Chapter 41: Evidence
The room was an utter eyesore, completely tattered and unkempt.
Atlas stepped inside carefully and slowly, his boots treading carefully across the threshold out of caution that he might step on something unseen amidst the debris.
’What or who could have triggered all of this? Who would do something like this?’ he thought hard, his mind racing through potential culprits.
Yet no matter how hard he tried to think of someone, he couldn’t picture any of his roommates pulling off an act this malicious.
Derrick was wild, but he wasn’t this destructive. Eric was a self-proclaimed clean freak, making it impossible to imagine him even tolerating such a mess, let alone creating it.
Then there was Claus — the guy was practically a lost cause who barely had the physical energy to drag himself to class, let alone tear a room apart.
None of them fit the bill.
’So who then? Who actually did this?’
Atlas ventured deeper into the room, methodically inspecting the damage before stepping up to check his own bunk.
His bed was in total disarray. Strewn across the mattress were soggy, foul-smelling trash remains that emitted an unbearable stench.
Atlas immediately held his breath, wincing as he stared at the slimy mess.
’Well, damn. Guess I won’t be sleeping here tonight,’ he thought, a mix of disgust and shock settling over him.
He climbed down and scanned the room once more, looking for anything out of place, but came up empty-handed. There were no obvious clues, no tracks, absolutely nothing pointing to a specific suspect.
’I need to report this to the Head Maid immediately,’ he decided, turning on his heel and exiting the room in a hurry.
He remembered the exact route to her office.
On his first day, she had personally escorted him — a privilege usually reserved for students of notable status.
Recalling her stern warnings from that evening, a faint, bitter chuckle escaped his lips. ’She was right after all. I really did end up sneaking out at night...’
When he reached her office door, he found it firmly shut. He reached out and rattled the brass handle, but the lock held fast.
’Damn it!’ he cursed internally.
Left with no other option, he decided to head down to the reception desk to ask the junior maids if they knew where the Head Maid had gone.
’I have to log an official report just in case. Knowing my roommates’ personalities, I can’t jump to conclusions, and having the house staff serve as a witness ensures I keep everything above board,’ he reassured himself, quickening his pace through the stone corridors.
Upon reaching the dormitory entrance, two junior maids were seated behind the long wooden reception counter, chatting idly.
Atlas paused, took a deep, stabilizing breath, and approached the desk with a calm, composed demeanor.
"Good afternoon, ladies. May I have a moment of your time?"
The chatter ceased instantly as both maids turned to face him.
They were different from the staff who had registered him on his first day.
’Shift change, I see... Doesn’t matter. I still need to get this filed.’
Seeing that he had their full attention, Atlas cleared his throat and spoke with firm confidence.
"Could you tell me where I can find the Head Maid? I have an urgent complaint to deliver to her."
The two maids stared at him blankly for a long, awkward second, exchanging a silent, puzzled glance. Finally, one of them broke the silence.
"That information is confidential. She is currently attending to special duties," the maid replied smoothly.
Reaching under the counter, she pulled out a massive, heavy journal from the bottom shelf and dropped it onto the desk with a sharp thud.
The thick red leather cover was emblazoned with a gilded crest of the academy’s emblem. "You can log your complaint in this."
"Alright... but please notify me the moment she returns. It’s time-sensitive," Atlas urged, his voice dropping an octave to convey his seriousness.
"Understood. Just make sure to write your room number down here," she gestured toward the bottom of the page,
"and fill in your personal details along with the specific nature of your complaint over there. And please, keep it relevant. We’ve dealt with dozens of frivolous complaints this term, and management won’t tolerate any more wasted time," she added in a cool, businesslike tone.
Atlas nodded obediently, pulled a pen from his tunic, and began filling out the ledger.
The Head Maid held the master key, while the spare keys were distributed only to him and his roommates.
Apart from them, no one else should have been able to unlock that door without leaving signs of forced entry.
It was either an inside job, a breach by staff, or an unknown intruder — which was the most dangerous possibility of all.
For now, laying down an official paper trail was his best immediate defense.
It took him a solid half-hour to carefully detail the incident, ensuring every fact was clear before placing the pen in the spine of the ledger.
"I’m finished. Please don’t forget to let me know when the Head Maid gets back," he reminded her before turning back toward the residential wing.
As he walked back to the crime scene, his mind worked through the problem.
’Relying solely on the staff isn’t going to cut it. What do I do now?’
By the time he reached his doorway, an idea clicked into place.
’Of course... my new sensory skill.’
He had unlocked a new skill for skull right before his week of recovery and somehow that skill affected him too.
While there were no visual tracks left behind, the intruder couldn’t have wiped away the lingering atmospheric scents — the subtle traces of sweat, fear, or blood left on the damaged furniture.
’I don’t just need to report this; I need to gather my own evidence to back it up. Let’s see who really stepped foot in this room.’
With a new objective set, Atlas activated his enhanced senses, the air around him suddenly shifting into a dense grid of hidden trails.
’Time to get to work.’