22 - Can I Cry Now?
Episode 22
The staff member looked at the student who had raised her hand and called out to him.
The staff tried their best to memorize the students' names.
However, there were so many that they couldn't memorize them all yet.
But he certainly knew the name of the female student who had called him.
She was so famous that it was impossible not to know her.
"Irene Terrence, is that right?"
"Yes."
"But your roommate is missing..."
"As I said, I thought she was separated and in another team, but she wasn't there even after everyone gathered, so I told you."
"Um, what's your roommate's name?"
"Ibi Elden. She's seven years old. Very short. She has light blonde hair and green eyes... and she's very cute."
The staff member, who had been listening attentively to the surprisingly detailed explanation, tilted his head at the last description and looked around at the gathered students.
But the young student Irene had mentioned was nowhere to be seen.
"Ibi! Ibi Elden! Are you here?"
The staff member raised his voice, and the students, wondering what was going on, looked around.
"Ibi Elden! Is she not here!"
Other staff members also called Ibi's name and looked around.
And after a while, the staff realized that Ibi was indeed missing, as Irene had said.
"What should we do? Where on earth did she get lost..."
"We'll have to go back into the Imperial Palace and look for her, but the timing is tricky."
A look of worry was evident on the staff member's face.
If only they had known that a student was missing a little earlier.
The Imperial Palace isn't a place where people can freely come and go all day long.
When the regular staff's return home time comes, many buildings close, and access to areas near the Imperial Palace is restricted.
Among them, some areas near the Imperial Palace are forbidden to pass through for any reason unless permission is obtained from the Emperor or the State Affairs Minister.
If the student was still there, there was a possibility that she wouldn't be found until tomorrow morning.
"For now, the students should return to the dormitory. It's too late."
Everyone agreed with those words.
It was already late, and the students were murmuring. Leaving them like this would only cause more confusion.
"Today's schedule ends here. Everyone, return to your dormitories."
At the staff's words, the students had no choice but to return, even though they were curious.
"Where did we lose her?"
"How would we know? But if you're left in an unauthorized area, isn't it grounds for expulsion, not just demerits? I heard the curfew in the Imperial Palace is incredibly strict."
"I know. That's why my mother waits for the gates to reopen in the early morning when her work ends late. She said you can't even go outside the building at that time."
At the students' conversation, Limora's lips curled up as she headed to the dormitory.
'That's what I wanted. Goodbye, orphan brat.'
Honestly, getting lost during the schedule doesn't warrant a significant punishment.
The student who missed the group and acted alone is at fault, but the staff who failed to properly check all the students are also responsible.
Besides, they'll probably be lenient out of concern for the shock of being separated.
'But it's different inside the Imperial Palace.'
The Imperial Palace Law is very strict, especially regarding curfews.
After the Succession War, the strictness and severity of punishment for violations were greatly increased in preparation for possible attacks.
Even students of the Academy for the Gifted would find it difficult to avoid that punishment.
'It would take some pretty powerful people to step in, but she doesn't have anyone like that, does she?'
Today, she said with her own mouth that she had nothing to do with the Emperor.
Besides, many students met their guardians in the Imperial Palace and greeted them, but Ibi Elden didn't meet anyone.
Moreover, while Ibi was receiving harsh gazes, she eavesdropped on the conversations of other students.
"I heard that some of the ministers were trying to force the admission of people they wanted, so he picked her on a whim as a warning. So His Majesty won't care about it anymore."
Then the student talked about how cold and indifferent the Emperor usually was.
'Anyway, there's no one who will step up for a kid like that.'
Limora, feeling good, hummed as she headed to the dormitory.
Then she suddenly felt a gaze on her.
"......?"
The moment she turned around, Limora's eyes widened.
Ruska was standing at the very back of the students returning to the male dormitory, arms crossed, looking at her.
It was as if he knew what she had done.
Limora was startled and quickly turned her head, running back to the female dormitory.
Behind her, she could hear her friends muttering about what was wrong with her.
"Ruska, what's wrong?"
Arcel approached Ruska, who was looking at Limora.
"No, something's... bothering me."
At that answer, Arcel's eyes flashed.
"Why? Is it related to the missing child? Do you have any guesses?"
At Arcel's urgent voice, Ruska looked at him with a slightly surprised expression.
"That's unusual. You're so concerned about someone else's business."
At that answer, Arcel frowned.
"A student, a child, has disappeared. It's natural to be concerned."
For a moment, Ruska almost muttered, 'As if you would.'
Then he said as if he guessed why Arcel was acting like this.
"You're concerned because it's Ibi Elden, aren't you?"
"......"
He thought he would say no, but surprisingly, Arcel indicated his agreement with silence.
Ruska, seeing Arcel's more serious attitude than he had expected, stopped smiling and approached the staff.
"Is there anything we can do to help?"
Arcel chimed in.
"If you're looking inside the Imperial Palace, we might be of help. We both have special access permits."
As Arcel said, Ruska and Arcel both had permission to visit the Emperor whenever they wanted.
This was to acknowledge the merits of their fathers, who had made the greatest contributions during the Succession War.
At the same time, it was also to use them as a force in case something happened later.
At the two's words, the staff member looked troubled about what to do.
The students had been to more than one or two places today.
They had to go back and check all those places, but there weren't many people left except for the staff who would manage the students in the dormitory.
Even so, it wouldn't do to entrust this task to another student.
"Um, she was definitely there when we went to the museum. The history museum. And then I didn't see her after the group was divided..."
At the voice coming from the side, the staff member turned his head.
Irene, who had said that her roommate was missing, was still standing there.
'The students say she doesn't like her roommate.'
She herself hadn't said anything, but other students had come to the dormitory staff and asked if the roommate assignment was strange, and if they really couldn't change it.
At the same time, they all said that it was absurd for Irene Terrence and Ibi Elden to share the same room.
So the staff thought that Irene Terrence was inwardly dissatisfied.
But looking at her attitude now, she seemed quite worried about her roommate, unlike what they thought.
Moreover, she seemed to have been watching all along, and she even remembered quite a lot of details.
"Well, then, since the last confirmed location is the museum, she must be in one of the places we went to from there until the afternoon."
But even if the range had narrowed, it was still a vast area.
'Should I ask the Imperial Palace guards for help?'
The staff member swallowed a sigh, feeling that things were getting bigger than he had expected.
In any case, he had to find the child and report it.
That's when it happened.
"Is something wrong?"
A young woman's voice was heard from behind the gathered staff.
At that voice, the staff turned their heads with brightened expressions.
There stood a woman with long hair tied up high in a ponytail.
She was wearing dirty clothes covered in dirt, as if she had been on a long journey.
But her sharp eyes and upright posture told that she was no ordinary person.
The staff who saw her shouted happily.
"Headmaster!"
At the same time, Arcel and Ruska also shouted.
"Seraphina!"
Seraphina Lidom, hearing her name called, smiled as she lightly brushed the hair that had fallen over her shoulder.
"Yes, has everyone been well? More importantly, it seems like there's a problem with an Academy for the Gifted student, so let's find her first."
She raised one hand.
A bright Light Swarm appeared at the tip of her finger.
Then she muttered as if she had remembered something.
"Ah, let's get permission from His Majesty first."
