Masquerade Ball (1)

"Maria."

"Yes?"

"Do you know any place on campus that absolutely nobody would pass or see?"

"..."

Maria shivered. Was he finally planning to kill someone?

Maria silently shed a tear for the soon-to-be victim and apologized in her heart.

'I'm sorry, I still want to live a bit longer. I'll wish you luck in your next life.'

"If it's that sort of place... We have the old storage room at the other end of the campus but it's easy to spot people going there. Hmmm... the classrooms during vacancy are the only ones I can think of. The campus is pretty much always covered by students from one end to the other."

"I see, thanks."

Since she hadn't given out the rooftop, then that meant it was either populated or that no other students had access to it.

"Umm... Killing is a crime."

"Hm? Yes, I know that."

"I see..."

Maria turned away from Sebastian.

'I'm sorry, I tried my best.'

She still believed that one of the students would soon disappear.

...

From that point on, Sebastian didn't have a moment of rest. He first checked if his targets would go to the ball and unluckily, none of them had planned on going. One had a girlfriend who he was going on a date with, another didn't see any reason to attend, and the last one didn't even know about the ball.

Sebastian decided to deal with the one who seemed like the easiest first. He took Maria and Elliot (with 'gentle' persuasion) and began talking about the ball with them in the hallway.

He had calculated his target's route from her daily routine.

As expected, his target was surrounded by her group of friends as they chatted.

Sebastian intentionally raised his voice and it was enough for the target to catch on. Her ears twitched and she began asking her friends that didn't seem like they had any knowledge either.

'That should be enough...'

"Thanks."

Sebastian thanked Elliot and Maria then walked away.

The two who were left behind looked at each other with blank expressions.

"You don't think we'll be named accomplices for murder, would we?"

"I... hope not..."

Elliot and Mari sat next to each other before Sebastian took his spot. They were friends, and now, the pair of friends were scared out of their wits.

"Do we have to attend the ball...?"

Elliot gave her a desperate look.

"If we don't want to die..."

Maria looked like she wanted to cry. Sebastian walked down the hallway without knowledge of the two's plight to search for his next target.

His other two targets were a man and a woman. Though the note did say it was more likely for the target to be a woman—he couldn't ignore any other potential targets.

"...!"

Just as Sebastian turned the corner, all of the hair on his body stood up and a frightening chill crept up on his spine.

Sebastian quickly turned to the source but there was nothing there but an empty hallway.

"Killing intent, there's another assassin here."

What he felt was most likely a warning. A warning to stop his activities.

The noble's illegitimate child was actually protected quite well, who would've known?

Nevertheless, Sebastian had no plans to stop.

"This is going to be a lot more troublesome than I thought."

He was part of Blue Rose, his failure would impact them as well. He couldn't just abandon the mission halfway just because he sensed a danger.

'Do not point a weapon at another unless you're prepared to die.'

Hound's words gave Sebastian some strength.

He hadn't sensed the presence of the assassin even after more than a week, but he couldn't let that get to him.

Over the span of the next few days, Sebastian successfully lured all three targets into wanting to participate in the ball. If things went as planned, then he'd meet the three of them there and would have to face the assassin.

"Seriously? A prowler?"

"Yeah, students have been warned not to go in places without any other people."

It was the effort of several days. Sebastian spread rumors and struck fear into the citizens in the area.

"Let's cancel our date tomorrow..."

"But..."

"I hear the prowler specifically targets couples too.. Why don't we just go to the masquerade tomorrow? We can have our date the week after the next."

"Fine, I guess..."

Although Sebastian felt bad for breaking up their date, he couldn't let his personal feelings get in the way of business.

With all his targets secured, the killing intent from the assassin became more refined than ever and made it seem like he would attack anytime. Sebastian even began bringing his weapons to school.

Two daggers hidden in his clothes and a few smoke bombs. The miniature crossbow was also attached to his arm. Nobody would see it and it wouldn't impede his daily life so it was no problem.

The assassin could attack any time he went somewhere private, Sebastian was in a constant state of alert during the days he lured his targets. His classmates could feel the tension surrounding him and felt even more fear. Maria, in particular, was at her wit's end.

"You two are attending as well?"

"Yes..."

Maria was pale as she answered.

"Are you sure? You don't look fine to me."

"I-it's not a problem at all."

'Professor, why did you have to leave me this duty?'

Although she had readily accepted, she didn't know she would be guiding a killer. She even suspected that he was the prowler the rumors were talking about and had already begun his hunt.

"Well, just don't push yourself too much. It'd be bad if you collapsed."

"..."

'Whose fault do you think it is?'

Elliot was silent unless Sebastian and Maria talked to him. After separating from Sebastian, Elliot asked Maria.

"Hey, are we sure he's really a killer?"

"If he isn't, then what is he?"

"I mean, he could just be a highly skilled student..."

"Do you think a student can release such strong bloodlust? How many people does a person have to kill to accrue bloodlust that fierce..."

Though it was true that bloodlust (killing intent) is normally acquired by killing people, it could also be provided by brushing past death.

But, it was true that Sebastian had killed quite a few people as well. None of the students were naive to not realize that Sebastian wasn't innocent in the least.

"Still, has he shown anything that made it seem like he was going to deal with us if we didn't do what he wanted?"

Elliot had been observing Sebastian since he first transferred into the school. Though he was terrified of him, he could still offer an objective opinion.

"...you make a fair point."

Maria sighed.

"Alright, during the masquerade, I'll evaluate him objectively, I won't let the fear and bloodlust get to me."

"Don't worry too much, I'll be there as well."

"..."

It wasn't very convincing coming out of the mouth of someone who had been done in by Sebastian in less than five seconds but she knew how strong Elliot really was.

After all, before Sebastian arrived, he was the class' top close combatant by far.

...

"Are you sure?"

Amy had already changed clothes. She was wearing her uniform from Aurora Academy and had a mask in her hands that covered her eye area. She wasn't planning on attending the masquerade anonymously, there wasn't any need for further disguises.

"Yes, I'm sure." Sebastian assured her and kissed her on the forehead. "I'll be alright by myself, what are you even worried about?"

"...that you'll go out and cause trouble again."

Sebastian choked on his saliva.

"Cough... I promise I won't cause any trouble."

"Hmm... Well, if you say so. I'll be heading out now."

"Have a safe trip."

Amy pecked his cheek and wore the mask. She left his room and a few minutes after, he could hear the sound of the carriage moving away.

Sebastian looked out of the window and once he confirmed the carriage's disappearance in the distance, he began.

Sebastian opened the drawers and wore the uniform of Wave Academy. Then, he ripped off something from the bottom of the drawer. It was a blue wig. After making sure that it looked natural, he covered the top half of his face with the featureless black mask.

Sebastian didn't bring any weapons. He couldn't.

Before he enters the venue, he would be checked for weapons. Hound was the one responsible for procuring his weapons.

"Then, I'm off."

He spoke to no one in particular and left through the window. After closing it behind him, Sebastian put on a cloak and began jumping from roof to roof.

He quickly overtook Amy's carriage with his speed and arrived at the venue without anyone spotting him.

Sebastian waited in line. There were quite a few people waiting to be checked at the front.

"One, two, five..."

In total, there were ten guards hidden that he could see. How could Hound sneak past all of them? He didn't even know what sort of power she could use.

'Does it help conceal her presence?'

If so, then it was a very valuable skill.

While Sebastian continued to scope out the area, his turn came.

"Please step over here."

They wouldn't check his identity, just search for weapons or any other harmful objects.

"Cleared. Please enjoy your night."

"You as well."

Sebastian changed his voice and replied. With this, he wouldn't have to worry about being linked. Sebastian turned his head to see Maria and Elliot in the line.

He didn't plan on greeting them and continued to head inside.

Once he entered the venue, a sea of people covered his sight. He walked to the second floor and looked over at the guests from above.

"...I've found you."

The assassin that was guarding his target.

Sebastian sat on one of the chairs, took a drink from one of the passing servers, and then continued to scan the sea of people.

It was harder to find the target than he thought. There were many student with green hair and when accompanied with masks, it made for quite the challenge.

"Then, I'll have to go with plan B."

He had to finish before Amy finished her business in the party and arrive home first. Now, Sebastian only had to wait on Hound.