Day 2: Computer


Normally, Lahar didn't need to visit Era's physical records archives in person. The procedure was supposed to be: Lahar sent a request via his assistant, the assistant would deliver the requisite paperwork, and the report he needed would be delivered to Lahar later in the day. Generally speaking, Rune Knights at the rank of Captains or above were far too busy to be forced into the drudgery that was trying to find a specific file in the towering stacks of them. So it was delegated.

However, ever since Ultear's assault on Era, it had become near impossible to find anything in the archives. That portion of the building had been hit hard by the criminal, and what hadn't been outright destroyed was hopelessly jumbled together, or just lost altogether.

It was the latter that had brought Lahar into the equation this day.

The rebuilding effort was making a good deal of progress, but the disarray of the backlogged reports was still a major concern. In order to prevent this from happening in the future, the archival room would be split into several different rooms around Era, rather than be concentrated in a single one as before. Furthermore, the Council had ordered that everything be backed up using the relatively new magic: Archive. This would also allow for a more rapid exchange of information going forward, something that Era had desperately needed.

Through these organizational efforts, had emerged a curious problem. One that centered around one of Lahar's ongoing cases.

As head of a custody enforcement unit, it was part of Lahar's job to investigate and hunt down dark guilds and the criminals they harbored. The networks maintained by that Baram Alliance, in particular, were his main source of focus. Even if the Rune Knights could take down one of the minor guilds, another would take its place, like the Hydra of myth, regrowing new heads every time one was cut off. The same would also be true of taking down one of the three leaders of the Baram Alliance – the remaining two would simply absorb the surviving member guilds, and only grow more powerful for it.

To effectively dismantle it would require complete annihilation of both the main controlling dark guild, and all of the lesser guilds it commanded simultaneously.

An endeavor of great ambition. The kind that careers were made from.

Which, of course, meant that it involved massive amounts of tactical intelligence to pull off.

Intelligence that was now… missing.

Or rather, it was still present, but not in any usable form.

Most of the contents of the files on that Baram Alliance had been disintegrated, turned to dust and far beyond retrieval. The files themselves, however, were unharmed if scattered around a bit. One of the Archive mages had opened up one on the Dark Unicorn guild, only to be showered in its remains instead.

This, to Lahar, spoke of sabotage well in advance of the destruction that had razed Era to the ground. A deliberate erasing of anything that could be used against the Baram Alliance. Given the method, and the timing, there was really only one possible culprit.

Ultear Milkovich.

This was a devastating loss.

But it wasn't, Lahar concluded, going to prevent him from accomplishing his goal of taking the Baram Alliance down for good. Something had been in there that Ultear hadn't wanted them to see. Something important.

There was still the operatives in the field. And at least two members of Fairy Tail had connections to the traitors Jellal Fernandes and Ultear Milkovich.

It was time to see about implanting a spy in Fairy Tail's midst.