Chapter 98
Chapter 98
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 98
Chapter Title: Since a Body Turned Up, It Should Be a Case (1)
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“We plan to provide all the information we can. No need to worry.”
In the oppressively heavy atmosphere, it was Makina who spoke up without flinching.
Thanks to her, I could escape Inspector Julia’s piercing gaze.
“For a place that claims to have preserved the scene as best it could, there’s nothing left at all?”
Inspector Julia’s tone carried the rough, probing edge unique to those who’d handled gritty cases for years.
The situation could turn south at any moment.
Yet Makina responded smoothly, without losing her composure.
“We did our utmost to preserve the scene, but the storm swept away even the few traces that remained.”
“Couldn’t magic or whatever handle it?”
Inspector Julia turned fully toward Makina, firing off sharp questions one after another.
It was behavior that could easily offend, but Makina’s ironclad poker face held firm.
“When Cale Ace’s body was discovered, magic use was banned on campus, and by the time the ban was lifted, we’d done everything possible with magic to preserve the scene—only for the storm to hit afterward.”
“So, even with magic, you couldn’t preserve it?”
“Magic isn’t omnipotent.”
Preserving sturdy buildings or trees with clear shapes is relatively easy with magic.
Their boundaries are well-defined and easy to grasp.
But the irrigation canal where Cale Ace was found was different.
Water constantly flows through it, and any lingering traces were scattered about.
It was unclear what exactly needed preserving or how much—then the week-long storm scoured the island clean.
Naturally, no evidence would be findable now.
“Quite the convenient story. A major incident followed by a raging storm.”
“An eerie coincidence.”
“Well… anyway, we’ll handle the rest of the investigation.”
“If you need anything else, feel free to call on us anytime.”
“Will do.”
It was a brutally tense exchange.
Inspector Julia didn’t seem to buy Makina’s words.
She was probably either naturally suspicious or had decided to be from the moment she set foot on this unfamiliar Aegis Academy.
Makina gave a light nod to Inspector Julia and us, then turned to leave.
“Then we’ll be—”
“Ah, sorry, but could the cadet with the golden eyes stick around?”
“…Me?”
Inspector Julia, legs crossed casually, singled me out.
I’d sensed from her glances earlier that she had unfinished business with me.
“Understood.”
I had no intention of clashing with detectives dispatched straight from the mainland, and since I was unwittingly tangled in the case anyway, I decided to comply.
I waved off the two who were about to stick close to me.
“No choice. Let’s meet at the Black Lily House for dinner later.”
“Arma Cruise.”
“I’ll be with Inspector Julia here—what could possibly happen?”
“……”
Theodore’s hand twitched in his pocket, as if gripping and releasing a piece of chalk.
The string of suspicious incidents lately had him on edge.
‘Looks like even this guy’s patience has run out.’
Following Dillon, Theodore was sharpening his nerves amid the repeated events.
I felt guilty, knowing I was the root cause.
In any case, the current situation wasn’t ideal, but I figured nothing irreversible would happen to Theodore or Arthur in the few hours they’d be out of sight.
“If we’re done talking, shall we go?”
“Yes.”
Julia whipped around and headed toward the chapel from the rear garden.
She showed no hesitation, clearly briefed on the academy’s labyrinthine layout.
Watching her stride ahead, I noticed she dragged her right leg slightly.
Her steps were wide and confident, but her right shoulder dipped about a finger’s width each time her right foot hit the ground.
I couldn’t tell if it was a temporary injury or permanent, but it was clear Inspector Julia wasn’t at full strength.
“What a weird island.”
After walking in silence for a while, she suddenly spoke up just before the chapel.
“Weird?”
If we’re talking weird, there’s more than one or two things.
I was right in the thick of it, and this island was stranger than Inspector Julia could imagine.
She turned, as if my question sounded naive.
“An island where about a thousand vigorous young people live together. Doesn’t it strike you as odd that accidents are extremely rare year after year? Not that I should say that while investigating a murder.”
Her pale green eyes gleamed sharply beneath her fedora.
She wasn’t demanding an answer from me, but I struggled to respond.
I’d never once thought of it as ‘odd.’
“Is that so? Aegis Academy follows strict military discipline. The Student Council views moral lapses among cadets as the gravest offenses.”
“Hah.”
Proving her suspicious nature, Inspector Julia mulled over my words repeatedly.
Muttering terms like ‘military discipline’ and ‘Student Council’ to herself several times, she eventually turned not to me, but to Investigator Henry Anderson walking beside her.
“Do your law-abiding citizens back home live so well without laws?”
“Probably not.”
They chuckled together, staggered playfully, bumped shoulders, then clapped and laughed.
It felt like watching a skit with me as the audience.
‘They get along well.’
The behavior could be insulting depending on the context, but oddly, it didn’t bother me.
Maybe because it bluntly mocked the very oddities about the academy I’d been subconsciously pondering.
A mere fifty or so cadets in the Student Council lording over vigorous youths of all ages… how could that not be strange?
What Inspector Julia and Investigator Henry overlooked, though, was that the one reigning over the Student Council was none other than Makina Christie.
“I must have explained it in a misleading way. In truth, what governs Aegis Academy isn’t morality or military discipline—it’s power.”
“Power, huh? Oh, right. This is that magic academy gathering the century’s geniuses or whatever.”
Her polite speech still carried that hard-to-imitate subtle accent, but I didn’t mind it.
It had the tough edge unique to those hardened by the winds of life.
We sheltered frogs like me could never match the depth hidden within.
“Yeah, sure. Heard it’s a magic training school, but the cadets aren’t flying through the sky or walking underground.”
“Living without relying on magic is—was—the academy’s rule.”
“Was?”
“……”
Hadn’t Makina told her that far?
The current Aegis Academy was little more than a den of beasts.
The ban on magic had long been lifted, and with the storm just past, cadets were reveling in their brief respite like untethered colts.
The inspector and investigator, arriving right at that moment, couldn’t sense how precarious the atmosphere truly was.
“To clarify one thing: while most cadets here possess mana, not all do. So calling it a magic training school is inaccurate.”
“Oh, right. We heard that. About Arma Cruise from the Cruise Count family not being a mage.”
“If you’ve heard that much, you’ve heard it all. Now, care to finish your story? Cadet Arma Cruise.”
“The no-magic rule is gone. It started easing right after Cale Ace’s body was found.”
“Hoo…”
Inspector Julia pulled a cigarette from her pocket and lit it.
There were designated smoking areas, but we couldn’t enforce island rules on a mainland inspector here for a murder.
“So even if folks like us show up now, the mages have nothing to fear.”
Despite the question, her tone showed no intimidation whatsoever.
“Who knows? I’m no mage, so I wouldn’t say. Besides, my Wooden Cross Class has few who are mage-caliber anyway.”
“Is that so? Do they rank classes by grades or something?”
“No. Classes are by major. Wooden Cross gathers arts and athletics majors, who generally have low magic aptitude.”
In Aegis Academy, where professors aside you rarely saw anyone over thirty, Inspector Julia and Investigator Henry stood out starkly.
As we headed to the chapel, passing cadets glanced our way.
“I thought it was strange. On the way here, I saw a whole bunch of cadets in full armor. Even if they’re future soldiers, students don’t usually arm up like that.”
“Yes. This level of arming is a first for us too.”
Inspector Julia exhaled a deep plume of smoke.
Then, gnawing at the cigarette between her teeth in a way unbecoming of her rank, she grinned.
“So Cale Ace gets murdered in the most gruesome fashion, right when they couldn’t even arm themselves.”
“……Yes. That sums it up.”
“Really is a weird island.”
The conversation had circled back.
Inspector Julia flashed a slightly smug smile and spat out her cigarette butt.
Seeing it, Investigator Henry grumbled as he picked it up and buried it in a flower bed.
It was the kind of hasty cleanup that only worsened things.
“Anyway, thanks for the explanation. If my behavior offended, I apologize. Not being a stickler got me demoted, so it’s not out of line.”
“I see…”
She added,
“From what I’ve investigated so far in this short time, this murder was done by a person. That makes the testimony of Cadet Arma Cruise, who was at the scene, all the more crucial.”