Anne's Diary (1): The Vanished Fox
After the investigation ended, we hailed a carriage bound for the dormitory wing. The sun had already set and darkness had claimed the sky, so we intended to retire to our separate rooms. Every one of the children was utterly drained.
“It’s already this late… No wonder I felt so tired.”
“I-I feel like my eyes are closing on their own.”
“You were crying the whole day. It’s a miracle you didn’t collapse halfway through.”
“I-is that so…?”
“Do you even realize how much trouble you caused?”
“S-sorry…”
“……I wasn’t trying to make you look so glum, you know.”
The carriage rattled onward. The two girls sat shoulder to shoulder, talking. Listening to their exchange alone might have suggested they were at each other’s throats, yet the way they leaned close told a different story. Without either of them quite realizing it, the tension between them had softened considerably since the ordeal.
Better than expected.
Perhaps the memory of that basement had forged it. In the moment they entrusted their backs to each other and stood against the monster, a strange bond had quietly taken root. The villainess offering the protagonist the seat beside her—a scene that would have been unthinkable in the original story.
A fond chuckle slipped out before I could stop it.
“Heh heh.”
“……What’s so funny?”
“Nothing at all.”
Still, what had put me in such a good mood? Maybe simple relief that the episode had closed without disaster. True, we had drifted somewhat from the original plan… but I considered it a worthwhile deviation. After all, I had discovered a new light.
I’ll be able to do even better from now on.
For the moment, everything was proceeding smoothly. I quietly savored the anticipation of what lay ahead.
And then that anticipation shattered the instant we returned to the dormitory.
“……”
Only a frigid silence greeted us. The quiet itself felt unnatural, almost sinister. By now there should have been a familiar—if somewhat grudging—voice asking whether we had returned. Instead, a heavy hush pressed down on everything.
The lights were off. No sign of life stirred inside the room.
“……Miss Irene.”
I called her name, just in case. But my final scrap of patience was met with mockery; no answer came. Only a suffocating void lingered.
Thick darkness swallowed the chamber. Beyond the window, the night sky stretched black and empty. Clouds must have hidden the stars tonight. In that faintly desolate scene I stood frozen for a long moment.
Several thugs appeared in the shopping district.
The shopping district… That’s not far from the dormitory wing.
Any casualties…?
No reports so far.
That’s a relief.
Well… there may be victims who haven’t been found yet.
The conversation I had brushed aside earlier echoed in my ears. A dark premonition flickered to life. The joy that had filled me only moments ago froze solid.
I muttered under my breath.
“Where have you gone?”
Clap—!
The world shifted the instant my palms met. Short-range teleportation. In the blink of an eye I stood outside the dormitory building. I scanned every direction. Nothing.
Clap—!
This time I appeared on the path leading to the shopping district. Still nothing out of place.
I didn’t stop. My hands kept moving.
Clap—! The carriage stop—nothing. Clap—! The central plaza—nothing. Clap—! A side alley—nothing.
Clap-clap-clap-clap-clap—!
Dozens of claps rang out. Each one hurled me to a new location. At some point the claps grew fierce, almost frantic. The scenery flickered ten times a second as I chased the fox’s trail with savage focus.
Clap—!
The relentless teleportation finally halted in an alley not far from the shopping district. The twisting paths made it a place students rarely visited.
I stared silently at the ground.
“……”
A single basket lay overturned. Spilled ingredients rolled across the stones as though someone had dropped it while shopping. It was the basket Irene always carried when she went out.
Why?
Bad premonitions never missed. Beside the scattered goods, an alien energy clung thickly to the air. To ordinary eyes it would have been invisible, little more than a faint haze… but it was unmistakably the residue of black magic. My eyes could not be deceived.
A chill wind swept past, tugging at shadows.
After a long silence, a hollow laugh escaped me. The sound tasted bitter.
“Ha.”
Baob. Those filthy bastards.
Meanwhile, the fox awakened on a cold stone floor.
“……Ugh.”
Her eyes opened through a headache that threatened to split her skull. What greeted her shaking pupils was a world swallowed by darkness. The unique chill of stone seeped into her back. A dizzy groan slipped between dry lips.
“Ugh… haa……”
Even as she furrowed her brow against the spinning vision, the girl slowly pushed herself upright. She could barely breathe. Shattering pain flooded every inch of her body, as though she had become glass on the verge of breaking into countless shards. The side effect of an excessively powerful sleep spell.
“Eup—kuh, haa…!”
Irene, who possessed no resistance to magic, could only swallow her screams and writhe on the ground for a long while.
After what felt like an eternity, the agony began to ebb.
“Haa… haa……”
The headache gradually faded. Once her ragged breathing steadied, the girl was finally able to take in her surroundings.
A space completely drowned in jet black.
The fox murmured blankly.
“Where… am I?”
A dazed whisper. The first emotion to crash over her was pure bewilderment. Dark eyes swept the room. How had she ended up here? She retraced her hazy memories. She had definitely been shopping in the district. The moment she stepped into the alley, she thought she sensed someone following. Irene, catching the suspicious scent, had not lowered her guard. The instant she gripped the sword at her waist and turned—
“……I was taken.”
Consciousness had cut off there. The last thing she saw was a crimson flash. An unpleasant light.
Irene held her breath, forcing herself to stay calm. First, she needed to understand the situation. Her black pupils dissected the darkness, peeling back every detail of her surroundings.
The most obvious feature was the iron bars.
“……”
The fox was locked inside a narrow cage. As she studied the tightly spaced bars, a wave of déjà vu washed over her.
“Goddammit.”
The curse flew out before she could stop it. Only a few months earlier she had been in a nearly identical place—the slave auction house packed with countless beasts. The memory passed like trauma; she bit her lip. Was this their work again?
“No… there’s no way they followed me all the way to the academy……”
Then who? Kidnapping someone in broad daylight from the continent’s foremost educational institution. At the very least, she could tell they were not sane.
Her mind churned in confusion. The mental strain brought a creeping headache. As she pressed her forehead and groaned, an unfamiliar sound reached her ears—footsteps.
Thud… thud…
They echoed down a long corridor, approaching the cage at a leisurely pace.
Right then—
“Don’t just sit there! Curl up… quick!”
“……?!”
Something brushed her shoulder. Startled, she whipped around. Fingers poked through the bars from the adjacent cell. A youthful voice whispered urgently.
“Sister! Pretend you’re still asleep…!”
“What—?”
“Before the devil gets here… hurry!”
The footsteps had already drawn close. After a brief hesitation, Irene decided to obey. She lay back down as though she had never woken.
“……”
Thud.
The footsteps halted directly in front of the bars. As she kept her breathing steady and natural, two men began to speak.
“She still hasn’t woken up.”
“So it seems.”
“What should we do?”
“Leave her until tomorrow. We still have plenty of other test subjects to handle.”
“And the failed specimens from today’s work?”
“Move them to the lowest floor.”
“Understood.”
Test subjects. Work. Failures. Lowest floor. The words carried heavy implications.
Without realizing it, the fox clenched her fists until her knuckles ached. She was so tense she feared her tail might betray her.
“Still, this is quite useful material we’ve acquired.”
“Indeed. We haven’t had many experiments using fox beastkin as samples before.”
“The infiltration was only meant to be a distraction… Who would have thought it would deliver such an interesting creature? We should reward the surviving members.”
“I’m sure they’ll be delighted.”
“It will make a fine offering for him.”
She could feel their sticky gazes crawling over her. The voice throbbed with ugly, glistening desire.
Irene thought despite herself:
The coming experiment is something to look forward to.
Something had gone terribly wrong. Horribly, unforgivably wrong.
It was cold. It felt as though her heart had stopped beating entirely. In that child’s chest from long ago, an ice pick had always been lodged. A sensation she had forgotten for years.
How long has it been?
The air hung frigid. Her mind was as cold, sharp, and silent as snow falling on a winter night. A cool breath slipped between her lips. Eerily calm. Not a single tremor disturbed her inner world. I swam through a gently dyed reality. The sensation of slowly sinking somehow brought strange comfort.
A brief meditation. As I sat with eyes closed, a girl’s voice suddenly called out.
“Commander.”
“……”
“All members are prepared.”
“……”
I raised my lowered head. Before me stood the members of Astro, each clad in white robes. They waited in perfect formation. It was time.
I rose slowly. Their gazes locked onto me. Murderous intent surged like a storm. Every one of them was armed and ready—assassins awaiting a single command.
“A declaration of war has arrived from the Tree.”
“……”
“They didn’t exactly pick the fight… but unfortunately, they touched a friend I hold dear.”
Since they had crossed the line, I had no intention of showing mercy. What had been stolen must be reclaimed. I would make them understand exactly whose possession they had dared to covet.
“It seems a thorough cleanup is in order… Will you accompany me?”
“Everything shall be as you will it.”
All the members bowed at once. Satisfied, I smiled. The vice-commander beside me offered my own robe—pure, snowy white.
“Commander.”
“Thank you, Miss Neria.”
Flutter—
I donned the robe without hesitation, straightened the collar, and took a step forward. It was time to set out.
“Then, shall we go?”
I murmured within the flickering shadows.
“To find the fox.”