◈ Mistaken for a Masked Monster
──────
I Don't Know Anything
"Was it you? Purgatory, 70th floor cleared."
"...Pardon?"
An unscheduled visit.
An unexpected question.
He froze.
His first thought:
'How the hell did she find out?'She knew? How?
He'd moved only through the blind spots in the security patrols. Hadn't left a trace at the scene. There was nothing to catch him on. So how was she standing here, saying this to his face?
"Hm."
Questions flashed through his mind all at once. But more than anything, it was that she'd asked directly.
'I see.'
A direct question means she doesn't have the answer.
The right move was not to react.
"Purgatory? I'm not sure I follow what you mean..."
He answered with perfect calm. Not a tremor in his voice, not a flicker of surprise. Just the blank reaction of someone hearing this for the first time.
"Purgatory... isn't that the underground dungeon they say exists beneath the academy? Has something happened there?"
"......"
A completely natural answer.
Javert's brow furrowed, just slightly.
Behind the mask she couldn't see, Viktor smiled.
'So that's the right call.'
The question itself had been off. The clearing of the 70th floor hadn't been publicly announced. The academy was controlling the information, and the fact that Javert knew suggested it had only been shared with staff. That meant they were taking this seriously.
'There's probably been an emergency meeting by now, at least.'
The 70th floor cleared for the first time in decades. A man who had split a dragon clean in two. A scene that left behind absolutely nothing. To the academy, he was probably classified as an extreme danger.
'Then this shouldn't be where it ends.'
If they'd had proof it was him, it wouldn't have been just one question tossed in his direction. The entire faculty would have come storming in. Hostile to the academy or not, he was a potential danger. They would have come crashing through the door and detained him on the spot, full story to follow.
But the response right now was too passive.
For all that the question had been sharp, the approach hadn't matched. She hadn't kicked down his door. She'd followed proper procedure, paid a polite visit, and come alone.
"Where were you last night? And what were you doing?"
"Hm? I, well, I was asleep in my room..."
"So nothing in particular."
"That's right. The academy schedule wears me out completely once it's done. I don't even have the energy to think about going out."
"Grandia Academy's schedule can be rather demanding."
"And besides... there's a curfew at the dormitory, isn't there? If I had gone out, the dormitory management would have a record of it. If you don't believe me, you're welcome to check right now."
"I see."
By then, he'd worked it out.
The faculty hadn't figured anything out. This interrogation was Javert's own doing.
"......"
A silence dense with meaning. Neither of them moved to speak first.
'She was testing me after all.'
Her hesitation confirmed it. The sharp tension dissolved, and the balance of the conversation shifted.
"Professor Javert?"
"Yes."
"Could you explain the situation in a bit more detail? Purgatory, 70th floor cleared... the academy hasn't put out any announcement about this. Has there been some kind of incident? And what does any of this have to do with me?"
"......"
A worried student.
Trying to read him was pointless. His voice was perfectly controlled, and the mask made his expression unreadable.
"Professor?"
"......"
He was curious, honestly. Being singled out as the test subject meant she already had him in mind. Why, though. Why him. Had she noticed something?
She was the only one who suspected him.
'Then again, maybe it's only natural.'
She'd been assigned as his supervisor from the beginning. Her role as homeroom teacher was specifically to monitor him, to determine whether he had any connection to sinister power. Among all the faculty, she was probably watching him most closely.
Then this happened. Of course her attention had turned to him.
'It also doesn't help that I actually did it.'
A brief silence.
Javert finally spoke.
"I apologize for being so direct. It was part of an investigation."
"Oh, please, it's fine."
She backed down more easily than he'd expected. She'd probably never had any real intention of acting. Too ambiguous to be certain, so she'd just come to test the waters.
"As I mentioned, the 70th floor of Purgatory was cleared without authorization. The faculty are conducting an investigation into the matter."
"Is that so. Was what just happened part of that investigation?"
"It was. You happen to be the top student in my class. I thought I'd check whether you knew anything. If it felt like an interrogation, I apologize."
"Really, it's fine. I wasn't uncomfortable at all."
A polite apology. Through it, she redirected the conversation and stepped back from the subject. Even her way with words was something else, for a chief investigator.
She slipped back into her professional tone.
"Then... I'll ask that you keep the matter of Purgatory to yourself."
"It's information the academy is keeping under control, I take it."
"To prevent panic. Once we have a clearer picture of the situation, we plan to inform the students."
"Of course, I'll cooperate. I'd rather not see the atmosphere get unsettled either."
"Thank you for understanding."
A few more exchanges, purely for form's sake.
As the topic wrapped up, Javert rose from her seat. She was leaving.
"I'll be going now. I'm sorry to have taken up your time."
"Not at all. If it was any help to the academy, that's enough for me."
"You're aware the Freshmen Welcome Exam is scheduled to start tomorrow? Do make sure you're properly prepared. The content will be rather harsh for the Class E students, I imagine."
"Yes, I'll keep that in mind."
Javert left the dormitory.
Only then did Viktor let himself breathe.
'Well... I think I got through that.'
She was probably still suspicious somewhere inside, but that was fine. Better, even.
Her suspicion worked in his favor. To play that card when the moment came, she couldn't be allowed to trust him fully.
'Not yet.'
Heh.
He fiddled with the mask, smiling to himself.
The black grin stretched to the bottom of each ear, same as always.
***
A few hours later.
He was sitting in the dormitory bathroom.
"Viktor? What are you doing in the bathroom?"
"Ah, Princess."
Whenever he was rustling around alone, the Princess tended to come hover nearby.
In his hands was the [Dragon's Scale] he'd obtained the night before.
He kept working as he answered.
"This is what I mentioned earlier this morning. Refining the dragon scale."
"That corrupted scale? You're going to refine it right now?"
"Better to act quickly."
"I want to watch."
"Of course. It's not particularly dangerous, so you can get close."
"Oh!"
Scurry.
Carmilla came rushing over and pressed in beside him. Her crimson eyes sparkled with curiosity. Even for a pureblooded vampire like her, a dragon's item was apparently something remarkable.
'Inventory.'
He pulled the items from inside his robe.
Rewards from the sub-quests after clearing the 70th floor of Purgatory.
[Items]
-Holy Water x8
-Thin Fog x1
-Unrefined Screams x4
His hand grew heavy.
Thirteen bottles, laid out across the bathroom floor. Eight filled with gleaming water. One that seemed to hold gas. Four in an unsettling color.
Careful not to let any of them break, he set each one down.
"These must be the materials for the refinement."
"That's right. With these, the process itself isn't particularly difficult. The problem is how hard each material is to get hold of."
"And you have every single one. You really are a worthy retainer!"
"Heh, I suppose so."
A bit of small talk.
He dropped the corrupted dragon scale into the large bathtub, then poured all eight bottles of holy water in after it.
Ssss!
A hissing crack, like something burning. The undead scale reacted. The sinister energy burned away, slowly purifying.
'Now, add all four bottles of screams...'
The unrefined screams were nothing like an ordinary liquid. Viscous, almost solid, with an unsettling color and a cold that raised goosebumps. He kept it off his hands as he emptied the bottles.
"Phew..."
Foom.
Light blazed up immediately after, the holy water turning a murky color.
He uncorked the one remaining bottle.
Thin fog.
'This one leaks out easily, so the instructions said to drop the whole bottle in.'
Plunk.
It sank into the dragon scale stew.
He stirred with a ladle, and a status window popped up.
Ding!
[Would you like to refine the exclusive weapon 'Dragon's Scale'?]
-Estimated time required: 48 hours
-Possible result of this process: ???
[Yes / No]
He clicked Yes without hesitation.
The dragon stew bubbled.
He set the lid on quietly to keep the contents from splashing.
[Time remaining until refinement complete: 47 hours 59 minutes 12 seconds]
Good.
Leave it be and it would finish itself.
He tidied up, and the Princess craned her neck to look.
"Hmm? That's it?"
"Yes. Just wait, and it's done."
"That was less exciting than I expected. I thought it would be more dramatic."
"Trust me, the result will be worth it. Impressive enough to live up to your expectations."
"If you say so, Viktor, I'm excited even before I have reason to be!"
The bathtub, lid now on.
It would probably finish around the time the Freshmen Welcome Exam wrapped up.
'That's most of the urgent things dealt with.'
He settled onto the sofa, lighter than before.
Tomorrow was already almost here.
He took out his crystal orb and scrolled through the screen.
'The Freshmen Welcome Exam.'
It was an event that played out the same way in the original. He tapped through the crystal orb and a message from the academy appeared.
[Freshmen Welcome Exam Notice]
-The exam scheduled for tomorrow will be conducted as one-on-one duels between students.
-Detailed instructions will be given on the day, at the exam venue.
-The following is your assigned opponent.
-Grandia Academy looks forward to your performance.
[Match No. 41]
-Viktor (Class E, 1st Place)
-Sharien Labriell (Class C, 1st Place)
"Hm..."
Class C's top student.
So it was going to be like that, was it.
"Viktor? Isn't this matchup a bit strange?"
"You see it too, Princess."
"I do! You're clearly in the lowest class, and Class C is two levels above you. And you're supposed to face that class's top student one-on-one. That doesn't look like a very balanced matchup to me."
"You're reading it correctly. It's a completely unbalanced matchup."
Because that was exactly the point.
The Freshmen Welcome Exam was designed that way from the start.
Javert's offhand comment from earlier drifted back to him.
'The content will be rather harsh for the Class E students, I imagine.'
His gaze cooled as he stared at the matchup on the screen.
"A matchup like this... it would be one thing if it were you, Viktor, but for an ordinary Class E student this would be a guaranteed loss. It sounds less like a duel and more like a one-sided beating."
"You're right. That's the role the lower-ranked classes are meant to fill in this exam. At least in this one."
"Meaning the academy is fully aware of that. They set the brackets this way on purpose."
"Exactly. It's designed to stir up conflict between classes and push the lower-ranked students to sharpen their edges."
"And the upper-ranked students, drunk on their special treatment, will fight to hold onto their positions."
"The ultimate survival of the fittest."
"How cruel..."
Carmilla frowned.
He couldn't say he didn't understand the reaction. Humans were an especially competition-obsessed species, and sometimes that very human quality felt utterly inhuman.
"What are you going to do?" She kept her tone light.
"About what?"
"The duel."
"Well. I don't have any particular reason to avoid a matchup that landed in my lap like this."
"You're going to go through with it. Show everyone what you're capable of, right there in front of them."
"Ha ha... it's not quite that grand. Think of it more as playing along, in my own way."
He smiled.
The mask smiled with him, the corners of its mouth splitting all the way to the bottom of both ears.
His eyes stayed fixed on the matchup in the crystal orb.
"Don't worry."
Excitement stirred.
A prelude of mayhem, by mayhem, for mayhem.
He was grinning, already thinking about how he'd tear the whole thing apart.
"I have no intention of going easy."
If the academy wanted to hand him a bracket like that, all he had to do was stomp it into the ground.
"I'm looking forward to tomorrow."
Tap, tap.
He touched the mask.