The officers showed a picture of a black figure that stared back toward the camera with its pair of red eyes, its features undiscernible due to the shadow of two buildings.
They then placed several other pictures, this time, pictures of people, and all of them are around her age. Teens.
"The shadowy figure was spotted by a photographer of our team while investigating this case near this area. For now, this figure was our main suspect behind the missing cases involving these people. All of them are still young, so you should also be careful, Miss Midori."
The officer's warning was purely out of concern, so Saki nodded gratefully in response.
"During our investigations, we found two repeated signs before the victims went missing."
The officer pulled out a blood red marble from his pocket and placed it on the table.
"First was this red ball. Every victim would always have this stored inside their rooms."
The officer then stared straight at Saki.
"And the second sign was, without exception, the victims' parents or relatives who lived in the same roof as the victims would always hear scratching noises from the victims' rooms the day before the victims' disappearance."
Another officer promptly placed a paper filled with questions before Saki the moment his coworker finished his explanation.
"Please answer these questions with utmost honesty, Miss Midori. It's connected to your own safety, after all," warned the officer.
Saki only responded with a nod before staring down at the paper, her fingers raised it before her eyes.
Most of them were simple questions inquiring whether she had seen any anomalies lately. If yes, then she should detail the occurrences and follow the officer to seek refuge.
Saki filed the questions as truthfully as she could, while, of course, continuing to hide the fact that a Gate had opened in her basement. She wanted to become stronger using that Gate and continue to access the world beyond the Gates, so that fact would be best kept as a secret.
There was a question that asked whether she had ever entered the world beyond the Gates. Saki paused for a moment before writing a bold 'No' as an answer.
Overall, that was merely basic data gathering. Some questions indeed made her slightly worried about her safety, but after she remembered her experiences of facing monsters beyond the Gates, she eased her mind, thinking that she could handle it no matter what as long as she had leveled up enough.
Finished answering the last question, she returned the paper to the officers.
They only gave the paper a glance before nodding at her.
"We appreciated your cooperation, Miss Midori."
Saki saw them heading out of her house before she locked the door and went back to her TV.
Even while answering the officers, she hadn't turned off her TV. She continued to watch the situation between the Dragon and the USA's navy even while facing them. For some reason, the officers didn't pay much attention to the news, despite Saki's thought that this matter might have affected Earth greatly.
At the moment, the Dragon and the navy had settled down their earlier aggression. While floating before the massive Gate, the Dragon seemed to be conversing with a tall, young man with long blonde hair.
"Who's that man?" Saki muttered.
'He looked so calm and reserved even while facing a real Dragon...'
Saki continued to watch their muted conversation with focused expression, her body leaning toward the TV.
At that time,
Suddenly—
A scratching noise could be heard by Saki, tensing her body, her focus on the news was shattered.
The noises are coming directly from the second floor of her house, from her room.
Scratch, scratch... Like a sound of something hard and sharp meeting with the solid wall, slightly scraping the paint and the bricks.
Saki was holding her breath, trying her best to keep quiet.
The scratching noises continued for almost 3 minutes before stopping.
Saki perked her ears, listening to whether there was still noise from her room upstairs. The moment she confirmed that the noises had ended, leaving only her TV as the only source of sounds, Saki let out her breath.
Steeling herself, she went to the kitchen and picked up a knife.
With a knife in her hand, she began slowly ascending the staircase leading to the second floor.
It's quiet.
Her ears didn't hear any sounds except the faint sound of her TV.
'Maybe it had... Gone?'
Cold sweat flowed down her cheek as Saki carefully assessed the state of her house's second floor.
Nothing seemed wrong.
Everything still remained in the same state she had left it before she entered the Gate three days ago.
Dirty clothes are scattered everywhere.
There was even a pile of trash she had accumulated from the last year, but she was too lazy and sad to take the trash to the trash cans outside her house.
She then approached the door of her room, the source of the noises.
She took a long breath before placing her palm on the handle. She slowly twists the handle, opening the door.
The moment she opened the door, her breath hitched.
Her bed, which was the only thing she had taken care of despite everything that happened last year, had now been reduced to a mess.
The bed mattress had been sliced to pieces, full of claw marks.
The walls, the floor, the furniture... Nothing spared.
Then—
At the center of this mess.
A blood red marble was being left on the floor, in the center of all this.