I Became the Mastermind Who Betrays the Heroines

Chapter 45 - Anne\'s Diary (1)

After the investigation was concluded, we caught a carriage heading in the direction of the dormitories.

The sun had long since set, and darkness had fallen. Everyone planned to return to their rooms for some rest.

The children were completely worn out.

"It\'s already this late... No wonder I feel so tired."

"I-I think I’m about to fall asleep, too."

"You cried all day. It’s a miracle you didn’t collapse halfway through."

"R-Really...?"

"Do you even realize how much trouble that caused me?"

"S-Sorry..."

"...I wasn’t trying to make you feel bad."

The carriage rattled along.

The two girls sat side by side, chatting.

To an outsider, it might sound like they were bickering, but seeing how close they sat to each other, that didn’t seem to be the case.

The atmosphere between them had softened compared to before.

‘More than I expected.’

Perhaps it was the memories of the basement.

Fighting monsters and relying on each other seemed to have forged a strange bond.

The villainess allowing the protagonist to sit next to her.

A scene that would’ve been unimaginable in the original story.

I couldn’t help but smile at the thought.

“Hehe.”

“...What are you laughing at?”

“Oh, nothing.”

I wasn’t quite sure why I felt so happy.

Maybe it was the relief that the episode had ended well.

While things had deviated a bit from the original plan… I thought it had been a story worth telling.

After all, we had discovered a new light.

‘I can do even better moving forward.’

Everything was still going smoothly.

I quietly indulged in the anticipation of what was to come.

***

And.

That anticipation shattered the moment I returned to the dormitory.

“...”

A chilling silence filled the space.

It was an eerie, oppressive quiet.

Normally, even with some reluctance, there would be a voice greeting me, asking if I had returned.

But now, only a heavy silence hung in the air.

No sign of life in the darkened room.

“...Miss Irene.”

I called out her name, hoping to hear a response.

But as if mocking my last ounce of patience, there was no answer.

Only a deep, pervasive emptiness.

The thick darkness swallowed the surroundings.

I stood frozen for a moment, staring out the window at the night sky.

The stars were hidden behind thick clouds.

The faint landscape outside painted a picture of loss, and I found myself momentarily paralyzed.

—A few intruders appeared at the shopping district.

—The shopping district... That’s close to the dormitory, isn’t it?

—Were there any casualties?

—None reported so far.

—That’s good to hear.

—Well, there may still be unreported victims.

The conversation I had brushed off earlier echoed in my ears.

A sinking feeling spread through me.

The joy I had felt just moments ago quickly cooled.

I murmured softly.

“Where did you go?”

Snap!

I snapped my fingers.

In an instant, the scene before me changed.

Teleportation activated in the blink of an eye. I now stood in front of the dormitory building.

I looked around, but saw nothing.

Snap!

I snapped my fingers again.

This time, I moved to the path leading to the shopping district. Still nothing.

I continued to snap my fingers.

Snap!

The carriage stop, nothing.

Snap!

The town square, nothing.

Snap!

A side street, nothing.

Snap, Snap, Snap, Snap, Snap—!

Dozens of snaps echoed through the air, each time rapidly changing the background.

By now, I was snapping my fingers with growing urgency.

My vision blinked every few seconds, searching relentlessly for the fox’s trace.

Snap!

Finally, my search stopped in an alley not far from the shopping district.

It was a place rarely visited by students, a tangled maze of narrow streets.

I quietly gazed at the ground.

“...”

A basket lay there, abandoned.

Its contents spilled across the ground as though someone had dropped it while shopping.

It was the same basket the fox always carried when she went to the shopping district.

‘Why...’

Bad premonitions never fail to come true.

Next to the scattered groceries, I sensed an unsettling aura lingering in the air.

It was faint, invisible to ordinary eyes, but unmistakably a trace of dark magic.

It couldn’t fool my eyes.

A cold wind stirred, rustling the shadows around me.

After a moment of silence, a bitter chuckle escaped my lips.

A sardonic smirk tugged at the corners of my mouth.

“Ha.”

Baob.

Those damn bastards.

***

Meanwhile,

The fox awoke on a cold floor.

“...Ugh.”

Her eyes fluttered open, her head pounding with pain.

Her blurry vision revealed only darkness.

The cold stone beneath her back sent a chill through her body.

A groan slipped from her dry lips.

“Ugh... haa...”

Even as her brow furrowed in dizziness, she slowly pushed herself into a sitting position.

Breathing was difficult.

Her entire body was wracked with pain, as though she were a piece of glass about to shatter into fragments.

It was the side effect of excessive sleep magic.

“Urgh, gah, haa...!”

Particularly for Irene, who had no resistance to magic.

The fox had to writhe on the ground for a while, swallowing her cries.

Eventually, the pain began to subside.

“Haa... haa...”

As her labored breathing gradually returned to normal, the girl finally looked around her.

The entire space was shrouded in darkness.

The fox muttered blankly.

“Where... am I?”

Her dazed voice echoed in the silence.

The first emotion that washed over her was confusion.

Her black eyes scanned her surroundings.

How had she ended up in such a place?

Her hazy memories flickered.

She had been shopping in the district, and as she entered a narrow alley, she felt someone following her.

Sensing something suspicious, Irene had been on guard.

She reached for the sword at her waist and turned around—

“...That’s when it happened.”

Her consciousness had cut off.

The last thing she saw was a flash of red light.

A sickening glow.

Irene held her breath.

First, she needed to assess the situation.

Her dark pupils swept through the shadows, taking in every detail of her surroundings.

The first thing that stood out was the iron bars.

“...”

The fox was trapped in a small cell.

She examined the tightly packed bars, and a wave of deja vu washed over her.

“Damn it.”

A curse slipped from her lips.

It was too similar to where she had been a few months ago.

The slave auction, where countless beastfolks had been gathered. The memory, like a lingering trauma, made her bite her lip.

Could it be them again?

“No, there’s no way they would have followed me all the way to the academy...”

If not them, then who?

To kidnap someone in broad daylight, right in the middle of the continent’s most prestigious institution...

Whoever it was, they weren’t sane.

Her mind clouded with confusion.

The mounting anxiety only added to her stress.

Eventually, a dull headache began to creep in.

Grimacing in pain, Irene rubbed her temples, groaning softly—when a strange sound reached her ears.

Footsteps.

Tap, tap.

The sound echoed through the long corridor.

Slow and deliberate, the steps grew closer to the cell where Irene was trapped.

And then.

“Don’t just sit there, curl up and play dead...!”

“...?!”

Something tapped Irene’s shoulder.

Startled, she turned around to see a hand sticking out from between the bars of the adjacent cell.

It belonged to another captive.

A young voice whispered urgently.

“Sister! Hurry, pretend you’re still asleep...!”

“Wh-What?”

“Before the demon comes, quick...!”

The footsteps were now right in front of her cell.

Though hesitant, Irene decided to follow the advice and lay back down, pretending she was still unconscious.

“...”

Tap—

The footsteps stopped in front of her cell.

Keeping her breathing steady, Irene listened as two men spoke to each other.

“She hasn’t woken up yet, it seems.”

“Looks like it.”

“What should we do?”

“Leave her for now. We’ve got plenty of other specimens to deal with.”

“What about the failed experiments from today?”

“Move them to the basement.”

“Yes, sir.”

Specimen, experiment, failure, basement.

Words laced with ominous meaning. Irene clenched her fists unconsciously.

She could feel her tail twitching from the tension.

“And by the way, we’ve got some valuable material this time.”

“That’s right. There haven’t been many experiments using fox-beastfolk as samples.”

“The infiltration mission was a ruse, but who knew it would bring us such a fascinating specimen. We should reward the surviving team.”

“They’ll definitely appreciate that.”

“She’ll make a fine offering to our master.”

Irene felt their leering stares.

Their voices dripped with slimy lust, tainting the darkness with their vile desires.

She thought to herself.

No matter what happened.

Something had gone terribly, terribly wrong.

***

It was cold.

As though my heart had stopped beating.

Back then, it had always felt like an icy spike was lodged in the chest of the young child I used to be.

It was a sensation I hadn’t felt in a long time.

‘How long has it been?’

The air was cold, swirling around me.

My thoughts were as cold, stinging, and quiet as snow falling on a winter night.

A frosty breath escaped my lips.

Strangely, I felt calm.

An inner self without the slightest tremor. In a world slowly tinting, I was swimming.

The sensation of sinking slowly gave a peculiar sense of stability.

A brief meditation.

As I sat for a moment with eyes closed, a girl’s voice suddenly called out to me.

“Captain.”

“...”

“All the members are ready.”

“...”

I raised my head from its bowed position.

What I saw before me were the members of Astro, all dressed in white robes.

They were standing in precise, waiting positions.

Is it time?

I slowly rose from my seat.

The members’ gazes were focused on me.

Murderous intent surgred. Each one was armed and standing in place.

Assassins waiting for orders.

“The trees have declared war.”

“...”

“It’s not exactly that they’ve picked a fight, but... unfortunately, they touched a friend I deeply cherish.”

Since they’ve crossed the line, there was no intention to be lenient.

If something has been taken, it must be reclaimed.

I intended to clearly show them whom they had dared to covet.

“It seems like a cleanup is needed... will you join me?”

“Everything is as you wish.”

The members all bowed their heads in unison.

Satisfied, I smiled, and the Vice-Captain next to me handed over my robe.

It was similarly pure white.

“Captain.”

“Thank you, Neria.”

With a rustling sound, I put on the robe without hesitation.

After adjusting my disheveled attire, I lifted my steps from the floor.

It was time to observe.

“Then, let’s go.”

I muttered in the flickering shadows.

“To find the fox.”