Free Web NovelChapter 16: Investment 16— Investigating (Part Three)
Seria was with Deria and Edith when the perpetrator disguised as Seria went to the mailbox department to drop the letter that was sent to Flora. This shocking discovery changed their narrative on the entire case and confirmed Seria’s earlier suspicions.
"They must not have been able to sneak it into Flora’s dorm room since the dorm patrol has been tight since the start of the semester," Edith pointed out a crucial fact.
The headmaster mandated the increment of the dorm security to avoid another break-in incident from the previous semester.
"Even I can mimic a better Seria signature than this." Deria rubbed a finger underneath her nose as she let out a self-satisfied chuckle.
"Why would you want to mimic my signature anyways?" Seria asked suspiciously about another matter.
"Don’t tell me you—"
"Yeah. She’s been the one using your hot spring membership," Edith cut in with a wide grin.
"Hah?! Edith how could you? I thought we were besties." Deria held her chest as she gasped.
"That’s what you get for not taking me along." She pursed her lips.
"Seriously?" Deria rolled her eyes and slapped a hand on her forehead.
"You guys have some nerve discussing using my hot spring membership in my presence." Seria turned her head mechanically, glaring at them with a scary look on her face.
"I didn’t use it yet. It’s all Deria." Edith took a step back and diverted the blame to Deria.
"But you were planning to use it this weekend though," Deria shot back at her.
Taumus was hundred percent invested in watching their little show while crunching on some popcorn.
"This is super entertaining to watch," he muttered.
"Where did you get the popcorn from?" Elliot was dumbfounded as to how he magically summoned a bowl of popcorn.
"Do you care?" Taumus passed him the popcorn bowl.
"This is actually very yummy." He exclaimed upon gobbling a handful of popcorn.
Taumus turned towards him. "Aren’t you going to stop them?" he asked.
"I will, in about 5 minutes." He grinned. "I like seeing Seria feisty," he added.
"Weirdo." Taumus let out a sigh of disappointment.
In about four minutes, Seria was done giving them the beating of their lives.
"Tsk. Next time I’m not telling you anything." Deria grunted, rubbing the bump on her head.
"My bad but we are still going to the hot spring ri—" The death glare Seria gave Edith quickly made her change her statement. "With Seria of course." She massaged the bump on her head.
"Elliot-chan sorry I wasted your time. We are ready to continue," Seria said with a bright smile.
’Her switch-up is as entrancing as ever.’ He doted over her for the nth time.
"And mine too," Taumus muttered.
"Huh?!" A blue aura surrounded Seria as she glared at Taumus.
"Never mind." He turned his face away.
"Ahem!" Elliot called everyone’s attention.
"We have officially deduced that an imposter is behind this and they must be a student at the academy," he mentioned the details that they had discovered so far.
"Now!" He jammed his hands together.
"Let’s get to the fun part." He grinned.
"Where we figure out just who this imposter is."
He switched into master planner mode.
"Given the fact that they were able to disguise themselves as Seria, that means the impersonator must possess a mimicry-based affinity," Taumus chipped in a crucial detail.
In this world, affinity determined what types of spells an individual could cast and a mimicry-based affinity was the only way to impersonate another person.
"Nice going Taumus." Edith gave him a thumbs up. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
"Thank you." He smiled, rubbing a finger underneath his nose.
"Now it’s my turn!" Edith exclaimed, opening her hands wide.
"Mimicry-based affinity is very rare. The last time I checked the school databank there were only 3 of them and 2 on the list are 3rd and 4th years respectively."
"Wait! Wait a minute." Elliot moved his hand up and down. "How did you get access to the school’s databank?" he asked, due to the fact that he couldn’t wrap his head around how a student got into the database when the security was always super tight.
"I have connections in high pla—" Elliot knitted a brow before she could finish saying her most popular lie.
"Tsk. Fine fine." She grunted. "They had a plant infestation a few days ago and I helped clear it while helping myself to the affinity archive," she explained.
Everyone in the room stared at her with eyes full of disappointment. "What! What! Can’t a girl be curious for once?" She pursed her lips.
"That aside your unscrupulous act saved us a lot of time," Elliot mentioned.
"So who’s this student you speak of?" Seria asked the question currently on everyone’s mind.
"Some guy named Renshi Backen," Edith answered with a slight undertone.
"Ahhh, I came across him at the coffee shop before," Taumus shouted, raising a hand up.
"Everyone should be out of the dorms by now so he should be around the garden area," he added.
"Aghhhh. Excuse me your time is up." The receptionist’s voice echoed.
They hurriedly left the room and headed out.
"Eh-Eh. Thanks for your services." Elliot waved her goodbye as they ran out the building.
"You forgot to give me a personal rating." The receptionist’s voice faded out as they burst through the door.
"Tsk. I need them for praxis." She carried on in frustration.
’Sorry maybe next time.’ Elliot kept on running, paying her no mind.
A dark-haired boy wearing specs was avidly reading the book in his hands, barely paying attention to his surroundings.
"I wonder why they always have to chase us out of the dorms an hour before the start of class," he mumbled.
"I’m looking for Renshi have you seen him?" Elliot asked a student standing beside a tree.
"Renshi. Nah I don’t think I have seen him," the student replied.
"Thanks." Elliot walked past them.
"Have you seen Renshi?"
"No."
"Have you seen Renshi?"
"No."
"Have you seen Renshi?"
"No."
They continued the search but it yielded no result.
Renshi heard his name from afar multiple times.
"Who the hell is looking for me?" he muttered.
"Have you seen Renshi?" Edith asked.
"Yeah, I have. He is sitting on that bench over there." A female student pointed a finger towards the bench Renshi was seated on.
"Thanks." She quickly alerted the others of his location.
"Renshi Backen. Right?" Taumus asked as they walked up to the front of him.
"The one and only. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit from No.3 of the entrance exams, Mr. Taumus?" He kept reading his book not even sparing them a gaze.
"You know who I am? That makes things easier," Taumus mentioned.
"What do you know about the letters that were sent to Flora Gustaz?" Deria asked.
"Eh—"
"Don’t even try to lie," Elliot cut in before he could say a word. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
Sweat started to drip from Renshi’s forehead due to guilt.
"I told that lady I didn’t want any part in this but she coerced me with her surreal
reward." He shivered.
"What lady?" Seria asked.
"I don’t know her name and I can barely remember her face but she asked me to disguise Vena as Seria on the 17th. I swear that’s all I know," he explained while he continued to shiver.
