Phantom Thieves of Hope - A Danganronpa X Persona 5 Story.

Chapter 110: Total Recall

Suspicion - Persona 5

"Several months ago, when I was first introduced to the Metaverse and discovered that the cognitive world was being manipulated and corrupted by evil people, I made it my goal to stop those people. Just like you all did," he explained. "My...ahem...benefactor...was the one giving me tips on certain targets."

"Benefactor?" Leprechaun parroted. "So...you're working WITH someone to change hearts?"

"Probably whomever the ruler of that Palace we first fought him in was," Sandbox made a good point. "I mean, it couldn't be HIS domain if he has a Persona, right?"

"Correct. Persona users can't have Palaces," Usami affirmed. "I don't suppose you're going to tell us who this 'benefactor' of yours is?"

"No." The Knight's blunt response was to be expected. "As I said, he's the one giving me tips on targets, and he's the one who first brought Ashikawa and the Steering Committee to my attention. But that's not the most important detail. More importantly, when I was doing my investigation into the Steering Committee, I learned that the Metaverse had become far more dangerous. And it was thanks to a series of incidents that caused these distortions."

"So...Ashikawa's Palace isn't the only Palace that has this distortion?" Makoto asked.

"That's...a bit difficult to answer," the Knight admitted. "Ashikawa's Palace is the only Palace that I've found to have been affected by these distortions, but I've investigated this workshop several times up until now. There has to be some degree of tampering from real-world patrons in order to make any of this possible. Ergo, my current assumption is that this place is only part of a grander scheme. Whether Ashikawa is responsible for said scheme or not remains to be seen."

"I mean, there is a precedent for that," Leprechaun affirmed. "If they can tamper with Hajime's Palace to erase his identity, then they could very easily add a lone building into Ashikawa's."

"But this place is still important, right?" Usami asked. "You would not be keeping an eye on it if it wasn't."

"That's right," the Knight nodded. "If there wasn't something important hidden in this place, then they wouldn't need such a vicious guard dog."

Leprechaun instinctively rubbed the spot on his abdomen where the Monokuma had bitten him. Sandbox also rubbed her neck.

"Speaking of which, where is that piece of crap?" the Lucky Student asked. "Did you manage to defeat it?"

"Did you not pay attention to the fact that it almost bit me as I made my way out?" the Knight asked, exasperated.

"Well, I didn't know if you'd been able to weaken it at all, because we sure didn't," Leprechaun clarified.

"As I said already, that thing is too strong for me to defeat on my own. Luckily for us, I've found that it can't pass through the threshold of the workshop, so as long as we stay out here in the open, we'll be safe," the Knight explained. "It's retreated back into the workshop for now, but no doubt it will lunge at us again with lethal intent if we step through those doors."

"What do we do then?" Sandbox asked. "There must be another way around it, right?"

The Phantom Knight's eyes weren't visible behind his star-shaped mask, but Chiaki could feel his eyes burning into hers.

"Allow me to ask a question of my own before I answer that," he replied. "What is the purpose of your visit here? I would understand it if you were investigating Ashikawa's Palace to steal his Treasure, but to come this far out..."

The three Phantom Thieves exchanged wary glances. It was a serious struggle, if a silent one, debating whether they should tell the Phantom Knight about their true objective here.