0% Love

Chapter 7: Road to becoming best friends

Author's note: I'll be working two jobs at once soon so let's see about regular updates :') My student loans ain't gonna pay themselvessss

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Alberu drums his fingers on his desk as he stares at the two things laid out before him. One of them is the post-it note they received 'anonymously' in their feedback box (which Alberu checks every few hours) and the next is Cale's 'anonymous' dorm life feedback survey.

"Do you think the handwriting is similar, Rosalyn?"

The vice president pauses in her stapling and looks up at her troubled president. "President, you've asked this before. I don't think it is. But..."

Between both of them, a video recording device floats in the air. It was previously installed on the ceiling in the hallway of the student council room. Even with the grainy quality, it shows a red-haired student clearly. The student dropped a letter in the letterbox then walked over to the suggestion box. He paused, seemingly hesitating, before grabbing a post-it note and pen. He used his left hand to write the post-it note, compared to Cale who filed up the survey with his right hand.

"Yes. But our hidden video recording device in the hallway caught his red hair. There aren't many red-haired students in this academy. Plus, he was the only one who wasn't at the dorms that night, and there was a letter for the Henituse estate that day. Why do you think he would submit this note anonymously with his handwriting altered? Do you think he's currently in danger?"

"He might be an unwilling accomplice who sold out his comrades? Or he could be the culprit himself, issuing a challenge to the student council."

Alberu drums his fingers on the desk. His smile is amused. "His alibi checks out, and I've looked at his student records. He's truly listed as an F-rank. When I spoke to him, he seemed pretty calm as well. I don't think he's capable of setting the high-level magic traps, and it doesn't make sense if he's the culprit and the whistle-blower at the same time. There's no clear motive. But the problem is... how did he know about it?"

"Perhaps he overheard something?" Rosalyn suggests.

"But if so, wouldn't he include more details in the note? He seems to only be aware of the event happening and not the people involved."

Rosalyn coughs quietly into a fist then crosses her arm. "I don't trust him, president. He chose to leave the school to save himself when he could've spoken to us about it. What if we didn't check the feedback box? The results would have been disastrous. Many students would be injured or even killed."

"But it's also because of his note that we were able to disable the magic traps in time. He trusted us with this information and believed we would be able to stop it. Maybe he has a reason to stay anonymous. Perhaps he isn't sure of the accuracy of his information?"

"... President, you said you spoke to him and asked about his powers? Does he have a power similar to yours?"

Alberu sighs, chuckling under his breath. "He has a good poker face. I can't figure him out. He showed no visible reaction when I asked him if he has the power to predict the future. But I'm not sure if there's any other power that allows him to find out information like this. Could he have holy powers? Maybe he's the long-awaited prophet of the church of light in the oracles?"

"...Church of light?" Rosalyn shakes her head. Nothing about Cale Henituse was in line with the church's conduct. "If you're unable to determine his powers and intentions, I doubt I'll be able to. Regardless, the way he behaves is incredibly suspicious. I'm sure he's hiding something."