Chapter 87
Chapter 87
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 87
Chapter Title: You Can't Stop Things from Rotting (2)
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“Dillon, this…”
“Yeah. These are the ingredients stolen from the cafeteria.”
Rain continued to pour relentlessly, regardless of our grim expressions, seeping into the rotting foodstuffs.
We hadn’t noticed it while the soil was still packed in, but once we dug it up, a suspiciously glistening liquid pooled everywhere. No matter how I looked at it, that liquid seemed to be accelerating the decay of the ingredients.
“The contaminated water from the spoiled ingredients must have seeped in and polluted the groundwater too.”
“…Hm. So that confirms it as food poisoning, then.”
Dillon bent down to inspect the site closely, not caring that his raincoat was getting filthy.
Even though the stench was so foul it turned the stomach and made bile rise.
“An animal’s doing? No, the behavior is too…”
Finally, Dillon took off his raincoat and draped it over the excavated ground.
His clothes instantly clung to his body, soaked through with rainwater, but there was no hesitation in his actions.
“Should’ve brought an umbrella if I knew it’d be like this.”
“It’s fine, no big deal.”
“Still, the rate of decay is suspiciously fast. We should collect some samples of the nearby soil and that rotten stuff.”
“Agreed. Then—”
“Cadet Arma Cruise.”
As Dillon and I quickly hashed out our next steps, a familiar voice called from afar.
“Cadet Enoch.”
The owner of the voice was Enoch Clark, who had gone from acquaintance to feeling like a friend.
“The Dana Wood employee said you’d be here.”
Enoch hurried toward us in pristine white robes that clashed with the weather.
He pulled an umbrella from his waist—like it had been sheathed like a sword—and handed it to Dillon.
“Oh, thanks.”
“Is this the scene of the crime?”
“…Yeah.”
Dillon nodded with an uncomfortable expression.
It felt odd to me seeing him make that face, since he always had such a cheerful look.
“Obviously, Makina—”
“I’m right here.”
No sooner had Dillon spoken than Student Council President Makina Christie appeared.
The moment I turned at the sound of her voice, I realized there was yet another person present.
A tall man in a black robe that contrasted sharply with Makina’s white one.
Through his rain-mussed hair shone gray eyes verging on pure white—the man I knew well, Arthur Usher.
*A sense of déjà vu…*
But oddly, seeing the two of them side by side stirred an inexplicable familiarity.
As if everything had fallen into place.
“The drinking water’s contaminated. We treated a few patients at the Black Lily too, but to think the cause was the water supply.”
Makina approached us slowly, her fine brows furrowed.
I gazed at Arthur trailing silently behind her, wondering if I’d seen this exact scene in a dream.
The black-and-white contrast of Makina and Arthur standing together evoked tales of light and shadow from ancient scriptures.
〔Executor of the Good Eye, my incarnation who accepted utmost suffering, hear me. I am light and darkness, wholly present in the darkest place.〕
*That’s why everyone’s always going on about Makina.*
I deliberately fixed my gaze on the two of them to shake off the idle fancy.
God doesn’t manifest in flesh, but these two do.
“Hm, indeed.”
Makina strode unhesitatingly to the site and lifted the edge of the raincoat Dillon had draped over it to peer underneath.
“The decay is advanced. With rainwater pouring on top, the groundwater contamination would’ve happened in no time.”
“That’s why I think we should stop using this pump.”
“I agree completely. I feel bad making the Student Council handle the grunt work. We’ll take over from here.”
“What?”
When Dillon demanded clarification, Makina responded with a smile.
“The site’s preserved now, so head back. You don’t want to get dragged into a messy incident, do you?”
“Still as high-handed as ever, Makina Christie.”
From their exchange, I gathered the two had some history.
Enoch and Arthur didn’t interject, even hearing the sharp back-and-forth.
Makina wasn’t the type to welcome interference anyway, but more likely, things had been settled beforehand.
“If I’ve overstepped—”
“Save the lip service. Let’s go, Arma. Non-Student Council cadets are dismissed.”
The atmosphere turned hostile in an instant, and I tensed up.
With magic dispelled right now, who knew how a spat between cadets might escalate.
Dillon had been on edge lately from the string of incidents too.
“Dillon—”
Fortunately, though, Dillon showed no interest in prolonging the argument.
He folded the umbrella Enoch had given him and handed it back before walking off into the rain.
Not that it mattered—his whole body was already drenched from the driving storm.
An umbrella at this point would just make his hands cold.
I glanced at Makina, who casually pulled two glass vials from her robes as if nothing had happened, then nudged Arthur beside me.
“Let’s go.”
Call it a hunch, but I didn’t want Arthur and Makina together.
An anxiety swelled that we couldn’t just leave it like this, so I grabbed Arthur—who stood frozen in place—and dragged him back to the dorm.
“…You’re back quick.”
“Yeah. Wasn’t it urgent?”
“It was.”
Once I’d put some distance between us and Makina, I released Arthur’s arm. He looked baffled, staring alternately at me and his arm.
“Sorry for rushing you. Just had a bad feeling and wanted out of there fast.”
To be precise, it felt wrong seeing Arthur with Makina, but I didn’t voice it.
*Is this the prelude to some future disaster I haven’t noticed?*
Was their meeting the spark of some unnoticed catastrophe?
Even so, the Arthur in my dream showed no such signs.
If they’d had any kind of relationship, his attire back then would’ve reflected it somehow.
Like the Christie crest for a liege-vassal bond, or a ring or accessory for lovers.
*Come to think of it, why didn’t Makina appear in my dream?*
A dream where I killed four out of the six cadets destined for historical greatness.
The two who never showed were Adrian Nell Elman of Silver Cup, whom I’d never met, and Makina Christie.
Adrian I could understand, not knowing his face, but why had Makina—who kept crossing paths with me—never once appeared in that dream…
Leaving Arthur standing there while I lost myself in thought was rude, so I quickly changed the subject.
“Nothing happen at Thorn Crown House?”
“I don’t want to fuel misunderstandings by saying this, but…”
“Hm? You’re tempting fate.”
“Most Thorn Crown Class cadets don’t trust anything in its pure state. The major labs are often chemically contaminated anyway.”
“So…”
“Most purify their drinking water in their own ways. Some as simple as boiling it, others using iodine. There are various methods, but…”
Arthur studied my face as he said that.
Then, with a ‘shouldn’t have mentioned it’ look, he continued.
“Anyway, thanks to that, most were fine, and even those who got sick recovered quickly.”
“Mind if I ask how they recovered so fast?”
“They accidentally discovered that a poisonous plant they’d eaten for other reasons was a cure for diarrhea… But not every Thorn Crown cadet does that.”
Arthur cut himself off, as if reluctant to say more.
I was dying to know.
What ‘other reason’ would make someone eat poison ivy in the first place…
No, even before that—would anyone in their right mind eat poisonous plants again, no matter how effective for diarrhea…?
“One more question, then.”
“Sure.”
“Was our room’s water fine because…”
“Theodore does that sort of thing mostly at dawn.”
“I see…”
Professor Theodore White had real foresight.
I often stayed up at night, so opportunities were scarce, but he’d timed it for when I was asleep to purify the water.
Thanks to his eccentric habits, we’d all been spared, but it stirred mixed feelings.
In the end, even after uncovering the water contamination, we returned to the Wooden Cross Dormitory with a nagging unease.
A short while later, Dillon—who’d arrived first and cleaned up—knocked on the door and gave a brief rundown of the resolution.
*Scared the storm would drag on, so they stole food from the cafeteria, couldn’t handle it, and dumped it?*
Hazard Island storms weren’t new every year or two, but apparently some cadet panicked excessively over a passing gale.
The culprit was apprehended based on employee testimony and a few cadets passing by, but their name wasn’t disclosed out of honor.
Meaning they were likely from a fairly powerful family in the kingdom.
A bitter ending.
Lying on my bed, I stared blankly at the ceiling wallpaper pattern before closing my eyes.
*Makina Christie lied again.*
What was she hiding?
True, most ingredients were rotten, but their state didn’t suggest reluctant concealment after failing to consume them all.
More like foodstuffs deliberately placed there and ‘eaten’ by something.
*Damn it.*
The anxiety grew.
It felt like some formed entity lurked under the floorboards, in the narrow ceiling gaps, beneath the bed and beside the bookshelf—tightening its encirclement by the second.
*It’s taking shape.*
I was certain it was my guardian angel.
For some reason, it hadn’t revealed itself to me yet, but the bastard was fattening itself on my fear.
Ah, everything’s going wrong.
I need help.
But from whom? Makina Christie, who kept covering things up?
Or Arthur Usher, who pointed a gun at me and politely informed me of my [Sharpshooter of Betrayal] moniker?
Theodore and Shirley and Yudit, whom I shot dead?
On what grounds, with what right?