Whispers Hidden in the Dark Night (1)

Fatenai had recently encountered some things she couldn't quite understand.

She was unable to summon new summoners.

The Month of Trekking passed, the Birth Month arrived, a full month had already gone by, and by all rights, Merlin should have vanished. Yet, she couldn't summon a new summoner. When she tried to summon the patterns in her hand as usual, she received no response.

In her previous world, in what were called simulation games, people could see their status through floating screens. Here, Fatenai couldn't do that.

Everything seemed to be undergoing some subtle changes.

Unable to summon new retainers, Fatenai didn't overthink it. There was no pressing need to summon anyone new at the moment. As time passed, she had predetermined tasks to complete that morning, just like any other day.

"Good morning, Fatenai." Each floor of the teaching building had a lounge with food provided. Fatenai just needed to go downstairs. As she placed her chosen breakfast on a tray at a dining table, someone greeted her.

She didn't know how these mages communicated, but her name and her role as Lyteta's assistant had already been spread around. The mages all knew why she was here, and this was the first time anyone had spoken to her.

Fatenai followed the sound of the voice. There weren't many people, and she quickly spotted a short-haired girl. The girl was poking her mashed potatoes with a fork, looking up at Fatenai with a smile in her eyes.

At first glance, she looked like a cat.

"Hello," Fatenai replied politely.

"Want to eat together? I'm Chris, Chris Aberge," Chris said enthusiastically. "I heard you used to be a Forest Hunter."

Fatenai, holding her tray, declined. "I still have to complete tasks assigned by the professor. Please forgive me, I can't stay long. Thank you for your warmth."

With that, Fatenai walked towards a seat.

Without paying much attention to Chris, Fatenai calmly ate her breakfast. She finished it elegantly and quickly before slowly standing up. The entire process took only a few minutes.

"You've been with Lyteta for so long, be careful not to pick up anything… unusual," Chris said, appearing as if from nowhere behind Fatenai. She moved silently, making no sound before speaking, and then whispered in Fatenai's ear, "And when there are fewer students, strange things always happen in the teaching building..."

"Thank you for your reminder." Fatenai's movements only paused slightly when Chris spoke, then she smoothly continued her previous actions and slowly walked away, not even glancing at Chris.

Chris leaned to the side, watching Fatenai walk away. The light in her eyes flickered.

"Chris, don't say irrelevant things." Another voice chimed in. The mages in the lounge were all very quiet, but this voice, though soft, was clear.

"Shouldn't you be bothering Shirey right now? What are you doing here looking for me... Unless you think..." Chris's voice trailed off slightly.

"Don't think no one knows what you're thinking, Chris." Fatenai recognized Shirey's voice.

Shirey, that habitually cold mage girl. Fatenai didn't know much about her, but instinctively, she didn't want to interact with her much. It seemed many others felt the same way, which was why Shirey had almost no friends.

There seemed to be exceptions.

Fatenai had no time to ponder the thoughts of these girls. After returning her tray, she went back to Lyteta's laboratory. She took down the daily checklist pinned to the wall by Lyteta, glanced at it, and then turned to leave. Lyteta only showed Fatenai her back the entire time.

Everything seemed no different.

"I have something to attend to, so I'm leaving early. Once you've tidied up, you can rest. You're allowed to use everything except what's in that cabinet over there." However, in the afternoon, Lyteta left the laboratory early.

Fatenai nodded and continued her reading.

Time ticked by, and Fatenai remained immersed in the book in her hands. These were introductory books on magic, quite tedious. Compared to how the Divine Court attributed the origin of magic to a goddess figure named Allentia, these mages used many unheard-of arguments to explain that magic originated from nature.

It was less a debate about natural origins and more like their own fantasies. A strange thought slowly surfaced in Fatenai's mind.

Snap.

Fatenai froze. The lamp on the ceiling of the laboratory suddenly went out.

Darkness engulfed the laboratory.

Fatenai remained silent, standing in the room, waiting.

Suddenly, the lamp turned back on.

As if malfunctioning for a moment, it immediately returned to normal. What happened? The answer should be that nothing happened.

Fatenai's eyes scanned the entire room. She seemed to find nothing and, losing interest in reading, closed the book. She tidied the room as usual, went upstairs to practice sword fighting, then went downstairs early to brush her teeth in the washroom.

According to the map Shirey provided, this floor of the teaching building had fewer rooms because there was a sizable open space in the center. The open space had a skylight, and she had to pass through it to get to the washroom.

The teaching building had three staircases: two spiral staircases on the sides and a common scissor staircase in the middle. However, this open space was a small circular hall, and the scissor staircase's exits would change periodically through magic, or rather, alchemy devices.

There was a spiral staircase next to Alfie's Corner, and Fatenai rarely used the middle staircase.

She walked forward slowly. The dim light made everything around her unclear.

Fatenai walked forward. As she passed through the small hall, she heard a sound of water—not the sound of flowing water, but the dripping of water.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

She didn't particularly like this sound. Fatenai silently walked into the corridor opposite, then turned down another corridor towards the washroom.

However, there was no leakage in the washroom sinks.

Fatenai finished what she needed to do and then walked out, preparing to return to the attic.

But she saw something "abnormal." Fatenai's eyesight was slightly better than others. Standing outside the washroom at the end of the corridor, she saw the end.

It looked like someone was lying on the ground.

Fatenai narrowed her eyes and slowly walked towards it.

It was a corpse.