"An experiment that ended tragically," Heeseung said while staring straight at the hospital in front of him.
He and his other brothers were currently relaxing in a park near the hospital. The place looked busy with activity, but there was nothing to worry about because none of the people there could see them.
"So, who do we start with?" Riki asked.
Heeseung turned around and approached the others. He sat together with them on a bench made of stones.
"There's a possibility that Hesa and Arkha already know that you're not Setta," Heeseung said while glancing at Sunoo.
"Hey, I've been acting more carefully lately," Sunoo said, slightly annoyed.
"It's not just that. Arkha probably already checked Hesa's watch, and Hesa is still suspicious about how quickly Heeseung suddenly wanted to change," Jungwon said.
"But it's not a bad idea if you want to keep acting in front of them," Sunghoon said.
"Yeah, I'll keep trying," Sunoo replied.
"How about your report, Jay? Did you meet our old friend?" Heeseung shifted the conversation.
"I did, even though he doesn't remember me anymore," Jay answered.
"That's obvious, because he's a reincarnation too—unlike us," Jungwon said.
"My question is, since when has he been around? Why were we only able to find him now?" Jake asked.
"Kyungmin, Sakala, and Jihan have been friends for a long time. Why couldn't we find Kyungmin before? The answer is obvious—he was protected by his two friends. But now those two indigo kids are gone," Heeseung said.
"So they protected each other," Sunghoon said.
"More precisely, Kyungmin was protected by Sakala. And it seems Sakala mentioned this to Jihan before he left for camp," Hesa said.
"We could find him because his protectors are gone. But does he know about his connection with us in the past?" Sunoo asked.
"There's no way those three kids knew," Jay said.
"Kyungmin doesn't know anything about the past anymore. He disguised himself as Sakala and got close to Hesa now probably because he wants revenge for his friend's death," Hesa said.
"Should we invite him to play now? Coincidentally, I managed to make the hallucination drug we talked about before," Jungwon said.
"It's good that the drug is ready, but I think it's better to save it for our next victim," Heeseung said, ending with a mysterious smile.
~~~~~
The red-haired young man was walking through the corridor toward his classroom after leaving the cafeteria. Not far from where he was standing now, several students were gathered.
From the bits of conversation he heard, apparently a student was being accused of stealing, but that student kept insisting he was innocent.
Some students were busy watching the scene, while others were busy checking their phones.
"His account still isn't active."
"Where did they go? It feels like they haven't solved a case in a long time."
"Maybe they retired. Must be tiring solving cases all the time."
"We haven't even found out who the members are, and they're already retired."
"Maybe they were seniors who already graduated."
"Could be. They're not at this school anymore, so they probably don't know what cases are happening here now."
The young man only sighed after hearing all the comments from the students. He walked away toward the old school building that was about to be renovated and entered one of the empty classrooms there.
"Kaze…"
Slowly he stepped deeper into the classroom area that was already very messy. Tears fell from his eyes as he looked around the place.
For a moment, he imagined the figures of seven young men there, busy discussing cases or simply gathering to joke and relax together.
The longer he stayed, the more he cried. So he decided to leave the place immediately.
Before returning to class, he decided to go to the restroom to wash his face.
"Hey, bro."
The call made Kala stop. He turned toward the sink beside him.
"Why are your eyes red?" his friend asked worriedly.
"N-nothing, Ayden. I just stayed up late last night," Kala replied.
"Why would you stay up late? Now you're sleep-deprived and your eyes look like that. But you're okay, right? You're not sick or anything?" Ayden asked.
"No, it's not a problem," Kala said.
"Alright then, let's go to class together," Ayden said, which Kala answered with a nod.
They walked together until they reached the corridor that was still crowded because the earlier commotion hadn't been resolved yet.
"Look, bro. Ever since Kaze disappeared, there's no one who can really solve problems at this school anymore," Ayden said.
"That's not true. A teacher will probably solve it soon," Kala replied.
"Teachers keep it simple—they'll probably just tell them to make peace. It's different from Kaze, who always revealed every detail of a case from start to finish," Ayden said.
"Well, they were a detective gang," Kala said.
"But now they're gone. The students suspect the gang members already graduated, but I suspect something else," Ayden said.
"What else?" Kala asked.
"Some of the students who died during the camp. Kaze disappeared not long after those kids died. It feels connected, doesn't it?" Ayden said.
"That's nonsense," Kala replied.
"I'm serious, bro," Ayden insisted.
"Kaze's account was still active after that incident," Kala said.
"Out of the seven of them, one survived—the kid that Wish saw jumping from the rooftop. And only after that kid disappeared did Kaze's account become inactive," Ayden said.
"Whatever. I think it's just a coincidence," Kala said as he walked away.
It wasn't that he didn't want to hear Ayden anymore. He just felt like crying again. If he stayed there, he might really start crying and attract the attention of the students around him.
~~~~~
Arkha was relaxing on the rooftop while enjoying the food he had bought earlier from the cafeteria.
The wind was blowing quite strongly, making Arkha pause his bite of bread.
"You've got a lot on your mind, huh? So much that you didn't even realize you were being manipulated by a demon," the red-haired young man mocked.
"My head is full, not empty like yours," the lavender-haired young man shot back.
"Damn it," the red-haired young man muttered.
"I'm not empty, I'm just lazy to think. Besides, I'm not an esper like you. Why should I think about problems that are impossible for me to solve?" he continued.
"Just because you can't solve it doesn't mean you shouldn't think about it. At least try to help," the lavender-haired young man said.
"I did help. I was the first one to realize Lyo was manipulative," the red-haired young man replied.
"How did you figure that out?" the lavender-haired young man asked, turning toward him in surprise.
"I borrowed Dion's book. It said that a demon needs a huge amount of energy to show itself in front of humans. If Lyo had that much energy, why couldn't he find his own diary? That's when I realized something was wrong with that demon," the red-haired young man explained.
"Oh, I see," the lavender-haired young man clapped slowly with a flat expression. "Well, congrats to you."
"Insults and compliments are really only a thin line apart," the red-haired young man snorted.
Arkha chuckled faintly as he remembered that memory. His chest felt tight.
"You're still here, Agantha?"
Arkha turned toward the bench beside him.
He felt sorry for the spirit, because it probably still couldn't leave peacefully.
"Me and Hesa will try to avenge you, so you can finally rest in peace."