On a dark night.
Amidst the murmurs, a man pushed his way through the crowd.
With a sturdy frame, black hair, lifeless brown eyes, and dark circles under his eyes like heavy shadows.
A smoldering cigarette sent out wisps of smoke between his unkempt stubble.
“Hoo…”
With a short sigh, smoke escaped his lips as he approached the fence set up to block access to the scene.
“No unauthorized civilians are allowed at the crime scene.”
“Fernand de Pasel, head of the Royal City Peacekeeping Force.”
When a soldier stationed in front of the fence blocked his path, he pulled a small token from his pouch.
The token bore a laurel branch and handcuffs inside a shield.
It was proof that he was part of the peacekeeping force responsible for maintaining order in the royal city of Priscillium.
“Ah, so it’s you, Director Fernand. My apologies.”
Upon seeing the insignia, the soldier moved aside, and Fernand stubbed out his cigarette on the ground before stepping inside the fence.
Amidst the bustle of people, he arrived at the scene of the incident.
The scene was a deserted alleyway.
“This is gruesome…”
A low groan escaped his lips as he beheld the horrific sight before him.
The alley was stained with blood.
There lay a man, presumed to be in his mid-thirties, whose name, occupation, and family relations were all unknown, likely a smuggler or a vagrant.
Cause of death: homicide.
The corpse was riddled with wounds as if pierced by something sharp.
It was an impossible scenario, but if he had survived the attack, he would have bled out from the massive loss of blood in no time.
“Uweeeek…!!”
A rookie soldier, apparently new to this line of work, began to vomit at the sight, and nearby soldiers pulled him away from the scene.
“These youngsters…”
Fernand clicked his tongue as he watched the commotion.
Being part of the first squad, he would see scenes like this time and again, and yet, this was all it took for one of them to lose their stomach.
“Hey! Fernand! You made it!”
Just then, a man nearby noticed him and waved warmly.
With short blond hair and a cheerful demeanor, he had narrow eyes typical of a half-slit.
“Bet it’s that guy again, right?”
“Probably? It had been quiet, but here we are again.”
Fernand nodded in response to the man’s inquiry.
A mysterious serial killer known as “The One Who Steals Lives.”
He had been active since the beginning of the year, but recently had gone quiet before starting his spree again.
The main victims were the poor and migrants whose identities were hard to trace.
The number of victims totaled in the dozens.
Considering the yet undisclosed cases, that number would be significantly higher.
“Surveillance is useless, there are no leads, no witnesses, and the layout is a nightmare. This is the first time I’ve seen something like this in my ten years with the Peacekeeping Force.”
They had been running around trying to catch him but had no concrete results to show for it.
His elusive nature and the maze-like structure of the alleys made it effectively impossible to catch him.
That was why Fernand, former head of the first squad, and current teacher for Philsberg Academy A-1, ended up here.
“There is no perfect crime in this world; as long as you are human, you will leave a trace.”
Responding to the man’s words, Fernand began to examine the crime scene.
“…”
Currently, the incidents were limited to the slums and alleyways, so they hadn’t attracted much attention, but he was sure the scope would soon extend beyond these areas.
In fact, based on the locations where the bodies were found, the crimes were moving to the outskirts of the slums and alleyways.
Even if he was now part of the peacekeeping force, he could not just watch such events unfold.
“Hoo…”
As he stared at the gruesome sights, Fernand took out a cigarette from his pouch.
But…
“Damn it… I’m out of lighter fluid.”
Looking at the unlit lighter, he clicked his tongue and stuffed the cigarette back into his pocket.
*
The summer break at Philsberg Academy ended, and the second semester began.
“Today, I will introduce you to a new friend.”
With a bored expression while reading documents, the homeroom teacher, Fernand de Pasel, looked at a boy standing beside the podium.
A boy with dark bronze skin, red eyes, and wild-looking hair.
That boy was Kurt.
“Introduce yourself and go to your seat.”
“Nice to meet you. My name is Kurt Kasha. I’m from the Nord Tribe, in the lands of eternal winter.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the classroom erupted into murmurs.
This was understandable as the image of the Nord Tribe within the kingdom was that of frenzied raiders.
Students from the borderlands, who dealt with them daily, were visibly uncomfortable.
However, Kurt didn’t mind at all and took a seat at the back where Rudell usually sat.
“Don’t ostracize our new friend; be friendly. That’s the end of the attendance.”
After Fernand finished taking attendance and stepped out of the classroom…
“Leje El Lagrind. I need to talk to you for a moment.”
“Understood.”
Leje nodded at his words and rose from her seat.
“…?”
Is something wrong?
Thinking this, Rudell watched Leje head towards the hallway.
Meanwhile…
“Are you really from the Nord Tribe? You speak really well for a Nord!”
“I heard there are monsters that eat people there? Is that true?”
“They say all Nord people are crazy fighters. You’re not like that, huh?”
“Have you come to raid the kingdom before?”
Kids gathered around Kurt, launching a barrage of questions, some of which could be seen as racist.
Even if the Nord Tribe had that ferocious raider image, for those who weren’t part of it, it was hard to feel the same intensity.
“My mother and father were Nord. So, I’m Nord too.”
“Monstrous Beasts would raid once a month. Sometimes I stayed up for days fighting them.”
“For the Nord Tribe, fighting is part of life. But I learned that this place is different.”
“Weak tribes are the ones who raid. Our tribe is weak. We rely on hunting monstrous beasts for survival.”
Kurt answered them all calmly, as if he didn’t care at all.
Well, it seemed like he would get along fine.
Just then, Rudell, who was observing the scene, heard a voice from behind.
“Rudellheit Count!”
“…?”
Turning around, Rudell saw the noble girls from his class.
“What’s up?”
“I heard that the Weinstein House was elevated to a Count’s House. Congratulations!”
“Ah… thank you.”
Rudell nodded to their remarks, realizing why they were talking to him first.
Recently, among the noble families, it was almost impossible to find one that did not know the name of Count Weinstein.
After all, they were under the protection of Duke Lagrind, had thwarted an assassination attempt on the princess, and had also slain monstrous beasts appearing in their territory, making them a rising house.
From their perspective, ties with Rudell meant ties to the Count’s House of Weinstein.
Moreover, it made it easy to create connections with the Duke Lagrind’s family.
“If it’s alright with you, would you want to join me for tea during lunchtime? I’d like to hear what happened in the Count’s Domain…”
“About that time? Well…”
It might be a bit tricky…
Just as Rudell was about to relay his refusal to the girls, a familiar voice answered for him.
“I’m sorry, but that wouldn’t be possible.”
When Rudell and the girls turned to the source of the voice, they saw Leje looking quite displeased.
“K- cough…!! If it’s the Duchess who says that…”
Sweating profusely, the girls quickly left the scene, and Leje, observing this, clicked her tongue once before taking a seat.
“What were you talking about with them just now?”
“Hmm? Nothing much. You came at the right time.”
If I ended up chatting with them, I’d really be in trouble.
With a snicker, Rudell replied…
“Really?”
Leje squinted, asking again.
“I have no reason to lie to you.”
With a faint chuckle, Rudell answered, which finally eased Leje’s expression.
“Anyway, what did the homeroom teacher want to talk about?”
“Um… well, it’s a bit complicated…”
“What does that mean…?”
Seeing Leje’s puzzled expression, Rudell tilted his head.
What kind of conversation prompted such a reaction?
“Let’s just continue that discussion after class, okay?”
“Um… alright.”
Well, I guess I’ll find out the details later.
Thinking that, Rudell prepared for class.
