Chapter 143

Chapter 143

“Demon God Cult?” Ceres asked Charlotte while looking at me. At a previous Grace Club meeting that we had attended, another senior had mentioned the Demon God Cult. At that time, Ceres had sternly warned all of us not to talk about the Demon God Cult outside.

She was now interrogating me with her eyes, as if demanding to know if I had spoken about it. Of course, I hadn’t spread the word.

“I briefly stopped by that newspaper club, the Monthly Royal or Royal Monthly or whatever it’s called. There was an article in one of their previous issues about there potentially being members of the Demon God Cult within the Temple.”

“... Ah. That internal monthly magazine for the Royal Class?”

“Yes,” Charlotte responded.

Charlotte had not gotten the information from me, but from those newspaper club guys. Realizing I wasn’t the source, Ceres looked at me apologetically, and I just shrugged.

“I’ve told you countless times not to engage in such pointless endeavors...” Ceres sighed, clearly exasperated.

It seemed pretty clear that no one really read that magazine aside from that one issue that was about me, given that both seniors seemed to be hearing about it for the first time.

Of course, Charlotte didn’t have any intention of just letting it go.

“You seem to know something, don’t you?” Charlotte asked.

“Ah... No. About that... I don’t know,” Ceres replied.

Ceres seemed to know something, but was reluctant to speak. Certainly, she had previously mentioned that speaking about the Demon God Cult carelessly could lead to severe consequences, that could include torture or even death for some people. That was why she had cautioned against spreading baseless rumors.

The fact that the princess was now digging into the matter made the student council president all the more reluctant to speak.

Of course, Charlotte seemed not to believe the student council president’s claim of ignorance.

“Hmm...”

Before Charlotte could say anything further, though, Olivia opened her mouth.

“There’s no point in hiding anything, Ceres,” Olivia said.

“P-President! What are you saying!”

It wasn’t just Ceres. Olivia also seemed to know something about this matter.

“Don’t underestimate the princess; if we don’t tell her, she’ll find out about it from somewhere else anyway.”

“...”

The implication was clear: the princess would eventually find out what they knew through other means, so hiding it was pointless. Ceres’s face turned red when the fact that she had lied in front of the princess was laid bare.

“I understand the concerns you might have, and so I don’t really mind the fact that you’ve lied. Just tell me what you know.”

Charlotte seemed to have guessed that Ceres was worried about innocent people getting caught up and killed in unfounded witch trials.

With Olivia having spilled the beans, Ceres sighed and wrote something on a piece of paper before handing it over.

“Here. It’s really nothing to worry about.”

Ceres had written a single word on the note that she handed over.

“Exodium.”

***

After Ceres and Olivia left, Charlotte and I sat quietly in the café.

“Whether or not it’s a big deal, it still seems incredibly suspicious,” Charlotte said.

Indeed. From what I’d heard, it seemed like a bizarre gathering.

“They only meet on Saturday nights, and aside from the president, the members don’t know each other’s identities,” she continued.

While clubs sometimes had their activities on weekends, they mostly convened during the weekdays.

However, in this case, the gatherings took place only at night, and on the weekend. Moreover, all the members were anonymous, and wore hooded robes that covered their faces during meetings.

This sounded ridiculously suspicious. Could it really be nothing? Even if it wasn’t related to the Demon God Cult, it was definitely prone to misunderstandings.

“Exodium.”

That was the name of the club that was shrouded in misunderstanding, suspected of being a part of the Demon God Cult.

They gathered at night, and aside from the club president, no other member knew the identities of the others. Plus, the club hardly took in new members.

The club seemed very exclusive.

The purpose of the club was said to be “research on unusual phenomena”, but it was unclear what these phenomena were supposed to be.

For a club that claimed itself to be harmless, it had an extensive list of suspicious attributes.

“Huh? No, it’s just... They all seem a bit small in stature.”

Indeed, those wearing the black robes seemed small in stature, though it was hard to be sure from their attire.

The meeting location was on the third floor. Although the building had a similar layout to the classroom blocks, the atmosphere was distinctly different. There were various unidentified items lined up along the corridor, and each door had a club name written on it.

This place was a place where the one hundred thousand or so members of the student body could gather to enjoy their hobbies. The abundance of buildings and the chaotic nature of their interiors were completely expected.

Although there was quite a lot of activity at night, it was still less bustling when compared to the daytime.

Charlotte and I did not head straight to the third floor, but entered the second floor instead.

To be precise, we planned to eavesdrop from right below Exodium’s club room and catch any sounds that might come from above.

Fortunately, none of the clubs on the second floor seemed to be having their gatherings at that moment, so no one was around to question us.

“It seems we’re just in time... Can you make out any sounds?”

The members were likely gathering above us by then. We could already hear footsteps echoing in the upstairs corridor.

There were also sounds of conversation.

—Black.

—Herald.

They were short exchanges, made up of single words.

After a moment, the same question and answer was heard.

—Black.

—Herald.

The repetition of the same phrases twice made me think of something.

“... What the hell are these guys doing?” I said, dumbfounded.

Charlotte gazed at me, wondering what was going on.

“Are they using some kind of password?”

“... A password?”

“Black. Herald.”

These guys were using passwords for a mere club activity?

Charlotte seemed to grow incredulous at the mention of passwords.

“I can’t hear anything from inside the room. It seems like they’re not speaking at all.”

Not only that, but it appeared that they wouldn’t say a word until all members had arrived. Only the exchange of passwords was heard whenever someone entered.

And then, it was past the time that the club activity was supposed to start. No more exchanges of passcodes could be heard.

“... I can’t hear anything.”

Charlotte tilted her head at my words.

“They’ve gathered together but no one is saying a word...?” She asked.

Charlotte was confused by the lack of conversation, despite the passage of time.

However, it wasn’t that.

“... No, I think it’s something else.”

I couldn’t tell how many members had arrived early, but I had heard the password exchange at least five times.

That meant there were at least six people inside.

“With more than six people in there, you’d expect to hear the sound of chairs moving, someone clearing their throat, or something, but there’s absolutely no sound.”

There was absolutely no sound coming from the direction of what we assumed was the clubroom.

“... It seems like they might have put a noise-canceling magic spell around the room.”

It was clear that some sound-suppression magic was in place to prevent any conversations inside from leaking out.

“What in the world?!”

Charlotte’s face twisted. ‘How could this not be suspicious?’