Truthfully, the doll's appearance was even more eye-catching than the princess herself.
From its clothes to its skin and its hair... if not for its short limbs, it could be mistaken for a person.
Most people probably called it a bisque doll or a ball-jointed doll.
Do people actually find that cute?
I didn’t mean to mock anyone’s tastes, but... how should I put it? It looked like something that would be left behind in some eerie, abandoned building.
The materials of its clothes and accessories were high quality, but that wasn’t nearly enough to make me want to take it home.
In terms of craftsmanship and overall quality, the Leone and Lord of Blood and Iron puppets made by the headmaster had been far more complete. Even so, the princess’s doll, due to its uncanny resemblance to humans, was far more unsettling. Most disturbing of all were its eyes, where the whites and pupils were reversed.
If only I could just... pluck them out...
...Even ignoring the doll, I found the princess’ personality a bit overwhelming, so I was hoping she’d just leave. Maybe she’d even take Sellen with her?
Of course, she did not leave. She came right up to me and took the seat across the table.Then, looking at me with eyes that looked exactly like Glenn’s, she offered a slight smile.
“I heard that all Bednickers possess rare black hair and bewitching violet eyes. You have the eyes, but your hair color is a bit unusual.”
“I take after my mother’s side more.”
“Ah, I thought perhaps you used hair dye, but I guess not.”
Hair dye?
I took a closer look at the princess.
The princess’s hair was jet black, which was quite a contrast to the crimson hair that the imperial bloodline was usually born with.
Noticing my stare, she smiled at me. She twirled her hair with a finger and said, “Pretty, right?”
“...”
Suddenly, I remember my Third Senior Brother’s favorite phrase: “in an unavoidable pickle.”
Indeed, I was in such a situation right now.
If I complimented her hair, I’d basically be saying I preferred her dyed-black hair over the imperial family’s signature crimson...
If I said no, couldn’t that be considered insulting the imperial family?
Thankfully, our benevolent princess changed the subject.
“What’s good here?”
“...Their braised chicken and grilled lamb chops are delicious.”
“I see. Then I’ll have one cup of black tea.”
“...”
I wasn’t sure they even served such a thing here, but thankfully, it seemed the owner wasn’t completely clueless; he nodded quickly and said, “I’ll bring it out right away!” �
Let me tell you, he looked ready to grow, harvest, and dry the tea leaves on the spot if he didn’t have any.
Princess Ferith turned to us with a relaxed expression.
“Sellen, it looked like you were having a secret meeting. Did I interrupt?”
“Of course not.”
“Hmm. Don’t worry, I do have a class this afternoon, so I’ll be disappearing soon,” she said.
So the princess wasn’t completely oblivious.
Eventually, after actually having a cup of black tea, she stood up from her seat.
“The black tea was average,” said the princess. “Anyway, I’ll be leaving now. By the way, have you gathered any members yet?”
“I apologize. There hasn’t been any progress yet.”
At that, the princess turned to look at me. “How about your friend here? He seems like he’d be a good fit.”
“Um... If you think so, I’ll have a talk with him in private.”
“Yes, you do that.” With that, the princess smiled and walked out the door.
Sellen rubbed her temple with a tired face. “...Can you order me a beer?”
“Sure. Owner?”
“Coming right up.”
The owner brought over a draft beer immediately, as if he’d already had it prepared.
Sellen gulped down the beer, which looked to be about a pint, and wiped the back of her hand over her mouth.
“Fuhooo...”
“To think you’re quite the drinker, how unexpected. Want any food to go with it?”
Sellen glanced down at my plate. “I want fried chicken,” she said, her voice downcast.
“All right. Well then... what was that about ‘members’?”
“The princess was talking about the Ghost Story Club. She’s the president.”
“What’s a club?”
“To put it simply... It's like a meeting between students with similar hobbies.”
“Hm, so they meet up just for fun?”
“The princess wants to get five members total, though I’m not sure why.”
“I see.” I took a bite of chicken and asked, “How many people are in it right now?”
“Only two: me and the princess. Three if we count you.”
“That means we need to find two more members.”
“Yeah,” Sellen replied anxiously. “If I gather five, she said she’ll invite us to the club room. I’m hoping to find clues there.”
“Should we hurry?”
“There isn’t much time to spare. We have less than ten days until the full moon.”
What about the full moon?
Our conversation hit a dead end here. Sellen simply wasn’t willing to share more information with me, but that would be a serious inconvenience if we were to continue working together.
As I looked at Sellen, I had a feeling that this was the moment to ask. “I still haven’t been given an explanation of the full situation yet, but I have to ask...” I lowered my voice and continued, “...Is one of them a member of the cult?”
“...”
Sellen didn’t answer right away, but I saw her chin lower a fraction. “I know it’s hard to believe,” she said.
“No, I believe you. You’ve seen a glimpse of the Tome of Laplas.”
Bang!
Sellen jumped up from her seat and stared at me in total shock.
“How do you know about the Tome...?”
I sniffed and drank my beer.
I’d been thinking about this for a few days.
Even though I had some idea of what was going on, pretending to be completely ignorant was exhausting.
If we were going to keep meeting each other and, at times, working together, it wasn’t like me to keep walking on eggshells, fearing I’d accidentally say something stupid.
So I’d decided to reveal some of my own thoughts as well.
“First, take a seat. Are you trying to draw attention?”
Sellen glanced around.
Although the people who came here weren’t particularly interested in other people’s business, Sellen’s sudden action had obviously drawn some attention to us.
Sellen noticed the watching eyes and sat back down, and I continued, “You know things I don’t, but there are also things I know that you don’t. And I know much more than you think.”
“...”
“You know, I don’t believe that trust between people is necessarily built on total honesty. Even between a parent and a child, I believe some secrets are best left unspoken.”
I was being a bit ambiguous, which was unlike me, but I hoped Sellen understood what I was trying to say.
If Sellen dismissed it and demanded everything be out in the open, there wouldn’t be much I could do.
It would just mean the end of our cooperation.
But as far as I knew, Sellen Goodspring was not such an inflexible person.
When the situation called for it, she was fully capable of bending.
More than anything, it would be a shame to end the partnership here, even for her.
“...”
After a moment of silence, Sellen nodded a little.
“...You’re right. Thanks to the Tome of Laplas, I do know parts of the future.”
It seemed her decision was made. We were keeping our alliance for now.
Although this might raise her guard toward me just a bit, it didn’t matter.
I’d behaved that way toward Sellen too, after all. But I’d seen Sellen clinging to her own sense of justice, even up to the moment of her death, and I’d realized something: Perhaps I didn’t need to exhaust myself trying to figure out whatever secrets she was hiding.
I was keeping secrets of my own too, but they weren’t anything to be ashamed of.
“What was written in the Tome?”
In a slow, measured tone, Sellen said, “...Upon the second full moon, the deepest crimson of the River of Twilight shall reach the darkened sky. As despair and sorrow whirl like a tempest and the tree of knowledge crumbles, the rivers of blood shall dye the full moon its true color.”
Prophecies were often spoken in hard-to-understand riddles. Thankfully, this one wasn’t completely unintelligible.
I said, “...The second full moon seems to refer to the full moon in February.”
“The only place in the capital that could be called a tree of knowledge is Kartell Academy,” said Sellen.
“And ‘darkened sky’... Does that mean the disaster will happen at night?”
“I think so, and in the last verse, where it says ‘rivers of blood shall dye the full moon its true color’...”
“The Blood-Lit Moon.” I finally knew which demon lord would manifest in Kartell Academy. “Hadenaihar,” I said.
Sellen nodded, her expression dark. “That’s right.”
* * * * *
* * * * *
The Demon Lord of the Blood-Lit Moon.
Hadenaihar’s faction was also known as the Church of Assassins. It was the most secretive power within the Church, mostly consisting of experts in assassination, infiltration, and subterfuge.
I’d had my own personal run-in with this particular demon lord... It had been none other than the assassins of Hardenaihar who tried to kill me in the Gem Mountains.
In other words, they were adept at concealing their identities.
Lowering her voice even further, Sellen said, “To be honest, I’m almost convinced that the insider is on the princess’s side.”
“...Usually, an assumption like that means the traitor is on Glenn’s side.”
“That's just in novels—reality is different. Suspicious people act suspiciously, that’s what makes them suspicious. It would be stranger if the culprit wasn’t suspicious.”
That was very true.
“Do you have any proof?” I asked.
Sellen nodded. “Her behavior is too suspicious. When she's not in class, I’ve heard that she holes up in the academy's research wing, located on the north side of the academy, and I’ve heard a bunch of weird rumors about it. Only professors can rent out research labs normally, but occasionally, exceptionally talented people are allowed to rent personal lab space.”
“What are the rumors?”
“People have heard screams from inside, they’ve seen the bloodied princess wandering the halls or carrying mysterious leather bags containing unknown substances... You know, that sort of thing...”
“That sounds like a bunch of baseless rumors...”
“...Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” Sellen countered.
“Hm...”
“Of course, we shouldn’t jump to conclusions. I’ll do a bit more investigating, so if you could continue to keep an eye on Prince Glenn, that’d be great.”
I nodded. “I will.”
***
Later, I ran into Pam in the dining hall.
“The research wing? I know that place!” Pam exclaimed. “I heard it's really scary. A legitimately spooky place, no joke.”
“Scary?”
“Yeah! There are tons of ghost stories. Like, they say you can hear tapping on the windows at midnight when the building is all dark, and you’ll feel like someone is watching you from somewhere. They say if you lock eyes with a pale, translucent woman in the window, you’ll lose your body...”
Hearing this reminded me of the strange rumors Sellen had told me about Princess Ferith.
Pam, without me even asking, let out a sinister chuckle and continued, “The most impressive tale is about ‘Building 13, the building that shouldn’t exist’.”
“Building 13?”
“Apparently, there are only 12 buildings in the research wing, but on Friday the 13th, a 13th building appears. If you can't resist your curiosity and step into building 13, you're halfway to the otherworld.”
“What happens then?”
“They say a game of tag begins. If you haven’t lost the ghosts inside by morning, you can’t return to the real world.”
“Hmm...”
“The other details are interesting too. Like, evidently the infirmary is the only absolutely safe place within the building, and supposedly you can only attack the ghosts with the cleaning tools in the storage room...”
I was barely listening to Pam’s words when suddenly, she clapped her hands as if she’d just remembered something.
“Oh! Speaking of which, Evan went to the research wing yesterday!”
“Evan?”
“Yeah. He was running an errand for the swordsmanship professor—”
Pam was cut off by a pitiful scream. “AAHHHHHH!”
Pam, who had been building up the atmosphere with her spooky tales, jumped in surprise.
I wasn’t as startled, but my heartbeat did quicken. I turned to look at the source of the scream, which I found was none other than Evan himself at a nearby table.
He was looking at a student on the floor with an expressionless face...
Upon closer inspection, I realized he also looked familiar.
Talis?
The guy who had provoked me in Professor Alec's class.
It seemed he had taken a hit or two, as he was looking up at Evan with blood dripping from his nose.
“You... you! Do you really think you can get away with this?”
“Weren’t you the one who insulted House Helvin first, Senior? You also threw the first punch.”
Immediately, all eyes turned to Talis, and the big-ass bear’s face flushed a deep shade of red as he fumed.
“When did I ever do that...!”
“There should be communication crystals installed in this dining hall. Should we use them to verify the truth? I don’t mind.”
At this moment, Talis abruptly stood up and charged at Evan.
He was fast, but his movements were clumsy and his attacks were simple.
His emotions had too much influence on his actions.
Evan easily dodged Talis's attack, then twisted his arm and slammed his face onto the dining hall table.
Crack!
“...!”
The sound of shattering plates was accompanied by a short scream from someone before a chilling silence quickly fell over the once-noisy dining hall.
Pam looked startled. “Uh...”
Things seemed to be getting out of hand.
“...I know your kind too well,” Evan whispered as he looked at the blood splattered on the table. “The disgusting kind who resorts to authority when things go wrong. But why can’t you just get it through your thick skull? The authority you pride yourself on doesn't feed you. It won’t even save your life.”
“MMPHHH!”
“Perhaps you simply don't realize that you need to pick your battles wisely. Allow me to teach you a lesson today: If you do something foolish, you must pay the price.”
Evan tightened his grip on Talys’s arm, twisting it at an impossible angle.
“Ugh, arghh...!”
As Talis thrashed against the table, Karis, seated nearby, quickly made to intervene. “Evan! That’s enough!”
“...”
“Hey! Can’t you hear me? Let go of his arm—” Karis stopped in his tracks and flinched slightly.
He had just caught a glimpse of Evan's face, though unfortunately, I couldn’t see it from my angle.
“You...”
“...Hmm. Did I go... a little overboard?” Evan chuckled softly and relaxed his grip.
With a loud crash, Talys dropped to the ground, though he quickly stumbled to his feet.
The moment his eyes met Evan’s, he let out a terrified gasp and rushed out of the dining hall.
“What's been up with you lately? You've been acting weird.”
“Weird? What’s so weird about this? It’s what we learned in the training camp: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.”
“What?”
“Honestly, I held back a bit. If I’d been carrying a sword, I would have taken a limb or two for good measure.”
Karis’s face stiffened, which made Evan laugh again.
“Relax. I’m just kidding.”
“...”
“Let’s just continue our meal. Ah, how fortunate. I got very lucky, no blood splattered on the lamb.”
Evan sat down and began picking at the food on the messy table.
“...M-man, I was so scared.” Pam had her hand against her heart, which was probably pumping wildly. She looked like a squirrel that had seen a bloodthirsty predator. “Has Evan always been like that? I think this is the first time I’ve seen him angry. Ah, of course, he was laughing and all, but still...”
“...”
“W-wait, could he have been possessed by a ghost...? No way, right?”
I didn’t respond, instead just gulping down my drink...
But I kept my gaze fixed on Evan the whole time.