Who hid My Corpse!

Amiya lay on the table, her eyes tightly closed.

Then, a flawless Silver Needle pierced her delicate skin.

A few seconds later, it was pulled out.

The part where it had entered had turned black, and the blackness was spreading upward at a visible rate, quickly dissolving the Silver Needle into grains of dust that merged with the air.

Seeing this, the middle-aged woman holding the Silver Needle clicked her tongue softly and immediately raised her Magic Wand, muttering twice, causing the blackness to stop its erosion.

"You see," the woman turned around, looking at the young girls behind her with worried faces and spoke indifferently, "the limbs of a Moderation Worm, the glands of poison dart frogs, the venom of a three-step snake, I can identify three kinds of poison, and they are all the deadliest. It's like they really wanted her dead. Didn't she feel anything wrong when she was drinking?"

"No, not at all," Amiya's companion asked anxiously, "Professor Adelle, is Amiya still..."

"She's beyond help, dead for good." Adelle's calm words immediately stifled the remaining words of Amiya's companion, "It's too late. She was brought here too late; her body was cold. What was there for me to save?"

With these words, everyone present fell into Silence.

They were all people who had been in the great hall when Amiya collapsed, including Hewinia.

They looked at Amiya, who had just been laughing with them not so long before, and now permanently separated from them, everyone's expressions were complex—mostly shock and fear. Amiya's two companions seemed unable to accept the fact and burst into tears immediately.

But Adelle showed little emotion, casually tossing the Silver Needle into the trash can, glanced at what was now only a corpse, and then asked, "Let me guess, was she invited? To form an orchestra, and for Inner Song, wasn't it?"

This statement made all the girls present pause.

"Professor Adelle, did you know Amiya?"

"Of course not, she's not one of my students," Adelle said indifferently, "It's just that I've seen this kind of thing a lot of times 20 years ago."

...A lot of times 20 years ago?

The girls looked somewhat bewildered.

"The quotas for Inner Song are fixed at every grand ceremony, competed for by the three major academies," Adelle continued casually while packing up, "If someone could get in, someone had to be pushed out. Those who couldn't make it would figure out how to force their way in. See, this is one of the ways, and it's the most straightforward."

Through murder to take a spot?

All the girls present were full of surprise and fear, seemingly not expecting such a tactic.

Immediately, Amiya's companion followed up, "So, the person who poisoned Amiya was from the same musical scale as her, the competitors who were pushed out by Amiya?"

"But there are a hundred people with the same musical scale as Amiya!"

"Not everyone is qualified to compete with Amiya, at least the timbre has to be similar."

The girls immediately started arguing, and one girl, pointing at another, excitedly exclaimed, "Her! She's the Fifth Note!"

And immediately pointed to another.

"And her, she is too!"

"Are you out of your mind? A third of the students in the academy are Fifth Notes! Are you saying everyone is a murderer!"

"But you were at the scene!"

"I don't even know her!"

The argument quickly escalated into a quarrel.

During the exchange, Adelle just watched quietly, saying nothing.

Until her gaze landed on the only person in the room who hadn't said much, and then she slightly raised her eyebrows, surprised.

"Hewinia?"

One name instantly quieted everyone present.

Seeing that Adelle had noticed her, Hewinia stood up, very cleverly saying, "Professor Adelle."

"You also returned to school so early; I thought you would go directly to the second academy after Seven Notes·Syllable," Adelle slowly approached Hewinia, "Alright, you're not involved here; I'll take you out first."

As Adelle led Hewinia about to leave, the remaining girls subconsciously asked, "What about us, Professor Adelle?"

"You?" Adelle looked back at them and said indifferently, "Stay here, wait for me to come back to do trace testing to see who the poisoner was."

Amiya's companion opened her mouth and then pointed subconsciously at Hewinia, "But why doesn't Hewinia need to?"

"Because she's a Golden Note." Adelle said, "Any more questions?"

And like that, Adelle took Hewinia out of the room.

Hewinia spoke to Adelle, "Professor Adelle, actually, I could stay to do the trace testing too."

"No need." Adelle said calmly, "Everyone here knows you're the only person without any suspicion."

Hewinia replied with an "Oh," and then continued walking with Adelle, always struggling not to sneak glances at Adelle, looking like she wanted to say something but hesitated.

Naturally, Adelle noticed this and said indifferently, "If you have something to ask, just ask directly."

Hewinia, like a startled rabbit, trembled slightly and then carefully asked, "Professor Adelle, you mentioned earlier that this kind of thing happens every grand ceremony, is that... true?"