It was 11:43 PM.
As the azure moon was about to hit its zenith, the night sky came alive with a breathtaking display of twinkling stars.
The fervent glow of the moon cast a gentle light that illuminated the darkness of the night, creating a serene and tranquil atmosphere.
The streets were devoid of any and all human presence.
The only movement came from the machines, such as the sleek cabs being expertly operated by robotic drivers.
The academy's AI— Athena, is responsible for the upkeep of the city.
She employs these droids to clean the city and repair the vandalized public property, if there is any, among other tasks, during the night.
Instructors, Cadet Council members, and the Disciplinary Committee of the academy can also use these robots manually or ask for assistance from Athena if they need any task done by them.
I assume our weapon arts instructor did the same?
I don't know.
However, what baffles me is why he would be calling me at such a late hour.
"But why me? I didn't think he even remembered my name," I pondered.
Despite attending his class, he never seemed to acknowledge my presence, leading me to believe that I was invisible to him.
The only time he spoke to me was when I was practicing my archery form.
I was doing my footwork wrong, so he came to me and corrected me before quickly moving on without a second glance.
And it wasn't just me who received this treatment, no!
He was equally indifferent to other cadets, including high-ranking ones like Nero, Anastasia, and Amelia.
Even in the novel, when Nero killed him during the War Of Union, he didn't have a single expression on his face as he said, "Is that all you can do?"
Leo Kurogami was, in my opinion, the most indifferent person in this story. It was hard to catch his interest.
So I couldn't help but wonder why he was calling for me, especially since he had never shown any interest in my presence before.
It seemed odd that someone who ignored high-ranking cadets would call on me out of the blue.
My mind began to race, and I briefly considered the possibility that he had somehow found out about my knowledge of his affiliation with the Spider organization.
But quickly, I dismissed the thought as irrational and highly unlikely. After all, how could he possibly know?
Aah, maybe I'm overthinking things again.
Yeah, if I remember correctly, Leo Kurogami was one of the instructors who came to Silveserine to escort us back.
He also attended some police affairs there and inspected the Banquet Hall where the surprise vampire attack took place.
Hmm, maybe he just wanted to ask me some questions regarding that. Yeah, that must be it.
With that thought in mind, I headed to the train station and hopped on the train that would take me to the inner district.
After a short journey, the train came to a halt, and I disembarked.
From there, I hailed a cab to take me to the heart of the 2nd inner district – the place where the instructors and professors stayed in the Global City.
The worker robot that had interrupted me earlier had provided me with Leo's address, which made it easier to locate his residence.
However, even with the address in hand, finding the place proved to be a bit of a challenge. Just a bit.
I wandered around for a while, getting lost a few times before I finally stumbled upon his address.
As it turned out, his place was located only a short two-minute walk from the train station….
Haa, me and my direction blindness!
Anyway, after arriving at his apartment door, I politely knocked a few times.
Knock, Knock, Knock—
"Sensei?"
–"Coming."
Almost immediately a voice came from behind the door, and the sound of elegant footsteps followed shortly after.
Within seconds, the door swung open, revealing a tall, well-built man with long crimson hair pulled back into a man bun.
He was dressed in a loose black tracksuit that emphasized his slim yet muscular physique.
As he glared at me with his bright red eyes, I couldn't help but notice the long scar that ran down his left cheek.
Damn, he was scary up close.
"Lucas Morningstar, come in."
After greeting me with a nod, he turned and led the way inside his apartment, motioning for me to follow him.
Well, would you look at that? He does remember my name. Taking in a deep breath, I stepped inside his apartment.
The interior was a beautiful blend of modern and traditional Japanese styles
My eyes darted around, taking in the intricate details of the décor.
The furniture was minimalistic yet elegant, with clean lines and natural finishes.
The color scheme was mostly composed of earthy tones, with pops of red and black accents.
"Please, have a seat," Leo gestured to the couch in the living room. I obliged and sat back on the couch.
Leo took a seat opposite me.
He poured me a cup of green tea from the teapot placed on the center table and stared at me intently for a few seconds.
After a few moments of silence, he finally spoke up.
"I've called you here because I wanted to ask you about something regarding what happened today, Lucas."
I couldn't help but feel a sense of relief wash over me as my initial suspicions were confirmed.
It seemed like he just wanted to question me about today's events, which meant I wasn't in any trouble.
Good. This is good.
Suppressing a sigh of relief, I nodded in agreement.
However, I couldn't help but furrow my brows the next moment.
"Sensei, if it's just that then you could've called me during academy hours," I said.
Leo shook his head, dismissing my suggestion.
"I doubt what I'm going to talk about with you is something that I'll report to the academy. So it's better if I do this outside of academy hours." He replied.
It was a smartphone. An advanced version of it, I mean.
From the screen of the smartphone, a holographic display projected out in the air in front of me.
On the holographic screen, a video started playing that caught my attention almost instantly.
With eyes filled with confusion, I gazed at the video before me as Leo's voice echoed in the background, asking, "Is that you?"
The video was a bird's-eye view recording of the fight we had earlier today against the two vampires.
Despite the darkness and smoke-filled obstructing the camera, there was a brief moment when the smoke dissipated, and the hall was illuminated with light.
In that fleeting moment, the silhouette of a young man emerged, with fiery red and piercing silver eyes. He looked slightly taller than me.
He tightly grasped a long, shiny red bladed spear in his hands.
With a powerful swing, the entire blade of his spear radiated a dazzling azure glow that dispersed the smoke around him and brought forth a radiant illumination, revealing him and his surroundings.
…I was at a loss for words.
Did I miss a security camera? I thought I spotted them all and disabled them in time to match my attack.
No, it couldn't be… I can't ever make such a big blunder. I definitely spotted every security camera there was. I am sure of it.
Then what was this?! Where did he get this video from?!
Even though I was confused and gazillions of questions were bombarding my mind, I didn't let anything show on my face.
The boy in the video was in no way similar to me in terms of physical appearance.
No one, not even Leo Kurogami, the second coming of the sword saint himself, can tell it's actually me in disguise.
Unless I admit to it, there is no proof.
"Is that you?" Leo repeated his question.
"No," I confidently shook my head. "That's not me."
"You're lying," Leo pointed out instantly.
"....Sensei, I am not lying. That's not me."
Leo shook his head and let out a sigh, "I advise you to stop lying. I know it's you. I have confirmed with Nero and Anastasia. According to them, you were the one who dealt that vampire the final blow and killed him."
…Fuck.
No, it's fine. It's not a blunder yet. I can still turn this around.
Lying is my specialist. I can lie my way through this like I have done all my life.
"Sensei, it was dark and chaotic. Many things were happening simultaneously, and we were confused beyond words. It was hard to make sense of what was going on," I said.
Taking a deep breath, I continued. "Even though I thought it was me who killed the vampire, in this video, it's clear that it wasn't me. It was someone else."
"Someone else, you say?" Leo arched an eyebrow. He got up on his feet and stood in front of me, towering over me. "Someone else who knows the secret weapon art of the Morningstar family?"
