Chapter 145
Chapter 145
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 145
Chapter Title: The Fugitives (1)
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Shirley widened her eyes upon hearing what Theodore and I had gone through.
Yeah, thinking about it, it was strange.
Even I had never experienced anything like it back when I was in Wooden Cross.
I figured it must have happened because the situation was so unique, but to hear that each class responded differently...
'A difference in combat strength?'
Wooden Cross's combat strength amounted to little more than cadets whose main focus wasn't magic.
Shirley and Judith were Wooden Cross's pride and joy; everyone else was just strong in terms of stamina or graceful in technique.
"No, how could that happen? It doesn't make any logical sense."
"Yeah, now that you mention it, you're right. And I heard you two were locked up just like us."
Looking back now, I couldn't understand why we'd accepted the situation so readily.
When people gather in groups, they slip into a peculiar state where they act according to others or the group, separate from their individual judgment or reasoning.
That must have been the special psychological state we'd been swept up in. And if the employees or someone had deliberately exploited it...
'What the hell do they think we are?'
It felt like we'd become lab rats in some massive experiment.
Shirley furrowed her brows and sank into thought for a moment before shaking her head, as if trying to lighten the mood.
"No point dwelling on it—we're not getting anywhere. Oh, right, is Theodore feeling better now?"
"Yeah. Go talk to him for me. The vibe between him and Arthur was pretty bad, probably because I dragged him along too roughly."
"Are you sulking because you can't be with Theodore? You two do seem awfully close. He looks okay now, though, so I'll drop by to see him this afternoon. We're all sticking together from here on out anyway, right?"
"Yeah."
"See you later."
Shirley gave a casual wave and vanished into the distance.
When she wasn't hanging around with me, she always got around by sprinting.
I watched her disappear in a flash, a nagging unease settling in as I headed for the shooting range.
"Woof woof! Grrr... Pant pant pant! Woof!"
"Cookie, shh. Calm down. That's enough."
It had been since the day I tracked down the missing Makina that I'd last seen Cookie.
Cookie usually focused on charming strangers over me, but it seemed thrilled to see me after so long, slobbering all over in greeting.
"You're gonna make me have to wash my hands now."
I rubbed Cookie's drool off on the seat of my pants, then cleaned out the gun barrels from the rack and packed in the powder.
All I had were two manually loaded pistols from major-subject classes and the compact handgun my sister Ruin Cruise had given me as a gift.
Aegis Academy sure as hell wasn't trying to stop me.
It wasn't us they were controlling—it was the elites destined to become the kingdom's light and salt.
'Is the Academy not on our side either?'
It was a truth I'd vaguely suspected but hadn't wanted to believe.
The unusually ironclad control. Our location, absurdly far from the mainland. The armed employees and the professors' awkward attitudes.
Every suspicion I'd willfully ignored so far now churned in my mind.
-Bang!
Aegis Academy's curriculum mainly consisted of major-subject classes, military administration theory lessons, and ethics courses for surviving as civilians after discharge.
I only studied magic theory—nothing on actual combat—so I had no clue about Thorn Crown House or Black Lily's programs. No reason to mingle, either.
'If they dragged us here to keep us isolated, then why bother teaching us magic at all?'
We'd spent over a decade honing ourselves as mages and soldiers.
If Aegis Academy cadets were the sort who needed controlling and isolating, then why pour so much effort into our training?
'No... Stop. Don't overthink it.'
As the worries started to deepen, my head began to throb.
"Whine..."
I must have slumped down and clutched my head without realizing it.
Something damp brushed my nose. When I looked, Cookie had wedged itself between my arms and shoved its face right up to mine.
"Ah."
Animals pick up on things fast.
It spent most days acting like a spoiled, heedless mutt, but it could be surprisingly mature in moments like this.
Unlike usual, I let the rest of my time slip by while receiving Cookie's headbutts... no, its comfort.
'If this long, grueling communal life turns out to mean nothing...'
The suspicions wouldn't quit, but they never solidified into any real conclusion.
Sudden exhaustion and vertigo gave me no chance for that.
***
I must have muddled through the afternoon in a daze.
Meeting up with Theodore partway through, chatting, sharing a meal before heading back—it was nothing short of a miracle, given the vicious dizziness plaguing me.
"Here, eat this. You look awful."
"...Thanks."
Ever since the storm fiasco, Theodore had been boiling water and running tests without a hint of hesitation, like he was making a point of it.
He was clearly mixing in some kind of solution, yet the water that came back tasted like nothing—fascinating.
'Guy'd thrive even if he washed up on a deserted island.'
I sipped the strong herbal tea at just the right temperature and waited for the dizziness to fade.
It felt like someone had dumped sand in my skull—dizzying and gritty.
A different breed of pain from treating my chronic condition, which always brought a parade of complications.
"Why not head to the infirmary?"
"No use. The meds they give are all the same. Better off just sitting and resting, I think."
"I see."
Theodore fetched a blanket for me on the sofa he'd dragged over by the window, told me to call if I needed anything, and retreated to his room.
Somehow, it felt like one of us was always under the weather.
Keeping track of Theodore's presence, I pulled my diary from the desk and unrolled a blank sheet.
The diary had become an undeniably suspicious item by now.
The blacked-out entries. Inspector Julia's investigation notes, clearly pieced together from mismatched notebooks. And now this memoir I was about to compile.
-Scribble scribble.
I pushed through the waves of dizziness to run one test on myself.
The words I jotted down were these:
〔Aegis Academy, Hazard Island, Wooden Cross, Thorn Crown House, Black Lily, Silver Chalice, isolation, containment, brainwashing〕
The pain and anxiety grew sharper the further along I got.
Especially the instant I wrote the first character of "brainwashing" at the end—I lost my cool in the most astonishing way, overcome by this weird urge to think about anything else.
"Ah—damn it all."
Only after slashing thick lines through that final word and mangling it did the anxiety finally ebb.
I snapped the diary shut—ink still wet—and shoved it into the drawer.
Was all this just my delusion? Or did we really have "something" done to us?
And was my fixation on these thoughts truly my own will?
In the end, I set down the pen and closed the diary.
It was no content to air publicly on a whim.
'Looks like everything's gonna blow up before graduation no matter what.'
The escalating clashes between the adults. Cadets wielding immense power, but volatile, manic, hypersensitive. The shadow poised to swallow the Academy whole. And the guardian angels.
'Checkmate either way.'
For the first time, I desperately wanted to go back.
Even if I had no idea where "back" was.
Who could I turn to for help in a mess like this?
Someone strong. Trustworthy. And anything but friendly toward Aegis Academy.
Makina Christie sprang to mind unbidden.
-One thing I'd say: the "adults" around here aren't all that reliable.
That chat from two semesters back—now feeling like ancient history amid the avalanche of events—Makina had dropped plenty of hints my way.
'What the hell does Makina know? Has she already figured out everything I'm only piecing together now?'
If so, how did she know?
Just committing these thoughts to paper made me feel half-mad already.
Either way, top priority was digging into whatever events or evidence had led Makina to conclude she couldn't trust the adults.
"If they won't cooperate, then maybe better to..."
"Better to...?"
"Better to....... ...Argh! What the—!? Theodore, it's you."
"You were mumbling, so I thought you called for me and came out."
"Was I? Ha, seriously. I knew I'd been talking to myself more lately."
Theodore stared straight through me before heading back to his room.
I could tell he'd checked my pupils—specifically, the ring of light that always showed up whenever I lost my grip on reason.
"......"
Maybe I needed to keep a mirror in front of me whenever I brooded alone.
Brooding while staring into a mirror? Honestly, pretty pathetic sight.
I tidied up the desk and stood to turn in early.
-Knock knock.
That's when the unannounced visitor arrived.
"Who is it?"
I snatched up the pistol I'd left on the table when I got home and cracked the door. The employee waiting outside gave a slight bow in greeting.
From the gap, I caught polite greetings, small but clear voices, and knocks from other employees delivering messages to the other rooms.
The employees were hustling around, notifying all the dorm residents of something.
I tried not to betray my surprise as I asked the employee,
"Got business with us?"
"Greetings, Cadet Arma Cruise. Is Cadet Theodore White inside?"
"Yes."
"There's an emergency announcement about tomorrow's classes for the two of you. Regrettably, all lectures at Aegis Academy will be temporarily suspended for the time being."
The employee's words were way outside the realm of normal.
Even if the professors had tried bolting and gotten recaptured, there were always backups for every subject.
Professor Melbury's Aegis ancient-language theory class, for instance, could easily be covered by Professor Epil, an alum from the same college.
"...Lectures suspended? What the hell for—"
"It's an unavoidable step due to administrative circumstances at the Academy."
"What circumstances?"
"That's the full extent of the message. No lectures doesn't mean no attendance—show up per your timetables, and it'll be noted."
"Look, you're not explaining—"
The employee bowed crisply with machine-like resolve and vanished without another word.
The other rooms got the same treatment, but the employees stayed utterly clinical and cold, dispensing only bare facts.
"What the...?"
Was this the opening act of yet another incident? Or the setup for some impending tragedy?
The employees offered zero answers either way. The Academy remained as coercive toward us as ever.