounds about right."

"I was expecting harsher words."

"Like for her to drop-"

"Alright, that’s enough." Reinhard said with an amused smile. "Yor... I hope you know-"

"Yes, I didn’t take it to heart. I expected it, and don’t worry, it didn’t hurt." Yor says with a smile, making the other smile in relief.

"And the girl’s older sibling?"

"She actually still wants to see if I can be her friend... And when she comes back, maybe we can grab lunch together."

"Oh? That’s pretty good." Rika says with a smile.

"But it’s your choice, though." Sirin says with a nod.

"I know, and I’m still thinking about it... But it was a nice experience."

"I’m glad was." Lous said with a chuckle.

Soon, they got lost in talking about the journey and the carriage ride. But no matter how much they tried, the earlier revelation about professors leaking information hung over them like a dark cloud.

Someone was spying on them. And they needed to figure out who.

"We can’t just ignore this." Sirin said as she put her teacup down. "If professors are leaking information about our movements, we’re all at risk. Not just Yor."

The mood in the room shifted immediately. Everyone’s smiles faded as they took a deep breath and looked down at the table.

"The question is, how do we catch them?" Alice asked while cracking her knuckles. "We can’t exactly go around accusing professors without proof."

"And we don’t know if it’s intentional leaks or just careless talk," Louis added. "That changes how we’d approach it."

Reinhard stayed silent while listening to the others brainstorm. He wanted to hear their ideas first before offering his own perspective and see what they came up with naturally.

How would his friends approach this problem? What weaknesses would their plans have?

"I could try finding tracing the leak." Sirin suggested while pulling out a notebook. "Create a list of professors who knew about Yor’s trip and cross-reference with those who knew about her trial demonstration early."

Reinhard considered this for a moment, a image of Sirin just doing flashed through his mind.

The approach was logical but had a major flaw. If the spy realized someone was investigating, they’d simply stop leaking or shift their methods. Worse, they might accelerate whatever plan they were working toward.

And another issue is whether the trail being followed is the correct one or just a distraction.

"We could set a trap," Alice proposed while leaning forward eagerly. "Feed false information to different professors and see which version gets leaked. That would tell us who the spy is."

A classic technique, Reinhard thought. But it required coordination and time.

The spy might not take the bait if the false information wasn’t valuable enough. And if they did take it, acting on the knowledge could put someone in actual danger before they realized it was fake. In addition, there is a big chance the spy won’t even take the bait and simply keep the information.

"What if I use my precognition to check professors’ futures?" Rika offered nervously. "I could see if any of them do something suspicious in the next few days."

Reinhard mentally shook his head. Rika’s precognition only showed five seconds ahead, not days or hours. She’d have to constantly use her ability around every suspicious professor, which would be exhausting and obvious.

"I could ask the communication to investigate from their end," Yor said quietly. "They might be able to find out who’s been communicating with outsiders."

That would work in the long term, Reinhard mused. But it would also alert the spy that someone was looking into them. They’d cover their tracks before evidence could be gathered.

Louis rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "What if we just avoid sharing important information entirely? Keep everything secret, even from professors?"

"We can’t function like that," Sirin countered immediately. "The club needs faculty approval for certain activities. We have to report incidents of Void Distortion, and constantly being careful will only put pressure on us."

Everyone fell into frustrated silence.

Each plan had merit but also significant weaknesses that could backfire or fail entirely. The spy problem was trickier than a simple mystery to solve and the multiple suspects made it difficult.

Reinhard watched his friends wrestle with the problem; the sight made him smile. It was interesting watching them putting forth ideas back-to-back.

But they lacked experience with this type of threat.

"I have an idea," Reinhard said quietly.

Everyone paused.

Before instantly turning to him with hopefull looks.

"The best plan is to continue as if nothing is wrong," Reinhard explained calmly. "Act like we haven’t noticed the information leaks. Don’t change our behavior patterns or suddenly become secretive."

"That sounds like doing nothing," Alice protested.

"It sounds like that," Reinhard agreed. "But during important moments such as big reveals or decisions. We’ll have Rika use her precognition to test reactions."

Sirin’s eyes widened with understanding. "I see. Because it’s Rika’s precognition, she can see five seconds into the future without actually committing to an action. She can check what happens if we reveal something without actually revealing it."

"Exactly," Reinhard confirmed. "If someone reacts strangely to information they shouldn’t know yet. Or after we reveal something here... Rika can use her recognition of checking around to see if there is someone outside or suspicious behavior in that five-second-"

Rika perked up immediately. "We would know if we are being watched or listened to! can do that!"

"It’s subtle," Louis said with growing appreciation. "The spy won’t know we’re testing them because from their perspective, nothing unusual is happening."

"And we can do this repeatedly," Sirin added while writing notes rapidly. "Build a pattern of when and where information gets leaked. Eventually, we’ll narrow down who has access."

Everyone started talking at once again, but this time with excitement instead of frustration. Sirin outlined how they could structure tests which made them perk up. Alice suggested some scenarios they could try but was instantly rejected from how dangerous they were. Louis offered to create communication devices that couldn’t be overheard but Reinhard say the spy might spot it and become suspicious.

The energy in the room had transformed from worried to determined. They had a plan now, a real one that could actually work.

Reinhard smiled before he realize it was time.

"I’ll be using my precognition as well during these tests," Reinhard mentioned casually. "Having two people checking the future is better than one."

Louis, Sirin, and Yor paused with a blink and then a look of realization flashed past them.

"Oh, right, you do have one." Sirin chuckled slowly.

"I knew it!" Louis shouted as he pumped up both arms.

"I figure that’s the case." Yor nodded with a smile.

Reinhard chuckled. "I should probably clarify something. I have multiple Sigils, not just a future seeing one."

Instantly, the trio fell silent, all of them having a matching stunned look. It was so quiet, you could have heard a pin drop.

"Multiple Sigils," Louis repeated like he was testing the words to see if they made sense. "As in... more than one?"

"Four," Reinhard confirmed. "Future seeing, Spatial, Phasing, and Void Sigil."

Yor’s mouth fell open.

Sirin’s pen clattered onto her notebook.

Louis just stared without blinking.

Alice and Rika both started laughing, quiet sounds of amusement at the others’ reactions.

"You already knew?" Sirin turned to stare at them accusingly.

"Alice figured it out a few days ago," Rika explained with a smile. "And Reinhard told me after I saw him absorb that void distortion in the library basement.