Chapter 132
Chapter 132
I faced the mastermind behind this incident.
I did not avoid Lahan Arsene’s gaze.
‘I assumed they intended to pin everything on Kunking and make him bear all the blame.’
Lahan’s goal with this incident had been to start repression of a particular people and spread hatred and distrust throughout the academy.
I had to stop it here and now.
It was an important moment, so I looked Lahan in the eye and spoke.
“Although it was a drug that forcibly expanded the mana circuits in the body to amplify mana and break physical limits…… I had read that it had the side effect of also unbalancing control of the central nervous system.”
When a strengthening elixir was injected, the inflow of mana into the body surged.
Basic physical abilities rose several times, but the overloaded mana caused a breakdown, and the body’s safety mechanisms failed.
That was why sensory control and rational thought collapsed.
This was the mechanism of the strengthening elixir’s side effects as I knew it.
“It would maximize instinct alone, remove rational judgment, and leave only the urge to attack, turning one into a beast.”
In short, Kunking was in a state where his self-defense instincts had been driven to the extreme.
That had manifested as indiscriminate attacks on those around him.
Lahan smiled briefly and spoke.
“Villed, it seems you understood that exactly; you even looked up papers, so you must have been studying diligently.”
“It was just to kill time in the livestock shed because there was nothing else to do, so I read a paper or two.”
In truth, I had never read Professor Ruber’s paper directly.
I had only used knowledge learned from the game to speak.
“Oh? Is that so? Unexpected talent.”
Lahan turned his focus back to Kunking, using a black translucent barrier to block the barrage of punches.
“In any case, given the situation, we can postpone finding out who injected that student for now; Villed, do you have any good ideas?”
“If the mana circuits in his body were stabilized, he would return to normal; fortunately, I had something with me.”
I put my hand into my coat and took something out.
“……Isn't that just a water bottle?”
Lahan blinked in question.
Yes, it was an ordinary water bottle; but there was something peculiar about it…….
“There’s something inside it…… Is that perhaps Spirit Grass?”
Lahan recognized it immediately.
“Yes, it was a potion where Spirit Grass had been steeped for many years; the butlers insisted I take it, so I brought it from my family.”
“Huh, such a precious thing……”
Lahan gave a short exclamation.
‘Actually, I was lying.’
The water I showed was ordinary water drawn from the tree house well; I had only put Spirit Grass leaves into the bottle.
“So what can you do with this? Force him to drink it? Forcing him to drink seems difficult.”
“You wouldn’t make him drink it; just applying it to the body stabilized mana.”
“……Hmm, just applying it? Will that really work?”
Lahan had plenty of reason to doubt me, since what I had told him moments ago had been a concocted string of plausible lies.
‘But the purification ability is real.’
The effect of water infused with Spirit Grass was a lie, but my spirit familiar, ‘Pau’, truly had purification power.
‘……Lahan would become my enemy someday.’
It would be foolish to honestly reveal to Lahan that I could use Pau’s ability.
Therefore, I had to pretend to purify with Spirit Grass water while actually treating the side effects using ‘Pau’s ability’.
“Shouldn’t we at least try? If the assistant binds his limbs even for a moment, I will apply this.”
“All right, let’s try; but we can’t hold him for long, and be careful of the heat Kunking is emitting; when I give the signal, apply it!”
Lahan made a motion as if to grab the air, and just then his black translucent barrier tightly wrapped around Kunking’s arm.
I let a drop of the Spirit Grass water fall onto my palm.
“Now!”
When Lahan shouted, I placed my wet palm against Kunking’s neck.
And――.
‘Pau!’
A card in my pocket glittered.
The skill read as follows.
Cost 4 — Borrow Pau’s regenerative power for a short time; your exhausted body regained vigor, wounds sprouted new flesh, health recovered, and all abnormal states were removed.
It was the skill that consumed the most cost among my abilities, but even considering that, it was quite powerful.
‘It had even healed Rubin’s long-suffering younger sibling.’
I had been able to cure the Hetarion Black Plague at the Capital Hospital with my ability, though it had required many uses and a great deal of my resources.
So I expected it to work on Kunking as well, and my plan fit perfectly.
“Ugh—!”
When I purified him with Pau’s power, Kunking had a small convulsion.
But as he strained, the black barrier that had restrained his arm shattered, and his arm was freed.
“Villed, evacuate quickly!”
When I hid behind Lahan’s back, Lahan deployed his defensive veil again.
Thud—! Thud—!
Kunking slammed his fist into the veil, but the speed was different from before.
Had Lahan noticed it too?
“Villed, it looks like it’s working; his movements are slowing down, little by little.”
“It looks that way to me too.”
I tipped the water bottle upside down and wetted my palm.
For a moment, Lahan’s gaze flicked to my palm and then back to Kunking.
“……Good. Do as you did before; I will bind Kunking’s arm again — ready — now!”
When Lahan shouted, Kunking’s arm was bound again, and I took that opening to inject Pau’s power into Kunking’s neck.
When Kunking’s arm freed itself again, I hid behind Lahan, and we repeated that several times.
“Villed, good news.”
Lahan wiped the sweat from his brow and spoke.
“Professor Ruber just contacted us and said he had arrived; hold on a little longer! Now, go!”
The suppression of Kunking’s assault had been going smoothly, and Ruber’s arrival would greatly help to contain the blaze; the overall situation was improving.
How many attempts had we made?
When we had repeated it up to nine times.
Kunking’s great, butterfly-like blaze had noticeably diminished.
His entire body moved as if weighted with sandbags, and his movements had become considerably sluggish.
“There’s not much left, Villed! Now!”
As Lahan shouted, I emptied the remaining contents of the bottle onto my palm and threw the bottle to the ground.
‘This is the last one, Pau!’
The moment I placed my water-soaked hand on the back of Kunking’s neck.
Kunking’s body convulsed slightly, then all the flames on his body went out.
His pupils trembled.
“Hu…ugh!”
A moment later, focus slowly returned to his eyes.
But immediately―
Thud!
Kunking fell to his knees and collapsed forward helplessly.
“Huff! Huff…!”
Collapsed on the ground, his eyes were wide open as he gasped heavily for breath.
“…Kunking? Are you conscious? Do you recognize me?”
Lahan lifted Kunking, who had fallen face-first, and carefully laid him down flat.
Kunking stared blankly into the air for a while, then looked at Lahan.
And with difficulty, he opened his lips.
“…Assistant Lahan?”
“Haa… it’s finally over. You have no idea how difficult that was.”
Lahan let out a long sigh of relief and slumped to the floor.
After catching his breath for a moment, he looked at me with a weary smile.
Then he raised his fist toward me with effort.
“Villed, you did well too.”
I gave a faint smile and clenched my fist.
“That’s my line.”
Tap―.
Our fists bumped lightly.
Lahan glanced at the Kunking lying beside him.
“Kunking, you should thank Villed. He happened to have the antidote, and because he applied it several times himself, you were able to regain your mind.”
“……”
Kunking stared at me with disbelief.
Lahan touched his ear and then gave a brighter smile.
“Everyone, I have good news. Professor Ruber has put out the wildfire. Whew… it’s such a relief there were no casualties.”
From Lahan, we heard reports of the situation elsewhere.
That Professor Ruber had extinguished all the flames and restarted protective spells, and that thankfully, there had been no loss of life.
And then, there was the story that couldn’t be left out.
“Kunking, do you remember? Someone must have injected you in the neck.”
“…A mask.”
Kunking narrowed his eyes and bit his teeth hard.
“It was a guy wearing a cat mask.”
Kunking squinted as if recalling something.
It had been nighttime, so he had not seen clearly, and his memory seemed hazy, but according to Kunking’s testimony, the culprit had been a cadet in uniform.
That meant a fellow first-year like us.
“Hmm… I see. So it was a classmate.”
Lahan stroked his chin and nodded.
“Very well. We’ll conduct a detailed interview with the professor after the exam. For now, Professor Ruber has summoned me urgently, so I must go.”
Lahan moved first.
“The exam will resume soon. I wish you both good fortune!”
Leaving those words behind, Lahan departed swiftly.
I sat down, leaning against a nearby tree.
[All the fires on this island have been extinguished. In one hour, the protective spell will be reconstructed. Prepare to resume the exam.]
Before long, Professor Ruber’s announcement resounded throughout the island.
“…Tch!”
Kunking had been glaring at me from earlier, twisting his whole body in an effort to break free, but the outcome had not changed.
“No matter how much you struggle, it won’t work.”
“Shut up!”
Kunking shouted through gritted teeth, but that was all.
Just as I said, his limbs did not move at all.
He could only move his neck slightly.
Due to the side effects of the strengthening elixir, Kunking’s mana circuits were under severe overload.
I had forcibly stabilized his circuits with Pau’s purification ability… but there was a problem.
Normally, injuries that should have recovered slowly over hours had been forcefully restored in just minutes.
Because of that, his neural conduction system and muscular responses had been temporarily disconnected.
Simply put, even though his mana circulation had returned to normal, his body and brain could not exchange signals.
His mind was intact, but his body did not obey him, leaving him in a state similar to partial paralysis.
‘Of course, if he rests well for a few days, he will return to normal.’
How much time passed like that?
[The exam will now resume.]
Just as Professor Ruber had announced.
The protective spell began functioning again.
Looking up, I saw the ring restored above.
My score was still 350 points.
“Damn it!”
Kunking shouted suddenly, and a ring appeared above his head too.
「24,220 points」
Just how many had he taken down…?
I couldn’t help but let out a sigh of admiration.
At that level, he could stay first place even without doing anything until the exam ended.
Perhaps noticing my gaze at his score, Kunking’s expression contorted even more.
He moved his body more frantically, but still couldn’t budge an inch.
From now on, Kunking couldn’t hunt monsters, nor could he injure others to steal their points.
‘Time to do what I came for.’
Tap, tap―.
I rose from my seat and brushed the dirt off my clothes.
Carrying the Heart of Ilawne, I stepped toward the fallen Kunking.
As I approached, Kunking’s expression twisted even more.
“Right… I knew it. You wouldn’t help me for no reason. From the start, what you were after was my score.”
As my steps drew closer, Kunking ground his teeth and glared at me.
“Dedenkman, I never liked you from the beginning. Back then, you couldn’t even look me in the eyes. Too weak to face the strong, you always picked on those weaker than you. That slimy cowardice—typical of the petty habits of those lofty imperial nobles.”
Kunking’s voice grew low and hoarse.
I stopped in front of him and looked down.
“Fine, my score? If you want it, take it, you bastard.”
Kunking glared at me with bloodshot eyes.
“But remember this. Once I regain control of my body, you’ll be the first I deal with.”
“……”
In silence, I stared down at Kunking with cold eyes.
Then, slowly, I raised the Heart of Ilawne.