Extra Pages: The Author's Odyssey
Chapter 302: Betrayal [3]

Kyaaaak—!!

As soon as the sound of a scream comes Adrian bolts out of the room, I was about to go after him but at the last moment, I stopped.

I took out one of the academy bows from the AI bracelet that was given to me.

The bow was made of hard steel and it was full pitch black colour.

The only time I used this bow was during the training.

I didn't need this bow because I have Nightshadow bow which is a [Legendary] rank artefact.

...But it seems that today I'm going to use this.

I just can't pull out Nightshadow bow in front of others.

There has been news that Nightshadow's bow was stolen during a fallen human attack at the artefacts room of Eldoria.

So as soon as I took out this bow everyone would be recognized at first glance.

Anyway, I influenced my mana on the arrow, and the arrow began to glow in azure colour.

After doing that I also run out of the room.

Then, I quickly ran down the hallway to the mansion owner's room.

The other 16 members of the travelling crew were all standing by the door with shocked expressions.

"T-This..."

In a dark room larger than six ordinary living rooms put together, the mansion owner was lying on his bed with a dagger sticking out of his heart. In front of this horrific scene, a maid was sobbing traumatically. Presumably, she was the one who first discovered the scene.

"Beol..."

Adrian muttered Beol's false name. I could understand why everyone was so shocked. During dinner, Beol must have talked to them like a kind grandfather next door, trying to draw their sympathy by saying stupid things like, 'My son who died before me also wanted to become a Hero.'

"Wait. Let, let me confirm what state he's in."

While the cadets were standing in a daze from shock, Joy's girlfriend appeared.

Lily the doctor. I closely scrutinized her movements. She slowly approached Beol and checked his pulse. Then, she shook her head.

"...He's gone."

She closed Beol's eyes, who died with his eyes open, then returned to Joy's side. It was laughable seeing her pretend to be sad as she leaned against his shoulder.

"W-What happened..."

At that moment, the head butler ran into the room.

Now, he would break out into tears, talking about all the fake good deeds Beol has done and reiterating the threats and attempted murder Beol received from supposed evildoers.

I originally planned on letting the story continue as it did in my novel, but I no longer had the desire to watch this farce.

Biol is very dangerous, not in physical strength of course.

He is a scammer and is working for the largest villain organization, 'New Sun'.

Yeah, it is that villain organization that had attacked the Nova Acdmy cadet during their trip to Silva City.

Their objective was to kidnap me but they couldn't do that.

Till now I didn't know why I was targeted by New Sun.

'Should Beol know the reason?'

I thought for moments before shopping my head as I cast away that thought.

Biol is just an outer member of the New Sun, he shouldn't know about the real reason.

So there is no need for him to stay alive.

My forest green began to glow in a golden hue.

With mana eye, I glanced at Beoo and couldn't help but smirk.

'He Is better at acting than I thought.'

As soon as any living being dies the mana inside their body scatters to nature.

But Beol mana is still inside his body.

I should get rid of him, in future he caused quite a problem for everyone.

"I-I can't believe he dead..."

"Calm down, head butler."

While the cadets were busy consoling the sobbing maid and butler, I turned the lights on. Immediately, the room became bright.

"Hey, why did you turn on the light!?"

Seeing the scene of a murder and the bloody corpse, Emma shouted in surprise.

Evelyn also was surprised by my actions but unlike Emma, she didn't say anything.

For moments our eyes met and I stared at her beautiful green eyes.

'Just trust me.'

She nodded her head as she understood my intentions.

I couldn't help but smile, at least one person was trusting me.

I glanced around the room before slowly walking up to Beol.

"Excuse me! Don't get close!"

Lily shouted hastily. Ignoring her, I put on an act of examining Beol's face and state. I lifted his clothes to check his wound and pressed down on the bloody bed. Simply put, I was acting like a detective.

"You can't mess up the scene of the crime before the police arrive..."

Unable to endure it any longer, Lily came over to drag me away. However, at that moment I aim my bow towards Lily's head.

There was a mana-influenced arrow already in the string of the bow, ready to leave the bow at any moment.

I predicted that this would happen so I was ready for this.

"Don't come close."

"...!"

Lily raised her hand in shock, while the butler, who was crying only a moment ago, shot up and shouted.

"W-What are you doing!?"

It wasn't only the butler. The cadets gathered here also shouted the same thing.

Facing their loud voices directly, I began to get a headache. Was it because I just woke up from exhaustion? I suddenly felt irritated. Gritting my teeth, I shouted.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

Even I was surprised by how loud I was. Silence descended immediately.

I let out a sigh, then continued calmly.

"This person is trying to trick us. He's not dead. He's in what's called a state of suspended animation."

"D-Don't be stupid. I'm a doctor. What do you know about—"

"I'm going to explain, so shut up and wait."

I continued with my bow still pointing at Lily.

"First, this scar is too unnatural. It's too shallow for a fatal wound. Secondly, his face is still flushed with blood. If he really died, his blood circulation would have stopped, and his face would have turned pale. Thirdly, his body temperature hasn't dropped yet. Normally, the body temperature drops rapidly after death.

And lastly, the mana in his body hasn't dissipated yet. This is the most important point. When a living being dies, the mana inside their body returns to nature. But as you can see, there's still mana inside his body."

As I spoke, I kept a close eye on Lily's reaction. She seemed to be wavering, her confidence shaken by my words. But I couldn't afford to let my guard down just yet.

"Finally and most importantly..."

Using my AI bracket, I projected the International Wanted List.

Beol, the conman.

Although he looked thinner in the photo, the man lying dead on the bed looked similar to the man in the photo.

At this point, the cadets were shaken up.

"Of course, you can argue that they're different people since the man in the photo is so much thinner, but if taking the other two clues into account, you have to think something's up."

"...Head butler, you called the hero police and ambulance, right?"

However, Lily was still calm.

The butler quickly retorted to Lily's question.

"Y-Yes, I called them."

"Then we can just ask them instead of making a fuss like that man."

I couldn't let that happen. Once the bribed police and medical personnel came, Beol would escape this place safely.

I had to resolve the situation before then.

With a grin, I moved my bow away from Lily, pointing at Beol. Only then did Lily begin to lose her composure.

"W-What are you doing!?"

"What do you mean? I'm going to shoot him."

"The hero police will be here soon!"

"He's dead anyway, right?"

I put my finger on the trigger.

"T-This scoundrel! Honey, stop him!"

Lily shook Joy and urged him to step in.

The head butler, Lily, and Beol.

They were all in the same boat.

"Um, Lucas..."

Joy spoke up carefully.

"If you move even a single step, I'll shoot. Especially you, Adrian. I'm only looking at you."

"...Got it."

Adrian stopped frozen in his tracks as he saw that I wasn't kidding around.

I can shoot for real, at this point taking away the life of someone else won't do anything to me, especially if that life belongs to the villain who works for New Sun.

Other cadets also stopped in their tracks as soon as they saw that I was slowly losing the strings of the bow.

I then turned towards the Lily, who was trembling in fear.

Our eyes met and I could see the deep hatred for me but I didn't care about that.

"Confess Lily or I would kill him for real."

An emotionless voice comes from my mouth, at those words her body trembles even more.

"Confess what? I...I don't know what are you talking about?"

So she still going to play an innocent act? That's fine by me.

"I only count till three, if you don't confess by then I would kill him."

Let's play this game that called 'Innocent act' together.