Chapter 172: Gold Medal

I woke to the sound of murmuring coming from the courtyard. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I pushed myself off the bed and walked over to the window. Ken was already standing there with a toothbrush in hand, looking outside. When he heard me approach, he gave me a quick nod and gestured for me to come over.

"Hey, look."

"What happened?"

I stepped beside him and looked down into the back courtyard. From our room, we could see the arena and a large group of students huddled together, talking among themselves. With the window open, bits and pieces of their conversation drifted inside, though I couldn’t make out most of it.

I didn’t need to. Two words were enough.

Pix. Missing.

I’d hidden the body, too. I probably hadn’t needed to. They didn’t have the technology to find my DNA beneath her fingernails or on her clothes, but hiding the body had become second nature to me.

As I adjusted the fingerless glove covering the divine mark on my left hand, I quietly stepped away from the window.

"Jelda... and now Pix?" Ken asked. "Did we miss something? The killer acted again?"

"Maybe she just went somewhere." I shrugged. "Why’s everyone panicking? It’s only eight in the morning."

He frowned. "I don’t know. Apparently, her friends searched for her all day yesterday and couldn’t find her anywhere."

"And?"

"So they went to check on her mother before school this morning. She lives nearby, I think." Ken kept his eyes on the courtyard below. "She wasn’t there either. Now everyone’s saying she’s missing."

I nodded thoughtfully. "I hope she’s safe."

"Yeah." He sighed. "Gods, I really hope she’s safe. We can’t lose another one of us to some killer."

"I know." I opened my wardrobe and started looking for a clean shirt. "Hopefully she’ll turn up."

"By Solvane’s light, I hope so, Ace."

Yeah... no. The bitch got exactly what she deserved.

I still didn’t know why she’d helped Jack with his twisted little game. Maybe I could’ve forced the truth out of her before killing her, but what would that have changed? Jelda was dead. Hatche was dead. Learning Pix’s reasons wouldn’t have brought either of them back.

Ken closed the window with a quiet thud before leaning against the wall and crossing his arms, watching me get dressed.

"What if she really is dead?"

I looked over at him while buttoning my shirt.

"Come on. She probably spent the night with her boyfriend or something and forgot to tell her friends. I’m sure she’ll show up eventually."

Ken raised an eyebrow. "Did she even have a boyfriend?"

I shrugged. "No idea. I was just guessing."

Eventually, they were going to find the letter I’d planted in her room. I’d done my best to imitate her handwriting, and I thought I’d pulled it off well enough. Whether they would actually believe it was another matter entirely. There was no point worrying about it now, though. A hot shower sounded like the perfect way to wake myself up before this strange day really began.

"I’ll hit the showers," I said, looking over at Ken. "Coming?"

"Yeah, might as well."

We slipped into our slippers, left the room together, and stepped into the corridor.

The boys’ dormitory was already bustling with life. Students walked back and forth carrying towels over their shoulders, some still half asleep while others chatted about Pix’s disappearance. Every now and then, I caught my own name mixed into their conversations, but nobody stopped us as we headed downstairs.

The communal showers weren’t busy today, it seemed. Like always, a wooden table stood beside the entrance with a student assigned to keep track of everyone coming and going. A thick ledger rested open in front of him alongside a bottle of ink and a feather quill.

He looked up as we approached and smiled.

"Ace. Ken, right?" He dipped the quill into the ink. "Showers or just washing your faces?"

"Showers," I replied.

He glanced down at the ledger, running a finger along the page before nodding.

"You’re in luck. Hardly anyone’s here this morning." He made two quick notes with the quill before looking back up. "Go right ahead."

"Thanks."

We walked past the table and entered the changing area. Rows of wooden cubbies lined the walls, each one holding spare clothes, towels, and small personal belongings. I found mine, opened the little door, and grabbed a clean towel before tossing it over my shoulder.

Ken did the same from the cubby beside mine.

As I rolled my sore shoulder, a dull ache ran through the muscles from everything that had happened over the past few days.

The shower area was divided into narrow washing stalls separated by thick canvas curtains hanging from wooden beams overhead. Above every stall hung a large wooden cistern fitted with a simple release chain. Pulling it would open a wooden flap at the bottom, letting the stored water pour down in a steady stream until the tank emptied.

Ken stepped into the stall beside mine while I entered the next one over.

I pulled the curtain shut behind me, took off my clothes, and carefully folded them over the curtain rod before hanging my towel beside them. Reaching up, I grabbed the hanging chain and gave it a firm tug.

The wooden mechanism creaked overhead before the flap slowly opened. A stream of pleasantly warm water spilled down over my head and shoulders, washing away the lingering sweat and dust from yesterday.

"Jack Merygold," Ken muttered from the next stall as water splashed around him. "You know, that guy patted me on the shoulder when I was little."

"You should be thankful it was only your shoulder, Ken," I replied while running my fingers through my wet hair. "Knowing what he wanted to do to Jelda when she was that young..."

"Man, you’re creeping me out. Stop."

"I’m just saying."

Ken sighed. "Still... Jack Merygold?" He shook his head. "Disgusting. Truly disgusting."

"And he even tried to pin everything on Cadence."

"Forget about Cadence for a second." Ken’s voice grew more serious. "What about that bounty on your head?"

I shrugged, though he couldn’t see me through the curtain. "I doubt it’s still active. Jack’s dead, and he was the one paying for it. No one’s going to hunt me if there’s nobody left to collect the reward from."

"Yeah... fingers crossed."

"You know someone actually tried to assassinate me during the wedding?"

There was a loud splash from the other side. "What?"

"Yeah."

"What do you mean, yeah?"

"Her name was... Ravioli or something." I said with a calm voice.

"Ravioli?"

"Ravelle." I corrected myself. "That was it."

"You’re kidding." Ken sounded genuinely stunned. "How the hell did that even happen?"

"They somehow managed to get a room in the main building." I worked soap through my hair as I spoke. "Then they showed up in mine and acted like we were about to have some romantic little encounter."

"They?"

"She had an older guy pretending to be her husband." I rinsed the soap from my hair. "He was just her partner. Uh... partner in crime, I guess."

"And then?"

"Then I barely survived."

Ken was quiet for a moment. "Ravelle..." he muttered. "Do you think she could’ve been that masked assassin we saw in the Circle? Everyone says the assassin’s a woman. We even heard her voice."

"I don’t think so." I shook my head. "Their heights don’t match, and Ravelle was way too arrogant. She gave me her real name because she was convinced I wasn’t walking out alive."

"Gods..." Ken let out a long breath. "Did you tell the guards?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I didn’t need more attention on me than I already had."

"You really should thank the gods you’re still alive."

"Yeah... I probably should."

Thank the gods?

Ambly, that headcase goddess, was the entire reason I was stuck in this world. I could’ve been lying on my couch back home, eating microwaved food and wasting another weekend. Instead, I was dodging assassins, investigating murders, and wondering whether the next shadow might suddenly grow teeth and try to kill me.

So yes. Thanks, gods.

A few minutes later, the last trickle of warm water fell from the cistern above me before the wooden flap creaked shut again.

I grabbed my towel and dried myself off. "I’m done," I called while pulling my clothes back on. "I’ll wait for you in the dining hall."

"Won’t be long," Ken replied. "Go save me a seat."

Now that I’d finally had a proper shower, a good breakfast sounded exactly like what I needed.

Hopefully, today would be quieter than yesterday.

ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎

Now, I could focus on the system. Remembering that I had completed a race just outside the city with a silver rating, I decided to give it another shot. Last time, I’d been forced to use the bridge instead of crossing the gap directly, which had cost me precious seconds. Now that I had Shadow Leap, that problem no longer existed.

I cast Shadow Leap and instantly reappeared on the other side of the gap before sprinting across the finish line.

A golden notification appeared before me.

Gold Medal.

Reward: +10 EXP.

Not bad. The silver clear had given me thirty-five EXP the first time because it was my initial completion. Ten EXP for repeating the challenge wasn’t nearly as generous, but it was still free experience.

I needed a lot more.