Chapter 124

“How about I mail the letter for you?”

At Jacqueline’s suggestion, the old woman’s face lit up.

“Would you really do that for me?”

“Yes, don’t worry. I’ll personally make sure it gets to the post office.”

“Thank you, dear. Please take this.”

The old woman pulled out a piece of paper folded over and over from inside her clothes and handed it to Jacqueline.

The poor-quality paper was already soggy from the rain and limp in her hands, with the ink starting to blur visibly.

“Um…”

Jacqueline opened her mouth to say something, but the old woman suddenly grabbed her hand.

Her bony, calloused fingers pressed something into Jacqueline’s palm.

Looking down, Jacqueline saw a handful of the cheapest coins in Lambart. Mostly 1 peblanc and 5 peblanc coins.

“This is the money I saved to send the letter. If there’s any left, use it to buy yourself a little treat, sweetheart.”

“Th-Thank you.”

Using the express courier actually cost more than most people expected.

Honestly, the amount the old woman gave wasn’t enough to send the letter, but Jacqueline nodded anyway.

She just couldn’t bring herself to turn down someone in such a pitiful state.

If it’s not enough, I’ll just cover the rest with my Academy allowance.

As Jacqueline gathered the wet coins and the letter and stuffed them into her pocket, the old woman gently patted her shoulder.

“What a kind young lady you are. Hmm? If only I could introduce you to my son. That would be wonderful. Are you married?”

“Wh-What? M-Married? No, not at all…”

Just as Jacqueline was flusteredly waving her hands, her face flushed red—

“Oh dear! There you are. I told you not to come outside when it’s raining, and here you are again.”

A man in a black coat suddenly appeared and gently supported the old woman by the arm.

“Let’s get you inside before you catch a cold.”

“Who are you?”

Jacqueline asked, her tone wary.

The man replied,

“My name is Thomas. I’m the director of the nearby shelter.”

“And you know this lady?”

“She often stays at our shelter. I just happened to see her and came over.”

“Oh…”

The old woman accepted the man’s support without resistance.

It seemed, just as he said, that they were familiar with each other.

The old woman turned to Jacqueline and pleaded,

“Miss, please don’t forget my letter. Promise me, okay?”

“Don’t worry.”

Jacqueline reassured her.

At that, the man interjected.

“Student. Did the old lady ask you to deliver a letter for her?”

Jacqueline looked puzzled.

“Huh? How did you know I’m a student?”

“You’re wearing an Academy uniform.”

“Oh, right.”

Jacqueline then answered his original question.

“She gave me a letter and some money… asked me to take it to the post office.”

“I thought so.”

“What do you mean, ‘thought so’?”

“She said she was writing to her son in the military, right?”

“How did you know that?”

The man’s expression changed.

It was one of quiet pity.

“Her son died in a military accident several years ago. But the poor lady… she’s senile now. She doesn’t remember, and she keeps trying to send him letters.”

Jacqueline swallowed hard.

“Then what should I do? I already have the letter and the money…”

“Just keep them.”

“What? I mean, I get keeping the letter, but the money too?”

“This isn’t the first time it’s happened. We tried returning it once, and she started shouting and causing a scene.”

“……”

Jacqueline was speechless for a moment.

The man gave a bittersweet smile and changed the subject.

“Anyway, what brings an Academy student to a place like this?”

“I’m doing volunteer work.”

“How admirable.”

“Well, it’s not like I volunteered on my own. The school assigned us.”

“You don’t look like a Knight Department student… Are you perhaps a mage?”

A mage!

It was the first time anyone had called her that, and Jacqueline straightened up with pride.

“Of course! I even earned my First Class certification last month.”

“Impressive. You seem like a kind-hearted student. Would you be interested in more volunteer work?”

“Volunteer work?”

Jacqueline hesitated.

The current first-year students were still like fledglings, barely past their orientation phase.

Just keeping up with Academy life was enough to overwhelm them.

But if it’s for a good cause…

With that thought, Jacqueline decided to hear the rest of what he had to say.

“The shelter I run is operated by a foundation called Guardians of the Night. Volunteers with magic skills are especially valuable. If you participate regularly, there’s even a possibility of receiving tuition support…”

“Tuition support?”

Jacqueline’s ears perked up.

The man handed her a business card.

On it were the words Guardians of the Night and the address of the foundation’s headquarters in the city.

“If you’re interested, feel free to drop by sometime. I’ll let the people at the foundation know about you. May I ask your name?”

“Jacqueline Dogwood.”

“Alright, Miss Jacqueline. I’ll be looking forward to it.”

With those parting words, the man left with the old woman.

Jacqueline stood and watched until they disappeared into the rain.

The coins in her pocket, given to her by the old woman, now felt a little heavier.

“Jacqueline, are you okay?”

Shannon and Rita approached, worried after seeing her talking to a stranger.

“Yeah. It’s nothing. He was just someone working in social services. He came to pick up that grandma.”

“Really?”

Shannon tilted her head and looked in the direction the man had gone.

“Hmm…”

“Come on, let’s get going too. The others are probably already back at the hall.”

At Rita’s urging, Jacqueline returned to the hall building with her friends.

But they hadn’t gone far when it happened.

Jacqueline spotted something and raised her hand.

“Look over there!”

“Huh?”

“That guy… isn’t he the one Professor Winslet mentioned? What was his name again… Nixon? Samson?”

“Guildmaster Dawson?”

“Yeah, that’s it. Guildmaster Dawson! That scrawny frame… it’s definitely him.”

“He looks like he’s in a hurry. Where do you think he’s going?”

“Well… that’s what we’re about to find out, isn’t it?”

“What?”

Jacqueline’s eyes sparkled.

“Don’t you remember? Professor Winslet asked us to do this. The secret mission!”

Professor Winslet had tasked Jacqueline, Shannon, and Rita with keeping an eye on Guildmaster Dawson, saying he might be up to something shady.

Rita voiced her objection.

“We’ve already split up from the others, and now you want to waste more time? We were told not to go off on our own before the volunteer work starts.”

“Oh come on, it won’t take long. We’ll just see where he’s headed and then go right back.”

With the two divided, the casting vote naturally fell to Shannon.

“If Professor Winslet asked us to, I’m sure it’s for a reason.”

And so, the undercover mission was decided.

The three of them began trailing Dawson cautiously.

They were lucky it was raining—

If not, their footsteps would’ve given them away in no time.

Just as the three were starting to grow tired from their clumsy attempt at tailing someone and their awkward tiptoeing, Dawson arrived at a warehouse.

It was tucked away in an inconvenient location, far from the main road and only reachable by weaving through several alleys.

The door to the warehouse was tightly bound with a chain, secured by a padlock.

Guildmaster Dawson glanced around sharply several times, making sure no one was nearby, before finally pulling out a key and unlocking the padlock.

Clank.

He removed the chain and slipped into the darkness beyond the open door.

“He’s definitely up to something!”

“Huh? Isn’t it pretty normal to lock up a warehouse? To keep out thieves and all?”

“Uh… well, when you put it that way…”

“Are we maybe jumping to conclusions and just assuming he’s a bad guy because Professor Winslet was suspicious of him?”

Rita’s question left them without a good answer.

Just then, Jacqueline’s eyes widened.

“Did you hear that weird sound just now?”

“Really? I couldn’t hear much over the rain.”

“It sounded like… a voice coming from inside the warehouse? Wait, maybe I imagined it…”

Jacqueline perked up her ears, trying to listen. But at that moment, Guildmaster Dawson stepped back out of the warehouse.

He began wrapping the chain tightly around the door again.

“Eeek, he’s coming back this way!”

“Run!”

The three of them quickly took off.

In their rush, Jacqueline didn’t notice that a coin had slipped from her pocket.

***

After finishing the volunteer work and returning to the hall, the students focused first on drying themselves off.

It was a precaution to avoid catching a cold.

Next to Jacqueline, who was drying her hair with a towel, Shannon used magic to summon a blast of hot air to dry her own.

Seeing that, Jacqueline’s eyes widened as she pleaded,

“Wow! Do mine too, please!”

This time, Shannon obediently conjured the wind and blew it her way.

Jacqueline’s hair was dry and fluffy in no time, and she shook her head happily.

Rita, who was attuned to both fire and wind elements, dried her own hair and said,

“Good thing we made it back in time.”

It was about the time the sun was starting to set.

Because of the cloudy weather, it was already dim outside the windows.

The rain had mostly stopped, but a thick mist had taken its place.

Inside the hall, however, it was bright.

Several braziers had been brought in to warm up the students chilled from being out in the rain.

Like a campfire gathering, the students clustered around the heat, enjoying a moment of rest.

Some chatted away, while others shared damp snacks they had secretly brought in their pockets.

Someone even tried drying their raincoat beside a brazier only to melt the wax coating or accidentally burn it.

Giggling laughter filled the air.

Overall, the atmosphere was cheerful and lively.

And it was all thanks to someone who had made sure no student got caught up in anything troublesome today.

Jacqueline was just thinking that—

When, as if summoned by her thoughts, the door burst open.

Professor Winslet entered.

“This concludes the official schedule. Now that the sun’s set, you’re free to relax and enjoy your evening.”

Cheers erupted among the students.

“However, no one is allowed to go outside. Absolutely no wandering around after dark.”

“Huh? Why not?”

“The fog is thick tonight. It’s dangerous. Best to stay inside the building.”

“What about the bathroom?”

That ridiculous question wasn’t asked out of genuine concern, but rather served as a sign of how much the gap between the first-year students and Professor Winslet had closed over the course of the day.

The student who asked it grinned, and Professor Winslet let out a snort before turning and walking out of the hall.

Jacqueline saw her chance and quickly approached him as he headed for the door.

“Um, Professor! About what you were saying earlier…”

She trailed off mid-sentence.

Professor Winslet had turned his head with a grim expression—

But his eyes weren’t on Jacqueline.

He was looking past her, over her shoulder.

“It’s started.”

“What? What do you mean, it’s started?”

“I’ll explain later. Don’t follow me.”

With that, Professor Winslet walked off into the fog.

It was a thick, heavy mist.

The kind that seemed to be hiding something dark, something ominous.