Chapter 188
Chapter 188
Last December, one week before the comprehensive examination.
“……Huu.”
Shia took a short breath and lifted her head.
Before her stood a door made of wood.
On the nameplate, it read: ‘Human Body Magical Energy Research, Professor Pascal.’
Shia grasped the doorknob.
If she opened this door, ‘Professor Pascal’ would be inside.
Yet strangely, she couldn’t imagine what he would look like in that room.
…Well, she had never once seen the inside of the laboratory.
Today was the first time she had ever been summoned to this place.
‘Maybe… he’s going to tell me it’s the last surgery.’
She allowed herself to hope. The ‘surgeries’ had always been painful.
She had repeated countless times in her heart that she didn’t want to do it anymore…
But she had never once said those words aloud.
Lost in thought, she turned the doorknob.
Crack—.
Something broke with a hollow sound.
A faint shock traveled through her hand.
Shia slowly lowered her gaze with a sense of foreboding.
“Ah.”
…She had failed to control her strength.
The handle had broken clean off.
This always happened not long after a ‘surgery’ ended. This arm was ‘still’ not completely hers. It was a mistake that occurred before she had fully adapted.
As she stood there, momentarily flustered—
Clank! Creak……
The door opened from the inside.
A brown-haired middle-aged man stepped out and looked down at Shia with an expressionless face.
The badge pinned to his chest read: ‘Professor Pascal.’
And he was both her professor—and her ‘father.’
“I-I’m sorry.”
“It’s an old door. The internal axis was already worn down.”
He spoke calmly and smiled.
“It’s not your fault. Come in and sit.”
He pointed toward a sofa inside the laboratory.
Shia carefully sat down, glancing at Pascal’s expression.
“But… why did you call me here?”
Since arriving at the academy, the only place she had ever spoken with him was the operating room.
Unfamiliar with the situation, Shia absentmindedly fidgeted with the bandages wrapped around her arm.
“There is something I must ask of you. Only you can do it.”
Pascal held out a pouch to her.
When Shia opened it, she saw a green syringe and a note.
Someone’s magical communication coordinates. And instructions to knock out a first-year classmate named ‘Kunking’ and administer the drug.
Shia didn’t bother asking what kind of drug it was, or what its effects were.
…She already knew. At the very least, it was dangerous.
“……”
Cold sweat ran down her spine, soaking into her bandages.
“……Do I really have to do it?”
Her voice came out weak.
“You are hesitating.”
Professor Pascal raised his hand. Shia reflexively squeezed her eyes shut.
But…
Instead of the familiar pain, she only felt a light pat on her head.
“Was he your friend?”
“N-Not really……”
“You must know as well. The Hetarion lineage.”
Of course she knew. A cursed race that could not help but be oppressed.
They were not hated without reason.
The circulation of magical energy within their bodies was faster than that of other races. That rapid circulation forced their sympathetic nervous systems into a constant state of arousal. As a result, the Hetarion lineage struggled to calm their excitement and inevitably developed violent tendencies.
Even the criminal group that had recently been making headlines consisted of members of the Hetarion lineage.
“They lost their homeland to divine punishment and came into this world as refugees, spreading corruption wherever they go.”
There was hatred in Professor Pascal’s voice.
“They involve themselves in vile and filthy deeds.”
He leaned in and whispered low into Shia’s ear.
“That student is of the Hetarion lineage. One day, he will become a criminal. No—he will inevitably take someone’s life.”
Shia’s eyes wavered.
“……You will stop it in advance.”
To condemn someone before they had even committed a crime.
Was that truly right?
“Shia, you will save countless lives. But—”
Professor Pascal’s voice lowered.
“A small sacrifice for the greater good is unavoidable.”
Thump.
Her heart began to race.
At the words ‘small sacrifice,’ Shia felt her breath catch.
“You have a great mission. Do not be swayed by trivial emotions.”
“……”
Her head spun. The wound beneath her bandages throbbed.
“Do you understand?”
At his firm voice, Shia closed her eyes.
…Yes. I am a doll.
A doll that moves only as Professor Pascal—no, Father—commands.
That was how it had always been, and how it would continue to be.
The one who makes decisions is not me, but Father.
Shia cleared her mind and steadied her breathing.
“Yes. I’ll do it.”
She said it with a bright smile.
…And time passed, and now—
Living on this island with Lotti, Shia regretted it.
But she could not defy Pascal’s words.
Even if she turned back time, she would have made the same choice. And she would have repeated the same regret.
‘……Still.’
Pow! Baaang—!
Shia’s fist shattered a monster.
It was not an act of atonement.
There was no way she could atone for something like that with such a trivial act.
…She simply didn’t want to cause any more harm to this island.
She didn’t want to threaten the innocent lives living here.
Above all, not ‘Lotti.’
She couldn’t let the one person she had shared her heart with die.
So—
—Ssssk!
A white snake, nearly two meters long, lunged at Shia.
Boom—!
With a single punch, the snake was split clean in two.
“Anyone who hurts Lotti—”
Her face stained with blood, Shia muttered to herself.
“I’ll kill them all.”
Progress: 18.5%
‘The progress is steadily increasing.’
Even as I ran, I glanced at the hologram and let out a brief exclamation of admiration.
‘It’s going up just from breathing?’
What kind of automatic hunting is this?
Just lying down and watching the progress bar rise wouldn’t have been a bad option either…
—Prrrng~! Prrrng!
“Billet. This deer says, ‘Hurry up and move, you slowpoke.’”
“Yeah, yeah, damn it. I’m going as fast as I can. And that’s pretty rude for a deer whose antlers haven’t even fully grown.”
—Prrrng!
The deer wouldn’t leave me alone.
‘Who would’ve thought Shia was actually out there killing monsters.’
Rapin translated what the deer said.
For some reason, the deer seemed to have grown quite close to Shia.
‘It said to help Shia.’
It was true we were going because the deer asked for help, but I had another purpose as well.
‘I need to see just how strong Shia’s combat ability really is.’
More than anything, I didn’t like the idea of dumping the island’s problems on someone else.
—Prrrng~!
“It says we’re almost there. ……Ah.”
Rapin looked ahead.
—Prrrng!
Where the deer stopped…
‘……A snake?’
The corpse of a white snake was turning into black ash.
Beside it stood someone wearing the academy uniform.
Her face was splattered red with blood, making it hard to tell who it was—but aside from us, who else could be here other than Shia?
“……”
Shia looked back and forth between the deer and us.
“How are you here?”
“‘Help Shia,’ Lotti said. So we came to find you.”
Rapin answered.
The moment the name ‘Lotti’ left Rapin’s mouth, Shia’s eyes widened.
I added a brief explanation.
“Rapin can understand what animals say. Not just vague emotions or nuances—she understands very specific details.”
Shia glared at me.
“Don’t treat me like an idiot.”
“Want proof if you don’t believe me?”
“……”
After studying me for a moment, Shia slowly nodded.
Smirking, I turned to Rapin.
“Go ahead, Rapin.”
“Okay.”
Rapin leaned close and whispered into the deer’s ear.
—Prrrng…… Prrrng…….
“Mhm. Mhm. Ohh.”
After listening carefully, Rapin nodded and opened her mouth.
“It says Shia hugs Lotti every morning and gives her a kiss. It’s already been a month.”
“……!”
Shia flinched.
Her lips remained tightly sealed.
Her face, usually pale as if she were frail… gradually flushed bright red.
—Prrrng…… Prrrng…….
“Mhm, ah. Ah, h-huh…….”
Rapin listened further, and suddenly her eyes shook as if struck by an earthquake.
Had she heard something shocking? She blinked rapidly in confusion.
“W-What did you hear from Lotti? D-Don’t tell me.”
Perhaps sensing danger from Rapin’s reaction, Shia spoke first.
She was visibly shaken.
Her face, once pink, had turned red like a ripe carrot.
—Prrrng?
Only the deer and I remained composed here.
“Rapin, translate.”
“Okay. Yesterday morning, Shia……”
“Eeeek—!”
Shia’s fist trembled violently before she finally—
“St-Stop! I get it, just stop talking!”
“Mmph.”
Shia forcibly covered Rapin’s mouth.
Rapin could only blink, her mouth blocked by Shia’s hand.
“Don’t ever say it. Ever!”
“Mmph, mmph.”
Rapin nodded while muffled.
I didn’t know what Rapin had been about to say, but I didn’t feel like prying into someone’s privacy.
Everyone has one or two secrets they’d rather keep hidden.
“So. You believe it now, right?”
“……Tch.”
Shia bit her lip and glared at me.
But since she didn’t argue, she must have decided to believe it.
“Anyway, as long as you’re not harming the island, I don’t care what you do. We just came because she asked for help.”
“……”
Still covered in blood, Shia continued staring at me silently.
Looking at her like that, it started to bother me.
“Are you going to stay like that?”
“……I’m used to blood.”
That made me snort. I pulled out a handkerchief.
“Used to it, my ass. Here, wipe it off.”
“I don’t need it.”
“It’s not about what you need—you’re bothering us. It smells.”
At the word ‘smells,’ she shot me a murderous glare, but I ignored it.
“Monsters may lack intelligence, but their senses are sharp. They might catch the scent of blood and swarm here.”
“……”
Apparently convinced, Shia avoided my gaze and didn’t argue further.
She snatched the handkerchief from me as if reluctant.
“I’m not going to thank you.”
“I wasn’t expecting gratitude for this. Just wipe it properly so it doesn’t stink.”
As Shia dampened the cloth and wiped her face, I continued.
“I thought it was urgent and rushed over, but it doesn’t seem like a big deal. What are you planning to do now? Keep smashing monsters?”
“……Of course. They’re trying to hurt Lotti. I have to kill them all.”
Shia clenched her fist.
She intended to beat them to death with that fist?
…That’s pretty wild.
‘It would take Rapin and me some time to clear the monsters on our own.’
It wasn’t impossible. It would just stretch the clear time to about two days, which would be a headache.
And you never knew what kind of complications might arise. <Yggdrasil> was a game notorious for its variables.
‘But if we have reinforcement. Especially someone considered among the strongest in our year…’
If Shia joined, the clear would become much smoother.
‘Shia may be a villain I’ll face someday—but for today, I can make her an ally.’
If we were lucky, we might even finish in a single day.
With that thought, I spoke.
“Then our goal is the same. Hey, Shia. This is my island, right?”
“……”
Silence.
She seemed to be gauging my intent.
“As the island’s owner, I agree with you. Anyone harming this place should be driven out. So I’d like to make you a proposal.”
“……A proposal?”
“First of all, you’re smashing monsters indiscriminately whenever you see them. Honestly, that’s a pretty brainless method.”
“……”
Her glare was intimidating, but I didn’t flinch.
“So let’s switch to a smarter approach.”