Chapter 41: Chapter 41: Time Bomb
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"…Is that true?"
Eleanor asked with a bewildered voice. Meanwhile, the person who elicited such a reaction merely nodded nonchalantly.
"Yes. The agreement between the Holy Land and Elfante has already been finalized."
Eleanor scanned through the documents handed to her with a puzzled expression.
But Atlante's signature was clearly written at the bottom.
'The Headmistress is not one to agree to such madness.'
As she was in deep thought, she heard the other party's voice again.
"Is there any problem?"
Klein Garrison, the battle priest of the Holy Land, wearing such a nameplate, brightly smiled and asked.
A battle priest wearing purple epaulets was someone of authority and power comparable to that of a platoon leader among regular knights of the Empire.
To think that such a high-ranking individual would be sent as a mere representative of a delegation.
This made the topic he presented even more shocking.
"Are you saying that the Saintess would do such a thing? This is too—"
Inhumane.
It was hard to believe that this was proposed by a religious group.
"Student Council President."
His tone sounded polite.
But underlying this facade was a hidden wickedness that could not really be hidden.
"The Saintess volunteered herself. Is something wrong with it?"
"…"
Who in the world would volunteer for such a thing?
Rather than that, it would be much more fitting to say that she was forced to volunteer.
Suddenly, what Dowd said the other day passed through her mind.
'The Holy Land will probably make ridiculous demands. I don't know the details, but it's a place filled with crazy people, starting with the Pope.'
When she first heard it, she couldn't believe such sacrilegious words.
Treating the continent's largest religious group as villains? That was absurd…
However, now that she was faced with it directly, she couldn't help but have doubts.
Only madmen would make such inhumane demands.
"…"
"Student Council President? This matter has already been decided, so please—"
"Yes."
Being urged, Eleanor, who had her eyes closed in contemplation of Dowd's words, finally gave her stamp and returned the documents to the battle priest.
The other party, who had been preparing to threaten her if their demands were not met, was taken aback when Eleanor complied just like that.
"Is there anything else? I've already dealt with it as you wished."
"…Thank you."
The battle priest, with a dubious expression, scanned Eleanor from top to bottom before finally nodding and leaving the Student Council Office.
Though they had made the request themselves, it seemed like they were surprised at how easily she accepted it. Eleanor smiled and stood up from her seat.
The exam was approaching, and as the Student Council President, she was also a proctor of the exam. She needed to quickly make her way to the exam venue.
"…"
Thoughts were floating around in her head.
It was an undeniably strange proposal. Her usual self would never have accepted it.
Perhaps…
'Let it pass, no matter what they ask for.'
…Even if someone didn't instruct her to do so, it probably would have ended the same.
'Is it so that I can act without any guilt?'
With that thought in mind, Eleanor let out another smirk and gripped her sword.
That man was clearly up to something again.
Already seeing through that the Holy Land was planning to do something in Elfante.
Then…
…All she needed to do...
-Because he's your family.
"…"
Eleanor suddenly paused, remembering those words.
"…If I hear words like that, I can't help but follow."
Anyway, he was a cunning man.
Family, family...
That… should be…
It must be that…
Hmm…
While not entirely certain, nothing else came to her mind.
'…I might have to start making preparations.'
As Eleanor entertained such thoughts, she met eyes with Beatrix, who was entering the office.
"What's up? Going to prepare for the exam?"
"Yes."
Just as they passed each other, Eleanor suddenly turned back toward Beatrix as if something had crossed her mind.
"Oh, right. Beatrix."
"Yeah? What is it?"
"Where should I go to get fitted with a ring?"
"Ring? What ring?"
"…The thing that a man and woman give each other as a token of promise."
Beatrix, who was in the middle of moving documents, fell in her place.
***
Yesterday was nothing short of hell for Yuria Greyhounder.
'Why didn't he come today?'
As soon as she woke up in the morning and realized that there was no one beside her, that was the first thought that crossed her mind.
It was strange. That person would always come in the morning and spar with her without fail.
'…He's probably busy.'
Regardless of anything, that was the most reasonable conclusion. He didn't live in isolation like herself, naturally, he had a life of his own.
After all, he was someone whom even Headmistress Atalante personally cared for and managed.
"…"
She knew that thinking that way was the rational thing to do, more so than anyone else.
However, if the human mind was so easily controlled, then everyone in the world would be living without any worries or anxieties.
'…But what if he's not busy?'
Sinister thoughts always had a way of creeping their way in, and firmly taking root in one's mind.
'What if he's just tired of me?'
The hand that was washing clothes in the nearby stream stopped abruptly.
Her face was reflected in the cold summer water.
But what she saw was the visage of a scruffy woman.
A shabby person far removed from the dazzling and glittering students of the prestigious Academy that she could only view from the window.
"…"
The corners of her eyes drooped, as a gloomy expression spread across her face.
Once the negative thoughts started rolling, there was no stopping it.
'…I'm sure he's fed up.'
After all, who would want to be close to someone who'd start slicing you down as soon as you approached them? What reason would you even have to get close to a mute living a primitive life day after day, hardly better than a savage?
Right, that was probably how it went.
"…"
However, even before falling asleep, she couldn't completely let go of the hope that maybe, just maybe, he would come tomorrow morning.
"…"
However…
…Even when the next day came, the man was still nowhere to be seen.
'…As expected.'
He had gotten tired of her.
There was no reason for him to bother himself with an insignificant person like Yuria Greyhounder.
"…"
Even though she never expected to become friends from the very beginning.
Yeah, that was right, it was supposed to be like this from the beginning. She was just a fool for being excited at nothing.
She would be all alone until her very death.
And as soon as she realized that.
"…Uu."
Beads of tears started flowing down her cheeks.
"Uu, uueu, heueuk…"
The Curse of Severance prevented her from forming coherent sentences.
However, she couldn't suppress the sobbing sound that flowed from her tightly closed lips.
It hurt.
Strangely, her heart truly felt hurt.
She longed to have even a trivial conversation with someone, to break free from her prolonged isolation.
'If it hurts this much, then you shouldn't have ever come.'
What was the point of giving and then taking it all away?
If only she had known.
Just like a blink of an eye.
To suddenly come into her life, take a place in her heart, and then suddenly disappear.
'…I'll do better.'
Such an oath, that she didn't even know who it was for, escaped from her lips.
'I won't bother you, I promise. I'll do anything you ask.'
She didn't even know what she was saying right now.
Amidst her endless sobbing, only such sentences filled her mind.
'Just one more time, please show up.'
This time, for sure.
I won't miss it.
Please.
Anyone, help me.
— Sure.
It was then that a giggling voice echoed in her head.
— You called me first, didn't you~?
It was an ominous voice that sent chills down her spine.
At this, Yuria momentarily halted her tears and hesitated.
'…Just now, what was that?'
Clearly, something had changed within her. She felt that way.
However, she didn't quite understand what it was.
While she was lost in thought...
"…What are you doing?"
This sudden question made Yuria twist in surprise, as she turned to the side.
"Why are you crying? Did anything happen while I was gone?"
And there he was.
A masked man casually asked her that question.
"-…-!!!"
But Yuria cried even louder than before.
Though it held a slightly different meaning than before.
***
In fact, taking Yuria to the midterm exam carried a lot of risk.
First of all, no one was allowed within a three-foot radius of her, and considering her status as a thief who stole the Holy Land's national treasure, it was almost certain that there would be some form of friction if she appeared in the midterm exam and got seen by the Saintess or someone from the Holy Land.
That was why, I mentioned nothing about this to Atalante. She was definitely going to oppose the idea. It was just that much dangerous.
"…"
However, there was a reason why I must take this girl with us.
First of all, clearing Chapter 2 heavily depended on curing the Curse of Severance.
It was no exaggeration to say that how fast one accomplished that determined whether one cleared the chapter or not.
The time limit was at most 5 days from today.
'And…'
If only I could somehow make contact with the Saintess before Chapter 2 began in earnest...
The difficulty level could be drastically lowered.
'The Greyhounder Sisters.'
Apotropaic sisters who were artificially created by the Pope, forcibly manipulating their essence to amplify divine power while suppressing all other abilities.
The Holy Land's national treasure that this guy possessed should have originally belonged to the Saintess.
The reason why she stole and escaped with it was also related to that.
'…Anyway, the Saintess and Yuria must meet each other at least once.'
And the timing for that was just about the midterm exam.
Befitting her reputation, the Saintess was always surrounded by the Holy Land's people. And for one reason or another, this was the only time when the net surrounding her became lax.
If my memory served me right, this should be it.
As long as the worst possible variable I had in mind didn't come into play that was.
"…"
Albeit it had a low probability…
…But if that variable popped out, the difficulty of Chapter 2 would skyrocket to unimaginable levels.
The way one treated Yuria would have to be completely different in that scenario.
But other than that, it was a pretty solid plan.
System Notification
[ Skill: Fatal Charm has been activated! ]
[ The favorability of the target Yuria Greyhounder has been significantly increased! ]
[ Favorability level has been upgraded from Interest Level 1 to Interest Level 2! ]
[ Rewards Available! ]
"…"
Somehow, as soon as I saw this girl, it felt like my predictions went off track.
As I scanned the notification in front of me, I couldn't help but break into a cold sweat.
No, this wasn't like what happened with Eleanor where I knew I did something wrong. Unlike her, I really had no idea how things were unfolding for Yuria. I didn't understand why this message was popping up at all.
"…Uh. Here. Blow your nose. Hmm."
I hung a piece of cloth on a wooden stick and slowly extended it to her side. If I went myself, I would get my ass stabbed instantly.
"So, you weren't in trouble or anything. You cried because you were happy to see me?"
"…"
Yuria just nodded without saying a word.
The movement was so violent that it made a buzzing sound.
"…I couldn't come yesterday because I was busy with some other things. It's not because of any specific reason."
"…"
She started sniffling again, as she wiped away her tears with a piece of cloth.
The look in her eyes seemed to ask, 'Really?'
"Really."
"…"
Only then did Yuria stop sobbing. She blew her nose with the cloth I handed over and took a deep breath to compose herself.
How could things have escalated to this point just because I didn't visit for a day?
Well, she had been living alone for a long time, and loneliness could indeed drive anyone crazy.
"…"
I felt sorry asking this to a kid like this, but.
Time was running out for me.
The exam started tomorrow.
"… Hey, I have a favor to ask-"
[I'll do it!]
Seeing the glowing characters made of divine power appear before my eyes, I was utterly speechless.
She was almost shouting it out.
[I'll do anything, anything at all! Just leave it to me!]
I was taken aback by her almost desperate insistence.
No.
Was this what her character was like all along?
She was always a bit timid, cautious of others, and afraid of losing connections.
But now, should I say...
It was like she was desperately trying not to be abandoned by me.
"…It involves going outside. Are you okay with that?"
[I'm okay!]
Even though it pertained to going outside, which normally evoked her fear, she just accepted it without any hesitation.
Clearly, something was off.
I tried to continue speaking to calm her down a bit.
"Well, there's no need to push yourself too hard. If you're uncomfortable, I can ask someone else—"
But as soon as I said that, a chill ran down my spine.
Even before my sentence had finished, the light in Yuria's eyes disappeared.
[…You, do you hate me now?]
Right now, I was keeping a safe distance from her, more than four steps away.
[Is there any reason? I, really, well, I'll do anything, so please tell me-]
And yet.
System Message
[ A moment of danger has been detected.]
[ Determined the situation as life-threatening. ]
[ Skill: Desperation raised to EX-Grade. ]
Something like this popping out of nowhere made me think of only one possibility.
And the white aura emanating from her sword got me all the more certain.
In general, the color associated with all curse-related items was black.
The same went for her sword attributed with the Curse of Severance. It would emit a black aura whenever she fully wielded it.
But the fact that it was producing a white aura meant only one thing.
'…Devil.'
As I mentioned before, where and how the devil fragments permeated was purely random.
It was capable of attaching itself to people and objects alike.
And even a devil fragment attaching itself to the Holy Land's national treasure was not out of the equation.
The White Devil Fragment.
Known for having the strongest obsession among the devils.
And due to some unknown damn conditions triggering for some reason, there was a situation where Yuria awakened as a vessel.
'…I'm downright fucked, aren't I?'
If this happened, the clear method became extremely narrow.
When the game route got all tangled up like this, some people would just suggest doing a complete reset on the run.
Why?
'They who awaken as vessels begin to be influenced by their devil.'
As one could tell by looking at Eleanor, those who have awakened, even once, as a vessel were going to be influenced by their devil.
Initially, the effect might only manifest in enhanced physical abilities, but soon various other influences would follow.
The problem was that the influence of the White Devil spread rapidly and forcefully to the vessel.
[Why aren't you answering?]
System Notification
[ The favorability of the target Yuria Greyhounder has increased! ]
[ Favorability level has been upgraded from Interest Level 2 to Interest Level 3! ]
[ Rewards Available! ]
Fatal Charm didn't activate. Hell, I didn't even do anything to her.
Yet, her favorability suddenly skyrocketed for some reason.
The Curse of Obsession laid by the White Devil was of this nature. It compelled the target to surrender everything they had without end.
Emotions, rationality, everything.
Until they possessed the one they desired completely.
Even by twisted means, as long as it became true.
I looked at Yuria approaching me with trembling eyes.
Normally, she would avoid getting close to others at all costs, knowing her curse could harm them.
But, right now…
Her eyes were completely hazy. She was obviously not in the right state of mind.
If I hadn't backed away right now, I would have entered her three-step range.
Even now, the Curse of Severance was in effect. If I got closer than three steps, she would swing her sword at me.
In other words.
[…Why are you trying to leave me?]
System Notification
[ The favorability of the target Yuria Greyhounder has changed! ]
[ Favorability level has been upgraded from Interest Level 3 to Interest Level 4! ]
[ Rewards Available! ]
From now on, she would do whatever it took to get closer to me, whether it was psychologically or physically.
'Ah.'
As I mentioned before, it was not an exaggeration to say that the key to clearing Chapter 2 lied in breaking the curse that bound Yuria.
In other words, within the next five days...
I had to break this ticking time bomb of a curse.
Really…
'…This is fucking insane.'
It truly was.
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