I Become a Secret Police Officer of The Imperial Academy

Chapter 12

Ellen is acting strange.

No, maybe it’s the world that’s strange.

For two days, demons rampaged across the entire empire.

As a result, an uncountable number of people died.

On the first day, there were so many corpses on the main roads that the streets were littered with them.

Even some of the teachers at the Academy died. So, just like the Empire as a whole, the Academy couldn’t keep running as usual.

In the end, they announced that classes would resume a month later.

I wonder what those officers—who usually wear blue uniforms, carry pistols on their hips, and walk around wielding clubs—were even doing during all that. But to be fair, they were up against a bad opponent.

There’s no way they could stop a mob of rampaging demons with nothing but wooden clubs.

The imperial guards, who were supposed to protect the Emperor, didn’t even come out that night because they were busy guarding him.

It was the right decision, but… commoners are the kind of people who remember every bit of bitterness and resentment, storing it deep in their hearts.

If even a few hundred guards had been unlucky enough to get caught up in the chaos, they might have been wiped out entirely.

Thanks to that, half the capital was set on fire in a single night.

Along with the daily lives of the people.

I didn’t care much since there wasn’t anything important to learn from the Academy anyway, but I hated the atmosphere.

It felt like the streets were filled with death, even though there wasn’t a single corpse in sight.

The faces of the passersby were devoid of happiness, instead filled with despair and crushing hopelessness.

Charred debris lay scattered along the roadside, blood splattered on the walls remained unwashed, and furious people wandered from place to place, hunting down demons.

They also targeted the homeless and any suspicious-looking humans.

It wasn’t like someone had orchestrated the whole thing.

One group of demons started rampaging, which led to other groups doing the same.

Then some vagrants, beggars from the slums, and escaped criminals joined in, turning that one night into a nightmare.

The Emperor declared that it was all the demons’ doing, but I couldn’t deny what I’d seen with my own eyes.

That night, I had no idea how many people I killed.

There were those who recklessly assaulted women on the streets, groups that ran at me yelling that they’d burn me alive just because I was wearing clean clothes, and demons who stopped noblemen’s carriages only to set them on fire with the people still inside.

Those kinds of lunatics even broke into our house.

Fortunately, when they saw the sword I was holding, they immediately left.

Because of that, there were injuries in my family, but no one died.

But Ellen wasn’t so lucky.

Her younger sibling and parents died.

She acted like it didn’t bother her, but her faintly trembling hands told a different story.

When she spoke about it, a single tear streamed down from her left eye, and she didn’t even seem to realize it.

Ellen was a junior known for her lack of emotional expression.

She rarely smiled and had a perpetually blank face, only lifting the corners of her mouth on rare occasions when she made some silly joke.

She felt like an old man who had already seen everything there was to see in life.

Most of the time, we only ate together. Otherwise, she’d spend her time reading books alone or enjoying her cigarettes.

But after that day, it was like Ellen had erased her expressionless face entirely.

She started smiling constantly.

It was as if she’d made some kind of rule for herself.

She’d never been one to show up to school on time in the morning because she was always oversleeping, but now she arrived early at the Academy—despite there being no classes.

She started talking to people she normally wouldn’t bother with and even stuck by my side, chatting idly about whatever came to mind.

When I asked where her cigarettes had gone, she said she’d quit and throw them away.

Even when talking about her family or the friends who hadn’t shown up at school, she brought it up with a beaming smile, as if it didn’t bother her at all.

At first, it was jarring.

But I figured it might be her way of coping with grief, so I pretended not to notice.

When she brought up Ethel, her face would return to that familiar, cold, expressionless look, but it only lasted for a moment.

If I had to pick the biggest change, it would be the way she looks at demons.

In the past, if she’d seen Petra surrounded and attacked by people, she would have run over to help without a second thought.

But now, she just stood there and watched like it was only natural.

Only after making a meaningless joke about “keeping it as a debt” did she finally step in to help.

Even after helping, she wore an expression that made it seem like she regretted doing it.

I tried not to think too much about how much Ellen had changed and just kept spending time with her like usual.

Then Isabel approached me.

She dragged me outside, using sparring practice as an excuse, and said something that, honestly, wasn’t all that surprising.

Ellen would probably think we’d gone to get our weapons, so she wouldn’t be suspicious.

“Hey, Theo. Don’t you think Ellen’s been acting really weird?”

“…Why do you say that?”

“We never used to see her in the mornings, but now she comes to school early every day.

She’s got dark circles under her eyes like she’s been up all night, and she looks exhausted.”

“She’s probably just been reading late at night.

Or maybe she’s been crying too much to sleep.”

“After she gets to school, she doesn’t even hang around the Academy like we do. She just disappears somewhere else entirely.”

“Where would she even go? There aren’t many places to hide, are there?”

“I followed her once. She went into one of the old, closed-off buildings.

So I followed her in, calling her name while searching the whole place, but she was nowhere to be found!”

“…Even if you say that, it’s not like we can just confront her head-on, right?”

Isabel let out a sigh, sounding frustrated.

If it were anyone else, we’d probably just go up to them and ask directly.

But even though Ellen spent time with us, it always felt like she had drawn an invisible line between herself and the rest of us.

There was one time someone suggested we all hang out at Ellen’s house.

She practically had a seizure and adamantly refused.

She never visited anyone else’s house, either.

At most, she’d just walk with us around the Academy or go to the shopping district nearby.

That was it.

If you asked me if we were friends, I’d say yes. But if you asked if we were close, I wouldn’t be so sure.

Maybe that’s why I always tried to reach out to Ellen.

Now, it’s the opposite.

Ellen is the one who keeps approaching me to chat.

“You’re right.”

After wrapping up our talk about how strange Ellen was acting, we headed back to the training ground. Through the large, open window, I spotted Ellen and Petra.

It looked like they were talking.

Oddly enough, neither of them were making eye contact. Their mouths were moving, but their eyes were focused elsewhere.

They continued talking for a while, but then Ellen moved so fast it startled me.

In one swift motion, she pulled a pistol from her coat, grabbed Petra by the neck, and shoved her back.

Before I could even process what was happening, she jammed the barrel of the gun into Petra’s mouth.

When people are faced with something they can’t comprehend, their minds go blank for a moment.

Ellen was smart and articulate, but she was slow to act and avoided physical conflict as much as possible.

Yet here she was, subduing Petra like a trained soldier and holding her at gunpoint.

The sight was so shocking that both Isabel and I froze, unable to process it.

“…See? She is acting weird.”

Instead of responding, I grabbed Isabel by the wrist and walked straight into the training ground.

I had no idea what they had been talking about, but by the time we got there, everything had already settled down.

Petra was sitting quietly, far too calm for someone who’d just had a gun shoved in their mouth.

It was as if nothing had happened.

Ellen glanced at me, her face briefly twisted into a cold, harsh expression.

Then, she brushed a hand across the corner of her mouth and smiled like usual.

I approached Ellen, trying not to sound confrontational, and spoke as if I were just curious.

“Uh, hey. Looks like you two were chatting while sparring.”

For some reason, my words didn’t come out right.

I must have been more shaken than I realized.

“We were just having a light chat. But what’s up with you, senior? Why are you stammering like that all of a sudden?”

Did I just hallucinate?

How could she act like absolutely nothing had happened?

“Ah, I was just… having a sparring match with Isabel after a while, so I guess I got a bit… flustered.”

The suspicion in my mind only grew stronger.

Seeing me stammer like that must have been too much for Isabel, because she stomped on my right foot.

“By the way, Theo, Isabel.”

Ellen spoke up, her tone as light as ever.

“I’m planning to rest at home until classes start again.

I think I caught a cold or something—I’ve been feeling a bit tired lately.”

When I tried to respond, Isabel stomped on my foot again before cutting in.

“Ah, yeah! If you’re feeling sick, you should rest! Right, Theo?”

“Y-yeah, of course.”

“Hey, Theo.”

“What now?”

“Go comfort that girl over there.”

Isabel motioned toward Petra, who was sitting by herself, sniffling.

She was probably trying to act like she wasn’t crying, but it was obvious.

I didn’t bother asking if she was okay.

Of course she wasn’t.

I thought about saying something comforting, but I didn’t know what to say.

So, I just sat next to her in silence.

Petra leaned on me for a moment but then suddenly blushed and said she should get going. She quickly left.

Isabel watched me with a teasing grin.

“I told you to comfort her, not seduce her.”

I could see why she’d say that, so instead of arguing, I just kept my mouth shut.

“Anyway, you saw it, right? I’m telling you, Ellen’s acting strange.”

“So, what do you want me to do about it?

Maybe she just grew to hate demons after all that’s happened.”

“You think someone can hate something so much that they stop seeing it as human and start seeing it as a bug or a beast?”

“…No.”

“Then let’s follow Ellen.”

“If that’s what you wanted, you should’ve said so earlier so we could follow her right away.”

“She won’t even let us visit her house. Obviously, we have to follow her in secret!”

Normally, I would have called that idea insane.

But I didn’t hesitate for long.

I nodded and followed Isabel as she walked in the direction Ellen had gone.

Yeah, Ellen is definitely acting strange.

No, she’s changed.