Roy put everything in the room back where it belonged, then casually mingled with the students in the first-floor classroom. He used Observation on all sixty-odd people at the school, including Faywen and Cadell. He spent the longest examining the respected principal. Everyone's stats fell within the range of an ordinary person's, Cadell included. She was no worldly master hiding in plain sight, nor some mysterious entity.
What surprised Roy a little was that Cadell, a human woman over forty, had better physical stats than an adult man. Her average attribute was 7, and she had two skills: Well-trained and Dagger Mastery. If anyone told him now that she had nothing to do with the Revolutionary Army, Roy wouldn't believe them.
After lunch, Roy found Mifen among a group of boys roughhousing in the schoolyard.
The stocky teenager, whose face was covered in acne and who was due to graduate the following year, was dismissive at first. He lifted his chin, his face full of contempt. The word "dislike" was written all over his broad, flat face.
He had always been jealous of the beautiful teacher's "special treatment" of Roy.
But once Roy gave him two Crowns, Mifen immediately put on a smile and became eager to answer every question.
"Faywen's younger brother?" After hearing Roy's question, surprise spread across every pimple on Mifen's face. "You know, I've been at this school for four years. That makes me one of the most senior among the sixty-odd students here, and I've secretly kept an eye on Teacher Faywen for all four of them. I can guarantee she doesn't have any weird brothers or sisters. She does have a few admirers like me, though. See those three greasy-haired brats over there? They're just like me. Don't lie—you've got a thing for her too, don't you?"
"Fight? Roy, did you burn your brain along with your fever or something? Don't you think that's ridiculous? I've never even met Teacher Faywen's brother, so how could I have fought him? I do hate her drunkard of a father, though. If I get the chance, I might just put a sack over his head and beat him into a pulp."
Mifen's answer was just what Roy had expected. He randomly picked a few students under ten from among the children laughing and playing in the yard, made an excuse to call them aside, and asked them about Teacher Faywen's family. He got the same answer.
Was anyone lying? Roy didn't know. He didn't have the Witcher's Axii Signs to make people tell the truth.
But it was hard to believe that all those little children could lie without even changing expression. Their answers were still quite credible.
Roy glanced at Faywen beneath the Horn Tree in the yard, smiling sweetly as she played with a group of boys and girls. He felt a pang of regret. His preliminary investigation was over, and he planned to find a time to talk with her properly and see if she had any other clues.
Roy and Faywen stood outside the third-floor sitting room, feeling the cold breeze as pairs of students and parents cheerfully headed off under Principal Cadell's supervision.
"Faywen, I've got a lead on your 'brother.'"
"Did you find a clue?" Hope shone in Faywen's eyes. Tense, she took his hand and led him into the room. "Did you make an important discovery?"
"Well..." Roy rubbed his temple, unsure how to break it to her. "Have you asked the students at the school about 'him'?"
"Of course I have." Faywen furrowed her brows and answered helplessly. "Didn't I tell you before? No one will admit that 'he' exists."
"What do you think is going on, then?" Roy tried to soften his tone. "If 'he' really exists, why does nobody at the school remember him? Even your own parents don't remember having a 'him.'"
"This makes no sense at all... but I've been investigating on my own for two years." Faywen clenched her hands into fists and paced anxiously around the room several times. The light from the window fell across her flawless, fair face, lending her an eerie, almost sacred air. "I've ruled out all sorts of possibilities. At this point, I can only think of one explanation: the memories of 'him' have been erased from everyone's minds."
"That's why I asked for your help. Witchers have seen all kinds of strange and bizarre things, haven't they? Haven't you heard of anything like this—some mysterious force taking my poor brother away, then erasing everyone's memories of 'him'?"
"Everyone's memories were erased?" Roy's pupils contracted. It was the explanation he least wanted to consider, yet he couldn't completely rule it out. But he had evidence pointing the other way. "Have you ever considered that even if people's memories were erased, some things wouldn't disappear?"
"What do you mean?" Faywen's expression turned grave.
"That enrollment form..." Roy stared into Faywen's eyes and said solemnly, "According to your diary, 'he' once attended House of Cadell. Every student should have left behind one of those records."
"I won't hide it from you, Faywen. I've already searched Principal Cadell's office. I found more than two hundred and ninety enrollment forms from the past ten years or so, including those of the sixty-odd students currently at the school. But there wasn't one for your own brother! No record of 'him.' Do you know what that means?"
"The enrollment forms you mentioned..." Faywen gently shook her head, unable to hide her disappointment. "They don't prove anything, Roy. I'm Principal Cadell's assistant. I can access those papers whenever I want, and I already knew there wasn't one for 'him.' But so what?"
Faywen asked in return, "If human memories can be erased, how hard would it be to erase one simple record?"
Roy was at a loss for words. This woman was more stubborn than he'd imagined. Trying to convince her was exhausting and pointless.
Erase things just like that? What did she think this was, the work of Goddess Melitele or Prophet Lebioda?
Where was the evidence?
Faywen continued explaining her theory. "Roy, have you forgotten? In the diaries you read, there were those strange gaps where 'his' name had vanished for no reason. You don't think I left those spaces deliberately, do you? It's obvious that 'his' name was erased along with everyone's memories of him. The name was erased, and that's why there are gaps in the diaries..."
"Isn't that just nonsense? What made you think of that?" Roy started to speak, then suddenly froze as a flash of insight struck him. "If something's erased, it leaves a blank?"
He mulled over the words and fell into a daze.
When he'd looked through the enrollment forms, he clearly remembered several blank forms mixed in among the many detailed records. He hadn't thought much of it at the time, assuming Principal Cadell had used them to pad the student count and soothe himself. He'd simply glanced past them.
But now, hearing Faywen say those words—
If something's erased, it leaves a blank.
Could it be that the blank forms had once held records, but that those records had been erased along with the missing students and the memories people had of them?
Until all that remained were ordinary sheets of paper that no one cared about.
"Could memories of the missing person be erased? Even words that directly described the missing person?" Suddenly, an image flashed through Roy's mind—
"Roy, who drew a five-pointed star on your sleeve? And why did they only draw half of it?" Toya asked curiously.
"I don't remember... Maybe some mischievous kid at House of Cadell drew it on me when I wasn't looking."
Roy glanced at his left sleeve. The childish half-star, drawn in charcoal, had almost completely disappeared. Only a faint point remained. The rest looked as if it had been washed countless times; not even a speck of black was left. Ordinary touching and friction couldn't have done that.
"No, that's not right! The star wasn't supposed to be half-drawn. It was whole."
In just two or three days, the crude mark had almost vanished completely. It was evidence he'd never once thought to look for.
"The traces left behind by the missing person are erased too. No wonder there's not a single clue." It was as if an invisible hand had closed around his heart. His breathing quickened.
"That means that since coming to House of Cadell, I've unknowingly forgotten someone—the student who left that mark on my sleeve."
"Now even this one remaining trace is almost gone."
Before you continue