At Vinoshu’s shout, the professors barely pulled together their dazed minds and urged the students to return to the dormitory.
“Now, hurry back to the dormitory!”
“Go back right now! Before we assign penalty points!”
No students rebelled against the professors who spoke more harshly than usual. They all headed to the dormitory in a state where the shock hadn’t faded. Even in this situation, some students were caught by professors and got hit while trying to put papers that had fallen from the sky into their pockets.
The atmosphere was vibrating more sharply than ever.
“What on earth is this…….”
In the midst of it all, Jay saw the corpse and was extremely shocked, dry heaving as he moved far away. He had never had to see such a horrific corpse in his life. Even when he closed his eyes, it seemed as if the image of the corpse remained on his eyelids.
“Ugh…… Belly…… Cough, cough.”
Jay’s body even began to tremble, perhaps from excessive shock. His energy drained and his limbs went limp.
As if to comfort such a Jay, Belly climbed up to his face and licked his cheek. Only after receiving that action for quite a while did Jay’s heart settle down. But since he still had no strength, Jay sat on a bench and let out a sigh.
Even while Jay was doing that, the surroundings were being tidily cleaned up. Some professors left with the students, and the remaining professors also headed into the school with pale faces to finish the rest of the cleanup.
Had the commotion passed a little? A male professor with a stiff face approached Jay’s side. It was a professor Jay didn’t know.
“Professor Doe. Professor Vinoshu is calling for you.”
Vinoshu had called for him, but Jay had already exhausted all his stamina and wanted to return to his room. Since he had already finished the mandatory report, that thought became even more intense.
“Why is she calling for me?”
“It’s about the incident that just happened.”
But since it was related to the murder case, he couldn’t not go. In the end, Jay moved his heavy legs with difficulty and walked behind the professor.
The place they arrived at was Nokeum Hall. Since it was a building Jay was visiting for the first time, despite his fatigue, he unconsciously looked around here and there. Thanks to that, his already slow footsteps became even slower, and the professor walking ahead got annoyed.
“Hurry up. It’s urgent.”
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
The more he walked down the path to the basement, the more his hair stood on end, and Jay rolled his pupils here and there. Even though it was just a somewhat dark basement on the outside, goosebumps rose and he brushed his arms several times.
Upon arriving in the basement, numerous professors were gathered. Their number seemed to be in the hundreds at a rough estimate. Had there been this many professors at Connubium? The professors who frequently appeared in Jay’s life were few and fixed in number.
With so many professors gathered in one place, it was spectacular in a sense. Moreover, they usually had expressionless faces most of the time, but now they were deathly pale and trembling with anxiety. Since a fellow professor had died horribly, there was nothing strange about it.
“Now…… what should we do?”
Someone said in a trembling voice. Starting with that voice, they opened their mouths competitively. It was as if stupid beasts were bleating.
“To die dismembered like that. What if we die like that too?”
“It wasn’t done by students, was it?”
They only talked about each other’s anxieties and speculations, but didn’t come up with countermeasures or have discussions. It was because this kind of situation was a first for them too. Until now, at most a student being educated would escape. This kind of brutal situation was a first in Connubium’s history.
The professors were blinded by fear. Before it became more chaotic, Vinoshu and other senior professors exchanged intentions with eye contact. Vinoshu raised her hand.
“Quiet.”
“…….”
Then, as if the murmuring until now had been a lie, it became quiet in an instant. Only the sound of breathing and the rustling sound of fabric rubbing against fabric filled the void.
“For Connubium’s professors to be this chaotic. How utterly shameful.”
It wasn’t strange for the professors to react chaotically in a state where they didn’t know who the culprit was and they could become victims themselves. Because not even a few hours had passed since the bizarre incident occurred. Nevertheless, Vinoshu pointed out their chaotic appearance.
“Professor Leto’s death…… was horrific. Of course we intend to find the culprit. For that, we need everyone’s cooperation.”
At that moment, one professor who had been quiet suddenly raised their hand and spoke. The appearance of dripping cold sweat didn’t look sane. That’s why they would have thought to speak while senior professor Vinoshu was talking. Since Connubium was a place with clear hierarchical relationships, this kind of behavior was originally difficult to occur.
“Sh-shouldn’t we request help from other countries?”
Though Connubium didn’t belong to any country, because of its special nature, each nation took turns caring for it. If something requiring military force occurred, the nation in charge at the time would provide military force.
There was no nation that wouldn’t help Connubium. Because they had gained great benefits thanks to Connubium for a long time, and they would be thinking of maintaining power through Connubium. Now was exactly the time to request that help. Most of the professors thought so.
However, Vinoshu’s thoughts were different, as she immediately refuted.
“Ridiculous talk. If this mess becomes known to other nations as is, students might not come to Connubium. Support will be cut off too.”
Students who could only clumsily handle knives like dining knives or kitchen knives used for cooking had brutally killed a professor. The professor who should manage the students had become a lump of meat without any dignity.
It was no different from what the powerful feared most finally happening. How would they know if the losers who seemed docile would hold knives and stab others’ throats? They had benefited from Connubium’s education for a long period, but if that effectiveness disappeared, they would abandon it in an instant, let alone help.
That’s why Vinoshu made the decision to keep it secret.
“But—”
“We have a duty to raise beautiful flowers. Moreover…….”
Vinoshu cut off the words as if to say rebuttal was not possible and looked around at the professors. Every time those cold eyes turned toward them, the professors flinched like frogs before a snake.
“Do you really think this was done by students? Don’t you know our school’s students’ temperaments well?”
At Vinoshu’s words, sinister emotions appeared in the professors’ eyes.
That was right. This school’s students didn’t know how to handle weapons. There weren’t even related classes, and they were raised like flowers in a greenhouse. For such students to dismember and kill a robust professor? It could be seen as impossible. Then in the end, the only candidates were the professors.
The professors’ sharp gazes turned toward each other. Since they didn’t build personal friendships and recognized each other as competitors, suspicion was natural.
In the midst of that, Jay coughed in a pale state. The joy of getting employed at an admired school was brief, and he had ended up embroiled in such a tremendous incident. Jay’s head ached because it seemed like he was losing more than he was gaining.
Meanwhile, I observed the situation and was lost in thought. This situation was interesting, but…… the incident was bigger than expected. Moreover, it was progressing too urgently. Was Mar involved? After this matter ended, it seemed like it would be good to go receive a blessing.
It was a hopeful thought that was possible because not much time remained on the contract with the school. At that moment, one professor glared at Jay with unfavorable eyes and shouted.
“Then it must have been done by that outsider!”
At the words that burst out like a scream, other professors also sent looks of agreement. Fear amplified their suspicion, and when an appropriate suspect appeared, it exploded. Spear-like gazes flocked to Jay. Jay was flustered and made excuses.
“Wait……! Why would I do such a thing? I didn’t even know that professor’s face!”
No one listened to Jay’s excuses. They already seemed to be convinced of the culprit, nodding their heads and not hesitating to pour out criticism.
“We shouldn’t have hired an outsider! In the end, this kind of trouble happens!”
“As expected, if they’re not from Connubium, this kind of bastard comes out.”
“Because they didn’t receive proper education, they become this kind of murderer!”
Amidst the criticism, Jay’s head was dazed as if he’d been beaten with fists.
He truly felt wronged. He definitely didn’t have the guts to dismember a person. He was closer to a common citizen who tried to obey the law. To speak bluntly, he was a person who thought it was better to do other productive work in the time it would take to dismember a person.
I, who was inside Jay, knew of his innocence, but it was a situation where I couldn’t say that.
“No, why would I! Cough, cough…….”
“Stop.”
As he was coughing without even finishing his excuses, Vinoshu calmed the professors down. Jay barely stopped coughing and waited for Vinoshu’s words. At the time when the incident occurred, he had been with Vinoshu. She was the only one who could speak of his alibi.
However, Vinoshu also didn’t have favorable feelings toward Jay, who was an outsider. It meant she could also ruthlessly frame him as the culprit like the others. Jay’s heart was anxious because he knew Vinoshu found him disagreeable.
“He was with me at the time when the incident occurred. He is not the culprit for now.”
Jay let out a sigh of relief. Fortunately, Vinoshu didn’t seem to be a person who handled work with personal feelings.
Even if the others didn’t trust Jay, they trusted Vinoshu, who was a senior professor. To them, the words of a senior professor at the top of the food pyramid held an absolute position. However, because they believed Vinoshu’s words, the professors instead fell into confusion.
Then who on earth was it?
