Chapter 70— Shadow and suspects
At the Principal office.
"So you are telling me, that the students got attacked."
Principal Demorakh Illuvar spoke with a deceptive, terrifying calmness. Yet, the quiet tremor in his voice betrayed the fury boiling just beneath the surface.
Standing in front of his grand mahogany desk, Valeria swallowed hard, clutching her clipboard like a shield.
"Y-Yes, sir. Well, the thing is—"
"You are telling me that the students got attacked in a field trip."
Demorakh interrupted, his piercing gaze locking onto her
"An official academy field trip that only the teachers knew about and who else... maybe some academic staff knew I guess."
A heavy, suffocating silence dropped over the office, thick enough to choke on.
"How did the dark mages found out?"
The Principal demanded, leaning forward, the polished wood creaking under his palms.
"Not only that how did they even reached the rune island?"
Valeria stared blankly at the principal, her mind screaming a desperate, helpless refrain
'How am I supposed to know that?'
"Valeria."
"Yes Mister Principal."
"What were your precise duties while the students were under attack?"
Valeria's eyes went wide. Panic spiked in her chest. She whipped her head around, looking for backup.
Aiden and Elias were standing right behind her. Elias was casually looking away, humming under his breath, while Aiden appeared to be fast asleep while standing up.
"Valeria."
"Y-Yes sir..."
"Where are the other two??"
"Oh!"
Valeria blinked as her mind involuntarily flashed backward to their chaotic trek up to the principal office just ten minutes prior.
"Who's gonna tell him about this?"
Lucien asked, nervousness were all over his face as they were making their way to the principal office for their report about the trip of Rune island.
"Let me tell you. I won't say anything. Not after that last year's incident."
Valeria had snapped, her voice sharp as glass.
"I have had enough of conveying this bullshit on all of your behalfs."
Darian leaned against the wall, the dark circles around his eyes seems to have gotten bigger. He said with his deabeat voice.
"Please don't look at me."
Sigh...
Everyone let out a collective sigh.
"So who's gonna report it to the principal?"
Elias asked crossing his arms.
"Zzz... Zzzz..."
Everyone turned their head towards the noise of snoring.
Aiden lifted his one hand without even opening his eyes.
"Let me tell you. I won't be going."
A long, miserable silence enveloped the group. They were trapped in a corner of their own making.
"Sigh..." Valeria took a deep breath as she stood up.
"Let's go together. Whatever happens. Happens."
Everyone looked at her. Then Darian with his deadbeat voice replied.
"I don't wanna go."
"Shut up. I said let's go together. So let's go together."
Not having any choice, everyone got up and started walking towards the principal office.
They took three steps forward before Darian suddenly let out a faint, reedy gasp.
Thud.
Darian had literally collapsed face-first onto the marble floor, completely passing out from sheer exhaustion.
Lucien sighed, hoisting Darian over his shoulder like a sack of grain, and turned to the remaining three.
"Looks like he needs the nurse's office. You guys go ahead. I'll carry this corpse."
"H-Hey wait!"
Valeria cried out, but Lucien and the unconscious Darien were already sprinting away in the opposite direction.
Back to present.
Valeria snapped out of her flashback, staring blankly at the ceiling.
'Those absolute cowards!'
"Valeria."
"Yes sir."
"What were you guys doing when the students were being attacked?"
Valeria and Elias both shared a synchronized glance before turning and glaring daggers at the slumbering mage beside them.
The Principal noticed their shared hostility and slowly shifted his gaze to Aiden.
"Aiden?"
"Ah... Yes Sir."
Aiden blinked slowly, peeling one eye open with maximum reluctance
"Do you have anything to say?"
Aiden surveyed the Principal with dull unimpressed eyes at that question. he then turned his head and saw Valeria and Elias glaring at him, practically vibrating with intense, expectant fury.
"Yes sir."
Moving with sudden, uncharacteristic agility, Aiden stepped forward, slammed both palms flat onto the Principal's desk, and leaned in close.
"Sir."
"What is it?" Demorakh narrowed his eyes.
Aiden leaned in further. Valeria and Elias leaned forward too, holding their breath. For the first time since the Second Grand Mage War, a look of profound, chilling seriousness had settled over Aiden's face.
"I think..." Aiden whispered.
Valeria's eyes widened to the size of saucers. Elias braced himself.
"I think there is a spy among us."
"...?"
"...."
A profound, echoing void swallowed the room. Elias stared at Aiden with a deadpan misery. Valeria's jaw dropped so low it nearly dislocated, her eyes locking onto the back of Aiden's head with murderous intent.
"A spy you say?"
"Hmm..."
Aiden nodded with absolute, solemn conviction.
"Do you know who is it?"
"I don't, but I believe we have one among us."
"Sighh..."
Principal Demorakh closed his eyes, slowly unlacing his fingers. He didn't yell. He didn't curse.
He simply flicked his wrist.
Whoosh!
In a flash of a second, all three instructors were picked up by an invisible gust of wind and violently launched straight through the heavy oak double doors, tumbling headfirst out of the Principal's office with a resounding crash.
---
Sigh....
The Principal Demorakh took a deep breath and leaned back in his leather chair, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"When will those idiots ever grow up?"
He reached into his bottom drawer, pulled out a secure, black-slate communication box, and set it carefully on the desk. He tapped the rune-inscribed lid twice.
The box unfolded, projecting a glowing holographic interface into the air.
"Hello councilmen."
Demorakh said, his professional mask sliding firmly back into place. "I assume you are already fully briefed on the situation at Rune Island?"
Eight shadowy silhouettes flickered to life on the screen, their features obscured by swirling veils of mana.
"Yes, Principal Illuvar." a distorted, echoing voice replied from the center shadow. "We have a general overview of the situation."
The Principal sighed. staring down at his desk. "The students were ambushed by dark mages, and..." He hesitated, the words tasting like ash. "There was one casualty."
"..."
A ripple of murmurs passed through the council projections.
"Ah. A tragedy, to be sure," one silhouette noted lightly. "Especially given the security audits we ran after that last year's incident."
Demorakh frowned, crossing his arms.
"Gosh can't believe something like this happened after that incident of last year."
"Principal Illuvar."
Another councilman interrupted, cutting him off with a dismissive wave of a shadowy hand.
"You shouldn't concern yourself with that particular casualty."
"Hmm? what do you mean?"
---
The corridors of the academy were bathed in the cool, twilight glow of floating mana stones.
Footsteps echoed softly against the high-arched stone ceilings as Elion walked alone, his brow furrowed in deep, troubled thought.
His mind was a relentless storm of contradictions.
'How did Inu even die?'
He lifted a hand, resting his fingers against his chin as he paced down the hall, mentally retracing the tragic sequence of events from their dungeon excursion.
'In that dungeon, somehow. We all got saparated... and then we found Inu's death body.'
His jaw clenched.
'And then there was a news of society's attack on the rune island. The instructors concluded Inu's death as a casualty because of the attack of the society. But there's no way that Inu was Killed by someone from the Society. Someone else definitely killed him intentionally... But why?'
Suddenly he felt something clicking his mind.
A sudden realization struck him, cold and sharp.
'No way, could it be—'
"Huh?"
Elion snapped out of his trance, blinking as a figure stepped into his path.
"Damon?"
"Hey Elion." Damon greeted with a bright, easygoing smile, raising a hand in a casual wave as he closed the distance.
"What happened? shouldn't you be submitting your materials to the Smithing unit."
"Oh..." Elion offered a tight, strained smile.
"Well it was crowded so I thought that maybe I would just rest for sometime and then submit the Materials later. It's not like that the Smithing unit is packing up and leaving anytime soon."
"Hah... True." Damon chuckled stepping closer and giving Elion a friendly, heavy-handed clap on the shoulder. "Well the crowd must have gotten thin by now. So you should go."
Elion stared at Damon for a berife second before nodding.
"Yeah,Thanks."
With a parting wave, Elion walked past him.
The moment Elion's back was turned, the cheerful, sunlit warmth in Damon's eyes vanished entirely.
Damon turned back to look at Elion, the bright cheerful look of his eyes turned cold Harding into a chilling, dead-eyed mask. As he stared at the retreating figure of Elion. the terrifying aura radiating from him made it feel as though an entirely different person stood in his place.
---
Back in the principal office.
"What did you just said? Councilmen Ferner!"
The principal Demorakh had an awstrcuk expression on his face.
"It is precisely as we said Principal Illuvar "
Councilman Ferner continued from beyond the screen. Unfazed by the Principal's fury.
"It was our operative who executed that student, so you needn't concern yourself with that particular casualty."
"N-No that's not what I mean." Principal took a slow, controlled breath as his eyes flashed with suppressed rage.
"You send an unregistered council enforcer into my academy without my knowledge."
"We had no choice Principal Illuvar , Have you already forgotten the disaster that last year's incident caused, well looking at it. It hasn't been twelve full months since that bloodbath."
The Pricipal stared at the screen with cold eyes. Councilman Ferner continued beyond the screen.
"We can't let last year's Catastrophe repeat again in any way possible. I hope you haven't forgotten that councilman Rethan died because of it, Principal Illuvar."
Councilman Ferner continued, his tone softening only marginally.
"That is why we deployed our own asset. We admit we could have informed you ahead of time, but we both know you would have blocked the deployment."
The councilman let out a weary sigh.
"Don't worry Principal Illuvar, He's an elite trainee. and we had already planned to enroll him in the academy as a regular student anyway. The circumstances of last year simply forced our hand early."
Demorakh's fists clenched on top of his desk. "I know that the academy grounds are already compromised but still If you suspected dark mage infiltration, you should have coordinated with the faculty."
"And risk another leak? We couldn't afford to take that chance. We can't let the last year's incident repeat so we had to send our own enforcer. I hope your understanding Principal Illuvar."
The Principal took a deep breath as if trying to calm his anger down.
"Besides, our enforcer is performing his duties exceptionally well."
A long silence streched between the two.
"We trust you will ensure he settles into the student body smoothly, and provide assistance if he requires it."
With a soft chime, the projection flickered.
The silhouette vanished, replaced by a still photograph of a student with jet-black hair and an expressionless, chilling pair of eyes that stared right through the screen.
'Hmm... So this is the one.'
---
Clinck.
The heavy wooden door of Damon's private quarters clicked shut, sealing him inside the spacious, isolated S-class dorm room.
The interior was pitch-black save for the amber glow of a single magic desk lamp casting long, distorted shadows across the walls.
Damon walked over to his desk and sat down in the silence.
With practiced care, he reached into the drawer and pulled out a thick, leather-bound diary.
He laid it flat against the wood and pressed his index finger against the cover.
A faint pulse of blue mana rippled across the leather, causing the blank pages within to shift and ripple as hidden text materialized into view.
The Suspects
Inu Makhil— Confirmed.
Damon picked up a sleek fountain pen, unscrewed the cap, and drew a slow, deliberate line straight through Inu's name, crossing it out permanently.
He lingered for a moment, his dark eyes scanning the remaining names scrawled below.
Elion Lambzer — Suspect.
Rio Grande — Suspect.
Rowan Vayen — Suspect.
---
Far away from the scrutiny of the elite quarters, down in the quiet, shadowed corner of a standard student room, Rowan lay flat on the floor.
The color had drained entirely from his face, leaving him looking pale and ghostly. His eyes, heavy and bloodshot, remained wide open, staring blankly upward into the unrelenting, empty darkness.
---
CHAPTER ENDS