I took a long sigh while looking at Theodore. It felt like crises were coming one after another, testing in succession.
Perhaps if I followed a religion, I might have prayed to God right then and there.
"God, why are you testing ? Just why?"
However, I had no religion to support in this crisis. I had to get through this with my own hands, whether it worked or not.
"..."
"... Theodore?"
"Ah."
Theodore was strangely looking at my chest. I wondered what it was, and it seed like I looked awkward with the holster around right from the morning.
"I've been worrying a bit too much these days."
"..."
"Odd, right? I did it for nothing."
"It isn't strange."
After saying that, Theodore imdiately turned his head. To be honest, I felt like I was losing my mind too.
It's better to hold on like this.
I quickly put on the coat over my arms so that Theodore wouldn't feel too bothered, and then patted him on the shoulder.
"Let us talk as we go."
Theodore must be anxious now to find out about Arthur.
Although I didn't know his intentions because he had an odd side to him, I have seen enough to know that the two are close friends. Still, Theodore didn't get up until he was urged again.
"Arthur, you want to find Arthur, right?"
"..."
Only then did he lift his ass off the chair and follow . I was a coward who couldn't sleep without a gun, but I wondered what I had to fear when I had Theodore White with , a genius in black magic.
'And I care about Arthur too.'
Arthur, who killed , and Arthur, who didn't want to.
The Arthur I saw that day certainly looked like two souls were fighting in one body.
But, as Theodore said, if among the missing Arthurs, the dangerous one who was a threat to was in charge, then I cannot sleep peacefully.
There isn't much I can do against him, so if he decided to kill , I would be dead.
In that case, there is also a high chance that the current Arthur wouldn't be dangerous, and besides, it is safer for to have Theodore by my side.
"Arma Cruz?"
"Ah, sorry."
Theodore seed bothered by the awkward silence and spoke. I answered, feeling sorry for using him as my bodyguard.
"Of course, you looked in the dorm, right?"
"Yes, there is no sign of him coming back."
"Without asking the student council."
"Arthur is... I don't know what he did."
"Yes."
It made sense that Theodore ca to see . He is the only one who suspected and Arthur of eting. He didn't complain to , but if the student council found that Arthur had disappeared at that ti, wouldn't they get an odd picture?
"That is why he ca on the day of discharge and said sothing gibberish."
"I don't think he did it right."
"I guess so."
Theodore, who reported the disappearance of Arthur, might have actually wanted to ask if I knew where he went. But my condition seed worse than he thought, so he couldn't get himself to ask.
"Well, the places I can guess are the Black Mountain, where the pipes are located, and the caves around."
The place where the academy was built was a large island, about 1/4th the size of the capital. And so, unique features for Aegis Academy erged; there are many places to hide, but escape isn't possible.
There were unique people who would refuse to live in the academy dorms and hide in the forest. I was often called out as a searcher.
'I had no idea that experience would shine this way.'
Theodore hesitantly opened his mouth against the back of my head as he expertly headed towards the path instead of the road.
"Even though I ca here like this, actually, I don't know if we can get help."
It was around the ti when we passed the dorms and stepped into the forest path leading to the back garden of the Wooden Cross class.
I answered Theodore's words.
"Why?"
Even though Theodore is about half a span shorter than , he was following at a fast pace and didn't fall behind.
"I don't know why, but Arthur must have attacked Arma Cruz."
"As I said before, I will not be holding him responsible for anything."
Theodore frowned as if he found my answer strange.
"Then may I ask why you didn't report him?"
"If you ask that, I will have to lie to you, but it is fine."
The biggest crisis facing now is that 'thing without a na.'
Even at this mont, I was doubting my mind.
On the other hand, the fact that all these strange things are happening now is a real danger, and the chance of this ongoing thing not being answered made nervous.
So, I couldn't tell soone what had happened to . If there really is a being that gets stronger the more we think about it and pay attention to it, it will gain strength once I reveal the secret.
Theodore asked back, unaware of that concern.
"Why didn't you report it?"
"It happened because I was making a drinking bet with him."
I couldn't honestly tell him that I needed to hear sothing about the future from Arthur. As part of my ho education, I learned not to tell lies that could be easily caught, so I spoke with half-truth in all.
Theodore, who was following, chuckled.
"I don't know about Arma Cruz, but Arthur cannot drink."
"Ah, that is odd. Does he have beliefs?"
"Belief? It is more like a prohibition."
"Prohibition..."
Although this doesn't apply to ordinary civilians, basically all cadets at the academy have at least one piece of gold. This is just a slight difference.
This was a kind of asure that occurred because each cadet at Aegis was a weapon in the making.
"It looks like his ho education has been strict."
"Yes."
We were searching for a place where Arthur could hide. Theodore seed to think for a mont and then opened his mouth.
"You wonder why Arthur ended up in such a dangerous situation?"
"If it is difficult, you don't have to speak."
"No... Arma Cruz, it is fine, but I cannot hide this from soone who got shot because of Arthur."
I couldn't help but look flustered at his words.
"If Arthur breaks the prohibition, the ntal bondage starts."
"What? Wait, now, what bondage?"
"Right. And the most powerful power of Arthur's prohibition is, 'Do not attack normal people without magic.'"
I was so confused as to where to start questioning Theodore's words.
"ntal bondage, you an that? A curse that activates when the prohibition is broken. It isn't sothing that is easy to do, but the conditions of it are ridiculous."
It is rare to find normal people without magic in this academy, but that isn't the case outside. The vast majority of people on the streets are normal people. If Arthur were sane, he wouldn't attack any such passersby, but accidents occur when the situation isn't normal.
"But... an ordinary person without magic. That is-"
"Arma Cruz."
"This."
This was a horrible thing for . It is true that Arthur put the gun on and tried to kill , but it was difficult to imagine that he did it with the intention of sothing else. Because I was a non-mage with no magic, the gun, which had been avoiding because of his prohibition, ended up pointing at .
"The maybe... Is it too late?"
"Still, he will be fine. It is impossible not to know if Arthur's mind is completely in it or not."
"Why?"
Theodore looked at as if I had to know why, and then he explained again, rembering the conversation we had a mont ago.
"Mind-binding is a spell that is activated to bind the mind of Arthur. So when the magic circle gets activated, magic is used."
"Right, and if that happens, it ans that magic has been detected from Arthur, and so the imprint will be broken."
"Yes. If the binding is broken like that, the student council will be notified, so there will be no way to know what kind of situation Arthur is in or what he turned into."
Through our walk and conversation, we eventually reached our destination: the Black Mountain. Despite its fancy na, Whistle Mountain, none of the cadets bothered to use its official title. I pulled out the gun from the holster, held it in my hands, and bent the barrel to check it.
"But if the mind-binding spell has begun, then isn't it alright to find him now?"
"The education in the academy is truly great."
Such a random thing!
I turned my head toward Theodore. Theodore showed a syringe with a familiar purple liquid.
"Theodore..."
"Uh?"
"No, nothing. You plan to use that on Arthur?"
"Yes. For now, I plan to convince them all that nothing happened."
Even if the situation is that serious, does he intend to use the dicine he made on his friend? I was speechless at this guy's madness. Although I felt scared by Arthur, who shot , now I feel sorry for him.
When I was in that thought,
"I apologize."
Suddenly, Theodore apologized to .
"Uh? For what?"
"Arma Cruz is clearly scared of sothing because of Arthur, right?"
"You can say yes and no."
"I don't know what happened, but..."
Theodore, who was speaking, spoke like sothing was creeping in.
"It isn't that Arthur disliked Arma Cruz; I am sure of that."
"I didn't think that either."
Theodore smiled at those words.
"I hope Arthur gets to hear that, if he is safe."
"He will be safe."
Theodore nodded as if my words were a clumsy consolation to him. But I wasn't trying to comfort him.
I was confident about Arthur being safe.
Because it isn't ti yet.
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