༺ Desperation ༻
“Yes!”
Iliya, who saw her na on the publicly listed ‘Exchange Student List’, clenched her fist and exclaid with excitent.
Luca, Grid, Falco, Trisha.
When she checked the nas of all her friends lined up together, she smiled brightly again.
It seed that the last few days of hellish training with her friends weren’t in vain.
“With this, we can go together, Trisha!”
“Iliya, I-I can’t breathe!”
Iliya excitedly hugged Trisha from behind, causing her to let out a scream.
However, Iliya didn’t seem to care at all, as she refused to release Trisha from her embrace.
“Thanks to you, I can stay close to Teach too!”
Previously, Trisha had said Dowd Campbell would very likely be on this list, pressuring Iliya into taking the selection test to beco an exchange student.
Not only that, she also told Iliya that if she didn’t go with him, the other girls would continuously support and pester him. She added that if Iliya didn’t want to fall behind, she had to work hard.
Iliya felt like she had made the right decision to follow her friend’s advice.
“W-Wait, Iliya. First, we need to co up with a plan.”
After all, there were many unfriendly nas on the list that was right in front of them.
“…The Student Council President, the person you ntioned… Yuria, the Saintess, and even that mad dog…? Wow, this is going to be interesting.”
Iliya’s expression slightly darkened as Trisha listed off the nas of the selected students.
It was true that normally, exchange students were selected based on their abilities, regardless of their year. However, even despite that, the list felt oddly crowded with freshn.
Generally, the ‘school year’ was the most basic unit to asure the student abilities within the academy.
However, this ti, it felt as if they centered their selection around the ‘freshn.’ Specifically, those people that were related to Dowd Campbell.
“That’s why you need to stay focused, Iliya.”
Trisha said calmly.
“To ta that stud of a man, you need your own special weapon!”
“…Trisha. Aren’t you a cleric?”
‘What’s with her word choice?’
‘How could she call a perfectly normal person a stud?’
“Don’t kid yourself, he’s not a perfectly normal person by any ans.”
“…”
“Try asking anyone in the academy about him. Let’s see if they describe him as such.”
“…”
Even Iliya couldn’t refute that.
“…That aside, what do you an by having my own special weapon?”
“It ans you need so unique charm that other girls can’t replicate no matter what.”
‘Do I have sothing like that?’
‘I an, the reason why I beca extrely depressed a while back was because I didn’t have anything that could be of help to that man…’
“You don’t necessarily have to do sothing. As long as you know sothing about that man that others don’t, you can just start from there.”
“…”
If that was the case, she did have one thing.
Back when Duke Tristan was encroached by an unknown entity and went on a rampage…
That man had confronted a ‘monster’ which form she couldn’t even discern.
In a state where ti had all but stopped, she vividly rembered the figure of Dowd conversing with it as if he ‘knew it well’.
There, he pledged to keep everyone from eting their deaths by ‘sacrificing’ sothing of his own.
‘…I never asked him about it.’
That event definitely wasn’t sothing he could easily tell others.
As such, there was no way that other people would know about it.
“…Hey, Trisha.”
“Yeah?”
“You know, about Teach…”
After getting lost in thought for a while, Iliya suddenly uttered an important point.
“I kinda have this feeling that he’s getting along with sothing extrely horrible.”
“…”
“Can we work out on sothing based on that?”
“…Why don’t we just slowly think about what your special weapon could be for now?”
Trisha was a kind person.
And as a kind person, she couldn’t bring herself to shout at her closest friend to stop saying such nonsensical bullshit.
“…Hm?”
At that mont, Iliya noticed their surroundings turned unusually quiet. She quickly turned her head around.
Only to find out that this phenonon was caused because everyone’s attention was focused in one direction.
And Iliya, who managed to catch a certain soone’s figure in the corner of her vision…
Imdiately understood why this phenonon happened.
‘…She’s incredibly beautiful.’
Such thoughts ca to Iliya’s mind without her realizing.
Her height was so short that she could be mistaken as a kid.
However…
Even in a place where so many people were gathered, the beauty condensed in her appearance grabbed everyone’s attention.
Almost as if…
She wasn’t the ‘sa being’ as others.
As if a whole ‘different existence’ was mixed inside that appearance of hers.
“…”
The student raised her wand silently and dragged it across the nas stuck onto the wall.
And then Iliya instinctively read the na where the wand had stopped.
– 1st Year, Faenol Lipek
She had heard of the na before.
Even with herself being the Hero Candidate, she was only ‘one’ of the strongest of the freshn. And the reason why that was the case was because of this person.
When it ca to magic, she was dubbed as the greatest genius in history. A monster that even Headmistress Atalante claid could surpass even herself in magic.
“…”
‘So, she was that kind of person…’
But that was the extent of Iliya’s impression of her.
Although her appearance stood out, their paths never crossed, so she found no need to care about her.
That was what Iliya had thought.
At least until Faenol, after having checked her own na, frowned while letting out a ‘Hm’.
As if she didn’t see ‘another na’ that she was trying to find.
-…
Soon after, she dragged her wand once again, shifting to the other side of the list.
Then, her pupils relaxed. It seed she had found the person she was looking for.
Iliya also followed her gaze and read the na on the other side.
– 2nd Year, Dowd Campbell.
“…”
‘Wait.’
‘What is this?’
‘This person too?’
“…As expected, he’s there.”
With those words, Faenol smiled.
With a face full of decadent allure, she soon walked away.
Almost as if there was no worth in paying attention to other people now that she had confird that one na.
“…”
Iliya blankly stared at her, jaws agape.
‘Why?’
‘Why on earth?’
‘What has that man been going around doing to tangle with a person like that?’
“…”
While Iliya was still lost in her thoughts…
Trisha spoke with a stiff voice.
“…Hey, Iliya.”
“Huh?”
“Let’s not get involved with that person as much as possible.”
Iliya blinked.
“…What?”
“Promise .”
“…”
At the sight of Trisha’s firm deanor, Iliya nodded reluctantly.
After all, she hadn’t suffered any losses by following Trisha’s advice so far.
Of course, Trisha herself had her own reasons for saying such things.
‘…I can’t see anything.’
There was no trace of any ‘Color of Emotions’ from Faenol.
Regardless of who the person was, it was impossible for soone to not have ‘emotions.’ If such cases were to appear, then from her experience, there was only one conclusion that she could draw.
A dead person.
“…”
Trisha silently stared at the back of Faenol’s head.
However, that woman…
Was undoubtedly alive and moving.
‘…What is she?”
Without a doubt, she was not a normal ‘human’.
With such a deduction, Trisha hid her sweaty palms and gazed at Faenol moving further and further away.
As I looked down at the ring on my finger, I gulped.
This was only a temporary asure.
I had requested Eleanor, who was happily bouncing around, not to publicly announce our ‘engagent’.
We promised to not let it be known at least until graduating from the academy.
After all, if rumors happened to surface, I would be done for.
“…Indeed, it would only influence you negatively if it beca known that you, with your current status, are engaged to a mber of the Duchy.”
Fortunately, Eleanor also understood where I was coming from. In essence, for now, I barely managed to suppress the bombs that would have inevitably exploded when it ca to relationships with other Devil’s Vessels that would co in the future.
“…”
However, the bomb right in front of my eyes had not been defused yet.
I glared at the ticking tir with bloodshot eyes.
!!!!!!!!!!! Devil Alert !!!!!!!!!!!
[ ‘Devil-Related’ Ergency Event Occurred! ]
[ This is a critical event! ]
[ If you do not take the correct actions within the ti limit, you will de! ]
[ Event related to target ‘Yuria’! ]
[ Find a way to survive! ]
System ssage
[ Ti Remaining ]
[ 9: 22: 33 ]
No matter how much I racked my brain, I couldn’t find a way to survive.
What the fuck did it an by ‘correct actions?’
In Eleanor’s case, whether it was the Grey Devil or herself, they were both purely filled with favor for . As such, simply accepting her feelings and returning them properly was enough to solve the problem. However, for this particular case, I didn’t have a clue.
[By the way, is there a reason for you to be so anxious about that lady? Isn’t her strange curse being suppressed with the circlet?]
“…I’m not anxious about her, but the one inside her.”
As Caliban had said, Yuria was not a huge problem.
However…
When it ca to her, if this kind of window popped up, it was highly likely that the White Devil would go berserk and co find .
[What?]
“There’s a lunatic that would go berserk as soon as she sees an accessory that she ‘hasn’t seen before’.”
[…]
“If it’s one that was given with ‘affection’ by soone other than her, her insanity would increase by twofold.”
There was a reason why she was dubbed as the Devil of Obsession.
The White Devil’s ability to collect information about the target she was interested in was at an unbelievable level.
It could seem like the solution was to just avoid her without being noticed.
However, the problem was that Yuria was a Vessel that had her Corruption Value automatically increase if she stayed apart from for at least two days. Moreover, if she herself felt that she had been apart from for too long, she would aggressively look for .
And, if my mory was correct…
Because of the incidents with Riru and Eleanor, she and I had been separated for at least three days.
This ant that the ti limit was the period of ti until Yuria would set foot in my room.
And the mont she entered my room and saw this ring…
“…”
The outco was written on this system window.
I would die.
But this ti, I really didn’t know how to finesse out of this…!
“…Within nine hours, at least sothing…”
While muttering as such, I got up from my seat.
If it was a plan, I could roughly sketch it out in my head.
Considering Yuria’s routine these days, she was probably working hard right now with Lucia to release her curse. This ti limit probably signaled that she would co after finishing that matter.
If that was the case, what I needed to do was…
Within the remaining ti, I had to devise the optimal condition by taking into account all three manpower and resources arou–
[…You know…]
Right as I was about to continue such thoughts…
I heard Caliban’s voice.
[Don’t you think you’re acting too leisurely for now?]
“Huh?”
[If your words are true and that Devil has trendous prowess in gathering information, don’t you think she’d sohow be able to find out about this without eting you in person?]
“…What do you an?”
[I don’t understand on what basis you think that the lady will co to find you after exactly nine hours.]
Caliban spoke with an incredulous voice.
[Soone is coming in the corridor right now. A woman.]
Chills ran down my spine.
As I turned my gaze urgently towards the door, I could actually hear soone’s footsteps.
Though, thanks to Da Ophelia’s temporary repair of the door, I couldn’t see who was on the other side.
As I stared in that direction completely frozen, I could hear soone knocking on the door.
“…Mister Dowd.”
It was Yuria.
Sweat dripped down my face.
“Are you inside? There’s sothing I want to ask you.”
“…Uh, Yuria. I’m sorry but I’m a bit busy right—”
“…Why?”
Her voice sounded as calm as usual.
However, sothing felt different.
Normally, if she said sothing like this, she would only inquire about the reason with genuine curiosity.
But now…
I could feel sticky and viscous emotions underlying her sentence.
“Why are you busy?”
“…”
“Please tell . Why are you busy?”
“…Well, you see…”
“I saw the President at the Student Council Room earlier. I happened to see her by chance while walking through the corridors of Garrison Hall.”
My heart dropped.
By the way, Garrison Hall was the na of the building where Yuria and Lucia were always sticking together.
It was a distance away from that place to the Student Council Room. So far away that it would be difficult for them to even notice each other.
However…
“…She was wearing a ring on her finger.”
Yuria accurately said such a sentence.
“…”
At that distance, Eleanor would almost look like a dot.
Yet, she ‘accurately’ noticed the ring on her finger sohow.
Even if it was the White Devil who boasted an almost supernatural ability when it ca to gathering information about the target of her obsession, this was way too—!
“But as soon as I saw that…”
The chill in Yuria’s voice thickened even further.
“Strangely… Strangely, you see. It felt like I should imdiately co to find you.”
Before I knew it, I had taken a step away from the door.
I haven’t even seen her directly yet.
“I. Continuously. Hear. Voices. In. My. Head. Continuouslycontinuouslycontinuously.”
Then…
With a Crack…
The entirety of the temporarily repaired door twisted.
Yuria, standing on the other side, had struck it with her fist.
“It said. It said. Mister Dowd would leave . That you would. That you would. Form an eternal love with soone else.”
Crack.
The door spat out fragnted pieces and its shape beca even crumpled.
“You’re not, right?”
Again, Crack.
She peeled off the entire plywood, creating a ‘gap’.
And through that gap…
Both of Yuria’s hands ca in.
With a screech, that gap grotesquely widened.
From the cracks of the broken door, I could see Yuria’s face.
Her eyes were completely blank. The face that always let out a faint smile at was now expressionless.
Not only were her pupils white but also her hair was dyed in the color of the Devil she was fused with.
A white aura that seed to freeze the entire surroundings spilled out from her whole body.
[You’re not, right—?]
Instead of a ‘voice’, ‘text’ flowed out.
The aning was crystal clear.
The ‘evil aura’ entrenched in her body was getting stronger to the point where even the Starsteel Circlet she wore couldn’t suppress it.
System ssage
[ Corruption Value of target ‘Yuria’ is about to exceed 100%! ]
[ Confird details regarding change in progress! ]
[ Ti limit will be changed! ]
!!!!!!!!!!! Devil Alert !!!!!!!!!!!
[ Ti Remaining ]
[ 9: 17: 19 ] → [ 0: 00: 30 ]
“…”
‘System, you motherfucking piece of shit.’
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