Chapter 17: A Giveaway Effect

After hearing about the latest incident from last night, Briar, and the others head to the cafeteria for some breakfast, but also know that the next victim of the supposed accidents, Jamil Viper will be there. When they arrive, they look around to find the student.

"Jamil has long, black hair. Let's see…" Cater says, looking around.

Then finds the person, "Ah, there he is!"

The group looks to see him with Kalim, the housewarden of the Scarabia Dorm.

"Alright then, let's go ask and see if he knows anything," Briar says.

The group agrees and walks to the table where Kalim and Jamil are. As they approach, they notice that Jamil is wearing bandages wrapped around his hand.

When they arrive, Grim calls out, "You're the guy who got banged up in the kitchen yesterday, right? Mind if we chat?"

Jamil turns his head and looks down to see Grim, with Sereia, and Trinket close by.

"What is this? An inquisition?" Jamil questions.

Seeing Grim, Kalim freaks out, "Oh, hey! That's the weasel who set my rear on fire at orientation!"

Grim. You need to work on your tone. Tact is important for these sorts of things," Riddle calmly says to Grim.

Then turns to Kalim and Jamil, "Forgive us for interrupting your breakfast."

"Wow, the Heartslabyul housewarden and the fire-spitting weasel. Ahaha, what a fun combo!" Kalim says with laughter

Offended, Grim says, "I ain't a weasel! The name's Grim. And that's my minions, Briarthe human, Sereia the doll, Jasper and Tanzanti, the dwarf twins, and Trinket, the little fairy."

"Don't call us minions!" Jasper angrily says.

"That's right. Brar is our housewarden, and Tanzanite is the vice housewarden. We all agreed to it, so don't refer to them as minions," Sereia says.

Trinket nods her head in reply.

"Huh! Well, I'm Kalim, Scarabia's housewarden. And that's the vice housewarden, Jamil," Kalim happily says.

"Uh, sure," Grim replies.

Then mutters, "Man, this guy throws me off."

Briar notices the bandages wrapped around Jamil's hand and asks, "Are you okay?"

Jamil arches an eyebrow for the question, but quickly realizes Briar is asking about his hand.

"I'm alright. The injury isn't too serious,"Jamil answers.

He then asks, "So, why are you asking about my accident?"

Briar steps in and explains, "You see, we're here on the headmage's behest. He wanted us to investigate the incidents that's been going around at the school. We were told that you had an incident so we came to see if you know what happened, and think it might be connected with the other incidents.

"The headmage? Huh…" Jamil replies.

Briar nods her head, "Yes. Do you think you can tell us everything you know about your accident?

"Well, okay," Jamil replies.

Then Jamil explains, "Last night, I was in the kitchen frying up some lamb rolls at Kalim's request."

Then Kalim happily says, "Oh man, you guys have NO idea how amazing Jamil's lamb rolls are. You've gotta try 'em one day."

The group becomes a little dumbfounded.

"Can we stay focused here, Kalim?" Jamil calmly asks.

"Ah, right. Sorry!" Kalim replies.

Briar then turns to Jamil, "Um continue please.

Jamil nods his head and continues, "When I was chopping the ingredients, it was like my knife hand went wild and cut my other hand all on its own."

"It makes no sense! Even the dorm's head chef can attest to Jamil's legendary knife skills," Kalim says.

Then turns to Jamil, "Were you tired from Spelldrive practice, maybe?"

"No. Not so tired I couldn't control my hands," Jamil answers, "But at one point while I was cooking, I did feel kind of light-headed."

"Light-headed? Were you perhaps dizzy or sleepy?" Tanzanite asks.

"Most people would think that, but I know that sensation. I think I was feeling the effects of someone's signature spell," Jamil answers.

Hearing that, everyone is caught off guard, and they end up with a major clue.

"Oh, right! Because your signature spell is—" Kalim happily says, but Jamil covers his mouth, "MMMPH!"

Then Jamil removes his hand from Kalim's mouth.

Kalim reacts, "Pffft! Why'd you put your hand over my mouth?!"

"Because we're not talking about me here," Jamil says to Kalim.

Then turns to the group, "Anyway, my theory is that someone was controlling my movements with magic."

"Interesting... That WOULD be a way to hurt people and have it appear like it was nothing more than the victim's own carelessness," Cater says.

"And if it only lasted an instant, even the victim might perceive it as his own mistake. When I nearly fell down the stairs, I never felt as though I was being controlled against my will," Riddle says.

"Well, I guess this is kind of a lead?" Cater replies, "What's our next move, guys?"

"Well, the next thing we need to figure out is to find out who can use that kind of magic," Briar says.

Then places her hand under her chin, "Which is going to be very difficult."

"You are correct Briar. All the students in the school can use magic. Judging by what is explained, it is possible that the spell is a signature spell. But again, it will be difficult, since many students have them, and some prefer to keep them confidential," Riddle says.

"Confidential?" Jasper questions.

"Well, some signature spells are stronger than others, and sometimes are rather dangerous so they won't want others to know. Others just feel skeptical about sharing their unique magic with others," Riddle says.

"So then, how do we narrow down the culprit?" Sereia asks.

"I have this one idea," Briar says.

Briar brings out her notebook, and a piece of paper. She looks over her notes and the paper she has.

"Hmm, what are you looking at?" Cater asks.

"My notes. During the interviews, I've noticed something odd, besides that the students' way of describing their accidents, but there is something else," Briar says.

"And that will be?" Tanzanite asks.

"Well, so far, the students who have gotten into the accidents were from the Heartslabyul, Octavinelle, Scarabia, and Pomefiore dorms. The students from the Savanaclaw, Ignihyde, and Diasomnia were the only ones who haven't gotten into any accidents or incidents. If someone was targeting the players for the Spelldrive then they wouldn't think of targeting the students from their dorm," Briar says.

"That possibility cannot be ruled out," Riddle says.

"But we still need to find out who has the kind of magic that can make people move on their own," Cater says.

"A spell that can control someone…" Grim replies. Then says with a grin, "If I could learn how to cast that, I could really clean up on bakery day!

"Such small-mindedness... Truly, Grim? That's as far as your ambitions extend?" Riddle says with frown.

"Man, imagine eating all the deluxe grilled cheese I wanted—" Grim says with a grin.

Then something sparks within him, "Huh?" "

Suddenly, something in Briar's break has her thinking, "Speaking of deluxe grilled cheese…"

Flashback: Cafeteria

Just then, Ruggie steps forward and says with a grin on his face, "Pardon me, friend. I see you were able to get your hands on the highly-prized deluxe cheese sandwich. Incredible!"

"Hm? Who're you and whaddaya want with my meat?" Grim questions.

"Oh, I'm just a guy who really, really wanted to buy that sandwich you've got there, but arrived a smidge too late. Speaking of which, here's a proposition for you…" Ruggie says.

Then brings out a hot dog bun, "Might you be willing to trade your deluxe grilled cheese for this very exciting hot dog bun?"

Grim cries out, "Whaaat?! You must be outta your mind, dude!"

"Oh, come now. Let's not be like that. Here, have the hot dog bun. I insist," Ruggie says.

And brings his hand forward with the hog dog bun.

Suddenly, Grim feels bunny and his paw lifts up with his sandwich out of nowhere.

Grim panics, "Myah? What in the name of tuna...?! My paws are movin' on their own!"

Before anyone can process what's happening, Grim ends up switching his deluxe grilled cheese sandwich for a hot dog bun. Now Ruggie has the sandwich and Grin has the hot dog bun.

Flashback Ends:

Briar's eyes wide in realization while Grim screams, "AAAAAHHHHH!"

Everyone, including the rest of the students are caught off guard.

"WHOA! Why are we screaming?!" Kalim asks, surprised.

Then Grim says, "I, Grim, Expert Detective, have solved the case! I know who's got that signature spell!"

"I just realized who it was too," Briar says.

"What?" Riddle asks.

Then Briar says, "The culprit is...Ruggie Bucchi!

"Ruggie?" Cater asks.

"You know, that guy from Savanaclaw?" Grim says.

"You mean the guy we saw with Leona yesterday?" Sereia asks.

"That's him. I thought it was weird how Grim gave his sandwich willingly. We all thought they both traded at their will, but that's not the case. Grim didn't move his hand out until Ruggie did," Briar says.

Jasper realizes himself, "So Ruggie music has used his magic on Grim to switch sandwiches with him?"

"So then he must have the move that can control people," Tanzanite says.

"And he's from the Savanaclaw dorm, and his dorm was among those that wasn't hit," Sereia adds.

"Let's track him down and see what he has to say," Riddle says.

"Hmmm…" Cater looks at his phone, "Looks like Ruggie's in class 2B."

Riddle turns to Kalim and Jamil, "Thank you both for your cooperation!"

"Yes thank you. You've been a very big help," Briar says.

Then turns to the others, "Come on, let's find Ruggie."

Everyone agrees and rushes off to Class 2B to confront Ruggie.

"I'm still kinda lost here, but good luck!" Kalim replies with a smile.

Jalim simply rolls his eyes in reply. However, he is impressed by how they figure this out.