Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: A Stage Without Actors (4)
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Even as he walked with muffled footsteps, Arthur never let his guard down.
‘Asura….’
If it had been my fault, I might have considered it, but the current situation didn’t suit that word at all.
Especially not when circumstantial evidence had been fabricated to frame me like this.
“Don’t turn yourself in.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m involved too.”
Arthur, who had seemed ready to drag me straight to the Student Council, shut his mouth as if that alone was explanation enough.
He was surprisingly compliant—or rather, he seemed oddly conscious of Theodore, which piqued my curiosity, but right now, I had my own problems.
“Alma. Don’t worry.”
Judith, walking ahead as if shielding me from Arthur, encouraged me in a casual tone.
Truth be told, with a powerful swordswoman like Judith by my side, there wasn’t much to worry about regarding my physical safety.
But that reassurance was limited to my bodily well-being, unfortunately.
Instead of fretting over whether the murderer who had vanished leaving only a pool of blood would suddenly change their mind and come after me, I decided to ponder why I had become the star of this scandal.
“…….”
“Alma?”
“Oh, sorry. Don’t worry….”
The drug’s lingering haze that had muddled my mind seemed to have mostly worn off.
“If things had gone according to the original plan, you should’ve returned to the dorm by now.”
Judith chuckled without turning around at my belated murmur of regret.
“You think I’d just leave without doing anything?”
“…Oh.”
“I’m a suspicious foreign exchange student, after all. I’m used to this kind of thing.”
Her black joke leveraging her foreigner status left me unsure whether to laugh or cry.
Perhaps infected by Judith’s laughter, I let out a chuckle just like hers.
Before long, we arrived at the Thorn Crown House dormitory building and gazed at it intently.
The straight, massive body of the building and its sharply pointed spire roof gave off an overwhelming sense of intimidation.
Everything was grand and imposing.
Especially as we approached, the vertical patterns on the newly visible columns and the round window frames adorning the front of the dormitory were so intricate it was hard to believe they were man-made.
“No lanterns, so stick close and follow.”
“Got it.”
We entered the quiet dormitory interior, where the commotion hadn’t yet spread.
The cloudy weather that night hid and revealed the faint moonlight repeatedly.
We passed through the garden along the long row of columns into the complex inner structure of the dormitory, with Arthur now taking the lead.
“Arthur.”
“What? Head to your room? Better to go to the stables instead. Or leave the academy altogether. You’re involved too, aren’t you?”
Arthur’s words had merit, but Theodore shook his head.
Perhaps the years they’d spent together let him read unspoken intentions without words, as Arthur soon sighed and changed direction.
Arthur’s attitude was ambiguous, as if even he wasn’t sure whether he wanted me to flee because Theodore was entangled or to turn myself in.
“Hmph.”
Judith eyed Arthur’s demeanor with displeasure, but the tension wasn’t as hostile as at their first meeting.
Arthur said nothing until we reached the door of his dormitory room at the end of the long corridor.
Without any explanation, he flung the door open and ushered us inside.
‘Dark.’
Arthur’s room felt as if it had been overtaken by dark patterns overall.
All dormitory rooms were basically the same layout, so I couldn’t fathom why his alone had such a unique atmosphere.
Was it the turquoise silk wall coverings and the nearly black floor?
Moreover, the thick tomes scattered around the desk interacted under the moonlight like living entities, creating a solemn mood.
“There’s a display case around there, so watch out.”
The floor being darker than the walls made the “display case around there” invisible, forcing us to halt in place.
With the only light being the faint moonlight from the window, my gaze naturally drifted to the desk bathed in it.
On the desk lay a gorgeously framed bible side by side with a book in the midst of transcribing it.
The beautiful harmony of black, red, and blue inks marked it as a finely crafted deluxe edition, valuable as both a holy text and artwork.
‘Transcription? Unique hobby.’
Even though movable-type printing had been invented, the technology to produce the types hadn’t caught up yet.
Most printing required a mage’s hand, so transcription was common for bibles and technical manuals.
Even so, doing it himself instead of commissioning a mage or scribe was paradoxically both frugal and extravagant.
“Wait.”
Arthur approached silently and cleared the desk I’d been absently staring at.
He then drew thick curtains, seemingly mindful of eyes from outside.
Had he not intervened, I might have unwittingly appraised his discerning taste in the limited-edition red ink and transcription tools from the Magic Workshop that he swiftly put away.
With the sole light source gone, we were plunged into darkness.
Soon, Arthur returned after lighting candles and a candelabrum, brightening the room considerably more than before.
“I didn’t expect the reserve mages’ dorms to use candles too.”
The light source illuminating us flickered with every sway of the candle flames.
The Wooden Cross Class of arts and physical cadets was one thing, but I hadn’t realized the Thorn Crown Class cadets—guaranteed elite status upon graduation—lived in such gloom.
“The regulations on mana use are even stricter here than in the Wooden Cross Class.”
Theodore took one of the now two candelabrums and familiarly pulled over a chair and tea table.
Arthur quickly cleared two tomes and ink bottles from near the desk, making space for the candelabrum, then approached us.
“Please bear with the darkness. I don’t want to signal that I’m awake right now.”
Arthur said, gesturing toward the unlit fireplace.
The shadows cast by the candlelight sharpened his jawline, giving him an increasingly mature air and a strangely alluring vibe.
In another year, at 24, Arthur would enter Aegis Academy’s senior years, and smoothly completing the two-year course would make him a full-fledged Swordmaster upon graduation.
But even after graduating, he wouldn’t be able to go far….
“Alma.”
Judith snapped me out of my solitary thoughts.
Since arriving in the room, Theodore had gone completely silent, and with Arthur showing clear discomfort, I let out a small sigh.
“Let me ask once more.”
Arthur switched to a deliberately formal tone as he began.
“I still believe Senior Alma should voluntarily report to the Student Council.”
In truth, Arthur’s argument was straightforward and not one to take offense at.
If there were injustices, stating the facts would clear the frame-up, and I might even provide clues about the missing body.
But I hadn’t done so because instinct warned me not to get caught in that situation.
There was a clear reason I couldn’t stay in that place longer and had to flee urgently with Theodore.
‘And strangely enough… that urgent instinct to escape is definitely tied to my dream.’
The warning from my instincts had faded after leaving the chapel, and crossing straight over the cliff to the Thorn Crown House dormitory had even eased my mind.
Having roughly planned my next steps while coming here, the situation was close to one where turning myself in as Arthur suggested would be fine.
“Just pretend you didn’t see me for one day.”
“…One day?”
There was something I absolutely needed to check at the chapel where the incident happened tomorrow night.
“I’ll report myself tomorrow. Thanks for all your hard work, Judith. I’m fine now, so head back to your dorm.”
Judith, being acquainted with me, would surely receive a Student Council summons, but at minimum, they couldn’t search inside the dorms today.
The evidence that I’d committed murder was too flimsy to breach the private spaces of these elite noble heirs.
“Fortunately, Theodore didn’t run into any other cadets at the scene. You can return to normal life too.”
Theodore stared at me fixedly, neither denying nor affirming my words with a nod.
With my Theodore experience still low, I couldn’t decipher what that meant, but it didn’t seem like refusal.
“Alright, thanks everyone for gathering like this. I won’t forget the favor. And Arthur, just lend me that corner over there.”
“…Ha.”
The handsome man with disheveled hair laughed in exasperation.
He nodded soon after and flung open his room door.
There was a brief tussle sending off the reluctant Judith, but the situation resolved quickly.
As Arthur cleared the tea set and pushed the table to separate his bed from my space, I began sorting through my lingering suspicions.
“The bathroom’s in use right now.”
“Got it.”
My mind was a mess, but I couldn’t be a blood-splattered guest, so I headed to the bathroom as Arthur directed.
Theodore stayed behind, apparently having unfinished business with Arthur.
“Then I’ll go wash up. Good night in advance, Theodore.”
“Yeah.”
Inside the bathroom, a shirt and pants—prepared by Arthur in advance—awaited.
They looked about half a size too big at a glance, but there was no choice.
Only after scrubbing off the dried blood with cold water repeatedly did I look human again, but as I examined the lingering marks that wouldn’t fully wash away, cold sweat broke out.
I hadn’t noticed while fleeing in a daze, but upon contact with water, particularly stinging, slippery wounds and a red stamp-like mark stood out.
“…A magic circle?”
The red pattern near my heart—if I wasn’t mistaken—was definitely a magic circle.
One that wouldn’t wash off with water, vivid as blood.
‘Damn….’
Outside the shower were a black mage I’d only properly spoken to today and a trainee Swordmaster.
In contrast, I was unarmed and naked, having just sent away my staunchest ally, Judith, to her dorm.
Cold sweat trickled down my freshly washed back.