Chapter 31
SVEN AND HIS CO-CONSPIRATORS had a horde of voyeuristic photos that they’d used to draw nude photos of their classmates.
After questioning the three, several other mysteries became clear.
First, there was the testimony from Dielid of the School of Sorcery, which had led them to suspect the three.
“I can’t believe we got it wrong from the very beginning…”
Dielid had said that he’d heard the three of them conspiring to do something the coming week while outside the banquet hall. What’s more, this discussion had taken place exactly one week prior to the graffiti incident. It was for this reason that Mira and her companions thought that they’d been conspiring about drawing the graffiti.
But the truth was something different entirely.
“To think they had these deals lined up right under the academy’s nose,” Luminaria said, smiling as if this were all some raunchy coming-of-age comedy.
The three had made a black-market deal to sell the voyeuristic photos they’d taken. While the cache of photos they’d obtained was for their hobbies and personal consumption, they were also a form of merchandise. Dilgen’s nude drawings were made to order.
While they’d thought the three had gathered outside of the banquet hall, in light of all they’d learned, it would be more accurate to say that they were gathered outside the girls’ changing room—which was right across from the banquet hall. And they’d been there to scout the area and see whether or not they might be able to sneak some photos inside.
“Now that you mention it, the girls’ changing room is right there, isn’t it?” Mira nodded, thinking back to where exactly the banquet hall was situated.
On that note, it wouldn’t make much sense to come up with such a plan right outside where you were to strike. Rather, you’d make plans somewhere a bit further away—which would be directly outside the banquet hall if they were planning on raiding the changing room.
And when Emilia had come up to them, it’d been right after they sold some of the photos of her. Thinking that she’d somehow gotten word of the sale, they’d fled the way they had.
Having questioned the three and heard what they had to say, they reached the conclusion that the three weren’t responsible for the graffiti.
“Either way, we can’t leave you alive,” declared Emilia coldly.
At present, cameras were still new, and there weren’t many laws when it came to such behavior. It was unlikely the three would be sent to prison anytime soon. And since the law wouldn’t punish them, they couldn’t just let them go scot-free considering all the privacy that had been invaded.
“All right, all right, how about you leave the rest of this to the adults,” Luminaria said, grabbing hold of Emilia as she was about to begin another round of beatings. Then she turned to Mira and asked her to summon the principal.
This was an internal school affair, after all. It would be best to explain the whole situation to the principal.
“Hrmm, will do,” Mira said, nodding back. She then asked First Pupil, who was waiting nearby, to deliver the message.
“…and so that’s what happened. Now can you find the school principal and tell him that?”
“Leave it to me, meow!”
Considering First Pupil’s considerable intuition and how agile he was, he would be able to deliver the message quicker than Mira would. With that in mind, Mira watched as First Pupil dashed off.
Mira and her companions had caught the masterminds behind a black-market Peeping Tom operation. Having successfully brought an end to these incidents that were secretly plaguing the school, the female students could all breathe easy again.
However, this presented another issue.
“But we’re right back where we started…”
While they’d determined that Sven and his buddies were the perpetrators of another crime, this also meant that their investigation into who was behind the graffiti on Danblf’s portrait was back to square one.
Questioning the three about the graffiti incident just to be safe, they determined that the boys had absolutely nothing to do with it. They now figured that the portrait had been vandalized sometime between when the School of Sorcery had cleaned the room and when Emilia and the others from the School of Evocation had entered the room. During that time, Sven and his buddies had been super busy getting ready to make their sales. They needed to sort their photos, come up with buyer lists, and provide final invoices to their customers. They’d been so busy updating where and when sales were to go down that they hadn’t even had time to go near the banquet hall.
“If you really want some proof, I can show you this hourly schedule of our transactions. And even if we did have time for such childish pranks, we’d be more likely to spend it in some shrubs trying to get the perfect shot.”
Sven boasted that drawing graffiti or other pranks of the sort didn’t profit them at all. Meanwhile, Dilgen proclaimed that he’d rather be drawing nudes, and Roger replied that he’d much rather spend such time watching girls in the school courtyard.
Furthermore, it didn’t seem as if the three had spotted any suspicious-looking individuals.
So, after a brief interrogation, the principal and several teachers finally arrived.
“Oh dear, I apologize for the wait,” the principal said, bowing to Mira. His gaze then turned to Luminaria and his face tensed up as an inordinate amount of anxiety began pulsing through his entire body.
They should have expected as much of the academy’s principal. While Luminaria was disguised as a female student, he seemed to have seen through her disguise with but a single look.
“I’ve already heard about the situation, but…”
More so than why Luminaria was there, the principal seemed to be wondering why she was dressed as a student. Doing his very best to remain calm, he exchanged a few more words with them before dragging away Sven and his companions.
They would be suspended, forced to pen written apologies, and have whatever profits they’d earned confiscated and donated to their victims. In addition, they’d need to do several months of community service.
The teachers who accompanied the principal then collected the photos that served as evidence. They inspected the contents of the boxes that Sven and his companions had taken out and those of the other boxes that were in the corner of the room, then confiscated them.
While the teachers were checking these boxes, they managed to get a quick look at what was inside. Sven and his companions didn’t just have photos of female students but of all different kinds of living things. There were photos of male students, teachers, and even pictures of small animals.
Perhaps owing to Sven’s remarkable ability to clandestinely get close to others without them noticing, he’d managed to get some utterly adorable photos of small animals who’d been completely oblivious to his presence.
“These are…kinda cute.”
“Right?”
The female teachers were utterly engrossed by the small animal photos. Mira was standing nearby, breaking into a smile at the sight of such cuteness.
“They are… But I kinda feel like it’s a shame.”
“He’s pretty talented at stuff like this, huh?”
At some point, Emilia and Luminaria poked their heads over to take a look, too.
While the secret photos he’d taken had been wrong, there was nothing wrong with pictures of small animals. If he worked to polish his skills when it came to those kinds of photos, he might be able to become a wonderful animal photographer.
Thinking as much, Mira watched reluctantly as the boxes (including a box full of upskirt shots) were hauled away.
While they’d managed to close one case, they were right back to square one.
“So what kind of criminal shall we go after next…?”
Having, for the moment, returned to the scene of the crime—the banquet hall—Mira and her companions brooded as they looked up at the graffiti-covered portrait.
“On second thought, it’s kinda artistic,” Luminaria chuckled, standing before the portrait of the now comical-looking Danblf.
Cleos said the graffiti had been drawn on the glass that was over the portrait. Once they received the cleaning agent that would come the following day, it would be as good as new. They could just scrub it off—problem solved.
However, Emilia and Mira were both of the opinion that this didn’t mean they could just pretend like it’d never happened.
“How about we go over everything from the very beginning.”
“Okay, let’s do it!”
“Roger that, meow!”
“It is important to review the facts.”
Since they were starting from square one, Mira and her companions decided to go over their investigation from the very beginning.
First, for some reason, the culprit had specifically targeted the portrait of Danblf.
Second, the culprit had somehow gotten into a room that was normally locked when not being cleaned.
Those two points were the most important.
Mira and her companions outlined the key points of their investigation once more and were left wondering where to go from there…
“Perhaps we ought to question everyone that came in here the day before yesterday…”
“If we can just have a nice little chat with all of them, then someone might even confess, don’t you think?”
There was no need to question them like they had with Sven and his buddies and end up investigating another separate case. Still, Mira and Emilia began thinking that they might as well employ more extreme tactics.
Then, as the two stared up at the Danblf portrait and could feel their blood beginning to boil, they heard something.
“Who is it?!” First Pupil cried out. And sure enough, at that moment the door flew open like the wind.
…Who was it?
“Agh!”
There, on the other side of the door, stood a young boy. He looked quite surprised, but moments later, a sheepish look appeared on his face, and he began looking about him.
“Hrmm, aren’t you…?”
“Phil? What’s up?”
This was Phil, who had been in the classroom with Emilia when Mira had gone to pick her up. He was also the talented boy who had transferred to the School of Evocation from the orphanage run by Artesia and Lastrada a few weeks prior, when it was discovered that he had an aptitude for evocation. He now seemed completely different from how he’d been when Mira caught sight of him in the classroom.
“Um, uh… I heard Emilia…was here…” he stuttered, looking at Emilia.
“Hrmm, I’m assuming you must have business with Emilia?”
Emilia had said she’d been looking after Phil. In which case, if he had any questions about his studies or evocation, she’d likely be the first person he’d go to. That was why Mira assumed he wanted to speak with her.
Phil stood there and blinked. Then, staring directly at Mira, his eyes opened wide in amazement.
“…Huh? Is that you, Big Sis?!”
Unlike when they’d hung out at the orphanage, Mira had dyed her hair and was now in disguise as a student. And yet, Phil had figured out it was her from the sound of her voice. His face shone with childlike joy and surprise.
“Oh ho, you realized it was me. That’s right! It certainly is.”
“Why are you here?” Phil asked, appearing confused after hearing Mira’s confirmation.
“Well…I’m here because I heard someone scribbled graffiti on the portrait of Danblf. And as a lover of summoning, there was no way I could possibly let such a thing go unpunished!” Mira declared, her countenance seething with rage.
“I…see.” Phil looked a tad pale. “Um…” he said, looking up fearfully and staring at the portrait.
“Hrmm. That man is the great, pre-eminent summoner known as Danblf!” Mira said proudly, really heaping on the self-praise. Behind her, Luminaria grinned at Mira’s apparent need to pat herself on the back but was otherwise disinclined to jump in.
“And now, thanks to this thoughtless graffiti, he’s in quite a sorry state. What kind of despicable villain would do such a thing? Really!” Mira said indignantly, looking up at the portrait.
“They really are the worst!” Emilia added in agreement.
Meanwhile, Phil’s face was growing paler and paler as he stood and listened.
Luminaria quietly made her way over beside Phil, whose mouth was shut tight. Then, putting a hand on his shoulder, Luminaria leaned down and whispered something into his ear.
That moment she did, Phil’s expression became a mix of surprise and sadness. And yet, as Luminaria continued to whisper in his ear, the look on his face gradually turned to one of firm resolve.
“Come on now, knowing those two, you’ll be fine,” Luminaria said, clapping Phil on the back.
“Hrmm? What’s going on?”
“What is it?”
Having heard what Luminaria said, Mira and Emilia turned around to see what was the matter.
As they did, Phil quietly walked over to both of them.
“Um…” Phil said, hesitating. He took a deep breath and determinedly opened his mouth to speak. Then, summoning all his courage, Phil confessed, “I’m sorry! I was the one who drew the graffiti!”
Mira and Emilia had been furiously searching for whoever had been behind the crime. And it was Phil all along.
“What…was that?”
“Phil… What’re you saying?!”
Mira and Emilia were taken aback. They both turned around and stared at Phil as if they’d been stabbed in the back. They couldn’t believe that the boy—a fellow summoner—had committed such a malicious, heinous, and unconscionable act! Accordingly, the look on their faces was one of complete shock.
“I didn’t really wanna say anything because of how much fun this was. But jeez, it’s crazy how much of a storm that little bit of graffiti caused,” Luminaria said, shrugging her shoulders and smiling, while staring at the shocked figures of Mira and Emilia.
Just like Luminaria said, drawing graffiti was very much the kind of shenanigans that young children were known for. At most, one might get a little bit angry at a child for doing that or have them clean it up as punishment. Surely, it didn’t make sense to do anything as draconian as calling for their head, like Mira and Emilia had been doing. Not only that, the graffiti had only been drawn on the glass protecting the portrait. Once it was removed, it’d be as good as new.
And yet, the one who had whipped up such a storm was Mira herself. If she hadn’t been involved and if Emilia hadn’t jumped on the bandwagon, it never would’ve become such a big deal.
Phil might’ve confessed earlier, too.
“I didn’t expect you’d ever end up catching the masterminds behind a secret photo ring.”
Laughing at the fuss they’d created over a child’s prank, Luminaria looked quite confident as she said, “It’s the kind of thing children do when they want attention, yeah?”
“Don’t tell me you knew from the very beginning?” Mira said, glaring at Luminaria.
Luminaria answered by simply shaking her head.
“No, I only just realized it. It was plain as day that he felt bad about something and had come to apologize. But I guess neither of you were seeing clearly enough to notice.”
She’d only just realized that Phil was the one behind the crime. But that didn’t stop Luminaria from poking fun at the two by implying that they’d been blinded by rage.
“Grrr…!”
“Hng…”
Mira and Emilia then thought back on how Phil had been when he walked in. Sure enough, they realized that it had seemed as if he’d wanted to say something.
“Was it really you, Phil?” Emilia asked the boy with a demure look on her face after walking over to him.
She spoke calmly and with restraint, quite unlike how she’d been speaking up until then. Despite this, Emilia must’ve felt her blood boiling. And yet, while he was responsible for the crime, he was also her beloved junior whom she was looking after and taking care of. She felt a complicated mix of emotions.
“Yeah… I’m sorry.” Looking down and nodding, Phil shut his eyes tight.
At that moment, anger flashed once more into Emilia’s eyes. But who could blame her? After all, he’d purposely defaced something that she held so dear.
Nevertheless, she took a big breath and asked, “Why would you do something like that?”
She firmly believed that he wouldn’t do such a thing simply as a prank or a practical joke. There had to be some reason…
“Well…because…I just wanted you to…” Phil said, holding back his tears and explaining why he’d done it.
His voice was so thick with emotion that it was hard to understand. And his feelings were getting the better of him, so he couldn’t quite articulate what he was trying to say. As he continued to speak, he was able to express more and more how he felt and why he’d drawn graffiti on the portrait of Danblf. It all stemmed from childish jealousy.
First off, the School of Evocation was currently a bit unique in that the ages of the first-year students varied wildly, with some being children and others being teenagers or even adults. And so, for someone who’d enrolled midsemester like Phil, it must’ve been next to impossible to fit in. While this was going on, Emilia had shown up and taken him under her wing. Children are very open and trusting, and Phil quickly took a liking to Emilia. To help him catch up with the other students, she’d set aside some time in the mornings and after school to help with his training. To Phil, that extra practice time was very important and something he really treasured.
But always hearing Emilia saying “Master Danblf this” and “Master Danblf that” had begun to make him jealous. And while this jealousy was growing, his after-school practice with her had become self-practice. Emilia was now getting private lessons from none other than Danblf’s disciple.
A few days later—yesterday, in fact—he’d decided to turn to crime.
The final straw was that, while the special lessons were supposed to only be after school, Emilia’s private tutoring had even robbed him of his morning lessons. Danblf had robbed him of every minute of that precious time… Provoked by this, and filled to bursting with frustration, the dam holding back his jealousy burst. In a fit of rage, he vented his frustration by drawing graffiti over the portrait of Danblf.
That was the whole story.
“…It was because of me?!”
Learning that the source of Phil’s frustration was none other than herself, Mira appeared dismayed, as if she were the one to blame.
“It sure seems that way. Talk about ironic!” Luminaria said, laughing. She then declared how it was a grievous sin to steal a sweet young boy’s big sister and rob him of his time with her. And given that that was exactly what Mira had done, she got what she deserved.
Hearing what both had said, Phil tilted his head inquisitively, as if wondering why they were implying Mira was responsible.
“Oh, kid. Haven’t you heard? Mira is the pupil of Danblf’s who’s been giving Emilia private lessons.”
Having picked up from the boy’s expression that he didn’t yet know this, Luminaria filled him in on the other half of the story. Meanwhile, Mira, who had become the villain, processed what’d been said and averted her gaze. It was true that their special lessons had gotten off to a pretty rapid start.
Knowing that she’d taken away Emilia’s time with Phil, she felt a bit guilty.
“I see, so that’s what happened.”
However, upon learning that Mira was Danblf’s pupil, Phil’s countenance changed to one of relief. That was because he’d just learned that Danblf’s pupil wasn’t some strange, unknown person…but rather someone that he loved just as much as Emilia. It seemed whatever remaining feelings of jealousy he’d harbored were now gone.
“I’m sorry, Phil. I promised that I’d show you the ropes of summoning. But I was so happy to hear that Miss Mira would teach me that I started thinking only about myself,” Emilia said, letting Phil know that she was sorry for making him feel lonely.
“And I’m sorry, Phil. I didn’t know that you two had an important promise like that,” Mira said, apologizing for being the one to cause all the trouble.
Hearing this, Phil repeatedly shook his head back and forth and answered that neither of them had done anything wrong.
“I’m sorry, Mira. And I’m sorry, Emilia!” he said, apologizing for impulsively drawing the graffiti.
Having all apologized to each other and heard what one another had to say, the three forgave each other.
And with that, the case of the graffitied portrait was solved.
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