When it came to gathering information about daily activities—what someone did, who they interacted with, and the like—it was essentially just digging up gossip.
And for digging up gossip, the Flying Petals Press was the most professional.
Even more so than the student council or the academy itself!
Using her authority as editor-in-chief, Yulia collected information under the pretext of pursuing a big scoop.
The moment they heard ‘big scoop’, everyone perked up, responding with lightning speed. In less than a day, all the materials were gathered.
It was enough to make one marvel. Such was the speed of gossip-hungry minds.
Yulia carefully reviewed the documents.
According to the records, both Nancy and Mavis were widely recognized as model students in the Department of Martial Arts, with Mavis receiving particularly high praise and ranking at the top of her class.
Their daily routines were indeed highly regular. Mavis’s, in particular, was terrifyingly consistent.
Whether it was a school day or a holiday, windy or rainy, even during training trips or outings, she maintained the same schedule of sleeping at 10 PM, waking up at 6 AM, and exercising for an hour.
Nancy wasn’t as extreme, but she was always following Mavis’s lead within the academy.
From this alone, suspicion of their involvement could be ruled out.
This was also Euphyllia’s initial assessment.
Next was their social circle.
Mavis was the typical quiet, studious type. She was somewhat timid and rarely initiates contact with others. This was evident even in Euphyllia’s brief interactions with her.
Nancy, on the other hand, was far more outgoing. While not exactly a social butterfly, she was warm and friendly with everyone.
So when the two were together, Nancy usually took the lead, guiding Mavis along.
Their personalities complemented each other well.
Combined with their good looks, they were both quite popular at the academy.
As a result, they had interacted with quite a few people, especially Nancy.
Yulia went through the list one by one, searching for any suspicious individuals.
At this point in the investigation, with the two girls themselves ruled out, the only remaining possibility was that the culprit was someone they knew.
And among the list of acquaintances, Yulia did notice a few unusual names.
Not that it mattered. Even if everyone was normal, they could just investigate all of them.
After all, questioning a few dozen people wouldn’t take long. A simple inquiry about their whereabouts during the relevant period would eventually reveal inconsistencies.
So, she highlighted a few names but included everyone else as well, compiling a full list.
She then handed it over to the guard team at the earliest opportunity, leaving the investigation to them.
Some time later, they finally identified the prime suspect.
He was brought before the guard team for a final disciplinary hearing, attended by the barrier maintenance team, Euphyllia, Nancy, Mavis, and even Headmaster Mythina.
She had come after hearing about the case.
Mythina had been aware of the situation for a while, given that it had persisted for a month under her nose.
The moment she arrived, she sternly instructed Euphyllia to handle the matter with utmost seriousness.
But Euphyllia quietly countered: “How’s your progress on the barrier reconstruction plan?”
Mythina immediately faltered, muttering something about ‘focusing on the present’ and ‘worrying about the rest later’.
Euphyllia could only shrug helplessly.
Fine. Consider this a break for Mythina.
In the makeshift disciplinary hearing room, Mythina and Euphyllia sat at the center of the front row, flanked by other professors. Key members of the guard team and student council occupied the sides.
With such an imposing lineup, the whole setup looked quite intimidating.
SLAM!
Mythina struck the table.
“Confess everything you’ve done—every last detail of your actions and plans. Don’t miss anything!”
Euphyllia shot her a sidelong glance.
She didn’t even know this student’s name. Neither did most of the others present.
Shouldn’t the first step of an interrogation be asking for basic details like name, surname, and ID number?
But Mythina’s authoritative tone worked. The student immediately crumpled and spilled everything.
His name was Garci, male, ID number… well, that part didn’t exist.
In any case, he was indeed the one who had been sneaking into Room 316 of that building every night.
For over a month, barring a few days when security was tighter, he had maintained near-perfect attendance.
His actions weren’t particularly extreme. He was simply testing a self-created spell there.
And his motive?
…It’s actually a confession!
That’s right. He had a crush on Mavis.
They were in the same club and often crossed paths during activities.
Mavis was academically outstanding, beautiful, gentle yet determined, as well as other admirable qualities.
After spending time with her, he developed feelings and decided to confess.
But he heard that Mavis had rejected many before him. A straightforward approach would likely end the same way.
So, he opted for something grand. A romantic, unforgettable confession that would leave a lasting impression.
To achieve this, he spent a long time developing a custom spell.
There was just one problem: the spell is best seen at night.
But the academy enforced curfew, and the dormitory’s barrier restricted high-level magic.
His only option was to cast it inside Mavis’s dormitory. Conveniently, there was an empty bedroom.
The final and most troublesome hurdle was evading the barrier’s alarms.
And so, for the past month, his primary focus had been testing ways to bypass them.
Once Garci finished speaking, the room fell into silence.
It was absurd… yet somehow made sense.
Earlier, when reviewing the records of Nancy and Mavis’s social interactions, Yulia had noticed numerous entries about various people confessing to one or both of them.
Of course, this was partly because the Flying Petals Press had specifically investigated that angle.
Looking at the neatly tabulated list of suitors, each with a brief description and the same one-word conclusion: ‘Rejected’…
Yulia could only sigh and shake her head.
Ah, youth. It’s good to be young.
Garci’s name wasn’t on that list because he hadn’t confessed yet.
But—
You absolute moron!
For an entire month, you’ve been sneaking into their dorm at night, tinkering with who-knows-what while they slept!
Are you trying to confess or haunt them?!
Even the Underworld’s Envoys aren’t this diligent!
Upon hearing his explanation, Mavis herself looked horrified, shrinking back as if she wanted to scream:
“It’s a pervert!!”
Euphyllia covered her face in exasperation.
After all this trouble, this is the answer we get?
But after a second thought, she finally said, “Since you’ve put in so much effort, why not show us what this spell looks like?”
Even if it was pointless now, it’d be a shame to let all that hard work go to waste.
The others also seemed mildly curious.
Garci pointed outside. “But it has to be night—”
Snap.
With a snap of her fingers, Euphyllia plunged the room into darkness.
“Start your performance.”
Garci glanced at Mavis, then started chanting.
As the magic light flared, a shirtless man holding a rose between his teeth appeared, bearing a striking resemblance to Garci himself.
Then… he began flexing his muscles.
Finally, he blew a kiss, winked, and conjured a floating message:
“Baby, I love you.”
Everyone: “…”
Mavis: “AAAAH! IT’S A PERVERT!!”