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Chapter 6
At the academy, all students’ movements are thoroughly monitored for safety reasons. It was impossible for even the highest-ranking noble to go out without any report.
‘So if he went out for any reason, there should be a record.’
If I asked to view personal records, they wouldn’t allow it, so I made up a different excuse instead.
“I have something urgent to deliver to Molden, but I heard he left the dormitory earlier. I was wondering if he went out.”
“If it’s student Derren Molden…… Hmm, would you try going back to the dormitory?”
As expected.
‘Looks like he hurriedly handed it over to the auction house this morning.’
If there were no outing record, they would have told me he hadn’t gone out today.
I smirked as I left the administrative office.
‘Right. It’s not just anything—it’s the Duchess’s keepsake, so of course he’d have to handle it himself.’
If he’d entrusted it to someone else and it reached the Young Lady’s ears, or if someone stole it along the way, that would be a disaster.
I once again felt just how bold Derren was—every bit the con artist.
‘Now then, shall I wait calmly?’
Anyway, the auction house that received the item would have a lot to do before putting it up for auction—laundering its origins and whatnot.
It would be more certain to go looking for it tomorrow or so, taking my time.
I returned to the dormitory and spent time refining my plans for the future.
And the next day. I came to see Charity Cressida early in the morning.
‘Getting her help will be faster than searching alone.’
I knocked and waited a moment, and Cressida poked her head out, wearing only a shawl over her nightclothes.
From the looks of it, she’d just woken up.
“Hello, did I come too early?”
“……Maze?”
As expected, she couldn’t hide her surprised face. Well, there’d never been any point of contact between us.
“What brings you here? Ah, could it be……?”
A faint hope spread across her eyes.
“I’d like to talk inside.”
“Come in.”
At any other time, Cressida would never have allowed entry this easily.
She must have thought there was only one reason I—someone with no closeness to her—would come looking for her in this situation.
“Is there a tea you like?”
“I don’t need anything to drink. I have a way to find the necklace.”
Cressida stopped mid-reach for the jar of tea leaves and froze.
After a brief silence, the one who spoke first was, naturally, the more impatient one.
“Don’t tell me you—”
“I didn’t steal it. But it seems you thought it was theft too?”
“……No matter how drunk I might have been, there’s no way I’d lose something that important.”
Cressida’s expression twisted.
“So how do you plan to find it? I’ve already finished searching all the rooms of the kids who attended the party the day before yesterday.”
Ah, you’ve already done searches?
I had no idea, having been holed up in my dormitory lounging around. You really did do a lot to find the necklace.
It seemed I’d been filtered out of the search net all along since I’d never once attended a party.
“Do you have any other plans today?”
“I was supposed to meet with the academy’s security team.”
“Skip it.”
I sprang up from my seat.
“Let’s go out.”
“What?”
“Change your clothes and come out. We’re going into the city.”
“You…… and me?”
“Yeah, you and me. Don’t you want to find the necklace?”
Cressida set down the jar she was holding and looked at me with serious eyes.
“……Maze, this is a truly serious matter. That necklace is something I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world. I don’t have enough time to go searching blindly.”
“I know it’s your mother’s keepsake. And yes, we’re searching blindly—but it’s more meaningful than circling around the school. I hate wasting time too…….”
I folded my fingers one by one, then raised my head and faced her seriously.
“I don’t know about other things, but I don’t spout nonsense when it comes to parents.”
A silence passed. Soon, a reply that was almost a sigh came back.
“Are you going out wearing that?”
“No. Follow me.”
* * *
In front of the academy gate, there’s a clothing shop affiliated with the school.
Any student enrolled at Sainte Elle could have clothes tailored there, including uniforms.
Of course, it wasn’t free—each student used it within an allotted amount.
This too was school welfare, so I made sure to use it whenever I needed something, but the nobles didn’t know the meaning of saving money and apparently never even visited.
There was even a funny tendency to treat clothes tailored here as cheap.
“Is there a reason we came here?”
That’s probably why Cressida seemed to be visiting for the first time too.
Her face, having been practically dragged here by my hand, was full of puzzlement.
“Is there any other reason to come to a clothing shop?”
A short while later, we left the shop with our entire bodies covered in robes.
“What on earth are we doing, going somewhere like this…….”
Cressida looked full of questions, but fortunately she seemed to have decided to trust me and followed obediently. Good attitude.
“Don’t doubt what I say, just listen. In a few days, your necklace is going to appear at an auction house around here—roughly half a day’s distance away.”
It won’t be today or tomorrow.
From what I remember, Molden searched for several days to find the item.
“How…… do you know that?”
“How many auction houses are around here?”
“Maze, if you don’t answer, I’ll have no choice but to doubt you.”
“The culprit is Molden.”
“Yes, the culprit is…… What?”
Her crimson eyes blinked blankly. She looked more shocked than at anything I’d said so far.
“Why so surprised? He was attending to you the whole time at the party too. He’d have had the most time to slip it away.”
“……”
“Actually, I witnessed him going out and coming back yesterday. I overheard him muttering—it seems he plans to hand it to auction and then buy it back himself. So he can act all high and mighty after returning it to you.”
“That’s absurd…….”
“If you can’t believe it, go back and check the entry records. I couldn’t see them, but you can, can’t you?”
Checking a single record from the Ducal House wouldn’t be a problem.
Cressida was silent for a while. She stood with her mouth shut, thinking something over intently, then finally opened her mouth as if she’d made a decision.
“I’ll check when I go back. And I’ll put someone on Derren too…….”
“Yeah.”
“If it’s true, the Molden family will need to prepare a coffin soon.”
“Killing is a no-go, but sending him to prison is fine. If you’re convinced, let’s go catch the evidence.”
“……Okay.”
Cressida grabbed my hand and pulled me along, as if to guide me to auction houses she knew.
The hand she held was gripped tighter than before.
* * *
We visited two auction houses with Cressida but couldn’t find the necklace.
Before we knew it, we were standing in front of a third auction house.
“This is the last one.”
By this point, I was starting to worry.
What if it’s not here either?
Could it be that Molden hasn’t handed the item to the auction house yet? Then should I look again tomorrow? Or every day until the auction date……?
Will Cressida keep trusting me?
“Maze?”
“Ah, let’s go in.”
It’d be annoying to go around alone and to explain things—please, just let it be here!
As soon as we entered, Cressida confidently took the lead and presented a green card instead of an identification badge.
At the same time, I could hear the guide gasp from all the way over here.
What she presented was an emerald-grade card issued by Airy Bank, which only the empire’s renowned wealthy could possess.
Presenting this, there was naturally no need to prove identity.
Whether suspicious-looking or dressed in rags, in an auction house, anyone with money is VIP anyway.
‘That’s exactly why I went to Cressida early on.’
Soon we were guided to the finest reception room. A staff member courteously handed us a catalog.
“This is the catalog for the auction taking place in three days.”
Cressida carefully scanned the contents, then tossed the booklet down as if discarding it.
She didn’t seem to have found what she was looking for.
