The Boy on the Ledge
"But why does his face look like that?"
Nathan's face was an absolute wreck. Both of his eyes were badly swollen shut, and his cheeks and jaw were mottled with bruises of every shade. It was hard to believe he could even see properly through all of it.
"He got beat up."
Schubik came striding over to the group, who had been watching Nathan with worry from below, an angry look on his face.
"And not by just one guy, either."
Aidan frowned and asked, "Was it Jared's crew?"
"Yeah, in the back alley over there."
"Why, though?"
"You know why. You got on Jared's bad side, so they took it out on him."
"It was brutal, I'm telling you. I caught a glimpse of it on my way to lunch, and something seemed off from how they usually are. He was screaming like a lunatic, beating the kid with actual malice behind it. I honestly thought he'd lost his mind."
"So he's been getting bullied this whole time?"
"More or less frozen out entirely. But today's probably the first time his face got wrecked this badly."
He had caused another violent incident in the middle of the school day. No matter how reckless Jared was, this didn't sit right. Wasn't he the type who always made sure he had an escape route ready, no matter what he did? With both witnesses and the victim clearly identified, he would never be able to slip out of this one easily.
"Doesn't it seem like he's just venting his anger?"
"Venting?"
Eli wore a thoughtful expression as he explained.
"He's been acting weird since the train. The way he brazenly passed up a first-class compartment to ride with us in second class, the way he just sat there staring out the window like an idiot the whole time. What do you think that adds up to?"
"...Which is what, exactly?"
"Don't you remember meeting Duke Randert? Aidan, you brought up the night market and completely killed the mood, and then he took Bayul and left right away. And after that came the duel between Commander Yeger and Sir Hayes. Surely even you can put the pieces together by now?"
"You're saying Duke Randert retaliated over the night market incident?"
Logan, who had been listening in silence, asked with a grimace, as though even voicing the question left a bad taste in his mouth.
"I wouldn't call it retaliation. More like retribution — or a warning."
"Is there a difference?"
"Completely different. Retaliation is just paying someone back in kind, tit for tat. Retribution means administering punishment so the offender repents their crime. And a warning means they'd better never do it again."
"So to sum up — what, exactly? Sir Hayes won the duel, so let's say the retribution or warning landed. What does that have to do with Jared?"
"The commander of a knight order lost to a mere knight. Granted, not just any knight, but a knight of the Full Moon Order. But Commander Yeger is Duke Hector's right hand — and that name carries real weight. Do you really think Duke Hector could shrug off the humiliation of seeing him disgraced in front of the Emperor and the entire aristocracy?"
"He did vanish the moment the duel ended."
"Exactly. He couldn't bear to stay after being so thoroughly embarrassed. And what do you suppose came next? When someone's furious, they go looking for something to take it out on, don't they?"
Eli's blood-red eyes gleamed with sharp intelligence.
"The original culprit behind it all. The reckless little thug who dared, in his ignorance, to raise a sword against the heir of House Randert."
"You could've just said Jared got chewed out by his father! So he took a beating from his own dad, came back, and took it out on Nathan instead?"
"Ding-ding-ding! Pretty good deduction of mine, wouldn't you say? Been working on it since yesterday."
Had the circumstances been anything other than what they were, Bayul would have given Eli a thumbs-up. He had deliberately held back what he knew about his father's involvement, but Eli had zeroed in on the truth all the same.
"A textbook butterfly effect."
After all the twists and turns, it had all funneled down onto Nathan. He had endured the bullying in silence, biting his tongue day after day, until today — when he finally snapped and climbed up to that high place. Though he'd done nothing wrong, Bayul couldn't help feeling guilty.
"Ahhh! H-he's getting up!"
"Hey! Don't move!"
He had looked unsteady enough just sitting on the railing, and now the boy was pulling himself to his feet. He swayed like a drunkard, conjuring horrific images in the minds of everyone watching.
"W-what do we do?!"
The gathered students scattered in panic, trembling with fear.
"H-he can't jump! There's still plenty of time before the professors get here!"
Schubik shouted, wiping his sweat-soaked palms against his jacket.
"There's no choice. I'm going up!"
There was no time to stop him. Aidan bolted into the dining hall.
"Hey, I'm coming too!"
Somehow, someway, they had to stop him. Bayul and the rest of the friends hurried after Aidan at a run.
"The balcony door's locked!"
It was a door with panes of glass set between lattice work. Apparently built with saboteurs in mind, it had been latched from the outside and refused to budge. No one could get through, and all they could do was watch Nathan through the glass.
"It's a wooden latch. They barred it so it couldn't be opened from inside!"
Aidan pressed himself against the door and shouted as he peered through the glass.
"Bayul!"
He said nothing more, but the meaning was clear enough. He wanted him to ask Shame.
"Upperclassmen, we'll try to talk Nathan down. He'll listen to us."
Quick to read the room, Eli hurriedly addressed the crowd of students. Judging by their blue emblems, they were third-years.
"Is he a friend of yours?"
"Yes, something happened earlier today. Could you go fetch a professor from the Magic Department, please?"
If the boy did fall, the only thing that could save him was someone capable of Fly magic. Within the Academy, the ones who could cast the spell — a mid-tier, fourth-circle enchantment — numbered only a handful, all of them professors of the Magic Department.
"Got it. We'll bring the professors, and we'll lay down coats, blankets, anything that could cushion a fall. So talk him down! Whatever it takes!"
With that parting charge, the upperclassmen hurried off down the stairs.
Shame! Open the door, please!
Bayul fought to steady his pounding heart as he called to Shame with all the calm he could muster. As if sensing the desperation behind the plea, the wooden latch slid free of its catch at once.
The balcony door opened without a sound. Thankfully, Nathan didn't notice the presence behind him. The group approached slowly and carefully, taking pains not to startle him.
"...Nathan?"
At the voice sounding suddenly behind him, Nathan whipped around in shock.
"B-be careful!"
Terrified he might fall, screams erupted from below.
"Wh-what? How did you people—?"
He had locked the door — he was certain of it. Bewildered, Nathan's eyes darted wildly back and forth.
"Calm down, Nathan! I know what you're thinking, and you can't do this! Think of your parents!"
"That's right, Nathan! Don't stay up there — come down first, all right? Then we can talk it through, step by step! Think how heartbroken your parents would be!"
"My parents?"
The boy's swollen face twisted grotesquely.
"You mean my parents, who don't have a copper to their name but still play at being nobles, don't lift a finger to work, and run all over town borrowing money?"
It had all come down to a lack of money. Because he had none, he had laid hands on someone else's belongings — and that had become the weakness that swallowed him whole.
"This is all your fault! Because you broke your promise, this is what I've become!"
Nathan poured out the resentment he had been swallowing all this time.
"You said you'd forgive me if I told you where you all gather to hang out! You promised you'd never breathe a word about me to anyone! So why did you do it? Why did you tell the Academy and ruin me like this? Why?!"
The boy wailed, weeping with everything he had. His own wrongdoing had been wiped clean from his memory entirely; he screamed and sobbed as though he were nothing but the pitiful victim.
"Nathan, that's a misunderstanding. I really never said a word!"
Aidan took a step toward him.
"Liar! You were after my hideout from the start — you wanted to find it and raid it! And because I was too stupid to see it coming, this is what happened to me!"
"That was just—"
"I never really trusted you... but still, I thought you were a little different from that bastard Jared. You never looked down on people, so I figured you were someone who kept your word. But in the end, you're exactly the same!"
Nothing they said was getting through to him now. Perhaps it was the shock of Jared's beating, but he had sealed himself inside his own sense of victimhood. What he needed, urgently, was help for his mind.
"Every single night, I'm going to come find you. And I'm going to curse you! You'll all live in hell like I have — for the rest of your lives!"
"I'll listen to every curse you've got, so how about you just talk right now? It's dangerous up there, so come down first, and—"
"Who's going to listen to me? The professors? The Chairman? Don't make me laugh! What power does a penniless noble's son like me have? Maybe if I were you, or that bastard Jared — but me? Nothing!"
Despite committing an act that should have gotten him expelled outright, Jared had received nothing more than a ten-day suspension. There was nothing Nathan could do against someone like that. The only way left for him to protest the injustice was death. Only then could he escape this torment.
"Go tell that bastard Jared, too. I'll come back from the dead if I have to — and I will have my revenge!"
"N-Nathan! Wait!"
Something about Nathan's movements had turned grave. Between his shouts, the way his gaze kept dropping downward was chilling. It really looked as though he might let himself fall.
"Will you hear me out?"
At Bayul's earnest voice, Nathan took a step back, suspicion flickering across his face.
"Careful!"
It was all the onlookers could do to watch, hearts in their throats, terrified he might lose his footing.
"Jared hit you today because of me. Something he got tangled up in with me — his father scolded him over it. So he took his anger out on you. I'm sorry. None of this should have happened because of me..."
"Shut up! Venting?"
Nathan tilted his head back and laughed in utter disbelief.
"Hah! So that's it, then? I was just the punching bag for Jared, who blew up because his daddy scolded him — is that all it was?"
"No, that's not what I meant—"
Nathan's whole body shook with fury. Desperate to stop him somehow, Bayul had blurted out whatever came to mind — and it had been a mistake. It only inflamed the boy further.
"Hahaha! A punching bag...! So that's all it ever was...!"
In an instant, the light in Nathan's eyes changed. Behind his thin, half-lidded eyelids, a glimmer of self-mockery flashed and faded.
"Damn it. Feeling like garbage right to the very end."
The boy's body gave way. Muttering to himself in a low, listless voice — as if he simply couldn't be bothered anymore — he slowly let himself lean out over the empty air. And from both his eyes, tears were streaming.
"N-Nathan!"
"No!"
It happened in the blink of an eye. From below, screams erupted as well.
"Please! Somebody, please help him!"
Bayul shouted, dashing toward the railing.
If he fell from here, he would die. Just as his brother had drowned because of him — perhaps Nathan, too, would be yet another life Bayul took without meaning to.
Tears welled up in Bayul's eyes as well. He could not bear to watch anyone die before his eyes ever again. He wanted no one — no one at all — to be hurt anymore.
"Nathan!"
Suuuuung!