Vol. 1 - Ch. 42 - Suspicious Traces (1)

The Worldview Where Everyone is Destined to Die

I spent most of the night keeping my eyes open, mumbling unknown words about not wanting to become corrupt.

I heard it's better to address insomnia early on, but I figured I should seek counseling sooner or later. When I closed my eyes, memories of the day flooded in---the people, the shooting, and Arthur's words in the chapel, "Shooter of Betrayal."

"..."

When I finally got out of bed and rubbed my itching eyelids, as if sand had gotten into them, the morning still held its green hue.

Dylan wouldn't be in the club room now, right?

Feeling the need to do something, I decided to review today's first-period class, Advanced Magic Mechanics Theory.

Clack, clack.

But time passed oddly, and before I knew it, morning had arrived and four hours had slipped by. I snapped out of my reverie when I heard the reserve bell ringing.

I quickly packed my things and headed to the classroom.

"So, magic is ultimately like science with many things omitted," the professor in charge of Magic Mechanics Theory, Sir Trevor Norfolk, explained.

He was the youngest faculty member, a man in his 30s with curly gray hair and a perpetually nervous face that somehow made him look handsome. His mission was to help cadets without magical talent, like me, understand how magic works.

"Do you understand, Cadet Arma Cruz? Is my explanation clear enough?" he asked.

"Yes, I understand," I replied.

Sir Norfolk seemed relieved, nodding as if pleased that I grasped the concept before returning his focus to the book.

Cadets who scored low on the magic aptitude test, including myself, took the opportunity to either yawn or gaze out the window.

'I can grasp the theory, but it's entirely different from history,' I mused.

It felt akin to learning the history of a nation I knew nothing about and had no interest in. Even if such a thing did exist, I didn't feel compelled to delve into every detail. But managing grades was a cadet's duty, so we all worked hard.

"Then, we'll end the class here. But are any of the students enrolled in the 'Aegis Ancient Language II' course?" Sir Norfolk inquired.

I raised my hand in response.

Ancient language was one of the subjects I was confident in, and besides me, five or six other cadets also raised their hands.

Sir Norfolk made eye contact with each of us and continued, "Professor Melbury, who is in charge, mentioned she's having difficulty attending that course due to a sudden stomach ache."

"No!"

Professor Melbury is a thin, gloomy-looking woman with a frugal black dress as her trademark. Because of that unique black dress and her dark appearance, all the students taking the Aegis Ancient Language class for the first time considered her to be in mourning.

"She asked me to tell you that she was sorry that something happened right before the evaluation. She said the supplementary notice will be given sometime this week."

"Tsk."

Cheers erupted from the mouths of the cadets, who thought they had managed to get some free time.

But what could be done?

All we could do was pray that she wouldn't say anything about the supplementary being this weekend.

'I have some free time now, so let's go ahead.'

Anyway, the timetables of cadets are so different, so if there is an open lecture, they either go to the dorms or to the club. It meant that if I went to the club room now, it wouldn't be empty.

'This is better. Let's go when we have time.'

In the end, I decided to visit the Current Affairs Debate Club, followed by the Ballroom Club, and then the Writing Club.

The reason for the Debate Club's lower status compared to other clubs stems from a lack of interest in current affairs debates. However, its official status and alignment with the academy's educational and political goals allow it to persist.

-Knock knock knock

I knocked on the door of the Current Affairs Debate Club, located at the back of the Ballroom Dancing Club. The club room was long and horizontal, rather than wide.

-Ughh~

However, from beyond the door came this sound, which didn't seem to be either human or animal.

'Should I just head back?'

I felt exhausted at the thought of witnessing another illicit activity at the academy for two days in a row. Therefore, I chose to ignore it and walk away.

But....

"UHH~ WEl~~ Come~~~"

This excited cadet spoke in a peculiar manner.

"N-No!"

"No, no? Aroma Cruez~"

"You got the wrong person."

I am in trouble.

Just as I was about to turn, I was grabbed by the neck and dragged into the club room.

'Alcohol...'

And it's comparable to decadence... No, I held my nose at the scent of alcohol.

"Hehe. This~ cutie~ Ahhh!"

"What? I think I am in the wrong place now."

"Kuahaha~."

This was almost like an animal's den. In the club room that I got forced into, the bugs in the crowd began to crawl towards me.

"Uhhh~."

"Pughhh~."

Odd noises.

Can such men even become soldiers? Of course, not all academy cadets aim for careers as soldiers, but regardless, they must serve as soldiers for a certain period upon graduation. But they are behaving like this.

"Ehh, is this how guests are treated? Let's hurry up and perform the ritual?!"

"What do you mean by that? I am fine."

An odd tension filled the air. I prayed silently to be let out.

To that extent, the condition of these drunk people was dire.

"No one will perform the ritual; then this thirsty one has to go and dig a well myself."

"The floor is shaking. Everyone run!"

Initially, they seemed to be in a good mood, but they weren't even looking at each other. The four of them lay on the cold floor with bottles of alcohol by their sides to cool their heads since drinking alcohol made their bodies hot.

"Where is the revolution in the country? We need to start a revolution!"

"We need to prevent inflation; we need to stop issuing bonds!"

Two cadets sat down and discussed their complaints.

"Glass! Get me a glass!"

"Aroma Cruez, the opponent is sleeping; open the beer!"

And now two more people, who were past their limits, were trying to show off their strength. A total of nine animals were here, loudly demanding something to be brought.

'Ahhh....'

In the end, I felt captivated by their strength and watched.

They drank here, adding slogans like 'We will wake up anyway' after using plausible nouns.

"Uhhh."

-Clack

Two hours later.

Normally, the afternoon lecture would have ended by now, and my face was bright red as I tried to straighten myself.

'Everything else is fine, but the drinking.'

Even those who showed incredible strength collapsed to the ground as they continued to drink.

I took the chance to decline the glass of alcohol that was offered to me and got up. Even though I could pretend to be calm, I couldn't hide the fact that my face was hot.

"Hic, I am going out."

The club room is structured so that the windows in the hallways face each other. Someone must have been watching through the windows facing each other, and as soon as I stepped into the hallway, an unknown cadet shouted.

"Are you alright?"

Judging from the reaction, it wasn't just a day or two that the members of the Current Affairs Debate Club would get drunk.

Of course, it had to be a concern since they saw it from afar, but upon closer inspection, it couldn't be that. When I glanced down, my fingers were red up to the tips.

"Damn, I was just wasting time...."

I unbuttoned the top button of my shirt and pretended to drink water from the fountain.

I didn't think those drunk people, unhappy with the world, would come after me, as they would be busy putting themselves in a corner right now.

After drinking plenty of water, hoping the slight drunkenness in me would fade, I headed to the horseback club, my final destination.

'Ahh....'

First of all, I admit I got the order wrong.

I should have gone to the horseback riding club first and not the debate one. Even though I was standing on my own two legs, I would be drunk driving if I went on the horse now.

As a first-time greeting, I made eye contact with the most famous horse, 'Ssonsal,' which had been pulled out of the stable, and sighed.

"Wheeeing!"

"Ugh, I apologize."

Ssonsal bared its teeth and tried to threaten me. It seemed like it didn't like something about me, but I couldn't understand.

But now, I wasn't in the mood to talk to other cadets.

"I think there is this sweet smell in the air~"

"Right, spring is coming."

'Spring? It is winter now, though?'

"Lina, summer is beautiful in Nilos; I want to spend the next one in Nilos with you."

"Huh... if I still love you then."

'Can I really hear that sweet story?'

The horseback club, well, it was for couples.

If the ballroom dance club is a place where people compete to charm each other with the push and pull technique, this felt like a destination for couples already together.

An odd-eyed heterosexual couple and an odd-eyed same-sex couple ride around the beautiful outskirts of Aegis Academy on a horse that wants to spit.

That was the club activity here, at the prestigious Royal Aegis Academy.

"Prung! Prrung!"

'This guy... Is he doing this on purpose?'

Moreover, the horse became more and more excited and lost its temper by licking the hair, which had been neatly brushed.

"I don't know what it is, but I am sorry."

"Wheeeing! Puaahahh!"

"I apologized."

Perhaps because of my experience raising Cookie, Ssonsal became more and more excited while I repeated the foolish act of talking to the horse.

"Euk... wei..Ugh."

It was a moment when I thought that I wouldn't be able to hold on to the excited horse by holding onto the reins.

"Woahh! It is fine."

Someone took hold of the reins, which had begun to move. Ssonsal tried to kick more to run, but it stopped right where it was. Otherwise, I would have fallen under the pressure.

"Shirley!"

Because it was Shirley who held the reins.

Shirley was wearing active-wear with rolled-up sleeves and a straw hat, the very normal dress of a troubled kid who was made to do volunteer work.

Shirley, who calmed the reins with her amazing strength, removed something from the horse's hind leg.

"It caught a straw in the tail and continued to follow. I guess it thought it was a bog or something."

"Ah, it was uncomfortable. It continued to lose temper because it didn't know me."

"This friend here has a good nature, and I have had it for a long time."

This bitter feeling spread through Ssonsal, which began to move around Shirley.

Shirley asked me while patting the mane, which was shaking.

"But wouldn't it be better to not join this club? The place needs to change its name. A branch of gender equality, something like that."

"I was thinking about withdrawing since I felt so out of place here."

"Really, why are you trying something you have never tried before? I couldn't even stop because I was on probation. The Wooden Cross Class club is in bad shape. I'd rather step to Silver Chalice."

After sending Ssonsal back to the stable, Shirley followed me to the front of the dorm, saying that she was bored.

Somehow, the feeling of being watched got stronger, but I couldn't say no to her after seeing her this excited, so I just went back to my room earlier than scheduled.

After a couple of minutes, the moment I took off my clothes to wash, the strong smell of alcohol hit me, which made me realize that Shirley was watching me.

Thud.

Today wasn't an easy day.

I placed a cold finger on the cheek, which was starting to cool down, and organized what happened till then.

The conclusion was this...

"Of the four clubs, the one with the real problem is the Writing Department...?"

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