บท 67: Plotting
After the practicals, the students' and professors' view on Amy and Sebastian changed drastically.
At first, Amy stood out as a beauty, but that was it. Nobody other than the professors know that she is the future house head of the House of Luna. But after the practical, she had even gained followers and accompanied by her disposition, she earned a reputation among the students on her first day as an ace in magic.
Many men had already fallen for her and she even had a fan club full of women.
Sebastian, on the other hand, became isolated. Though everyone was indeed impressed, his eyes during the sparring sent chills down everyone's spine.
Maria still helped him but whenever they walked or sat, there was a bigger physical distance and their classmates looked at her with pity.
That said, Sebastian didn't actually notice. Sebastian was planning to meet with Amy by the gate but she was held up by the professors. He had some free time to kill and decided to roam around.
He snuck around and reached the rooftop normally inaccessible to students and viewed the school from above.
"My target this time is a student, that's rough."
Sebastian sighed. Before he left, Wisteria had assigned him with a mission. Since he had a month and a half in school, it seemed like there would be plenty of time to search for the target but even if he investigated fifty people a day, it would still be impossible to search all of the students.
The mission is reconnaissance. One of the students attending the academy is an illegitimate child of a noble. Though it was near impossible for the student to be the only illegitimate child in the school, Sebastian was at least given enough information to narrow down his suspects.
"The father had wind and the suspected mother is a commoner. The target is expected to be female."
If the target was male, then the noble had no reason to hide him as he could use him as an heir. It was harder for women to inherit land as nobles than as 『Inheritors』 as even women could lead the houses.
"Expected, not confirmed..."
Sebastian felt a headache. He had to put his plan to find a healer on hold. Two weeks weren't enough for him to train under a healer, he had planned to learn after classes end each day but because of the mission, he had to revise his plan.
"Let's see..."
Sebastian took out a notebook and a pen. Then, he recorded the number of people with green hair going through the gate until he saw Amy. With his memory, remembering their faces wasn't a problem.
"Yo."
"Sorry for making you wait."
Sebastian shrugged and extended his arm.
"Shall we?"
"Nn. Let's."
Amy locked arms with Sebastian and walked home. They ignored all the incredulous gazes the other students shot at them.
...
It was uneventful. Amy and Sebastian walked together during the mornings and went home in the afternoon. Sometimes, they met up for lunch when the schedule permitted it.
Sebastian always used any extra time in scoping out any other person with green hair. Amy and him were the only ones with black hair in the school so it was safe to say that the student he was searching for is indeed an 『Inheritor』.
With the skills taught to him by Hound and Wisteria, Sebastian managed to gather information on all his potential targets without alerting any suspicion.
"At least three of them are illegitimate children and nobody knows about their family background."
Looking at the results of his investigation made him want to rub his temples.
He had determined they were illegitimate children due to the lack of knowledge about their background. Now, he had to watch the three of them closely and find an opening to know about their background.
"Maria, is there an event like a social ball or a party coming up?"
"Why, yes. How did you know?"
"It was normal for my school as well."
"I see. Well, there's going to be a masquerade ball and anyone from the school can attend. While it isn't forbidden to remove our masks, it is discouraged unless we truly want to reveal our identity to the other party. Are you interested?"
Though she was still wary of Sebastian, she answered his question without missing anything.
"I might be."
Sebastian smirked and Maria flinched.
She swore that she wouldn't attend this year's masquerade ball at all cost. There was always next year and the year after.
"Are you coming too?"
"W-while I would love to participate, unfortunately, I won't be able to."
"I see, that's too bad."
'Well, that's less chances of my identity being uncovered. Though my hair is going to be a problem...'
He could just wear a wig to hide his hair. But, what would he do about Amy? She probably wouldn't stop him from joining the party but she'd definitely join him as well.
"Mmm..."
As Sebastian plotted how to sneak out during the night of the masquerade ball, Maria was drenched in cold sweat.
Their classmates looked over at her in pity. Elliot, who had been the first to feel the killing intent in Sebastian's eyes, shivered. He didn't even dare look at Maria.
Sebastian normally wouldn't warrant such extreme reactions but because he had unconsciously released his bloodlust during the sparring matches, his classmates had fear planted in their hearts.
Because of his experience with Ptelea, his bloodlust increased severalfold. Any normal person would be paralyzed in fear when faced with it.
The entire classroom was eerily silent for the rest of the day. Even the professors who didn't know about the occurrence felt the pressure. Sebastian left Amy at school and bought the things he needed for the ball. He was going to wear the school's uniform, a dark mask that covered the top half of his face, and a blue wig.
Now, the only problem was where he should hide them. The ball itself would happen at the end of the week and it was only the beginning of the week.
While he knew that Amy wouldn't call him out for having the costumes themselves, it would be bad if she eventually linked him to Blue Rose.
"I see..."
Sebastian was currently in an alley with his back against the wall.
"Nn. I need a quick escape, what do you think I should do?"
"...a masquerade, I'll deal with it. Just give me the signal if you need extraction."
"Thanks, Hound."
"There's no need for gratitude, I was sent here for a reason."
Although Sebastian had no idea how she managed to arrive only a week after he had, it was a welcome surprise.
"I'll be unavailable until the day of the masquerade. Ask what you need to ask right now and if you need any other help, then I'll do what I can."
"Then, how were you able to get here so fast?"
"I'll tell you if you join Blue Rose."
Sebastian shrugged. He had expected that answer already.
"Then, do you think you can smuggle some weapons for me?"
Hound huffed.
"Who do you think you're talking to? Just name it."
...
Just like that, Sebastian was fully prepared for the masquerade. Or, at least he thought he was.
"What did you say?"
"I said that I will be attending the masquerade with my servant, do you want to come with me?"
"..."
What in the world... was there an invisible force sending him to ruin or is he just unlucky?
Sebastian blankly stared at Amy.
"...Can I skip?"
"Yes, I'm only going to be there because of business. Even if you came with me, I wouldn't be able to accompany you for long."
Sebastian breathed a sigh of relief prompting Amy to raise her brow.
"You don't want to go that badly? Well, the party starts a couple of hours before midnight so I'll still be able to accompany you until then."
"I'll be alright."
Sebastian took Amy to her room before heading into his own.
"Next, the targets' participation."
Even if he couldn't get all of them at once, even just one was fine. And, if he failed in getting any of them to attend, then he could still gather information from the other people in the party.
Sebastian was confident in finding his targets even if they were to wear masks. Wisteria and Hound had taught him how to identify a person's face even if half of it is covered with a mask.
"Hound told me that she'd work for my escape route but I don't necessarily need it..."
Sebastian crossed out parts of the map he held. Hound had passed him a map of the venue after they had parted.
"Mmm... I guess this is enough."
After confirming his notes and his map, Sebastian set them on fire and when they were turned to ash, used wind to blow them out of the window. Just by writing it, he had memorized mostly everything.
Tomorrow, he would begin luring his targets.
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