Everything went as I expected.
Rona's body was discovered during the day. Even if I say that the Academy isn't currently in chaos, I would be lying. Since the founding of the Academy, such an incident has hardly ever happened. Moreover, the fact that the victim was a nalia could strain inter-racial relations. There was nothing I could do about that. What I needed to do was prove that I had no involvement in this incident. To make such a thing possible, I would have to reveal a certain part of the truth. Everyone who started their training at the Academy this year was interrogated. Since I was on the ground floor, it would have been enough to say I was in my room during the incident but I wouldn't be satisfied with that.
As I mentioned before, I disclosed part of the truth to the officials questioning me. I explained that a noble had pressured her and that I saved the girl from him. I told them I spent a day with the girl, accompanied her to her room, saw her go inside and then returned to my own room. There was nothing in my statement that conflicted. If the officials went to the café where I said I went with Rona, they would hear that I was really there. Moreover, since I said she entered her room before the time of her death, there was no apparent contradiction in terms of timing.
By doing this, I hoped to achieve two things. The first, of course was to divert suspicion elsewhere. That noble would now be in serious trouble. Even if the killer wasn't the one they suspected, they would act as if he had been involved for months. As a result, that noble would become the prime suspect and I would be seen as innocent by the authorities. No one could accuse me of being someone who would ruthlessly murder an innocent girl who helped me. Of course, if it was known that the girl was a cultist, they would applaud the killer but revealing this truth seemed unlikely.
I had managed to obtain the first thing I aimed for but this ironically led to the formation of the second thing I wanted to achieve.
Of course, this was to uncover the identity of the cultists.
Anything could be said about this perverted group but I couldn't say they were an "unorganized" group. Such minds tend to operate within a military hierarchy. That's why I didn't believe that just a few nalias gathered randomly and came to the Academy at will. There might have been seven nalias in our class but more nalias had started at the Academy this year. Some were in class 1-B, some in 1-F, and others in different classes. I didn't know how many of them were cultists. I didn't know whether they were all normal nalias or if there were others among them. I also didn't know whether there was anyone helping the students. So, I wanted to find out the number of enemies.
Throughout the day, the students and those who trained us were interrogated. Therefore, I thought the other side would make a move as early as tomorrow. The only thing I needed to do was to be there when the move took place. Depending on when they decided to talk to me, I also had a chance to understand the cultists' intentions.
And when wednesday arrived, the thing I had been expecting finally happened.
Tomorrow was wednesday and despite everything, classes had to continue. In other words, I didn't want to miss my classes. I wanted to ask teacher Wanda if there was a blacksmith around here. I had promised Zui and planned to make a sword as he wished. I wanted to settle this matter quickly but there was something else I needed to deal with before that.
Just a few minutes before the class started, a few nalias appeared around my desk. I recognized all of their faces because they were from our class. Since Rona was no longer with us, their number was six. Four of them were males and two were females. One of the girls, like Rona, had pointed ears and red eyes that seemed swollen. She had probably been crying constantly. The other girl was one of the horned ones. She had a slight curl in her horns and was the only nalia among them who showed no sign of emotion. Among the male Nalias, three were horned and one had pointed ears. They had different hair colors, eye colors, and body structures. One of the horned males appeared to be leading the group. He was taller than me and appeared to have a muscular build. He had small horns and like mine green eyes. His hair was long and dark. This Nalia was the first person to speak out to me.
"You're Nell, right? First of all, we heard that you helped Rona that day. Thank you for that. There are some things we want to ask you."
He believed that she was hiding something with that innocent attitude but he had revealed many of her secrets to me.
Rona's death was a matter the Academy was investigating. The fact that such incidents were really rare did not mean that the Academy had no protocol for such cases. The Academy would never share such matters with students. Regardless of the situation, students were supposed to continue their training and wait for these kinds of issues to be resolved. That's why, including my interrogation, what was said during interrogations was never disclosed to students.
However, someone had told my words to these nalias.
Just as I suspected. There was another cultist helping them. Moreover, all those who approached me were in the same class, 1-A, like me. That's why I became convinced that nalias outside of class 1-A weren't cultists. Since the information given was critical for them, there was no need for the other nalias to know it. They would only be a mess for the cultists.
So, the six Nalias in front of me were cultists.
The person helping them deliberately placed them in the same class.
While fitting these puzzle pieces together in my mind, I tried to appear completely indifferent. Acting as if I were distressed might have been more logical but I couldn't even pretend to be upset for a cultist, even if it was just for role-playing. Therefore, adopting a more relaxed attitude was the most sensible strategy.
"Of course... Um... I apologize for that."
I couldn't act as if I were distressed but at least I had to speak in plain words. When the nalia at the head of the group saw this, he took a deep breath and started to speak.
"Don't apologize at all. You've done what you needed to do. Still, we want to hear what you've speak from your own mouth."
He probably wanted to confirm whether my words conflicted or not. I recounted everything as it was, without making any changes. I truly didn't know what would happen next. Then, the same nalia asked a new question.
"I see. So that's it. Who do you think might have done this to Rona?"
An interesting question. This time, it also seemed like he was trying to confirm whether I knew the killer or not. Saying that the stupid noble would do this might have made it easy to get out of the situation but if I directly accused him, they would definitely think I knew the killer. So, I had to tell a different fact in a slightly different way.
Rona's goal was to seduce me. Furthermore, since she was free to do whatever she wanted in her own way, it seemed that the other nalias knew this side of her as well. It was the most logical option to tell what had happened to me as if someone else had experienced it but I had to choose my words carefully.
"In fact... I offered to stay in her room because she still seemed scared. But she stubbornly refused my offer and her face turned as red as a beet. I thought, 'She probably has a boyfriend.' and I decided it was best to leave her alone…"
While saying the last sentence, I gradually lowered the intensity of my voice, aiming to sound as if I regretted this decision. All the nalias seemed to believe my words.
"Are you serious?! Then tell me... Tell me if someone saw you at that moment!"
The girl whose eyes were swollen from crying didn't hesitate to hide the venom in her voice. It was clear that she thought differently from the others and suspected me. Being so perfect sometimes gives the impression that you might have flaws. I needed to make it appear that these flaws were actually just paranoia.
"Uh... I'm sorry, but while I was leaving her room, around..."
"I saw him."
Here, Zui intervened. Since both of us took lessons at the source, she was in the same classroom as me. Therefore, she had secretly overheard the conversation and appeared as a witness who could tell what I was doing at the time of the incident. I didn't think the other nalias would look at her witness. They had no choice but to assume that her words were true.
"I saw him leaving her room."
"Really? So, what were you doing then?"
"What am I doing? Of course, I was heading back to my own room."
The group's leader, even though he wanted to assert himself more, must have thought they would not learn more for now, so they left the classroom with a signal to his friends. Before doing that, he didn't forget to thank me for what I had just said.
"Thank you for your witness."
After thanking Zui, I took a deep breath. I had managed to withstand this invisible attack. Now, they would stop paying attention to me and focus on Zui. Because Sin of the Flower had a bloody past, they considered her a potential suspect. Moreover, they would also investigate the mysterious male friend, I mentioned. I believed Zui would be fine. That's why I had to focus on my classes. To be able to resist them, I had to improve myself.