“Put the crystal ball aside for now—it’s a good thing you came to find me on your own. I hope you can help me with something, Ximo.”
Although Frey wasn’t eavesdropping from the stairwell corner, Instructor Shasta still lowered her voice and adopted a serious expression.
“In the spare time while researching the crystal ball these past couple of days, I also analyzed the corpses of those magic beasts from the Mist Forest. In the end, I extracted a residue of an alchemy potion from their berserk blood that I’d never seen before.”
Ximo was stunned. The topic jumped too abruptly, and she didn’t react at first to why Instructor Shasta was telling her all this.
“Without a doubt, the alchemy potions injected into those magic beasts were the source of their berserk state. But before I could analyze them in detail, I got locked up here.”
Instructor Shasta narrowed her eyes. She had once speculated with Melrose that the Mist Forest was an “experimental ground,” and it seemed her guess had been spot on.
“Ximo, I want you to take those alchemy potions and keep them safe for a while. Hand them over to the principal when he gets back.”
“Eh?” Ximo’s eyes widened. “Why not tell the others at the academy about something this important? I’m just a student…”
Ximo wasn’t complaining about the hassle, but shouldn’t such a crucial discovery be shared quickly with everyone else at the academy?
“Because the others might not be trustworthy,” Instructor Shasta paused. “You heard what the principal said to me that day, right? He suspects these incidents were done by someone inside the academy.”
Ximo nodded. Principal Meier had hoped Instructor Shasta would keep an eye out for any suspicious traces in the academy back then, but she had ended up imprisoned so quickly.
“Now that we know the monster from the academy night attack was a Bloodfiend, I’m certain these matters are tied to someone inside the academy.”
“Bloodfiends aren’t summoned ghosts out of thin air. As an affiliate of the Blood Clan, I’m very familiar with them—they can only mutate from originally normal humans.”
“But that Bloodfiend at the academy appeared out of nowhere, and no one’s gone missing here. That means someone ‘brought’ it into the academy.”
Ximo rarely saw such a serious and earnest expression on Instructor Shasta. The aloof Great Blood Clan member seldom took anything so seriously.
“An ordinary student couldn’t pull this off. Sneaking past the academy’s magic barriers to bring in a monster like that quietly would require at least a teacher with higher privileges… or worse.”
“And don’t you think it’s too much of a coincidence? The principal had just left for an academic conference that would keep him away for ten days or half a month, and right away, the Bloodfiend that had never shown itself attacked a student and got discovered—leading to me being locked up here…”
Instructor Shasta didn’t need to say more. Ximo already smelled the scent of conspiracy from her words. As Instructor Shasta said, everything happening was too coincidental, suspiciously so—like someone deliberately framing her.
“Just as the principal trusts me,” Instructor Shasta reached through the bars of the Confinement Room and patted Ximo’s shoulder, “you can trust me now too. Go hide the alchemy potions well, and give them to the principal when he returns.”
“I know you’re not an ordinary kid. Even if you don’t know any magic, I heard about what happened in the Mist Forest from the other survivors—you’re not as helpless as you seem, are you?”
Instructor Shasta’s gaze was meaningful, as if peering through Ximo’s exterior to uncover the secrets she hid within.
“Oh, right. I’ve also sorted about half of the research data on that crystal ball. You can take it with you and have a look… though I doubt you’ll understand it.”
Though Instructor Shasta was right, Ximo inexplicably felt looked down upon. Before she could respond, the tall Frey walked over.
“Time’s up—Ximo?”
He immediately switched to an impatient face, waving at Ximo through the iron bars.
“Go on, go on. I’m doing fine; no need for you little kid to worry. Just keep up with the magic exercises I assigned you earlier. I’ll check when I get out.”
“Got it, Instructor Shasta.”
Ximo nodded obediently, even though Instructor Shasta had never actually taught her anything as an assistant student.
After leaving the Guard Station, Ximo headed straight to the library—not because she loved studying, but to find Xiliya.
The situation had grown complicated, and Instructor Shasta had dragged her into it. To uncover the truth… of course, asking Xiliya directly was the easiest way.
Who was she kidding? With Xiliya around, did she even need to investigate? Xiliya might have experienced all this in her previous life. Why not just ask?
To Ximo’s surprise, before she could even explain, just mentioning she’d come from the Guard Station, Xiliya guessed it.
“You went to see Instructor Shasta, right? She’s been locked up?”
“Eh? You already knew, Miss?”
Xiliya shook the notification on her Student Terminal. “Instructor Shasta’s business trip has been extended, so her classes will be covered by other teachers for now, with no set return date—I figured it out from this message.”
“But unfortunately, if you’re hoping I know something… I really don’t. In my previous life, I wasn’t privy to any insider info and didn’t pay much attention to it.”
“In my past life, I thought Instructor Shasta was really on a business trip. I only learned the truth much later by accident.”
“But seeing you like this, something else must have happened, right?”
Xiliya set down her book and stood, gesturing for Ximo to move to a quieter spot to talk in detail.
—
That evening, Mira stared wide-eyed at the two fully geared figures before her.
“Hah? The academy just strictly banned staying out at night these past couple days. You’re going out anyway—what are you up to?”
“A date—you don’t need to worry about it,” Xiliya patted Mira’s shoulder. “Anyway, if the dorm warden checks, cover for us, okay?”
The word “date” made Mira’s eyes widen even more. Sneaking out in the middle of the night for a date was one thing… but who brought this much gear on a date?
Never mind Xiliya’s staff; she’d just watched Ximo stuff several throwing knives into her clothes! Was this a date to flirt or to fight?
Mira could only say that normal people went on dates to battle it out three hundred rounds in bed, while these two looked ready to skip the bed and go straight to three hundred rounds of combat.
