recognized the cloak draped over her shoulders, remembering one of the contestants donning it earlier. However, her face seemed different, her features now eerily ethereal.
Her gaze lingered on Octavius before shifting to the man, her eyes narrowing slightly. She took deliberate steps closer to him, her aura radiating an unsettling intensity that made him recoil, taking two frightened steps back.
"He’s telling the truth," she repeated, with an authoritative tone. "I saw it for myself."
The man stiffened, attempting to regain his composure and salvage his dignity.
"How do you explain his possession of so many atherstones?" he challenged. "You might be an accomplice of his..."
"Are you calling me a liar?" she interrupted, her voice laced with subtle menace. She took another step closer, her eyes never leaving the man’s face.
He retreated, his backpedaling swift and panicked, as he stumbled backward by four hasty steps.
Seemingly satisfied with his reaction, she turned her attention to Octavius. Her gaze swept over him, her head tilting slightly as she inspected him with curiosity. Her eyes lingered on the Pochebag slung across his shoulders.
"Can I have one?" she asked. "I would very much like to get into the Academy too."
Before Octavius could respond, a commotion erupted at the edge of the clearing. Two figures burst into view, sprinting toward them with frantic urgency, as if fleeing from some terrorizing force. Their faces were twisted with fear, and their ragged breathing echoed through the air.
The girl who had requested for one of the aetherstones, tore her gaze away from Octavius and flicked toward the newcomers, with an unreadable expression.
Octavius brushed past the woman to get a better view, and his eyes landed on the speedster from earlier, as well as Marilyn, both of whom were catching their breath.
As soon as they locked eyes with Octavius and the others, the speedster swiftly produced his daggers, pointing them menacingly.
Octavius shifted his gaze away from the speedster and onto Marilyn, taking in her bruised features. "Are you okay?"
Marilyn looked nervous, her eyes darting toward Octavius, but as she took in the scene – the woman, the speedster, and Octavius, all seemingly unaggressive – her tension eased. She turned to the speedster, Otto, who was sweating profusely, and reassured him, "It’s okay, Otto. They... he won’t harm us."
Otto hesitated, his knife still at the ready, but as he looked around and saw that no one was attacking, his fear began to dissipate. Recognition dawned on his face as he looked at Octavius, and he slowly lowered his dagger.
"Where are the others?" Octavius asked Marilyn.
But Void chimed in mentally. [Sipping tea and chit-chatting somewhere, dumbass.]
Marilyn’s expression turned somber, and she replied bluntly, "Dead."
"We should head back," Octavius suggested, scanning the group. "Does anyone have a pistol?"
"But we haven’t gotten what we came here for." Marilyn pointed out. It feels like the aetherstones don’t even exist. And the ones they carried around were absolute fakes."
"How do you know that?" the other girl asked Marilyn.
Marilyn observed her, seemingly never noticing her before she spoke, or when the group was formed. "Who are you?"
"My name is Nadia, and I’m one of the contestants."
Marilyn’s gaze lingered on Nadia, she knew for certain she had never seen her face before but then again they were a lot of people.
"You said they were fakes," Nadia prompted, drawing Marilyn out of her reverie. "How did you know that?"
Marilyn’s eyes refocused, and she replied, "Because I’ve seen one before."
"You’ve seen one, or because you were given one... better still, because you have one in your possession."
With a swift motion, Nadia stepped forward, yanked open her pouch, and produced the stone, her eyes never leaving Marilyn’s face.
Otto’s eyes widened as soon as he saw the stone. He took two cautious steps back, away from Marilyn. Suspecting she also had a hand in the death of the other contestants.
"I know it’s fake because I’ve seen the real one," Marilyn explained. "The late headmaster brought it to show my father, and he let me touch it. I know what it feels like."
Marilyn’s expression turned defiant as she turned to the rest of the group, as if anticipating criticism. "Save whatever judgments you have about my connection to the late headmaster. I couldn’t care less."
She turned to Nadia, taking a deliberate step closer to enclose the space between them. "And about the stone," Marilyn began, her hand darting out to jerk the stone from Nadia’s grasp.
Marilyn turned to face the others, the stone held aloft. "Someone gave it to me out of the blue. I didn’t know why, but I didn’t feel like disposing of it. That’s why I stuck around, trying to find the real one."
"Why would someone give it to you willingly, when people are killing each other to get it?" Nadia pressed on.
Just as Marilyn was about to respond, Octavius intervened, handing one of the stones from his pouch to Marilyn.
"Is this the real one?" he asked.
Marilyn’s eyes widened in surprise, but she took the stone and inspected it carefully. After a moment, she handed it back to Octavius, her expression eager.
"How did you get your hands on this? Where can I find one?" she asked, her questions tumbling out in rapid succession.
"You don’t have to," Octavius replied. "You can keep that one."
He tossed another stone to Otto, and then, with a hint of reluctance, he threw one to Nadia. His gaze shifted to the last individual, the one who had attacked him brutally earlier. The man’s sweaty complexion seemed to intensify under Octavius’s scrutiny.
After a prolonged, tense moment, Octavius finally threw a stone in the man’s direction. He turned to Otto, who he had spotted with a pistol on his waist and issued a calm instruction: "Shoot it."
Otto glanced over at his waist to see who wuld have done nothing to stop it happen.