Ever since the incident last month in the garden, Jian's friends have taken advanced precautions when it comes to keeping him safe. Not only is Quib always watching over Jian, but whenever he is out of class, they always have a second person watching him as a bodyguard. They usually have Boz following him, since he's the strongest in the group at the moment, but for today, Carie is protecting him.
The fall semester is currently about to begin, so as a custom in Unimori, they hold an assembly in the school's auditorium to welcome the students into the new semester. The student's are currently gathering into the auditorium, with Carie only a few students behind Jian in the line they are in. Boz and Lera are nowhere to be found, lost among the massive lines of students.
“Heh, I almost forgot how many students go here...” Jian thinks to himself, his thoughts drifting as he moves through the crowd. “There's a crap-ton of people here... students, staff, faculty, teachers, all of them....”
Jian looks over his shoulder and sees Carie further down the line, her bright blonde hair standing out like a sore thumb. He gives her a quick backwards wave, which she sees and waves back.
Soon enough, Jian enters in through the large, metal double doors that have been propped open that lead into the auditorium. The massive room is exquisite, made to fit a very large amount of students and spectators. The walls are painted a rusty red, reflecting perfectly with the red velvet curtains that shade off the auditorium stage. The auditorium is around three hundred feet in terms of width and about two hundred feet in length. It is, without a doubt, the largest part of the school building.
Soon after entering the auditorium, Jian is directed towards a seat in the far back and middle section of the room. The teachers are obviously not going to sit him next to any of his friends, so his plans of talking over the next riddle are obviously not going to happen. He makes a quick change in his plan, deciding to think over the next riddle on his own during the assembly and telling his friends what he finds out after the assembly is over.
After taking his seat, Jian sees the line of students taking seats in front of him, row by row until all of the seats have been taken. He looks to his left afterwards and sees Carie's bright blonde head poking out of the array of students sitting next to her. He looks further down the grouping of students in front of him and sees who he thinks are Boz and Lera sitting next to each other, they both seem calm, yet ready to leave even though the assembly hasn't even started yet.
Jian sighs and begins contemplating the next course of action in his head. “Crap,” he thinks “I still don't remember anything about that attack last month. From what everyone has told me, Raphael saved my life. Well, at least Carie definitely trusts him now, as far as I can tell.... Still, I wonder what we should do after we figure out who the mastermind is behind the Sigil heads... are we supposed to go to the police or something? Or do we need to fight him ourselves? Maybe Raphael's group is supposed to take over after that...? Damn it, I'm thinking too far ahead, I need to focus on the present! I need to figure out this damn riddle....”
A few minutes pass after the last student sits down. The assembly hasn't started yet, so Jian sees this as an opportunity to think about the Raphael's riddle before the event begins. He leans his back against the auditorium chair and shuts his eyes, beginning to put himself into a state of deep thought.
“Let's see....” he thinks to himself, his mind surfing through the information that he already knows. “We already know that the first place we should look is in Unimori, and we also know that there are going to be three more people joining our group.... Now what was that last riddle that we're leaving out....”
“Ah, that's right... we know him, but we don't know him....” Jian thinks, his mind shooting back and forth between ideas. “We have seen him before, but never talked to him... that could be anybody....”
“Then again, we are being directed towards the school by the first riddle. If I'm guessing correctly, then Raphael's third riddle has something to do with someone from the school...” Jian thinks to himself in quiet concentration.
“Wait... we know him, but we don't know him... that has to mean that the suspect is either someone really popular in the school or is a teacher or faculty member that we never talk to.... Hell, that could be anyone....”
“He also said something about him being religious, but not religious, what the hell could that mean...?” Jian thinks to himself, not realizing that the answer is right in front of him.
“Wait, the mark of the Sigil heads. I remember seeing when I looked online a norse rune found in an ancient temple that looked similar to the mark on of the Sigil heads. It meant something about Hel, the domain of unhonorable death in norse mythology. Mythologies can be considered religions at one point in time, so... does that mean that the person we're supposed to be looking for is a Sigil head too...?”
As Jian thinks that last thought, he notices a large, booming voice come in through the auditorium's speakers. He looks up to see the principal of the school standing on the stage, his face a few mere inches away from the microphone.
“Hello, students, and welcome to the fall semester of this school year! I hope that this year will be a wonderful time of learning for all of you. As all of you remember from a month ago prior, an intruder broke into our school and shot one of our students. He is currently fine and has resumed his schooling. As such, security around the school will now be increased. The police will be on school grounds for the next few months until the culprit is found, so please do not bother them unless you have something important they must know.”
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“Shot a student...? Raphael shot the Sigil head that stabbed me, not the other way around.... I guess what he's doing is trying to make everyone think that the Sigil heads didn't break into the school last month, so that he doesn't make anyone freak out anymore than they already are.” Jian thinks to himself after hearing the principal's first few sentences.
“Further more, I do hope, along with the other teachers at this fine school, that all of our students will have an extravagant school year and will study without interruption! With that, I will now allow the police chief of Ignama to come up to front stage!” The principal says before stepping away from the podium and allowing the police chief, who was sitting in a seat behind him, to come up to center stage and speak into the podium's microphone.
The police chief goes on for a few more minutes about the details surrounding the security in the school. He lists everything from where police officers will be stationed to the fact that a guard booth will be opened up near the front gate. After he has finished his speech, he extends his hand to where the principal is sitting and says that he will now let the principal continue his assembly.
After the principal is back at the podium, he continues welcoming the students to a new fall semester and warns them to be on the lookout for any suspicious persons on the school's premises. He continues on for well over an hour, bringing in another Unimori staff member to speak up every now and then. The assembly ends soon after the principal has finished his speech, which ushers in the end of the school day. As Jian leaves out of auditorium doors in the line of students, he can't help but think to himself “It could be anyone in Unimori... hell, it could be anyone from a teacher to a staff member to a student that none of us know all the way up to the principal.... Dammit, we need more evidence than this.”
After Jian has exited out of the school's main entrance, he takes a seat on one of the benches at the center of the school's courtyard, the area where they all agreed to meet at once the assembly was over, and then waits for his friends to show up.
Carie appears from the line of students almost as soon as Jian has taken his seat. Over the roar of the students, she calls out to him. “Jian... Jiiiaaannn, I'm over here! I'll come to you!” she yells to him, but he doesn't hear her.
Jian is rubbing his face with his hand while Carie comes closer to him, and he doesn't notice her until she is only a few feet away. He looks up and makes a startled grunting sound as he sees her and says afterward “Oh, there you are! Take a seat, I think I figured something out!”
“Thank goodness you did! None of us have gotten anywhere with those riddles! Honestly, I've barely thought them over since you got stabbed last month.” Carie says as she takes a seat on the bench next to Jian.
I'll tell you in a second, we need to wait for Boz and Lera to get here first.” Jian says while looking towards the entrance of the school building. Soon enough, he sees Lera's black ensemble appear out of the large gathering of white Unimori uniforms. He looks only a few inches to her side and sees Boz following right behind her. He waves to them and they wave back before they both arrive at Jian's location.
As Jian watches his friend's coming closer to the meeting point, Carie's attention is pointed elsewhere. She is looking straight towards one of the shanty buildings outside of Unimori's front gate. She sees a person in a cloak, it's color ineligible because of the sun's current trajectory, standing on top of one of the buildings and watching the group. She gives the person a slow salute, which the person responds to in kind. Since what happened to Jian, the JB has now gained her trust.
Boz and Lera walk calmly towards the group, not showing any sign of hesitance. Once they reach the center of the courtyard, they both give Carie and Jian a greeting and sit down at one of the two unoccupied benches.
“Do you guys remember the second riddle that Raphael gave us?” Jian asks the group, his elbows on his knees, his body hunched and the backs of his hands holding up his head. “The one about us knowing the suspect but not knowing him?”
“Yeah, but it doesn't make any damn sense! Someone we know, but don't know!? What the hell is that even supposed to mean!?” Boz says with frustration in his voice.
“I don't know why I didn't think of it before, but there's a possibility they could be a teacher or faculty member at Unimori, but there's also a chance that it could be a student.” Jian says calmly, not wanting to draw the attention of any outsiders of his group. “He also said something about the person that we're looking for is religious, but they aren't.... That could mean that they are either a Sigil head or they are controlling the Sigil heads.... Other than that, I have nothing else!”
“Well, if that is the case, then I suppose we must keep an observant eye on the people, and carefully watch for anything out of the ordinary.” Carie exclaims in a calm demeanor. “We must make sure that when someone starts acting suspicious, that we immediately inform the others and try to find out more about the person. However, I do have my own suspicions as well for who it could be....”
Lera, with concern in her voice, says to Carie “Wait, you got an idea for a suspect?”
“Yes, the student council assistant president! There is no way that someone that aggressive could be anything but suspicious!” Carie states.
“Are you sure about that? The whole school knows about Kasigara, and he seems like he always has Unimori and it's student's best interests in mind whenever he takes action. I don't think that accusation fits that well....” Jian says, clearly finding fault in this suspect.
“Are you sure that this doesn't have anything to do with your break-up, Carie?” Lera asks.
“Wha- I would never! I'm just trying to put forward options, that's all!” Carie announces, her frustration evident in her voice.
Stepping out of the crowd, a young girl with mid-length black hair and wearing a Unimori uniform makes a waving gesture to Carie as she moves towards the group “Carie! It's been a week since I saw you last! What have you been up to?”
Looking over towards the voice, Carie recognizes the individual immediately “Oni! Oh, it has been quite a while, hasn't it? I'm sorry, I've been busy with classwork and physical education, so I haven't had a chance to hang out. Really, my apologies!”
Oni has a look of happiness on her face as she grasps a hold of Carie's hands “You've been taking your studies seriously? That's great! Father would be so happy knowing his students are acting responsibly, despite all the craziness going around! So, mind if I sit down with everyone else? I would love to get to know all of you!”
Carie looks back towards her friends. There is a stint of silence for a few seconds before Jian says “Sure, she can sit.”
“Perfect! I hope that I can be great friends with all of you, starting from today onward!” Oni says before sitting down next to Carie and beginning to chat with the group of four. It is clear to everyone at that moment that discussions about the Sigil Head investigation will have to be put on hold for the day.