Puzzle

[Code Name] Puzzle [Gender] Male [Combat Experience] 6 Years [Place of Birth] Victoria [Date of Birth] Dec 5 [Race] Vouivre [Height] 177cm [Infection Status] Originium crystals distributed across surface of body, confirmed Infected by medical examination.

[Physical Strength] Excellent [Mobility] Standard [Physical Resilience] Standard [Tactical Acumen] Excellent [Combat Skill] Standard [Originium Arts Assimilation] Standard

Puzzle, a Victorian military intelligence officer, came to Rhodes Island with a letter from the Duke of Caster, seeking treatment as an Infected. He has reached a cooperation agreement with Rhodes Island, and is active in various operations and preliminary intelligence gathering while receiving treatment.

Imaging tests show the indistinct outlines of internal organs, obscured by abnormal shadows. Originium granules detected in the circulatory system. The subject is confirmed to be infected with Oripathy. [Cell-Originium Assimilation] 11% Larger distributions of Originium crystals visible on the left arm and side of the body. [Blood Originium-Crystal Density] 0.26u/L Operator Puzzle was acutely infected during an explosion; fortunately, it had not been long before he arrived at Rhodes Island and it was quickly brought under control.

Operator Puzzle has already passed his onboarding examination with flying colors, but we will not allow him to participate in combat missions for the time being. This is not a matter of trust—he has shown us his good intentions, and has no motive to sabotage Rhodes Island. Naturally, neither is it due to any lack of ability on his part. Though due to Oripathy his physical condition is slightly below average for a Vouivre, it is not enough to compromise his combat abilities. Furthermore, his smog-type Originium Arts complement his stealth-based fighting style well. However, he requires finer control of his Arts or perhaps even a drastic change to his fighting style, as we have observed him overexerting himself with his Arts on the battlefield. First of all, such a tendency makes it much harder to control the disease's progression while he is still undergoing Oripathy suppression treatment. Second, we cannot rule out the possibility that as his Infection deepens, his Arts might go out of control as well. For people who were already proficient in Arts prior to being infected, asking them to change their fighting style or even their lifestyle is a tall order indeed, especially for someone as stubborn as Puzzle. He formulates detailed plans based on his own logical reasoning and prepares contingencies for worst-case scenarios, all of which take into account everything at his disposal. Naturally, his Arts are a key part of this. We've tried communicating that we want him to leave himself more room for error in these back-up plans. The human body does not operate like precision clockwork, and it is impossible to quantify the factors that affect the progression of Oripathy. These are simply facts. But we have to suspend him from field missions. He knows why, of course, just can't accept it.

The source of Puzzle's infection was an otherwise ordinary investigation. He had noticed a bomber's abnormal behavior beforehand and had time to escape to a safe area; but realized that if the target of his investigation was killed in an explosion, then all of his work would come to naught. Moreover, he was undercover as a city hall clerk and rushing forward to persuade them to leave would only alert his target. Therefore, in less than half a minute, he made the spur-of-the-moment decision to not avoid the explosion, seeming to subconsciously want to protect his target. Afterwards, both were injured and sent to the hospital, and Puzzle was able to make contact with his target while their guard was completely down. When this topic came up in casual conversation, Puzzle offered a simple explanation for his actions: he was ordered to investigate potential military activity from the local nobles, which led him to track down a factory in the city based on a batch of chemical raw material orders. When we sincerely responded with 'that must've been a very important job,' Puzzle shook his head and replied that the information he obtained was of no particular value. 'I can see where he's coming from. For Rhodes Island, our greatest enemy is Oripathy, so of course we would never talk about 'what circumstances would make it worth it to get Infected.' Likewise, he will not allow others to judge whether the sacrifices he made for his mission were worthwhile or not. That is the respect owed to one's convictions.' ——A Medical Department staff member who talked with Puzzle during the course of treatment

Puzzle got his opportunity to come to Rhodes Island through an anonymous letter. He was carrying out an investigation on Operator Reed and ran into Bagpipe and Ch'en, who were traveling with her at the time, resulting in a conflict between the two sides. He collected extra intel regarding the three of them as part of his due diligence, but the more he pieced together their backgrounds, the less he understood why people with such different motivations, affiliations, and positions would come together like friends in the first place. While searching for clues, Puzzle's infection also forced him to make a choice: either end his career, living the good life on a short leash while waiting for Oripathy to do him in, or take the next step as an intelligence officer. He did not clearly explain what he meant by 'taking the next step,' but considering that he arrived at Rhodes Island with a signed letter from the Duke of Caster himself, one can infer that he worked his way up to a position under the direct command of the Duke. That was when he received a letter containing only Rhodes Island's business card, but that was enough to resolve all his quandaries—as well as open up new possibilities. 'Of course I knew who the sender was, as well as why she sent it. Communicate goodwill, seek cooperation, weave a network of relationships—these are the hallmarks of an intelligence officer's instincts. But rest assured, my prior work has come to an end, and I will no longer be investigating your operator, Reed. Furthermore, I have no interest in the woman codenamed 'Harmonie.'' After that, Puzzle talked about his views on intelligence work.

During the Londinium incident, Puzzle strictly abided by his cooperation agreement with Rhodes Island and did not intervene in any form. However, when we chatted with him about his views on the incident, he did not hesitate to chime in with his professional opinion as an intelligence officer. Before getting involved in intelligence work, he was just an ordinary college student with little talent in Arts, shunned by his classmates due to his harsh and exacting personality. Obviously, it never crossed his mind at the time that one day he would have the chance to deal with aristocrats, cooperate with the military, and work inside the intelligence department. But when his future boss, the leader of an intelligence organization, approached him and asked if he would consider entering training, he agreed almost immediately. Intelligence work, a field requiring extreme caution and precise attention to detail, is indeed well-suited for his talents, but more importantly, he saw eye-to-eye with the leader's philosophy—that in order to maintain a peaceful and orderly society, those who provoke conflict must be regarded as enemies. For him, the idea that 'everything has its own order' is not a goal, but a paranoid way of thinking. Naturally, this mindset is directly contradicted by our conflict-stricken reality, and this is especially true in Victoria, where dukes are constantly at each others' throats and turmoil is always at one's doorstep. As a result, he is always displeased with all the unprovoked violent conflicts, as well as the chaos caused by continually shifting 'orders,' and even more afraid of the possibility of war breaking out. 'War has no rhyme or reason. Nobody should tolerate such a senseless waste of life. Over the past few years, I've come to think the ultimate goal of our work is to prevent human lives from falling into that miserable situation.' 'But in terms of results, I'm disappointed. The war came regardless, and we gave it our tacit approval. Time and time again, we were so careful to avoid implicating the lives of hundreds or thousands with our small mistakes, but by the time war began to rear its ugly head, I realized it was already too late to stop it.' '...Your poking and prodding is a waste of time. My allegiances won't change. It's just that no matter what I think of it, I can't compromise on that one fact. Which is why I'm here.'

Uhh, we were the ones who did it. We dragged him to be the referee of the timed jigsaw puzzle competition. We figured it'd be fine since he enjoys them, making purchase requests to Logistics every two weeks, and spending all day glued to his desk whenever he has time off. ——Of course I know who he is. You can tell at a glance he's not used to his role as a 'Rhodes Island Collaborating Operator.' In the past, he might've worked as a clerk at city hall, an antique appraiser, or a nobleman's personal secretary. In any of those positions, he'd always have a way to win over people's trust. But at Rhodes Island, an affable manner and a silver tongue won't get you very far. Alright, so maybe inviting him wasn't a great idea. He hates being rushed, hates watching other people mess things up, and maybe he was telling the truth when he said he only uses puzzles to stay focused. But you know what? For the first time, I felt less nervous around him when he was crouching helplessly under the table with us, picking up the pieces a short-tempered operator had swept to the floor.