Edvard arrived on Thursday night.
We were at our usual table in the library basement, discussing our research. Lian had returned from her summons to the temple that day, but had retired early, claiming fatigue, leaving just Edvard and me alone.
“There’s one thing I want to confirm.”
Edvard closed the document he was holding. His brow was furrowed. It was easy to imagine this was no ordinary situation.
“What is it?”
“The details of our research may have been leaked to the outside.”
My hand stopped.
“What’s your evidence?”
“Last week, I received an inquiry from a certain magical research institution. They wanted detailed information about our light-dark resonance experiment.”
“Before the official publication?”
“Before the publication,” Edvard nodded. “We’ve only discussed our research within the academy. If an external institution knows the details, it means someone leaked them.”
A silence fell.
The dim, violet lighting remained unchanged. Yet, the air in the basement seemed to have shifted in quality. The air had changed. That’s what I thought.
“How detailed was the information?”
“If it were just the fact that light and dark magic resonated, that could spread as a rumor. But the inquiry was far too specific. It mentioned the experimental procedure, the attribute composition of the participants, even the numerical values of the magical reaction during resonance.”
Even the numerical values.
Edvard had been the one keeping the records. Information known only to me, Lian, and Edvard had reached an external institution.
“Since when?”
“The inquiry came last week, but the information might have been leaked even earlier,” Edvard said. “It’s been over three months since we started recording the interference experiments.”
Three months.
During that time, someone had been passing information outside.
“Where were the records kept?”
“In my room. However, I can’t deny the possibility they were peeked at by chance, as I wasn’t handling them with extreme security. If that’s the case, I’m sorry.”
“Have you told Lian?”
“Not yet,” Edvard looked at me. “I wanted to tell you first.”
“Why?”
“I thought you could handle it more calmly. And also—” Edvard paused briefly. “It would be even more troublesome if Lian were involved.”
I didn’t want to consider that Lian might be involved. There was no need to consider it. Lian wouldn’t intentionally leak information. But the possibility she might have spoken carelessly.
“Understood. I’ll observe for a bit.”
“Please do,” Edvard reopened the document. “But don’t dig too deeply. We still have no proof.”
“I know.”
But from that night on, I began observing my surroundings.
I watched for a week.
Edvard said there were signs that Lian’s schedule was being precisely tracked. Her attendance days at the temple, the times she left and returned to the academy. Even her lunch and bath times. If that information was being leaked, it would have to be someone close to Lian.
Observing, my gaze first turned to Selena.
She had motive. Action stemming from her conviction to obstruct my research. Theoretically, leaking research details to apply external pressure was a plausible tactic. Especially if her feelings toward Edvard were also a factor.
I saw Selena in the hallway. She noticed me too. Our eyes met.
Selena didn’t look away. She looked straight back at me.
Her eyes held no guilt.
It wasn’t proof. But something felt off. If Selena were the culprit, could she really look at me so directly? People hiding things usually have a flicker of conscience deep in their eyes. I couldn’t believe she was a villain to her core, devoid of that.
On Thursday at noon, I went to the cafeteria.
It was unusually crowded. Looking around for a seat, I spotted Lian at a table by the window. Malette was sitting next to her.
They were talking and laughing about something.
Malette was nodding along to Lian’s story. Lian was explaining something with gestures. Malette laughed again.
I took a seat a little distance away.
I couldn’t hear their conversation. I didn’t try to. I just understood that Lian seemed happy. When she was with Malette, Lian wore the face of someone with a friend her own age. It was a slightly different face from the one she wore with me in the library.
Lian with me, Lian talking with a friend, and Lian alone. Which was the real one? For a moment, that thought crossed my mind, but I immediately brushed it away. It wasn’t about which was real. They were all unmistakably the real Lian. That’s what I thought.
Lian had friends. That was a good thing. It was absolutely better for her to be surrounded by many friends than to be solely involved with me.
There was relief. However, the existence of a dark, murky feeling within that relief was something I couldn’t ignore.
Malette looked my way. Our eyes met. Malette gave a slight nod of her head. A greeting. I gave a small nod back.
That was all.
“Senior Rune, good afternoon.”
Hearing my name, I turned around. It was Cyril.
“May I join you, if it’s alright?”
“Yes.”
Cyril sat down in the seat opposite me.
“Is the experiment going well?”
“Yes, very much so.”
As we talked, I remembered the informant. I considered the possibility that Cyril was the informant—no. I didn’t think so. I knew from the game that Cyril wasn’t that type of character. With glasses and an appearance that seemed like a likely betrayer, but Cyril wasn’t like that.
“Is there something on my face?”
Cyril, whose glasses had fogged up from the steam, asked suspiciously.
“Yes. There’s sauce on it.”
“Really?! Where?”
“I’m lying.”
I finished my lunch, bowed my head to Cyril, and left the cafeteria.
Walking down the hallway, I thought.
I still didn’t know who was leaking the information. My suspicion of Selena hadn’t vanished. But I had no proof either.
Edvard had said, “Don’t dig too deeply.” I understood. But I continued observing.
That night, Lian came to the library.
She sat across from me and talked about her day. About materials arriving from the temple, going to the cafeteria with Malette, learning a new spell formula in class.
I listened.
“Big Sister.”
“What is it?”
“Are you thinking about something?”
“Well…”
“Especially today,” Lian was looking at me. “Your face is different. It’s the face of someone with something on their mind.”
This child always notices.
“There’s something that’s been on my mind a little,” I said. “But it’s not at a stage where I can talk about it yet.”
“I understand,” Lian nodded. “When you can talk about it, please tell me.”
“Yes.”
Lian opened her book.
I returned to my documents too. But my mind continued sorting things out.
Information was leaking. But I didn’t know who. Selena was suspicious. But there was no proof.
There was one more thing bothering me.
It was Edvard’s words: “It mentioned the attribute composition of the participants.”
Only Lian, Edvard, and I participated in the experiment. Someone who knew all three of us had leaked the information.
Someone who knew all three of us.
A fellow researcher of mine? Someone in Lian’s circle?
No answer came.
I could hear the sound of Lian turning a page.
Tonight, I listened to that sound more attentively than usual.