“Fascinating…” Headmaster Verkel smirked. Never once he had heard of an irony in his life. The moment he laid his eyes upon the girl, he knew it wasn’t the full story. “So, you’re saying, this girl managed to bring high-level monsters in somewhere part of Enol Forest.”

“Yes, sir.”

“In a remote area? An hour of walk from the village.”

“Yes, sir.”

“The casualties are? A house of a middle-aged woman?” He had his fingers under his chin and while the other was holding the files they manage to acquire from the headquarters. “Where was she when this happened? Does she live alone?”

“Our report shows that a burial was made near the house, sir. It seems that the woman died recently. We asked a few villagers nearby and according to them that the last time they saw her was a day ago at the marketplace and no one had made contact with her nor do they know her burial.”

“Did you touch the burial?”

“No, sir.”

He hummed. “What was the state of the house?”

“In shambles, sir. But we investigated further and the house was looks cleaned and recently used. However, we found other items and it shows that the woman might not be living alone. There are two bedrooms in the house and both seems to be frequently used. One is what is presumed to be the woman’s bedroom and the other has clothes in sizes smaller, we presume a teenager, sir. But the villagers don’t know any child living with her.”

“And?”

“We couldn’t find the body, sir.”

He stood up from his chair with a hum. “Did you touch anything else inside the house?”

“We haven’t yet, sir.”

“Good. Keep it that way.” He smiled and waved the man off.

“But sir! The investigation isn’t done yet and the girl—!”

He turned around sharply, facing the officer with a wide smile. His tangerine eyes flashed with excitement as he held the other’s eyes. “Is fine,” he cuts him off.

The officer knitted his eyebrows and confusion swept his face. “Sir, what are you talking about? The girl may be still alive and she might know what actually happened!”

“I wouldn’t worry about the girl.” He waved his hands dismissively at him and started walking off, his smile never ceasing. “Call off the search. We’ve got bigger things in our hands.”

The officer had no idea on what’s going on through his head and questioned his choice of action in sheer curiosity. Out of all the higher-ups, he was the weirdest one out of the bunch but if there was one thing that made him shut up and do as he was told, was that this man in front of him is the headmaster of the renowned academy. It’s not because it’s a title that naturally holds respect and authority, it was because it was a stair step difficult to reach that you could die three times and still can’t even hold it.

This man is a monster, that is one sure thing he could think of as he eyed the back of the smiling headmaster as they made their way in the white halls.

~~

Blinding lights and the white ceiling were what first greeted Adeleine as soon as she managed to wake herself from unconsciousness.

Her head throbbed as she rose to a sitting position and pinch the bridge of her nose to ease the pain. She turned her head side-to-side in utter confusion at the unfamiliar environment. White walls, white floor, all white.

The bed supporting her was elevated just below her hips and connected by the wall that acts as its only support. The sheets were white as well as the blanket. If there was one thing that caught her interest was the wall in front of her.

Without bearing much thought, she walked over to it and lifted her hand as the tips of her fingers touched the smooth texture of the clear glass.

“It’s thick,” she thought. Almost as if they were there to keep her in and for something else.

The other side of the room was white, as in plain white as far as the eye can see, no furniture, no decorations, no chairs, only the walls, ceiling, floor that are painted white. If it weren’t for the visible shadows lining the corners of the room, she would have thought she was in a never-ending void of white.

She shook her head to erase the haziness clouding her brain.

Just where the heck am I?

One by one, flashes of memory resurfaced that had her falling back on the bed in shock and disbelief.

“What on Arvistia is going on?” she mumbled as she stared up at the bright ceiling with knitted brows. She shook her head again in utter confusion and again, disbelief,

“Fascinating, indeed.”

The new voice had her jolt up her bed and come to an eye-contact with a middle-aged man with tangerine-colored eyes and light chocolate brown hair, a grin on his face with fingers under his chin. He wore a plain v-neck t-shirt with a pair of black pants held tight by a red sash tied around his hips.

He dressed simple in Adeleine’s eyes. However, what unsettles her was his smile. It wasn’t psychotic, nor it holds any ill intention, but it wasn’t genuine either. It was the interest and excitement that sparked his orbs that had her wanting to keep the man away, not in a disgusted way but in some sort of a feeling that he would come and snap her anytime he wants. He looks at her as if she was a new entire specie for him to observe.

“Bring her out.”

“But sir—!” a person with him exclaimed in protest but clearly the man was not having it and the he had no choice but to comply. The person waved his hand and two men dressed in a similar attire entered the room and into where Adeleine was currently locked in.

Just somewhere on the left side wall where it was completely white, was a door blending in with the color and was so tightly shut that she didn’t even noticed it exists. It groaned at the shift of weight it carries and footsteps of the two guards were heard along with Adeleine’s heart wildly pounding in her chest as she eyed both man with a curious but cautious gaze.

She was in fact surprised, or rather shocked at the amount of people she was encountering today. A large exposure to the bright and different-colored hair and irises she was so-long envied and admired from afar, now so up-close. It was because of her black hair color; a thought even crossed her mind that she was cursed.

If there was one thing that made her feel so out-of-place, it was her hair. The color of black, dark as the starless night.

Her wandering mind was pulled back to the surface of the ground when two large hands grabbed her arms and pulled her upright from the bed. The pressure of the hold made Adeleine wince in surprise and from the tight grip.

“Now, gentlemen,” he addressed the men in matching attire with a charming smile, “that is not how you treat a lady.”

The two beside her grunted. They released Adeleine immediately much to her relief as she rubbed both of her arms in an attempt to soothe the reddened mark on her skin.

The tangerine-eyed man motioned his head to follow her as he started walking away in an empty white hallway. It wasn’t too long before she was being pushed by the two men beside her to someplace, she wasn’t quite sure where. Everything from her line of sight was just pure white.

She was able to get around just fine with the help of the three. If it wasn’t for them, she would have hit the wall sooner or later if she tried to walk in the halls all on her own.

It was confusing, not to mention bizarre. Like it was meant for unknowing people to be able not to escape, even adding the twist and turns like a labyrinth that made it even harder to navigate.

But it all soon ended once they hit to a stop. The man in front of her was waiting for something to happen, and it did. The wall that seemed to be only a wall for Adeleine was opened. The bright light of the orange with the green and blue hues of the nature greeted her, bathed in the glory of sunlight.