I Possessed the Villain’s Childhood Friend – Chapter 26

It was a filthy prison.

The floor was cold and damp.

An awful stench lingered, refusing to dissipate.

The sound of squeaking rats and the unsettling movement of unpleasant bugs crawling on the floor filled the air.

“…Ah.”

She lay sprawled on the bare ground, without even a pile of hay to rest on.

Anna Margret let out a barely audible whimper.

Her body was covered in numerous wounds, and her arms and legs were as thin as dry twigs.

“…Ah.”

It was a breath so faint it was difficult to even call it a moan.

At that moment, it seemed even that was a struggle for Anna, who had just endured torture.

“Reina Rozelia.”

But she quietly uttered the name of a girl to whom she had devoted everything.

As if that pride was something that could not be broken, no matter what happened.

“My lady.”

She looked like she could collapse at any moment.

Yet, the gaze of Anna Margret, who called her name, remained as vivid as ever.

The walls of the prison were etched with numerous lines.

They were all marks to count the days.

“Has it already been over three years?”

Anna left the Rozelia Duke House on the 28th of August, Year 824 of the Empire.

If this mark was accurate, it was now the 3rd of March, Year 828 of the Empire.

“Today must be the day the lady entered Arcana.”

Leaning against the wall, Anna murmured to herself and smiled.

It was a habit formed about a year after being imprisoned.

When she initially betrayed the organization.

To eliminate possible threats, Anna borrowed troops and raided her former base, but their traces had completely vanished.

However, they knew Anna had settled in the Rozelia Duke House.

Assassins began to come every day.

One day it was a capable individual.

Another day it was several low-ranking operatives.

It was never a problem.

Anna could easily drive them away by herself.

But then the situation began to change dramatically.

The catalyst was the death of an informant from Avatarara who had infiltrated the markets of Heros.

It was the work of Aike, Reina’s childhood friend.

There were many questions she wanted to ask.

How much did he know about the organization Avatarara?

How did he know about an informant hiding in Heros, which even she herself didn’t know about?

Though she was curious, she decided to trust his words that he was on Reina’s side, believing in his straight gaze.

Anna turned that scene into her own exploits.

Then, adversaries of an entirely different level began to appear.

They weren’t overwhelmingly difficult, but they were not opponents she could afford to underestimate either.

Ultimately, fearing an unforeseen disaster, Anna left the Rozelia Duke House.

Upon returning to Avatarara, Anna was promptly imprisoned.

And she had to endure numerous tortures.

They needed to find out if any information from Avatarara had reached the Rozelia Duke House.

If so, how much did they have on the Rozelia Duke House?

To get those answers, they continued their brutally harsh interrogations, to a degree that was hard to endure.

“I have no intention of speaking, no matter what happens.”

After all, Anna had only acted as a puppet of Avatarara; she hardly knew anything about the organization.

Even up to now, she thought of them simply as a group of assassins.

There was nothing she could divulge, and more importantly, she would never leak information that could cause harm to Reina.

And so three years had already passed.

In this dire environment of having meals every three days, undergoing daily torture, Anna was still in prison today.

“Lady Reina…”

As she called her name.

★

Anna was probably in Raynen.

I was half-convinced of that.

However, there was still uncertainty because Anna did not appear in the original story.

Yet, when piecing the situation together, it became almost certain that she was in Raynen.

In the original work, that incident occurs in the middle of the first semester of the next year.

One deep night, a sudden scream echoed throughout Arcana, and the story began with Sophia regaining her senses.

Screams filled the air from every direction, to the point where Sophia couldn’t go to help anyone, so she ran towards the nearest room.

Upon opening the door, Sophia was met with a terrible sight—the person lying on the bed had a knife stabbed into their chest and was letting out horrific screams.

Sophia rushed over to use healing magic, but it was utterly ineffective on someone who was already on the brink of death.

Ultimately, after closing the now-deceased person’s eyes, Sophia exited the room.

Afterward, Sophia joined forces with the Crown Prince, Helen, and the professors to defeat all the assassins.

“Is it truly the end just because a single traitor is gone? If that’s the case, then we should have brought that person back, no matter what.”

And this was the final remark left by the boss of the assassins in the original story.

That traitor was likely Anna.

In other words, if she had returned to Avatarara, it meant she was in the heart of the assassins’ base in Raynen.

“Especially Anna being from Avatarara.”

Originally, I should not have made a move in this incident.

This episode was quite a crucial turning point in the original.

It was the story where the first casualty occurred and the moment Avatarara came into the public eye.

So, I initially thought it would be sufficient to get rid of the deceased.

However, if this incident were to completely vanish, I couldn’t even imagine how twisted the future would become.

But knowing that Anna was in Raynen, I couldn’t just stand idly by.

Anna was like family to Reina.

So, let’s think positively.

The complete disappearance of this episode was worth acting upon.

The foundation that had been solid for Reina in Arcana would also dissolve.

In this incident, Reina made no appearance at all.

This was because Duke Ricard’s condition had severely worsened, causing her to stay away from Arcana.

That was certainly a reason everyone had to accept.

But the victims of the incident were far too many.

42 dead. 20 injured. A total of 62 victims.

Except for 2, all were students.

Days after the incident concluded, a rumor began spreading within Arcana.

It was that Duke Ricard had no issues at all, and Reina had foreseen the assassination and fled.

Reina merely scoffed, calling it nonsense. She didn’t even give a clarification.

Rather, she displayed contempt for those spreading such claims, saying they trivialized the deaths of the victims.

Yet, the atmosphere surrounding Reina did not greatly change.

At least, it was a fact that she was the only student absent from Arcana that day, and this led several students to harbor doubts.

In the end, since all these suspicions were merely conjecture, they didn’t lead to other incidents.

Yet, this was undoubtedly one of the significant blemishes on Reina Rozelia’s record.

It could be thought to have contributed to her eventual downfall.

“But I wouldn’t receive any help.”

I barely managed to get permission for a weekend outing.

If I casually asked Dean Ender for more, I might lose even this.

Feeling the burden of having to solve everything by myself, I thought that maybe I could manage now, just about.

After all, they are just simple assassins.

“Aike. I heard the rumor. You’re going out this weekend?”

On the evening of Friday, the day before the outing.

The Crown Prince unexpectedly visited the dormitory room holding what looked like expensive sweets.

Word had already spread about it.

For someone, it must seem like a tremendous privilege, so it was entirely plausible.

“Yes. Thankfully, Dean Ender granted permission.”

“Really?”

The Crown Prince most certainly noticed it was odd, but he didn’t mention anything further.

“Reina asked about it too. She inquired whether I knew anything about your outing.”

“Did she?”

Of course, Reina had directly asked me, but I naturally couldn’t reply.

Did the Crown Prince think I might know?

“Yeah. She knows we’re close friends.”

To call it close would be a stretch; it was more like acquaintances.

Yet, without remarking on that fact, I served tea to the Crown Prince.

“…I really think you lack talent when it comes to tea, Aike.”

With that, the Crown Prince placed the teacup aside.

It seemed he had no intention of drinking it at all.

“So? What’s the reason you’re going out this weekend?”

“Must I really say? I consider it a personal affair.”

“If you can get permission to go out for just a personal matter, I would certainly love that.”

The Crown Prince shrugged his shoulders and gave a sneer.

Clearly, during the inauguration speech, he had stated he would set aside his status, so a little jab shouldn’t be a problem.

Pushing aside such irreverent thoughts, I quietly popped one of the sweets he brought into my mouth.

“If it’s truly an important personal matter, then sure.”

“An important personal matter arising merely two days after entering Arcana, right after asking about Lady Reina’s situation. How incredibly coincidental.”

“Indeed.”

While we exchanged quiet jabs, we slowly enjoyed the short tea time.

“Is it related to Lady Reina?”

“Who knows?”

“I don’t think Dean Ender would grant permission for something trivial.”

“Even if you asked me about his thoughts, I have no words.”

Having received permission for the weekend outing, I made one promise with Dean Ender.

Not to tell anyone the reason for the permission.

Of course, even without that promise, I had no intention of opening my mouth.

“Do you know, Aike? I have quite an impressive intuition.”

I had always known that.

His intuition was often utilized to unfold stories in the original work.

“And right now, my intuition screams that you’re about to get yourself into serious trouble.”

“Intuition is ultimately just a feeling; trusting it might not be wise.”

“How about explaining the situation to Dean Ender and seeking help?”

“There’s no need for that over a simple outing.”

It would be problematic if this conversation escalated further.

Suspicions from even just Dean Ender were tiresome, and if too much attention was drawn, it could hinder my actions later.

Soon, the Crown Prince and Sophia would take center stage among the people in Arcana.

My job was to assist them from behind and eliminate problems for Reina, not to step onto the main stage myself.

If I did step onto the main stage, there was nearly a 100% chance I would be killed by him.

No matter what, I had no desire to throw away my life.

“I’ll pray to Eos for your safe return from the outing.”

After the Crown Prince left the room and I lay on my bed, I began pondering how to move tomorrow.

There was no need to worry about their hiding places.

Three years ago, just as I found an informant in the markets of Heros, I already knew the locations precisely.

The hideouts of Avatarara’s members had been delicately described in the original work.

Even after a considerable amount of time had passed, I could vaguely recall them, thanks to the author’s meticulous effort.

The number of assassins was around 80.

I didn’t feel that I would lose if I confronted them head-on, but I wanted to avoid direct combat as much as possible.

Still, considering their numbers, avoiding a confrontation entirely would likely be difficult.

It seemed I would have to proceed with a guerrilla tactic, striking quickly and withdrawing while assessing the situation.

“Haah.”

Even after roughly deciding how I would proceed tomorrow, sleep came neither easily nor swiftly.

The tense reality of getting back into action after a long break kept the unease gnawing at me.

Suddenly, looking out the window, the starlight felt dimmer than usual.

Somehow, I had a feeling that tomorrow would be longer than usual.