The room was quiet. No one dared to break this silence. There had been sad times before. Times, when sad news had reached the academy, times when long trusted colleagues left the academy, times when even the vice headmaster couldn't find the courage to speak, like when the news of the passing of the former headmaster had reached the staff. But never once had these times been like this… A professor had been murdered at school grounds. Velonas looked at the floor, at the dark wooden planks and the carpet. Only one room here had such a carpet- she was at the headmasters office. Her head felt heavy. She sat slumped on a chair in the background, as she tried to forget everything for a moment - without success. Thoughts ran through her head, so many of them she couldn't count them. Her whole body felt cold. Just what had she witnessed a few moments ago? She could never forget that answer. Every time she closed her eyes, she could clearly see the picture in front of her. This wasn't the first time she had seen a corpse, but… none of the past times could compare to this one. She knew- She had known Stellox, she had been pretty close with him. He had been a professor when she was still a student, and it was him who transformed her interest in money into an interest for magic. And that even though he didn't even hold lectures for her. He hadn't focused on magic of the fire attribute, but of the wind attribute. But although he had a different type of magic than her, or maybe just because of that, she knew how strong had been. The way in which he had been killed was gruesome… He didn't deserve that. As she thought about his death, she had to hold back her tears. Right besides her stood Velvino. With his back leaned against the wall, he looked up and stared at the ceiling. He didn't look much better than her. He was dead pale. Unlike Velona, who had to try her best not to burst out in tears and cry, Velvinos looked Bast of any emotion. He too had known Stellox from when the two of them were still students, but since he went to his lectures on a daily basis for several years, he was probably even more shaken. She looked around the room. Near the door were two other professors who, woken by her scream, had rushed out to help and then saw him. She only knew those two from a few meetings, but judging by the looks on their faces they also seemed to have been pretty close to Stellox. No wonder. He had been a pretty famous face around the academy. Most teachers did their best to motivate students, but Stellox had dedicated his life to it. Whether people liked that enthusiastic side of him or thought of it as annoying, they all had to acknowledge that he helped countless students with that attitude. And he wasn't unpopular among the teachers either. He had often spent his nights helping others with their experiments. In the middle of the room, the headmaster and vice headmaster both stood leaned over the headmasters desk. They had been like this for quite some time now. She was a bit surprised when she saw the depressed face of Stroff. Because of his stubbornness and arrogance, she hadn't thought that he would actually mourn over a dead college, but now he looked just as sad as the rest of them. Velona stood up. She walked straight up to the desk and looked at the headmaster. ‘Who did this?’ she asked. Harms looked back at her. His dark green eyes which had given her comfort so many times nearly pierced her. Was he suspecting her to be the culprit? He sighted. ‘We don't know that yet. Most likely the dark mage. Maybe Mr Stellox saw him and had to die because of that.’ To hear what she already knew didn't calm her down at all. ‘What will happen now?’ It was her asking the question, but this was the thought of everyone else in the room, including Stroff. Harms though for a moment. ‘ We will hunt the culprit down. He killed one of our professors. We cannot let that slide.’ Velona was seemingly dissatisfied with this vague answer. ‘How are we going to do that? With more of these useless patrols? What will we do from now on?’ She was serious. This was probably the first she- no, anyone had ever spoken up to him like that since becoming the headmaster. He went back into his thoughts. But he wasn't only thinking of an answer this time. He considered if he could trust her. He closed his eyes. A few moments passed like that without anything happening. Velona didn't wait for him to finish his thoughts. ‘Stellox, although he didn't look like it, was strong. But he wasn't just defeated… You saw the body. He didn't even have the time to defend himself. That wasn't a fight but an execution. Whoever did this is a monster… ‘ She looked at Stroff. ‘Could you have killed him that fast Mr. Stroff? Without highly skilled professors sleeping next door even noticing?’ Stroff evaded eye contact. Just as she was getting ready to say more, things which she would probably have regretted afterwards, Harms opened his eyes again. He looked at the two professors near the door. 'Would you two please go to Mr Cloffing? We don't want our living mana detector to be the next target, do we?’ They jumped up. ‘Yes Mr Harms.’ After they closed the door behind them, he looked back at Velona and Velvino. ‘It is pretty obvious that we have a mole by now.’ Stroff looked at him, surprised that he shared this information with them. ‘After we announced the patrol routes, the culprit still managed to slip through our net. Or he didn't… The locks on the doors are enchanted. If anyone would have tried to get inside or outside, I would have noticed. But no one did. The culprit is still inside the southern dormitory. The students aren't skilled enough, no one from outside interfered. This is without a doubt the deed of a professor.’ Both Velona and Velvino were shocked. Velona had expected this to some degree, but having it told by the headmaster was something totally different. ‘Th-’ she tried to get something out, but couldn't. Harms looked a lot more confident now. ‘Our list of suspects has drastically been reduced to mere 12. Considering how you three were on patrol when it happened, you certainly couldn't have done it either. Only nine left.’ The thoughts were running in Velonas head. If what he said was true, then she had been sleeping under the same roof as the dark mage for months. ‘Stellox wasn't killed because he saw anything… He was one of the few who are familiar with older languages and dark runes. The dark mage saw a chance and used it… but that was a mistake. Now we are much closer to finding him than we were before.’ A bad thought suddenly crossed her mind. Old languages… She knew someone else who was an expert. ‘Where is Vonstadt?’ Velvino looked just as worried. Harms just smiled as distant as so often. ‘He wanted to take a step outside. He seemed rather shocked about the sudden death of Me Stellox.’ He was the only one of the three who hadn't graduated from this academy. Nonetheless, he also seemed pretty close to Stellox. ‘Relax. He is the last one who can function as a translator for us. I won't endanger him.’ However distant the headmaster seemed sometimes, he was a calculating person and wouldn't risk losing an important pawn.

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This time, it was Velvino taking the opportunity to talk. ‘What are we going to do now? Even if it's just nine suspects left, if one of them is the dark mage, it will be hard to find them. They didn't leave any traces in the hidden room, I doubt we will find any now.’ Harms' smile widened by a bit. ‘Let that be my worry.’ Now he looked as confident as he had at the meeting this noon. His face changed back to a serious one. ‘For now, I want you to keep an eye on the students of the dormitory. We cannot let there be any more victims.’ He looked at a door in the back. It was behind this door that the lifeless body of Stellox rested. Velonas expression got a bit darker. ‘He won't have died for nothing.’ Velona wasn't sure if Velvino had said that to better up her mood or because he actually believed it. Either way, she swore herself she would keep the children out of that. ‘I understand that you don't want any information to leak, but it should be okay to tell at least Mr. Vonstadt.’ ‘Oh, he will be informed. I fear he will be busy translating the books we found now. Maybe we will find some leads on the culprit.’ He toned down his voice. ‘I am burning to know how they built a whole room without anyone noticing… Without me noticing.’ He looked dead serious. The creaking of a door interrupted them. As the door opened, the face of Cloffing appeared. His expression showed that he didn't find any clues.’As expected… Please inspect the body Mr. Cloffing. I am sorry to give this work to you, but you have by far the best feeling for this.’ Cloffing sighted. He looked tired, but that could be said about all of them. While Velona and Velvinos left the room, the test would be working until sunset.

‘Mr. Vonstadt?’ The room was totally dark. The only light was emitted by an open window. A man looked at the nightly sky outside. He turned around. ‘Sorry, I just needed some fresh air. And since we can't go outside right now…’ He looked a bit distant. ‘It is okay, I know what you mean.’ Velona stepped inside the room. She stood beside him, also looking outside. ‘He is really gone..’ Her voice was trembling. ‘I saw it but… I still can't believe it.’ He looked at her. ‘Whoever it was, they will suffer.’ She didn't know if she had ever seen him this serious.’ The headmaster will take care of it.’ She put her hand on his shoulders. ‘I hope he does. I really hope he does…’