CH 55

6-8 minutes 30.05.2023

Chapter 55

I looked up at the sky from the window. The rain was like turning over a bucket. It was so dark that lights were needed even during the day, and the smell of dampness and the cold air covered the area.

Today is the day when all 2,215 students in the school will be gathered in the auditorium.

In one month, it will be the summer vacation, and after two months of vacation, [event] [Summer] will come, so I will listen to the Principal’s kind words.

[Summer] is also known as [Phantom Beast Festival]. Freshmen will finally get Phantom Beast eggs, and second and third-year students will be judged on how they raised their Phantom Beast in one year.

The Principal explains in a flowing manner, but it’s hard to hear with the sound of rain hitting the ceiling of the auditorium.

I couldn’t concentrate and looked around forward.

Then I saw the short stairs to the podium. I remembered when I was pushed off the stairs a month ago and trembled.

To conclude, the perpetrator has not been found.

That day, when His Highness saw the letter I sent, he immediately came and hugged me tightly.

[Are you okay? You must have been scared, I’m sorry I wasn’t there. I’ll never go on business trips abroad again]

[Your Highness, please don’t say [never go]…]

It seems that while on official business in the neighboring country, he received a letter and came back using transfer magic while still in his clothes. He was in formal attire.

The culprits probably knew that His Highness was out of town.

His Highness started to talk [about the fact that]

[Fried was in charge of guarding Rebecca while I was gone, and he was watching when Rebecca fell down the stairs.]

I was surprised by his unexpected words.

Fried Neher is His Highness confidant, a man who walks around silently.

His characteristic is a black robe that covers his 190cm body. He is the kind of person who makes you want to ask if he’s a black magic sorcerer, but he is also Melinda’s lover. The engagement has not yet happened.

I then tilted my head. If he had seen me, as one of the five high schools, he could have come in to help me, or at least to make sure I was safe.

[I’m sorry that I couldn’t make it in time to help, it’s fortunate that you’re safe.]

[Is that so? He wrote such a long letter…so then, who did it?]

I nod and continue the conversation. The question is whether or not he saw the criminal.

His Highness shook his head.

[[No one was there. No one had pushed Miss Rebecca. It really seems that she just suddenly fell.] It seems]

[Such…]

[There are Phantom Beasts who possess the ability to turn invisible, even if it’s just a little. Let’s first investigate the students of the academy.]

His Highness said that, and a week later, he visited me again with documents that cleared all of them.

[Sajad Mahajanjiga. If we investigate this much and there’s no evidence, then it’s definitely him.]

I take a deep breath and exhale.

Sajad can brainwash others. For example, if there was someone who was made to think “I am a criminal who deserves to die.” and that person is accompanied by an invisible Phantom Beast.

But even if we find the perpetrator, it’s like cutting off the tail of a dragon. The root of Sajad will not die.

In this situation with no evidence, it’s impossible to take action against him and also impossible to prove that his ability is not just a figment of imagination.

I want to slap myself for thinking that “Sajad is not much of a threat.” It’s so troublesome to be attacked using others.

Why is he trying to harm me in the first place?

As I was tightly gripping my fist, His Highness took my hand.

[For a while, we must always act together with either a Phantom Beast or me. Emilia is also necessary. Her healing magic will be useful.]

I followed His Highness instructions for this month. There have been no attacks since the incident on the stairs.

Sometimes when Sajad and I make eye contact, he glances at Emilia and looks away. I never thought his disdain for the commoners would become a barrier for me.

Before I realized it, the principal’s speech was over and the students were getting up from their seats. It seemed the rain had weakened while I was lost in thought.

Outside, the rain was still falling, but the sun was peeking through the gaps in the clouds.

I don’t know what Sajad Mahajanjiga is trying to do.

But I won’t let him have his way.

As I looked up at the brightening sky, I made that decision in my heart.