The Whirring Sound
After finishing the investigation, Sylvia returned to the cafeteria to treat the children who had collapsed. I sat there, watching Yoon Siwoo conduct investigations with the teachers, trying to discern the truth behind people’s words. The person currently being questioned was the academy’s cook—the one most likely to be the culprit, as they had the easiest access to the food. As the middle-aged cook, who looked to be in his forties or fifties, sat down, the head of student affairs spat out a question with a hardened expression.
“......First, I will ask you this. The incident that occurred in the cafeteria—was it your doing?”
“It wasn’t me! There’s no way I would do such a thing!”
When the cook replied with a look of injustice, the teacher silently looked at Yoon Siwoo. Yoon Siwoo nodded. It seemed the cook wasn’t the culprit.
Perhaps feeling a bit more at ease, the teacher’s face softened, and he spoke as if to reassure the cook. “We don’t believe that you, Mr. James, who has worked at the academy for so long, would be the culprit. However, we need your cooperation to catch the real perpetrator. May I ask you a few questions?”
“Ask me anything. If it means catching that damn bastard, I’ll tell you whatever you need.”
The cook was burning with zeal, clearly quite angry at the culprit. The teacher asked him questions one by one.
“The ingredients used for today’s meal—is it true they were delivered yesterday?”
“Yes. They were delivered yesterday evening. The kitchen has refrigerators equipped with preservation magic, so they stay fresh even if delivered early.”
“Hmm...... And you didn’t notice anything unusual while cooking today?”
“There shouldn’t have been any problems with the ingredients. I tasted them while cooking to make sure they were fine. If there had been, I would have collapsed too. I suspect someone tampered with the finished dishes......”
At those words, the teacher’s eyes flashed as he asked the cook, “Was there any time the culprit could have tampered with the finished dishes?”
“I did go to the bathroom for a moment to cool off after finishing the cooking and before moving it to the cafeteria. That’s probably the only time they could have touched it without me noticing. But I locked the kitchen door when I left. It’s where the food for the students is kept, so I’m always worried about potential problems, just like today...... But how......”
“......Indeed, there is no way in or out of the kitchen other than the door with the lock. It’s also reasonably protected against magic. But it means the culprit found a way to tamper with the finished food inside the kitchen while you were in the bathroom.”
Poisoning food in a locked room. Honestly, I couldn’t imagine it. The method itself was beyond my comprehension. Would it have helped if I’d read more mystery novels......? But this was a world where people possessed all sorts of abilities. It was possible they had made it happen in a bizarre way that others couldn’t even imagine.
While I was racking my brain, trying to imagine how it was done, the investigation seemed to conclude. The cook rose from his seat, his face twisted in frustration.
“If I, if I had checked more thoroughly until the very end, this wouldn’t have happened......”
“It’s not your fault, Mr. James. The person who did this is the one at fault. We will definitely catch them.”
“Please, I beg of you......”
After the cook made that plea to the teacher and left, the teachers looked quite confused.
“At this rate, it seems none of the original suspects are the culprit. Since it’s come to this, we have no choice but to ask everyone one by one, right?”
“There’s no other way. It’s best to do everything we can until help arrives from the outside. Yoon Siwoo, I’m sorry, but your help is desperately needed. I’m counting on you.”
At the teachers’ words, Yoon Siwoo nodded. It seemed the only way to find the culprit now was to ask everyone if they had done it and have Yoon Siwoo use the power of the Holy Sword of Truth to discern the veracity of their answers. In the end, finding the culprit seemed to rest entirely in Yoon Siwoo’s hands.
There didn’t seem to be anything for me to do here, so I decided to head to the cafeteria and help look after the people being treated. As I left the classroom where the investigation was underway, I gave Yoon Siwoo’s back a light pat to encourage him and said, “Make sure you find the culprit. It feels like you’re the only one I can rely on right now.”
“Someone to rely on...... Yeah, I got it. Leave it to me. I’ll definitely find them.”
At my words, Yoon Siwoo, perhaps because he was the protagonist and overflowing with a sense of justice, answered with his eyes flashing.
When I arrived at the cafeteria, mages and ability users capable of healing or purification were busy working amidst the children poisoned by Mana, all within the barrier cast by the Holy Sword of Protection. The atmosphere felt like I would only be a hindrance if I tried to help, so I quietly pulled out a chair in the corner of the cafeteria and watched the scene of the children being treated.
Neither Mei nor the other children had regained consciousness yet, but they looked much better than before. Thinking that was at least a relief, I saw Mr. James, the cook who had just been investigated, sitting nearby and sighing. He was looking at the children being treated with a complex expression.
Perhaps sensing that I was watching him, he glanced at me and slowly opened his mouth.
“......You’re the child who was sitting there during the investigation earlier. I heard you ate that food too... Are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“That’s a relief, at least...... *Sigh*, the children collapsed after eating food I made. On top of that, being suspected of doing it myself... Today really is a nightmare......”
He seemed to be having a very hard time, likely under immense stress from today’s events. I was agonizing over what to say, as I couldn’t even imagine how it would feel to have someone suddenly vomit blood and collapse after eating food I had prepared, when a voice suddenly came from behind me.
“Someone who loves cooking would never play tricks with food. Right? Mister?”
I turned around to see Leonor smiling and waving at me. Upon spotting Leonor, Mr. James’s previously depressed expression lifted slightly.
“......Yes, Leonor. You’re right. Someone who loves cooking would never play tricks with food.”
“I felt quite annoyed answering the person who asked if I did it earlier, too. I’m the head of the Cooking Club, after all; there’s no way I’d do something like that!”
Mr. James seemed quite cheered up by Leonor’s energetic response. A blonde, tanned delinquent who is sweet to adults...... what an incredible gap this was...... As I stared blankly at the scene, Leonor stroked my hair and said, “She’s in the Cooking Club too, Mister. One of the two new first-year members who joined this time.”
“Ah, I heard two first-years joined, but you were one of them. Cooking is a good hobby. If you can make delicious food, you can make other people happy.”
Mr. James said that while looking at me following Leonor’s introduction. I’m in charge of eating in the Cooking Club, though...... Well, I didn’t dislike cooking, so I nodded, and Mr. James said, “Yes, yes. But didn’t you say there were two new members? I’d like to know the face of the other one, too......”
I saw Leonor flinch at those words. She had tried so hard to cheer him up, but if he found out that the other person was one of the children who had eaten the food and vomited blood, it would all be for nothing. At that moment, Leonor’s eyes trembled as she shouted,
“Scarlet!!! You haven’t been introduced yet, right? This is Mr. James! Since the Cooking Club doesn’t really have a faculty advisor, he plays a similar role. He’s also an excellent chef who has been the academy’s cook for a whopping 20 years!”
Leonor blinked her eyes frantically at me while she spoke. It seemed she wanted me to catch on, so I shouted along with her,
“Wo...wow!! 20 years, that’s amazing! Co...could I ask how you came to do this job?”
“......If you’re that curious, I suppose I should tell you. The reason I started this work......”
Fortunately, it seemed we had succeeded in changing the subject. I nodded back at Leonor, who was nodding at me as if to say ‘well done,’ and listened to Mr. James’s story.
“......When I was young, I worked at a famous restaurant, and my dream back then was to open my own. I was known for having a talent for cooking, so if nothing had happened, that might have come true.”
Mr. James said, staring into the air with a distant look, just like other adults do when telling stories of the past.
“It’s already been 23 years since that happened. I was researching cooking late at night when my hand slipped and a fire started in the house. Just when I thought I was surely going to die, I was rescued by a hero who suddenly appeared. I was so grateful. After going through that, a thought suddenly occurred to me. Wouldn’t my life be more valuable if I could do work that repaid people like that? So, the very next day, I quit the restaurant I was working at and begged the person who was working as the academy’s cook at the time to let me work here with them, no matter what. I learned the trade under them, and three years later, they retired due to age, and I inherited the position. Now that I say it, it’s nothing special.”
It was too wonderful a story to call ‘nothing special.’ Mr. James continued,
“Still, I think it was a good decision to do this work. Someday, you all will become wonderful heroes, just like the hero who saved me. Making food for such children is truly rewarding work. Oh my, now that I’m talking, I want to cook. Hmm, come to think of it, everyone must be hungry since they haven’t been able to eat because of some bad guy. I should make something simple.”
His depression seemed to have lifted a bit; he rose from his seat with a faint smile on his lips. He was a truly wonderful adult who took pride in his work. I felt regretful that I had even briefly thought he might be the culprit.
At that moment, Leonor said to Mr. James, who was heading toward the kitchen, “Mister, what’s with the bandage on your neck? Are you hurt?”
As he stood up, his neck, revealed beneath the collar of his chef’s uniform, was wrapped tightly in bandages.
“It’s just been itchy lately, so I scratched it and got a little wound. It’s nothing.”
Mr. James replied nonchalantly and entered the kitchen. Once he was inside, Leonor smiled and spoke to me,
“Haha, I wanted to see you during Cooking Club activities if possible, but we ended up meeting like this. You were sick last week, right? Mei was really worried. I was worried a lot, too.”
“......Is that so.”
“Yeah, so Mei and I promised to do as much for you this week as we couldn’t do last week......”
Her gaze as she said that was directed toward Mei, who was being treated. I sighed as I looked at her. Anyway, she was a foolish person. There was no need to pretend to be bright even in front of me...... Feeling frustrated, I whispered to Leonor,
“If you’re angry, you can just be angry.”
“......Is it that obvious?”
“......A little.”
Then, Leonor’s smiling expression twisted violently. Her eyes were filled with rage. I was the one who told her to let it out, but she was terrifying when she was angry with that face...... Leonor gritted her teeth and muttered as if growling,
“I don’t know who the bastard is, but if I catch them, I’m going to kill them......”
I patted her back and said, “Don’t go too far. I need my share, too.”
When I said that, Leonor looked at me as if she found it strange, then opened her mouth,
“......That’s unexpected. I didn’t know you had that kind of personality. So you get angry, too?”
I chuckled. So she thought I wasn’t the type to get angry, not even at others, but at her.
“You must not know, but I’m always angry. Though I’m especially so today.”
When I said that, Leonor cackled and laughed.
“Is that so? I hope they find the culprit soon.”
“Don’t worry. A very capable kid is looking for them, so they’ll find them soon.”
I spent time with Leonor, waiting for Yoon Siwoo to find the culprit. Honestly, catching the culprit was just a matter of time. It wasn’t impossible to deceive the Holy Sword of Truth, but since people had no way of knowing that method, the culprit was bound to be caught. Yes, that’s what I had been thinking.
That was why the words Yoon Siwoo delivered after coming up to the cafeteria with a stiff expression were all the more shocking.
“You didn’t find them?”
“......Yeah, I asked everyone in the school. The only ones I haven’t asked are the kids who are collapsed right now. That’s why I came here. The other teachers are currently looking for traces of an outsider infiltrating through another path.”
Yoon Siwoo said that, looking somewhat dejected. My head started to ache. Could the culprit have poisoned themselves with Mana to avoid suspicion? It wasn’t an impossible story. A terrorist attack prepared to die from Mana poisoning—the possibility was sufficient. But I didn’t want to think that way.
Most of the children currently collapsed were the ones who would have died in the gymnasium. If this incident, which wouldn’t have happened in the original story, was occurring because I had saved those children—if someone I had saved was thinking of harming someone else even at the cost of their own life—that would be too sad.
So, I decided to think of other possibilities.
The first possibility: Someone who already knew the flaws of Yoon Siwoo’s Holy Sword of Truth used it. In my view, this didn’t seem likely. Even if there was someone else who knew the original story like me, it didn’t seem like they would have a reason to commit a terrorist act. So, I decided to put this aside for now.
The second possibility: They didn’t know the flaws of the Holy Sword of Truth but deceived it without realizing it. It was slim, but it was possible. Because in the original story, when it was discovered that the Holy Sword of Truth had flaws, a similar incident had occurred. A situation where someone had committed murder, and everyone said they hadn’t done it. However, there was a case later where the culprit was a person with a split personality who had no memory of when the other personality acted. Yoon Siwoo learned then that the Holy Sword of Truth determines veracity not based on absolute truth, but on the person’s thoughts or heart. Such a split personality might not be common, but......
But trying to test this possibility, which could be considered almost forced, was because I wanted to deny it. It was a wish that there wouldn’t be a culprit among the collapsed students. So, I grabbed Yoon Siwoo’s arm.
“......Can you follow me for a second? We have time until the kids wake up, right?”
Yoon Siwoo, who had a blank expression, soon nodded vigorously and was led away quietly as I pulled him. Honestly, it was a bit of a stretch to say I ‘pulled’ him, since it was right in front of us. The place I brought Yoon Siwoo to was the kitchen attached to the cafeteria. The person I intended to question was the cook, Mr. James, who was an important person of interest.
Honestly, even while doing it, I thought it wouldn’t be him. I was just doing it because I felt I had to do something. The kitchen door was closed, perhaps because he was still cooking, but since the kitchen and the cafeteria were separated by only a single wall, it was enough to carry on a rough conversation.
“Mr. James, can you hear me? I’m the first-year Cooking Club member I spoke with earlier.”
I knocked on the wall and called for Mr. James, who would be inside the kitchen. Then, a response came from the kitchen side.
“Yes, what is it?”
“It’s nothing much, I just have something to ask you.”
“Oh, oh. Yes. You seem to have a question, so go ahead.”
Yoon Siwoo, who was next to me, had a confused expression watching my actions, but he became quiet when I told him to just stay by my side. It was good that he wasn’t a hindrance. Anyway, the question I was going to ask was simple.
“Mr. James, have you felt anything strange lately?”
A question to see if Mr. James was a split-personality individual who couldn’t remember when his personality changed, like in the original story.
“For example, feeling like time had passed suddenly without you noticing, or feeling like your memories were blurry in places. Try to think about it carefully.”
“Haha, do you think I’m already senile? Still, I’ll try to think if there was ever a time like that. Let’s see......”
Mr. James said that, and then there was no voice from the other side, as if he were thinking for a moment. Five seconds. Ten seconds. Fifteen seconds. And then, “Hmm, no matter how much I think about it, there isn’t. I think I’m still healthy. I must be far from the age where problems with memory occur.”
The answer returned. ......I guess it wasn’t him after all. And as I turned my head to leave, I changed my mind and shouted toward the other side of the wall again.
“I’m sorry for asking strange things!”
“Haha, it’s fine. You can ask things like that as much as you want.”
“Really? Then I’ll ask just one more thing.”
“Is it you?”
No answer returned.
“Did you do it?”
No answer returned.
I ran to the kitchen door quickly, but the door was locked tight and wouldn’t open. This damn bastard...... I pounded on the kitchen door and shouted,
“Answer me right now! No, open the door! Open the door, you bastard!”
At the sudden commotion, the eyes of the people in the cafeteria turned toward us. Yoon Siwoo grabbed my arm as I was striking the kitchen door and stopped me.
“Scarlet! Why are you doing this!”
“That person might be the culprit! We need to open this door right now!”
The surroundings became noisy at the word ‘culprit.’
“......Mister is the culprit, what do you mean by that?”
Leonor, who had followed me when I dragged Yoon Siwoo along, asked in a low voice. I shouted at her as she asked,
“Where’s the key to the kitchen door!”
“......Mister took it inside with him. Still, as far as I know, there should be a master key in the faculty office.”
As soon as I heard that, Leonor grabbed me as I was about to run to the faculty office.
“Don’t be impatient. The kitchen only has that one way in and out anyway. I’ll go get the key. When I bring it, explain why you said Mister might be the culprit.”
“......Understood. Please bring the key as fast as you can.”
When I nodded and said that, Leonor bit her lip hard and ran out of the cafeteria. My heart was beating so fast I felt like I was going to vomit. *Shit*, stay calm. The kitchen is a locked room anyway. If that person really is the culprit, I’ll be able to catch them as soon as I open the door. They can’t escape. If not, no, *shit*, it’s better if it’s not him. My hands were shaking. They were shaking so much I couldn’t even bite my nails. Just as I was trembling with anxiety that felt like I was losing my mind, Yoon Siwoo muttered,
“......What is this sound?”
“......Sound?”
“......No, should I call it the sound of a machine running?”
At that moment, goosebumps rose all over my body. An ominous imagination raced through my head. No, it can’t be. Even as I thought that, my breathing became rapid, and my breath reached the end of my throat. Let’s stay calm. If I wait a little longer, Leonor will bring the key. But that amount of time was more than enough for the worst-case scenario I had imagined to happen. So, I made a decision.
“Yoon Siwoo, do you trust me?”
Yoon Siwoo nodded.
“Cut that door down.”
Then, the door was sliced open without a sound.
As I ran into the kitchen, I saw dishes that were steaming, as if they had just been made. However, no matter where I looked, there was no one there. I was too late. As if to mock that fact, only the sound of a large grinder running in the corner of the kitchen echoed in the empty air.
Whirrrrrr.