Some days had passed since the first school day.
On a bright day, I stood up and got myself ready to go to school. As I entered the school, I saw many people gathered in front of a wall.
As I came closer, I noticed there were papers with names on them and the grades we got in the three exams. People were saying my name out loud, and one of my classmates shouted:
"Hey, there he is, Von!"
All the students turned around and looked at me, saying my name.
I wondered, what was happening?
"What?" I said.
"Your last name is Vendar?" One of the students asked.
"Oh, yes, that... I forgot about it."
"Yes, my last name is Vendar. Is it a problem?"
"Are you related to the school principal, Von?"
What should I say? If I say yes, they'll follow me around asking more questions. If I say no, it will look weird.
"Y-yes, the school principal is my uncle..."
"Whoa..."
"What... Really, Von?"
They started asking many questions, which I ignored as I went to class. It took some days after that, but they eventually stopped asking.
It will be weird. If I get any good grades, it will be seen as the school principal helping me because I'm related to him. Which I do not.
But I need to act like it is.
While in class, our tutor called my name.
"Von, please go to the Principal's office."
"Did I do anything wrong?" I asked, looking at Derosa.
"No, don't worry. Just go to his office."
I stood up and went on my way. I also noticed the students staring at me as I walked.
Knock, knock...
"Come in, Von..."
He knew it was me before seeing my face. I thought and entered his office.
"H-hello, Mr. Derosa said you wanted to see me."
"Yes, Von. But first, sit down."
I sat down on the chair in front of his desk.
He looked at me for a few seconds before starting to talk.
"So, Von, my father told me about you and that you'll be a new student at our school."
"Your father?"
"Yeah, Celvar. Why are you asking? Didn't he tell you about me?"
"Um, yes, yes, he did tell me a lot about you," I said.
"Oh yeah? Tell me what he said."
"Nothing much, just that you're a good school principal."
Celvar didn't even tell me he had a son, I thought.
"Anyway, I called you here to tell you that the students and teachers think we are related. But this isn't a problem. Just be sure, Von, you won't be treated specially just because of my father."
"You and I will act like we're related. All I hope from you, Von, is to not make any trouble in the school," he said.
"I already knew this, don't worry. I won't make any trouble," I answered.
I left his office and went back to class.
This principal seems to be smart, but he doesn't look or act anything like Celvar.
I wonder if they're really related or just share the same last name.
---
Some time passed, and we had a special exam from our class tutor, Derosa. He told us that we had five straight days, from Monday until Friday, to finish the tasks each of us received.
Everyone got a card with three tasks on it and were told not to share the tasks with anyone else.
After class, Ryu accidentally told me about one of his three tasks.
Therefore, I knew everyone had different tasks.
My task was:
Kill the Traitor in the school.
All I had was one task, which I found weird. I wanted to tell Derosa about that, but I thought maybe it was some kind of special task just for me.
But this wasn't the only weird thing. The task was to kill the traitor, and killing someone would get me expelled.
I had no idea what to do. But I needed to get my adventurer license, so I had to do what the school asked.
For the first two days, I tried to gather information about the traitor and whether there was even really a traitor or not.
---
On Wednesday in the school cafeteria.
"So, Von, tell me, did you do your tasks?"
"No, Ryu, I haven't yet. What about you?"
"Well, I finished two tasks. Just one more task left to do."
"That's very good, Ryu."
"Thanks."
---
After the cafeteria, I went to the toilet.
"Von, there you are..."
Before I entered the toilet, Zane called my name.
"Yes, Zane, what?"
"Tell me, Von, how many tasks did you get?"
Why would he ask something like this?
Hmm, this means he probably has only one task too.
I got three tasks. Why are you asking, though, Zane?
He looked into my eyes for a moment, like he was saying, "I don't believe you..."
"So you don't want to tell me the truth, huh, Von? Well, doesn't matter," he said, and walked away.
---
The next morning, Thursday at school.
I was thinking in class about how to find the traitor.
I had gathered a lot of information in the last few days.
So, there are some students from our school year missing. As of now, three students have disappeared.
And the school hasn't said anything about it.
They probably don't want the outside world to know anything.
I spoke with some students who knew the three missing students very well.
After some searching, I found out that all three missing students have the same close friend: Yuuto, from our school year but from a different class.
I have to speak to him today...
After school, I immediately went to his class.
I looked through the hall window at the classroom; he was packing his books into his bag.
"H-hello, can I have a word with you, Yuuto?"
He turned back, facing me with a strange look on his face.
"Huh, who the hell are you?"
"I'm Von, from the same school year as you. So, we're the same age."
"What do you want to speak to me about?"
"I heard your friends are missing."
As I said that, his face grew angry, and with a frustrated voice, he said:
"I don't have any friends. I don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh, my bad. I must have mistaken you for someone else," I said. As I turned to leave the class, I felt something coming toward me.
As I turned back to face Yuuto, I saw him using his power. It was a very strong flame, which I dodged.
"You're lucky you dodged that, Von."
The classroom was completely burned, with all the desks and chairs gone.
"Yuuto, calm down, or I'll have to kill you."
"Kill me? You have too much confidence in yourself, don't you?"
"Von, I'm the one who's going to kill you. All I want from you is to tell me why you're so interested in the three missing students."
"So, you know about them, huh?" I said.
"Of course I do. I killed them, after all. And don't think I didn't notice you going around the school investigating."
---
"Alright, that's enough," the school principal Esrida said, walking into the class while clapping his hands.
"Amazing, Von, you found out the traitor."
"You were following me?"
"Of course, Von. It's a school task. There's one teacher for every five students to follow them around, and I had just two students to watch.
The other student I was following had the same task as you, and he finished it already. He found out about the traitor."
"So, there's more than one?" I asked.
"Yes, there are two."
"Bla, bla, bla, what are you two talking about?"
"So, you're the traitor, Yuuto?"
"What traitor? I don't know what you're talking about."
"Stop lying to me, Yuuto. I heard your conversation with Von."
"And Von, by the way, you passed the task. You can go now, and leave Yuuto to me. I'll take care of this," Esrida said, with a serious voice.
"A-alright."
---
After all that, I took my bag and walked to the student residence.
Now that I think about the task—it said to kill the traitor.
All I did was make him confess.
But the principal himself said I passed, so no worries.
I made dinner and ate while reading a little. I started finding reading very interesting.
It's just unbelievable how much information I can get from just books.