When the Serial Killer Next Door Gained Harem System

Chapter 142: Handle Personally

That made even less sense than the rest of it. Why would he use his own name if he wanted me dead? Why not stay hidden? This Cadence bastard was practically handing out his name like it meant nothing. Was he stupid, or did he just not care if people found out?

"Where did you hear that?"

"I have my ways."

"You were in that cage with me," I said. "The day they caught me. You were there. And you never told me what you did to get punished like that."

"I’m here to warn you," she said, tapping a finger against my chest. "Do not go to the Circle if you want to stay alive."

I bit down on the inside of my lip and tightened my grip on the clothes. Cadence M., or whatever his full name was, was really starting to get under my skin now. I had to find him before he stirred up any more trouble.

"Why is the bounty only valid in the Circle?" I asked.

"Because he can’t put a bounty on your head here unless you’ve committed a crime or become a wanted man," she said, stepping back. "But people in the Circle do not care whether you’re good or bad, Ace. When they look at you, they see coin."

"Bad news," Ken muttered, shaking his head. "Wow."

"Who is this Cadence?" Mio asked.

"Do you know the Merygold family?" Ken asked before I could answer.

She lifted one eyebrow. "Yeah. The tobacco family."

"Do you know if they have a son named Cadence?" I asked.

She thought about it for a moment, then shook her head. "I don’t know. I only know the head of the family. Jack Merygold."

"What about that family?" Mio asked, looking between us. "What is happening, Ace?"

"I..."

She put a hand up to stop me.

"Just tell me everything. From the beginning."

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Who knew this academy even had a canteen? Probably everyone else, just not me. It was tucked away in a quieter section of the first floor, past the elder tree and just across from the corridor leading to my classroom. Long wooden tables filled most of the space, and students crowded around them with trays, cups, and half-finished breakfasts while the staff moved behind the serving counter at the far end. The room smelled like bread, tea, soup, and the faint bite of cooked vegetables, and the whole place had that busy academy feeling where everyone was talking at once but nobody was really listening to anyone else.

"So," Mio said, leaning back in her chair. "That’s why this Cadence is after you?"

"He somehow knows that I know about the third suspect, which was him," I said. "I don’t know how, but he does, and now he’s after me."

"I suggested we go to the district captain and let her handle it," Ken said from behind me. "But he went against it."

"Why?" Mio asked.

"Because if the Queen finds out I hid the third suspect from her, she’d have me hanged." I shrugged.

"Again, why?" she asked. "Why not tell her right away?"

I was quiet for a few seconds before letting out a slow breath. "Because this is something I have to handle personally."

Mio looked at me with a tired sort of disbelief and shook her head. "Right. So you made the whole thing personal, and now you’re wondering why Cadence did the same thing."

"I have to know more about this guy," I said, ignoring that. "Where can I find more information on the Merygold family?"

She lifted her chin slightly and rested a finger against it while looking down at the metal cup in front of her, the black tea inside barely moving. After a few seconds, she dropped her hand to the table and met my eyes again.

"I think I know where they live," she said. "Outside the city. It wouldn’t even take ten minutes on foot."

"Where exactly?"

Mio shifted in her seat. "I don’t know the exact place. I only remember hearing someone mention that the Merygold residence was close to here."

"Then we find it and go?" Ken asked. "What then? Like I told you before, Ace, we can’t just walk up to their door and ask if their son is a murderer."

Before either of us could answer, a teacher entered the canteen from the open hallway and clapped her hands once to get everyone’s attention.

"Ten minutes, people. Go to your classrooms and wait there for your teachers."

"We’ll talk later," Mio said. "In the dormitory."

We all got up at the same time, collecting our trays and stepping aside so the people behind us could move through. Ken and Mio headed off in different directions after a quick goodbye. I also left the canteen and made my way back through the corridor toward mine.

The room was already mostly filled by the time I got there, so I walked in quietly, went straight to the front row by the wall, and sat down to wait for class to start.

"The Stilldark 101," a boy behind me said to his friend, his voice carrying a kind of nervous excitement. "I always wanted to see how this class was from the second year."

"It is kind of scary, isn’t it?" his friend replied. "I mean, no thanks. I do not want to learn anything about the Stilldark. What is there even to learn about it?"

Before the conversation could go any further, a teacher entered the classroom, and the atmosphere changed at once. He looked serious in the way only some teachers could manage, with dark hair neatly kept in place, a face that gave away almost nothing, and a uniform so perfectly worn it looked almost unreal. Black gloves covered both of his hands, and even his posture made it obvious that he expected silence the moment he walked in.

"Sit," he said curtly, then crossed the room toward the desk standing on a small platform.

The students obeyed immediately and settled down without another word.

"I am Ji’a-wun," he said once he was seated. "I will be your Stilldark 101 professor."

His eyes moved across the classroom one student at a time, lingering on each of us in turn. When they reached me, he looked at me a little longer than he did the others, which immediately made me uncomfortable. Then he leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk and linking his gloved fingers together.

"What can you tell me about the Stilldark, Ace?"

Shit. He knew my name, and he was asking me first. Why me of all people? I did not know anything about the Stilldark, so I already knew I was about to embarrass myself in front of the entire class.

I stood up slowly. "I don’t know, sir."

"You do not know?" he asked, tilting his head slightly to the left. "Even though you are blessed by Ambly, the most powerful god, may her name be kept upon our tongues?"

"I... yes?" I said, already regretting opening my mouth. "I am sorry."

"You may sit, Mr. Walker."

He sounded disappointed as I sat back down. After that, he rose from his chair, walked to the front of the desk, and leaned back against it with his arms crossed while studying the whole class in silence for a moment. I was still trying to figure out what the Stilldark actually was and why Ambly had anything to do with it.

Then he started speaking again.

"The Stilldark," he said, "is the place where nothing exists, and because nothing exists there, anything can exist. It is the absence of all things and the beginning of all things at the same time. That is the closest way mortals have managed to describe it, though even that description falls apart if you look at it too closely."

He let that settle for a moment before continuing.

"We don’t know exactly how Goddess Ambly defeated the one true god. The sources agree only on the result, not the method. What is known is that she drew upon the power of the Stilldark to do it. Whether she borrowed it, bent it, or mastered it completely is something no one has ever been able to prove."

Damn.

The Stilldark sounded dangerous enough on its own, but Ambly using its power to defeat a god? That was a whole different level of insane. I was already perfectly happy being back home and not having to think about gods, divine wars, or whatever else this world had decided was normal. The faster I found a way out of here, the better.

But the only way out of here would be to find Ambly, and that seemed impossible when she was apparently the most powerful god in existence while I was just some human kid trying not to look stupid in class.

"Have you understood all of that, Mr. Walker?" the professor asked, his sharp eyes still on me.

"Yes, sir," I replied quietly.

"Good." He pushed himself away from the desk. "Now open your books to page eleven."

"Yes, sir."

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