Myrtle

“Gods, this place feels grim.” I’d seen this place packed before, but this, this was another level entirely. “What do you think’s going on?” I pushed my way through the crowd with the other two girls. “All these people…”

It wasn’t just that. Half of the school had to have been here, yet the silence… A coin dropping on the other side of the square would have been loud in comparison. I’ve never seen anything like this.

“Evelyn!” I finally spotted someone I recognized, a girl I’d met a few weeks ago in ancient magical languages. “Do you have any idea what’s going on?”

“Ruby! I’m afraid I don’t have a clue.”

I shoved my way toward her, not even halfway through the crowd. “Rumors, thoughts, anything?”

“I just know it has to do with Isaac. Well that, and there's been this abysmal smell all day.”

“Smell? What smell?” I sniffed the air. With all these people, it was impossible to pick one specific thing out. But I got a faint whiff of something that nearly made me gag.

And I went white as a sheet.

“Move!” I barreled my way through the crowd like a jet of water.

“Ruby? What in the hell—”

“No time, Val!” Gods, please say I’m wrong.

Obviously, Evelyn’s not going to recognize the smell! Most noble girls wouldn’t even have the misfortune of smelling that.

At least, not before today.

For the smell wafting through the square, that was the smell of death.

“Move it!” I elbowed my way through a few more people. Students I’d never seen in my life kept piling in ahead of me, all too tall to see over. “I’m not allowing a few spoiled nobles to get in my way.”

This isn't working! I stared up toward the sky. Fine, if I can’t find a way through the crowd, I’ll just have to go around.

“Ruby! At least explain what you’re thinking.”

I ignored Val as water bubbled at my feet. “Later!”

People scattered as I burst up into the air. I wasted so much time… I’m a Prisma! The least I could do is use a bit of magic.

I flew up, resting my feet against the square’s marble overhang. “Forget half, the entire school has got to be here…”

Every single entrance was packed far beyond where I could see, with more concerned faces than I could count. The identical school uniforms made the square look like a wave of purple and white.

That was, except for the center.

I leapt off the overhang, landing just at the edge. The horrified faces around barely acknowledged me as I plummeted down, mere feet away from them. It wasn’t hard to see why.

“That smell again…” I almost gagged as I spun around—right where Isaac’s corpse lay on the signboard.

Gods, this has to be a dream.

Every bit of my being was straining not to vomit.

There were no questions, no what-if or any other kind of doubt, no purple magic. Even if there was, it wouldn’t have mattered.

His corpse wore the exact same outfit as our last meeting.

I was wrong.

Nothing felt like it fit together. I’d been so sure, so confident, that Isaac had simply been on some royal mission. His last talk, Fairburrow’s hints, Arthur’s meeting…

He’d clearly never even gotten the chance to leave.

Maybe I’d just not wanted to admit that I’d been the last person to see Isaac alive, not after we’d just gotten done discussing a world where I wouldn’t have to hide. All that was down the gutter now.

“There you are, Ruby! Why did you—To the gods, Isaac’s dead…” Val broke through the crowd, holding Mary’s hand.

“Excuse me,” Mary said, slowly walking forward while my mind spun, kneeling down beside Isaac. Her face didn’t show a bit of disgust.

Mary didn’t waste a second in flipping his corpse over. Thin leaves coated her hands as a pair of makeshift gloves, and she tore off Isaac’s bloodstained clothes one by one. “Miss, you can’t—” Some random student, a third-year judging by his uniform, butted in.

“Let her be.” I sent a thin wall of ice around the signboard.

“What do you know?” He marched towards me, a giant of a man nearly twice my height—electricity sparking from his fingertips. “What game are you playing, Princess of Everbit?”

“Game?” I so didn’t have time to deal with this.

“Our prince was just murdered, and you expect us to allow a foreign maid to examine the body? This is Vertana’s business!”

“Oh yeah?” I made an exaggerated show of glancing around the square. “Do you see anyone else with experience in the area or…”

“They’ll come eventually. Tell her to step aside."

“No can do. Isaac’s corpse is here, and you don’t even have the decency to let a professional examine it. I can’t allow that.”

He sighed. “You can’t say I didn’t warn you, Princess.”

“Likewise.”

Electricity exploded from his fingers. Honestly, it wasn’t a terrible showing. The average yellow user’s control made my purple look fantastic, at least his lightning kinda pointed in my direction.

It wasn't enough to scratch me.

I snapped my fingers. A geyser exploded from under his feet, barely a foot across. If this was back during my fight against Val, it wouldn’t have even made a scratch. But Val could hold her own in a fight.

This guy? All talk.

“Have you ever been to war?” I leaned over him as he collapsed back onto the grass. “I know the royal family deploys their kids, but last I checked, most nobles here found the practice a bit… unsuitable. Can’t waste their precious bloodlines.”

“Of course not!” He tried to scurry back, only for Val to stop him right in his tracks.

“She has,” I pointed toward Mary. “Everbit’s royal healers, second platoon.”

I could still vividly remember that day. We’d been forced into a useless skirmish by one of our neighbors, and healers were in short supply.

Mary hadn’t ever set out to be a healer. She was a green, and a damn good one, but part of her requirements for serving as my personal maid was a medical certification, so, despite how much I complained, off she went.

The year she was gone wasn’t a particularly enjoyable one.

“So let me ask you again, do you see anyone else more qualified to examine Isaac?”

“I—”

“I could always summon another geyser.”

“Go ahead,” he barked. It was honestly kind of pathetic.

“Bold of you to act like I needed your permission.” If they wanted me to pay for this later, I’d give them the same answer.

What a disgrace. I glanced back toward Mary. Isaac, I’m so sorry.

Val followed me as Mary gently turned Isaac’s corpse back over. “Gods that smell… What’d you notice?”

“H-He’s been dead for at least four days, maybe five.” Mary’s hand hovered over Isaac’s chest, inches away from his skin. Her stutter was still there, but it had gone flat in a way I’d only heard from her a few times before. “No bloating yet either. Wherever his body’s been, it's been cold. Colder than outside for sure.”

“Mary, are you good?”

“Sorry, Princess.” Mary swallowed. “There are no defensive wounds either. Not on his hands, not on his forearms, nothing. Whoever did this… He never got the chance to hit back.”

I forced myself to glance down. His calloused hands were just sitting there, open, the only part that could be confused for him just having fallen asleep.

Those are the marks of orange... But whoever did this wasn't your typical user.

“The cause of death was insufficient oxygen to the brain due to targeted burning.” She gently pushed back his shirt, and her fingers traced the air around his chest, following lines only she could see. “The burns are the wrong shape for orange. Orange scorches in bursts, uneven, as you would expect from fire. This was the kind of spell someone practiced to kill.”

She's on the mark. I'd heard rumors of certain advanced users having the ability to almost condense their fire. The average orange user couldn't do this.

“So someone trained,” Val quietly muttered.

“Someone who's very used to killing.” Mary looked up to me. Her eyes didn’t shake one bit. “Princess, this was a murder, and a targeted one at that.”

“I see…” I let Mary’s summary hang in the air. “This wasn’t because of a mission…”

“I’m glad we can agree.” Val narrowed her eyes. “Ruby, I’m down to consider every option, but—”

“But something happened, Val. That’s why we need to put more effort into looking into what happened!”

“Ruby,” Val hesitated. “I was all for it earlier, but it’s different now. Isaac’s been murdered. This is too dangerous for us students! Besides, the kingdom’s going to get involved now, and if there's a group of investigators good enough to find what happened, it's them.”

“Not good enough for me.”

“Gods, you’re so stubborn.” Val scowled before noticing something at the edge of the crowd. “Looks like our time is up.”

I’d noticed a scuffle earlier. That scuffle was directly heading toward us, with a very familiar voice leading the way. Fairburrow’s hair poked out from the crowd. In the mix of identical uniforms, he so clearly stood out from everyone else.

“Well, damn…” Gregory landed to my left in a pillar of flames. “Everyone, move back!”

He gently knelt at Isaac's side as Fairburrow finally pushed his way through. “Mary, I overheard you giving a report earlier. Would it be possible to get a recap?”

“O-Of course, Professor…”

“Maybe such things should be saved for later…” Fairburrow glanced around the square. Every second, it felt like the number of students just found a way to double. “We need to get this under control first.”

“That we do,” Gregory muttered something under his breath, something about ‘canceling plans’ and ‘woman.’ “Everyone, we're closing off the area! No questions for now!”

Professor Gregory snapped his fingers. Walls of fire burst out from the ground, giant, red-hot pillars that completely covered the square. “We’ll give everyone an update soon; I assure you all your questions will be answered soon! When we actually have some answers to give.”

I barely overheard Gregory mutter that last part. So they’re just as lost as us…

“That includes you three.” Gregory’s attention focused on us. No, us wasn’t the right word. His eyes were directly pointed toward me, with a little smirk that made me feel a bit uneasy.

“But—”

“No buts for now, though we appreciate everything you girls have done.” Fairburrow gently walked toward us and placed a hand on my shoulder. “Let us clean this up a bit first.”

“He’s right.” Val gently scooted toward the wall of fire. “Let’s head back, Ruby, there’s nothing left for us here.”

“I—” I bit my lip. Val was completely right, and I absolutely hated every bit of that fact. “Fine…”

She was right. I glanced down toward my bag, with Isaac’s key still tucked away. Our place wasn’t here, it was wherever the door this key unlocked was, and with everything going on, there probably wasn’t a better opportunity to go exploring.

“Let’s head out. Mary, you’re with me. I got an idea I wanna look into.”