Vol 1 Chapter 6 (1/2)
Chapter 6 - True Self
(1)
The previous night
After inspecting the devoured automaton, Lisette called out to Raishi+n just as he was about to go off
She infor with Tyrant Rex and warned himund was a Bandoll
Shortly after that
“Do you have any questions so far?”
“Yeah, I—“
The youth in front of her spoke lightly— but his eyes had a sharp glint as he spoke
“Why were you there when Cannibal Candy was devouring his prey?”
They gazes clashed with each other She could feel her eyebrow start to twitch Lisette pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, replying him with her face hidden
“Are you trying to say I’m Cannibal Candy?”
“But you were there, weren’t you?”
“No I just received the report and dashed quickly to the scene By the tih, Cannibal Candy had already disappeared”
“Oh? I was under the impression that you had seen the moment of the attack”
“… Why would you think that?”
“Hm Is that so? I see”
“Please stop with your insinuations It is extre”
Raishi+n gave her a sidelong glance It was a strong stare, the weight of which caused a shi+ver of fear to run down her spine which she couldn’t supress
“You identified one of the devoured puppets as thestar wielder, didn’t you?”
“… I did”
“How did you know that? The face was smashed in; you shouldn’t have been able to identify it at all”
“Anyone who saould have come to the same conclusion There was that unique iron ball—“
“Which was ss of the devoured puppet, wasn’t it?”
Lisette was taken aback She finally realised what Raishi+n was i
“Yes, it looks like you get it now Anyone who saw that situation would nor star wielder was the one who attacked For anyone to conclude that the weapon had been turned against the user hie Like— if you already knew that the devoured puppet was the … for example
“… That’s if you thought about it normally”
Desperately trying to keep her voice froument
“I didn’t think that the perpetrator would leave behind specific evidence that would be incri, he surely would have taken it with him when he left”
“Is that so? He looks to beabout as they were”
“— That in itself isn’t so considered unique to his MO”
“So that was the logic behind your conclusion”
“Stop trying to find faults where they aren’t! I’m totally innocent!”
Raishi+n wryly laughed and raised both hands in a gesture of peace
‘Don’t get so worked up It’s just a doubt that’s been bothering me for a while”
Turning away, he started walking in an unguarded manner
“That’s all I wanted to ask you Well then— oh, right”
He stopped Turning his head over his shoulder,
“I think you’veAt no point did I ever say that you were Cannibal Candy”
“—!”
“I just asked if you were there”
“… It appears I was mistaken”
With an irritating laugh, Raishi+n left the room
Lisette bit her lip tightly— and in the next instant, she lashed out at the teacher’s lectern
The lectern cru about on the floor
(2)
The ht failed to reach here, the darkness deep and impenetrable
‘Here’ was a tunnel formed by trees that was a little ways off thethe day it was pitch black
A at a brisk pace
Her body leant forward, she was taking big strides with squared shoulders
Behind her, Sigs to catch up
“Let’s go back, Charl”
Charl ignored hi forward
“How long do you plan on carrying on like this?”
“You’re being very noisy Be quiet”
“Stop adding to your list of crimes committed Return to your bed”
“Hht”
“Cease this foolishness, Charl”
Sigs While skilfully flying backwards, he started to lecture her like a nagging old man
“You should already know by now, even if you succeed by doing things this way, it won’t bring you happiness Do you plan on living your whole life as a social outcast? What you need right now is the acknowledg to shoulder burdens all by yourself There’s no one in the world who doesn’t need a friend to walk hand in hand with”
“I told you to be quiet already, didn’t I!?”
She smund away
“If you keep this up, I’ll change your daily diet to peanuts”
Sig in front of Charl once again
“Why are you so worked up? Did Felix say so to you?”
Charl lips snapped shut
Signation
“It shows on your face You’re too easy to read sometimes”
“Quiet If you understand, then just shut up and help me”
“All the more reason to refuse, Charl If you really want to be acknowledged by that ht and win inside the Night Party fair and square and you’ll silence all the gossip surrounding you”
Charl suddenly came to a stop
Perhaps Siguished expression on her face
“But I can’t forgive this… How can you expect me to sit quietly by the side and watch on…!?”
“You’re not a representative of the law, neither are you a disciplinary coilantism is merely your own selfishness”
“That’s just a coward’s logic! noblesse Oblige—“
The fire in her eyes died out almost as immediately as it had appeared
Without Sig to point it out, she had already noticed her error
Charl was using the pretence of public indignation as a surrogate for her own anger and hatred
Sigently landed on her crestfallen shoulders
“You have a precious drealess battles You have your family to think about—“
“… That’s enough, Sigmund”
Her voice was unnaturally strained Sig the surrounding darkness
Finally, he noticed so
Fifty ht of their current location, there was an alien object wriggling about!
The shadoas crawling around on all fours at the base of a tree, hidden inside the impenetrable darkness
It showed no signs of breathing, and itthe time and the place, there weren’t any hu around on all fours now
So, it was an automaton
The edges of Charl’s lips twisted For a brief moment, her aristocratic face e beast
“Finally, it looks like we’ve found our prey”
“Wait, Charl We should ascertain who or what that is first”
“All the good boys and girls should be in bed by now The only kind of people ould be sneaking around at this tiht…”
Charl began to radiate y from her hair to her shoulders Inside the darkness, the bluish white light that shone sparkled like y coalesced into a bundle of light which flowed into Sigmund
Siger
“It’s no good, Charl There isn’t enough light here”
“It’s fine even if you’re like that Make sure you keep him alive, Raster Flare!”
The little dragon opened its jaw Countless needles of dazzling light poured forth fro it As its name implied, it was not the blast of a cannon, but contained the smaller explosive power of a flare
The quadrupedal automaton collapsed under the attack
All four li it to the ground
“Got it!”
Charl rejoiced Just as she ran over to confirm what she had hit,
“Don’t move!”
Intense and angry voices closed in on her from all four sides
Hidden in the treetops and shadows, countless human presences revealed themselves
Charl realised she had been coht— ten individuals All of them had their lamps turned towards her To call their attitudes hostile would be an understatement
Also, all of them had an armband around their arms
(The disciplinary committee…!?)
His s, someone walked up in front of a discomfited Charl
“Pefect ti is better than perfect”
“Felix—“
Felix turned gloo at it
“That’s one of ht I’d see if I could try to fish Cannibal Candy out, so I released three baits into the open”
Charl was confused She didn’t understand thebehind Felix’s words Was he upset that she had interfered with their search?”
“Charl Do you knohy I’m here?”
“… This is a sting operation”
Felix nodded
“I heard you sneak out of your rooht happen, I ordered the area to be cordoned off”
Was she being suspected of being…?
As soon as she realised it, she was gripped by an unspeakable fear
“No! I thought that automaton was Cannibal Candy!”
“So you were trying to capture it, is that right?”
His gaze was full of suspicion Being stared at like that, Charl felt her explanation slide back down her throat
“You are a scheduled entrant into the Night Party Even so, Cannibal Candy would still be a threat to you However, surely he wasn’t that big a threat for you that you needed to proactively hunt him out, was he?”
“I just… I thought… It was unforgivable…”
“The boardingout of the dorularly”
Charl flinched in surprise
That certainly was true
As trivial as it may have been, Charl did break the rules, and she had done so repeatedly
“Did you think your absence would have gone unnoticed?”
“But I wasn’t doing anything to feel guilty about! I snuck out of the dormitory—“
“To search for Cannibal Candy”
“… That’s right!”
“Oh, Charl… Don’t you think it’s time to drop the act?”
“—!”
Felix shook his head He had a bitter expression on his face that was a nation and betrayal The look in his eyes was no longer gentle or kind
“Now that I think about it, your actions have been inco about Cannibal Candy with indignation in your voice— but that too was strange”
Felix sighed When he started speaking again, the warmth in his tone had vanished
“You hate people, and you don’t mix around much with others How could I have expected you to feel any sympathy for those students ere attacked? Also—“
There was no emotion in his voice as he continued in a monotone
“You got close to Raishi+n Akabane Soot close to someone as callous as him”
“No—!”
“In other words, your hatred of Cannibal Candy— it was merely a show you put on”
“No! I really—!”
“If we assu you did was to avoid suspicion, then all the pieces fall into place”
“Why!? How can you say that!? What evidence is there!?”
“There is evidence We found it in your room”
Charl’s eyes widened They couldn’t have— did they find that!?
“Wait, I can explain! Those ic circuits—“
The disciplinary committee members stirred Charl realised her mistake
“Charl… So, those were really hidden by you”
Felix had a sad look on his face On one hand, there was the possibility of a third party hiding theainst Charl, or even Cannibal Candy himself could have placed them there to fraic circuits herself, and so those circuits were now incri evidence
However, it couldn’t be helped and she couldn’t defend herself The truth was Charl herself did conceal a large aic circuits in her room
“You have hare number of students thus far”
Once again, she couldn’t say anything for it was the truth
“You were always aloof and solitary, and your surroundings were filled with nothing but enemies Under these circumstances, wouldn’t your hatred build up?”
“What are you i?”
Felix spoke slowly, like he was trying to confir
“The reason why our investigation could never get a hold of Cannibal Candy was he was a loner, and so no one had any clue as to his movements”
“…”
“After learning that Raishi+n Akabane had agreed to assist the disciplinary coer Why? Because he wasn’t afraid of you and persistently tried to approach you despite your rejections If anyone were to get close to you, they would smell a rat”
“…”
“And that’s why you went out with him; to create an alibi and so throw suspicion off of you Or et hireat beauty”
Her shoulders treht of as soood reason and use seduction as a means to an end
“You should understand what I’ to say, no?”
Felix gave a long, deep sigh, like he was es
Staring at Charl with bitter chagrin, Felix finally spoke
“In other words, Charlotte Belew You’re Cannibal Candy”
(3)
Raishi+n was sent flying from the violently painful blow he received on his back
Crashi+ng into the locker, the glass shattered as they both s the violently loud clatter to echo throughout the building
Slowly, blood began to spread across the floor
After the dust had settled, Raishi+n was left buried under the locker, co
Lisette emotionlessly watched over the chaos
Having heard all the sounds, the guards soon ca much noise, their automata in tow
They were on high alert and in battle stances Their autoets The puppeteers’ voices were exceedingly cold as they asked,
“… What happened here?”
Lisette panted wildly and her voice was raised as she replied
“C… Call the executive committee please”
“What happened? Are you ok?”
“He… He was going to destroy the autorettably, I had to attack him”
Still reh alert, one of them move inside the room to confirm Lisette’s story
“I see Wow, this is pretty bad”
The puppeteer grimaced as his lamp illuminated the pool of blood on the floor
“You did this by yourself?”
“Luckily, my automaton was here”
She pointed to the locker The guard was a little suspicious, but didn’t press any further and turned back to Raishi+n’s body
“He’s still breathing, albeit faintly”
“I tried to avoid trying his vital points However, it would be best if we brought him to the doctor’s office immediately”
“We’ll arrange that Leave this to us”
Signalling his partner, they started to turn and walk away, but Lisette called out to them
“Please wait There is a possibility that he— Raishi+n Akabane is working with Cannibal Candy”
“What do you mean?”
“He ht have tried to create a disturbance here so as to cover up thehe said inti about the automaton in front…?”
“Alright We’ll restrain it”
“Please”
“What about you?”
“I have to rendezvous with the rest of the disciplinary committee and report this to them There’s a chance that Cannibal Candy will move— no, there’s a possibility that he may have already made his move”
“Hm… You’re the eyewitness to this commotion I’d prefer it if you remained here”