Awaiting soft rains(An extra's novel)-Chapter 91: Alexa

Rowan kept pestering me on the way to Alexa; unfortunately for him, I was very good at ignoring things. The only other interruption on the way was a message from Song.

The contents were mostly nagging and asking for details about the skinwalker situation. I could only tell her not to worry, but to inform me if she noticed anything strange.

I couldn’t be too sure when, or if, the skinwalker would make its move. So, I needed all the eyes I could get.

Either way, we soon made it to the location Racheal sent me: in front of the cafeteria. It didn’t take too long to spot her there.

A distant gaze, auburn hair, features I’d clock as vaguely Russian, and a much less troubled look than when we’d first met.

Alexa sat on a bench beneath a tree, the dim lighting this world was cursed with practically making the shade it provided irrelevant.

She flinched at the sound of steps approaching, quickly shifting her focus to us.

Rowan waved casually at her, to which she could only awkwardly wave back. Most of her focus was on me.

Her voice came out slightly hoarse, like she wasn’t used to using it all too much.

"Are you Victor?"

’Does she recognize me from the elevator?’

I smiled as gently as I possibly could before extending my hand towards her.

"Yes. You’re Alexa, right? Seems like we’ve met before."

She met my hand with a slightly trembling one, her gaze shaking as though trying not to glance at something.

"Probably..."

Right then, a message from Rowan popped up before me.

[Alexa can be a bit shy.]

I shot him a glance before replying.

[That’s fine.]

I knew her better than anyone. Well, other than herself. Her current behaviour and personality were a mix of her burden and trauma.

Her supposed shyness wasn’t actually shyness but terror. After all, her burden was to be haunted by the ghosts of those she killed.

A sort of haunting that only occurred in her mind. It was why she looked so disheveled back when we first met in the elevator.

Of course, she wasn’t some mass murderer that was now being terrorized by the ghosts of the many she killed. She’d only ever killed one person.

Her sister.

That was enough to reduce her to this state.

Although I felt pity, and once again felt like a fool for writing her this way, there wasn’t much I could do to help her. Not yet, at least.

’On the bright side, she seems to have adapted a bit.’

"Uhm..."

The sound of Rowan clearing his throat brought me back to reality, and I let go of her hand, realizing I’d been holding it for a little too long.

I attempted to smooth things over.

"You’ve received a message from Racheal, right?"

Luckily, she was more than willing to take the olive branch, cradling her hand as she replied to me.

"Yes."

"Any questions then?"

Rowan’s voice answered from beside me.

"Hey, I have some—"

"Any serious questions then?"

This time it was Alexa who answered, her voice quiet.

"N-no."

She never looked directly at me as she answered; her eyes always hovered around, looking behind me. As though something invisible was perched above me. I had to resist the urge to glance back as well.

’It’s probably nothing.’

It unnerved me, but I pushed through regardless.

"Lovely. It’d be best if we start now."

"That’s fine."

This was one of the main reasons I’d selected Alexa. If Racheal asked for something, Alexa did it without hesitation. That was just how much she believed in Racheal—in Racheal’s hatred for monsters.

She was perhaps the only one in this school that matched Racheal’s hatred. After all, it was a monster that made her kill her sister.

To be more accurate, a skinwalker.

It was also why under no circumstances could she learn there was one in the school. She’d go ballistic.

Rowan interjected.

"Our second class is about to begin."

"It’s fine; we’ll just harass a few before heading back."

The boy’s forehead visibly twitched at my reply.

"You know—why ar—how do—Haa..."

Rowan deflated with a sigh.

"Let’s just get this over with."

I couldn’t help but slap his shoulder with a grin.

"Now that’s the spirit."

---

I contacted Alice using the interface for the location of the suspect closest to me. There were two, both in a group with three unrelated nobles.

They seemed to be heading back to class after lunch, so we’d only need to move a little to intercept them.

I’d already shared my action plan with both Rowan and Alexa to make sure we acted in sync.

Even though I planned on harassing them, I still needed a somewhat reasonable justification for doing so. At first, I’d agonized over it, but it didn’t take long for me to realize it didn’t need to be complicated at all.

So I went to the simplest, most tried and tested method: theft. I could easily claim that a cadet’s special or important item was stolen from a class and I needed to search around for it.

Normally, such claims could be easily debunked using security camera footage. But Alice would cover that for me.

I just needed a reason to search them.

Sure enough, just like Alice said, a group of five nobles stepped out of the cafeteria, laughing and chatting among themselves.

I spotted our suspects among them. A black-haired boy and a blue-haired girl. Nothing really special or remarkable about them, besides having A-rank potential.

But even that was a dime a dozen in this academy.

I shot Rowan a glance before gesturing towards them.

The boy’s face twitched, but he took a deep breath, slowly calming down. Steeling his face, he shifted his gaze towards the approaching cadets.

Then he spoke with a raised voice.

"Stop right there!"

The cadets halted in their tracks at the sudden command. They glanced around, wondering if it was directed towards them.

Rowan made sure they got the message.

"Don’t look around! I’m talking to you five. Stop right there; you are all under investigation!"

I rubbed my hands anxiously.

The show was about to begin.