Chapter 5

After finishing their casual lunch sandwiches, the two left the greenhouse.

As usual, there was no one around the old greenhouse.

"By the way, I heard there were supposed to be three candidates for the Miko, including your sister. Who are the other two? Your sister never mentioned them, and I've been a bit curious about it."

Still speaking in a hushed voice, Gilbert asked.

After the tutorial battle in the auditorium, the envoy sent from the country asked all the students again about the Miko candidates.

Sylvia was supposed to raise her hand, but of course, she couldn't do that now, so the scene shifted to a physical examination of the female students to look for the flower-patterned birthmark.

However, no one with the flower-patterned birthmark was found, and the selection ceremony was to be held with no one to oppose Lean.

Moreover, some students were absent that day, and if the birthmark was in a sensitive area, it wouldn't be visible. The envoys seemed to have concluded that the Miko candidate couldn't come forward due to the heavy responsibility.

Sylvia twisted her neck and made a difficult face at his question.

"Hmm. The thing is, I don't know either."

"What do you mean?"

"At this point, the other Miko candidate should be dead."

"Huh?"

Gilbert let out a startled cry.

In the game, there was indeed a Miko candidate with the azalea flower birthmark. However, she died early in the prologue.

About a week before transferring to Vrouhel Academy, Lean saw an article about a murder. The woman had a birthmark resembling an azalea on her shoulder.

At first, she didn't know what the birthmark meant, but the moment she realized she was a Miko candidate at the academy, she understood the significance of the birthmark.

The country also realized this and warned Lean and Sylvia to be careful, as the murder might have been targeting a Miko candidate.

Later in the game, several incidents occurred that were believed to be the work of the person who killed the azalea Miko. Everyone started calling this person the 'Killer,' derived from the English word 'Killer.'

"But I haven't heard anything about this at all. I've been keeping an eye on the news, but I didn't see any such articles..."

"Wait, hold on. Isn't this a bit too much of a last-minute reveal?"

Sylvia twisted her neck at Gilbert's clearly flustered expression.

"I just heard that your sister might die if we continue like this."

"That's right. I just told you that."

"Yet, in this situation, you're telling me that we might be targeted by a killer!?"

"Huh, shouldn't I have told you?"

"I'm saying it's too late to tell me this!!"

Sylvia blinked at the unprecedented intensity of his outburst.

In the game, there were two main ways Sylvia could die.

One was being punished for bullying Lean or harming someone else—this was the condemnation route.

The other was being killed by someone, including the Killer—this was the murder route.

Unlike the condemnation route, the murder route was shrouded in mystery.

She could be found with a knife in her chest the day after Lean was attacked, or floating in a river, or hanging from a tree in the mountains.

In all cases, the Killer was suspected, and the reason was believed to be because she was a Miko candidate.

Lean was also attacked several times by someone suspected to be the Killer, but she usually survived. If Lean died, it was often in a bad ending where Sylvia was the killer and was executed by beheading. In short, if Lean died, Sylvia was doomed to die as well.

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Well, no one asked me..."

"Even if no one asked, you should have told me! What do you think we're cooperating for!"

Sylvia covered her ears at his deafening shout.

She hadn't been hiding it; she just hadn't had the chance to bring it up.

"Alright, fine. I get it, you didn't have any ill intentions... So, in the end, do you know the Killer's identity in that 'game'?"

"It seems you can find out in the true ending..."

"But?"

"I actually haven't cleared it that far..."

Gilbert let out a clearly disappointed sigh.

"Well, that's understandable! I died before I could clear it!"

"But if we don't know the identity, we can't come up with a plan. The Killer might be targeting your sister, you know?"

"That's true, but I'm not a Miko candidate anymore, so..."

"You mean, 'you don't need to be that cautious'? That's too naive. Do you know the name of the Miko candidate who was killed?"

"That information never came up in the game..."

Gilbert sighed deeply again.

"This is really, really not your fault!"

"But, do you remember any other features besides the birthmark?"

"Um..."

She tried to recall. In the game, she had seen a photo of the girl who was killed, but it was heavily pixelated and hard to see.

As she struggled to remember, they reached a crowded street.

Suddenly, a chorus of high-pitched voices called out, "Cecil-sama!"

"Oh, no..."

Sylvia stumbled back in surprise. Before she knew it, a crowd of female students had gathered around her.

The 'Prince of the Academy' had also earned the title of 'Honorable Knight.' The girls, who were already infatuated with him, wouldn't let him go.

"Where have you been? I wanted to have lunch with you..."

"I brought a bento for Cecil-sama! It's a shame today, but maybe next time!"

"Ladies! We agreed no cutting in line! If you want to have lunch with Cecil-sama, it's all of us together!"

"Can I have coffee with you after lunch?"

"Even you!"

Sylvia smiled awkwardly at their chorus of requests.

They were like chicks flocking to a parent bird with food.

While it was a hassle to be surrounded like this every time, she couldn't treat them rudely. After all, Sylvia had to be more 'manly' than anyone else...

The conversation shifted from lunch to how wonderful Sylvia had been in the auditorium, and then to various other topics.

Sylvia raised her hand to stop the one-sided chatter and flashed her charming prince smile. She then gently traced the jawline of the girl in front of her with her long fingers.

"Don't chirp so much, little bird. I want to hear each of your beautiful songs one by one."

(Sylvia's sweet voice made the crowd of girls let out a chorus of high-pitched squeals.)

Outside the crowd, Gilbert watched with a disapproving look.

"By doing things like that, you just make it more complicated, don't you?"

"Huh? What? Sorry, I couldn't hear you, Gilbert."

"Never mind..."

Leaving the surrounded Sylvia behind, he walked back to the classroom alone.