Null stood in the middle of the street surrounded by a large group of girls from the girls’ dormitory. The girls faced him angrily while several boys stood behind Null with crossed arms and tense expressions. Even from this far away, I could tell the argument was heated.

Curious, I slowed my pace and walked closer so I could hear what they were yelling about.

"Then bring it to the headmaster!" one of the girls shouted. "Our dormitory has been attacked twice already!"

"The situation has already been reported to the administration," Null replied calmly, adjusting his glasses. "However, the kingdom currently cannot allocate additional military resources to the dormitories. Since the elf attack on the academy and the attempted assassination of Her Majesty, security operations across the capital have intensified. Extra guards, bounty hunters, and specialized tracking units are already deployed throughout the surrounding districts."

"So they can’t spare a few more guards for students?" another girl demanded angrily. "People are dying!"

"Do something! You’re the student council president!"

"I don’t want to get murdered by some lunatic!"

"Protect us already!"

Honestly, the girls had every right to be angry. Jelda had been butchered inside what was supposed to be the safest place for students. At the same time, Null’s explanation made sense too. After the elf attack on the academy, the entire city had practically shifted into lockdown mode. Guards were stationed everywhere now, and patrols had doubled across the districts.

The kingdom was clearly pouring most of its manpower into hunting the elves.

"I’ve already come up with a temporary solution," Null continued, raising both hands to calm everyone down. "Students will begin standing guard during the night in rotating shifts—"

"No way," one of the boys interrupted sharply. "Some of them already accused us of raping and killing Jelda."

Another boy scoffed. "Yeah. They point fingers at us first, and now they want our help? That takes guts."

"I’m not guarding anybody after that."

"It will be voluntary," Null clarified immediately. "I’ll be participating myself. Anyone who wishes to help secure both dormitories, regardless of gender, can meet me tomorrow after the last class. I’ll be waiting near the elder tree."

"I mean..." one boy muttered to his friend, "not all the girls accused us."

"Yeah."

"My girlfriend’s in there, anyway. I’ll volunteer."

The reactions were mixed, but most of the boys slowly seemed to come around. A lot of them looked genuinely hurt by the accusations thrown at them after Jelda’s death. I couldn’t really blame them for that.

The girls murmured among themselves for a moment.

"Fine," one of them finally said.

"Good." Null gave a small nod. "Tomorrow. After the final class. Elder tree. Now, if you’ll excuse me, everyone, have a good night."

With that, he pushed through the crowd and headed into the boys’ dormitory.

Spotting Ken near the back of the group, I walked toward him. He noticed me immediately and gave me a small nod before stepping away from the others and crossing his arms.

"I think it’s a good idea," he said with a shrug. "The whole standing guard thing."

"It’ll make both dormitories safer," I replied. "The teachers will probably get involved too."

"Yeah. Some of them actually live inside the dorms." Ken nodded. "That alone would help me sleep easier."

"Hmm... oh, hey," I said while starting toward the building, "do you know those necklaces that sound an alarm when pressed?"

Ken followed beside me. "Yeah. When I was a kid, I used to press them at market stalls and sprint away before the owners caught me. Good times."

"Jelda had one too," I said quietly. "But it wasn’t on her body."

"Seriously?" Ken frowned. "Gods... poor girl. If she’d managed to press it..."

"Yeah." I nodded slowly. "Tell me something. What’s the maximum distance for teleportation spells?"

Ken blinked at me. "I don’t really get the question."

"Let’s say someone casts a teleportation skill. How far can they go?"

"Well, first of all, teleportation magic isn’t common at all," he explained. "Only a handful of people can actually use it properly. And second..." He scratched his cheek. "I think it covers a pretty wide area."

"Can you show me?"

"Sure."

We climbed the stairs and entered our room. Ken immediately opened his wardrobe and dug through one of his boots before pulling out an old folded map covered in creases. He grabbed a pen from his desk and spread the map across the table.

I stepped beside him and looked down. Compared to the system map I had, this thing looked primitive. Mine showed routes, wildlife zones, shortcuts, and terrain details. This one only displayed the city layout and some surrounding areas.

I could even spot the forest area where I’d seen the elves murder that poor bastard and set half the woods on fire afterward.

Fuck, that day still felt unreal.

"So," Ken said, pointing at the map, "we’re here. Near the western gate."

"Right."

He placed the pen over the circular street and slowly drew a large circle around part of the district. The marked area stretched beyond the academy streets and into neighboring sections of the city.

"Roughly around this far," he said with a shrug. "I’ve never teleported before, so don’t quote me on this. I only remember some stuff from middle school lessons."

I grabbed the map and studied the area carefully.

"So if Jelda was teleported," I muttered, "then the attackers probably couldn’t have taken her farther than this."

"Yes." 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"Hey," I started, "do you want to help me tomorr—"

"Sure. We’ll search the area together."

I looked at him. "I didn’t even finish the sentence."

"I’m dying of boredom, Ace," he said dramatically. "I can physically feel my soul leaving my body. Right now. At this point. Three... two... one... bleh."

"Great," I muttered while unbuttoning my uniform jacket. "Then I guess I get to keep your dagger after you die."

"Oi," he protested while opening his wardrobe again, "I tell you I’m dying, and your first reaction is taking your clothes off. What exactly are you planning to do with my corpse?"

"Shut up." I let out a tired breath. "I’m sleeping early tonight. No dinner for me."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I’m exhausted."

Ken shrugged. "Fair enough. Good night, then. I’ll head out and grab something to eat first."

"Hmm..."

ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎

I set the map down on the bench and adjusted my fingerless glove. Ken and I were standing near the western gate, leaning over the worn map while the evening wind pushed against our clothes. After the last class ended, we had rushed back to the dormitories to change out of our uniforms.

Well, Ken had changed.

I still wore mine since I didn’t own any actual armor yet.

"Alright," I muttered while tracing the map with my finger. "Jelda had mud on her shoes. Not boots. Shoes. That tells me she still had them on before she got kidnapped. The killers probably took her somewhere outside the city, somewhere muddy."

Ken nodded slowly. "There’s a river nearby. And a pond around this area too."

"They couldn’t have just teleported her into the middle of nowhere," I continued. "They needed somewhere private. A building, maybe. Some place they could keep her hidden before bringing her back."

"Then this area makes the most sense." Ken leaned forward and pointed toward the edge of the map. "There are houses near the city walls. Farmers live there. There’s also a tavern nearby."

"That’s a good starting point." I nodded. "We can ask around and see if anybody noticed something strange."

"Yep."

I rolled up the map and shoved it into my back pocket.

My dagger wasn’t hanging from a sheath anymore. I mean, well, I didn’t even have a sheath. I had stored the weapon inside my inventory alongside my coins. At this point, it honestly felt safer that way. Pulling a dagger from a sheath probably took just as long as summoning it from the system anyway.

The wind grew stronger as we approached the gate. Dark clouds stretched across the sky overhead, heavy enough to promise rain sooner or later. I already knew we were probably going to get drenched before the night ended.

As soon as I stepped outside the city walls, a cold droplet landed on my arm.

"Gods," Ken muttered while we started walking down the dirt road. "This is awful."

I glanced at the sky before looking at him. "What is? The storm or everything else?"

"Both," Ken answered immediately.

"Yeah," I muttered. "I get that."

We continued down the sloping road leading away from the western gate. The city walls towered behind us while the countryside slowly opened ahead. A stable stood on our immediate left side, lanterns hanging near the entrance while horses shifted restlessly inside their stalls. The smell of hay and wet dirt drifted through the air.

Farther ahead, small houses began appearing on both sides of the road. Most of them were simple stone or wooden homes with fenced gardens and dim candlelight glowing through their windows. Smoke curled from chimneys while barking dogs echoed somewhere in the distance.

"There." Ken pointed farther ahead. "The tavern."

I followed his finger and spotted it near the roadside. Warm orange light spilled from the windows while muffled laughter drifted outside every time the door opened.

"Let’s start there," I said. "Maybe somebody saw something."

"If they did," Ken replied, "wouldn’t they already report it to the guards?"

"Maybe they got threatened," I suggested. "Or maybe they didn’t want trouble. People ignore things all the time if it keeps them safe."

Ken frowned slightly but nodded anyway.