Chapter 3
The Case Is Closed, So It’s Time for a Flashback!
Part 1
Dang, last night was wild. Who woulda guessed that the culprit behind the missing students was the head librarian, of all people?
After I spotted him kidnapping Claire and Alexia, I saw him tie them up amid that weird fog. Gotta say, that’s pretty creepy.
It’s fairly obvious the guy was a deviant. Despite being conflicted about his own nature, though, he wasn’t able to bring himself to stop.
Everyone’s got their own raison d’être, but when those goals run contrary to what society deems acceptable, people are forced to make a choice. They can follow their hearts, or they can snuff out their dreams.
I fall into the former camp, and so did he.
The fact that the mastermind behind the disappearances was just a pervert doesn’t quite play into my whole shadowbroker narrative, but there’s no arguing with the cold, hard facts.
When morning comes around, the academy is swarming with people from the Knight Order. I assume they’re investigating the whole librarian situation.
“Huh? Is that who I think it is?”
There’s a dark-haired girl trudging past the knights with her head hung low.
“Yeah, that’s Claire all right.”
It’s always a massive headache when she spots me, so this is the point where I’d normally go hide, but it seems like that won’t be necessary today. Doesn’t look like she’s gonna be noticing much of anything like that.
“Hum-dee-dum, dum-dee-dum.” I hum an idle little song to myself and bask in the morning light.
There I am, a perfectly unremarkable student.
The question is, how should I react when I “find out” about the librarian? Should I go for the classic background character freakout, or should I tremble in subdued fear?
As I’m trying to make up my mind, I walk past my sister.
“Hold it right there.” She catches my collar in a vise grip.
“H-hey there, Sis. You noticed me?” I turn around to find her glaring daggers at me.
“Of course I did. You got anything you want to say to me?”
“G-good morning?”
“Good morning, Cid. Anything else?”
“Not, uh…not that I can think of,” I reply after pondering for a moment.
I’m trying to remember if there was anything I needed to talk to my sister about, but nothing springs to mind.
“I’m depressed, Cid.”
“Oh.”
“My shoulders are slumped, and I look listless.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I would think that there’s something any good brother would say to his sister at times like these.”
“Uh…”
I allow myself three seconds to think.
“You look down. Is something wrong?”
“…You pass. But just barely.”
“Just barely?”
“You need to be more worried. Also, you need to intuit what’s wrong from the get-go.”
“I think you’re setting the bar a bit too high.”
“Still, it sounds like you’re curious, so I guess I can tell you.”
“I don’t think I ever said I that was—”
“You’re curious, right?”
“Oh man, I’m totally curious!” I say as Claire wrings my neck.
“It’s too noisy here, so let’s find somewhere else to talk.”
“Uh, what about getting to class?”
“School got canceled today.” Claire turns and looks back at the school building. “The head librarian died.”
I decide to respond to her hushed reveal with shock, just like any good background character would.
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