CH 106

It’s another beautiful morning!

It’s clear outside!

There’s not a cloud in the sky!

Oh, how good I feel.

Why am I so excited in the morning?

That’s because …… it’s the finals today!

Mm.

I can’t do this if I don’t get excited.

I’m not even half as nervous as…!

Nervous as hell!

They’re staring right at us!

I’m usually nervous like that.

It’s like.

Hahahahaha …… I’m going to throw up a little.

“I’m feeling good, I’m feeling high!”

The fatigue of the body accumulated in the four great festivals remains.

There is physical fatigue, but mental fatigue is greater.

But one more game.

Win or lose, this is the last sprint.

“All right, let’s do this!”

I looked at the mirror propped up in my room and got fired up.

I can win.

I can do it.

Because I’m Owen of [flying], you know?

I’m gonna ride the momentum of beating Julian to victory!

I smiled in the mirror.

I hear it’s important to force yourself to smile.

Then, when I had been looking at my smile for a while.

Tak, tak, tak, tak. 

I heard something knocking on the window.

“What the hell is…?”

I opened the curtains.

But there was no one there.

That’s impossible, too.

This is the second floor.

No one’s going to knock on the window.

What was that?

That’s what I thought, and the moment I opened the window, —blah blah blah.

A lone crow came into the room.

“Oh my God, it’s…”

I look at the crow in surprise.

Then the crow dropped the object he had been carrying in his mouth to the floor with a thump.

Then he stopped on a nearby chair and stared at me.

“Eh …what is this guy?”

I look at what the crow has dropped, confused.

A sheet of paper was wrapped around and tied with string.

I said, “What the hell?” and picked up the paper and untied it.

And followed the written word with my eyes: ……

“Na…, a threatening letter?”

It said that he had kidnapped Monet and … that if I want him to spare her life, I should come alone to the designated place. …That’s what it said.

All the tension about the final melted away.

Instead, a cold sweat ran down my cheeks.

During the four major festivals, there is a strict security system in place to prevent any incidents from happening.

But that’s the story of the students of Sanzar Academy.

“To begin with,—”

Monet is not a participating player, she’s just a so-called tourist.

It’s easier to kidnap a tourist than it is to kidnap a student from Sanzar Academy.

That said, kidnapping someone as big as Monet is not going to be that easy.

“So the kidnappers are pretty good at what they do. …What do they want? Who would gain something from this trend?”

The first person that came into my mind is Berg.

If I don’t go on stage today, Berg will automatically win.

But the chances of it being Berg’s orders are slim to none, in my opinion.

“He’s not the kind of guy who wouldn’t do such a cowardly thing.”

But it’s possible that the guys who want Berg to win are the culprits.

Are they the ones who will benefit from letting Berg win?

“Oh, no, I can’t think of anything…”

Did the kids cackling around Berg act like they were doing him a favor?

I don’t think that’s ridiculous.

“The more important thing to think about now is how to help Monet, but I can’t seem to … tell Chris-sensei.”

Come alone, it said.

And that they’ll always have eyes on me.

I glanced at the crow and saw it staring at me silently.

I’m sure this guy is monitoring me.

I can’t even call for help.

“Do I have to go…?”

The designated location is not that far from the capital.

There are directions on how to get there …… and even the crow will lead me to the designated spot along the way.

…kidnapping.

I’ve never experience anything like that in my life, including my previous life.

It had been more than three years since I had come to this academy, but I had never had anything to do with any life-threatening incidents.

Except for Dominic, that is.

Honestly, I’m scared as hell.

Besides, if I keep going alone, I’m playing right into their hands.

Go for help or ignore the …letter. ……

If I go to help her, I’m giving up the final.

If I had to go back and forth to the place where I was instructed, I wouldn’t be able to make it in time for the game by any stretch of the imagination.

So I’m gonna abandon Monet? …?

“I can’t do that.”

Whatever it was, I didn’t have a choice in the matter.

There’s something I’d like to protect even if I have to give up the final.

“If your friend’s in trouble, you’ve got to go help them.”

I don’t want to be the guy who abandons his friends here … whether that action is what they want or not.

I left my room with determination.