[ Felt didn't know how Emilia had tracked her down. She shifted her gaze to Ayanokōji Kiyotaka, standing beside the half-elf; he looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place him. Felt dealt with countless faces every day, and Ayanokōji—aside from a reasonably handsome face—was so utterly plain that he lacked any memorable "hook." ]
[ "Rom, are you okay?!" Felt asked anxiously. ]
[ "I... I'm fine..." Rom replied quickly. ]
[ Emilia recognized Felt instantly as the thief from earlier. The theft had happened so fast she hadn't seen the girl's face clearly at the time, but seeing her now, she recognized the petite frame and the specific clothing. ]
[ "Give it back!" Emilia said, her face set in a serious line. ]
[ "It's just a cheap insignia! Why are you being so persistent?!" Felt asked, genuinely confused. "I thought people like you didn't care about trinkets." ]
[ "It is incredibly important to me!" Emilia's eyes widened, her voice firm and laced with a hint of suppressed anger. After all, losing that insignia meant losing her very right to participate in the Royal Selection. ]
[ 'Caring for those important to you... that is the weakness of the vast majority of people.' Ayanokōji observed silently. ]
[ Emilia hesitated. While she was furious about the theft, she knew it wasn't a capital offense; she had only intended to hand the girl over to the guards. If Felt returned the insignia, Emilia was willing to let it go. However, hearing Ayanokōji's cold assessment, she played along, pivoting her ice shards to aim directly at Rom. ]
[ Felt stared at Ayanokōji, searching for a bluff. But his face was a void—no emotion, no tells. She realized instinctively that he wasn't posturing. Only then did she remember seeing him earlier in the day being cornered by three thugs. Why was he here now, and why was he with the victim? ]
[ Felt's instincts were razor-sharp. She sensed that while Ayanokōji looked ordinary, he was a deeply dangerous existence. She couldn't gamble with Rom's life—he was the only person she truly cared about. She moved her hand away from her dagger and tossed the stolen insignia to Emilia. As the item flew through the air, Ayanokōji noticed a faint, momentary pulse of light from the gem, though it vanished so quickly he wasn't sure if he had imagined it. ]
[ "Fine! I'll forgive you this time!" Emilia sighed in relief after checking that the insignia was unharmed. Beside her, Puck relaxed. "Thank goodness! Keep a better eye on it next time. Now that it's over, I'm going to get some rest!" ]
"Wait, she's just letting us go?" Rom muttered, staring at the sky.
"I'll go contact the client later and cancel the deal," Felt added. "Once we return the insignia, we shouldn't have anything to do with them ever again."
[ "I didn't steal it just for fun... it was a commission," Felt blurted out, her voice tinged with a defensive tone. ]
[ "Someone commissioned you to steal my insignia?" Emilia's eyes grew wide with shock. "Who?" ]
[ "Yeah, exactly," Felt nodded vigorously. "But I'm not selling out a client's privacy!" ]
[ "Is that so?" Emilia's expression hardened instantly. More ice shards manifested, all pointing at Felt. ]
[ "...On second thought, I guess I can share. It was a woman in a black robe. Very beautiful... but I really don't know her name," Felt said hurriedly. ]
[ As Ayanokōji began to analyze this new information, he suddenly felt a sharp, freezing wind rushing from behind. His body moved on instinct, ducking backward. A flash of cold steel whipped past his face—a strangely shaped blade aimed to kill! ]
[ Even though Ayanokōji successfully evaded, the strike didn't stop. Before he could even shout a warning, the dagger, glowing with an ominous chill, had already pierced Emilia's body. Blood erupted into the air, blooming like macabre red flowers. Without a chance to fight back, the powerful half-elf magic user was gutted. She collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. Blood pooled rapidly on the uneven floor, the thick, metallic scent of iron filling the air. ]
[ Emilia was dead. ]
In the classroom, the students were paralyzed with horror. These teenagers, who had never seen death, were witnessing a slaughter. Even though movies and manga featured gore, the hyper-realism of the screen made it feel as if the carnage was happening right in front of them.
Several students were already vomiting. Chabashira Sae fought back her own nausea and rushed to the screen to shut it off, but it was useless. The display was completely beyond her control.
Horikita Suzune covered her mouth, her eyes welling with tears. The sheer brutality of the scene was overwhelming. She turned a pleading, desperate look toward Ayanokōji.
Ayanokōji, however, was staring at his terminal, his eyes scanning the image for every tactical detail.
In the streets of Lugnica, the populace stared at the sky in stunned silence. Even those who hated Emilia had never imagined such a cruel, senseless end for her. She was a Royal Candidate backed by Roswaal; no sane person would provoke such a power.
And yet, she had been killed as easily as a commoner.
Emilia's own violet eyes were vacant, clouded with confusion. "Puck... this can't be real!"
"Lia!" Puck's voice was thick with a trembling rage. If this vision was truly the future, who would dare to do this? "I will tear the one responsible into a thousand pieces!"
[ "I intended to finish both of you at once. I didn't expect you to dodge," a gentle, slightly lazy female voice rang out from between them. Ayanokōji turned his gaze toward the attacker, locking eyes with a pair of golden orbs. ]
[ Standing between the three of them was a woman with a lithe, alluring figure. She wore a revealing black outfit that exposed her pale skin, radiating a lethal charm. Black sheer stockings accentuated her legs, and a massive black cloak billowed behind her like the curtains of night. Her face was exquisite—unlike Emilia's youthfulness, she possessed a mature, seductive beauty. A mole on her left cheek added a flirtatious touch, as if she could steal the soul of anyone who looked at her. Her black hair was woven into an intricate braid that hung down to her waist. ]