Sally froze in fear hearing the voice that came from directly behind them, but the words spoken made her frown.
She snapped her head back, ready to bite the head off the person who tried to shame Jinn, but she froze when she saw who it was.
"Geralt?" She whispered. She was confused at first, but then her expression morphed into a scowl. "Why are you saying that?"
"You mean, why is he no longer kissing my ass?" Jinn sneered from the side, making her even more bewildered. Facing the scheming boy in his eyes, he asked,
"What do you want, Geralt?"
Geralt narrowed his eyes, a cold light flashing within them. "I wonder how long you can act that way. If I were you, I would be planning to run away from this place before they arrested you."
"Oh? I guess that's true; only someone like you would think of running as their first opening." Jinn smirked, taunting the boy. "I also assume that you did not hear, after all."
"Hear what?" Geralt was barely able to keep his emotions from showing. He was speaking through gritted teeth, unable to stomach Jinn's smile. 'Why! Why! WHY? Why does he always act so smug? Why does everything go in his favor? Why is it that even if I am just as good as him, no one notices me?'
"Jinn was called by the investigators for some questions; they wanted to ask if he had something to do with the deaths." Sally on behalf of Jinn. She clearly sensed there was something wrong between the two boys. The way Geralt was acting was different from usual. 'What is going on?'
"And they also cleared me of all suspicion. It's strange how, for some reason, they thought that the toy I found in the hallway of the school was somehow connected to the murders. I wonder why they would think that; maybe someone told them about it." Jinn did not miss the opportunity to give the boy a meaningful glance.
Something that even the girl beside him picked up on.
'No way?' Sally looked at Geralt in disbelief. She did not even think that Jinn was making things up, and the pale look on Geralt's face only solidified her doubts.
'Is he going to get away with murder too?' Geralt thought to himself. He had already decided that Jinn was the murderer responsible for the deaths of three people over the past three days. 'No! There is no way I will let him get away with this.'
"Big burdher?" While Jinn was lost in thought, the little guy, who had no idea what they were talking about, tugged at his sleeves and asked, "Is something wrong? Are we not going for a walk?"
"Of course we are going." Jinn patted his head with a forced smile. His hand was barely even touching Kyle's head, but the boy looked over the moon even with the slightest of touches.
"Mhm." With his sweet, innocent smile, Kyle bobbed his head up and down.
"I see, so that's how it is." Geralt suddenly spoke up, attracting the attention of the other three. He looked at Jinn like he had figured out his plans. 'He wants to kill these two next, right? There is no way I will let him do that.'
"I will not let you get away with it this time, Jinn." His sudden outburst even surprised Jinn.
'What is he going on about?' Jinn made a clueless face when Sally looked at him in doubt.
'If I catch him in the act, the investigators will have to believe me. Maybe even the church will sponsor me, and the order might even make me one of their own.'
"Whatever you are on, man, keep smoking. We are leaving." Jinn turned around and left the dorm building with Sally and Kyle.
This time Geralt did not stop them; instead, he silently followed behind the group.
…
"What is he doing?" as they sneaked around the central building to avoid any contact with the guards or any teachers, Sally's brows twitched. Looking down, she tried to move under the shelter of the roof, where she would not be touched by rain.
Wherever they went, whatever they did, Geralt followed and watched it all from a distance. His eyes never left them, not even for a second.
Kyle was already looking chipper; he was skipping ahead of them. He ran through the flower field, stomping his feet in the rainwater.
"Ignore him." Jinn rolled his eye and said, "Act like he is not here."
Sally stared at him for a second before shrugging as well, "so what are we doing here?"
"What do you mean? We are out here for a walk. Staying in the room is so depressing." Then he pointed at Kyle, who was jumping ahead, and said, "Look! he is so happy."
Despite his words, Sally did not take her eyes away from Jinn; instead, she narrowed them in suspicion. "With you, things are never simple. There is no way you would come out here just for a change of scenery."
"So, what are you really after?" Stepping closer, she whispered low enough to make sure Geralt did not hear anything, but she also used enough strength to pressure Jinn into revealing everything to her.
"I have no idea what you are talking about." But unlike what she had thought, Jinn was not someone a ten-year-old could sway with their will.
He turned around and caught up to the very excited child in the front and asked, "Kyle, have you ever visited the small church around the corner? It is very beautiful."
"Really? No one ever took me there." Kyle twisted on his heel and stood on his toes. "Come, big shistar, we are going to the church."
His shouts reached Geralt, who was tailing them like a rookie hunter with a lot of paranoia.
"So you are just scared and want to pray to the gods to save your soul, Jinn. There is no saving a soul as broken as yours." Geralt cackled under his breath and followed behind the group.
Unaware of his thoughts, Jinn glanced in his direction subtly before looking forward. He made a left, turned around the building, and exited the garden.
'It does not matter if you stand beside me; you will never be able to see what I don't want you to see.' Jinn's blue eyes shimmered a silver hue. 'It's time to move the piece and plant the next evidence.'