Three Hours Before the Fall
“Simon, um...”
“What is it?”
She crossed her legs and spoke in a voice thoroughly flustered. “The glasses really suited you earlier.”
“Really? Haha, thanks.”
The two of them headed to the dining hall together. It was lunchtime, so the place was packed. They waited at the very end of the line, took a leisurely hour over lunch, and then, in a celebratory mood, even treated themselves to dessert at the campus cafe.
“That chocolate frappe was so good~”
Camibarez kept saying, a smile plastered across her face. Simon thought she seemed unusually giddy today. Normally she kept quiet, careful of the people around her and afraid of making mistakes, but the Camibarez chattering away at the cafe was a new side of her.
'Wait—no, it isn't new, is it?'
Come to think of it, he'd seen her this excited exactly once before. The night she first met him in the group class, when they'd gone into the Forbidden Forest together, she'd been just like this.
“We've got about thirty minutes until the next class,” Simon said, checking his wristwatch. She gave a shy smile.
“Then should we head into the lecture hall early?”
“Sounds good.”
They strolled slowly across the campus.
“Simon, can I ask you something?”
“What's up?”
“Uuuhm, it's about the Sadam club I joined~ There's this group of first-years I hang out with.”
“Mm-hm.”
“We're really, really close. Everyone just seems so happy to belong to the group. But... what if two people in the club start, um... liking each other?”
She looked up at Simon, her face going red. “Do you think the rest of us could still keep the same atmosphere as before?”
“...Hm?”
“Ah, it's nothing! It's just... I feel like my friend keeps glancing at me for no reason...!”
Simon scratched the back of his head. “That's awkward. I've never dated anyone either, so I can't say for sure... but wouldn't the mood change no matter what?”
“Y-you think so too?”
“Once two people become a couple, they'll inevitably put each other before everyone else. The others will start walking on eggshells around the pair, and the four of you won't be on equal footing anymore.”
“...”
She clasped her hands together, her expression stiffening slightly. “Still, you can't control your own feelings. They're not something you decide.”
Simon stretched his arms up high. “That's what I think. It's a natural thing.”
“Ah, right! Of course it is!”
Chattering about this and that, the two of them were making their way toward the Magic Bullet Shooting Training Hall, where their Hemomancy class was held. Suddenly Camibarez jumped, patting at her skirt pocket.
“What's wrong?”
“Ah—no! I left my notebook at the cafe!”
“I can go get—”
“No, no! It's mine, so I'll run and grab it! Go on ahead to the lecture hall!”
With that shout, she sprinted off toward the campus cafe. Simon decided to wait for her and went to sit on a nearby bench.
'Haaaah.'
A gentle breeze drifted by, stirring his hair. It was terribly peaceful.
'Sitting around like this reminds me of the old days.'
Back in Leshill, he used to sprawl out in the grass for hours on end, staring blankly at nothing. Just like then, Simon tilted his head back and looked up at the sky.
'...?'
The sky was tinged faintly red. Blinking hard and focusing, he could make out some reddish film stretched across it. It was that membrane's color dyeing the sky the hue of blood.
'A barrier? I heard Kizen has a defensive barrier, but...'
It was the first time it had ever been visible enough to see with the naked eye. Simon's brow furrowed as he stared upward.
'But why would the barrier suddenly become visible?'
Dread. Or—
a premonition.
Every hair on his body stood on end as an inexplicable unease crept up on him, slow and stealthy. There was no evidence, no reason. And yet a primal instinct screamed that something terrible was about to happen.
Just as Simon started to rise from the bench—
KUUUUUUUUUUUUNG—
A deafening roar split the air. An explosion the likes of which he'd never heard in his life, and a violent shockwave sent Simon's vision spinning until he was slammed into the dirt.
Weeeeng—
His ears went muffled, a piercing whine filling them. He was dizzy. Even the ground trembled with massive aftershocks, and he couldn't hold himself together.
Struggling to his feet, Simon raised his head.
A black cloud of billowing explosion. The Magic Bullet Shooting Training Hall—the very building Camibarez would already be inside if she hadn't left her notebook behind—was being blown apart, piece by piece.
'...What is this?'
Perhaps because the scene unfolding before his eyes was too surreal, Simon felt his ability to process reality sharply degrade.
Weng— weng—
The ringing in his ears wouldn't stop.
The Magic Bullet Shooting Training Hall first—then, from the opposite direction, another explosion. The building behind the Poisonous Magic Hall.
This time, the Magic Technology Hall blew up.
'...Meilin!'
Simon shot to his feet. But before he could do anything, the explosions didn't stop. A blast rocked the dormitory, then another tore through the first-year Lecture Hall.
The world that had held Simon vanished beneath black smoke, drowned in smothering darkness. The sunny sky was blanketed in ash.
Everywhere, screams tore through the air. Fires surged up buildings through the smoke, and students were collapsing, bleeding.
“Ah...”
Simon's pupils trembled.
What is this. What on earth is happening.
Where was Meilin? Dick? And—
'Kami!'
The moment her name surfaced in his mind, he felt the blood in his entire body run ice-cold.
Simon ran like a madman. The smoke kept him coughing, his head spinning, but the only thought left in him was that he had to keep moving. His closest friend—someone who might still be savable—was out there.
Then, staggering blindly through the smoke, Simon's eyes flew wide open.
“Kami!”
Camibarez lay collapsed on the ground, blood streaming from her forehead. Her skin had gone a sickly gray, as if discolored, and she was coughing fit after fit.
“Are you okay? Stay with me!”
“Si... mon?”
Thankfully, her eyes opened. “Wh-what's happening? That explosion came out of nowhere...”
“I don't know either!! But this place is dangerous! Can you walk?”
She nodded and stood. His mind held only one thought: he had to get her out of Kizen, somehow, no matter what. Simon grabbed her wrist and pushed through the smoke.
What on earth was going on? Was this actually real? What could possibly—
Thwick.
The sound of flesh tearing. A searing, violent pain—pain sharp enough to register even through a body flooded to bursting with adrenaline. Blood burst from his mouth in a hot rush.
“SIMON!!!”
Simon looked down. Something jet-black, as if forged from pure darkness, jutted out of his chest.
A cross.
A cross had pierced clean through his chest.
Every ounce of strength left him at once, and he crumpled to the ground. Camibarez burst into tears, dropping to her knees beside him.
“Simon! Simon!! Are you okay? Please! Please! No! Don't do this! Please don't! SIMON!!!”
Tap. Tap.
Someone was approaching through that world of smoke and ash. Simon desperately turned his head toward the sound of footsteps.
'...!!!'
Hair red as blood, and a black scarf whipping in the flames. A woman dressed in a black suit.
[Curiosity kills the cat, you know.]
At the sight of her smiling like a demon, Simon's eyes flooded with horror.
[You should have left Kizen when you had the chance.]
That's right.
Damn it all.
That's right.
'Francesca... Professor...!'
Francesca was a Priest. She was the spy. She was the one who killed all these students!
I have to stop her. I have to tell someone. Kajan, Lorraine, the professors, Lady Nephthys—I have to tell them...!
Strength was draining from his body, bit by bit. His consciousness dulled, his blood-soaked vision blurring. Through the haze he could see Camibarez sobbing and screaming above him, and countless black crosses unfurling across the sky.
'Run.'
No voice came out.
'Run, Kami.'
A cross fell.
With a dull, heavy thud, Simon's vision went dark.
Tick. Tock. Tick.
He heard the hands of a clock turning beside his ear. His consciousness remained. Simon lowered his gaze—and saw the artifact hanging around his neck, the one Nephthys had given him, radiating brilliant light.
'...!'
The pain vanished. So did the peaks and valleys of his emotions. Before he knew it, Francesca was gone, Camibarez was gone, the burning image of Kizen was gone—and Simon fell into a world of nothing but black and white.
There stood a tall woman with flowing silver hair. With her arms spread wide, countless clocks ticked away in the empty air around her. Her face was cast in shadow. He thought he'd never seen her before, and yet somehow she seemed familiar—certain features were woven into her countenance.
'...Lady Nephthys?'
With that final image, Simon's consciousness was severed.
“Simon. Simon.”
“...”
“Simon, wake up! You'll get in trouble.”
GASP!
Simon's eyes flew open in a start of pure panic. The first thing he saw upon waking was Camibarez beside him, blinking at him with wide round eyes. His lips trembled.
'What is this?'
He looked around. A lecture hall. Dick and Meilin were there, taking notes. The other Class A students were all perfectly fine too, their quills scratching away at their pages. A cool breeze drifted in through the windows.
The exact opposite of moments ago. So terribly peaceful.
'Everyone's... alive?'
Along with the relief, a deep, marrow-deep chill raced up his spine and rippled out through his whole body, prickling and ringing.
A nightmare? No—it wasn't a dream. That had, without question, been reality.
He looked down at his desk and saw the Toxicology textbook. He raised his arm and checked his wristwatch.
'Ah...'
That's right. He had been sent back to a few hours before that horrific event.
He lowered his chin and saw that the artifact Nephthys had hung around his neck had been utterly obliterated.
-The moment you truly 'experience death,' you'll understand. For now, remember just that much.
Kajan's words about the artifact surfaced in his mind. So experiencing death had meant this? He couldn't calm down, no matter how he tried.
“Simon, are you all right?” Camibarez gazed at him with a worried face. “You've gone pale.”
“...”
The moment he met her eyes, brimming with concern, Simon nearly came apart on the spot. He wanted to scream, to grab her by the shoulders and shake her like a madman, to burst into tears and shout it out loud.
'Run! You have to get out of here right now! Please! Please!'
But he bit his lip and forced those voices back down his throat, choking them down one ragged swallow at a time.
Not now. Too dangerous. Because something even more dangerous than those explosions was sitting right in front of him.
'...'
At last, Simon gathered his courage and looked forward. He could face it now.
“Caceus venom is classified as a vascular toxin. It destroys the blood vessels and blood cells so that bleeding never stops, slowly draining the prey's strength...”
At the lectern—there she was. Francesca.
Thump— thump— thump— thump—
The culprit behind all of this was right in front of him. His heart pounded like crazy; his face flushed scarlet. Was this what a detective felt like, staring the killer in the eye? He wanted to leap out of his seat this instant and scream that the woman was a Priest.
But how would he prove it? How could he prove she was a Priest, that she would blow Kizen to pieces three hours from now?
'...Calm down. Calm down. Please.'
His rear end twitched off the chair. His legs trembled restlessly. Again and again he imagined kicking over his desk and charging out to subdue her.
...A fool's fantasy.
If he picked a fight now, the students, still moved by her lectures, would side with Francesca. And he had seen her power for himself in the Forbidden Forest. Without access to his Legion Commander's strength, he couldn't beat her.
No—even if every student in this room rushed her together, could they win? Utter madness. His opponent was a ruthless Priest who had put a plan to annihilate Kizen into motion. Any student who charged her would simply be slaughtered.
'...Steady. If I die for real this time, it's over.'
The artifact made with Nephthys's power had been destroyed. Rewinding time a second time was probably impossible. He had to assume this was the last chance he'd been given. One rash move and he'd be ringing his own death knell. Focus—how could he stop the catastrophe he had foreseen?
His legs shook. His mouth was bone-dry.
'...I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.'
At last, Simon exhaled a long breath and managed to get his mind under control.
First, he jabbed his fingertip against Pier's proxy doll, once, twice.
'Pier. Bring the entire Legion to Kizen right now. Bring Erzsébet too. Right now! As fast as possible!'
[Boy? Your mental state is severely unstable. Has something happened?]
'I found the Priest. I'll explain later—just get here fast!'
[Hmm, understood! On our way!]
The link with Pier cut off.
'Hooooh.'
The Toxicology class wasn't over yet. Prodding her now would be dangerous. He had to hold out at least until the Legion arrived. Simon tucked his trembling hands inside his clothes, then fished out Kajan's glasses and put them on, his hands shaking all the while.
'...'
Even looking again, there was nothing different about Francesca's face. No scar visible on her cheek. Her face was just... the same. The same...?
'Ah.'
In one fleeting instant, Simon witnessed a nightmare made real.
As Francesca guided the students, a second face suddenly bloomed on hers. Where her cheek should have been, there were eyes, a nose, a mouth.
No—no, it wasn't a second face. She had simply turned her head while still wearing a bio-skin sheath. The reason he hadn't been able to see through it with Kajan's glasses before was that she had modeled the living skin after her own face—the outer and inner faces matched perfectly.
But now that face had cracked. Beneath the bio-mask, the true Francesca was smiling. Precisely, deliberately—staring straight at him.
'...!'
Eyes rolled up, mouth corners torn into a long line—a demon's grin. The exact smile she'd worn when she killed him, hours from now. And across her cheek ran a hair-fine scar—the one he himself had given her.
Cold sweat broke over him in waves, but Simon desperately kept his expression in check. He held it in. No matter what kind of gaze she swept over him, he sat through the class as if nothing were wrong. And in his heart, he stoked his fighting spirit. He swore it. No matter what it took, he would stop you.
'Hooooh.'
The hardest moment of the entire class came when her gaze drifted toward Camibarez. There was no doubt in his mind that Camibarez was on her kill-priority list too.
Eventually, Simon took the glasses off. Because he was afraid he couldn't take any more. Afraid he'd really bolt from his seat.
'...'
And so—an eternity of endurance finally came to an end.
“Attention! Bow to the professor!”
“Thank you for the lesson!”
“Good work, everyone. Let's meet again next week.”
The students filed out of the lecture hall. A few went up to her to offer a word of comfort, and Francesca received them with a gentle smile and a kind word. Simon's stomach turned at the sheer loathsomeness of it.
'For now—tail her.'
Through the entire class, Simon had run through countless scenarios. One thing was certain: moving against Francesca right now would be lunacy. Every professor capable of beating her head-on was at the Mausoleum. And with zero proof that she was a Priest, even convincing the TAs or anyone else to help would take time he didn't have.
Worst of all, in roughly two hours, massive explosions would erupt across Kizen. Given the time remaining, she had almost certainly already planted the explosives throughout the school. Even if he somehow sprinted to the Mausoleum and talked the professors into coming back, the moment Francesca felt threatened by their arrival, she would simply detonate everything remotely. End of story.
'Stay calm.'
He alone knew of this horrific future. So the best move was to find out what explosives she'd planted and how she'd trigger them—and cut them off without her knowing. For now, he had no choice but to gather more information.
“...Simon?”
Camibarez came up to him, worry written across her face. “You really are acting strange. This isn't like you.”
Simon dropped his voice as low as it would go. “Kami. A Priest has surfaced. She's going to blow up Kizen in a few hours. Gather Dick and Meilin—anyone you can talk into it—and get out of Kizen.”
Just then, Francesca walked out of the lecture hall. Leaving the stone-frozen Camibarez where she stood, Simon quietly fell in behind her.
Tap. Tap.
She walked slowly along the corridor. Simon kept his footsteps just as quiet, blending into the crowd streaming from the classrooms.
'If she catches me tailing her, it's over.'
She crossed the corridor and descended to the first floor. He half expected her to leave the Poisonous Magic Hall—but instead she kept walking, heading down into the building's basement.
'...I remember. The basement of the Poisonous Magic Hall.'
Every Kizen student knew it as basic common knowledge: deadly chemical substances were stored beneath the Poisonous Magic Hall. And managing them was the duty of the continent's foremost poison specialist—the Kizen Toxicology Professor.
The puzzle was finally clicking into place. The Priest hadn't killed Lang merely to strip the students away from the professors with the Night of Erebos.
'Become the Toxicology Professor, and the things in that basement are yours to handle freely. She used explosives from down there. I'm certain of it.'
Her footsteps were distinct—tap, tap, tap—echoing as she descended the basement stairs. Pier hadn't arrived yet, but there was no time to wait. Just as Simon moved to follow her down—
Clamp!
Two arms shot out from behind him, clamping over his mouth, and hauled him back with crushing force. And then—
Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!
THUDADADADAT!
At the sound of footsteps thundering madly up the basement stairs, ice flooded through Simon's veins. Suffocating terror. Francesca's eyes were bloodshot as she burst onto the first floor, whipping her head around like a madwoman, scanning everything.
'...G-god, that was close.'
Simon was pressed flat against the opposite wall, mouth still sealed by some unidentified someone. If this person hadn't dragged him back, he would have been spotted, guaranteed.
A single wall—nothing more—between him and Francesca. Simon held his breath and waited. Just as she started to step forward, a flood of students came pouring down from the stairs.
“Classes go back to normal tomorrow, right?”
“Yeah. Though they'll probably still make us do this week's Duel Evaluation.”
“Kizen just never takes a day off, huh.”
The moment the crowd of students came spilling out, her steps stopped. Francesca swept her gaze around one more time—and, mercifully, turned her back and descended the basement stairs again.
'W-we lived.'
Only then did Simon feel the tension drain out of him all at once. But who on earth was this person? The grip pinning his body was so strong he couldn't move a muscle.
“Quiet.”
A familiar voice came from behind him. “She hasn't stopped suspecting yet.”
“...!”
Simon shut his mouth at once. He held his breath like that for about a minute, until the sound of footsteps came again, tapping back down the stairs. At last, the person who'd dragged him here released him, and Simon whirled around.
“...Kajan!!”
Simon's eyes went hot and heavy. In this suffocating situation, where he'd had no one to lean on, one of the very people he'd been aching to find had appeared out of nowhere. He threw himself at the man, half-clinging to him.
“Kajan! Kajan! I know it sounds impossible, but you have to believe me! The truth is—”
“I believe you.”
Kajan raised an index finger—a signal to lower his voice—then tilted that same finger toward the shattered remains of Nephthys's artifact. “You saw the future, didn't you?”
“...!”
“There was an additional mission from Lady Nephthys.” Kajan pulled a pendant from his pocket—one shaped almost exactly like the one Simon had worn. It, too, was in pieces. “Your protection detail.”
Kajan continued in a calm, even tone. “When your artifact is destroyed, this sibling artifact is destroyed along with it, and it outputs your location. The instant I confirmed the damage, I ran. That's why I'm here.”
“...Ah!”
“Stay calm. From this moment on, whatever you tell me—I will believe it unconditionally.”
Crouching low, Kajan rested a hand on Simon's shoulder, his face grave. “I guarantee it. No matter what horrific future waits ahead of us, if we combine our strength, we can stop it.”
A calm expression. A confident voice. A smile full of trust.
Simon knew it in his gut.
“Tell me what future you saw.”
This man—this man he could trust.