Sunny became a regular customer at the coffee shop opposite Club Spiral not of his own free will. And he was right there again on a Wednesday morning.

  “The usual?” asked the barista across the counter. He was an elderly man with patches of grey hair on the sides of his head, and a smooth skin down the middle.

  Sunny nodded. “Yes. But make it a little sweeter today. Add a bit more cream too.”

  The man smiled. “Sure. Coming right up.”

  Sunny turned and took his seat near the window that overlooked Club Spiral. He was beginning to think that K had just been paranoid with her deduction—which wouldn't be a surprise—but he was not one to give up so easily because of some delay. Things never worked out as one intended, and if he took that as an early sign of failure, then he would be a disgrace to himself. He would give it a few more days. Then he would decide if this was a dead end.

  “You seem quite infatuated with the club,” the barista said as he placed Sunny’s cup of coffee before him. “Everytime you come here, you’re always staring at it. And now that I think about it, you don’t seem familiar for someone so regular. Hmmm. I don’t mean to pry, but is there some history between you and the club?”

  Sunny rubbed his fingers on the handle of his cup of coffee. “Why would I have a history with one of the most popular clubs in Korea?”

  The barista hummed. “You can never tell. I see it in the news all the time, a conglomerate cheating his friend out of the business they started together.” He eyed Sunny. “But you do look too young for that to have happened to you. Perhaps, your father?”

  Sunny’s chest stiffened briefly there. A mention of his father always did that to him.

  “It’s nothing like that,” he said, taking a sip of his coffee. If there was one thing other than Club Spiral that could keep him coming back to this shop was the coffee it served.

  “If you say so, young man,” said the barista, turning away. “Nothing ever happens there during the day, though. If you want to see things, you’ll have to come at night. That’s when the club becomes lively. Too much for me even.”

  Sunny nodded at the man’s response, but he had no intention of paying the club a visit at night ever again. At least under normal circumstances. Not after his altercation with that young lady. What was her name again? Yeah, Mouse. What a weird name.

  He sighed and continued sipping his coffee bit by bit, staring intently at the club expecting nothing to happen, really. At this point he was just sitting in the cafe to fulfill all righteousness.

  Just when it struck twelve, he decided that his watch was over. But as he was about to stand up, a black sedan parked before the club, striking a feeling of inquisition in him. He remained seated as his gaze pierced into the car, unwavering.

  A few minutes passed, and finally the door of the car flung open. Immediately, Sunny reached for his phone; unbothered by the stare of the barista from the counter, he took pictures of both the car and the man that stepped out of it.

  The man was spindly, had slicked back salt and pepper hair, and was dressed in a shirt and jacket, complemented with black pants and polished shoes. And seated on his nose were round glasses. To Sunny, it gave off the vibe of a professor. An academy’s professor.

  Surely, this isn’t…

  As the man walked into the club, Sunny instantly shifted his attention onto his phone, forwarding the images to K with a text that said: “Reverse search the man in this image for me.” Then he paused, contemplating if sending them to Merlin would be the right decision too. A second later, he sent them. Merlin was the one most troubled by the incident, and if someone within the walls of the academy was in cohorts with villains, then the boy had to know.

  ###

  “Give them a round of applause!” Dr. Elias Namgoong voiced, and the crowd answered in the way he expected them to. Cheers resounded through the auditorium, and with it were claps, praising the performance that had just concluded on stage.

  The presenters, which were made up of a crew of Merlin, Hakyun, Chima, Nora, Park Yuri, Kim Yiseo, and Kim Minji, held hands together and bowed towards the judges, Instructor Park Minjee and Professor Elania, and the crowd. They were panting, exhausted, but on their faces were expressions of relief. It was evident from the reception of the crowd that they had done well.

  Merlin had never acted before, and definitely not before a large crowd composed of both students and parents and guests, and most definitely not before his aunty. Which was why his eyes subtly sought out the expressions they all wore as some sort of testament to his performance. When he saw his aunty jumping on her feet pointing his and Nora’s way, boasting, he finally had the peace he sought. He had done good for his first time.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “Now that the performances scheduled are over, we shall move on to the next agenda,” Dr. Elias continued. He cleared his throat. “Awards! After all, what are performances without awards?”

  The crowd cheered. Kim Minji whispered through the noise, “There were awards?”

  Merlin glanced at her and shrugged. Her forehead and hair were soaked in sweat, and her body looked overly puffy from the makeshift Troll outfit she wore. From the way her eyelids were somewhat swollen, he could see that she was exhausted. Sitting down would benefit her greatly.

  “I didn’t know,” he replied. “Professor Jung didn’t mention it during the orientation. I just thought it was for fun.”

  “I’m disappointed, Merlin Tyrrell,” Nora chimed in, doing that thing she always did—calling his name in full. It always pissed Merlin off a bit.

  “It was noted in the detailed information of the festival and tournament sent to our smartwatches,” said Park Yuri. “Cohort points will be awarded to the first and second position.”

  Merlin blinked. “Just the first and second?”

  “Obviously,” Hakyun scoffed. “There’s only so many points they can give out to actors and singers. Lol.”

  “Did you just say ‘lol’?” Chima asked, disgusted.

  “No, I did not.”

  “Yes, you did.”

  “Shut up, both of you,” Kim Yiseo scolded, and, surprisingly, they both went quiet.

  Merlin was shocked. Perhaps he would consider asking her to become their roommate, so she could keep those two in check.

  “You can leave the stage,” Dr. Elias turned to them and said. “Once the decision has been made, you’ll be called back along with the others, and the winners will be presented.”

  After another bow, they left the stage through the door to the side of the podium, walking into the backstage. There they immediately took off their outfits, cooling themselves under the cool breeze of the air conditioner.

  “That was too stuffy.” Hakyun heaved a sigh of relief, dropping to the floor.

  The rest of the performers were here. Mostly bands of singers, as that was the easiest gig to pick up, and a few acting crew here and there. Dancers were also present. But the most unusual one was the cooking crew. A crew that had only two members, Oh Jihye and Sofia Petrovna. A weird combo. To Merlin, at least.

  Oh Jihye glanced their way and threw a scoff with that smug look of hers. Merlin simply shifted his attention towards Sofia. Who immediately took her gaze away. They hadn’t talked ever since their little fall out during the Tower raid. And Merlin was beginning to feel like it wasn’t so little anymore.

  He sighed, thinking about how to make things better between them. He had to do that first before he dropped the bomb his aunt had urged him to do.

  “What’s it?” Kim Minji asked, sneaking up behind Merlin.

  Merlin turned to her, not even a bit startled. His Perception made certain of that.

  “Nothing,” he said, taking another glance at Sofia before shaking his head. “Just have something to take care of.”

  Kim Minji followed his gaze then hummed. “All right,” she said, a bit more mellow than usual and shifted aside. “I think I’ll have a seat.”

  Merlin nodded. Then he reached for his bag and pulled out his phone. As soon as he put it on, messages rushed in. But none of them were from Janeth who he had called but didn’t respond, and had left messages for.

  It soured his mood for a bit, until he saw who had sent the messages that rushed into his phone.

  “Sunny,” Merlin mumbled. Then he turned to his crew. “I’m gonna step outside for a bit; just let me know once we’re to come in.”

  “What do you have to do outside?” Hakyun grumbled.

  Merlin didn’t reply and just hurried out. He found a bench and sat down, then opened Sunny’s message. There were photos attached, and a text that said: “Do you know who this is?”

  Merlin’s brows furrowed. He opened the photos, and his breath hitched for a moment. It was Professor Dmitri walking into Club Spiral in the middle of the day.

  He would have asked himself what for, but he had long since had his suspicions regarding the man, ever since he had gotten Nikolai’s memories implanted in him.

  Did Professor Dmitri really poison his own brother? Why would he do something so sick?

  Merlin felt his stomach churn. He couldn’t for the life of him fathom why one would be a detriment to their own sibling. He couldn’t imagine that being the case with him and Nora—ever.

  What should I do now? This puts Professor Dmitri at the club where Nikolai had supposedly gotten the drug. If I show these pictures to the headmaster, it should be able to support my claim of Professor Dmitri being the one to have given Nikolai the location to get the drugs. A mystery that has been under wraps since.

  But what if the headmaster asks me how I got it? That will shed light on the fact that I’m actively seeking out an organization I shouldn’t have anything to do with. Then an anonymous email. Yes; that would be better. I can even compose the message the way I want it in that regard. That’s the best course of action.

  Merlin nodded, and immediately got to work. He rushed to his mail app to create a new one, and immediately directed a message towards the headmaster, attaching the pictures of Professor Dmitri.

  “Hmm… I’ll be honest. I wasn’t expecting that,” a voice sounded from beside Merlin, freezing on the spot as his heart skipped a beat.

  What? When?

  Merlin’s brows furrowed as he glanced to his side. A person was seated there, dressed in a black shirt and trousers, and had a face-cap over his head. His figure was not that different from Merlin’s, which meant he was not much older. But his face—Merlin couldn’t make it out, and that bothered him.

  How did my Perception miss him walking over and seating beside me? And why does he give off so much bad vibe that my body is shaking?

  This person was dangerous.

  “Don’t move,” said the person, placing his hand on Merlin’s arm. “Don’t scream. Don’t do anything that’ll bring even a fly’s notice here. Sit and listen. Or I won’t hesitate to kill you.”

  Merlin gulped, his heart racing, nearly exploding. This person wasn’t joking. If he made a sound, he really was going to die.