Of course, things got hectic and troublesome as soon as the help came. The dungeon exploded from the inside due to the rise in pressure of all the involved parties and the search for Emma began.
Thankfully, Emma was found early into the search and no one was hurt. But a lot of questions had been raised as a result.
And as things stood, Horas found himself in front of Principal Marble once again. The principal looked ticked off and for good reasons.
"Horas, did you know that Kevin was a villain? Was that why you decided to appear in the scent club and ask for a search pass from me? You need to tell me these things before you go and do your own thing."
The principal sounded more tired than she was worried. She looked at Horas with a worried and angry expression which he did his best to ignore.
But even he was not able to ignore the smiling presence in the room known as Jack Hollow.
"Of course, he should have. But don't you think you are being a little too much, Principal Marble? After all, you could not have done anything even if you know a child is a potential villain, right?"
Jack Hollow was right when he spoke. Under the rule, you could not hold a student responsible for things he did not do.
And a 'potential villain' was not the same thing as a 'confirmed villain.' So even if the school suspected someone, they could not take legal action against them.
"Shut up Jack Hollow. It is between myself and Horas here. There is no need for outsiders to interfere in our conversation."
Principal Marble snapped at Jack Hollow, not liking his interference even a single bit. He was a manipulative bastard and even now he should not be here.
But Principal Marble had been unable to kick him out and now here he was, sitting in this meeting to annoy her and pass remarks against her.
"Now come on, Principal Marble, do not say things like this or you will break my heart. After all, do you not remember who was the one to introduce you to Horas in the first place?"
Principal Marble fell quiet after that since she did not have a reply. Jack Hollow had been the one to hand Horas over to her and that was a fact. Jack was Horas's first guardian after his parent's death.
"Well, enough of this depression topic. By the way Horas, Howard told me a lot about you and what you did for him. I thought you wanted nothing to do with your brother now that you both have grown up."
Jack Hollow, like the bastard he was, tried to dig into a dead relationship. But Keith was not going to give him the satisfaction.
"There is nothing to look at. I did nothing special for Howard. He is just a regular student to me and that is how it shall remain. Now, I shall take my leave for the time being."
Keith was not running away from Jack Hollow; he was doing a tactical retreat for the time being. Jack Hollow's presence and his knowing eyes were a little too much for him right now.
From the second Keith had walked into the room, to the second he got out of there, the presence of Jack Hollow's eyes did not lessen their intensity as they looked at him. It was a disaster in making for him.
He was all but out of the door when the alarm on his system sounded. He was not the only one to get the message and it was Principal Marble who opened the actual message.
It had only one short line in it but it was enough to complicate matters two-fold. Keith could not believe what he was reading happened.
'Kevin, the kid you were looking for, has been found dead in the central plaza with a very impactful message inscribed on his body.'
The image was of Kevin with his eyes still open in horror and looking ahead. He had been impaled on the statue right in the middle of the town with his stomach gutted and a message was left behind - death to all traitors.
It was obvious who had done such a thing and Keith tried his hardest not to think about it too much.
"Well, looks like the villains got to him before we did. So, do you have any idea what this message means?"
Keith sighed, knowing he could no longer hide the more-important details from these two. He will have to tell them about the 'devil's whisper' that was at work here.
………………………….
"Hey Reed, are you sure it is alight to kill our spy like this? What if we made a mistake and Kevin did not make a deal with the devil?"
Reed looked at her foolish companion who could not even detect the devilish energy coming out of Kevin's body. She had to take a few steps back if she wanted to breathe.
The stench was just too acidic and strong for her taste.
'This is so bad. How did a devil get passed out defenses? How many of our people are compromised? I will have to carry out cleaning once again.'
Reed had tried her hardest to not let the devils in a human-filled organization and she had killed a lot of people because of this. Kevin was not an exception and he would serve as an example for the others.
"Hey, Reed…wait…answer me at least. How does one know about deals with the devil? Did you ever make one? Is that why you are so sensitive about such things? Geeze, no one talks about such things with me."
Reed looked at the annoying child running after her. He was the same age as Horas but she had not even bothered to know his name. He was currently running after her with all his might.
"You will know what a devil is and how dangerous it is once you face one. But I hope you never have to face a devil."
After all, devils were the highest forms of evil and they corrupted one's soul and mind beyond saving.