"The academy seemed especially lively this year."
A faculty member remarked wistfully.
"Yeah. The last time it was this lively was probably four years ago, when Borne Ioulaum became an Arcanist before he had even enrolled!"
"This year isn't bad either. That little girl is from Shamsuddin House, right? Who would've thought that brute's descendants could produce such a clever girl? The family line has someone to carry it on."
"True enough. What damn luck!"
The extracurricular lives of this year's freshmen were ridiculously eventful. They had expected dull academy life, but it had unexpectedly turned out to be quite interesting.
First came the evil contamination incident in Seventon. Everyone initially thought it was an experimental leak, only to find out that it had been deliberate—a conspiracy by a cult.
Even more unexpectedly, the Arcane Society's minister was implicated as well. In everyone's eyes, being taken away by the Oversight Council under the Lord of Radiance was practically conclusive proof.
Then someone revealed that the Arcane Society's president was the true mastermind, and Cook was merely a scapegoat. But thinking about it, that made sense. Would the boss really not know what his subordinates were doing?
A group of people began looking at things from a god's-eye view, passing judgment on everything. Each of them transformed into a "brilliant strategist," analyzing every stage of the incident, and they even came up with over a dozen versions of the story—all of which spread as though they were true!
Although some people came forward to clarify and explain, the more they explained, the guiltier they seemed. Faced with the surging tide of public opinion, the opposing voices grew ever smaller. Even when an official notice was later released in the name of the Arcane Society, many still refused to believe it.