……And so.
Until nightfall, Edwin hid in the nearby bushes.
There had been no movement within the Constel to find him yet.
Calming his hurried heart, Edwin waited persistently.
Then, in the silent darkness when the students had gone home for the evening.
Staying here any longer could risk being discovered by other staff or the custodians. Edwin decided to move.
“Follow me.”
The ground cracked open, and dirt poured out as the golem buried beneath rose to its feet.
Edwin moved swiftly, cautious of being pursued.
He judged it better to make some noise than to encounter anyone at all.
His judgement was accurate, up until they passed in front of the training room.
“…Huh!”
Edwin saw someone coming out of the entrance to the training room.
He quickly looked around, but there was no place to hide.
‘Wait, hold on.’
Focusing his vision, Edwin saw the figure emerging from the training room entrance.
It was Ellen.
Her eyes were open, but her face was expressionless, her focus distant.
‘…She’s sleepwalking.’
Ellen’s somnambulism was well-known within the Constel. Edwin, being her friend, of course knew this.
She claims it’s not sleepwalking, but rather an efficient way to handle sleep and activities simultaneously, but to others, it looks no different.
‘Lucky. Let’s pass by carefully.’
Ellen in this state wouldn’t wake up easily. She’d naturally wake up if she sensed danger, but there was no need to disturb her now.
Edwin held his breath, reducing the sound of his footsteps to the minimum, slowly distancing himself from Ellen’s path.
The golem, being louder than Edwin, couldn’t be allowed to move much. Still, it wouldn’t collide with Ellen.
Step by step, the distance between Edwin and Ellen closed. Edwin watched her, his gaze frozen as she approached.
Ellen slowly walked towards where Edwin was,
and then passed by.
‘…Phew.’
He let out a silent sigh.
‘Good, from here to the lab will be quick.’
Just as Edwin was about to move again,
Ellen, who was leaving his field of view, briefly caught his attention.
Edwin froze.
Ellen was, standing there.
Steps that must be walked.
A sleep from which one will never awaken.
If she doesn’t sense the crisis, she just has to go her own way. But she stopped.
Her back turned, her body was now facing sideways.
A voice slowly trickling out as she tilted her head.
“……The smell of blood.”
“!”
Edwin gasped.
Ellen’s focus returned. Her eyes sank deeply.
She looked straight at Edwin.
“……You.”
Ellen looked at Edwin’s face.
It was not clear due to the darkness, but the air around her told her that his expression had frozen coldly.
“What did you do?”
Edwin did not answer. Instead, he took a step back.
Ellen’s eyes narrowed at the sight.
“What’s that next to you?”
Ellen took a step towards Edwin.
Her right hand was already on the handle of the sword worn on her waist.
Ellen glanced at the golem standing beside Edwin.
“Yours?”
A high-class metal, an incredibly high level of completion, overflowing mana.
There was no way that Edwin made this thing.
His knowledge and skill were not the issue; it was the facilities and funding.
“I smell blood from it.”
Ellen’s steps were not hesitant.
As she gradually closed the distance between her and Edwin, she saw fear in Edwin’s expression.
Surely, this couldn’t be.
“……Did you kill someone with that thing?”
“N, no!”
“Then why are you trembling like a dog that has taken a dump?”
Hostility bloomed from Ellen’s body.
Ellen could forgive Edwin for almost any mistake. She was Edwin’s friend and trusted him, but if he killed someone, and it was a murder using a golem, and he was trying to hide it on top of that.
“Edwin, I’ll ask again.”
Ellen drew her sword.
The blade, reflecting the moonlight sharply, was as cold as her eyes.
“What did you do with that thing?”
“……I just thought about it.”
Edwin’s gaze wandered around as if he was avoiding something.
“I just thought that I shouldn’t be caught, but this golem attacked the ‘October’ guys on its own……”
“……Killed them on its own?”
“No! It didn’t kill them!”
“Can you guarantee that?”
Edwin kept his mouth shut.
Ellen’s eyes turned icily cold.
“Whose golem is that?”
“…….”
“Taking something that isn’t yours, using it to assault someone, not even checking if they’re dead before running away, and then trying to hide the golem?”
Each of Ellen’s words was like a dagger, piercing Edwin.
Edwin bit his lip, unable to make any excuses.
“Have you truly fallen so low, Edwin?”
“……! Don’t talk to me like that-!”
With a whoosh, the golem charged towards Ellen, gripping its spear with both hands and slashing horizontally.
Ellen stepped back with a nimble move.
“……Edwin.”
“…….”
Edwin, too shocked, could only stare blankly.
Had the attack connected, Ellen would have surely died.
Did I really want that?
Even the shadows at his feet, bathed in moonlight, seemed to swirl. The darkness felt as if it was crawling up from the ground, invading him.
“Really, the golem moves just by thinking about it. That’s a bit too much.”
The recent attack from the golem had, instead, calmed Ellen.
Her thoughts had slightly changed.
─That golem is not normal.
Edwin wouldn’t really think of killing her. Even if he did, this kind of attack isn’t like Edwin.
If that expression isn’t an act, then even he is surprised by the golem’s movement.
“Edwin, stop the golem.”
“What, what?”
“Deactivate it. You don’t want to make more mistakes, do you?”
“That’s, that’s right.”
Edwin came to his senses.
Yes, just deactivate it. Then the golem wouldn’t move on its own as if reading his thoughts anymore.
Why hadn’t he thought of this before?
Edwin extended his hand towards the golem and-
……still not fully regained his senses, looked at Ellen.
“……Ellen.”
“Why?”
“Are you going to tell someone else?”