I Can Do As I Please (4)

The explosion incident ended without a single casualty.

We had been lying in wait from the very start, praying for the blast to happen—so there was never any chance of anyone getting hurt.

And yet.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Uwaaah… hic… sob."

"…You're safe now, Sister Dorothy. It's over."

Dorothy finally broke down in tears.

Only then did the guilt come crashing down on me. In my desire to win her affection, I had allowed her to be put in danger—and it struck me anew that this was not the behavior of a decent human being. I had toyed with a person for my own convenience.

With that thought weighing on me, I spoke quietly.

"…Everyone."

No casualties did not mean the matter was settled.

"Do not move."

Holding Dorothy close, I swept my gaze around the room, cold as frost. I already knew who the culprit was, but that didn't mean I could simply corner Professor Henry without evidence first. With no grounds to openly detain or search a professor, I decided to make the atmosphere heavy instead.

The students' eyes went round when I—always smiling, always speaking so kindly—suddenly let my words turn ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ice-cold, and they froze in place.

"Extinguish any lit burners, and place both hands on your desks."

I continued, level and unhurried. The sound of swallowed saliva rippled through the room, and the students snuffed out their burners in unison. Not one of them raised an objection; they quietly laid their hands on their desks as instructed.

"…Professor Niger, then, I will go report on this situation."

And then came the culprit's voice. Professor Henry spoke with a stiff, tense posture, clearly angling to slip away under the pretext of filing a report. The transparent maneuver was almost comical.

"Professor Henry."

I said, "When I said everyone, that included you. So please remain where you are."

Otherwise, you won't get to die peacefully.

I swallowed the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠rest. Professor Henry stared at me as if I'd lost my mind—but even through that incredulity, he couldn't quite hide the flicker of unease beneath it.

"…Surely you're not implying you suspect me, a professor?"

"Would I? But a student nearly died today. Surely everything must be made absolutely certain?"

I looked down at him with a blank face. For all his appearance, Niger stood close to 190 centimeters tall, and with no expression on his face, he looked like a man who could kill someone where they stood.

He really had killed people, in fact—but regardless.

So I stared down at Professor Henry, and he cowered under my gaze before venturing cautiously, "…But someone has to make the report, no? Besides, by that logic, Professor Niger, you would be a suspect as well…"

"Yes, and that is exactly why I, too, will stay here and wait rather than leave. You may consider the reporting handled differently."

With that answer, I drew a Communication Mana Stone from my coat and murmured into it.

"Professor Elia, an accident has occurred in Alchemy Department Lab 12. Please report it to the administrative office on my behalf. And send security personnel as well."

It was a Communication Mana Stone linked directly to Elia—a gift she had slipped to me just yesterday, while fuming about how I kept vanishing to who-knows-where. If I don't know where you are, I can't come find you, so keep it on you at all times. I never imagined I'd put it to use this soon.

"No, there are no casualties. However, I'm sealing the laboratory at the moment, so it will be difficult to step out."

"Thank you. I'll leave it to you."

After cutting the conversation with Elia short, I turned my gaze back to Professor Henry.

"Will that suffice?"

"…I suppose it will."

Leaving the reluctantly nodding professor behind, I shifted my eyes to Dorothy, trembling in my arms.

"Sister Dorothy."

"Y-yes…"

"It's safe now, so would you please take a seat and rest for a moment?"

It was time to search for the evidence needed to nail Professor Henry. All she had to do was sit down and watch as he was exposed for what he was.

The problem was that Dorothy shook her head at my words in outright panic.

"N-no…! It could s-still be dan-dangerous…!"

"…There will be no more explosions or danger. Wouldn't it be better to sit down and calm yourself?"

I wanted her to settle into a chair and steady her heart, but Dorothy shook her head frantically, clinging to my collar all the while.

"I c-can't…! I can't…. I don't want to, I can't…. Really, truly… hic…"

"…"

Those slender hands of hers shook and shook. She looked up at me through her tears, as if begging me not to cast her aside.

The fault was mine. She wasn't merely a character on a page—not anymore.

"…All right, then. We'll stay like this until you've calmed down."

Thinking that, I spoke to her gently, and Dorothy gave a small nod before burying her face in my chest once more.

Calm.

I quietly recited the divine incantation, and Dorothy's body gave a faint shudder. Gently patting her back, I turned my gaze elsewhere—then let my words turn cold.

"As a precaution, we will conduct a search of personal belongings, one person at a time. Any objections?"

There was evidence that had appeared in the original story, too: the Explosion Protection Magic Tool that would be in Professor Henry's coat, and the fragment of a fire lizard's mana stone that would be tucked in his outer pocket.

On their own, neither was especially damning. But the circumstantial evidence—that the purchase date of the protection tool aligned closely with the day ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of the explosion—and the fact that a fragment of the fire lizard's mana stone, the primary ingredient of the explosive potion, had been found in his pocket: those two together had done the real work of conviction.

A simple problem, then. I only needed to find those two things.

And sure enough, Professor Henry tapped his fingers against the lectern.

"I object. A professor has no authority to search students' belongings— and as I said before, Professor Niger, you yourself are one of the suspects, are you not?"

Even as he spat the words out, his pupils trembled ever so slightly.

So I answered.

"While it's true that I am also a suspect, I am at the same time a priest of the Elohim Order. If I had committed a crime, the Order would have sent a Heresy Inquisitor after me already—so set that worry aside for the moment."

"A H-Heresy Inquisitor…"

"I merely act according to the will of God. Please, trust me."

In this world, the Heresy Inquisitors of the Elohim Order were genuinely terrifying existences. Inquisitor was just a polite name for them—in truth, they were torture specialists and executioners. For a priest of the Order, even a misdemeanor meant maiming as a matter of course, and the moment one committed a felony, the only future awaiting him was death under torture. That was what it meant to become a priest of the Church. Which was why priests, every last one of them, were fanatics mad for Elohim.

And there wasn't a subject of the Empire who didn't know this.

Or rather—no.

Niger clearly didn't know. Otherwise, he'd have no reason to go around smashing people's skulls in.

Turns out the bastard had a taste for thrills, too.

Just a bastard desperate to kill.

Simply a mad bastard…

[…Stop thinking that. It's disgusting.]

Yes, of course it is.

At my declaration, even Professor Henry had no choice but to nod, and I began the search lightly, starting with the students in the back rows.

Naturally, I gave the students only a cursory pass. The culprit had been decided from the very beginning, after all. Besides—one might say my steps were a touch unsteady for a proper search of each person. Dorothy was still sniffling in my arms, after all.

Thus I worked my way through the students until, at last, I stood before Professor Henry.

A flicker of anxious eyes.

"Excuse me, Professor Henry."

"…I will file a formal protest with the Temple over this indignity."

"Yes, I'll bear it."

But you will be bearing Niger's mace.

I slipped my hand into the outer pocket of his coat. Just as in the original story, my fingers brushed against something crumbly. I drew it out—and there was a red fragment of mana stone.

I murmured, deliberately loud enough for the students to hear, "Hm. A fragment of a fire lizard's mana stone."

"Th-that's only natural. I am a professor of the Alchemy Department."

"Yes, of course, that's what I assumed."

Having cut him off, I reached into the inner pocket of his coat. A killing intent began to simmer, slow and rising.

[…Be careful not to touch anything.]

Even Niger's voice was trembling a little—so he must have wanted him dead too.

Then my fingers closed around something hard, and I pulled it from his pocket and held it up.

"This magic tool is… if I'm not mistaken, an Explosion Protection Magic Tool."

"Th-that, too, is only natural, as a professor of the Alchemy Department—"

"Ah—even though the Alchemy Department, as a matter of policy, forbids experiments and research involving explosive reactions?"

The students' murmurings rose around us. My eyes gleamed cold, while in stark contrast, Professor Henry's eyes trembled like an aspen's leaves.

And then.

Knock, knock—

The sound of knocking came from the door, still sealed behind the barrier.

At the voice from outside, I naturally released the barrier. It was Elia.

"Professor Niger, you really are all right, right!?"

Behind her, rushing in with urgent steps, came a line of security personnel.

"Yes, I'm fine. However, one student seems to have suffered a considerable psychological shock, so she should be taken to the infirmary. The other students have had quite a fright as well, so I'll leave escorting them to you. And…"

I looked down at Professor Henry as I continued.

"Have the security personnel take Professor Henry into custody for now. Take the magic tool I'm holding, and the fire lizard's mana stone fragment, along with him."

"Y-yes, of course. You all heard him, right? Move."

Elia nodded, seeming to grasp roughly what the situation was. At that, Professor Henry flinched once—but I ignored him and lifted Dorothy up into my arms.

"Hik—!?"

"It's all right now, Sister. I'll carry you to the infirmary myself."

I passed the security personnel and stepped outside. Dorothy gave a small nod and buried her face in my chest.

And I thought to him: I'm leaving the rest to you, Niger.

[You've worked hard. Leave the rest to me.]

I hadn't spoken a word aloud, yet Niger answered my thought as if he'd read it, giving me exactly the reply I wanted.

Professor Henry, dragged to the interrogation room, spat out his confession in less than half a day.

As I had known he would, he admitted he had planned the crime out of fear that a student named Dorothy was about to expose his embezzlement. Two other professors entangled in the corruption were also identified through his confession, and the Academy was thrown into an uproar.

And naturally, the moment the crimes were confirmed, the Imperial constabulary dispatched a prisoner transport carriage.

So then, it was night.

The carriage rattled along the road toward the detention camp. Inside rode Professor Henry and the two other professors, and the moon was veiled by clouds, making the night feel darker still. Along the road the carriage traveled, the air had somehow begun to carry the scent of blood.

Tap. Tap—

As always, an even, unhurried rhythm of footsteps sounded from just ahead of the route the carriage would take.

"Hm…? What's tha…"

The driver's head, puzzled by the strange figure, suddenly drooped. Seeing him drop off without warning, the constable seated beside him snapped his eyes wide open, trying to grasp what was happening.

But—

"What in the… world…"

Like the driver, sleep took him in an instant.

The carriage, which had been rattling onward, gradually slowed. At last it rolled to a stop, and the gaze beneath a hooded robe turned toward it.

It felt as though the smell of blood were growing thicker by the moment. Perhaps it was only that his brain, already anticipating the killing to come, had begun to crave the blood ahead of time.

Niger thought this to himself as he walked on.

Tap—

Tap—

The footsteps rang out, passing the sleeping driver and constable without a glance.

"Arrived already, have we?"

At the voice from within, killing intent boiled up. So he seized the iron bars enclosing the carriage and pulled with all his strength.

Krrrk—crunch—

With a grotesque screech of tearing metal, the bars ripped apart, and only then did he grasp the carriage door's handle. He turned it. With a long creak, the door swung open, and he looked at the three men seated inside.

"Hm? We can't have arrived alr—"

Professor Henry's words stopped halfway out of his mouth. Though the robe shrouded him, a breeze stirred, and for a brief moment platinum-blonde hair fluttered free.

"Niger… Caritas…?"

The question received an answer.

"With your death."

But that was the last reply he would ever get.

"Repent."

CRUNCH—

"Wait—Professor Ni—?! Gkk—AAAAAGH…!!"

Legs first, of course. There would be no peaceful death for him.

The night was long, after all.