Chapter 65: A feel
Everyone turned towards him.
The newbie has a question?
"What are the incentives for catching the criminals?"
Eh? What?
Is he serious? Everyone present thought the same. He's asking what he would be given if he caught the criminals. Is he asking to get paid?
That was exactly what Severin was asking for. His House was just too small and inconsequential to waste the little they had to investigate criminals.
Head Instructor Darius Faulkner frowned. "Well, something will be given to those who make the greatest contribution to the investigation. There will be incentives."
Severin nodded. "Very well, sir."
That was all Head Instructor Darius Faulkner wanted to talk to them about. Something that could have been passed over through system communication.
But Severin understood why it didn't happen.
As he sat there, with his extraordinarily high perception, he had detected some kind of probing technique being used on all of them. They probably gathered them all to know if they were the ones behind it.
"...The Academy must be really desperate to catch the criminals... well, to be fair, they've had no breathing space since the research facility problems..."
The meeting ended there, and they returned to their House building.
"Seriously, Severin. I thought that House leader was going to bash you on the head the other time."
Severin smirked. "That's highly unlikely. I'm too weak for the House leaders themselves to make moves on. They can only send their subordinates to do their dirty work."
Julius nodded. "Seems that way. The general mood was indifference though. They did not think the House would ever be something."
"And do you?" Severin asked.
Even he himself didn't particularly care about the House. The main reason he created it was just so he could have access to the dungeon to get the Pandora Box and the Stigma.
If he should disband it now, or sell his rights for some profit, then it wouldn't be so bad since he gained his initial reward for creating it.
But then he also knew how beneficial a House can be. A strong House.
He would do his best to bring it up properly, as much as it did not directly inconvenience him.
"Yes. The House will be strong," Julius said with absolute faith.
Severin nodded, and then his eyes focused on the empty space in front of him.
A projection appeared, displaying the information he had just received.
Julius studied it and shook his head. "This is bad."
Twenty-two people had been kidnapped.
The Academy had swept more than half of those numbers under the rug.
Severin had to agree. "Noticed any pattern?"
"The only pattern is that all of them are in second year. All of them. But that provides little unless you're saying the culprit has some kind of beef with year two?"
Severin narrowed his eyes. "This might be a fight of revenge. The whole class might have bullied someone, and now they're back to deal back."
He had read a plot that goes along those lines before, and he wouldn't be surprised if the same thing was happening.
"That's possible. Since there's no link between the victims, they were all from different backgrounds and their personalities are different from each other."
Severin waved his hand and the projection was gone. "Well, look more at it in your free time. There's not enough motivation to deal with it, not that many incentives too. That old man won't say anything."
Why should he look for trouble when it doesn't touch him? He would rather let the Academy and the Houses deal with it.
He stood up and went to the door while Julius was still frowning hard at the information.
"I'm off to training," Severin said.
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Severin trained till it was night. He had a quick bath in the training center, and then he went to the cafeteria to have his dinner before heading to the dorm.
His head was filled with thoughts of updating the House building. Getting a personal training room and having cooks. It would be much easier and better.
He entered his dorm, which was mostly silent by that time in the night. Then he reached the door to his room, and that was when he stiffened.
"Someone is in my room?" His senses heightened immediately, and with a quick sweep with his perception, he knew there was nothing living on the other side of the door.
His eyes narrowed. "Someone strong enough to hide themselves? Or they were here and then gone?"
He couldn't hide the wrongness that hit him. And in that split second, he weighed his options and came to a decision. With a thought backed by his will, he sent a message to the dorm security and waited.
Something was wrong.
He didn't go in.
If there was someone strong enough to hide themselves from him, then it's obviously not the kind of situation he needed to involve himself in.
And if there was nothing?
Then he would apologize to the security.
With all the tension going around, it didn't take long for them to answer.
Five of them came. They carried swords that were actually equipment filled with different enchantments. They wore black clothes that covered most of their faces.
The Academy security was made up of two standard teams. There are those that usually patrol the academy, the ones students see and interact with most of the time.
And then there are the ones that are the actual power of the security.
They are the ones that answered Severin's call.
"What is the situation, Severin Reignhart?" The one who should be the team leader asked after his team did a full sweep of the dorm hallway.
Severin wasn't surprised that the man knew his name and talked so suspiciously and so casually. He suspected he must have been placed on the watch list of the Academy.
"I have a feeling that there is someone in my room. Or they were here," Severin said calmly.
The leader looked at him flatly. "A feeling."
Severin nodded firmly. He didn't really care if the man believed him or not, but since they were there, he felt a bit better.
"...Whether they like it or not, they'll do their job..."