Vikir let out a light sigh.
'...What the hell is she doing here?
St. Dolores. Wasn't she supposed to be in the showers?
And why is she in Building 4 at this late hour? It's a long way from the girls' dormitories....
Vikir adjusted the mask that covered her face once more.
He prepared to modulate his voice.
He reached out a finger and tapped Dolores on the shoulder.
"And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us ..., and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil... kya-ak!?"
At Vikir's touch, Dolores jumped in surprise, almost fainting.
She squeezed her eyes shut even tighter and began to shake. She was so frightened that she didn't even bother to open her eyes.
"Ha, our Father in heaven...."
"Stop saying the Lord's Prayer. Just open your eyes."
Vikir said, deliberately scratching his voice.
Dolores opened one eye from behind her clasped hands.
"Huh?"
Only then did Dolores' expression turn to one of horror.
After staring at Vikir's mask for a long moment, Dolores stammered.
"Nigh, Night Hound...?"
"It's been a while."
Vikir nodded, and Dolores looked mesmerized once more.
Finally, she managed to speak.
"It's been a long time... to see you."
Dolores has a million things she wants to say, but her mouth is too small.
Her heart clenches in her chest, not knowing what to say.
Why he'd disappeared without a word as soon as the plague was over, why he'd been raiding the branches of the Quovadis, where and how he'd been, and what... really was.
There were so many things I wanted to ask.
At such a young age, she had easily taken on the roles of the Academy's third-year student council president, head of the newspaper department, and patron saint of the Quovadis family, but right now she was fidgeting like a normal seventeen-year-old girl.
Vikir, meanwhile, gets straight to the point.
"Why are you here?"
"I... That is."
Dolores began to squirm, this time for a completely different reason.
She was recalling something that had happened only a few minutes ago.
* * *
After the boys had gone back to their room, Dolores came to her senses.
"...Hot!?"
Dolores washed herself thoroughly with warm water and returned to her room to find her bedding crisp and clean.
Her roommates had already cleaned the bed.
'I'm in trouble!'
Dolores, who was barely conscious, realized the gravity of the situation.
She had peed on herself, but her friend had taken the blame.
Even though he was the victim of her own pee!
As if apologizing wasn't bad enough, he'd also been accused. The roles of victim and perpetrator were completely reversed.
If Dolores stays silent, Vikir will be portrayed in the worst possible light.
A freshman was accused of peeing on a senior, a student body president.
Judging by the polarity of the passionate fan clubs within the Academy who regarded Dolores' beauty as sacred, this was a serious matter that could have resulted in threats of assassination.
'That can't happen! We have to fix this!'
It's too late, but a job must be done.
Dolores walked over to the group of girls gossiping.
They were talking about the incident that had just occurred, and they were gossiping about Vikir.
"Such dignity after pissing on a saint's belly. Don't you think it's kind of cool, even though he's an asshole?"
"The sight of that unbalanced figure standing proudly even in wet pants made me feel a little heartbroken… … ."
"There's something about that nerdiness that makes me feel strangely maternal... I just want to protect him. Change his diaper. Feed him milk."
It's a bit of an odd direction for a conversation to take.
But Dolores didn't hear it. So she closed her eyes tightly and told the truth.
"Girls, Vikir didn't do anything wrong, and I peed on him!"
The girls' eyes widened.
....
After a few moments of silence, everyone, including Bianca, sighed and tapped Dolores on the shoulder.
"Really, the president is a saint."
"Sis, you shouldn't have to bear the insult of being called a pisser for him."
"Your sacrifice is admirable, and if it were me, I don't think even my best friend would have gone that far, let alone a junior who's not even close to me...."
No one seemed to believe Dolores.
"Oh, no! Believe me, it was really me who peed earlier, not Vikir...!"
Out of frustration, Dolores repeated the truth, but no one believed her.
Instead, they admired Dolores' noble self-sacrifice in covering up for Vikir.
'Aah! That's crazy!'
Dolores decided to give up trying to explain.
Instead, she sprang into action to correct the misunderstanding.
Even if she was caught, she would go outside, meet Vikir, apologize formally, and clear up any misunderstandings.
It was late at night, but she could probably get an emergency meeting request from the supervisor and have Vikir summoned from the boys' dormitory.
'The sooner the better for an explanation.'
Dolores left the girls' floor and headed straight for the boys.
She thought about thanking him for carrying her burden and apologizing for not being able to explain immediately.
And just then.
Dolores saw a strange shadow blazing across the outer wall of the dorm.
"...!"
Dolores stopped dead in her tracks as she turned to go to her tutor.
What she had just seen was surely a stork's beak mask under the hem of a black cloak.
The mysterious creature she had been searching for, the one that had appeared so many times in her dreams.
An enigmatic creature that is both endlessly mysterious and endlessly fascinating.
The Night Hound, as he glided beneath a moon shrouded in clouds.
Dolores forgot everything she had been thinking about in a blur.
She turned on her heel and began to move in the direction of the Night Hound.
There was no thought of catching him or stopping him. Just, just....
* * *
" ...I just wanted to talk to you."
At Dolores' words, Vikir smiled bitterly behind his mask.
He knew what she was wondering.
Why he stole a saint's tears, and why he's been wiping out the branches of the Quovadis.
Ko-ok.
Dolores' hand tightened on Vikir's collar.
Her eyes were twitching like ripples on a lake.
"Why... did you do that to me, that day, too, disappearing without a word."
"...."
"Tell me, you didn't do it, the branches of our family, you didn't do it, did you? There was some misunderstanding, wasn't there?"
"...."
"Say something, anything. Please...."
Dolores clenched her small fists around Vikir's collar.
Then, leaning down, she pressed her forehead against Vikir's chest and spoke in a hushed voice.
"You're not that kind of person, the villain everyone says you are...."
Vikir didn't know how to respond to that.
Dolores's bite in her voice was more than trust, it was some kind of comradeship.
'...Is it because of the 'Red Death' incident back in the day?'
It's understandable that feelings of camaraderie and comradeship might have developed in the course of treating so many plague victims.
But Dolores's feelings were much broader and deeper than Vikir had expected.
Vikir had just opened his mouth to say something.
"...!"
Vikir sensed a strange sound in his ears.
Whoosh... hook... grunt...
It sounded like the ragged breathing of a beast, mingled with the boiling of blood.
Dolores heard this ominous breath as well.
Dolores tugged at Vikir's collar, her fingers trembling with fear.
"Did you... see the notice?"
"I saw ...."
Vikir nodded.
They were now standing on the emergency exit stairs, the location of options #4 and #14.
And this uncomfortable breathing in their ears was spontaneously reminding them of item 6 on the notice.
(6). If you're patrolling a hallway and there's nothing around you, and you hear something like strange breathing in your ear, immediately get low and get down on the floor.
Then crouch down and make yourself as small as possible and likewise make no sound.
If the sounds subsequently stop, call another employee to locate and clean the stain on the ceiling.
'Ephebo'
'Ephebo', the first high-ranking undead guarding Guilty appeared.