Chapter 155
Chapter 155
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 155
Chapter Title: Not a Sense of Justice (2)
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“What are you all doing here...”
“What do you mean? Senior said she told Theodore everything yesterday, down to the last detail, right?”
“...Ah!”
After keeping vigil at Ivy’s deathbed yesterday, she’d been so shaken that she could barely remember what she’d said to Theodore.
‘Just what did I say...’
Even rummaging through her memories turned up nothing specific.
She decided to make full use of Theodore’s strong suit.
“What did I say?”
“You said that at Ms. Colette’s request, you kept watch at a child’s deathbed. You thought Dillon Senior should know about it, so you were turning in early.”
“Ah, yeah. Just like Shirley said, I spilled every little detail.”
“Yes.”
“Then why were you hiding there?”
“We weren’t trying to hide from the start. Senior Shirley grabbed Senior Dillon by the collar—”
“Gah—talk about a terror trap of a mouth!”
She’d already heard everything, but Shirley clamped her hand over Theodore’s mouth anyway.
Theodore stood there obediently, making no resistance whatsoever.
“Shirley grabbed Dillon by the collar...”
What on earth had happened?
Fortunately, Dillon—the one who’d been grabbed—didn’t seem particularly offended.
“It was bound to happen. Junior Shirley thought I was setting a trap to drag you into this.”
“No, Senior Dillon’s been lurking around all suspiciously ever since the classical literature club—”
“Shirley, calm down. It’s not like that...”
“Ah, but now I know it was a misunderstanding. Turns out this is Senior Arma’s be·lief! Hahaha!”
“......”
“If it’s a be·lief, we have to uphold it! I’ll roll up my sleeves and help out, Senior! Let’s see that be·lief through!”
Shirley emphasized the word “belief” with particular gusto.
Her face felt like it was burning up.
To extricate herself quickly from this mess, she gave a briefing on the plan she’d devised on her own.
***
That night.
Everyone gathered in the same place, excluding Arthur.
The reason for leaving him out was that his public exam for advancing to master class was right around the corner.
“Theodore, are you sure we don’t need to bring Arthur?”
“If we really...”
On top of that, while Arthur doted on Theodore, Theodore’s attitude was so dry it bordered on arid.
‘You punk, Arthur’s been nothing but devoted to you...’
The two, who’d stuck together constantly since enrollment, were so nonchalant about it probably because their martial prowess was leagues beyond anyone else’s.
“Anyway, I called you all here because you insisted on coming along. This isn’t a joke. There’s a very high chance we’ll end up at odds with the academy. You sure you’re okay with that? I get it for me and Dillon.”
“Hey, why lump me in with ‘that’?”
“You’re not wandering around like this because you want to graduate.”
“Ugh.”
As for her, she was here because of Shirley’s repeated emphasis on “belief,” and Dillon was a hopeless slacker who’d never graduate even if left alone.
But Judith, Shirley, and Theodore were different from them.
They’d already set foot on the elite track, and getting involved in this would cost them far too much.
“If the academy’s plotting something shady, I’m the most likely discard anyway.”
Judith crossed her arms and replied nonchalantly.
That was a fine reason, at least. Deep down, though, she suspected Judith was here to honor the promise she’d made.
“You said they did vivisections, right? If you exclude the students, the only ones here on the island are the locals, the hired staff from the mainland, and the professors. So you’re saying they might use me as an experimental subject?”
Well. How many people would even think to grab a student like Shirley for experiments? Still, her point was valid enough.
“It’s my choice.”
Theodore, for once, showed a flash of humor.
Hahaha. Your choice, huh? Sure. Anticipating an amusing punchline to follow, she waited for his next words.
“......”
“...That’s all you have to say?”
“What else needs saying?”
Belief or choice—aside from the nuance, they amounted to much the same thing.
Theodore was courting danger with his usual stubbornness.
After holding out in silence, he waited until everyone’s attention drifted, then tapped twice over his heart in lieu of an answer.
It was the gesture for the magic circle he’d inscribed on himself.
‘You think this incident ties into future events.’
Campus rebellion and human vivisection.
It was such an intuitive chain of cause and effect that she couldn’t believe she hadn’t considered it before.
That said, if she started down that road, every action of hers could be interpreted as leading to the “Bloody Graduation Ceremony.”
Waking up early one day, singing another, attending a major class the next—countless reasons could be seen as the inciting incident.
‘Ah, too complicated. Focus on the big events.’
Otherwise, she’d end up scrutinizing herself with every breath in and out.
“Then let me recap today’s plan.”
She drew the clubroom curtains, fixed a large sheet of paper to the wall, and stood in front of it.
With a piece of graphite she’d brought, she sketched a map of the small Aegis Academy grounds.
She marked three buildings.
Hospital Wing, Grace House, and Silver Chalice House.
“What do they have in common?”
“Nothing in particular...”
“They’re all on the west side of the island.”
“The Hospital Wing isn’t on the west side, though...”
Shirley raised a question at Judith’s answer.
She handed the graphite to Judith and stepped back to survey the overall shape of her map.
‘It connects.’
As if nailing down her hunch, Judith drew a long tunnel starting from the Hospital Wing and stretching westward.
“There’s a long underground space connected from the Hospital Wing. Shirley, you’ve seen it once, right?”
“Oh, that basement where the warehouse folks and staff pass through?”
“Yeah. We passed through here two days ago. If we hadn’t, we wouldn’t have known, but seeing it firsthand made it clear.”
When Judith finally drew the long line passing through Grace House and Silver Chalice House from the Hospital Wing, Theodore beat everyone to the conclusion.
“The hired staff at the Hospital Wing can come and go from the western sector easily.”
“Exactly.”
Judith, her role complete, handed her the graphite.
She took it and numbered the points, summarizing the situation as follows.
I. Over half the Hospital Wing’s medical staff has fled.
II. This flight matches the timing of the professors’ escape.
III. One of the fleeing professors is Sir James, dedicated instructor for Silver Chalice Class. The other two teach general required courses across all classes.
IV. Death of Ivy, errand runner for Silver Chalice Class.
Her chest ached as she wrote the last item, the scene from that day vivid once more.
“So, where did the incident happen?”
All the arrows pointed to Silver Chalice Class.
‘No ties to any of them, and that’s why it was so hard to get to the truth,’ she thought, along with the realization that it had to be Silver Chalice Class of all places.
That was when Theodore stepped up to the paper and pulled out his ever-present piece of chalk.
V. Cale Ace of Silver Chalice Class—body cremated with family consent.
“......”
Everyone gathered there was struck speechless.
She found the fact that Cale Ace’s body had “already been cremated” particularly telling.
Ivy’s body was slated for cremation soon too, due to death by infectious disease.
“I’m not sure if it all connects,” Theodore said, pocketing the chalk.
“But here’s hoping it all gets resolved at once.”
“-Yeah. I hope so too.”
Maybe things really would work out.
Stumbling onto a thread of the mystery in a place she’d visited by chance—it was almost exhilarating.
“Cale Ace? Cremated?”
“Ah.”
Dillon, who’d never met Inspector Julia Anne Smith, echoed in confusion.
She gave him a quick rundown of the case notebook left by the inspector, who’d vanished without a trace.
“Definitely. If we can crack this wide open thanks to the incident, all the better.”
Dillon stared at the wall—now their meeting minutes and ops briefing board—with a complicated expression, then pocketed it.
“Alright, let’s go. How many sharp students in Silver Chalice House who could sense our presence?”
“Two, maybe. But the real issue is how to slip past the guards.”
One was surely the once-in-a-century genius, Adrian Nel Elman. Who was the other?
For now, though, the students mattered less than the location itself.
To move without detection, they needed to pick the lock quietly—but everyone here found smashing doors loudly far easier.
“Hm.”
At that moment, Dillon cleared his throat pointedly, as if for their benefit.
He struck a boastful pose and tossed out the topic.
“You all know my real specialty is magic, right?”
“Out of nowhere.”
He rummaged in his back pocket and produced a key of baffling, intricate design.
“This can unlock any door. The spell’s called [Universal Key for Faculty and Staff].”
“Senior Dillon, you’re an amazing wizard. No one at the academy could match you!”
“Ehehehehehaha. Yeah, yeah.”
Theodore—who was destined to become a truly great wizard—watched the act with just a blink.
“Go on, boss.”
Dillon hooked a finger through the keyring, spun it, and tossed the master key her way.
Catching it reflexively, she mulled over the word “boss.”
“Normally, I’d turn down even a joke about being boss.”
She fastened the key to a decorative ring on her holster.
She’d dragged them this far; running now was out of the question.
“As a sign of my responsibility, I gladly accept this key and the temporary title of boss. Now, let’s head to Silver Chalice House.”