Date: Fourth Moon, 11th Day
Location: Library Alcove – Academy of the Seven Sigils
Something is wrong.
More wrong than we thought.
The list on my wall has grown.
Five names. Five students gone.
No battle wounds. No beast tracks.
And not one of them triggered the emergency artifacts David gave us.
That's the part that won't leave my head.
If they were in danger — real danger — the amulet would've shattered.
But they didn't.
Either the artifact failed… or they never had time to reach for it.
---
Hank teaches like someone skimming notes from a borrowed soul.
He says things that feel out of order. Misuses idioms.
Once, he paused mid-lecture and repeated a phrase twice in the same tone, like he forgot he'd already said it.
When Yukari summoned a tiny storm spirit to block a falling shelf — Hank flinched.
The wrong kind of flinch.
Not surprise — fear.
He isn't a mage. He mimics one.
And I've seen it: when he walks, his shadow ripples before his foot lands.
Once, just once, I caught a glimpse beneath his sleeve.
It wasn't flesh.
Something translucent, something… not solid.
I don't think he's human.
And I don't think he's alone.
---
But he's not the one taking students.
I'm sure of it.
He's watching too — like us.
Watching… but also helping whoever is doing this.
Whether by fear, loyalty, or something darker — he's involved.
---
I snuck into the records vault after curfew.
Yukari covered for me.
There are letters. Sealed, urgent, sent by David before his departure.
> "Containment breach confirmed."
"Subject relocation required."
"Under order of the High Sages, both faculty members dispatched."
They didn't abandon us.
They were sent to chase something — or someone.
If my guess is right…
The thing they're chasing is now inside the Academy walls.
---
Leander's joking less.
Anna laughs, but looks over her shoulder more often.
Lily still comes to the library — stays longer than she needs to. She reads defense tomes now.
I think she feels it too:
We're being hunted.
Not for blood.
For something else.
---
The missing students aren't dead.
I don't know how I know.
But I believe it.
Something's keeping them.
Holding them in silence.
A slow spell?
A ritual?
A prayer?
> Corrupted God's Prayer.
---
I've decided.
If it comes to it —
I'll let myself be taken.
Just for a moment.
Long enough to see where they go.
And then I'll come back.
I have to.
Because if no one understands this…
We'll be next.
---