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When I went to training, I noticed that the number of my classmates had decreased. Toriyama was a given, but there were about four more who were absent. Despite this, only a handful of my classmates seemed to notice. Ichinari wasn’t one of them.

Besides, the ones who were gone usually didn’t stand out. Thinking about it now, I believe they had made themselves less noticeable to escape the castle undetected. If nothing else, those who left understood how important Toriyama was.

I noticed that about half of my classmates had rings on their fingers. Although there were no jewels on them, they were elaborately crafted and seemed expensive. Additionally, they all had the same design.

I tried listening in, curious as to what the rings were, and discovered that every single person had received them from a Fraus Kingdom resident, whether it was a maid or a knight.

If I were hopeful, I would claim that the rings provided protection, but I had serious doubts about that. After all, Ichinari didn’t have one. From the viewpoint of the kingdom, the Hero Ichinari would be the one whose strength they would wish to keep safe the most.

Additionally, it could be argued that even if the ring brainwashed the wearer or forced them into obedience, they’d still want to put it on Ichinari first.

It was also possible, though, that Toriyama’s Contract was still in effect. This implied that the act of giving the ring might be interpreted as breaking the terms of the contract. Furthermore, if they gave it to Ichinari and it didn’t work, that would only make him cautious.

Which is why they likely experimented on the others. The result of that experiment was evident. Training proceeded smoothly even though one of us had died the day before. Despite this, I couldn’t allow myself to feel good about it.

After all, even if I hadn’t solved the puzzle, I would have enjoyed our normal training like the others. Given that the experiment was a success, they would likely distribute the rings to everyone by tomorrow.

This meant that the quiet atmosphere that we were experiencing today would come to an end. It was likely that we wouldn’t have any more free time after training.

This was my last chance to warn everyone. However, this kingdom wasn’t made up of fools. Compared to usual, I saw a lot more knights, maids, butlers, and other castle employees today.

At best, if the opportunity arose, I could only alert one person. Yet, even then, there was no guarantee anything would change. Even if I do tell them, I’ll still be forced to put on that ring. Ultimately, Toriyama’s death meant that the Fraus Kingdom could now use force.

We were still ways off from the high-ranked knights. They’d be able to suppress us easily. We’d be done for if they ambushed us and forcefully put the ring on us. However, should we put the ring on voluntarily, the outcome would still be the same.

I couldn’t help but wish this were nothing more than speculation. There was no assurance that things wouldn’t stay the same, even if the rings were indeed what I had dreaded.

But that was wishful thinking. Toriyama had foreseen this possibility ever since we were brought to speak with the king. He’d foreseen the possibility of us losing our freedom and being used as tools for war. That possibility was now about to become a reality.

Given the situation, I started to brainstorm ideas for what I could accomplish in the little amount of time I had left before the end of the day. After thinking for a bit, I went up to Seira.

I decided to spend what could potentially have been my last moments of freedom with my best friend, wanting to cherish those moments.

“Hikari? What’s wrong?”
“I just thought I’d like to chat with you, Seira. That thing yesterday took a toll on my mental state.”
“The thing yesterday… I agree. There are a lot of people saying he got what he deserved, but I don’t think Toriyama had to shoulder all of the blame. I think we pushed him too far. We’re in a foreign place with the only people to rely on being each other, yet Toriyama didn’t have that. Although I believe he had his just desserts, I don’t believe it was so bad as to make him kill someone.” Seira spoke with a sad tone.

Her viewpoint was certainly another way one could go about it. In truth, maybe hers was the right one. However, I didn’t believe that Toriyama had been the one to cause that incident.

The kingdom couldn’t lay a hand on us, so they must have done something to eliminate Toriyama, who was the root of the problem. The rumors led us to think that Toriyama was nothing more than an awful person.

On the other hand, if the rumors turned out to be false, that would drastically change everyone’s perspective of Toriyama and make them realize that he was protecting us. That he was a cautious person.

That’s why I didn’t believe he’d killed that maid. If he had decided to have his way with her, he could’ve just used his skill to prevent her from talking. That would’ve been safe. Even if the build-up had truly caused him to have an impulsive outburst of some sort, he still could have done a better job of hiding what happened.

“Seira, how did Toriyama end up being the culprit?”
“Well, the maid that was killed was Toriyama’s maid, and she was apparently killed without resisting at all.”
“Right? That’s what happened.”

With that premise, every single boy in the class could be a suspect.

It would be impossible for you to resist if someone you knew suddenly appeared out of nowhere and killed you. But when assault was involved, that was another story. Other boys in the class were probably more likely to be necrophilic.

“Hikari, what’s wrong?”
“Seira, we’ll be thrust into hell tomorrow, so you’d best prepare mentally. Let’s spend the peaceful time we have left quietly, okay?”

Seira was completely taken aback by my question.

“What are you saying? What’s going to happen tomorrow?”
“Seira, do you remember the first time Toriyama used his skill?”
“The first time he used it? I haven’t even seen him use it.”
“Really? You definitely did. He used it in front of all of us, after all.”

Seira’s face hardened when she heard me say that. Her smile was nowhere to be seen.

“No way!”
“Quiet…” I said, trying to calm Seira down.
“You mean to say that Toriyama was actually protecting us?”
“I believe so. However, it was already too late when I realized it. Toriyama made a contract with us and the Fraus Kingdom. He made it so that the Fraus Kingdom’s residents wouldn’t be able to defy us.”
“So what happened yesterday was…”
“I believe he was wrongly accused.”

Seira’s face lost all its color. Seeing her like this made me question whether telling her had been the right choice. But I couldn’t help it. It was too hard to bear the truth all by myself.

“No…” Seira muttered, tears beginning to spill from her eyes.

I hugged Seira without saying anything, even though I knew a lot of people were looking.

“I’m sorry.” Seira muttered, finally realizing that there was nothing else we could do.

I held Seira while she wept like a lost child.