Chapter 48: Conversation
The classroom had emptied, and Athar now stood in front of the podium, facing Vale directly. His mind churned with a thousand possibilities, each more unlikely than the last. What could Vale possibly want to talk to him about? He had no idea. Even though, he could not think of the reason, the feeling of unease was getting stronger.
"Mr. VonCruz," Vale said at last. His usual calm, almost gentle tone was gone replaced by something colder, more clipped. It was like a different man altogether.
"Sir," Athar replied respectfully.
Vale gave a slight gesture, motioning for Athar to climb onto the podium. A wooden stool had been placed there, and Athar sat as instructed. Vale took a seat directly opposite him, the distance between them uncomfortably close.
"Do you have any idea what I want to talk to you about?" Vale asked, his voice low and unreadable.
"No, sir," Athar answered honestly.
Vale let out a dry chuckle though there was no humour in it. It was forced, mechanical, and his posture remained stiff, his expression serious.
A moment of silence lingered between the two and Athar felt the rising tension with each passing moment.
"Trux," Vale said suddenly. "You know someone by this name?"
He had not even finished the word before Athar reeled inwardly in shock. Outwardly, he kept his expression as composed as possible, but a flicker of change crossed his face just enough. If this was the name by which the conversation started, it meant only one thing.
Though Athar was still confused it would be about him beating Trux or related to Dervin too. After all, the instructors at the academy were doing their best to find the culprit who had beaten Trux.
Vale caught it instantly.
"So, you have heard of this Trux?" he pressed, eyes narrowing slightly.
Athar swallowed hard. He knew denial would not work. If Vale was talking about this thing, they must have already talked to Trux.
"Yes. I met him once," he replied.
"Only once?" Vale’s voice sharpened, almost a sneer. "Were you not the one who broke his head and jaw?"
Athar shook his head with calm conviction.
"No, sir. I did not meet him again. We met only once."
Vale gave a curt nod but chose not to pursue the matter further for now. This was not the important part of the conversation.
"Then may I ask," he said coolly, "why you have not paid your quota for the past three weeks? Even when you left the academy on your second holiday, you failed to submit it."
This question shocked Athar. So, it was related to his quota. The academy had not caught up to his act.
Athar remained silent. He was not sure what to say. As far as he knew, no one had witnessed him when he killed Dervin and his lackeys.
But what if someone had seen him enter the area? Could he lie and say he never intended to deliver the quota at all? Or would that raise even more suspicion?
"Sir," Athar finally spoke, his voice steady at first. "I had gone to deliver my quota that day, but..."
He trailed off, hesitating.
"But instead killed Dervin," Vale interjected sharply.
Athar’s eyes widened in shock.
"No!" he nearly shouted. "I did not kill him!"
"When I reached there," he added quickly, voice trembling with urgency, "I had not even entered the building when a scream echoed from inside. It was a very painful scream. I recognized the voice, and... fear took over me."
"I was terrified and I did not dare stay any longer," he said, breathing heavily now. "I just ran away from that place as fast as I could."
Vale did not immediately respond to Athar’s words. His eyes remained fixed on the boy, as if trying to scan every change in expression, every flicker of doubt on Athar’s face.
Vale had not originally been meant to handle this matter. Normally, some other student, someone already part of their mysterious and complex shadowy web would have been handed over the task. That student would have approached Athar.
But once word had spread about Athar becoming Angelica’s personal disciple, hesitation rippled through those ranks. Angelica was not part of their network, and she carried a formidable reputation. No student wanted to risk offending her.
Even so, Vale himself would have remained uninvolved if it had only been about Athar failing to deliver his quota. That alone was not enough to raise alarms, not when the boy had gained protection under a teacher like Angelica. They would have simply ignored him. After all, not every student was paying quotas.
But Dervin’s murder had changed everything. And while no one seriously believed a student who had been cultivating for barely two weeks could kill three people one of whom had reached E rank—the investigation had uncovered certain connections. Those connections, however implausible they seemed, pointed too obviously toward Athar to ignore.
The first connection was the most obvious. Trux had warned Athar about missing his quota during the first week. Days later, Trux was found brutally beaten. A few days after that, Dervin was murdered.
The second clue was Athar’s departure from the academy on the same day Dervin was killed. Though he had officially left in the morning, the timing of his return aligned almost perfectly with how long it would have taken to reach Zone 26, carry out the murder, and come back.
And finally, perhaps the most damning of all was the remnant of the technique used to kill Dervin. It was undoubtedly a Yellow Rank technique from the academy: Sword Slash. The very same technique Athar had been issued not long ago.
This last detail was something Athar was completely unaware of. Had he known that such residual traces could be identified, he might have chosen a different method to kill. But ignorance had betrayed him.
Though the death of Dervin’s two lackeys whose bodies had been found internally corroded did not directly implicate Athar, the first three connections were more than enough to raise serious suspicion.
They might have continued to doubt his capabilities, but Athar had already proven himself during his spar with Angelica. And if that was not convincing enough, Angelica’s decision to make him her personal disciple sealed the matter. No one believed she would choose someone ordinary. Even if some students believed her decision was based solely on the duel, others suspected she had seen something in Athar the rest of them had missed.
And so, the task of confronting and interrogating him had fallen to Vale.
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