“Ya know, I kinda figured this would happen, but still…”
When I arrived at what was probably the end of the trail, I let out a frustrated sigh. We had avoided the closed-off paths and come exactly the way our mysterious friend wanted us to, and we’d arrived at—an auditorium.
It was a building with the highest occupant capacity on campus. And I was sure this place wasn’t chosen by accident.
“Does this mean they wanted to lure everyone from the academy here all along?” Colette asked.
I nodded. What were they planning on doing when everyone at the school was evacuated to this one area? Slaughtering us all? Taking us hostage?
Either way, it sucked for us.
“So, what’s the plan?” Colette asked. “Just waiting here for our enemy to find us is going to be anything but good for us—that much is clear. The only reason we’re along right is because we were faster to react—”
“We’ve come this far, we can’t just let it be,” I argued. “If we scratch our asses much longer, everyone else at the academy is gonna show up.”
It was idiotic charging headfirst into what we knew was a trap, but if we didn’t do something about it, somebody else would eventually fall for it. It didn’t sit right with me, just ignoring it.
But if I were our enemy—
I turned my palm upward and generated an orb of magic. It was nothing special. Just light energy with destructive properties.
—if I were our enemy, I’d place the motion-sensing charms in the hallway for show, put a touch-activated charm at the end that acted as the trigger. If I wanted to kill all the people at the academy in one fell swoop, that was the way to do it.
Truth be told, I still didn’t have a read on our mastermind, but I doubted they wanted to reward the people who politely obeyed the rules with a big party in the auditorium.
But if their plan was a mass slaughter, it would be strange for them to assume that nobody would meddle with the plan before it was carried out.
I just didn’t think they’d let their heartfelt scenario get foiled by three kids after such a magnificent buildup… Then again, you’d kinda have to be fucked in the head to attack a prep school for the nobility.
Anyway, our mastermind’s brain was wired differently. It was pointless racking mine trying to understand it.
“Let’s go,” I said quietly. They nodded back at me.
We’ll work out the pesky details later. For now, we’ll get to the bottom of this by force if we have to!
“Graaah!”
I threw my magic ball of destructive energy. It hurled toward the heavy iron door and blew it right down.
“How…did that happen?” Colette mused.
“They must’ve not put any protective spells on it,” I snorted back.
One thing was clear: The door was not fortified.
My theory was wrong, and I’d gotten my hopes dashed.
But that meant our mastermind probably wasn’t after your garden-variety bloodbath.
“Shit…”
None of this makes any fucking sense.
I carelessly marched forward, letting my anger carry me.
“Miss Mylene?!” Albert let out a frazzled gasp. My brazen actions were unthinkable after all the caution we were using all this time. But nothing had happened to us all this time. So it was hard to believe there would be any sudden death traps hidden in the auditorium.
And sure enough, I safely entered the auditorium without consequence.
“Ahh, I see! So this is the winning beauty of which I’ve heard tell—this is God’s Bitch!”
As I stepped into the hall, a dramatic voice boomed. It was the crisp voice of a male—and I’m not a music guy, so take this with a grain of salt—tenor, slightly high in pitch.
With an ample dash of annoyance, I glared up at the podium to where the owner of the voice stood. He was a tall man, cloaked in a hooded robe.
Oh, I could never forget that look… That’s the robe the Gods of the Moon bastards wear.
“The plan was to deliver my speech to a full audience, but alas, you seem to be rather well versed in this sort of thing, God’s Bitch. Or would you rather I call you Mylene Petule?”
“I don’t give a shit what you call me.”
He knew my name. That confirmed it. His methods weren’t anything like Pearlman’s, but this bastard was with Gods of the Moon—and he was probably high-level, too. His invulnerable stance and the quiet aura of magic emanating from him betrayed his rigorous experience in chaotic combat.
“There’s one thing I still don’t get—why the hell did you do all of this? If ya wanted to catch me or to catch the students or faculty, wouldn’t there be a more effective way of going about it?”
“Ha-hah! So that’s your retort! Aha, I see… What a fun character you are. I can tell you’re well versed in combat scenes.”
I didn’t get what was so funny, but the man clutched a hand to his chest as if he couldn’t contain his laughter.
None of this was worth even the smallest of chuckles.
“You exceed my expectations! Your face, sculpted to perfection by an otherworldly being, contrasts strikingly with the manly glint in your eye—you’re beautiful. I have never met another entity as gorgeous as you.”
“Uh…thanks, I guess.”
“As a sign of respect for your beauty, I shall answer your question!”
Then again, this guy seemed to love a grand speech. Just like Pearlman. Cultists sure were enamored with the sound of their own voices. You could almost say talking was their job.
“That being said, there really wasn’t any grand meaning behind my actions. I was tasked with the mission of carrying your corpse back to my comrades—that’s why I came to this fine academy—but when I noticed you children were holding some sort of amusing event, I thought I would treat you sweet sons and daughters of the nobility to a little performance of my own!”
Even the part where nothing he said made any damn sense was the same as my encounter with Pearlman.
I could vomit. But at least he’s playing nice—that’s what I appreciate most of all.
“Well, thanks, but no thanks. This ain’t a garbage dump.”
“Oh, don’t be so cold. I used to have a little name for myself as a gifted playwright, you know? Ah, that reminds me, I forgot to introduce myself, didn’t I?” he cackled through his nose.
His face still in a twisted sneer, the man removed his hood…and out from the darkness popped the face of a rather handsome man.
“My name is Victor—Victor Ludland. Former playwright, actor, and current grandmaster at Gods of the Moon.” The man called Victor gave me his personal history.
“Pad out that resume, much?”
“Ha-hah! Well, I am a man of many curiosities.”
His name wasn’t ringing any bells, but one thing was definitely made clear from our little exchange: the guy was flippant as fuck.
“Victor…?”
But then things took a bit of an unexpected turn. Albert sounded shocked. Like he couldn’t believe what was happening.
“You know this guy?”
“Yes… As he says, he was a famous playwright. However…”
Despite Albert’s hesitant muttering, it was at least clear that this guy wasn’t blowing smoke. But that wasn’t the important takeaway here. I couldn’t care less that some psycho used to be a playwright.
“He was imprisoned…for committing mass murder on stage during a play. He has a bigger name as a homicidal maniac than as a playwright.”
“Your words wound me a little, but I am honored that the prince of Eltania knows of me.”
A homicidal maniac—now that was certainly a step up from a teacher.
And if he was incarcerated, I guess that meant he escaped somehow. Did Gods of the Moon play a hand in that? No, it’s too soon to jump to conclusions.
“Aha. I see. I thought this was a rather roundabout way of executing a master plan—was that the playwright in you coming out?”
“Exactly, my dear! I see you have an eye for the arts as well. Isn’t education a beautiful thing in a lady?”
“Peh! Sorry, but I don’t know shit about art. I don’t even understand a single word of your drivel.”