Bonus chapter thanks to @Rheymarc and @David Alfredo Blanco from Ko-fi!
After class, I headed straight to the Headmaster’s office.
There were a few things I needed to confirm before understanding the situation.
First, whether the entity known as “Osprey” had truly vanished, or if the person existed but wasn’t a Zodiac, and if so, who the current Headmaster of Constel was.
With that in mind, I headed towards the Headmaster’s office where I had previously met Osprey.
“…Hmm.”
There was no response even after knocking on the door of the Headmaster’s office.
Whether the Headmaster had gone out, whether they actually existed, or if this office was just a facade.
“No, what am I talking about.”
Actually, even without such Schrödinger-like nonsense, there was no one inside. My sixth sense told me so.
“If there was originally no one inside, then who is making the final decisions at Constel right now?”
If there wasn’t even such a person, and Constel was in a state where various documents and decisions were indefinitely on hold.
This kind of hole-ridden situation couldn’t last long.
Let alone the students, even among the teachers, people would naturally start to find this situation strange. An organization without a final decision-maker couldn’t function.
The problem was the sheer scale of this phenomenon.
“Even when I was at the Imperial Palace, no one found it strange that Osprey was missing. Not just me, but all the Zodiacs, including the Emperor.”
Perhaps Osprey’s existence had been concealed from the entire world. It wouldn’t make sense otherwise.
“…To become a non-existent person…”
To be honest, I had a hunch.
Because I had experienced it before.
The divine power of Armel de Viet, Quinie’s biological father and the one who threatened her, Lethe.
The power of Lethe, which governs memory, was almost identical to this current phenomenon.
However, Armel was already imprisoned, and the power of Lethe could only be used through him.
In the first place, to completely erase the existence of a person, there was the prerequisite of killing them, so it was difficult to imagine that Osprey had been murdered by Armel.
“Lethe abandoned Armel and attached itself to someone else… Is that even possible?”
The perception of gods that the players of the game Etius and I currently had was quite different.
To the players, gods were grateful and valuable beings who granted additional skills to characters.
Even if the character itself was unimpressive, if they had a good god attached to them, they would consider recruiting them to their party. There was no reason to dislike gods in the first place.
On the other hand, most gods were hostile towards me and tried to kill me, so I couldn’t feel good about them.
From there, the fundamental question of “Are gods really allies?” arose in my mind, but I had almost no information on that matter.
Even in the game, the existence of gods was too hidden and ambiguous.
However, there was something I knew from experience.
Gods never left one person and became the divine power of another. Even if they abandoned a human, they wouldn’t attach themselves to another.
Whether it was pride or impossibility, I didn’t know. That’s why Hephaestus, who left Edwin, didn’t reappear to kill me.
“Besides, there’s a crucial difference between this current phenomenon and Lethe’s power to erase existence.”
I sighed.
The difference between the current phenomenon and Lethe’s erasure of existence.
It was me.
The fact that I had realized Osprey’s absence. Unlike the complete deletion of the records of the beastman “Kora” in the game Etius, in this world, I had noticed that Osprey was gone.
I didn’t know if I was the only one who could notice it, or if I was just the first. However, it was hard to believe that a power that could be detected by someone like me through a minor event was the power of a god.
“Well, I can’t be sure which one it is.”
Let’s go in for now.
There was no one in the Headmaster’s office right now, but maybe Osprey had left something behind, anticipating this situation.
It was hard to imagine how he could have predicted such an absurd situation, but since it was Osprey, it was possible.
Just as I grasped the doorknob of the Headmaster’s office.
“Oh my, student Frondier.”
I shifted my gaze at the familiar voice.
There stood Teacher Jane.
She looked at me with surprised eyes and said,
“You shouldn’t enter the Headmaster’s office without permission.”
Jane spoke to me as if giving a warning.
“…”
“Frondier?”
──To be honest.
Whoever appeared at this timing was the prime suspect.
Jane hesitated because she was sure I was a good guy, but if some random person had shown up at this timing, I would have instantly recognized them as the mastermind and eliminated them.
But the person in front of me was Jane.
So, a few confirmations.
“…Teacher.”
“Yes?”
“Why did you think I was entering without permission?”
“Huh? Well, that’s because…”
Jane, as if it were obvious, tried to say something but froze.
Jane had just arrived here. It was possible that Osprey had summoned me, or that I had knocked before she arrived.
Jane had just said something that was only possible if she already knew that all those possibilities were non-existent.
“You know there’s no one inside.”
“…Ahaha. The Headmaster is currently on a business trip, so of course there’s no one inside.”
Oh, on a business trip, huh?
That could be true.
“Then, teacher.”
“Why do you keep calling me that? It’s kind of scary,”
“What was the Headmaster’s name again?”
At my question, Jane’s expression became even more awkward.
I found that look even stranger. If Jane was involved in this situation, she would either show hostility towards me, who had figured it out, or do something else. Honestly, I was prepared for that.
But Jane just looked troubled and embarrassed, with no hostility or murderous intent towards me. Could it be that her acting skills were so good that they even bypassed my sixth sense, surpassing even Selena?
“Why would you ask that? Frondier…”
“Just curiosity. I suddenly couldn’t remember.”
“…I see. Just curiosity.”
Repeating my words, Jane laughed awkwardly to herself, sighed, scratched her head, and then said to me,
“Can’t you just let it go? Frondier.”