Chapter 49
Chapter 49
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: The Culprit Isn't Here (1)
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"Makina, Chairman."
It was a late night, close to midnight.
Student Council President Makina Christie, draped in a long cloak that reached down to her calves and wearing a black leather hunting cap, turned at the sound of the voice calling her.
"Bill. How did it go?"
"We found her. Just as you said, collapsed in the northern valley connected to Cave Mountain. But..."
"But?"
The cadet called 'Bill' furrowed his brows, looking troubled.
He had set out on the search half in doubt after hearing that Arma Cruise would have collapsed around here, and sure enough, he had found the collapsed Arma Cruise.
"Besides the Arma Cruise cadet you mentioned, there was another cadet there. Theodore White from the Crown of Thorns Class."
"White?"
"Yes. And there were traces of blood flowing from one eye..."
"Hmm."
Makina gave a slight smile to the Student Council cadet standing awkwardly, waiting for her next words.
With her silver short hair tucked into her cap and dressed in old-fashioned hunter's garb, Makina looked less like her usual elegant and intimidating self and more like an innocent boy.
"What was the situation when you found them?"
"Arma Cruise was lying face down, and right behind her back was White, also lying there. It looked like they might have fought each other—White's face was covered in blood... but, well, I couldn't find any wounds."
A hint of unease showed on the reporting cadet's face.
Makina knew this well but smoothly changed the subject.
"It's that age for them."
"...Pardon?"
"I don't know for sure, but don't guys have those kinds of things happen between them?"
Bill was about to open his mouth, thinking that even the principle-loving Makina Christie harbored such misconceptions about men.
"Right?"
"Ah, yes..."
Come to think of it, it wasn't a big deal.
He had thought Theodore White was seriously injured, but there were no scratches anywhere on White's body.
The blood had flowed from inside the artificial eye, so there must have been a problem with the prosthetic.
Bill added that the two had been sent to the medical ward, thinking that.
"But how did you know the two of them would be collapsed there?"
"Ah."
Makina rolled up her cloak and sleeve to show her wrist.
There, attached to restraints she had chosen to wear as self-imposed discipline, was a silver bracelet engraved with a black lily.
"Ah, a resonance bracelet. The magic tool that resonates and reveals the wearer's location if they go beyond a certain distance."
"Yes. Due to my own mistake, I had put a restriction on a matching bracelet and given it to Cruise."
"You've been so busy lately; it's entirely understandable."
"No, it's embarrassing."
"But thanks to it, we found Cruise. That's a relief."
Makina nodded at Bill's flattery.
She didn't bother adding that there were four spares, making two pairs just in case.
"Hey, Bill! Come here and help out a bit."
"Whoa, yeah. Wait a sec!"
Just then, a voice calling Bill came from far away.
Makina gestured for him to go quickly, and Bill told her the room number where Arma and Theodore were admitted before hurrying off.
A little while ago, a report had come in from the Black Lily Class dormitory facing Cave Mountain.
Smoke was rising from a cave.
Makina, already dressed for going out, had gathered the Student Council upon hearing the news and headed to Cave Mountain, where they found the Composition Club collapsed from toxic gas poisoning after lighting a fire in the cave to brew drugs.
'The thorn in my side is gone.'
Makina casually picked up a nail stained with dark blood and an intact crystal orb from the cave where the bonfire had died out, then blew on them.
Devil worship was grounds for expulsion.
No one would care what became of them after expulsion.
That was both the flaw and the strength of this isolated academy.
***
"...Huh?"
A damp, unpleasant chill ran down her spine, like something sinister brushing against it.
It felt just like waking from a bad dream.
Her back was soaked with cold sweat as she sat up.
The afternoon yellow light just starting to filter through the window, the all-white room, and the faint smell of alcohol wafting in the air.
Only then did she realize where she was.
'The medical ward again...'
As she habitually patted herself down to check for her pistol, someone placed the holster and gun on her blanket-covered legs with a clunk.
"..."
"It's what you were looking for."
The pale, slender fingertips and the shirt sleeve covering the back of her hand caught her eye first.
Following that hand upward, there were glacier-blue eyes, sharp and clear.
"Makina, Chairman."
"I figured it would be the first thing you'd look for, so I set it aside. Looks like I was right."
"How did you... here..."
She started to ask but closed her mouth.
Freshly awakened from deep sleep, still disoriented, she remembered tussling with Theodore right up until she passed out.
"Where's Theodore?"
"I thought you'd ask that too."
Makina playfully winked one eye, then crossed her legs and shifted her upper body aside so she could see behind her.
'He looks fine.'
The eyepatch was off, placed on the bedside table, and compared to the amount of blood he'd lost, the wound wasn't deep—the bandage around his head was thin.
Moreover, the face lying there with eyes closed wasn't twisted in pain but peacefully asleep.
She had secretly worried he might disappear somewhere, but seeing him like that drained her tension.
"For being found collapsed in the wild mountains, neither of you had any major injuries."
Makina placed her hands neatly folded on her crossed knee.
Her calm demeanor suggested she wouldn't pry, but Arma was curious about what Makina was really thinking.
'...How did they find us collapsed in the mountains?'
It didn't make any sense from the start.
She had gone to the Composition Club room specifically on Friday evening, deviating from her usual routine.
And after figuring out the club's 'real activity' location through Theodore's deduction, they had headed back toward Cave Mountain.
Anyone who knew her usual patterns would never imagine she'd be there at that time.
"...I was just... surprised. Theodore suddenly started bleeding..."
It was such a clumsy excuse she felt embarrassed saying it, but Makina smiled brightly upon hearing it.
"I hear White's artificial eye is a high-end product from the Labyrinth Tower, but it sometimes has those side effects."
"Side effects...?"
"Yes. It's not his original eye, after all."
How grateful she was for such a misunderstanding.
But she knew Makina wasn't the type to let herself be misled that easily.
"Care for some tea?"
Makina, who must have waited quite a while by her bedside, poured lukewarm tea from a teapot whose aroma had faded and handed it to her.
She didn't particularly want tea, but it was hard to refuse the gesture, so she sat up against the headboard and took the cup from Makina.
Her gaze shifted to Makina's hand, and as the shirt sleeve rode up, revealing a wrist, Arma raised an eyebrow.
"It's the same design as the restriction bracelet."
"It was originally a resonance bracelet to prevent getting lost."
"Ah."
Makina had deliberately pulled up her sleeve for her to see.
She wasn't spelling out why she could find her, but letting her figure it out herself.
To Arma, this felt like a silent deal: overlook my actions, and I'll overlook yours.
"What if someone gets the wrong idea? You must know something about last summer's incident, Chairman Makina."
"Rumors? Ah, that one."
Makina sipped her own tea and chuckled softly.
"That you like elegant, mature ladies."
"Misunderstanding..."
"Well, sure."
Looking back now, in her lower years, she had mainly suffered physical bullying, but once she reached upper years, it was annual gossip on different themes.
Last year's just happened to be about scandals regardless of age or gender.
She figured someone like Makina, a perfectionist student council president, wouldn't be unaware of the gossip that changed themes every year for her.
The reason she was certain was that any kind of bullying, including gossip, peaked quickly and then fizzled out.
"Cruise seems like the type who doesn't want attention, not someone who likes mature ladies."
"You see right through me."
Just as Makina said, Arma truly hated standing out.
An ordinary, unremarkable life, smooth with gentle curves and minimal drops—that was what she wanted.
Makina smiled with her eyes, looking understanding, then deliberately set her teacup down on the saucer on the bedside table with a clink.
"People often say I have good instincts."
"...Out of the blue. Yes, and?"
"Truth is, you've been on my mind ever since the cadet trial."
It might sound thrilling at first glance, but from her position, it was anything but.
It felt like facing a coiled snake baring its fangs.
She had so many secrets she wanted to hide, and Makina seemed to see right through her.
"I'll behave."
So she tossed out a light joke on purpose.
Makina wouldn't dig any deeper than this.
She had too many secrets of her own to interrogate her.
'Even pushing me like I was the culprit without truly believing I was.'
She had started suspecting Makina had secrets after the protection measures, but looking back, her actions had been suspicious from then on.
At the very least, if Makina really thought she was the culprit, she would have secured ironclad evidence that could overturn the trial no matter what.
And what about the attack on her?
The Student Council had sent Enoch Clark as a bodyguard under the name of protection measures but showed only lukewarm response to catching the real perpetrator.
'At least she's not on my side.'
Not wanting to wake Theodore sleeping soundly behind Makina, she grumbled in a low voice.
"Why are there so many incidents? I just want to graduate safely."
"I'll help however I can. Even if I've already lost your trust."
"No, I know it's because of me that you've had so many difficulties. I don't blame you, Chairman Makina."
Did her intent to stay quiet and out of trouble come across?
Makina had been smiling elegantly ever since she opened her eyes.
She was no slouch in this area either.
So with a smile rivaling Makina's, she waited for what came next.
"I see. The Student Council thinks it's overrated for what it does, but hearing you say that puts my mind at ease."
She was letting it slide.
Both she and Makina seemed to think getting entangled would bring nothing good.
"But since the opportunity's here, may I ask one thing?"
"Of course. I'll answer anything except what I can't."
"All those incidents so far—is there one culprit? Or culprits?"
"Ah."
She had deliberately phrased it ambiguously, speculating the first murder's perpetrator wasn't human.
She wanted Makina to see her as an innocent victim who knew nothing yet.
Probing Makina's true intentions at this point might not be wise, but as a direct party, she had standing, and brushing it off too casually would seem unnatural.
Makina gave a refreshingly unexpected answer.
"We caught them all. While you were passed out, Arma Cruise."