"It should be here, right?"
In the silent, empty hallway of the old building, a graceful figure appeared out of nowhere.
It was Lea.
Even though it was during class hours, she had unexpectedly come to this old club building, a place rarely visited and rumored to be soon abandoned.
This was Lea's first time here. The unfamiliar environment made her uneasy, and she could only rely on the small piece of paper in her hand to pinpoint her destination.
"The classroom at the very end..."
Lea looked up at the plaque above the classroom door in front of her:
"Ancient Potions Club? Huh, since when did our academy have a club like this?"
"Whatever. According to Moen Campbell, this is the address he gave me, so this must be the place."
Having finally confirmed the location, Lea put the paper away. But just then, a gust of cold wind swept through, making her shiver and draw her shoulders together instinctively.
"This place... is so deserted..."
She glanced around.
Even though it was class time, not all students had classes at the same time. Normally, one or two students should have been walking past, right?
Yet, as far as her eyes could see, there wasn’t a single soul.
The entire floor was filled with abandoned classrooms bearing odd and quirky club names, likely belonging to niche clubs that had dwindled and disappeared with time.
The deserted classrooms and the abandoned building immediately reminded Lea of the ghost and horror stories Ariel used to tell her to scare her.
"To invite me to such a remote place, Moen Campbell is definitely up to no good! Almost got deceived by his sweet words before!"
Clenching her small fists, Lea pumped them into the air, gritting her teeth as she spoke.
It had been nearly a month since he last reached out to her, and she'd thought Moen Campbell might have forgotten about her entirely. She was going to label him as a faithless liar.
She was even about to sneak out of the academy again to perform music and earn money, having spent all her savings.
But then, out of the blue, Moen Campbell contacted her.
And now, it seems Moen Campbell didn’t forget—the guy had probably spent this past month scheming something instead!
Otherwise, in such a massive academy, why invite her to such a secluded spot?
It had to be a conspiracy!
Ariel was right—Moen Campbell is not someone to be trusted!
A glimmer of cunning intelligence flashed across Lea's eyes.
Still…
It wasn't all bad.
She had been smart enough to be cautious.
It was sheer genius to decide to scout the area in advance, a day early.
If she hadn’t, she might have really fallen right into his trap!
"Hmph! Moen Campbell, you think I'm just a pretty face with no brains?"
Lea smugly put her hands on her hips for a moment.
"Well, just you wait—I'll catch you completely off guard!"
Choosing such a remote spot must have held some kind of significance for Moen Campbell. Naturally, sneaking in to investigate would be enough to unearth his scheme.
But—
Lea glanced about inquisitively, a question mark practically hanging over her head. "It seems like there is no way in."
All the windows of the classroom were tightly draped with pale blue curtains, not even a sliver of space could be seen through them.
Lea tried pushing the classroom’s door firmly, but to no avail—it remained entirely motionless as if it had been locked tightly.
"Hiding this place so carefully, there must be something shady going on!"
Lea punched the air again with her small fists, her chest heaving slightly with fervor.
Her suspicions grew stronger.
And so did her determination to investigate.
After wandering around a bit, she ended up back at the window.
Forcefully barging in wasn’t an option, so her attention fell onto the pale blue curtains covering the glass.
The windows were tightly shut, but not entirely untouchable.
Besides, she only wanted to take a peek for now, so surely that wasn't too difficult.
Lea extended a finger and gently twisted it.
From her fingertip, golden specks of light began to blossom like droplets of holy radiance.
The glimmering specks transformed into a golden butterfly, fluttering noiselessly under her command. It passed through the window with ease.
Then it landed on the curtain.
Gently and with precision, the butterfly began pulling the curtains back bit by bit, revealing the view inside.
"Huh? Someone’s in there?"
Spotting a shadow inside the classroom, Lea instinctively focused her attention.
"Is that... Moen Campbell?"
"What’s he doing?"
"And it doesn’t seem like he’s alone—there’s another... girl?"
The dim interior of the classroom seemed to be shielded by something, leaving her unable to hear a sound. But Moen Campbell’s striking golden hair stood out unmistakably.
[CONTENT CENSORED, THOUSAND WORDS OMITTED, PLEASE USE IMAGINATION...]
"This is—"
Lea’s eyes widened in shock as she beheld the scene, her mind instantly alight with a cacophony of thunderous thoughts.
Was this...
Could it be that Moen Campbell was bullying someone?!
In a split second, her imagination filled in the blanks—a helpless young girl trapped in that sealed-off classroom, pinned down, as Moen Campbell ruthlessly tormented her with—
His knee, hitting her from behind!
How cruel!
How horrifying!
How utterly unbelievable!
Moen Campbell, how could you do such a thing to a vulnerable young girl?
What should I do? I must save her!
"Calling for help would take too long; I’ll have to step in myself!"
Steeling her nerves, Lea began gathering holy light in her palm.
Though direct combat wasn’t her strongest suit, as a candidate for sainthood within the church, how could she stand idly by in the face of such cruelty?
She had to step up!
Just as she readied herself to smash through the window and shout "Villain!" to put an end to this barbaric act, the figures inside shifted abruptly.
[CONTENT CENSORED, THOUSAND WORDS OMITTED, PLEASE USE IMAGINATION...]
"Eh?"
Lea froze.
She stood still as a statue.
The thunderous storm roaring in her mind seemed to rebound back in the opposite direction, dissipated by an unseen force.
For a brief moment, countless thoughts flooded her brain, overwhelming the narrative that Moen Campbell was "bullying" the girl.
Only then did Lea notice the details she had overlooked earlier.
[CONTENT CENSORED, THOUSAND WORDS OMITTED, PLEASE USE IMAGINATION...]
"This, this, this, this is..."
Staring at the scene before her, Lea’s thoughts tangled like a dozen balls of string left at the mercy of a playful kitten. She felt chaos unfurl in every corner of her mind.
Finally, out of the tangled mess of thoughts, she seized a single thread of clarity.
Because, even though she had neither experienced this before nor truly witnessed it personally...
Intuition told her what this act represented.
"Could this be... the legendary... that [CONTENT CENSORED, TWO WORDS OMITTED, PLEASE USE IMAGINATION]?!"
Lea’s cheeks flushed bright red, almost audibly, as if steam had begun rising from her head.
Having grown up under the strict guidance of the church, her understanding of relationships was limited to things like holding hands or a simple kiss. Her curiosity about certain subtle references in novels or occasional slip-ups under Ariel's bad influence hadn’t fully prepared her for this.
And now...
The pure and untainted future saintess found herself staring at the scene before her, thunderstruck.
