One didn't even need to guess to know that Flandre Scarlet must have discovered something for things to turn out this way. Everyone looked at Flandre with varying expressions—some with awe, others with a growing sense of dread.
Flandre herself looked quite oblivious. She didn't know why Talulah and Alina were making such a big deal out of it. However, as she scanned her surroundings, she noticed that while most people's hearts were racing after seeing this scene, a few individuals had particularly fast heartbeats. And those individuals were the ones she had discovered earlier.
As a descendant of Flandre, Alina naturally possessed this kind of ability as well. Over the past year or so, she had almost mastered this power, so she instantly spotted the issues with those few people.
[Is it those people?] Alina used a Bloodline Communication Technique to point out the individuals she had identified.
Flandre nodded. [Sister Alina is so amazing, she found them all at once.]
Hearing Flandre's words, Alina breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed she had another reliable skill besides flying now. As for Pale Touch... she basically never used that thing against people.
[Flandre, do you have a way to restrain those few in the crowd without affecting the others?] Alina asked.
Flandre shook her head; she did know magic, but her control wasn't that precise—it was more the 'large-scale and overwhelming' variety. Seeing this, Alina gave Talulah a look. Fortunately, Talulah had other contingency plans for the journey and hadn't placed everything solely on Flandre.
With a wave of her hand, soldiers stepped forward one by one, preparing to take those people into custody. At that moment, someone couldn't help but speak up.
"Leader, we've worked day and night for the Reunion Movement, risking heavy dust and metal poisoning in this ironworks. Even if there's no credit, there's hard work. If you want to arrest someone, at least give us a reason, otherwise everyone..."
Before he could finish, Talulah waved her hand, and a terrifying sword mark appeared on the ground in front of him. Looking at Talulah's seemingly empty hands, they remembered hearing others mention that the Leader possessed an Invisible Sword. Meeting Talulah's icy gaze, the man immediately backed down in fear. After all, if Talulah had raised her hand just two inches higher, his upper body might have been separated from his lower half.
Talulah scanned the crowd and said, "I'll give you a chance. Step forward voluntarily and confess the crimes you've committed..."
Hearing Talulah's words, everyone understood a little. Someone among them must have committed a crime, and it wasn't a small matter if it had directly alarmed Talulah, leading to today's events. But the problem was that most people in the crowd had no idea what had happened. And those who did know didn't dare to step forward, because if they confessed what they had done, they would surely die.
Of course, not everyone was completely in the dark; for instance, a few who weren't involved recalled certain things they'd noticed, and linking them to Talulah's arrival, they basically guessed the truth of the matter. Guessing the truth didn't make them happy; instead, they were furious. Because if it really was as they suspected, then those people truly deserved to die.
Dozens of seconds later, Talulah raised her eyes with a look of disappointment. She turned to look at Alina, who walked in front of the crowd; every time she pointed at someone, soldiers would drag that person out of the throng. When half of them had been seized, the remaining few finally couldn't take it anymore. They tremblingly raised their hands, wanting to surrender, but Talulah had already given them a chance that not one of them had cherished; it was too late now.
With a wave of Alina's hand, everyone was brought under control. After confirming there were no issues with the others, Alina finally spoke. "We will continue to investigate today's matter thoroughly. Until a result is reached, I hope everyone will not spread word of this to the outside."
Hearing Alina's words, everyone nodded in silent agreement. After those people were taken away, the ironworks resumed operations; after all, the previous work wasn't finished, and if they stopped now and the molten iron solidified midway, the entire smelting apparatus might be ruined.
Flandre returned with Alina's group, and Talulah looked at her. "How did you discover there was a problem here?"
Flandre explained her reason for coming there. Hearing that she had only come because she saw the thick smoke and thought there was a fire, everyone couldn't help but marvel; sometimes luck is truly a mysterious thing. Then, hearing that Flandre had noticed the abnormal heartbeats of those few and informed Alina, leading to this, she looked at Alina.
She knew about the ability to sense heartbeats; Alina had used it before to catch spies. Thinking about it now, this trick was truly an excellent lie detector. If you didn't have a guilty conscience, your heartbeat would never become abnormal. Crucially, while most people and spies can disguise their expressions and appearance, they absolutely cannot hide their heartbeat.
Thinking about how Flandre had caught several 'termites' just by wandering around today, Talulah had an idea. Keeping Alina by her side as a secretary and scout was a waste of her talents. She now had some ability to protect herself; if she were given a squad of guards to visit various places from time to time, she might be able to root out a large number of pests.
This decision brought disaster to the lawbreakers within the Reunion Movement. Those who had committed crimes would subconsciously fear their deeds being exposed upon seeing the guard, and in their terror, their heartbeats would far exceed those of normal people. Alina wouldn't ask what crime the person had committed; she would simply arrest them. After they were taken in, she would send people to investigate their situation while locking the person in a quiet room.
The room contained nothing but paper and a pen, and no one would come to interrogate them. Only a day later would someone come to collect the paper and pen. Believe it or not, under this method, eighty percent of people would obediently give in, even implicating other accomplices. The remaining twenty percent of die-hards would eventually have no choice but to admit their crimes in the face of other evidence.
For a time, the internal atmosphere of the entire Reunion Movement became exceptionally wholesome.
Anyway, after Flandre was brought back to the mobile module by Alina, she was picked up by the arriving Sakuya Izayoi. Returning home, Remilia asked what had happened, and Flandre honestly recounted everything that had just occurred. After listening, the group was somewhat speechless.
"You little trouble magnet, how do you manage to run into things wherever you go?" Remilia extended a slender finger and poked Flandre's forehead.
Flandre said she didn't know; she just felt that those guys' fast heartbeats were interesting, and since there was no one around to share it with, she had simply contacted Alina.