Chapter 99
Chapter 99
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 99
Chapter Title: A Corpse Turned Up, So It Should Be a Case (2)
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“My testimony? Didn’t the Student Council already hand over the documents?”
“Of course, I saw the records of your splendid speech in the preserved student trial transcripts.”
“Is anything else needed?”
Inspector Julia quickened her pace, walking briskly ahead.
Even with a slight limp in her right leg, her speed was astonishing.
Before we knew it, Inspector Julia had reached the main entrance of the chapel and flung the door open without hesitation.
“Inspector Julia Anne Smith?”
“Looks like we have a visitor.”
The face that peeked out belonged to Enoch Clark, Makina’s trusted aide who had saved me more than once.
Enoch still had his long bangs covering his face.
Perhaps because of that, after Inspector Julia sized up Enoch Clark, she whispered to Inspector Henry that he looked like a criminal, nearly making Henry jump to the ceiling.
“Hello. I’m Enoch Clark from the Student Council. I came to wait and guide you after hearing from President Makina.”
“Not to keep watch?”
“Keep watch?”
Enoch’s expression was hard to read, obscured by his thick bangs over his eyes.
But that innocent question wasn’t feigned.
Inspector Julia seemed to see through it, waving her hand dismissively with a satisfied look before stepping into the chapel.
“You said the chapel continued to be used after that?”
“Yes. We left all the evidence intact, and we definitely delivered the recording crystal that captured the scene at the time.”
“I saw it, sure—but I just can’t wrap my head around it. Using the site of such a gruesome incident as a chapel just like that.”
“…Holiness cannot be defiled or faded. Our interpretation is that the chapel, as the sanctuary of the Creator God Aegis, cannot be tainted by human hands.”
Inspector Julia flashed a mischievous grin at Enoch’s firm words before changing the subject.
“You mentioned recording the scene with a recording crystal. But those are used by mages based on magic, right? Wasn’t magic use prohibited at the time?”
“Correct. That’s why we conducted the preservation work under the supervision of Chancellor William Reynolds.”
“Hmm…”
Inspector Julia narrowed her eyes and nodded.
“Did you know? The weight of blood in a human body is just under ten percent. In actual crime scenes, it’s not uncommon to drain all the blood from corpses for ease of transport.”
“…What’s that got to do with anything?”
“Aegis Academy seems to have concluded that the murderer in this killing was some beast, but to my eyes, trained on humans, this was the work of a person.”
Inspector Julia’s words were sharp and convincing.
I had initially thought Cale Ace was killed by a beast too, but as time passed, I became convinced it was human malice.
My guess was that Cale Ace had been offered as a sacrifice for the Literary Club’s demon summoning ritual.
Makina neither confirmed nor denied it.
Thinking back now, she had dodged the question with infuriating cleverness.
“And one more thing. Beasts would drag prey into the woods to eat safely—they wouldn’t dump it in the waterway.”
Her piercing gaze swept over us like it was piercing straight through.
Inspector Julia had no intention of backing down easily in this case.
‘Yeah… maybe it’s better to wrap this all up now.’
Among the many unresolved threads tormenting me lately, I wished at least the Cale Ace murder could be put to rest perfectly.
Even though this killing had dragged me in against my will and caused me mental anguish, I didn’t believe mental pain preceded physical death.
‘Sorry, Cale Ace.’
It was sad to think “let’s solve it while we’re at it” about a case where someone died, but I was pretty exhausted too.
“Do you judge that this incident was likely committed by a human, not a beast?”
“That’s right. Honestly, even Student Council President Makina Christe seems to think so.”
“The president…”
Enoch mulled over Inspector Julia’s words quietly.
Inspector Julia watched Enoch’s thoughtful expression with keen interest for a moment, then began prowling around the chapel.
“It’s reasonable to assume no physical evidence remains from the scene. People kept coming and going afterward, and it was cleaned up too. Plus, this altar—the one in question—was used again.”
*Tap, tap, tap.*
Inspector Julia raised her finger and knocked on the altar.
The wooden altar had once made a dull thud when soaked in blood, but now, after a good amount of time, it rang with its original crisp tone.
“Hmm. Do you light candles here and give speeches or something?”
“Yes. There’s no official priest, so cadets from the Black Lily Class, who major in theology, mainly lead the services.”
“That’s more unchecked power than I thought.”
Inspector Julia tossed out remarks we’d hesitate to say ourselves, as if they were nothing.
Come to think of it, she was right.
In this academy where the Creator God Aegis faith was the state religion, just leading services was an impressive feat—you could see that with a little thought.
But Makina always handled it as casually as breathing, so to us, it seemed less like wielding power and more like diligent service.
“…All right, that’s enough. I just wanted to see the scene myself to grasp the case better. Let’s head out. Staying too long in this ‘sacred place’ has me worn out.”
Every word from Inspector Julia carried something that instinctively grated on Aegis Academy cadets.
That intangible wave, bordering on hostility, sent a chill through one side of my chest.
“Investigator Henry, sorry, but could you go grab the trial records and recording crystal from our Student Council President Makina again?”
“Yes, Inspector.”
Henry bowed politely to me and Inspector Julia before heading to the Black Lily House.
“Enoch Clark of the Student Council can head out now too, right?”
Enoch, who had been listening to our conversation with an uneasy expression the whole time, nodded and left.
‘He won’t stick around without orders from Makina.’
I gave a wry smile, recalling how Enoch had shadowed my every move without leaving my side.
As if she’d been waiting for this, Inspector Julia started strolling slowly, humming a tune.
“Now it’s just the delusions of a pitiful middle-aged woman with nothing but her gut to rely on.”
“…Yes.”
Inspector Julia didn’t even glance my way as she kept walking forward.
The setting sun stretched her shadow long behind her.
“Here’s what I think. The mystery of Cale Ace’s death has already been solved, but Aegis Academy deliberately covered it up.”
“The academy, deliberately?”
“I don’t know why they’d want to hide it. But when I first learned of the case, Hazard Island kept repeating that a winter storm was coming and wouldn’t let me come here.”
It must have been quite a while after the murder before word reached the mainland.
That two-month gap felt unnatural.
As if reading my thoughts, Inspector Julia answered.
“I don’t know much about Hazard Island myself. I’m just a rookie inspector who hasn’t been here long, and I didn’t even come willingly—no connections here.”
“…”
“But when I was pushing hard to land on Hazard Island from the mainland, a local fisherman told me this: Every year around this time, when the [North Sea’s Capricious Fury] hits, some calamity arrives at Aegis Academy.”
“A calamity…”
Inspector Julia’s words didn’t quite click.
Because incidents in the academy (mostly minor crimes or light scuffles) didn’t specifically happen right before winter storms.
I myself had been knocked out by a rock or grazed by a stray bullet months ago.
“What a unique educational environment. It takes four hours one way—not an insurmountable distance—yet notifications about incidents only come right before winter.”
“It’s definitely awkward. But if we take the Student Council’s side, internal academy matters are handled by military code, not something for public authorities to intervene in.”
At my words, Inspector Julia exaggerated a “whoops” expression and shrugged.
But this wasn’t favoritism—it was simple fact.
All crimes in the academy were punished under military code, decided and finalized with the Student Council, Chancellor Reynolds, or a trusted professor overseeing.
Unless it was as serious as this, outsiders were principle-bound from entering the academy, but given the gravity here, Inspector Julia had been dispatched.
“Mainlanders hate getting involved with Hazard Island. Know why?”
“No. I’m hearing for the first time that they even avoid it.”
“They say its geographic position is perfect for drawing in evil energies.”
Were the people at Neptune Harbor passing around the cheap pulp fiction low-years at Aegis Academy read?
Or was it the insular nature of coastal areas and their cranky weather fueling it?
Either way, half right, half wrong.
There’s no way the kingdom would build this academy on a spot rife with malign qi.
‘I didn’t know about the regular storms until I experienced my first one after enrolling.’
Anyway, the royals wouldn’t have sent someone who’d spent a year on Hazard Island to force a contract.
They probably toured the island mornings, noons, and evenings, loved it, and filed glowing reports.
Seen that way, nothing was strange.
“How’d the conversation veer here? Anyway, what I really wanted to say is this.”
Inspector Julia covered her mouth like she was sharing a secret and whispered in my ear.
“Circumstantially, the one closest to being the culprit is Cadet Arma Cruise.”
“…What?”