Chapter 52: [Conch Flame]

Casey was the kind of girl who always had a lively smile. She was like a caring and dependable big sister who would take Monica's hand to guide her.

Now Casey was walking next to her while clinging onto Monica's hand. The hand she held was moist and cold with sweat, and she could tell that she was shaking slightly.

As Monica stared at her hand, Casey smiled unreliably with a pale face.

"Sorry, I showed you something embarrassing."

"N-No, I mean, after what happened… who wouldn't?"

"Haha, I guess so…"

Casey smiled awkwardly as if she was trying to smile like she usually did but failed.

The way she laughed, her pale face, and her unreliable, shaking hands… they cut into Monica's heart.

The two were walking across the corridor of the east school building. There was still some distance ahead before they could reach the infirmary.

Monica bit her lip, then slowly opened her mouth.

"The rope used to bind the wood… had a cut mark made with a blade."

"What, then… that wasn't an accident… was there a cut in the rope from the start? Did someone from the supplier had intended to take someone's life?"

At Casey's words, Monica shook her head.

"No, if you paid close attention to the cut of the rope, the blade was inserted halfway into the rope… the rest was left for it to cut naturally… I've got that result from my calculation. If you put a cut of that depth in the rope, it takes only a few seconds for the rope before it completely tears off…"

"I don't know the exact weight of the wood, but from what I estimated" announced Monica, then followed by her speculation.

"it would snap after five to fifteen seconds elapsed."

They could leave a cut in that rope before it was completely torn off in ten seconds.

In other words, the rope wasn't cut before it was brought to the school, but someone put a cut in it on the spot.

And Monica also knew. For outsiders to enter this school, they would be examined before the school gives them permission. Let alone knives, even bringing a single pair of scissors was not allowed. So to get all the necessary tools, they must submit a request before they could borrow it from the school.

"…and since people from suppliers weren't allowed to bring in knives, the one who cut it can't be them."

It made the expression on Casey's face disappeared. And yet, Monica still staring at her shaking sweaty hands.

And then, Monica gulped and said.

"…did you cut the rope, Casey?"

Casey instantly tore away her hand from Monica's.

She then walked a few steps ahead of Monica to stop suddenly before turning her body around to look back at her.

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What appeared on her face was the same cheerful smile as always.

"Haha, I guess you caught me… yeah, I did it."

To her surprise, Casey confessed easily, then pulling a small craft knife out of his pocket and flashing it at her.

At which made Monica let out an ‘ah' voice.

"…why?"

"To tell you the truth, I hate you, Monica. Actually, I was planning to make those woods fell on you as a prank, or so I thought. But then I screwed up and the wood fell on me. Oh, man, I am totally screwed up, am I?"

Casey's tone of voice and the way she laughed might have made her think looked as usual. However, there was something about her behavior that she couldn't shake off. Casey's words sounded strange, it was like she spoke the lines she had memorized.

She was speaking faster than usual, and her eyes never looked straight at Monica.

Casey was lying.

"…I know you're lying."

"I'm not lying. I've hated you since the first time I saw you."

Casey's words stab into Monica's heart.

Whenever the word "hate" used, it always ended up hurts people's hearts. If it was the usual Monica, she might have running away in tears.

But the discomfort feeling felt stronger in Monica's chest.

"Casey, are you hiding something from me?"

"I have nothing to hide, really. I just hate you. That's the only reason I was trying to harass you."

Casey lifted the edge of her lips slightly in a snarl and looked at Monica with a very nasty look on her face.

"Do you remember the previous tea party, when your tea leaves were dumped down?"

"Yeah."

"The truth is I was the perpetrator."

The tone of her voice was easy-going without a hint of guilt. Yet, Monica did not feel any anger. What welled up inside was only the sense of discomfort and sadness.

In which, Monica lowered her eyes then muttered a few words.

"…I know."

"What?"

Casey blinked in surprise, and then Monica clutched the hem of her uniform and said.

"In the past, I've been bullied, and many of my things have been hidden from me… ever since that, I've never written my name on my personal belongings."

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At that time, Casey gave Monica a piece of paper to mark the tea can she had put on the shelf. Casey had written her name on the paper, but Monica hadn't, fearing that someone would throw hers away.

So, she folded the edge of the paper to mark it in a way that only she could understand.

"… at the time, the only person who watched me fold the paper… was you, Casey."

Being timid and cautious, Monica made sure to hide the paper with her own body to prevent anyone from seeing it, whenever she was folding the paper or putting the can on a shelf.

…In other words, the only person who knew which's Monica's tea can was Casey.

Since Casey didn't have any servants, she had to make the tea on her own, so she left shortly into the preparation room before Monica's turn. She probably did dump down Monica's tea leaves at that time.

At Monica's remark, Casey looked dumbfounded, but eventually brushed back her bangs and smiled hollowly.

"Ahaha, I knew it, you're very smart."

"………"

"I see… so you've known all along. If I think about it, you always speak casually to Lana, but always used honorific when talking to me. I guess you've been wary of me…"

"Even so, you have helped me a lot lately… so I thought… maybe all of it just a misunderstanding."

When Monica was devastated because her tea leaves were dumped down, Casey kindly gave her own tea to use.

After that event, she's been inviting Monica to eat lunch together and showed her concern for her in any way she could.

That's why Monica had always turned her eyes away from the truth. She tried to convince herself that there must have been some misunderstanding.

"Hey, Monica. Do you still remember the things we talked about in the cafeteria? The one where my father told me to go catch His Highness' eye…"

"I do."

"The truth, I really want to become His Highness's wife and the future queen. So I thought that if I befriended you, Monica, whom His Highness is very fond of, I would have more chances to get close to His Highness. That's why I started being nice to you and pretending to be your friend… Haha, I am so terrible, right?"

Casey's words seemed to make sense.

However, an uncomfortable feeling was still stuck in Monica's chest and would not come off.

Monica wasn't very good at dealing with people. So until now, she had never really looked at the person in front of her.

However, since coming to this school and coming into contact with many people, Monica has learned to "get to know others" just a little bit.

That's why she was certain. Casey was hiding something from her.

But unable to figure out what that "something" was, Monica clutched the chest part of her dress in frustration.

What's Casey hiding?

If I don't find out soon, there will be no turning back for her

As Monica was getting impatient with this premonition, one of the windows in the hallway opened with great force and a man jumped in.

"Monica!"

It was the first floor, nonetheless, a young man with black hair jumped in through the window —it was Nero in human form.

Whenever Nero transformed into a human, he always wore an old-fashioned robe, but now he was wearing the uniform of a male student of Serendia Academy.

"Ne… ro…? W-What's wrong with your outfit?"

"Oh, doesn't it look nice? If I were a cat, I'd be picked out of the school building, and if I wore my usual robe, I'd look suspicious, so I made put a little of my mana to make something. At first, I imagined your uniform, but I accidentally ended up with a skirt, so I had to start all over again… wait, that's not the point."

Nero turned his sharp gaze to the west and promptly stated.

"There is some kind of strange mana reaction in the west warehouse. And it's getting stronger by the moment."

Casey was stunned by the mysterious man who appeared in from the window, but as soon as she heard his words, she quickly turned pale.

Monica immediately activated her mana-sensing spell without chanting.

In the opposite direction from the east side of the school building where they were, was a warehouse to the west. Sure enough, there was a mana reaction there.

It sucked up a small amount of mana from its surroundings to expand gradually.

It has fire attribute, the way it absorbs and compresses mana of its surroundings, and this inwardly swirling flow of mana is… it can't be!

Monica had once seen this unique flow of mana in a class on Minerva's magic tools.

A magic tool for assassination with extremely high killing power. Its name was…

"…[Cocnh Flame]."

The moment Monica uttered these words, Casey's eyes widened as she let out a faint voice.

"How could Monica know about [Conch Flame]…?"

The moment she heard that murmur, all of Casey's behaviors so far were linked together.

At the west warehouse, fireworks were being brought in. Felix and Elliot were supervising the process.

Since Casey was approaching Monica and pretending to be her friend. Her real reason should be…

"…Casey, Is your goal… to assassinate His Highness?"

Casey didn't give an answer.

But her tense face told Monica everything.

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