HARRIET

I HONESTLY had no idea what happened. Throughout the trial, Morrie got a smug look in his face. I was hoping to wipe that off by convincing the jury that we're not as guilty as how the Moriartians wanted to make it appear. But someone or something beat me to the punch. Even he was taken aback na nagbago ang isip ng kanilang House leader.

One moment, the Moriartians were trying to drive us into a corner. The next moment, they decided to walk away and pretend that everything's okay. I looked at them curiously after they had made the motion. Ang gulo, 'no?

But I wouldn't lie. I was somewhat relieved na hindi itutuloy ang complaint laban sa amin. Dagdag pa kasi 'yon sa mga iniisip ko. Ayaw kong magkaroon ng derogatory record sa university. Hindi lang dahil madi-disqualify ako sa Quadetective Tournament, pero dahil pangit 'yon sa student record ko. Imagine if my future employer would find out that I was involved in trespassing, illegal detention and attempted robbery. They might reject my application.

With that out of the way, I could focus on my studies and my preparation as the Holmesian champion for the tournament. Kahit c-in-laim ng House Moriarty na ninakaw ang mga blackmailing material sa kanilang Manor, we couldn't be a hundred percent sure that they're telling the truth. Just to be safe, my competent seniors deemed it best to let a junior be the representative.

Oh, how about my own blackmail? I didn't care at all. Kung meron man silang hawak laban sa akin, ilabas nila. Be my guest. I was confident that I had done nothing embarrassing that would make me hide myself from the world once exposed. If they wanted to put me to shame, they got to try harder. Pero ibang usapan na kapag may inilabas na edited photo or video. That wouldn't be fair game to me.

And so, my mentor and I decided to meet me in our House's war room. Our council officers usually held their meetings here about various competitions in the university—the Quadetective Tournament included. May mahabang wooden table sa gitna na pinalilibutan ng upholstered chairs. May transparent glass board sa isang side. May cabinet din na puno ng iba't ibang board games—chess, backgammon, game of the generals, etc.

Strangely, only a man wearing black vest over white longsleeves was inside. My eyes roamed the room. An inverness cape was hanging on the backrest of a chair. A cat was also licking its paws on top of the table. Was I too early or were the others late?

"Good afternoon," I greeted hesitantly as my gaze darted around. "Where are the others? I thought kasama ang House game master?"

"I asked them to leave us alone here." Roanoke glanced at me over his shoulder. This was the first time that I had seen him not wearing his trademark cape. Hindi mainit sa loob dahil fully air-conditioned ang Holmesian Hall kaya hindi niya kinailangang hubarin 'yon. But maybe he felt more comfortable without it. "Too many cooks spoil the broth. There shall only be one chef here. And that's me."

"Okay." Our House leader must have given him a lot of leeway to make such decisions. I couldn't not help but wonder why he was so keen in mentoring our House champion—which happened to be me. Meron na nga siyang case na iniimbestigahan 'tapos dinagdag niya pa 'to sa schedule niya. Alam kong kaya niyang mag-multitask, but shouldn't he focus on the investigation that mattered more than this petty contest among the Houses?

"Congratulations, by the way," he added, clapping slowly. "You've walked out of that mess unscathed."

"Thanks to House Moriarty, I guess?" I scoffed. Muntik na akong masuka nang sabihin 'yon. I never thought the day would come that I'd thank them, even as a joke. "Kung natuloy ang complaint at nahatulan ako, baka ibang Holmesian na ang kausap mo ngayon."

"I don't think so."

My left eyebrow crept up. "Huh?"

He paced back and forth in the room, his hands stuffed in his pockets. "The jury won't find you and the two others guilty despite the evidence and testimonies presented by House Moriarty. So you will walk out of that mock courtroom still with a clean record."

"How do you know?" My eyebrows furrowed. He knew something that we didn't. "Hindi ka naman part ng jury. Hindi mo rin siguro kilala kung sino-sino ang pitong 'yon."

"I may not know them personally, but I know how they think. In hindsight, House Moriarty withdrawing their complaint is way better than the jury handing out a not guilty verdict. The former will only pique our curiosity on why such move was made while the latter may spark a controversy."

"You're not the one who made them withdraw the complaint, are you?"

"I already have too much on my plate right now. The investigation. The mentorship. Besides, I'm confident about the not guilty verdict so there's no need for me to intervene. Well, I could. But fortunately, I didn't have to do anything at all. Someone or some people have intervened in the complaint. You should be thanking them instead."

Right. There's no way those Moriartians would just have an epiphany and change their minds at the last minute. Kung tama ang hinala ko, maingat nilang pinagplanuhan 'to kaya sayang na sayang kung iuurong nila. The cost must have outweighed the benefits, that's why they had to let it go.

"Speaking of the investigation, how is it going?" I folded my arms across my chest, following him with my gaze. "So far, wala pa namang ulit nagtatangka sa buhay namin, at mukhang wala pang nag-attempt ulit sa buhay ng chancellor. But we can't rest easy until the man behind those incidents is identified and captured."

"It's going very well," tugon niya. Akala ko'y may idaragdag siya o i-e-elaborate pa niya kung bakit maganda ang takbo ng imbestigasyon, but he didn't. Ang tipid ng kanyang sagot.

"Can't you tell me anything about it? Para at least makapag-prepare ako?"

He came to a halt and looked me straight in the eye. "My advice is you focus on the tournament. I know that you and your buddies are curious. Surely, you four also wanna know the truth. You may be even tempted to launch your own investigation."

Talagang mate-tempt kami lalo na't damay kami roon. Hindi rin kami mapapakali kung maghihintay kami ng official update. Mas mabuti na ring kami ang makaalam kaysa malaman namin mula sa iba.

"But don't trouble yourself with it," he added, resuming his pace. "Leave it to me. I'll have that person identified soon enough."

"We can't just leave it to you—"

He sighed so loud, I had to hold my tongue. "You'll only get in the way if you stick your nose into something you're not supposed to. Leave it to the adults. It's already taken care of, okay? Just a matter of time before the truth comes to light."

Sandali kaming nagkatitigan bago ako kumalas ng tingin. There's no point in trying to argue with him. He would only insist that he's the only one who could solve that case and we should put our faith in him. But he's gravely mistaken if he thought that I would just sit here and do nothing while there's a threat in my life.

"Fine!" I raised both of my hands in surrender and breathed a long sigh. "We shall leave it up to you. You're more experienced than us anyway."

"You won't sneak behind my back to investigate on your own?"

"Why will I? Ipinauubaya na nga namin sa 'yo, 'di ba? Case closed."

He stopped dead in his tracks again, his eyes narrowing into slits at me. "You're only saying what I wanna hear to end our conversation on that matter. But you'll still try to investigate, won't you?"

"Wala ka bang tiwala sa 'kin?"

He let out a chuckle. "We're both Holmesians. We're both stubborn. We won't take a no for an answer. We won't leave a case unclosed."

My lips twisted into a smirk. Alam naman pala niya. "We're cut from the same cloth after all."

"Bahala na nga kayo." Umirap siya sa akin. "Investigate all you want, but don't expect me to share any information with you."

Luckily, he didn't have a monopoly on information, so his refusal to share didn't concern me at all. Kung hindi niya ibibigay sa amin, hahanap kami ng ibang mapagkukuhanan.

"Let's talk about the tournament, shall we?" I changed the topic. "'Yon naman ang ipinunta natin dito sa war room."

"Let's." Roanoke stood in front of the glass board. May kinuha siyang pen sa gilid nito. "First, do you have any idea what you're getting into?"

Umupo ako sa upholstered seat na pinakamalapit sa kanya at napangalumbaba sa mesa. "Kinda. I read some old articles about it on The Sentinel. I have more or less an idea on what to expect."

"Good, but I'll refresh your memory." He drew a large perpendicular at the center of the board, effectively dividing it into four parts. "Pinaninindigan ng Quadetective Tournament ang root word nito na quad. It's a competition among the four Houses that only occurs every four years. But there's more! There are four stages in the tournament that you have to overcome if you wanna be the champion."

I also read that the four stages would change every season. Nagmimistulang surprise ang bawat game dahil on the spot ang pag-reveal sa challenges. There's really no way for anyone to prepare for them.

"Since three seasons have gone by, we can try to predict what types of challenges will be included in this year's tournament," he added. "No'ng panahon ko kasi, dalawa pa lang ang seasons kaya hindi reliable gamitin ang available data for prediction. You're lucky that we have sufficient info to guess what the games may be."

Natahimik muna siya habang nagsusulat sa bawat quadrant. He scribbled so hurriedly, his handwriting was almost unintelligible. I tried to read them with my squinted eyes.

"Of course, they're not in order." Roanoke turned to face me as he jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "I have a good reason to believe that the challenges will revolve around them. How? Each features a strength that each House embodies."

"I get what you mean." I bobbed my head slowly. "Teka, do you know kung sino-sino ang nag-iisip ng mga game para sa tournament? Kayo-kayo rin bang alumni na sumali na dati? I remember the day I met Morrie's brother. Ang sabi niya sa amin, pinapunta siya sa university para i-consult."

"There's a special group of game masters on campus. Only a handful of people know this—and I believe there's no harm in telling you—they're called Aediles. They also invited me for consultation, but all I gave were suggestions on how to make the games more exciting and challenging. Unfair kung kami-kami rin ang magbibigay ng challenges."

I hadn't heard of the term Aediles before, except in Roman history books. Hindi ako aware na may gano'ng grupo pala rito. Their existence must be top secret, only a few people knew about them.

"I heard from an unimpeachable source that there's gonna be a twist in this season."

Twist? Naningkit ang mga mata ko. "A source? Isa ba sa Aediles na nabanggit mo?"

"Expect that the twist has something to do with unity." He made some air quotes in the last word. Hey, he outright ignored my question! "The university has been going about it for weeks. Your island activity was an attempt to see if it would work. It somehow did."

Baka naman gawing magkakagrupo ang apat na representative para maging symbolic? But where's the sense of competition in that arrangement? Mawawalan ng saysay ang salitang tournament sa Quadetective Tournament kung magkakampi kaming lahat.

"Hindi ba ni-reveal sa 'yo ng source mo kung ano'ng twist?" tanong ko.

He shook his head. "I tried to make him spill the beans, but he wouldn't budge. He wanted to make it fair and square to every House involved. Basta masu-surprise daw tayo. Tch. I hate surprises."

If that person hinted as much, he should have gone all in and revealed the twist. Parang siya 'yong tipo ng taong nagsabi na may tsismis siya, pero ayaw pa niyang ibulgar agad. May pa-suspense pang nalalaman.

"Anyway, let's discuss the possible challenges." Roanoke knocked on the first quadrant. "During my time, we had to solve a murder on a ship. If no one figured out the murderer before the ship arrived at the dock, the four of us would get zero points. Fortunately, I managed to solve that case, giving me a lead over the three."

"How about in the two seasons before?"

"The first season had the representatives trapped in a mansion. The second had them trapped in a train. Almost the same mechanics applied. May time limit na kailangang i-beat."

That's our turf as Holmesians! So it's safe to assume na ilalagay rin kami sa isang lugar at may kailangan kaming i-solve na mystery. That's going to be a piece of cake for me.

"Next." He knocked on the second quadrant right next to the first. "A social deduction game. You're familiar with Werewolf and Mafia party games? Parang gano'n din ang challenge na 'to. In my batch, we had to identify who was being impersonated by another person."

Disguise and acting, huh? Mukhang magkakaroon ng edge ang Adlerian representative dahil mas gamay nila ang gano'ng talent. I was not that good with disguise, pero baka pwede kong bawian sa ibang aspect.

"Next." He knocked on the quadrant below the first. "Codes and ciphers. The mechanics are pretty simple. Just solve one code after another. Ang magiging challenge ay ang format nito. Noong ako, nagmistulang Amazing Race ang stage na 'to dahil kinailangan naming pumunta sa iba't ibang lugar na ire-reveal ng code. We had an instant tour of the city!"

And that's for the Watsonians. They surely got an edge on that one. I could do fairly well with codes and ciphers. Hindi ko hahayaang mangulelat ako.

"Last. He knocked on the fourth and final quadrant below the second. "Catch me if you can. The other three challenges will test your detective skills. The fourth one will test your criminal mind skills. I got to think like a thief and find an escape route during our season's challenge. Dito ako naungusan ni Arturius kaya siya ang nanalo."

So that's for the Moriartians. I wouldn't be surprised if they aced that challenge. Utak kriminal kasi ang ilan sa kanila. Mahihirapan ba ako roon kung sakali? Hindi. It would all boil down to strategies. As long as I could read a situation well, I would be able to come up with a plan.

"So those are the four types of challenges," Roanoke said as turned his back on the glass board, facing me. Lumapit sa kanya ang alaga niyang pusa at tumalon sa kanyang balikat. He rubbed its chin gently. "We don't know yet how the twist will affect these stages or if the Aediles will shake things up by choosing other categories. Do you seriously wanna win?"

What kind of question was that? "Of course!"

"Then you have to take my advice seriously." He averted his gaze as if he was reminiscing a fond memory. "I've been there, I've done those challenges. So I have a better grasp of this tournament."

"May I ask something?"

He returned his gaze to me. "Yes?"

"The reason why you're so obsessed with this tournament . . . does it have anything to do with avenging your loss?"

"What?"

"Mentor ng House Moriarty representative ang taong nakatalo sa 'yo." Napakumpas ang isa kong kamay. "Kung iisipin, parang magkalaban ulit kayo, pero hindi direkta this time."

"Do you think I'm that petty?" He threw his head back and roared in laughter. "No, Harriet. You have to win. You have to be the champion of the tournament. Everything relies on your victory. That's why I'm giving you everything that I've got."

Everything? My victory? Parang ang bigat ng responsabilidad na ibinibigay niya sa akin? Alam kong malaki talaga ang nakasalalay sa gaya kong House representative, pero parang hindi kasing-laki at kasing-bigat ng ipinapahiwatig niya. All I wanted was to show the Moriartians and everyone else that House Holmes is the superior one.

I wanted to press on, but I feared that he would only deflect the question. Anyway, I would find out this tournament's importance in the grand scheme of things.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

The Quadetective Tournament is about to begin!

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