Chapter 9
Chapter 9
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Operation Successful?
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"It'll work, right?"
Snip, snip.
"It has to."
Snip, snip.
"Cut it like this right there."
Snip, snip.
"Hey, you're not just hacking away at it, are you?"
Snip, snip.
"No one's gonna see it anyway, so what's there to worry about?"
Tana spoke as if it were no big deal, but her words hit me square in the chest. Sure, no one would notice, but shouldn't I at least avoid looking sloppy in front of everyone else?
Eve and Tana were the ones cutting my hair.
I hadn't gotten a trim since enrolling at the academy, so it had grown a bit long, but we needed to do it anyway.
Once the snipping was done, the two of them held up a mirror to my face with satisfied smiles.
"Hmm? Looks good."
In truth, ever since entering the forest, I'd kept my hair short enough not to bother me—either trimming it myself or tying it back when it got annoying—so I'd never had it this short before. But it actually suited me pretty well.
"You look cool!"
"Not bad. Your long hair made you look a bit messy."
"Thanks, I'm satisfied."
"We don't accept verbal thanks."
I nodded with a chuckle at Tana's playful grin.
"Guess I'll have to buy you coffee at the cafe then?"
"Sweet! Let's clean up here and go right now."
We'd done the haircut in a corner of an unused classroom, so we swept up the hair with a broom, tossed it in the trash, and left.
I firmly shut down their demands for cake on top of the coffee.
Just before turning the corner, I spotted a boy slipping into the classroom we'd just vacated.
"Gotcha."
"Already?"
"Must've been in a real hurry."
We pivoted from heading to the cafe, ducking behind the corner to watch the classroom door. We waited quietly, like fishermen with lines cast, and soon a brown-haired boy burst out and bolted off somewhere.
Without chasing him, we slipped back into the classroom. Sure enough, the hair I'd just discarded was gone.
"Whoa, he really took it."
Tana stuck out her tongue in disgust.
"Looks like he's definitely making a potion. So, when do you think it'll happen?"
"Fastest would be tonight."
I answered Eve's question definitively.
Judging by his expression and frantic steps, he'd want to move as quickly as possible.
Plus, last time at the cafe when I protected Eve, I'd mentioned I was about to get expelled, so he knew time was short.
"Eve, we can't tell when that creep might show up looking like me, so let's set a password ahead of time."
"A password?"
"Yeah, something simple. If you say the weather's nice, I'll say Tana's an idiot."
"Hold on! Why am I dragged into this?!"
"Didn't want you feeling left out."
Tana squawked beside me, but Eve nodded, saying she liked it.
"And just in case..."
Knock knock.
It was 10 p.m.
Bedtime. Eve had already turned off the lights and lain down to sleep when the clear knock echoed in her ears.
Having read plenty of novels, she recognized it instantly as the tense knock of impending drama and flung the door open.
There stood Daniel McClain—or so he appeared—sweating coldly but forcing an awkward smile.
'Fake!'
No need for a password; Eve could tell right away. The smell was all wrong to begin with.
With her keen sensitivity to human scents, she nailed it immediately, feeling a swell of quiet pride.
She'd distinguished the real Daniel from the fake.
She imagined telling Daniel—he'd be thrilled—and a natural smile curved her lips.
"Daniel, what's up?"
"Huh? Just wanted to see you."
"At this late hour?"
"Yeah, can't I?"
Eve nodded.
"Of course not. Go back to your room."
But he pushed inside more forcefully and shut the door.
"Why? It's fine. You and I are dating."
"Huh? Me and you?"
"...Huh?"
Here, Chapheni Kraush sensed something off. He'd spent the whole day arm-in-arm with her, acting like a couple, and now she claimed it wasn't true?
'Oh, wait—is it just a physical thing she's after?'
"I don't know what you're talking about. Get out. No need to force it; we can talk tomorrow."
"Don't play hard to get!"
Chapheni reached out insistently. Recalling the library incident, his heart raced; he clung to the baseless certainty that she liked him.
Smack!
Unlike before, Eve slapped his hand away roughly.
"Don't touch me!"
She hadn't been like this last time.
Back then, a single touch had her trembling in fear like a frightened herbivore, tears streaming—the only resistance she could muster.
"W-what are you talking about? I'm Daniel. Daniel!"
He checked his reflection in the window—just to be sure—but he was still Daniel McClain.
Complete with the fresh haircut.
She'd been so friendly at the academy—so clingy, even—and now this wall? What the hell?
By now, Chapheni was getting angry.
He was Daniel right now, after all.
So he could do whatever he wanted; that damn rural hick getting expelled in a week would take the fall.
Repeating that to himself snapped something human inside him, unleashing a strange sensation.
Something a person shouldn't discard.
Bang!
"What are you doing?!"
The female professor on night duty for the girls' dorm burst in. How?
The door had been locked!
Chapheni lunged at her and shoved her back. Caught off guard by the fierce resistance, she faltered.
"Filthy sex offender!"
Tana's kick from behind slammed into Chapheni's solar plexus. No martial arts expert, but fury-fueled, it dropped him flat.
"Hah, you're Daniel McClain, right? The one who sexually assaulted Eve this time. Total scum."
The professor bound him with magic, disgust dripping from her voice. She demanded his immediate expulsion for attempting another crime.
Other girls, roused from bed by the commotion, poured out of their rooms.
Dragging him out like a public execution for all to see.
But the shock distorted "Daniel's" face.
"What the—?!"
"Gross!"
"His face is changing!"
It reverted to its true form—not Daniel McClain, but Chapheni Kraush.
"What in the world...?"
The professor could only gape.
She knew Chapheni Kraush: a shy, quiet A-Class student with real talent in alchemy.
"Polymorph?!"
Tana smirked triumphantly behind the stunned professor. Countless girls—and the professor herself—had witnessed the culprit using polymorph to impersonate Daniel.
A search of Chapheni's dorm would uncover evidence, and the similarities to the prior crime, plus him targeting another unknown victim, would raise suspicions.
Daniel had insisted his innocence all along, so it'd naturally come out that Chapheni had framed him.
"You okay? Not hurt?"
"Yeah, he didn't even graze me."
"Good thing. Looks like Daniel's tips came in handy after all."
The self-defense Daniel had taught her.
Just an hour's crash course, but since perverts rely on their hands, they'd drilled blocking grabs relentlessly. It paid off.
"Plus this."
Tana pulled out a child's toy.
Just in case, Daniel had bought it in town that day: press one end, light flashes from the other.
The moment Eve heard the knock, she triggered it, alerting Tana to inform the on-duty professor a guy was in Eve's room.
Daniel had one too, of course.
"But why hasn't he shown up? Part of the plan was for him to come and reveal two Daniels."
"...Yeah."
Eve felt a twinge of disappointment, wondering if he'd gone to bed already.
But the situation was far from simple.
The toy I'd given Eve lit up.
Someone was at her room.
Mid-workout, I threw on clothes and yanked open the door to head out—only to find an unexpected girl standing there.
"Rin?"
She was in pajamas, hair tied up for bed. I wondered what was up, but no time to deal with her now.
"Sorry, just a sec—"
I tried to push past, but she thumped my chest and shoved me back inside, slamming the door.
Click.
The lock's sound sent chills down my spine like never before. Goosebumps rose as her expression struck me as off.
The girl always smiling kindly at everyone now stared blankly.
Different from when I'd met her as the Army of Death's master.
Back then, her face lacked will; now it burned with clear intent, yet suppressed.
"What's going on?"
I fought nausea and asked, but she fired back.
"Traitor."
"Huh?"
"Traitor."
Her voice carried an eerie chill. No idea what she meant, but I didn't have time for this.
Eve could be in danger right now.
But then.
"Thinking about another girl again?"
"...What?"
"I'm right here. Your childhood friend is standing in front of you. In pajamas, late at night."
Her voice bordered on pleading.
Tears welled up and spilled. I'd only seen her cry once in life, given her iron will.
When she stabbed my heart.
That made the situation feel grave.
I didn't know her state back then, but this disheveled Rin was a first.
"What the hell is going on?"
"What about you?!"
Rin pounded my chest with tear-streaked fists.
No real force, but resentment made them thud heavily.
"Why'd you give up so easily and start dating someone else? Why? After all our years together! We were always side by side! That shouldn't change!"
By now, even I caught on.
'Ah... So we felt the same back then.'
A bittersweet pang spread through me, wistful and sharp.
I debated comforting her but had no time—only key info would do.
"I don't have a girlfriend."
Silence, as if time froze.
Her sobs cut off; she slowly lifted her head, face blank with incomprehension.
"...Huh?"