Chapter 25

The play ended, and cheers echoed through the auditorium. The students who had been sitting in their seats stood up to clap. In response to their praise, the actors came out to the front of the stage, waving to the audience. Eri and I, who were in charge of the backstage, and Mash, the pianist, also went up on stage. We lined up with Everest, the lead, and Persia, the antagonist, at the center, held hands, and bowed. Once again, a loud applause filled the air.

"It's a relief to see that you all enjoyed it. I hope to see you all again sometime," Everest concluded with her characteristic greeting, and we walked off the stage, enveloped in the cheers.

Once everyone had left the stage, the three girls held hands, still excited, and let out excited squeals.

"Good job," I said, approaching Persia and giving her a light nudge on the shoulder.

"...Lord Roy," Persia said, turning to me. Her movements were unusually slow.

"Overwhelmed by the applause?"

"...Perhaps."

Whenever he received praise from a large crowd, he was always overwhelmed by the sheer energy. The emotions of each individual gathered like a tsunami, crashing over him. Since Persia usually took a backstage role, he rarely experienced such raw emotions being directed at him.

"You were a great villain," I said, and Persia's expression softened.

"Thank you," he replied, and I nodded in return.

Just then, a murmur came from the stage. Looking over, I saw two students standing there: Liam and Desmond. The murmur grew louder as more students in the auditorium recognized them. Why were they there? They were supposed to be on suspension. What were these two, accused of murder, up to now? The faces of the students visible from the wings showed fear, but also anticipation, as if something exciting was about to happen.

"Murderers!"

Someone shouted, and insults were hurled at Liam and Desmond one after another.

"Listen to us! We didn't do it!"

Mash's magic amplified Liam's voice, drowning out the students' shouts.

"It's true. We didn't do it! We admit to bullying Ruby and Livy! I admit I'm that kind of person! But, but killing someone... I would never do that! Come on, think about it. No normal person would do that!"

Liam's voice lacked confidence. From where I stood in the wings, I could see that he was trying his best to act tough, but his mouth was twitching, and he couldn't manage a proper smile.

"You're lying! There's no one else!"

"You can't just talk your way out of this!"

Angry voices flew from the audience. Liam stomped his foot in frustration, and the vibration reached me in the wings. I suddenly felt a sense of unease. While Liam was showing his emotions, Desmond was unusually quiet. Focusing on his profile, I noticed that his expression hadn't changed at all. This feeling... I had seen it somewhere recently. Where was it...?

"It's not a lie! They just died on their own! They suddenly pulled out knives... ugh..."

Liam covered his mouth with his hand.

"That's impossible."

"Come up with a better excuse!"

"Are you trying to get sympathy?"

Liam fell to his knees on the stage. His story wasn't believable, but he seemed genuinely upset. Tears welled up in his eyes.

"Hey, look..."

A female student in front of Desmond noticed something. She pointed to his feet. There was a dark red liquid pooling there, dripping from his left foot onto the floor. A few others nearby began to notice as well.

"What is that? ...Huh? Des? Hey, Des. What's going on—"

Desmond turned to Liam, his face twisted into a disturbing smile. He slowly lay down on his back, not minding the red liquid staining his back.

"Ruby, where are you? Come quickly!"

Desmond flailed his limbs on the floor. This scene was familiar. It was a mimicry of Ruby's father, which had led to the fight with Gerard.

"Hey, stop it now..."

Liam tried to stop him, but Desmond didn't stop.

"I can't move because I don't have any limbs! Come quickly!"

His distorted voice echoed through the auditorium, but no one laughed. Suddenly, Desmond stopped moving and sat up. The liquid on the floor was partially wiped away, and his uniform back was soaked. He reached into his uniform and pulled out a knife. Something dripped from the tip and fell to the floor.

Desmond stood up, his right hand holding the knife trembling. Liam, who had been in a daze, seemed to realize something and quickly stood up, reaching for Desmond's right hand.

"Stop it!"

Liam grabbed Desmond's arm holding the knife. In the next moment, the arm was flung up, and the knife he was gripping stabbed into Desmond's eye. His knees buckled like a puppet's strings had been cut, and he fell forward, off the stage.

The auditorium erupted into chaos. Some tried to move away from the stage, others rushed out of the auditorium. Those who remained continued to accuse Liam of being a murderer but stayed away from the stage. Amidst this, one person rushed to the stage.

"Liam!"

It was Wendy. I remembered that she was Liam's sister. She climbed onto the stage and hugged Liam, who was standing there in a daze.

"It's the same... as before... It wasn't me. I didn't do it..."

Liam's eyes were fixed on Desmond, who had fallen off the stage. It looked like Liam had grabbed Desmond's hand and stabbed him in the eye, but something didn't add up. The liquid pooling at Desmond's feet was blood. When Liam was protesting his innocence, the knife was already in Desmond. If that was the case, Desmond must have pulled the knife out from his body, not from inside his uniform.

I followed my intuition and focused my magic on my eyes, looking at Desmond on the floor. A faint glow was visible above his eye, and a thin thread of light extended from it to the wall of the auditorium. That was...

"Stay away from Liam Dalton!"

Mr. Nash, a male teacher, rushed into the auditorium, raising his staff.

"Are you going to shoot him if I don't?"

Wendy glared at Mr. Nash, clearly not intending to move.

"No, I will only restrain him."

"I don't want to. In this situation, if I move away, it will be... over."

"...Move," Liam said in a low voice.

"Huh? —Kyaa!"

Wendy let out a confused cry as Liam pushed her away with both hands. The next moment, a water spell shot from Mr. Nash's staff, hitting Liam's torso. Liam rolled on the stage, clutching his solar plexus and curling up in pain.

"Liam!"

Wendy tried to get up and rush to him, but Mr. Nash reached Liam first. I grabbed Wendy's arm to stop her from going to Liam. She turned to me.

"You..."

"I think it's best to leave it to the teacher for now."

I was almost certain that Liam wasn't the culprit. But from the outside, it looked like he had killed three classmates. Given her precarious position as a family member, it wasn't wise for her to continue protecting him and give others a bad impression.

I wasn't sure if she understood my intention, but Wendy relaxed and hung her head.

She had said they didn't have a good relationship, yet she was still protecting her brother, especially one with so many problems. I couldn't help but wonder what made her do it.