BXBX NOVEL Volume 2, 2
Volume 2, Chapter 2
(Where should I even start to search...)
The same day, after school hours, Cecilia walked around the school grounds.
The area allocated to Wruhel Academy was vast. In the modern world, the academy would have a similar role as a university, so there were also separate facilities for research laboratories and research students on the same campus. Also, being a school frequented by nobility, it was reckoned by its research on medicine and there were various medical institutions within. And so, Cecilia had never strolled around the full length of this campus.
(Since there are separate campuses for the elementary and middle school, this is to be expected but it\'s still too wide...)
The elementary and middle sections were separated. They accepted both commoners and aristocrats. However, the children of nobility usually were overseen and taught by a personal tutor until the end of middle school, and then they enrolled in the academy from the high school section onwards.
The high school section of Wruhel Academy has a five-year system and was divided into a regular academic course from the first to the third year, and a focused research course from the fourth to the fifth year. Most students graduated from the school with a liberal arts curriculum, but those who wanted to do specialized research could proceed into the research course. Furthermore, it was possible to just stay in school to engage in research as much as one was interested in. It was said that many students and professors attended Wruhel Academy due to that fact.
(By the way, Prof. Mordred\'s route was like that.)
Mordred was the appointed school doctor for their section, but he was also a researcher who studied the ‘disturbances’. The heroine, a Saint candidate, would help Mordred with his research...
(In the end, I wonder what happened in the conclusion of Prof. Mordred\'s route..)
Cecilia\'s previous incarnation, Hiyono, wasn’t able to ‘capture’ Mordred. To be precise, she died while playing that capture route. She had just entered the romance route, but immediately after that, she perished in the fire incident.
(If I had to point out my past regrets, this would surely be one of them. I wanted to know what kind of story it was...)
It seems his route was very popular on the internet forums.
Also, for a different reason than Mordred, the twins Ein and Zwei were not captured by Cecilia either. The reason for that was she wasn’t capable of stomaching their character design. She basically felt turned off by them.
(When I think about this and that, there is plenty of information that I don’t know.)
Since there was a common route up to the middle of all the scenarios, she knew the personality of each character properly, and also their profile details. However, she wouldn\'t know the contents of the love events of the uncleared routes or the ‘true route’ that would appear after those were cleared.
(I also regretfully blocked everything spoiler-related that appeared on social media. If I knew this would have happened, I would have read all the tips, spoilers or anything else...)
It seemed that the situation was the same for Leanne. In her case, only the main character Oscar and Dante\'s route were both finished. In her case, Dante’s route was replayed more than 3 digits times for the sole purpose of checking out Huey. That was why when she first saw Cecil, she thought something along the lines "It looks like he wasn’t in the game character list, but he could be a character that appears on another route!"
(Well, even if you don’t play all of them, one thing is certain, Cecilia will die every single time...)
After all, it was officially stated that Cecilia was a character "doomed to perish" by the game developers. Even the game strategy website that she used to refer to when stuck had that phrase posted in big red letters. It was just canon.
"What are you doing in such a place?"
She turned her head towards the soft voice. Mordred was standing there.
"Oh, Prof. Mordred?"
"This is the research building area. Do you have anything you need to do around here?"
"Ah, no. I was looking for something..."
"What could you be looking for?"
Mordred looked at her skeptically. Cecilia was sure he thought she was suspicious. A student who was unlikely to have an errand related to research was wandering around in a place like that after school hours. The research buildings around there also handled critical information regarding matters important to the kingdom.
"What about prof. Mordred, what are you doing here?"
Cecilia smiled and asked a question back to distract him.
"Me? Well, I was on my way to visit someone."
"A visit?"
"Yes. My younger sister is hospitalized there."
He pointed to the hospital inside the academy. It was a very large hospital that could be said to be the first or second most important medical facility in the country, and it accepted patients with serious medical conditions.
(Prof. Mordred had a sister...)
This was information Cecilia didn\'t have. She didn\'t know he had a younger sister or that she was hospitalized during the events of the game. At least, none of that had come up to the point where Hiyono had played.
"What happened to your little sister?"
"She suffered a mild head concussion."
"She hit her head?"
Mordred lowered his line of sight with a gentle expression.
"To be honest, it seems my sister has been attacked by someone."
"Eeeh!?"
"They haven\'t caught the criminal yet, but the person who helped my sister testified that \'I saw someone fleeing\' so it was probably the main suspect..."
"That\'s--!"
She heard that somewhere else before. Cecilia suddenly opened her mouth almost voicing out the possibility that came to her mind.
"Perhaps... is your sister also a student at this school?"
"Yes, that\'s right. We have an age gap so she should be around a year below you."
"Since when has she been hospitalized?"
"Since March, I guess it\'s been about three or four months."
"March!?"
"Yes… is there anything wrong with that?"
Cecilia widened her eyes.
(The same month the Azalea Saint candidate died in the game!? Then, it must be--)
Why would no information about the death of the third candidate be available? If she didn\'t pass away, why couldn\'t she participate in the \'Selection ceremony\'? If Mordred\'s sister happened to be that Saint candidate, then everything could be explained.
(She was attacked by the \'Killer\', but it ended up just being an injury!?)
Cecilia got closer to Mordred.
"You see! Your sister, the mark--"
Having said that, Cecilia stopped. Right at that moment, she was a \'man\'. If she had Cecilia\'s appearance, it would still be a hard pass. But assuming that \'Cecil\' was to ask if a girl had any conspicuous birthmarks in her body… Don\'t mention just appearing suspicious, it would sound like plain harassment.
"Mark?"
"Mark, mark... market[1]! Yes! Does she like flea markets?"
"Ah. A flea market?"
Mordred had an overwhelming confused expression. That was expected. Even Cecilia herself couldn\'t figure out what she was talking about.
"I don\'t know, I would have to ask her... why would you like to know that?"
"N-nothing! I mean, I like strolling around those places, so I wondered if maybe...ah, we could get along well if she liked it too..."
It was a pretty horrible excuse. Of course, she didn\'t have any special interest in those things.
Mordred had a slightly wary expression, but he seemed to remember his previous appointment as he heard the sound of the bell tower announcing the time. Looking up at the red-tinted sky, he resumed back on his way.
"Well, I have to get going now. You should return to the dormitory soon."
"Oh, yes..."
Cecilia saw him off with a tired expression.