Chapter 68: We hunt
No wonder they thought he must be part of the Scar organization, or at least he must know something about them because they seem to be targeting him.
Head Instructor Darius said as well, repeating the question, "Are you part of Scar?"
Severin answered calmly as he had all the previous questions. "I am not."
Darius confirmed that he was speaking the truth and asked another question. "Why are they targeting you? The dead body and the disappearance of your House member point at you being targeted by them."
Severin finally raised his brows. "The culprit is from Scar?"
Darius, the old fox, had thrown the question at him to know what was going on in Severin's head. There was a tight smile in his voice as he replied, "We are leaning towards that at the moment. They are the likely ones."
With a snap of his fingers, the room returned to normal and the bright light that was shining on Severin disappeared, gone entirely from his face.
It took some seconds, but his eyes stabilized and he stared at the Head Instructor staring at him.
They stared at each other, and for a moment it seemed as if there was an invisible wave of charged lightning that passed between them.
Severin looked away first. "Am I going to be detained?"
"Not likely. Everything checks out. All your movements yesterday had been tracked and you weren't there when the body was placed in your room."
Silence again.
"About Celia..."
Darius shook his head. "We have found nothing about her location. As you know, just like the others, the system couldn't reach her. It seems it's been jammed around her."
Severin's gut tightened.
He was angry; he hadn't felt that much anger in a long time.
Not just because Celia was taken, but because the pawn that he so carefully selected was just snatched away like that with no warning.
It was as if he was thrown into a game without warning, a game where he went in blind.
But there is one curious thing about games: it's not the one that starts it who must finish it.
Even with all the anger he was feeling, he still kept a level head and his face was calm.
"Then I will be leaving." Severin stood but then paused; he already knew that his freedom was a ruse so that he could act as bait. "I do not trust my House members. Please, can you get them arrested and confined?"
Head Instructor Darius Faulkner stared at him in pure surprise. His single eye narrowed, and his head quickly calculated what he was asking for and why.
"No." His voice was firm.
But Severin only shrugged.
The reason he said what he said was because the only way he could think of at that moment to protect his remaining pawns was to have them locked up.
It was worth a try.
He would just have to beat the game before they got to him.
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"Do you trust him?"
It was the commander of the Academy security who asked, the captain. She suddenly appeared around Darius.
He raised his brows without turning. "Trust? Hell no. I don't trust any word he says even though the formation deemed everything as the truth. But I'm glad of my decision to keep him alive. We will finally get one of those Scar bastards."
It was something that was frustrating the Academy. They were powerful, their strength undeniable, and yet they weren't able to deal with some pesky criminal organization for months now.
Darius growled, "That's why I hate cockroaches. They have the uncanny ability to hide."
"Aren't you curious why they're after him?" the Commander asked.
"We will know that soon enough when we get one of them."
She nodded. "A shame though, the boy is likely going to die with his House members. It was fun watching his pathetic struggle with that House."
"A necessary sacrifice. Put your best on him and all his members. The culprit will show soon enough to claim his or their lives."
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Severin headed to the House building where the remaining House members and those working for it were waiting.
Ethan stood up immediately. "What the fuck is happening? I heard you were wounded by the kidnapper!"
"That wasn't what I said," Julius snapped, adjusting his glasses.
Severin had fired a quick message to him about what was happening immediately he confirmed that Celia was missing.
"Is it true? She's gone?" Derrick asked. freēwēbnovel.com
Even the new member, Serena, was there, looking at them anxiously.
Severin sat down on his chair and then nodded firmly. "Celia is missing."
The word was short but seemed like a punch to the gut. They knew already, but it was another thing for Severin to say it like that.
"The kidnapping that was happening, that's the only likely culprit at the moment. I will tell you what happened."
And he did, telling them what happened since he left the training center.
"...I believe their target is me and they will do anything to get at me, including targeting you guys."
Everyone shifted on their seat. A kidnapper who took second-year students without any trouble might now be after them? It was unthinkable what would happen to them, who were only first-year.
An uncomfortable silence filled the air.
"But the security should be tight around us, right? They should want to protect us now that they know," Serena said, looking at Severin.
Julius shook his head. "Indeed, they should, but they won't because they don't care about us. They only want to catch the culprit and currently we are the only bait."
More silence followed. Even Derrick's face was sour.
It wasn't a joke. Someone had died and they could be next.
Their House member, Celia, might already be dead.
A tense silence followed.
Finally, Julius turned to Severin. "House leader, what are we going to do?"
Severin smiled. His head had returned to its blank state, his thinking done as he remembered what he was missing from the book. "We will hunt the hunter."