Demons working together.
Demons taking orders from other Demons
...What the hell happened over the last century?
"Hey, Lars...?"
...To keep powerful creatures like the Creeper and even the Headless under his command, whoever’s behind this has to be incredibly strong.
"...Lars...?"
...And not many Demons are powerful enough to wield that kind of authority.
"...Hey, Lars, can you hear me?"
When Lars finally looked up at the girl who kept calling him, she froze for a moment.
It was Emily, one of Camila’s three closest friends.
Of the three, she was the only one who wasn’t directly taking part in any of the festival events.
Because of that, she had been assigned to help organize the food stalls along with Lars, Niall, and around twenty other students.
Camila, Jessica, and Mia, on the other hand, were all starters on Miskatonic’s girls’ volleyball team.
"What do you want?"
Lars asked in such a cold tone that Emily needed a few seconds to work up the courage to answer.
"...W-Well, um... we’re taking turns suggesting what to serve at the stalls, so..."
"Do whatever you want."
Emily flinched slightly, but forced herself to continue.
"Y-You know, though... since we’re the ones who’ll have to cook, we should probably choose something everyone knows how to make... W-What can you cook?"
Lars thought about it for a few moments.
"Splanchna."
Emily blinked.
"Is that, like... a disease?"
"No. Roasted entrails from animals sacrificed to the gods. Quite delicious."
"A-Animals offered to the gods, you mean...?"
"Yes. That’s what I said."
"I-I see..."
Even Emily didn’t know why she kept indulging this surreal conversation.
"...What kind of animals?"
"Sheep, goats... depends on what you have."
"I’m not sure... I-It depends on what we can find at the supermarket."
"They don’t sell goats?"
"...Whole goats, you mean?!"
"Yes. Preferably still alive."
Emily stared at him, even more confused than before.
She couldn’t tell whether Lars was serious or just messing with her.
She was definitely leaning toward the latter.
"Y-Yeah, um... o-one last thing... which gods does the recipe say we’re supposed to offer the sacrifice to...?"
"Depends on the occasion. Since this is a school competition, I suppose Athena would be the most appropriate choice."
Emily fell silent for a moment.
"O-Okay, we’ll keep that in mind... thanks for your contribution."
"You’re welcome."
An awkward silence fell over the classroom, where more than twenty students had gathered.
Then one boy suddenly shot to his feet.
"...What’s the point of going through all this trouble with the preparations? It’s obvious they’re going to postpone the festival or, even more likely, move it to another high school."
"Listen, if you don’t want to help with the preparations, just say so now," Emily scolded him.
Out of everyone in the group, she had the most influence over the others thanks to her popularity.
That was why she had been chosen almost unanimously to oversee the organization.
The boy’s protest was enough to bring back the commanding attitude she had momentarily lost while talking to Lars.
"I never said I didn’t want to participate. I’m just saying that with everything that’s been happening, it’s obvious the festival isn’t going to happen! We’re just wasting our time!"
The boy didn’t even need to explain what events he was referring to.
The deaths of eleven more people the previous night at the hands of the now-infamous killer nicknamed "Dracula" had made the front pages of nearly every newspaper.
The story had even overshadowed reports of a supposed small meteorite that had wiped out a large section of woodland on the outskirts of Vrenford that same night.
"First the sudden deaths, then the meteorite. What’s next tomorrow? The Apocalypse?" Niall said in his usual teasing tone.
Then he reached over and slung an arm around Lars’s neck with far too much familiarity.
"...Am I imagining things, or did all this start right after you transferred to our school? Don’t tell me you’re the mysterious serial killer."
Lars shot him an irritated look.
"If I were, your name would already be in the obituaries."
"Oh. Then I guess I should consider myself lucky you’re not Dracula."
Lars didn’t answer. He simply grabbed Niall’s arm and yanked it off him so abruptly that Niall fell out of his chair.
"Ow! My ass!"