Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Shadow of Something (3)
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As far as I knew, it was nearly impossible for a cadet to break the Academy's seal and use magic.
From past cases, it wasn't entirely impossible, but even those rare instances all ended with the death of the caster.
There was no sign that Theodor had broken the seal to use magic.
Even I, the one affected by the magic, had never left the Academy's influence—the range where cadets were prohibited from using magic—so realistically, what had happened was impossible.
But as expected, I had a hunch about this.
‘If events in the dream are affecting reality.’
If it was the heterochromic Theodor—not the one with the outer eye affected by the seal—who had cast the magic on me, then the Academy's prohibition on using magic inside its grounds could easily be circumvented.
The dream location was sometimes the Academy, but more often it wasn't.
So, foolish as it sounded, if it happened in a dream where I wasn't in the Academy, then Theodor casting magic was possible.
“Do you have any guesses?”
“Sorry, nothing like that.”
I skillfully masked my expression and let out a short sigh.
I hoped this anxious gesture would seem like a sign of fatigue rather than worry.
‘I can’t explain it easily.’
The current Arthur was fine, but the Arthur in my dreams was at odds with me for some unknown reason.
I didn't know the circumstances that led Arthur Usher to point a sword at me, but in this situation where I couldn't confirm dreams and reality were completely separate, I couldn't fully trust Arthur Usher.
“Hmm.”
Arthur slowly scanned my face before closing his mouth, as if deciding not to pry further.
“Just to check, is there a way to break the seal?”
“Well, methods that are almost like folk superstitions.”
“For example?”
“After catching the blood spurting from the heart of a living magic beast—”
“Let’s say I’ve heard it.”
In my rock-bottom condition, the thought of hearing dark delusions from unfiltered Thorn Crown Class cadets made my stomach churn.
“It doesn’t seem like a topic we can resolve just talking between ourselves.”
“Probably not.”
“Then it’s your turn. I’ve shown all my cards.”
After getting back the letter Arthur had used to lure Theodor, I leaned deeply into the backrest.
It wasn't an armchair, so the position was still uncomfortable, but in my current floor-staring state, sitting in a soft chair would mean I definitely wouldn't get up again.
“I’ve already explained why I was there, so all that’s left is what I saw.”
Arthur, now much more honest than before, got straight to the point without hesitation.
“To emphasize again, I saw nothing.”
“…….”
“When I arrived at the chapel, there was only one man lying unconscious on the altar.”
Well, that had to be me.
Arthur stroked his chin as if recalling the memory, carefully continuing.
“When I approached because I sensed Theodor’s mana, that’s when the magic circle started engraving on your body, senior.”
“Is engraving a magic circle different from activating the magic?”
“The acts are separate, but simply put, they’re the same. Precisely, it’s binding the phenomenon with mana first. So it’s ready to execute a miracle at any moment.”
As I listened to Arthur, I slowly drew the pistol I’d set aside.
My movements were so slow that Arthur didn’t even tense up.
I turned the lever to fold the barrel toward the hinge, mimed loading ammunition, then turned the lever back to lock it. I cocked the hammer to chamber a round and aimed at the empty air.
“A magic circle is like a gun ready to fire at any time.”
“Exactly.”
Arthur reached out, pointed the muzzle toward himself, and pulled the trigger. The hammer struck the firing pin with a dull *clang*.
If there had been live ammo, it would have gone off, but since it was empty, it didn’t make much noise.
“You can’t do that.... It’s dangerous….”
“Magic is ultimately different from a gun, after all.”
Why was it that even in the same Academy, just a difference in major subjects led to such vastly different knowledge?
I unnecessarily folded the barrel again to check inside once more, then placed the pistol on the desk.
“There are cases with a delay before activation.”
“That’s true for slow-acting curses or healing magic. It varies by incantation and the mage’s skill. I’ll limit my explanation to highly advanced black magic.”
As Arthur had said earlier, excluding curses meant to activate slowly, most black magic was for killing.
That didn’t mean white magic lacked lethal spells, but I knew the distinction came down to whether it was based on holy power or mana.
“A magic circle was engraved, and the magic activated. You, Arthur Usher, waiting outside the chapel, saw that moment.”
“Yes. After that, I buttoned up your shirt and coat tightly so no one else could see the magic circle. The ink must have smeared here and there by then.”
“And then? What did you do?”
“To check if Theodor had unconsciously broken the seal, I followed his presence and moved.”
Imagining Arthur’s actions, I realized one fact and quietly got annoyed.
‘This guy…’
Arthur Usher had left without doing anything for the unconscious senior lying there.
What if I had been on the verge of death?
“In the end, you didn’t see the moment the murder happened?”
“If I had, I wouldn’t have told Senior Arma Cruise to turn herself in. That wouldn’t be confessing; it’d be a false confession.”
“You’re unexpectedly diligent about that.”
“…….”
Anyway, to sum up: Arthur had been secretly monitoring Theodor, whose sleepwalking had worsened, and ended up at the crime scene due to the suspicious letter that started it all.
Then he learned Theodor’s magic had activated, checked my chest for the magic circle, and went off to find Theodor again.
Finally, left alone in the chapel, the murder happened just as I’d proven.
“So the killer committed murder and hid the body in that short time?”
What audacious behavior.
In an academy full of the kingdom’s elites, not only committing a gruesome murder but completely hiding the body—who could have such nerve?
At that moment, Arthur said something hard to overhear.
“…Is there really a need to hide the body?”
“What do you mean?”
“Hiding a body is a human way of doing things.”
A chill ran down my spine in an instant.
We’d been convinced the perpetrator was human, based on the splattered blood pattern and the setup framing me.
But what if the one who executed the murder wasn’t ‘human’?
We’d overlooked it assuming the killer was human, but without limiting it to humans, the case became very simple.
An existence that could take out a cadet with military training in a short time and vanish—for example—
“No way, a magic beast is involved?”
“If it’s a type with sharp, long fangs or claws like knives, the probability is high.”
“But untamed magic beasts can’t enter the Academy. Even tamed ones need double marking from the student council and the chancellor.”
“And yet, someone brought one in.”
My heavy eyelids snapped open.
I’d focused only on how the body was hidden, not why.
“If the body is found, it’d reveal the killer isn’t human.”
“Probably.”
“Then just eliminate the body entirely, since it could be evidence.”
“I think so too.”
If it was a magic beast-involved murder, this bizarre situation no longer seemed bizarre.
I’d heard rumors of unlucky people eaten by wild beasts.
Some beasts ate only parts or organs, but others swallowed everything, including possessions, making victims seem like missing persons rather than dead.
How much more could a magic beast stronger than wild animals do? It could easily devour Kale Ace without leaving a single hair behind.
“A magic beast… I hadn’t even considered that. Right, Makina Christy might know something.”
“If it was an incident caused by a magic beast managed by the student council.”
“That’s unlikely. Makina Christy doesn’t seem that sloppy.”
If I claimed a magic beast had killed someone right now, what would Makina do?
She’d probably drag out every magic beast in the Academy, pry open their jaws on the spot, shove her arm in to check, and declare their innocence.
Imagining Makina’s eerie figure with her arm elbow-deep in a magic beast’s throat, I snapped back to reality.
“Got it. We can’t do anything at this dawn hour, so let’s postpone publicizing the case until sunrise.”
At my words, Arthur glanced out the window.
The night, tinged with blue, was a shade brighter than when he’d first arrived, but sunrise was still five or six hours away.
I couldn’t keep Arthur here chattering for six hours.
I assigned him the homework of theorizing why Theodor’s magic had activated and sent Arthur Usher away.
Even though I’d already reached a conclusion inside.
‘The dream Theodor definitely cast the magic on me. And that dream… it’s hard to accept, but it’s connected to reality.’
I’d never thought dream characters could influence real ones, but right now, that hypothesis was almost certain.
Arthur Usher came in through the window and left through the window.
Cold night air poured in from the open window.
Feeling the dawn chill belatedly, I shivered.
‘I left the window open too long.’
Already frail, catching a cold would be disastrous.
I went to the window and closed it.
Thanks to Arthur keeping me company, my mind was surprisingly clear despite my wrecked condition.
Five or six hours left.
I’d stay awake until sunrise, meet Judith or Shirley, share the situation briefly—
*Crash!*
*Thud!*
Something heavy broke through the window and struck my head.
The shattered glass sparkled brilliantly, reflecting the moonlight, and amid it, I saw the shadow of something looming.
All my efforts to stay awake were in vain; I lost consciousness very simply.