"Please be quiet. I will not be announcing the results of the assessment that we had. May the students who have been called up please step forward."

A man clad in dark green attire stood tall, his gaze fixed intently upon the paper before him. Adorned with thick, square-framed glasses, his stern countenance exuded an air of authority as he started reading the papers.

"For the role of Evangeline, the selected cadet will be Aria Parlia from the second year. Please step forward."

A young woman with black hair stepped forward. Her features were rather delicate, and while she wasn't exactly the most attractive of women, she was above average.

The moment her name got called up, her eyes sparkled and her body trembled.

She seemed to be struggling to contain her excitement.

Aoife stared at her with a flat look. There was no hint of expression on her pretty features. She was quietly waiting for her name to be called up. Although she didn't show it, she was actually quite nervous.

She had rehearsed the script for countless hours and thought she had done a good job at it.

They had only been given five minutes to learn the script and act. Had she been given more time, then she would've been able to put on a better performance.

The thought of failing kept nagging at her mind.

It felt suffocating.

'I can't fail... Not again.'

And then...

"For the role of Emily, the daughter of the baker, the selected cadet will be..."

Aoife took a deep breath, silently squeezing her palms which had unknowingly turned sweaty.

"...Aoife Megrail. Please step forward."

A huge sense of relief washed over her the moment that her name was called. If not for the fact that she had to keep her image up, she would've jumped and clenched her fist in front of everyone.

Keeping her usual stoic expression, she glanced around at the other cadets who were looking at her with hints of envy and jealousy, and she stepped forward.

'I did it...'

Her fists clenched tightly.

The organizer started to name the remaining cadets. One by one, Aoife saw cadets either suppress their joy or weep in sadness.

Folding the paper, the organizer eventually, announced,

"That's it for the roles. For those that haven't been called out, there's always a next time, you can disp-"

"Ah, excuse me."

A voice cut the organizer's. It sounded calm, but its underlying fluster did not escape Aoife's notice.

When she turned her head, her brows furrowed.

'It's him...'

The senior from before.

He still wore a warm smile and appeared friendly. However, something was unsettling about his smile that made Aoife frown more deeply.

He politely addressed the organizer.

"I've yet to hear about the role for Azarias. I've applied, and I don't think it has been called out yet so I think there's been a mi-"

"No, there's no mistake."

The organizer cooly cut him off.

Glancing at the cadets who had stepped forward, Aoife included, he went on to say,

"The role of Azarias has already been taken. He was selected a week ago."

"Eh...?"

Finally, cracks started to appear on his calm face. He appeared to be quite flustered. It was as if he hadn't expected such development.

"Someone took the role?"

"But weren't the selections today? How could this be?"

"Is there some sort of mistake?"

'Azarias's role has already been taken?'

He wasn't the only one that was surprised by the situation. All the remaining cadets, Aoife included were confused.

'Who took the role?'

Aoife was curious. He was supposed to be the one that killed her. They were bound to meet each other and work with one another.

"That's enough questions. You will get to meet him later today if he's present. If not, you'll eventually get to meet him."

"But, then..."

"That's that."

The organizer cut the senior off before settling his gaze over the Aoife and the rest. His tone softened a little.

"Please follow me, I'll lead you all to our writer who will start explaining your roles."

He turned around and left after that.

Aoife didn't hesitate to follow. Losing all interest in the senior whose face turned completely white.

Her mind was somewhere else at the moment.

She was curious.

Just who was the one who was going to play the role of Azarias?

***

Alexander Harrington, a second-year Senior ranked within the top hundreds, didn't think things would turn out like this.

The itch intensified, and he began scratching his neck.

"This... A mistake... How...?"

Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.

As he scratched, a wet sensation began to creep along the side of his neck. He wanted to continue, but the wet sensation prevented him from scratching further.

Dabbing his neck with his sleeve, staining it red, he continued.

"I thought I did good... Everything was perfect... How?"

His sentences were incoherent, hardly making any sense.

—You weren't able to get the role?

"No, I wasn't."

Alexander started to display some anger as he contacted 'them'. How could they lie to him? They promised him the role. What happened?

What happened!!

—There will be a change of plans, then.

"Change of plans?"

Alexander had enough rationality within him to listen.

"You are changing the plans?"

—Find the one who took the role from you. Once you do, send us his information. We'll take care of it for you.

"You will...?"

—Yes.

The voice flatly said. A smile finally returned to Alexander. Ah, yes... They can do it. They'll fix it. Good. Good.

"I'll find him."

The itch stopped, and his expression returned to normal.

He was no longer as panicked.

"....I'll find him immediately."

—Do that.

Alexander ended the transmission. He massaged his face, trying his best to fix his expression. Dabbing his neck with his sleeve, he made sure to clean up the blood as well.

Taking out a mirror, he stared at himself.

"Good."

A warm smile, and a friendly expression.

Such was his persona.

"Yes, this will do."

Fixing his clothes, he turned around.

"Eh...?"

He had just taken a few steps when a figure appeared not far from him. Immediately, he stood out. With tall and overbearing features, his appearance attracted the attention of all those around him.

With his deep hazel eyes scanning the surroundings, he seemed to be looking for someone.

His head turned left, and then right, and then...

"....?"

They locked onto him.

Alexander was taken aback. The distance between the two shrank until he was eventually a few meters from him.

"Yes?"

Alexander addressed him with his usual smile while casually glancing at his blazer.

Distinguishing the year of a cadet was made easy by the stripes adorning their blazers. A single stripe denoted a first-year cadet, while two stripes signified a second-year, and the pattern continued accordingly, offering a visual cue to their progression through the academy.

The cadet had one stripe.

He was his junior.

"How may I help you, junior?"

By addressing him as Junior, he quickly elevated his position to a higher status than his. He thought his 'junior' would understand, but he didn't as he stared at him without saying a word.

"...."

His intense hazel eyes scanned his body meticulously as if he was looking for something.

The more he looked, the more Alexander grew uncomfortable. For a brief moment, his expression almost cracked and his hands trembled. Alexander found himself imagining himself strangling him.

But he held himself back.

He couldn't show such a display. At least, not yet. There were more important things that he needed to do.

"Junior...?"

Alexander called out again. This time, he made his voice sterner. As if he was trying to warn the junior before him.

He seemed to have gotten his message across as the junior finally took his gaze away from him.

Just when Alexander thought he was going to apologize, he asked something that completely took him aback.

"Did you apply for the position?"

"Position?"

"Yes. For Azarias."

"....."

Alexander frowned. Suddenly, he found his lips become dry. It couldn't be that...

The Junior went on to apply.

"I also applied."

"....You, did?"

"Yes."

The Junior nodded.

"A pity he was already selected."

"Ah, a pity indeed..."

"Then."

Lowering his head, the junior excused himself.

".....I apologize for disturbing you."

The apology finally came.

"You would've made for a great Azarias."

As the junior departed, his words hung in the air, leaving Alexender speechless.

Despite the urge to speak up, he found himself at a loss for words, his mouth hanging open.

All he could do was watch as the senior's figure merged into the sea of cadets, gradually fading from view.

For some reason...

Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.

The itch started again.

***

'....It's probably him.'

I wasn't quite sure just yet. It all happened rather fast. I was overlooking the cadet selection for the incoming roles, when...

[ ◆ Side Quest Activated : Final Act.]

: Character Progression + 39%

: Game Progression + 6%

Failure

: Calamity 1 + 12%

A familiar notification popped up in my vision.

"Ha."

It wasn't as if I wasn't expecting it. No, rather I was expecting it to happen. Given how big of an event the festival was, I doubted nothing would've happened.

Without a doubt, something was going to happen. I was proven right.

'It looks like the target is Aoife.'

Calamity 1 was Aoife. That much became clear to me after the prison incident.

"....She also got selected for the role in the play."

The girl that I was supposed to kill. It was a funny thought. What sort of face was she going to make when she realized I was the one who was supposed to kill her?

But that was outside of the point.

No vision accompanied the notification. However, I didn't feel like I needed it this time.

I knew that I couldn't rely on the visions to appear all the time and that I had to figure things out myself sometimes.

Good thing I did.

'I've already found my target.'

Or at least, was more or less confident in my selection.

The event was titled 'Final Act' suggesting that it had something to do with the play. Aoife's selection in the play further reaffirmed my thoughts.

I put myself in the shoes of the organization.

They were strong. Incredibly powerful. However, if they wanted to target Aoife during the play, the most realistic approach wouldn't be through some mass attack during the play.

Let alone the fact that all the big shots were going to be present, but even getting into the Academy was going to be hard.

The only conclusion that I thought was feasible was through either an established guest or a performer.

I wasn't sure if they knew whether Aoife would be selected for the role, but if they knew, then... The most perfect candidate would be a performer.

.....And if there was a character who fit the description the best, then it had to be Azarias.

The character that I was playing.

"Ha."

It was all speculative.

There was no clear evidence for my thoughts. Or at least, not until I observed all the male candidates for the role and spotted a certain someone behaving differently from the others.

It was for that reason that I approached him.

As expected, it might be him.

The more I thought about my interaction with him, the more convinced I was.

"Not yet."

Even so, I didn't act just yet.

Now was not the right time. Not only did I not know how strong he was, but we were in the Academy. It wasn't as if I could do anything to him even if I wanted to.

That would be stupid.

Not only that but if something were to happen to him, then the people behind him could very well change their plans.

Things would become unpredictable then.

I didn't like unpredictability. I liked for things to remain predictable. Only then would I have a certain sense of control over the situation.

For now, I needed to maintain this status quo.

At the very least, until I found an opening.