Chapter 27
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: An Unseen Infection
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"...I think I must have misheard you."
"You heard me correctly."
"You found a trace of a demon? When?"
"To be precise, it was three days ago, after dinner. Around seven o'clock. I was sparring with a classmate at her request. During the duel, her power suddenly surged."
Ruina answered calmly.
"Who was it?"
"Bella Hohen."
"Second-year, Knight Department, ranked 19th. The daughter of Viscount Hohen. A wealthy family."
The Hohen Viscounty held rich territories and was one of the Golden Turtle Merchant Guild's major clients.
"What do you mean, her power surged?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. Not just her physical strength, but the amount of her aura momentarily increased."
"That's not enough to go on."
*Tap, tap.* Pernyan's fingers drummed on the armrest.
"Any change in her appearance?"
"None."
"She wouldn't be taking drugs during a spar, so it was likely the effect of an aura cultivation technique."
"Are you suggesting I was mistaken?"
"Could you have been overwhelmed by the gravity of the word 'demon'?"
"I felt a momentary trace of demonic energy."
"...Well, that changes things."
Pernyan uncrossed his legs.
"Any other witnesses?"
"No. It was just the two of us in the training hall."
"Are you sure it was demonic energy?"
"It was an incredibly faint presence, and it lasted for only an instant, but its unique malevolence is not easily forgotten. Of course, I cannot be absolutely certain."
Ruina's voice trailed off slightly, a hint of her own doubt remaining.
"As I understand it, Bella Hohen is your friend. One of your two closest companions, along with Aina Lium."
"...How do you know that?"
"That's not what's important. I'm asking if you might be overreacting. Precisely because she's your friend, you're more anxious."
"...Honestly, I can't say you're wrong."
Ruina couldn't be sure if what she felt was truly demonic energy.
It was too faint, too fleeting, and there was absolutely no reason for her friend, Bella Hohen, to make a pact with a demon.
"Bella is a diligent student. She's always dedicated to her classes and training, loves books, and frequently visits the library and bookstores."
"And?"
"I looked up demons in the library, and I read that they prey on vulnerabilities of the heart. But Bella is always cheerful and has a good relationship with her family. I can't imagine how she could have ever come into contact with a demon."
Nevertheless, having witnessed Verian's case and knowing that demons were once again revealing themselves in the world, Ruina had come to Pernyan.
She wanted to be certain. Because she didn't want to believe it.
"Tell me exactly what happened."
"...It was like this."
***
That day had been no different from any other.
"Ruina!"
She attended her classes as usual, and they ended as usual.
"Are you up for a spar today?"
"Anytime."
And so, she sparred with her friend. It wasn't a frequent occurrence, but it wasn't exactly rare, either.
"It'll be different today."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. I can really feel myself getting stronger lately."
In the training hall designated for student spars, Ruina and Bella faced each other, swords drawn.
They wielded real swords, not wooden ones, and wore armor for safety.
"You brought a safety scroll, right?"
"Yep."
Safety scrolls were necessary for duels with real swords. They would activate a magical barrier if an impact exceeded a certain threshold.
"I'm coming at you."
Bella's grip on her sword tightened. Her blade was a Zweihänder, as long and massive as she was tall.
It was the perfect sword for her, a practitioner of a style that relied on weight and power to overwhelm opponents rather than on nimble thrusts and slashes.
The massive Zweihänder began to cleave through the air.
Instead of dodging the approaching sword, Ruina met it head-on.
*Clang—!*
'Her strength...?'
A heavy impact traveled up her sword.
It was different from before. Her friend's blade was heavier, more powerful.
Realizing Bella hadn't been lying when she said she could feel her skills improving, Ruina's gaze grew more serious.
*Screech—*
She twisted her wrist, deflecting the Zweihänder. Just as she was about to strike the wide-open gap, Bella quickly retreated.
'Fast.'
It wasn't just her strength. Her speed was different, too.
A brief moment of peace followed the initial clash.
"How was that?"
"...You're definitely different from before. Heavier, and faster."
"I knew it, right?"
Bella beamed.
"Lately, I feel like I have better control over my body. Like I'm overflowing with energy? It feels even better hearing it from you."
She readied her stance again.
"Here I come again."
"Right."
*Clang—!*
Sword met sword.
There was no sense of testing the waters. Bella went all out from the start, and Ruina had to match her.
*Boom—!*
A shockwave erupted. A faint aura enveloped Bella's Zweihänder.
Instead of being flustered, Ruina met it by honing her own blue aura.
'I can't win with brute force.'
Bella's aura cultivation technique was, by design, focused on physical destructive power to complement her swordsmanship. A head-on clash was a bad move.
Amidst the storm of sword strikes, Ruina calmly deflected them.
"That's Ruina for you!"
With a short exclamation of admiration, the force behind the sword doubled. As her wrist and arm began to ache, Ruina felt that even deflecting had its limits.
*Kagagak—*
Parrying the sword, she kicked Bella in the abdomen. As her friend staggered back a step, Ruina closed the distance.
The massive Zweihänder was effective for destructive swordplay that utilized its weight, but its size was a clear disadvantage in close-quarters combat.
But in that instant.
*Clang—!*
The cumbersome Zweihänder twisted at an unnatural angle, blocking the space between them.
Ruina's sword vibrated violently as shattered fragments of aura scattered in all directions.
The powerful shockwave forced Ruina back.
"How...?"
This was different yet again. Her aura, in particular, felt wilder, stranger. Unsettling, yet somehow familiar.
'It's like...'
"You won't get me that easily!"
A crimson aura surged, enveloping not just the sword but Bella's entire body.
Ruina's train of thought was broken. The strangeness she had felt for a fleeting moment was gone, perhaps a trick of her mind.
*CRASH—!*
A blow that she barely deflected slammed into the ground, leaving a deep crater in the sturdy training hall floor.
"I'm having a little trouble controlling it."
"...Bella. Did you take an elixir or something?"
"I've had my fair share. I guess it's finally starting to pay off."
Bella smiled as she readied her sword.
"Here I come again."
***
"...And that's what happened."
"A sudden spike in her aura output, accompanied by a faint trace of demonic energy, you say."
"At first, I didn't think it was demonic energy. But the more I replayed the situation in my mind... the more I began to wonder if that's what it was."
Bella Hohen was ranked 19th. While by no means unskilled, there was a clear gap in ability between her and Ruina.
For that gap to have narrowed so dramatically in such a short time was certainly strange.
"What's Bella's condition?"
"She's fine. Unlike Verian, there were no visible physical abnormalities, nor did she lose her reason. She was perfectly normal after the spar as well."
"Is that so?"
"It could just be my mistake or a misunderstanding, but..."
Pernyan cut her off.
"But you want to be absolutely sure, just in case?"
"Yes. We are talking about a demon, after all."
"I agree. If something feels off, it needs to be investigated."
Frankly, Pernyan had thought that catching Verian would make it easy to learn about the demons.
But he was wrong. Investigating Verian after learning he would become a demon's pawn, and even questioning him directly after his demonization, yielded nothing.
"...I know it's not my place to ask, since I'm the one who made the request, but is there a way?"
"No."
Still, it was best to try everything possible.
Assuming Bella did use demonic power, there was one commonality between her and Verian.
Neither of them had met nor made a pact with a demon.
"It seeped into them without their knowledge. Honestly, I question if that's even possible, but since that seems to be the case, let's compare their movements and investigate the places they both frequent."
"That's the best we can do under the circumstances. Thank you for your help."
"The demon problem is a continent-wide issue. Of course I'll help."
"Then I'll go to Bella and..."
"No, there's no need for that. It will all be ready by tomorrow. For now, go back. I'll call for you again tomorrow."
After sending Ruina away, Pernyan summoned Hyde.
"I will find every detail of Bella Hohen's recent activities."
"And Verian's. His movements even before you started tailing him."
"Yes, sir."
Less than a day later, a detailed report of both students' movements since the start of the semester was compiled and placed on Pernyan's desk.
"...Dormitory, academy, downtown."
"Yes. At the academy, it's mostly lecture halls, the training hall, and the library. Downtown, it's just restaurants and bookstores."
"Same as that Verian fellow."
But there was nothing strange about it. In fact, few academy students lived any differently.
It was the perfectly normal routine of an academy student.
"Ruina, I'd like you to arrange a meeting with Bella."
"Did you find a lead?"
"No. It's because I didn't that I want to meet her in person."
He could have dismissed it as a coincidence. But a deep sense of unease lingered in Pernyan's mind.
Of course, it was more likely that it was nothing.
However, having confirmed the existence of demons through the Prophecy Book and Verian, if there was even a small possibility with Bella, it was right to investigate thoroughly.
After all the classes had ended, Pernyan met with Bella at a cafe, accompanied by Ruina.
"Pernyan? What are you doing here...?"
"Bella Hohen. This is the first time we've met like this. I asked Ruina to arrange it."
"You wanted to see me? Why?"
"It's nothing special. Ruina..."
*BOOM—!*
At that moment, a roar echoed inside Pernyan's head.
Along with excruciating pain, dormant prophecies flooded his mind.
A sky as red as blood, a foul stench and demonic energy.
Pernyan felt a sense of familiarity with this situation. It was the same as that day, when he saw the prophecy about Andromalius.
The academy was no different from hell.
In the distance, a blood-red magic circle glowed, and all around, monsters and humans who had lost their minds were running rampant.
They were students. The people of the academy. The island's residents.
He saw Aint's bewildered face.
["Everyone's acting strange!"
Not just the students, but the academy staff and the island's residents as well.
Demonic energy, absorbed unknowingly, had lain dormant within the students' bodies, and the descent of the demon Andromalius began to activate it.
There were hundreds of them.]
[—Demonic energy! They're infected with demonic energy!
"Are you saying the students made pacts with demons?"
—No, that's not it. If they had, I would have known.
Nevertheless, the students were infected with demonic energy, throwing the academy into even greater chaos.]
Time accelerated.
Aint was placing his hand on the chest of a fallen student.
[Following Gardner's words, Aint infused mana into the fallen student to examine their insides.
—I've figured it out!
The first noble knight, who had slaughtered more demons than anyone besides the empire's founding emperor, had finally identified the cause after much deliberation.
—Those filthy demons got clever.
—They've been infecting the students with demonic energy over time. It's so subtle that no one would notice, but it also doesn't absorb well, so it must have taken a long time.
—Most of it probably dissipated meaninglessly, and perhaps it would have remained insignificant.
—But that magic circle! That's what's activating the demonic energy. We have to destroy the magic circle!]
His surroundings shifted rapidly again.
Aint was now running toward the source of the ominous demonic energy, the red magic circle.
[—My god. That's not just a demonic energy catalyst circle! That's... a summoning circle! A summoning circle!
—They're trying to summon a demon!
—Aint, you must stop it!]
Sir Gardner Alpenparsen's desperate cry struck Aint's mind.
And again, the flow of time accelerated. Aint was closer to the magic circle now, and he had met a knight he could trust with his back.
["Aint! Help me! Bella, Bella is!
"Calm down, Senior. It's going to be okay."
"Something's wrong with Bella!"
"She's been infected with demonic energy. She'll return to normal once we defeat the demon. I'll make sure of it."]
["I swear it."]
'It really was demonic energy...?'
He'd had a suspicion, but no certainty.
But the Prophecy Book was telling him. Ruina's anxiety was justified, and if the infected were left unchecked, a great disaster would occur.
'This is connected to the last one.'
More accurately, it was a story from a time before that one. Before Aint fought Andromalius, before Ruina turned her back to him and swore a knight's oath.
'I have to stop it.'
The academy in his memory was a complete mess. Because the infected were students or island residents, they couldn't bring themselves to kill them, which only caused greater harm.
He had to prevent that situation at all costs.
"...Pernyan? Are you okay?"
"Is your head hurting again?"
"I'm fine."
Pernyan blinked a few times and shook his head.
He met the two pairs of eyes watching him, took a moment to catch his breath, and organized his thoughts.
"Ruina."
"Yes."
"How much can you trust Bella Hohen?"
"She's been my friend since we were children. I trust her more than anyone."
"What are you two suddenly talking about?"
Bella asked, confused by their abrupt conversation.
"Bella Hohen, the reason I asked Ruina to arrange this meeting is..."
Originally, he had planned to just meet her and investigate discreetly. Although Ruina trusted Bella, he couldn't be sure.
But now that he had seen the prophecy, his thoughts and plans had changed.
"Because your head is full of demons."
"What?"
"And those demons need to be beaten to death."
With clear evidence right before him, the solution was also clear.
"Let's go to the temple."
He would show the evidence to those who could not coexist with demons and secure their cooperation.