Chapter 131: Victor’s confront

She paused, then added with a playful smile, “Besides, weren’t you the one who was against my joining their league? Why are you suddenly worried about the student council now?”

Mark’s expression changed.

“I’m not against it.”

Hermione tilted her head.

“You’re sure?”

“Of course.”

“You sounded pretty doubtful when I mentioned the student council.”

“That’s because I don’t want us to get into trouble before we even start.”

“How considerate of you.”

Mark gave her a suspicious look.

“Are you making fun of me?”

“Would I do that?”

“Yes.”

Hermione laughed, and Mark eventually joined her. Their conversation had become a welcome distraction from the pressure of the upcoming tests, and for a little while, the classroom seemed less stressful.

Still, Mark could not ignore his academic difficulties.

He glanced at the notes scattered across his desk, especially the pages filled with explanations about summoning magic and the various techniques used by summoners. The subject had always been one of his weakest areas. Although his practical abilities had improved considerably, understanding the theory behind certain techniques remained a challenge.

“I could still use your help with my homework, though,” he admitted. “Summoning magic and techniques are so complicated that I’ve practically marked them as my worst subjects.”

Hermione looked pleased.

“Well, none of those subjects were particularly difficult for me. I understood most of the material quite easily.”

Mark stared at her.

“Of course you did.”

She smiled proudly.

“What can I say? I study.”

“Congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

“Your modesty is inspiring.”

Hermione laughed again, while Mark forced a smile and returned his attention to his notes.

Despite his teasing, he genuinely appreciated her willingness to help. If they managed to establish a club, it could provide a more organised way for them to study together. He could improve his understanding of summoning theory, while Hermione could take part in activities that challenged her beyond the regular curriculum.

For now, however, the idea remained a possibility rather than a plan.

They would need to discuss it further, find a suitable junior student, and determine whether the school would approve their proposal. Mark had no intention of making promises before he understood what the process involved.

Still, the idea had caught his interest.

And that was a start.

Later, when the class break began, Victor finally stood up and left the classroom.

He had spent the entire period trying to organise his thoughts, but the longer he remained seated, the more restless he became. The conversations around him had done little to distract him from the situation, and he had reached the point where he could no longer tolerate sitting still while two people he knew remained missing.

He decided to find Carlo.

The problem was that Victor did not know where the man would be.

Although Carlo had taught their class temporarily, he was not their regular teacher, and Victor had never paid much attention to his usual duties around the school. He did not know whether Carlo worked in a particular department, assisted with administrative tasks, or spent most of his time moving between different responsibilities.

The only thing Victor knew for certain was that Carlo was connected to the school in some capacity.

That would have to be enough.

As he walked through the corridor, students moved around him in small groups, talking about their tests and discussing what they planned to do during the remaining break. Some greeted him as he passed, but Victor barely acknowledged them. His mind remained occupied with Jack and Mia, and every passing moment seemed to remind him of how little progress he had made.

Normally, Victor took pride in his confidence and strength. He was a capable student, and he was accustomed to approaching problems with the belief that he could find a way to deal with them. Even when situations became difficult, he preferred to act rather than wait for someone else to solve everything.

Now, however, he felt increasingly helpless.

His friends were missing, the explanations he had considered were going nowhere, and the one person who might know something about Mia’s recent activities was a man he barely knew.

The uncertainty gnawed at him.

He wanted to believe that Jack and Mia were safe, but he could not reassure himself without evidence. He wanted to believe that Sofia was simply caught up in the same mystery, but he could not explain why she had also become so difficult to find.

The situation had begun to wear down his usual confidence, leaving him feeling isolated despite the many students moving around him.

Victor clenched his fists as he continued down the corridor.

He needed answers.

Even if Carlo turned out to be completely innocent, Victor would rather discover that for himself than spend another day imagining possibilities without doing anything.

He eventually reached the exterior section of the student block, where a few workers were carrying out maintenance. The area smelled faintly of fresh paint, and the quiet scraping of tools could be heard from around the side of the building.

Victor slowed when he noticed a man wearing rough work clothes as he painted part of the outer wall. The man had a paintbrush in one hand and a small container beside him. His movements were steady and unhurried, as though he had no particular reason to rush through the task.

At first, Victor did not recognise him.

Then he noticed the raven perched on the man’s right shoulder.

His expression changed immediately.

It was Carlo.

The man appeared completely at ease, concentrating on the wall in front of him as he applied another layer of paint. His work clothes were slightly stained from the task, and there was nothing particularly suspicious about his appearance. If anything, he looked like an ordinary member of the school’s maintenance staff who had been assigned a routine job.

That ordinary appearance made Victor hesitate.

He had spent so much time imagining possible connections between Carlo and the disappearances that seeing the man calmly painting a wall felt almost disappointing. Victor had expected something that would give him a reason to ask questions, but Carlo looked like someone who had no idea that he was about to be confronted.

The raven on his shoulder was the only unusual detail.

Its black feathers reflected a faint sheen in the daylight, and its dark eyes seemed to observe the surroundings with remarkable attention. The bird remained still as Carlo worked, occasionally turning its head to follow movement in the nearby courtyard.

Victor drew a slow breath.

He could still turn around.

He could decide that he had been overthinking the situation and leave Carlo alone. There was no proof that the man knew anything about Jack or Mia, and confronting a staff member based on a vague suspicion could easily make matters worse.

But he had come this far.

He approached Carlo, his steps growing slower as he neared the wall. His hands remained clenched at his sides, and his mind continued to race through the questions he wanted to ask.

Carlo noticed him before he reached the painting equipment.

The man finished the stroke he was working on, lowered his brush, and turned toward the approaching student. His expression was open and friendly, showing no obvious sign of surprise or concern.

Victor stopped a short distance away.

“Excuse me, sir. I have something to ask you.”

Carlo studied him for a moment before his face brightened with recognition.

“Ah, have we met before?” he asked. “You look familiar.”

Victor said nothing.

Carlo tilted his head slightly, apparently searching his memory.

“Wait, I remember now. You’re one of the students who answered my question during that voluntary lecture I gave in Class A. It’s nice to see you again.”

Victor’s eyebrows rose.

“Yeah, I suppose. So you remember every student you encounter, even if you only meet them once?”

Carlo smiled.

“I try to remember the people I speak with. It makes future conversations easier.”

Victor gave a short, humourless laugh.

“I’d say it’s a little creepy if you ask me.”

Carlo’s smile remained, although his eyebrows lifted slightly at the comment.

“Is that so? I’ll try not to take it personally.”

The raven shifted its feet on Carlo’s shoulder, turning its head toward Victor. Its gaze was sharp and unwavering, and the bird seemed far more interested in the student than in the surrounding activity.

Victor noticed it, but he quickly returned his attention to Carlo.

He had not come here to discuss the man’s memory or his unusual companion. The longer he spent making small talk, the more frustrated he became.

His expression hardened.

“I don’t have time for games right now, sir.”

Carlo’s smile faded into a more attentive expression.

“All right. What is it?”

Victor took a small step forward.

“I’m here because of Mia. I know you encountered her recently, and I think you might have something to do with what’s happened to her.”

Carlo blinked.

For the first time since Victor had approached him, the man looked genuinely surprised.

“Something to do with her?” he repeated. “I’m afraid I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

Victor’s jaw tightened.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know anything. Mia told me about your encounter. She said you revealed something important to her about Mark’s identity, and now she’s disappeared.”

Carlo stared at him for a moment.

Then he released a quiet sigh.

“Oh dear. I knew she would have difficulty keeping that information to herself.”

Victor’s eyes narrowed immediately.

“So you admit it?”

“Admit what?”

“That you told her something.”

“Yes, I spoke with Mia. I never denied that.” Carlo placed his paintbrush carefully beside the container. “But speaking with someone and making them disappear are two entirely different things. I have nothing to do with her absence, and I don’t know what you’re referring to.”

Victor studied his face, searching for a sign that the man was deliberately misleading him.

Carlo’s expression remained composed.

There was no obvious nervousness, no hurried attempt to change the subject, and no visible sign that he was preparing to leave. He simply stood beside the wall, waiting for Victor to explain what he meant.

That only made the situation more frustrating.

Victor had hoped Carlo would reveal something through his reaction, perhaps an unexpected change in expression or a careless remark that would expose a connection to the disappearances. Instead, the man seemed genuinely confused by the accusation.

But Victor was not ready to accept his explanation.

“Then tell me what you discussed with Mia,” he demanded. “What exactly did you say to her?”

Carlo considered the question.

“I spoke with her about something she wanted to understand. I gave her information that I believed she needed to know. That is all.”

“What information?”

“Information concerning Mark.”

Victor’s expression tightened.

“And you expect me to believe that’s all there was to it?”

“I expect you to understand that I cannot explain every private conversation I have with a student simply because someone demands an answer.”

Victor took another step forward.

“I’m not asking out of curiosity. My friends are missing, and nobody seems to know where they are. Jack has been absent for days, Mia disappeared after speaking with you, and now Sofia is nowhere to be found either. You can understand why I might find that suspicious.”

Carlo’s expression grew more serious.

“Jack, Mia, and Sofia are all missing?”

Victor paused.

He had expected the man to dismiss his concerns, not to react to the information as though it were new.

“Yes,” he replied cautiously. “You didn’t know?”

“No. I was aware that some students had been absent, but I didn’t know they were connected or that their whereabouts were unknown.”

Carlo glanced briefly toward the raven on his shoulder before looking back at Victor.

“How long has Jack been missing?”

“Long enough for people to start asking questions. Mia went missing more recently, and Sofia has also been absent. I don’t know whether all three situations are connected, but I’m trying to find out.”

Carlo nodded slowly.

“I see.”

Victor watched him carefully.

“Do you?”

“I understand why you’re worried. But concern does not establish that I am responsible.”

The words struck Victor harder than he expected because they were reasonable. He knew he was making assumptions, and he knew that the man standing in front of him might have nothing to do with the disappearances. Still, acknowledging that possibility did not make the uncertainty any easier to bear.

He rubbed his face with one hand.

“I don’t know what else I’m supposed to do,” he admitted, his voice lower than before. “I’ve asked people about Jack, but nobody knows anything useful. I tried to find Sofia, and she’s gone too. Then there’s Mia, who told me about you before she disappeared. What am I supposed to think?”

Carlo studied him quietly.

“Think carefully. Start with what you know, then separate it from what you suspect. If you mix the two together, you’ll end up chasing the wrong person.”

Victor looked away.

He hated hearing advice that made sense when he had been hoping for something more definite.

Carlo continued, his voice calm.

“You said Mia told you about our encounter. That means she trusted you enough to share at least part of what she learned. Did she tell you what she intended to do afterward?”

Victor shook his head.

“Not exactly. She was interested in what I knew about Jack and Sofia. I told her about their relationship because I thought it might help her understand why Jack had disappeared.”

“And did she say she intended to confront Sofia?”

“She didn’t tell me directly.”

Carlo nodded once.

“Then you have a possibility, not a certainty. Perhaps she went looking for Sofia. Perhaps she found something else that distracted her. Perhaps her absence has nothing to do with the information I gave her. Until you have evidence, you shouldn’t treat any of those explanations as fact.”

Victor’s fingers curled into fists again.

“I know that. I know I shouldn’t jump to conclusions. But every time I try to think logically, I end up with another question and no answer.”

His frustration had become difficult to conceal. He had spent days trying to keep his emotions under control, but the lack of progress was wearing down his patience. He wanted to do something useful, and the thought of returning to class without learning anything new felt unbearable.

Carlo watched him for a moment before speaking again.

“Being worried about your friends is understandable. But if you allow that worry to control every decision you make, you could end up making the situation worse.”

Victor lowered his gaze.

For a few seconds, neither of them spoke. The sound of a distant conversation drifted across the courtyard, accompanied by the occasional scrape of a tool against the wall. Carlo’s raven continued watching Victor with its dark, unblinking eyes.

Then Victor looked up again.

“I don’t want to go further by doing this,” he said quietly.

Carlo glanced at his hands.

Victor’s fingers had begun to change.

Mana flowed through his arm as the Echo trait of his plant-based summon activated. His hand gradually took on a plant-like appearance, with rough textures forming across the skin and subtle green patterns spreading toward his wrist. The transformation was not complete, but it was enough to make his intention clear.

He was threatening Carlo.

The realization seemed to arrive a moment too late.

Carlo’s eyes changed.

The friendly expression on his face faded, and a hollow darkness appeared in his gaze. He did not step backward or reach for a weapon. Instead, he regarded Victor with a steady look that made the student’s threat seem far less impressive than he had intended.

“You don’t have to go this far to prove your threat to me,” Carlo said. “Besides, assaulting a member of the school staff would create a serious problem for you. Is that really what you want added to your list of troubles?”

Victor stared at him.

The words cut through his anger, forcing him to consider what he was actually doing. He had come looking for information, but his frustration had pushed him toward intimidation before he had established whether Carlo knew anything at all.

He was threatening a man simply because the man had been connected to a conversation with Mia.

It was reckless.

Worse, it was exactly the kind of mistake that could make it harder for him to find his friends.

Victor closed his eyes briefly and released a heavy breath.

“I don’t think I’m in the right state of mind,” he admitted.

The plant-like transformation began to recede. The unusual texture faded from his fingers, and the mana surrounding his hand dissolved into the air. Within moments, his arm had returned to normal.

He lowered his hand and stepped back.

“Sorry,” he muttered. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

Carlo’s expression softened slightly, though the darkness in his eyes took another moment to fade.

“At least you realized it before things went any further.”

Victor rubbed the back of his neck, looking uncomfortable.

“I just want to find out what happened to them. I don’t know where else to look, and I thought you might have some answers.”

“I understand,” Carlo replied. “But if you want to find your friends, you need to keep your judgment clear. Don’t turn every person you encounter into an enemy simply because you don’t know what else to do.”

Victor gave a reluctant nod.

“You’re right.”

Carlo picked up his paintbrush again, though he did not immediately return to work.

“Start by speaking with people who actually saw them before they disappeared. Find out when they were last seen, where they were going, and whether anything unusual happened. Details like those are more useful than rumours about someone’s personality.”

Victor listened carefully.

It was the sort of advice he should have been following from the beginning. Instead of trying to connect every suspicious detail into a single explanation, he needed to establish a clearer timeline and determine what could be verified.

He still did not know whether Carlo was telling him everything, but he could no longer justify treating him as a suspect without evidence.

“All right,” Victor said. “I’ll try to do that.”

“Good.”

Carlo gave him a small, approving nod.

“At least you’ve learned how to control yourself.”

Victor let out a tired breath.

“Maybe. But I still haven’t found anyone.”

“Then keep looking. Just make sure you’re thinking while you do it.”

Victor glanced at the raven perched on Carlo’s shoulder. The bird had not moved much during their conversation, and its dark eyes remained fixed on him as though it were memorizing every detail of his appearance.

The stare made him uncomfortable.

“What is it with your raven?” Victor asked. “It hasn’t stopped looking at me since I arrived.”

Carlo turned his head slightly toward the bird.

“Cookie is observant. He tends to pay attention to people he hasn’t seen before.”

“That’s one way to put it.”

Victor studied the raven for another moment. Its black feathers were smooth and well-kept, and its posture was unusually attentive. It watched him with a stillness that made him feel as though even his smallest movements were being recorded.

Cookie tilted his head.

Victor shifted his weight, then looked back at Carlo.

“Well, I should get going. I still have to figure out where to look next.”

“Then I won’t keep you.”

Victor hesitated before turning away.

“Mr Carlo?”

“Yes?”

“If you remember anything about Mia or our conversation that might help, please let me know.”

Carlo nodded.

“If I learn anything relevant, I’ll make sure it reaches the appropriate people.”

It was not the direct promise Victor had hoped for, but it was enough for the moment.

He turned and began walking back toward the school building, his shoulders still tense but his thoughts slightly more organised. He had not obtained the answers he wanted, yet the conversation had reminded him that suspicion alone would not help him find his friends.

He needed facts.

Behind him, Carlo watched until Victor had disappeared around the corner. Then he returned his attention to the wall and resumed painting, moving the brush steadily across the surface.

Cookie remained on his shoulder.

The raven continued staring in the direction Victor had taken, its dark eyes following the empty path for several seconds before it finally turned its head.

Carlo noticed.

“Interesting, isn’t he?” he murmured.

The raven made a quiet sound in response.

Carlo dipped his brush into the paint and resumed his work, his expression difficult to read.

Victor had come looking for answers, but he had left with little more than advice and a fresh reminder of how much he still did not know. Whether Carlo’s lack of involvement was genuine or whether the man was simply skilled at concealing what he knew, Victor had no way to determine.

For now, he would have to continue searching.

Jack was still missing. Mia had not returned. Sofia remained unaccounted for.

And until Victor discovered what connected their disappearances, his worry would not easily leave him alone.