The next day, Cornelius and his friends were having lunch in the school cafeteria. A few students glanced at them, and most of them greeted the four of them. Cornelius and his friends returned the greetings warmly and casually.
True to their reputation, the four of them greeted every student regardless of their status—whether they were high-ranking nobles, lower-ranking nobles, or even commoners. At the very least, their usual response made the atmosphere at the Academy a little more relaxed, even though a conflict was looming.
They sat in a quiet corner of the cafeteria, chatting casually until the conversation turned a bit more serious. "About his request, do you guys have anything in mind?" Cornelius asked while munching on his lunch. Dianne, Alex, and Silvia nodded, understanding what Cornelius meant. "Too bad, no," Dianne said with a helpless sigh. Alex came to her rescue and suggested to his friends. "Maybe we could start by asking our closest friends and our freshmen classmates?" Silvia casually chimed in, "That's a good idea. But let's not be too aggressive about it. Who knows if some of them might be affiliated with the actual perpetrators."
Cornelius took all his friends' suggestions to heart, "We could start there. But what puzzles me is what the real culprit meant by 'rigged the whole Academy with something dangerous…'? Is it dangerous magic?" Silvia pondered deeply. "That's a valid possibility. But who would go to the trouble of casting magic throughout the entire Academy? We have professors and expert staff who can handle it in case some people go on a rampage with their magic."
"Maybe there are so many of them involved in this conflict that it makes them bold?" Dianne said innocently. "Realistically, even if there are a hundred people going wild with their magic, I don't think it's possible for them to take over the Academy. Because she's still here until the end of spring."
Dianne tilted her head. "She?" Cornelius chuckled and replied, "Principal Veronica. A Mithril-rank Nature Mage—one of the very few people in the world to hold the title 'Mithril-rank.'" Cornelius then adopted a serious expression. "That's another thing that baffled me. Why have the perpetrators been announcing their actions lately? Wouldn't it be better to strike while Principal Veronica is traveling or away from the Academy? Unless..."
"They have a much better and more well-thought-out plan—one capable of opposing her and truly plunging the Academy into chaos." Silvia continued Cornelius's train of thought. Everyone there was stunned to hear that. "That's… bad, isn't it?" Dianne said, a little tense. Alex's face darkened. "If that's the case, then what he's worried about isn't something to be taken lightly."
Cornelius nodded, "Since we have no other option, then can we conclude that we'll carry out the plan we discussed earlier?" Before they could respond, they were startled by the sudden appearance of Eric, who was standing near their table. "What the hell!?" Dianne cursed, seeing Eric appear out of nowhere. Even his presence made Cornelius, Alex, and Silvia flinch—to the point they almost drew their respective weapons.
"Y-you idiot! You startled me!" Dianne threw a jab at Eric, prompting him to shrug nonchalantly. "It's no big deal, you know, little girl." Eric immediately sat down next to Cornelius with a serious expression. "I want to tell you guys something." Before Eric could speak, a male student approached their table. "Hello, everyone! Fancy meeting you guys here!"
The five of them turned to look at the boy. Alex nodded, recognizing him. "Ah, it's you. Is there something you need?" Alex was quick to assess the situation, making the boy smile. "Thank you, Alex. Anyway, I've already submitted my application for additional funding for my club. Are there any other documents I need if I want the student council to approve it quickly?"
Alex smiled and replied firmly, "Unfortunately, no. We on the student council always uphold professionalism regardless of a student's status." The boy slumped his shoulders. "Ugh… too bad. But it can't be helped… oh shoot! I forgot to return a book to the library! Sorry for interrupting the four of you!"
Cornelius and his friends were confused by the boy's statement. "Hello, excuse me~ but we also have Eric, you know~?" This time, the boy was the one confused by Cornelius's remark. "What do you mean? I only saw the four of you, you know? Besides, that asshole wouldn't dare show his face here after his humiliating defeat, isn't that right, Alex?"
His casual insult just now truly caught them off guard. Meanwhile, the person being mocked—Eric—just stared back with lazy eyes, completely unfazed. After the male student left, Cornelius looked at Eric with a bitter smile. "Based on what he said earlier, I think he wasn't lying when he said he only saw the four of us." Dianne swallowed hard. "Just… what did you do…?" Silvia and Alex looked at Eric seriously but said nothing.
Eric remained silent before letting out a big sigh. He ignored their questions and continued, "Last night, I was attacked by someone who had placed deadly runes along the pathway near the west gate." The four of them were shocked by the news. Cornelius was the first to notice the strangeness in Eric's words. "Wait. I didn't hear that wrong, did I? You were attacked by runes? Not people who have a problem with you?"
Dianne said quickly, "Hold on! Runes!?" Silvia chimed in calmly, though her expression was somewhat worried, "Please clarify what you said, Eric." Alex spoke calmly, his eyebrows furrowing. "This is the first time I've heard of this. Runes?"
Eric then recounted his deadly experiences with those killer runes, telling them everything except about his other eyes. The four of them were stunned to hear this, and Dianne was the first to speak up. "You dodged all those attacks?" Alex shook his head. "That's… unbelievable. But… seeing you here in one piece, I have to believe your words." Silvia said in a matter-of-fact tone, "As a member of the disciplinary committee, this is a dangerous situation. You're lucky, Eric." Even though she said that, Eric could sense a hint of concern in Silvia's tone.
Cornelius propped his chin up, deep in thought. "A conflict between a commoner and a noble. An attack using runes… I see. Looks like we've uncovered one major thing the perpetrators were actually planning." Everyone present turned to look at him. "Remember how the perpetrators mentioned something being 'rigged'? This is most likely their plan." Cornelius continued, "They rigged the Academy with hidden runes, as Eric mentioned earlier. Though we still don't know the scale of these runes or their exact locations, at least we know how they'll carry out the attack."
Everyone who heard that was quite shocked—except Eric. He clicked his tongue and made a displeased face. "Tsk. What a pain in the ass. The whole Academy, huh? Why would they go to all that trouble?" Dianne replied seriously, "I don't think their goal is simply to destroy the Academy. 'Civil war,' as His Highness said—maybe?" Silvia nodded, "You have a point. Maybe they placed dangerous runes to harm specific people—Eric is one of them."
Cornelius agreed with Silvia, "If that's true, then the targets of these perpetrators of terror are quite specific. Take Eric, for example. He's a high-ranking noble with a rotten and evil nature, even though he's a little meek now, his reputation is still terrible. Oh, no offense, okay~?"
"What do you mean 'a little meek', brat?" Eric said in a bone-chilling tone. Alex argued confidently, "We shouldn't jump to the conclusion that the runes are only targeting evil nobles. Plus, we still don't know what pattern or factors could trigger the runes to activate, right? Is it just the target's name, or is there something else?"
"That makes sense," said Cornelius, nodding his head. "So we have two goals now. The first is to find out who the real culprit is, and the second is to locate all the runes and, if possible, erase or deactivate them." Dianne, Alex, and Silvia agreed. The aloof boy then continued, "Guess we should also tell Leon and his gang, then." Silvia raised her hand, "Let me do it. Since I'm on the disciplinary committee, the perpetrators are unlikely to be suspicious and will consider my interaction with them to be normal."
"Wait, those guys are investigating this too?" Eric asked in surprise. Cornelius replied casually, "Indeed~ we're not the only ones President Frederick has asked for help."
Eric sighed, then stated his intention. "Count me in. But I'll act on my own and do as I please." His declaration was met with confusion. Alex asked seriously, "Why the sudden change of heart?" Eric stood up, feeling his business with the four of them was done, and replied to Alex's question. "I won't let anyone who's picking a goddamn fight with me run around freely as they please."
Cornelius chuckled lightly, looking amused. "Ahaha~ That's so like you, Eric!" Meanwhile, his three friends were surprised but appreciated Eric volunteering himself. "We'll let you know if we find anything," Alex said calmly. Eric nodded and simply replied, "Likewise. See you around, brats." Eric left without saying another word.
Not long after that, Cornelius and his friends also went their separate ways, returning to class. On his way back, Eric silently hoped that all of this wouldn't spiral out of control until they found the real culprit or do something about those runes.