I turned around, locked the door, and unfolded the letter.
As if my brother were holding the pen at that moment, the dark green magical writing slowly continued.
[To my dear brother.]
[How have you been? It's already been two months since the new semester started.]
It started the same way as last time.
I felt my hand grip tightly as I looked coldly at the letters.
The letter continued with the kind of concerned greetings an older brother with a significant age gap might write, and then it got to the point.
[I heard that you ranked in the top ten in your department for the midterms. I can't tell you how proud and happy that makes me. I've always known you were a bright child, and seeing that you've remained steadfast and kept your childhood promise despite any hardships makes me indescribably emotional.]
I wanted to tell him to cut the crap.
I smiled and turned to the next page.
[But at the same time, I have some concerns. You've always been a diligent child who never let anyone down. Even with poor health, you always tried hard not to worry us. I'm worried that mentioning your grades might have been a burden, that my request might have made you focus only on studying, neglecting your health.]
[I'm not criticizing your achievements or efforts. I can't even imagine the countless struggles and patience you've endured. I wrote this letter to tell you that you don't need to feel pressured by anything I've said. Your health is always my top priority.
It's still relatively warm here, but I've heard it's getting quite cold in the capital. Always take care of yourself, and if you need anything, don't hesitate to reach out. Let's meet again in good health.
Once again, congratulations on your achievements. May you always have God's blessing.]
[Sincerely, your brother.]
"…Haha…"
I let out a deflated laugh.
I sealed the letter back in its envelope and tucked it deep into the drawer.
The content of the letter wasn't important.
The fact that a letter came from him was what mattered.
It's time to start preparing to counter my brother's moves.
* * *
Let's list what my brother might do.
From the most extreme and unlikely to the trivial but possible.
First, he comes to kill me immediately.
Impossible. Abandoning his work and coming to kill me in the middle of the semester is too much of a burden.
Second, he sends someone to kill me.
No way.
My brother is a meticulous perfectionist who wouldn't want to leave a single trace in such a matter.
The possibility of him entrusting my murder to someone else is extremely low, and even if he did hire an assassin, he would only be satisfied after also killing the assassin and their associates.
Third, he fabricates a new incident to ruin my reputation further, as he did when we were younger.
This is difficult to achieve due to the physical distance, and my brother has never orchestrated incidents on a large scale outside the estate.
He wouldn't choose this unless absolutely necessary.
Fourth, he actively gathers information.
This is the most likely. My brother would have already thoroughly investigated any news about Askanian mentioned in the media.
He's probably assessing whether he needs to kill me or if it's not necessary yet.
Considering Luca's tendency to obey my brother's words unconditionally, he might have left several possibilities open and deemed it premature to kill me right now.
Even if he decided it was safest to just kill me, the situation isn't favorable, so the first and second options are immediately discarded.
Therefore, the best method available to him right now is the fourth one: planting an informant in the school.
Reaching the second-year floor of the Magic Department building, I passed by the classroom and headed toward the special class in the center.
The students loitering in the lounge area in front of the special class stopped talking and glanced at me as soon as I showed up.
"They must be looking at Lucas, right?!"
Pai asked, smacking his lips.
This guy has always wanted people to pay attention to him. But, thanks to Narce's invisibility spell, no one else could see him.
I responded with a smile and opened the door to the special class of the Magic Department.
It was my first time in the special class classroom, and it was spacious.
It was spacious because two lecture halls, each accommodating fifty people, were given to just ten students.
With fewer desks and people, the view through the window that covered one wall was refreshing.
The eyes of the nine students already there turned to me.
Melvin stood up from his seat, greeting me enthusiastically but awkwardly.
"Hi…! Ahem…."
Seeing my puzzled expression, Melvin cleared his throat, stretched, and sat back down.
Narce, who had been wide-eyed with surprise, bit his lips to suppress a laugh.
Since the meeting yesterday, Melvin's favorability towards me had rapidly increased to +3.
He seemed to have liked the analysis materials on Pleroma that I had organized. Thanks to the start of serious activities, any remaining doubts he had seemed to have completely disappeared.
Ignoring them, I asked nonchalantly,
"Does anyone know where my seat is?"
"Next to me!"
Narce patted the seat beside him.
I put my things down and placed my books on the shelf.
At that moment, an unfamiliar voice spoke.
"Lucas."
Leo, who had been studiously ignoring us, reflexively turned his eyes toward the source of the voice.
Narce did the same.
Turning around, I saw a tall student with a confident expression extending his hand.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Cristel Kleiber."
I lightly shook hands without showing any particular expression.
Judging by the fact that I hadn't heard his name during the roll call, he must be a student from Class 1.
'A Class 1 student is acting friendly toward me?'
It was surprising.
"I was curious when I heard you joined the special class, but meeting you in person is refreshing. Let's get along well."
"Sure. Looking forward to it."
I responded with a suitable smile.
This might seem like an ordinary situation for most students, but not for Luca. It's far from ordinary for him.
'Let's see how things unfold.'
At lunchtime, I headed to the school cafeteria for the first time in a while to observe the situation.
"Wow, everyone here is looking at Lucas!"
Pai climbed onto my shoulder, stood on his two legs, and quickly turned his head around.
Just as Pai said, I could feel an overwhelming number of eyes on me here.
Throughout the meal, students kept glancing at me.
Occasionally, words like "Askanian" or "Lucas" drifted into my ears.
'It definitely wasn't like this last semester.'
Even right before the midterms, people didn't stare at me as if I were an animal in a zoo. They either avoided eye contact or left.
'So, that Class 1 guy wasn't the only unusual one.'
Sure enough, interest from the students had grown since I became a second-year and after the midterms ended.
When I mentioned this upon arriving at the training ground, Leo provided a clear answer.
"Lots of students are interested in you these days."
"Really?"
"Yeah, even some of my friends have thought about talking to you. Although it's more out of curiosity than a genuine desire to befriend you."
Curiosity? I let out a laugh.
"What about Pleroma? They seem pretty relaxed."
"The change in you was so shocking that they're curious. Honestly, if someone who was at the bottom of the class suddenly jumps to the top 10%, wouldn't you be interested too? And… it's not just because of the Pleroma rumors that students avoided you."
I had to admit that.
As I thought on the first day of school, there were multiple reasons why students openly avoided me.
First, because I entered through a donation without being able to use magic.
Second, because of the Pleroma rumors.
Third, because students like Leo, who had significant influence at school, disliked me.
Of course, that's not all.
If a friend always mumbled, looked unkempt, and walked around with slumped shoulders, you wouldn't want to approach them without a special reason either.
If there are four reasons in total, then the first and last reasons are already resolved.
Although it's still known that I can't use magic and entered through a donation… these points are insignificant now that my written grades crush most of the students.
Leo added to my reaction.
"Of course, I'm not saying the rumors about you don't exist. It's just… you know, 'If he's trying to get into college with such improved grades, he wouldn't be doing anything crazy.' Understand what I mean? There's also talk that Askanian won't just sit quietly."
"I see."
Their narrow-mindedness is evident as they assume others would be as desperate as they are about college. Anyway, it's welcome that their negative emotions are turning into curiosity.
"Of course, there are still more students afraid you'll charm them into Pleroma. But the number of curious ones is also significant now."
"That's good news. But…"
I ran my hand through my hair and continued.
"There's just one problem. My brother sent a letter today."
Leo froze momentarily, then rubbed his chin.
"That complicates things."
"Yeah, it's hard to identify who among those approaching or showing interest in me is my brother's spy."
"Do you think your brother has already sent someone? Or that it's going to happen soon?"
"Well."
The letter arrived a week after the rankings were announced.
From my brother's perspective, there's no reason to delay gathering information any longer.
'But with his meticulous nature, selecting the right spy would take time.'
The letter was sent on Tuesday this week.
Which means he's only had a few days to gather information.
I stood up.
"I'll check it out. If there's already a spy at the school, they would have received a letter from my brother today too."
"You're going to the postal office? They won't easily disclose who received a letter to someone who isn't the sender or recipient."
"They won't. But that's fine."
I sensed Leo looking at me incredulously.
I put Pai, who had been playing in Leo's bag, into my jacket pocket and checked my watch.
8:57 PM.
All school facilities close at 10 PM.
There's plenty of time.
* * *
"Hello."
I entered the school's postal office, located in a corner on the left side of the campus.
There was no one around, and only one staff member was present.
The staff, who had been writing something with lifeless eyes, pulled their chair back even further as I approached the counter.
I pretended not to notice his reaction and started with an awkward expression.
"I think some mail that I should have received might be missing. Can you check how many letters I've received from a specific sender?"
"Sure, what's the name?"
"Adrian Askanian."
He nodded and pulled out a file. He didn't ask for my name, perhaps already knowing it, and didn't seem eager to talk.
I waited, watching his swift hands.
He drew his short pointer over the names and stopped at one point.
"I delivered a letter to you this morning, right? That's the only one."
"Oh, I heard there was supposed to be another one. Isn't it coming to me?"
He checked the section he was pointing to again and shook his head.
"No."
"I see. There must have been a mistake. Thank you."
I walked out of the postal office, feigning confusion. Pai poked his head out of my jacket pocket.
"What was that? Why mention a mistake? Did you mess up?"
"No, I needed to confirm something."
I shook my head, smirking.
Leo's words made sense.
If I had asked if Adrian Askanian sent another letter to the school and who received it, the staff wouldn't have answered.
There's no reason to disclose information about mail between third parties.
So I led him with a suggestive question.
If there hadn't been another letter from Adrian Askanian, he wouldn't have confirmed it so cleanly.
But by affirming my question, he revealed that there was indeed another letter, and it wasn't addressed to me.
My brother sent mail to someone at the Imperial Secondary Education Institute.
For what purpose?
Obviously, to get information about me.
Surveillance must have started today.
Now, I need to identify who received the letter.