The faint moonlight strained through the clouds, casting a meager glow on the path beneath Charlotte's feet.
The towering, coliseum-like concrete structure loomed beside her, a zone dedicated solely to duels between students.
Within the woods adjacent to it, a golden-haired girl was making her way through, a young dragon by her side.
Crack.
A twig snapped underfoot, the sharp sound echoing through the deserted forest.
"Is he really going to show?"
Charlotte paused beside a large tree, scanning the area before whispering to Sigmund.
"He will come." The young dragon brought his head close to her ear, his voice steady. "After what Alice said, the other party is bound to make a move."
His magic power muffled the sound, preventing it from carrying as he continued his analysis.
"Last time, after traces were found, the disciplinary committee showed up immediately. They'll definitely take action this time too."
"Of course I trust Alice." Charlotte hmphed and folded her arms. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't."
"It's just a few more nights out, I just..."
Her shoulders slumped, and she fell silent for a moment.
"You're angry, aren't you."
"Yeah."
As if speaking to someone who knew her well, Charlotte admitted it readily.
She clenched her fists tightly, as though venting her inner fury.
"Whether he's the one attacking the other puppets, or getting close to me to set me up..."
"Why would he do these things..."
Those automata are someone else's family too...
Felix had excellent grades, was one of the Thirteen of the Night Party, and possessed formidable strength.
He didn't need to resort to framing her; defeating her outright wasn't impossible. There was no need to eliminate her this way.
...Unless the act of attacking the puppets itself benefited him.
Just then, an unfamiliar surge of magic interrupted Charlotte's thoughts.
"...Chat time's over, Sigmund."
From the dark thicket ahead, a figure moved silently on all fours.
This thing, creeping closer while hiding its presence, was definitely not human.
No one would be crawling around on all fours here, at this hour.
Charlotte's gaze sharpened, magic power instantly overflowing from her.
In the darkness of the night, a pale blue magical radiance shone from her, like the moonlight veiled by the clouds.
"Licht Kugel."
Sigmund, still in his small dragon form, opened his mouth.
Countless dazzling, glowing needles shot towards the figure.
Its slender limbs were pierced effortlessly, but its torso remained completely unscathed.
The attack ended, but Charlotte didn't advance to investigate. Instead, she stood her ground as if waiting for something.
In the next instant, a silver gleam flashed in the darkness, and a girl automaton clad in ancient silver armor appeared beside Sigmund.
The longsword in her hand swept down towards the small dragon in a fierce slash.
Clang—
A metallic ring echoed as Sigmund was instantly sent flying.
Charlotte's magical energy shuddered as if startled.
A sound of a falling tree echoed from the distance, followed by silence.
Having completed her single strike, the armored girl's visored face turned directly towards Charlotte, wary of any move from this top-ranked member of the Thirteen.
"Freeze!"
An angry shout erupted from all around.
From the trees, from the bushes, dozens of figures instantly appeared surrounding Charlotte, each holding a flashlight, each wearing an armband.
The disciplinary committee had arrived.
"What a coincidence, Charlotte."
Felix, with his flowing golden hair, stepped out slowly from the crowd, a seemingly sorrowful smile on his face.
He stood beside the armored girl, looking at Charlotte before him, and shook his head mournfully. "I had my suspicions, but I never truly thought it would be you. The 'Cannibal Candy'... it really is you."
"It's not me."
Charlotte hung her head, her long hair hiding her expression, only a faint voice emerging. "I was just trying to find the Cannibal Candy."
"Stop the act, Charlotte." Felix shook his head again, the picture of disappointment.
He pointed at the downed puppet nearby. "This was a spare automaton of mine. I thought it might lure out the Cannibal Candy, so I set it out as bait."
"I thought that automaton was the Cannibal Candy, that's why I attacked it." Charlotte stammered her explanation, her demeanor like a criminal caught red-handed, causing the corner of Felix's mouth to twitch upwards.
That twitch vanished in an instant, and Felix continued with his disappointed expression. "For a Night Party participant like you, the Cannibal Candy isn't exactly a target that needs eliminating, is it?"
"You dislike others, you hardly interact with anyone. I don't believe you'd feel anger for the attacked students."
Charlotte remained standing in place, her shoulders trembling slightly.
Felix let out a long sigh, a cold voice following from his lips. "The fact is, you are the Cannibal Candy, Charlotte Belew."
Charlotte's trembling ceased abruptly, as if she had resigned herself to her fate.
Felix closed his eyes, shaking his head regretfully.
But the very moment he prepared to order his puppet to act—
"Lisette, was the chocolate good?"
A voice like a singing melody rang out from behind Charlotte.
As the words fell, an overly sweet scent materialized on the back of the hand of the girl automaton clad in ancient silver armor.
A bird emerged from the darkness, plucking the visor from the automaton's face.
As snowflakes began to drift down from the sky, the face of Felix's assistant—Lisette Norton—was revealed at the scene of the arrest.
"Wh—" A collective gasp of surprise came from the surrounding disciplinary committee members.
"Lisette? Why—"
"How is Felix's puppet...?"
Amid the surrounding whispers of doubt, Felix's face gradually darkened.
Across from him, a black-haired girl, encircled by snowflakes, appeared slowly to the sound of tinkling bells, coming to stand by Charlotte's side.
The golden-haired girl also lifted her face at that moment, her eyes blazing with fury meeting Felix's gaze.
Alice slowly slipped her hand into her pocket.
Swish.
The sound of a photograph slicing through the air drew the attention of everyone present to Alice's movement.
In Alice's hand was a photograph.
It clearly showed a figure in a black cloak in the act of gnawing on another automaton.
At the edge of the black cloak, an arm clad in gleaming silver armor shone brightly.
The disciplinary committee members had all seen the aftermath of the drained automatons; the authenticity of the photo was obvious at a glance.
An automaton with Lisette's face, clad in the same silver armor as the Cannibal Candy, and Felix's assistant, absent from this crucial arrest.
The answer was glaringly obvious.
All eyes instantly shifted to Felix at the front of the crowd.
But out of trust for their colleague, they remained where they were, waiting for Felix's response.
Extracting a moment from memory—this was the fairy-tale magic of Aesc.
Perhaps because both Aesc's and Alice's magic involved applications of the First Magic, albeit with some difficulty, Alice had managed to recreate Aesc's magic in this world.
Though when using it, her magic circuits felt a bit... overly lively.
Alice gently waved the photograph in her hand, then with a flick of her wrist, sent it fluttering down to land precisely at Felix's feet.
The atmosphere instantly froze. The golden-haired boy hung his head, hiding his expression.
After a long pause, he spoke slowly. "The photo is fake."
There was no 'Photoshop' now.
Alice's expression grew impatient.
"Then explain Lisette first?!" Charlotte's voice, full of rage, reverberated through the night air.
Felix remained with his head bowed, offering no response.
The disciplinary committee members around him glanced at each other, leaderless students unsure of what to do.
"If you don't believe it, then we'll just wait a little longer."
Suigintou and the others should be here soon.
Alice's icy voice seemed to freeze everything around them.
Silence immediately descended upon the scene. Everyone stood silently in place.
Time ticked by, until the surrounding emerald trees were draped in a layer of white snow.
"Eliza."
The boy's voice shattered the silent atmosphere.
The silver-armored automaton immediately raised her longsword and thrust it towards Charlotte.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
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If you guys wanna check it out.