The next day, Ximo arrived early at the Guard Station. Before she could even knock on the door, a loud “bang” echoed from inside the closed room, as if someone had slammed their fist on the table. Then she heard Frey’s furious voice.
“Search! Search everywhere! Dig up the entire academy if you have to—we must find the intruder from last night!”
“You actually let two suspects slip right past you. If word of this gets out, no one in the Guard Station will be able to show their faces in the academy anymore! It’s humiliating! Don’t you dare say I trained you when you’re out there!”
Though she hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, Ximo stuck out her tongue quietly outside the door and silently apologized to the guards who were getting chewed out.
Just then, the door to the Guard Station flew open, and Ximo nearly collided with Frey as he stormed out.
“Ximo?”
Seeing an outsider, Frey paused for a moment, quickly composed himself, and suppressed his anger.
“Do you need help with something? The Guard Station will be swamped for the next couple of days.”
“No, not really…” Ximo’s response carried a hint of guilt. “I just wanted to see Instructor Shasta again…”
The Great Sage Gandalf’s Diary Copy had come from Instructor Shasta’s basement, after all. Now Ximo was itching with curiosity, full of questions she wanted to ask her—most importantly, whether she had any more copies like it.
“If it’s about Instructor Shasta, I’m sorry, but I can’t let you see her again.”
Frey rubbed his temples with a headache. “…Fine, I’ll just explain everything to you.”
Frey knew Ximo was Shasta’s Assistant Student. Without that connection, he would have sent her away immediately without another word. Explaining now was just to prevent her from coming back—the Guard Station would be busy these next few days.
“Late last night, we got the blood source comparison results between Instructor Shasta and that Bloodfiend. Unfortunately… the Blood Clan blood in the Bloodfiend came from Instructor Shasta.”
“We didn’t want to believe it either, but the facts are right there. Her confinement level has been raised, and she’s been transferred to a more secure holding area.”
To put it bluntly, the Guard Station’s Confinement Room was only for detaining rowdy students or minor rule-breakers. Shasta’s issues had clearly escalated far beyond that.
Seeing Ximo’s shocked expression, Frey patted her shoulder. “That’s the situation. Sorry, but I won’t be able to let you see Instructor Shasta for a while.”
Ximo was, of course, stunned. When she’d mentioned this to Xiliya last night, Xiliya hadn’t seemed too worried. She’d said that based on her experience from her previous life, the blood source would eventually clear up, proving Shasta’s innocence, and she’d be released.
But now the blood source matched Shasta’s. Didn’t that mean she was obviously the culprit? Was there really room for a turnaround?
And not being able to see Shasta was bad news for her—it meant she had to bottle up all her questions until Shasta got out.
Ximo had no choice but to leave the Guard Station. Watching her retreating figure, Frey sighed.
He hadn’t expected Ximo to care so much about Instructor Shasta. They must have a great teacher-student relationship for her to worry like this.
“…What do you mean checking students is difficult? Difficult or not, check them all! Every single student!”
Ximo had only taken a few steps when she heard Frey talking to a guard behind her. Feeling guilty, she quickened her pace.
Frey, still fuming from being impersonated last night, probably never realized he’d just come face-to-face with the culprit behind it all.
Ximo had considered reporting the mysterious intruder to the academy—but she had no evidence. The figure had vanished right after leaving Shasta’s basement. What could she even report? She’d planned to discuss it with Shasta first, but since that wasn’t possible…
Ximo had barely walked a few steps, pondering alternatives, when System’s voice suddenly rang in her mind.
“Darling, it’s time to settle your task rewards~”
“Rewards? I haven’t completed any System tasks these past couple of days. Where’s this coming from?” Ximo was baffled.
“It was actually completed a couple of days ago. Technically, the task is just being issued now, but since you finished it back then, I pulled some strings to count it as done.”
Then the System’s mechanical prompt sounded in her mind.
[As the unpopular Sickly Young Lady, shunned by classmates and unable to make friends, you’ve finally seen a turning point.]
[The Student Council President Melrose inexplicably showed you great kindness. When the malicious noble lady Mira targeted you, she stepped in to help, leaving you deeply moved.]
[Please complete the plot task: “Bullied by Classmates, Then Rescued by Melrose (Completed)”. Friendly reminder: The task… eh, whatever, it’s already done, so no need for the full spiel.]
Ximo suddenly understood. She recalled how Jackson had mocked her in class a couple of days ago, only for Melrose to step in. Perfect match—System hadn’t even needed to tweak the task description. What a coincidence.
She truly hadn’t expected Jackson’s petty antagonism to help her so much. Without it, how was she supposed to get bullied by classmates in a way that Melrose would witness and swoop in to save her? That setup sounded way too contrived, like some scheming green tea bitch deliberately drawing the male lead’s attention.
But this time, Ximo paid close attention to the task details. So the Young Lady had gone through this in her previous life?
