Chapter 90: Catching the Thief (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 90: Catching the Thief (3)
A chilly draft circulated through the classroom, where only Saki Ryozo and San Hana remained.
"Tell me, Senior. Why is your name on the faculty list?"
"……."
At Saki's sharp interrogation, San Hana merely tilted her head. Her reaction was perfectly calm, as if she had absolutely no idea what Saki was talking about. Saki's lips curled in frustration.
'It was strange from the very beginning.'
Saki Ryozo recalled her first impression of San Hana. A second-year student with a completely ordinary appearance and vibe, without a single shred of uniqueness. Her textbook-like ordinariness made her seem like someone you would forget the moment you turned your back.
Her personality wasn't prickly, and her words and actions weren't frivolous. On top of that, San Hana never added her own opinion to any conversation.
Saki felt a sense of incongruity from this excessive ordinariness. Her intuition never easily missed even the smallest details.
Once a target was engraved in her mind, she had to endlessly observe and analyze it to be satisfied. It was an unconscious survival mechanism, a remnant of her life in the freezing cold Archery Saint Family.
Saki widened her eyes and stared at San Hana. An impression as blurry as if she were shrouded in fog. Looking at her now, Saki even found her quite detestable.
San Hana only stared blankly at Saki, her glasses glinting, still keeping her mouth shut. At this utterly shameless attitude, Saki let out a dry laugh and asked,
"Why aren't you saying anything?"
Saki said so and tapped a sheet of paper with her fingernail. San Hana shifted her gaze to Saki's fingertip. Three characters clearly written on the faculty list.
`[San Hana]`
The dark, fading light of the sunset seeped onto the classroom walls.
"Or do you just not want to talk?"
"……."
"San. Ha. Na. Senior. Or should I call you by your official title on paper?"
Saki pronounced San Hana's name syllable by syllable. She spoke again.
"Professor San Hana."
"Pfft."
A dry laugh escaped San Hana's lips. At the spine-chilling sneer, Saki took a few steps back. A cold, blue hostility ignited in Saki's eyes.
"…What are you?"
The atmosphere grew fierce with taut tension. After smiling for a long moment, San Hana finally spoke.
"Hmm, Saki. Well... I know you're wound up because of the meeting earlier, but aren't you being a bit too tense?"
"…What?"
"Even so, mistaking me for someone with the same name doesn't seem like you."
San Hana said so and glanced at the document Saki was pointing at, a faint smile playing on her lips. Flustered, Saki quickly scanned the document.
Saki's pupils shook violently. The name written on the document was definitely San Hana. But...
'...It's different.'
The whereabouts and movements of the person written in tiny print in the corner of the document were clearly different from San Hana's.
Furthermore, it was clearly written that the professor of the same name was away on a business trip during the festival.
'...I missed this?'
However, the text was too small to blame herself entirely—it was like the fine print of a terms of service agreement. In fact, it was impressive that San Hana had noticed it after just a glance.
'Could it be information manipulation?'
Since the movements and information of the faculty were automatically entered into the network through the Academy's subspace system, external interference was next to impossible.
Even Saki herself could only view the information and could not directly affect the system. Accessing the subspace system was the exclusive authority of the Academy Principal.
Then, was Medea, the current Academy Principal, involved? She calculated the possibility, but it was extremely slim. Saki broke out in a cold sweat and gathered her thoughts.
'This makes no sense...'
She prided herself on being meticulously thorough, yet she had missed such a minor detail. No matter how many times she re-examined it, it was an unbelievable misjudgment.
Saki could not hide her confusion. Seeing this, San Hana, who was staring at her, spoke softly.
"It's okay. Even you make mistakes sometimes. You're not a machine, right?"
San Hana's tone was gentle, as if soothing a child. Saki bit her trembling lip in embarrassment and looked straight ahead.
San Hana's lips held an infinitely benevolent smile. They were probably only one year apart, but it was a smile that carried a strange depth of age and experience. Saki felt the vigilance that had been heightened just moments ago crumble.
"Saki, I don't know about your home country, Japan, but at least in Korea, there are many people with the same name. It's only three syllables, after all."
"…Ah, yes. I mean, yeah."
"It's probably because you're wound up right after the Villain Countermeasure Meeting. When you're doing serious crackdowns, these kinds of misunderstandings happen all the time. They say enemies are lurking inside the Academy, right? I think it's actually right to keep your guard up like you do."
"……."
"Anyway, since the misunderstanding is cleared up, I'll be going now."
Unresolved doubts and a chilly feeling lingered in her chest. Nevertheless, Saki nodded guiltily. The tables had completely turned.
For Saki, bowing down to someone was an unfamiliar sensation. A bitter taste lingered on her tongue, and her chest felt filled with acrid smoke.
Saki suppressed the urge to continue the interrogation. Digging any deeper here would only add to her shame.
'Damn it...'
San Hana smiled strangely and turned toward the door. A brief, awkward silence ensued.
Reaching the door, San Hana suddenly turned her head halfway and spoke.
"Saki."
"…Yeah?"
"As your senior in life, let me give you a piece of advice."
San Hana wore a meaningful smile. Her thick glasses glinted once, and she spoke in a low voice.
"A clueless boy like Geomma won't know unless you express your feelings directly."
"…W-What?!"
Saki's face instantly flushed bright red. She stammered, her lips trembling.
"Personally, I'm rooting for you the most, Saki! Anyway, I'm really leaving! Good luck on your exam!"
"W-Wait...!"
San Hana waved her hand in farewell and left the classroom. Saki stared blankly in that direction, the dim evening casting shadows over her face.
* * *
Dawn slowly began to break on the horizon. I sat on the railing, taking in the grand view. At a time when I would normally be fast asleep, my eyes had snapped open on their own.
My eyes were hollow, and my mind and body were exhausted. But today, of all days, it was hard to maintain my composure. And for good reason...
"Sigh, I don't care about the final exams, but of all people, the group leader..."
It was Rachel.
Of all the many cadets, I was assigned to the same group as the person I least wanted to get involved with. As if I didn't already have a mountain of things to do, unexpected stress had come as a bonus.
The reason I avoided her was simple. We had terrible compatibility. I had felt it clearly when we took the midterm exam together.
She had a personality I never wanted to deal with again. To be more precise, the blatant advances she threw at me were burdensome. Extremely so.
I didn't know where she got my number, but whenever she had a chance, she sent ridiculous, seductive texts, like asking to watch Letflix in her room or to come over for ramen. It seemed my number had somehow become public knowledge.
My response was, of course, to block her. Even so, texts would fly in again from a different number—and she proudly revealed her real name every single time.
When I asked Weapon, he said Rachel got a new line every time I blocked her. The entire phone.
According to Rachel, "no tree doesn't fall after ten chops."
Weapon had patted my shoulder and offered comfort, a deep sense of pity lingering on his face. Adding that there was nothing he could do, he gave me a thumbs-up and wished me peace in the afterlife.
As a former player, I could roughly guess the intention behind Rachel's advances.
She didn't want an emotional connection with me; she purely needed strong bloodlines. Loosening her collar and acting coquettishly were all to secure stronger offspring.
And it seemed I had somehow become her target. Of all people, Rachel was one of the few cadets who had personally witnessed my duel with Nox, the Mermaid subjugation, and my victory over Mao Rang.
As a member of the Spear Saint Family who craved superior offspring, I must have looked like delicious prey.
'Originally, that target was Leon.'
When those heart-shaped pupils flashed through my mind, my whole body shuddered. If I wasn't careful, I would be dragged to the Spear Saint Family and come out as an empty husk. I resolved once again to keep my guard up.
For the record, contrary to her appearance of having plenty of dating experience, Rachel had actually been single since birth.
I guessed the game company had tried to add a twist to her character...
"Single since birth..."
I scratched my head and sank back into my bed.
The backlash of waking up so early hit me belatedly. It was only natural, since I had woken up at least three hours earlier than usual.
Without resisting my heavy eyelids, just as I was about to close my eyes...
Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'~ Hey!
Rolling in the deep every single day~!
The sudden wake-up call of the brave idol sisters. My eyes snapped open at the sudden ringtone. My annoyed gaze immediately darted to the wall clock.
The current time was 5:00 AM.
Even though dawn broke early because it was summer, it was still the crack of dawn.
It was too early even for a rooster to clear its throat.
"…Who is it at this hour?"
I irritably fumbled around my bedside and picked up my phone. The artificial light of the screen hit my eyes sharply.
`[Saki Ryozo]`
`[Ranged DPS]`
`[019-XXXX-XXXX]`
Squinting to check, I saw the caller was Ryozo. Although she often sent silly texts, this was the first time she had actually called.
'But she's awake at this hour?'
The question was brief; she probably couldn't sleep at night because she slept all day. I had overheard her talking about it with Weapon before.
I stared blankly down at the phone. After debating for a long moment whether to answer, I finally picked up.
This call came right after the Villain search meeting. It was highly likely she had found something strange and called in a hurry.
Although I was exhausted, Ryozo must have lost sleep too, and as the department head, I couldn't afford to complain.
"Hey, what's up at this hour?"
—What, you weren't sleeping?
For the person who called at a time when I should be sleeping to say such a thing...
I almost let out a dumbfounded laugh. Suppressing my rising irritation, I answered calmly.
"I woke up earlier than expected. What about you?"
—M-Me? I don't usually sleep much at night anyway.
"Anyway, why the sudden call at this hour? Did you find something strange while researching?"
—...
When I asked, a brief silence fell.
—...Do you think I only contact you when I have business?
Soon, a coy reply came from the other end of the line.
Come to think of it, that was true. Given Ryozo's cautious personality, she would explain important matters in person, and we usually just joked around via text.
'Then why did she call at this hour?'
When I didn't respond, Ryozo hesitated before blurted out.
—...I just called to wish you luck on the exam.
"…Ah."
I was genuinely surprised by her sudden change in attitude.
Would that rational, cold Ryozo ever say such warm words?
Judging by her usual behavior, it didn't seem like her at all. She probably had other intentions, but it was hard for me to fathom Ryozo's inner thoughts.
Still, since it was a word of encouragement, I should take it positively.
—A-Anyway... I'm hanging up.
"Wait."
—Y-Yeah? What?
"Good luck to you too."
—...
Another silence fell in the early dawn. Thinking the call had disconnected, I checked my screen, but the call was still active. As I waited awkwardly for an answer, a brief reply finally came.
—Yeah, thanks.
As soon as she finished speaking, the call disconnected with a click.
I scratched my chin and tossed my phone onto the desk.
I thought about sleeping a bit more, but the faint sun was already showing signs of rising high. The morning of the final exams had dawned.