On Saturday, Veritas and the other students were given free time as it was a non-academic day.
They could spend it however they want, there were people that spent it to have fun, people that focused on studying, and there were also others that wanted to sleep all day.
As for Veritas... he was going to meet Bello with Alice.
Of course, they hid their appearances..
Veritas gave the Faceless Mask to Alice so she can hide her face and identity, Veritas utilized his Path to change his appearance and Bello.. he did not have to do anything.
His identity before the Knights Academy is unknown and no one really knew who he was.
Except for the people at Beast Master Den who only knew of his first name, no one else was acquainted with him.
His face was not shown often in public too, he always wore a clown's makeup and a weird getup so that was also another layer to hiding his identity.
That said, Bello stayed as normal as possible, they fabricated the idea that he was going to meet some friends at a cafe in Gold Borough.
"Theo! Therese! You've come!"
Bello waved at the brother and sister that just walked inside the cafe.
He was already sitting down at one of the tables and ordered an espresso, wearing a gray sweater that was layered by a soft and thick blazer. Additionally, his pants consisted of black trousers and a white belt, ending off with his black leather shoe.
"Bello! Long time no see.. How have you been?"
Theo who had wore a casual outfit that consisted of a buttoned white polo shirt and beige trousers, paired along with cream-colored shoes. He had a golden chain hanging on his neck, while his eyes were covered by glasses with amber lenses and a thin frame.
His short wavy hair complimented his outfit very well as it didn't stand out that much but it was perfect for him.
"Therese, say hi to Bello, it's been like what- 3 or 4 years since we've met him?"
Therese was shy in nature, she had an emotionless expression on her face but she looked a bit like Theo. Well, he was her brother after all.
Her long curly brown hair was laid out down under her chest, it was perfectly cared for and it looked silky-smooth. She wore an oversized yellow hoodie which was paired along with black leggings that showcased the slender shape of her legs.
Along with that, Therese wore a pair of comfortable yellow sports shoes which was in line with the color of her yellow eyes.
"Hello there."
"She's as awkward as ever.."
Theo and Therese sat down with Bello.
"Man, it took us forever to find this place. We came all the way from Alfar, how did you know we've just arrived?"
"I've actually unlocked my Path!"
"Oh! That's great, me and Therese are the same too!"
Suddenly, a waitress arrived and brought out a menu.
"Ah- thank you.."
Theo and Therese read the menu and decided their orders within a couple of seconds.
"I'll have... the Vanilla Frappuccino and a slice of Lemon Cake please.. What about you Therese?"
She pointed at a menu item and stared presumptively at the waitress.
"Got it. Let me repeat your orders for you. 1 Vanilla Frappuccino, 1 Caffe Mocha, 1 slice of Lemon Cake, and 2 Melon Bread. Will that be all?"
Theo stared at his 'sister' and she nodded. With that, Theo nodded too and gave a warm smile towards the waitress.
After she left, Theo gazed at Bello and they continued their conversation.
"Where were we.. Ah! How's your life been Bello? Is it good?"
"Actually, yes. I'm currently enrolled at Knights Academy."
"Wow! Knight's Academy? That's great!"
Bello felt sheepish.
"How'd you start enrolling there?"
"Well.."
Bello recounted a fabricated history of how he got noticed by Mikella Reiloush and eventually became endorsed to study in Knights Academy. He mentioned showing interest with the blade and once she saw his skill.. She immediately got up and trained him personally.
"Actually.. I just hit a lucky break, that's all."
"There's no way that you just got lucky! If it weren't for your skill, you wouldn't have gotten noticed!"
"You might be right, Veri- I mean, Theo."
Bello cleared his throat.
A few minutes have passed on the three of them catching up. The waitress then returned to their table and brought Theo and Therese's orders.
"Thank you so much.."
With his bright smile, the waitress' cheeks got rosy red.
She bowed lightly and walked away from the table.
Theo sipped his drink and continued:
"So, tell me about your time at the Academy. I'm very interested in that."
"Hmm.. Where should I start.. That's right.. Apparently there is an ongoing event that would transpire a week and a half from now."
He leaned in and continued:
"You should've heard of it.. It's a kingdom-wide event!"
"That's the For Honor Tournament right?"
"Yeah!"
With that, the two of them talked about trivial things about their daily lives. Things such as Bello's participation in the Tournament, Theo's fashion career, and many more!
Therese, though, silently sat in the corner while she enjoyed her melon bread.
"You know.. one of the stories that I've heard from my customers is really something sinister. According to them, a high authority from their work suddenly threw up a cheerful event in order to hide the remains of their mischievous acts. It was only like.. last month since they found it out though, everyone was having fun at the event that no one ever found out about!"
Bello understood the coded message that Theo said, he nodded accordingly to his words and showed an expression of interest.
"That's really rough.."
"I know right?!"
Their acting was impeccable, one might almost think that they really were friends that haven't met for 4 years!
'So, the student council is hiding something huh.."
Next, it was Bello's turn to share his gathered information.
"On the other day actually.. I saw a delinquent from the Knight's curriculum acting as a dog! He, along with like... 4 others, was gathering up and walking on all fours. They were barking and running around, it was really damn weird... It looked like something was controlling them too.."
"That's harrowing! Is it inside the campus!"
"It's inside the campus!"
"Wow.. I might reconsider visiting there.."
The two burst out in laughter while Therese was still deeply focused on her bread.
"Do you have anything else? Any gossip?"
"Gossips huh.."
Bello thought about it for a second before his eyes lit up once more.
"Right! I've recently heard rumors about a weird-looking person with black hair and red eyes, carelessly wandering the 2nd to 4th years classroom halls. Based on what I've heard, it seemed that no one actually knew him, he was like a ghost!"
Theo, who was carefully bringing his drink to his mouth, suddenly stopped and paled.
"I hope they catch that pervert soon, I bet he's trying his chances for the upper-year girls!"
Theo paled even more.
Bello sighed as he described the suspicious person, he then took a sip from his espresso and gazed at Therese's direction.
"What about you Therese? How's life been lately?"
With her mouth stuffed in the particular and tasty-looking melon bread, her eyes widened at the sudden mention of her fabricated name and was suddenly perplexed.
Theo took notice of this and he laughed awkwardly.
"Let's let Therese finish her meal first.."
"I agree."
Both of them sat back and relaxed their bodies, carefully thinking of a gossip or topic to share.
"I just remembered!"
Bello was the first to think of something.
"A senior of mine, I think he was from the 3rd-year, he possessed an Attunement that was somehow related to strings? I don't really know.."
"Yeah, what about it?"
"You see, it was only a rumor though so I'm not 100% sure, but it seems that he's missing. Like, he hasn't attended his classes, and no one could contact him. They said that he's just gone on a vacation, but there were rumors running around that he was bullied."
Theo listened attentively.
"Thus, it comes to this.. I've heard that he was spotted in the boy's dormitory at night. No one knew what he was doing or why he crept up in the middle of the night. Even so, he was not attending during the day but was active in the middle of the night? It felt... very suspicious."
"What could he be doing?"
"That.. I don't know, I was only basing on rumors that I've heard."
"Hmm.."
The two of them went silent and thought about the possibilities of his actions.
'Perhaps he's the culprit from Veritas' future vision? He does match one of the criteria..'
Bello sighed and considered that factor, but there were quite a few string-related users in Knights Academy, figuring out one was not enough for their investigation.
"He's dead."
Bello and Theo were appalled by the sudden claim.
Both of them stared in Therese's direction, she looked dead-serious and her eyes harbored a deep dark abyss.
"That string user that you mentioned.. He's already dead."