Chapter 169: What is Family? [1]

"Hey."

As Ilya walked through the academy hallways, someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and found Solenne standing behind him with several books held against her chest.

"Oh, Ms. Vernet. Are you here to take revenge?"

"What are you suddenly talking about?"

"...Never mind."

For the past few days, students from the Magic Department had been trying to get one over on him whenever they found the opportunity.

Apparently, eliminating so many people during the final minute of the Hunting Grounds examination had left more bruised egos than Ilya had expected, and several students had taken it upon themselves to return the favor now that they were back at the academy.

None of their attempts had worked.

There had even been one student who waited behind a corner for nearly twenty minutes before jumping out the moment Ilya walked past, only to be thrown over his shoulder and onto the floor before he could finish whatever spell he had been preparing.

Another had tried sneaking up behind him during lunch, and Ilya had only realized afterward that the poor bastard had intended to scare him rather than actually attack him.

He had apologized for punching that one.

"Are people actually that petty?" Solenne asked before thinking about it for another second and shaking her head. "You know what, never mind. I already know the answer, but that’s not why I’m here. I have something to report."

Ilya’s attention immediately shifted back to her.

"Is it about what I asked?"

"Yeah. It wasn’t particularly difficult once I started looking into it, since I already had someone in mind from the beginning."

Solenne adjusted the books in her arms and lowered her voice as another group of students passed them in the hallway.

"I didn’t want to come to you with nothing but suspicion, though, so I spent a little more time checking everything. I’ve gathered enough evidence now that you should be able to deal with the situation cleanly."

"Is that so?"

Ilya glanced around the hallway.

There were too many students passing through for him to be comfortable discussing anything important here, especially when whatever Solenne had uncovered involved someone who still had no idea they were being investigated.

"Let’s talk somewhere else."

Solenne nodded. "I was about to suggest the same thing."

They left the main hallway and headed toward one of the quieter sections of the Magic Department, eventually finding an unused classroom far enough from the afternoon traffic that they wouldn’t have to worry about anyone casually overhearing them.

Ilya opened the door for Solenne before following her inside, then closed it behind them and checked the corridor one last time.

Solenne placed her books on one of the desks.

"All right."

Ilya leaned against the desk beside her and crossed his arms.

"Who is it?"

Solenne looked at him for a moment before answering.

"I won’t beat around the bush. It’s your cousin, Mikhail Olegovich Volnograd."

"...."

Ilya thought about the name for a moment. He had already suspected that someone from his family was involved, but that hardly narrowed things down when there were several members of the Belozersky bloodline attending the academy.

The main family was only one part of the dynasty.

Beyond the major branch houses that governed territories throughout the North, there were numerous lower branches descended from younger sons and distant relatives, many of which held smaller estates or existed under the authority of more prominent houses without ruling any significant region of their own.

That left Ilya with more cousins, second cousins, third cousins, and other distant relatives than he cared to keep track of, and several of them were currently studying at Holy Trinity Academy.

Mikhail, however, was close enough that Ilya knew him personally.

"That’s... a pity." Ilya sighed and lowered his gaze. "I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt."

"You’re too nice."

"Ah, no. I just hoped what I suspected wasn’t actually the case." Ilya scratched his cheek before looking back at Solenne. "It would’ve been much easier if this turned out to be some idiot at the academy with a personal grudge against me."

Solenne pulled out the chair beside her and sat down.

"Unfortunately, your first suspicion was closer to the truth."

Ilya had never particularly liked Mikhail, but he had never considered their relationship bad enough for his cousin to go this far.

They had met plenty of times growing up because of their families, and while there had always been the usual competition and tension expected among Belozersky relatives, nothing had stood out enough for Ilya to consider Mikhail an enemy.

That was what bothered him.

"What exactly did you find?"

"Enough to rule out coincidence."

Solenne opened one of the books she had brought with her, revealing several folded sheets of paper tucked between the pages.

"I followed the trail you gave me first, then checked who had access to the people involved and whether there was any connection between them. Mikhail’s name kept appearing often enough that I stopped treating him as merely a suspect."

She removed the papers and placed them on the desk between them.

Solenne had arranged everything neatly, with names, dates, and several short notes written beside each entry so that Ilya could follow what she had uncovered without needing her to explain every step.

Ilya picked up the first sheet.

"So he wasn’t working alone."

"Of course not. It would’ve been stupid for someone from your family to involve himself directly in everything, especially when there are plenty of students willing to do things for a noble if they think it’ll earn them favor."

Solenne rested her elbow against the desk.

"Mikhail mostly kept himself separated from what was happening, but the people involved kept leading back to him."

Ilya continued reading without saying anything. His expression gradually settled as the remaining uncertainty disappeared, because Solenne hadn’t brought him rumors or a collection of convenient assumptions but exactly what he had asked her to find.

Something he could act on.

"You really did your homework."

"You asked a Vernet to investigate someone." Solenne smiled slightly. "What did you expect?"

"Something expensive."

"That comes later."

Ilya looked up from the papers. "...You’re charging me?"

"Of course."

"I thought we were friends."

"Only in academics."

Ilya stared at her.

Solenne’s smile widened.

"That’s what you told me, isn’t it?"

"Heh. I hope we remain friends for a very long time, Ms. Vernet."

"In that case, stop calling me Ms. Vernet."

"...?"

"Call me Solenne."