On Friday, the news I had heard just last night had spread like wildfire.
'Sven was a Djinn that got defeated by Chae Nayun and in the process was injured.' Was about all I heard today.
The other faction of Djinn are really upping the anti with this. Are they planning to do something big? It feels like they're ramping up the number of incidents for something big.
Were my thoughts as I lay on my desk watching the class go on.
I felt a pair of beady eyes burning into the notebook I was covering by laying down.
Rachel has been sitting in a position where she can monitor both Kim Hajin and my notes. Lately though, it seems like she's moving closer to me, probably because Hajin doesn't take any notes.
Although I did score pretty well on the tests I'm not too competitive, I just study hard.
Back to the topic from before, it seems most of the capable cadets began to suspect Chae Nayun to be the target of the disappearances.
Almost three people have disappeared by now.
But when I did a little digging based on the previous instances I found them all to be related to the academic club in some way shape or form. The first was a member, the second was a friend of a member and the third was a classmate of one of the members.
Although, it's a little bit strange that everyone from the club seem to have alibis… or they're charmed like in Noona's club.
I looked to my left and then leaned back, letting Rachel take a look at my notes.
"What do you think?"
The blonde haired princess flinched in surprise.
"About your notes, Minori-ssi? They are organised-"
I stopped her.
"No, about Kim Hajin."
Rachel's face went slightly red from embarrassment.
"A-Ah, right. Kim Hajin… I don't know, he looks… normal but he scored first. The instructors praised him too." Rachel quickly regained composure but her voice got quieter near the end.
"Yeah. People say he cheated but I doubt it. He doesn't take notes but he's always paying attention."
Rachel nodded at my assessment and seemed to consider something.
"On another note, I saw your paper, you gave too linear of an answer. You didn't say anything that would get you an extra mark. You should expand more on theory while giving examples to back it up."
Rachel nodded along before pausing and frowning.
"Why are you giving me advice? Didn't we tie?"
"Well, yeah. But I read Kim Hajins paper and compared it to mine."
Rachel looked shocked and then frowned but then her expression went blank.
"You shouldn't look at things you aren't allowed to, Minori-ssi."
I raised my hands.
"Well, it's done now, guess you'll have to catch me before I do it next time."
"Hmph…did you see what he got for question seven?"
Although reluctant, Rachel asked her questions to which I patiently answered her.
Strangely, making connections and being friendly no longer felt like a chore.
Strange… It's quite nice to chat like this. Not having to worry about both the Evil Society and the Hero Association being on my back.
…
"Hey, Minori. Can you come to room 303 today? We're going to discuss the disappearances." Kim Suho came and tapped my shoulder as I was heading to the Medical Practice Club room.
"... Isn't this a little too short of a notice, Suho?"
"Well, I was a little busy but I figured you would be good for something like this. You're trustworthy after all."
…Trustworthy?... although I don't want to think like this… this is definitely an opportunity to gain the trust of some important students.
Feeling slightly guilty, I nodded.
"...Alright then. But don't blame me if I don't have any worthwhile input."
Kim Suho gave his signature bright smile which made me feel even worse on the inside.
…Kim Hajin POV…
After taking a nap, I left the dorm and arrived at room 303 Kim Suho had told me about.
There was already quite a crew gathered here – Shin Jonghak, Yoo Yeonha, Kim Horak, Yi Yeonghan and Minori Nii… Minori Nii?
I looked over at him and saw him staring back at me silently. I don't remember including him in this incident… or did I?
This is the problem with scrapped characters! They don't show up in my setting book and they only notify me when I'm within thirty feet.
And it's not like I can check my laptop right now because he'll definitely catch on.
The room remained silent for a couple of seconds, so I opened my mouth.
"Why did you call me?"
My voice came out harsher than I would've liked but the stress of having Minori Nii watching like a hawk was overbearing.
Just my voice made Shin Jonghak frown. Thankfully, Kim Suho explained before Shin Jonghak expressed his dissatisfaction.
"I haven't told Hajin why we're meeting yet."
"So, what is it?"
Kim Suho stood up at my question and Minori Nii narrowed his eyes.
Right, he hates arrogant people.
As for Kim Suho, he should've just stayed sitting. His height made me slightly uncomfortable. I set his height as 185 cm. Now, I was slightly regretting it.
"Hajin, You've heard about cadets going missing, right?"
"...Yeah."
"It's about that. Cub entrusted us to investigate the cause. Of course, they're going to do their own investigation, but since it's likely that the culprit is a student, they think it'll be easier for students to investigate."
I was about to nod nonchalantly, but after realising this was supposed to be my first time hearing about this, I dropped my jaws pretending to be surprised.
"..." Minori squinted but did not speak, clearly suspecting me.
Are my acting skills that bad? No, I just wrote him to be observant.
"... But why me?"
"You have good eyes. I heard you can see over a thousand miles away."
"Well, yeah… I do have good eyes."
I caught Minori's eyes flickering in a deep shadow for a moment before going back to normal. It looked as though he had only blinked.
I feigned a smile and sat down on a nearby chair. As a result, Kim Suho naturally came to sit at the table's head.
Kim Suho looked into my eyes and asked.
"Will you help us?"
"I don't know if I can, but…"
I didn't want to give up on potential SP.
"Thanks."
Kim Suho smiled happily. He then cleared his throat and brought up yesterday's incident.
"First, I don't think the Djinn who attacked Nayun is this incident's culprit. But…"
"Nayun?"
He was picking at the fact that he didn't address Chae Nayun with her last name.
"...But I think there is a high chance that CHae Nayun is the real culprit's target. Djinns follow their contracted devil's orders, so if Sven's contracted devil ordered him to attack Chae Nayun, it makes sense that another Djinn would go after her."
It was a good theory, but incorrect. In the original Sven's contracted devil and the culprit's contracted devil weren't the same. In the first place, Asmodeus and Lilith had completely different dispositions.
But since they're both Djinns of Lilith this time… there's less of a reason that Sven would've gone after Chae Nayun.
It's probably the co-authors doing.
"So I'm wondering, can you think of anyone suspicious? Someone you know who recently has been acting strangely…"
Before the real investigation began, Kim Suho asked for everyone's opinions.
"...if their target is someone as important as Chae Nayun, the culprit is probably someone well liked right? Minori spoke up.
"And it's probably someone who can get people to create alibi's or have a convenient reason to meet with Chae Nayun… so maybe a well connected senior with lots of fans or someone of the sorts."
Everyone turned their gaze to Minori as though asking him to continue.
"And… I don't think we can rule out the possibility that the culprit is leading us on with the attack on Chae Nayun." Minori acted as though it was speculation, but the man most likely knew.
Just like I did.
"What are you trying to say?" Shin Jonghak looked irritated at the thought that they would use Chae Nayun as mere bait.
"I'm not saying anything. I'm only suggesting that we be ready for anyone to be spirited away."
Shin Jonghak was about to say something but closed his mouth, unable to refute simply being more cautious.
Seeing this, I decided to open my mouth. I don't think it would end up too bad if I suggested the real culprit after hearing that line of logic.
"... I might have someone in mind."
Six pairs of eyes became fixed onto me.
"Who?"
Kim Suho asked.
"Yun Hyun."
…Immediately, a deep silence descended in the room.
No one seemed to react to my comment.
"No, I don't think so."
Yoo Yeonha's voice coldly objected to it. Although it was slightly less confident than usual, perhaps due to the previous line of thought.
"That person has an alibi. We already looked into him because he was close to the first victim. Although it does fit in with Minori's speculation, it's unlikely."
Kim Suho rebutted gently.
"But what if, someone fabricated an alibi for him."
"Why would a cadet agree to something like that? Everyone at Cube is a hero in training. Doing something like falsifying an alibi is ridiculous." Shin Jonghak objected.
"And what if they were charmed?"
"By mental magic? On a cadet? Yeah, that makes sense." Shin Jonghak refuted sarcastically.
"If it's mental magic, yeah. But…"
It was different if it was 'love'. Someone who was in love wouldn't know oneself was bewitched.
"Screw the useless talk."
Shin Jonghak cut me off before I could finish my sentence. He then kicked an empty chair, which rolled towards my leg.
"As for me…"
At that moment, Yoo Yeonha made a dangerous smile. She slowly raised her hand and pointed at me.
"I'm more suspicious of you."
"...What?"
My head drew a blank. Because it was so sudden, I was lost for words and froze.
"Yoo Yeonha, that's not right either. Hajin also has an alibi."
Kim Suho quickly refuted the idea, but Yoo Yeonha easily rebutted him.
"His alibi is a record of him using the Portal. If he is a jinn, tampering with something like that should be easy. Compared to senior Yun Hyun who was with others, that person is much more…"
"Why don't we beat him up first?"
Kim Horak hastily got up. With the way he cracked his knuckles and displayed his muscles, he practically looked like a miniature ogre.
Minori observed the surrounding reactions and then looked in my direction. He kept rolling a coin around his knuckles. Knowing him, he would step in if it got too far, same with Suho.
"I'm sure he'll sing or transform if he's beaten. Hy, get up."
Yoo Yeonha, Kim Horak, Shin Jonghak and even Yi Yeonghan looked at me with suspicious eyes.
Only Kim Suho and Minori didn't.
As the person in the middle of it all, I was furious. This had never happened to me before even in a mafia game. So this was what it felt like to be falsely accused.
Should I not have brought up Yun Hyun's name?
No, even if I didn't, this would have happened anyways. Yoo Yeonha must have planned to do so from the beginning.
"Jonghak, I can break an arm or two, right?"
Before the ogre got an answer, I jumped out of my chair.
"Yeah come at me, you fat son of a bitch. I'll drill a hole in your head."
"...What did you say? Look at this crazy motherfucker."
Kim Horak raised his voice. I took out my gun from my back pocket, but Kim Horak only snorted disdainfully.
"Retard, you think that can make me flinch?"
Kim Horak positioned himself to charge forward. I also lowered my center of gravity. I had Aether. I could cook up some stupid pig whenever I wanted.
"Stop."
But at that moment, Kim Suho stepped in between us. He even had his training sword out.
"Now's not the time for this. Hajin, you calm down too."
I snapped back to reality, looking at the chilling flash on his sword blade.
Though I shouted in a grand manner, Kim Horak was too strong of an opponent for my current self.
'Don't get angry. If you get angry, it's your loss.'
After telling myself that, I took in a deep breath and pointed at Yoo Yeonha.
"You, if you're doubtful, ask Chae Nayun."
"...What does Nayun have to do with this?"
I was talking to Yoo Yeonha, but it was Shin Jonghak who reacted sensitively.
"When she was attacked by a Djinn, I was there too. We killed him together. She didn't tell you that yet?"
"..."
I said so as I glared at Yoo Yeonha. She received my gaze in a perfectly calm manner without a single word.
Minori only leaned back into his chair as if he had heard enough.
"Anyways, I made myself clear. The culprit is that piece of shit Yun Hyun."
After leaving those words to Yoo Yeonha, the 'final victim', I turned around.
"Uk."
In the middle of walking out, I tripped accidentally. My body slipped to the side.
But in the path I was walking, a fat boar suddenly flew in and smashed against the wall.
The charge was too quick for a boar and too destructive for an attack on a fellow cadet, as a crack appeared on Cub's reinforced wall.
"Oh? You dodged that?"
Shin Jonghak's lips twisted up in twisted interest. That just now was Kim Horak's tackle. If it hit, I didn't think it would have ended with just a couple of broken bones.