Marie was glad that things were proceeding smoothly.

For the preceding weeks before arriving at the academy, she had been a bit of a nervous wreck, paranoid that someone would instantly snuff their group out as soon as they walked into the premises. What if a [Head Guard] had a [Detect Murder-Planners] skill? What if some long-forgotten acquaintance of hers suddenly popped up out of nowhere?

Realistically, she knew it was a remote chance. She had been sequestered away at her family’s estates for most of her life, only socializing with close family acquaintances—none of whom should be attending the academy.

A matter of faction politics.

So, as she sat in the grand dining hall beneath glittering chandeliers, chatting with the [Mage Lady] Alberta, her smile was genuine. It was all going so smoothly! Here she was among the other students, conspiracies in her heart, and nobody suspected a thing!

However, just one thing was bothering her.

Alberta, the earnest student union president. The apparent daughter of the man she was conspiring to kill. And well—the girl was just being too nice.

As soon as Marie had sat down and been alone for a moment, the girl had popped up, notebook in hand, ready to help pick out lessons to attend. Apparently, students at the academy didn’t have many shared, large-attendance lectures. Instead, professors would hold private gatherings to discuss their teachings, and students would have to petition them to be allowed in.

And Alberta, pigtail hair swishing every time she pointed out another teacher, was very eager to explain it all. “And then there’s Miss Eckton, who researches magical bindings, I’m sure she would gladly take you on as a student, and if not her then perhaps mister—”

Marie wasn’t really listening, rather, she was peering at the girl’s forehead, trying to pierce through to the mind. She remembered what the [Grand Magus] had done, but she also remembered how warmly the girl had looked at him. Was she also secretly callous, hiding beneath a veneer of friendliness?

And why was she helping Marie in particular so much? Did she perhaps… suspect something?

“Sorry, just a moment,” Marie interrupted, raising a hand.

Alberta paused mid-sentence, her eyes focused, then she gasped. “Oh no, sorry! I’ve been prattling along much too long, haven’t I?”

Despite herself, Marie couldn’t stop herself from smiling a bit at the girl’s earnest tone. Alberta’s back was always straight as a ruler, and her bespectacled eyes were a restless sort, always either flitting about or staring off into the distance, all of which served to give her a sort of frantic energy, eager to burst out.

Marie forced down her smile. Can she really be this… wholesome?

“Oh, I don’t mind it—I’m just curious. You’re the student union president here, for everyone. Why are you being so helpful to me in particular?” Marie asked.

She nodded to the side, at the other students all around her. “Nobody else is really taking much note of me.”

Alberta got an odd expression on her face and turned her face down for just a moment as if hesitating. “Ah—well… it’s nothing major—It’s just…” gathering her resolve she looked up and met Marie’s eyes with ones of deep sympathy. “I heard your story, about your family… and it was just so tragic! How could I not help out?”

Marie kept her face smooth. Right, the “countess” is supposed to be an orphan survivor of a family massacre… Is she really just being kind for the sake of it? Well, I suppose it might be useful. Or risky.

She nodded. “Well, thank you. You’re being a big help. Really, I was expecting marriage inquiries, or something of the sort first.”

Alberta narrowed her eyes and scanned the other students, glaring at a few who were listening along. She lowered her voice to a whisper. “Truth be told, those types are around, but I think I’m warding them off for now. Also, it has apparently been difficult to find precise information on your holdings, so people are being quieter.”

“A blessing, that,” Marie replied. “I appreciate your efforts.”

“It’s no issue,” Alberta replied, smiling. She thought for a moment, then placed a gemstone on the table. “Just… can I ask a question in turn? This is a privacy ward.”

Marie’s eyes shifted to suspicion. Ah, is this when the veil comes off and she reveals her evil nature?

“What sort of question?”

“Oh, nothing important just—” Alberta nodded at the plate of food in front of Marie. A generous helping of potatoes with some meat sauce—completely untouched.

“—do you not find the food to your liking?”

“Oh—that…” Marie said, grimacing. She sighed, looked at her full plate for a moment, then fished around in her pockets for a bit, bringing out a small box. “My recent experiences have made food a bit… difficult. Particularly meat. Reminds me too much of—”

Marie shuddered. The image of plague victims being ripped inside out by magic still haunted her. How did the others get over it so easily?

“Oh no! Sorry for reminding you of that!” Alberta gasped, horrified. “But don’t you need to eat to survive? How are you managing without food?”

The [Lady] smiled sadly and opened the small and silvery box in her hand, revealing three red-tinted pills. “A friend of mine is very adept at medicine. She prepares these pills for me, and they provide most things I need.”

Marie took one pill out of the box, held it up for a moment to let Alberta see it properly, then tossed it in her mouth and gulped it down with a sip of water. The aftertaste was acrid, but a cooling, energizing sensation quickly began to radiate out from her core.

“Ah, much better.”

But Alberta still didn’t seem convinced. “Is that really enough?”

“Oh, don’t worry, I’ve been using these for months and it’s…”

Marie’s sentence wandered as she noted that Fayette had reappeared at the edge of the room, an anxious look on her face. The [Maid] was waving their emergency hand signal at her. A hint of panic hit the [Lady]. Oh no, has something happened?

She motioned back, displaying five fingers. How severe?

Fayette thought for a moment, then held up two.

Marie relaxed. Okay, nothing too bad then.

She turned toward Alberta, who was watching her curiously, and bowed apologetically as she rose from her chair. “Sorry, it looks like I’ll have to go have a word with my [Maid].”

“Ah—no problem! I’ll be available to talk if you need help with anything else,” Alberta replied, taking away the privacy ward.

Marie crossed the room to Fayette who was pacing nervously by a doorway, and finally activated her [Control Conversation] as she reached her. All other talk faded. “What is it?”

Fayette didn’t quite meet her eyes, instead turning toward the hallway. “Well… It will be easier if I just show you. Over here.”

Marie nodded and followed. How bad can it be?

Fayette looked back at her. “Just… don’t scream, alright?”

Marie gulped.

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—

Marie did not scream, and that worried Fayette more.

It wasn’t as if the room was that horrifying anymore, Fayette had gotten rid of most of the blood and moved the body to the edge of the room where it wasn’t quite visible from the doorway. In fact, Fayette thought she had done a pretty good job so far!

But the [Lady] had stepped into the room, seen the mangled corpse with an excessive number of wounds on it, then just… looked at it, with absolutely no reaction at all. Her face was blank, and her eyes didn’t blink.

Fayette quietly closed the door behind her and made sure the “cleaning-in-progress” sign was in place.

“Umm… Marie? Please don’t get mad. I can explain.”

Marie pinched herself on the cheek. “Fayette, I’m not waking up.”

Fayette held the [Lady] up as her legs swayed. “Sadly, this isn’t a dream.”

Marie closed her eyes, held them shut for 5 seconds, then cautiously opened them again. “Fayette, the dead body is still there.”

Fayette nodded. “That it is.”

“It’s really there? Fayette, you were gone half an hour. Why is there a dead body?”

“Don’t you recognize him?”

“What—with the face all mangled up like that? No! I don’t recognize whoever that is! Someone we know?”

“Remember that annoying [Mage] guy who was in charge of things in Bienvenizze?”

“Oh, him… His name was… Cadeau I think?”

Fayette let go of Marie, who seemed mostly stable now and walked to the corpse to indicate the name tag on the jacket. “Well, he was a teacher here apparently, and he recognized me. So I had to get rid of him.”

Marie buried her face in her hands. “Gah, I suppose that’s correct then… nobody saw you do this?”

Fayette shook her head. “Nobody should have seen me walk in this room with him—the halls were quiet and I checked with [Eavesdrop] every time. I think we’re mostly clear.”

Marie breathed out, looked at the corpse again, and leaned against the wall. “Except that the dead body is still right here.”

“Well, minor issues,” Fayette said, shrugging.

“A level 2 problem, really?”

“I can think of much worse.”

Marie sighed, then stumbled down onto a stool, listless. “I don’t want to hear it. What are we going to do about this? You don’t have the [Apron of Holding], do you?”

Fayette smiled. “I’m glad you asked, I’ve actually got several options thought up!”

“And you brought me because you wanted my opinion?”

“Well, we agreed to not take drastic action without consulting each other, didn’t we?”

Marie stared for a moment at the eager-to-get-to-work [Maid], then finally decided to give up. “Just… tell me the plan. Please have a good plan. Today was going so well…”

Fayette nodded and walked over to the teacher’s spot in the room, next to the blackboard. She tried to stand how a teacher ought to, ready to lecture. “There are fundamentally two baseline choices.”

“Don’t draw on that board Fay, it might leave evidence.”

“Oh—right.” Fayette let go of the chalk she had picked up. “Anyways… option number 1: We chop this body up and smuggle it away. Either to the base, where we feed it to Nettie, or we try to take it through to the academy’s labyrinth.”

Marie brought a hand to her temple as she thought the option over. “Home is probably too difficult… as to the dungeon, I think there are supposed to be cleaner mobs in there. Sneaky sorts who keep the chambers clean. They might make the body disappear if we get it there.”

Fayette’s gasped. Cleaner mobs? Could they be [Dungeon Maids]? Do they really exist?

“Um, Fay, the second option?”

“Right. Sorry. Got excited there for a second… But yes, the second option is that we leave the corpse here and erase as much evidence as we can.”

“Hmm… it would be discovered pretty fast, and it would be obvious it was a murder…”

“Even in the other case, it would be discovered eventually, and then questions would be raised. I was thinking, what if we just provide them some answers? Remember what we talked about—the three parts of a murder?”

“Assassination,” Marie corrected.

Fayette rolled her eyes. “Same thing. Seriously, why do you need a whole separate word for murdering rich and important people?”

Marie glared “Well, an assassination is more… planned. Righteous. You know, politics.”

“You think most murders don’t have motives and planning too? That they don’t matter?” Fayette shot back, unimpressed.

The [Lady] sighed. “I give up. Just get on with it. The three parts of a murder—the location, the weapon, and the suspect.”

Fayette nodded. “Right, we have a location here, and the weapon used should be pretty obvious, so we just need to give them a suspect and the case will be closed right off!”

“Who do you have in mind?” Marie asked, curious.

Fayette smiled confidently. “It’s simple—we blame the [Butler].”

Marie stared.

Fayette stared back. “What? I’m sure it would work. That guy had such a creepy feel!”

“… You’re not just doing this because you hate [Butlers], are you?”

Fayette looked away. “…perhaps. Just a little bit. It’s no good? I couldn’t really think of anyone else…”

“Absolutely not. That [Butler] works for the principal, he would be practically running things here! And how would we frame him anyway?” Marie said.

The [Maid] sighed and called a knife into her hand, then took a step toward the body. “Do I have to get to chopping then?”

“No, actually—wait just a moment,” Marie said, looking over the corpse. Blood was starting to properly pool below it again. “You really didn’t hold back on him, did you?”

“I got a bit into it. You have some sort of idea?”

The [Lady] nodded slowly, expression growing more and more sure by the moment. “Yes, actually. And it might just work. Did you hear the news? About what happened today?”

“Not one bit,” Fayette replied, shaking her head.

Marie looked her in the eyes. “Apparently, there’s been a murder in the city.”

Fayette looked at the murder victim laid against the wall. “Well, yes. Obviously.”

Marie almost laughed. “No, not this one. A whole murder spree. Apparently, there’s a [Murderer] on the loose, and he’s been leaving a lot of corpses behind. The ripper, they call him.” She pointed at the dead body. “Murders all the victims with a knife. Trademarks involve excessive violence, ripping out entrails, and leaving the corpse somewhere where it will be discovered.”

Fayette was starting to get the idea. The body was already badly cut up, but if she were to stab it just a little more…

She called the knife into her hand and rolled back her sleeves. “This could work. A whole bunch of cuts right in the gut… Anything else I have to keep in mind?”

“I’m not sure,” Marie said, grimacing. “I only heard a quick remark about staying safe at night. I didn’t get many details.”

“Then I’ll just have to trust my instincts,” Fayette replied, confident. “Should I get to stabbing?”

The [Lady] hesitated for only a moment. “It’s probably safer than trying to transport it… yes. Do it.”

Fayette kneeled down next to the body, careful to keep her apron and skirt clear of any pooling blood. “You don’t have to watch. I know you’re still recovering from the last bit.”

“I know, I know. But—I feel like I need to face this. The reality of what we’re doing. Maybe it will even help me get used to it,” Marie answered.

Her choice. Fayette turned to the corpse. “Then, here goes nothing.”

She began stabbing.

Stab stab stab.

Right in the gut, as she imagined a [Murderer] would do.

It was actually sort of fun. Just stabbing away, trying to turn a body into a gruesome mess. Marie was staring, not blinking one bit. It was just so captivating. Horrifying but also fascinating. What does a human look like when opened up?

Up and down went the knife. Back and forth. In and out.

Cutting through flesh like butter.

It was only a minute, but the process felt like an immortal moment. Only Fayette, Marie and the corpse. A small room, hidden away from everything. If they had not been so caught up, they would have noticed. But they didn’t.

So absorbed in the work were the two, that they did not hear the approaching footsteps from outside the door one bit.

And this time, the steps did not pass by. They stopped. Hesitated a moment, as if reading a sign.

And then the door opened.

Marie turned, wide-eyed and totally surprised.

Fayette froze in place, knife mid-swing.

Hells! Who would—?

Of course, there was one sort of person who wouldn’t stop for a "cleaning-in-progress" sign. The sort who were the ones leaving them.

Of course. Who else? There was a [Maid] at the door.

She was in the academy’s dark-blue worker’s uniform, apron stained with soot. Black hair, medium height, and a face full of freckles. She was just standing there, frozen in place, staring into the room.

For that moment, Fayette waited. But there was no scream. There was no panic. The [Maid] wasn’t even looking at the corpse. No, her reaction was—

She smiled. Wide, as if it was the greatest joy possible.

Because she had been staring at Marie the whole time, surprise and recognition roiled in her eyes.

She stepped into the room. “Marie! So that’s why my skill was pinging… I almost didn’t recognize you with the new hair! It’s been years and—”

Fayette flinched back. What?

Marie on the other hand had recovered from her own surprise and waved a desperate hand. “No—Juliet, don’t come in—”

And then the new [Maid’s] head turned. To Fayette, who was bent over a gruesome corpse, knife raised mid-swing.

Her face paled.

Fayette looked at the raised-up knife in her hand. She did not use [Disarming Smile].

“Oh, mister Cadeau, you don’t look so good…” The girl said. It was all she said. She took a single step in, wobbled on her feet, and then her right foot slipped, and she teetered.

The [Maid] fainted on the spot, and collapsed to the ground.

Thud.

It was a soft fall, cushioned by a rug. She seemed okay. Fayette and Marie shared a long look.

“So... Someone you know?” Fayette finally asked.

“…Yes,” Marie answered, looking back to the unconscious [Maid]. “So this is where she ended up? I had no idea…”

Fayette got up and approached the girl, knife raised up. “Do I…?”

Marie bolted up. “No—absolutely not! She is—was a precious friend.”

Oh, no disposing of witnesses then. Fayette dismissed her knife, then carefully stepped to the door and closed it, after making sure the hallway was clear. So much for the cleaning-in-progress sign…

She sighed and turned back to Marie, who had bent down next to the unconscious girl, hand on her forehead, eyes blinking in disbelief.

“So, who is she?” Fayette asked, almost huffing. She found herself oddly annoyed.

Marie flinched, then looked up at Fayette. “Right, you don’t know at all… Well, not quite the introduction I had some day hoped for, but Fayette—” she pointed at the girl, “This is Juliet, and she was my [Maid]-in-waiting for a long time. Until my family dismissed her three years ago. We were… close. I had no idea where she had ended up. None at all.”

Fayette looked at the girl, feeling… odd. An old friend of Marie’s suddenly showing up? A close friend? She stared at Marie, and at how she was looking at the black-haired girl.

And a [Maid] too?

“Hmm.”

“What?” Marie asked.

“Oh, nothing, just…” Fayette pointed at the dead body in the corner of the room. “Not the best reintroduction, is it?”

“Oh hells, Fayette, we look like [Murderers]!”

“I’ve been trying to say that all along, you know!”