Chapter 32
Chapter 32
Alright, let’s sort this out first.
What’s the root cause of all this? How did things end up like this?
“Tillis.”
The moment she, who is revered as a Saintess by the public, entered the Cradle, all kinds of groups, including Ex Machina, began to gather.
Not for profit or calculated interests, but driven purely by hatred.
A revenge play where they don’t even bother looking back.
And as always, we, the students of the Cradle, are the ones getting dragged into it.
“Especially a group like Ex Machina would be even more strict about cost-benefit calculations…… There’s no reason for them to take risks just to harass Cradle students. This is definitely a grudge.”
To begin with, even last year, Ex Machina didn’t actively carry out terrorism against the Cradle.
It felt more like they casually dumped an experimental subject while passing by.
Well, that’s terrifying in its own way.
Anyway, Ex Machina used their technology as bait to shake the Cradle and dragged in even political matters by entangling the Imperial family and the Cradle.
Originally, with so many important figures gathered, security should have been tighter, but the Cradle’s security relies on a single individual, Olga Hermod.
Outnumbered, inevitably.
And so, outsiders began gathering in the Cradle one by one.
At that time, Emily, an executive of Ex Machina who was under Coran Lekias, said something.
She told me to go find Professor Georg.
Professor Georg had been researching the composition of a metal at the request of the Imperial Technology Research Department, and what do you know?
The metal he identified was nothing special. Just iron.
Then the problem starts here.
Read the question and determine the correlation between them. Ten points.
“Ah, damn it.”
If this were an exam question, I’d have already failed.
No matter how I try to connect them, too many things have happened, all tangled together.
The only thing I know for sure is that the one who can solve my problem is a researcher from Ex Machina.
But I don’t know who that researcher is.
Not even a clue.
Still, there’s one thing I’m certain of.
“……In the end, it’s Tillis.”
The Ex Machina researcher is targeting Tillis.
She is the eye of the storm. Everything ultimately revolves around her.
The unease I had felt faintly since recognizing her existence.
The lineage of misfortune connected from Lobelia and the cult.
The irrational malice of the world directed at me.
“What the hell did I even do to deserve this kind of trial over and over…….”
I’m seriously exhausted……
I observe Tillis’s condition.
Of course, I have no intention of sneaking around like a thief to spy on her. Even Yuna got caught just for being nearby, so if I tried to dig into her, it’d be suicide.
According to Yuna, Tillis’s senses aren’t particularly sharp, but that’s by Yuna’s standards.
So I decided to observe her in a legitimate way.
“Shall we start for today?”
That’s right. I decided to attend a lecture hosted by Tillis.
However, someone like me, who doesn’t even properly attend regular classes, suddenly showing up voluntarily to an after-school special lecture must have seemed strange.
“……Why are you here?”
Ariel asked with a look of disgust.
Seeing her glare like that, she seems healthy, which is a relief.
Just stay like that forever.
Makes it easier to lose affection for you.
“My experiment is at a standstill, so I came to take a look as a change of pace.”
At least I gave an excuse.
From Ariel’s perspective, it must feel like the person who promised to make medicine to save her suddenly went off to watch a baseball game.
I don’t know if that’s exactly how she feels, but if it were me, I’d feel a bit upset.
And even if it’s an excuse, it’s not wrong. The experiment is stuck, and that’s why I came here.
The one who can solve my problem is an Ex Machina researcher, and that researcher is likely targeting Tillis.
In the end, I need to check what’s happening around Tillis.
“Sir Johan, if it’s too hard, you can give up. I don’t really want to live longer by grinding down someone else’s life.”
What nonsense.
Ariel suddenly muttered something deflating with a bitter expression.
Has she lost her mind?
Instead of encouraging me, what is she even saying right now?
“I’ve come this far, so I have to finish it out of sheer stubbornness if nothing else. So don’t say things that sap my energy.”
“……Do as you please.”
Pointless consideration.
Is she worried I’ll feel guilty if I fail to make the medicine in time?
I’ve already come too far for that.
Even if Ariel dies, I can’t stop developing the medicine now.
This is no longer just about her. It’s my own problem.
“Alright, let’s begin. Who would like to go first?”
After that meaningless exchange, Tillis’s one-on-one personal training began.
A lecture focused on sparring and real combat.
A brutal training method that doesn’t match the title of Saintess at all.
Who in the world gave someone like Tillis the title of Saintess? There’s nothing about her that fits it.
Clang!
A deafening sound echoed.
The massive hammer swung by the student who challenged Tillis was blocked by a translucent wall floating in the air.
Tillis didn’t even blink as she stopped the attack.
“You don’t need to hold back with me. Even if a student gives it their all, you won’t be able to leave a single scratch on me.”
A provocation to boost morale.
Tillis skillfully guided her opponent to fight at their fullest.
She didn’t even counterattack, calmly blocking everything, so the opponent had no choice but to go all out.
Any fear that something might go wrong would melt away.
As the thunderous sounds filling the air gradually became impossible to ignore—
Only then did Tillis begin her counterattack.
“You have good strength. But your method of covering the openings after your attacks fail is still crude.”
Whoosh!
Following Tillis’s hand, a green glow flowed, and the charging opponent was repelled instantly.
Thud!
Right after pushing the opponent back, Tillis stomped her foot.
From the ground, thorny vines burst forth, pressuring the opponent.
“And your weapon choice is limited. I understand blunt weapons are your specialty, but wouldn’t it be better to carry at least one blade for situations like this?”
It’s difficult to deal with writhing thorny vines using a hammer.
The opponent kept pushing them back with the wind pressure of the hammer, but eventually ended up bound.
And then—
“Otherwise, this is what happens.”
Whoosh!
With a snap of her fingers, the thorny vines ignited all at once.
A power that changes freely without being bound by anything.
It’s neither magic nor an ability.
If you look closely, you can see some kind of translucent entity floating around Tillis.
Those things, called spirits by the public, wield power beyond logic.
“Gah!”
Yet even in the midst of that, the opponent, engulfed in flames, did not retreat easily.
……How is that a student?
Can we really call someone who pushes through flames and immediately counterattacks just a student?
Thump!
But once again, the attack was effortlessly blocked.
This time, there wasn’t even a loud sound.
As if something embraced it, the hammer, which had been swung at tremendous speed, slowed down at an equal rate.
Slowed to the point where even inertia couldn’t be felt, it was buried into a pure white wing floating in the air.
Something made entirely of wings.
At that sight, Ariel frowned and spoke.
“That’s the technique used on me. What exactly is that spirit?”
“I see.”
Something sacred.
It looked fitting to be called an angel.
Shhht!
The wings that had enveloped the massive hammer spread wide, then wrapped around the opponent entirely.
“Ugh……”
The student collapsed as if all strength had left their body.
If I had to guess, those wings probably nullify the very concept of strength itself.
The match was decided.
Tillis completely overwhelmed and subdued her opponent from start to finish.
An obvious outcome.
“I saw your unyielding will. It was admirable how you charged forward without giving up.”
Tillis walked toward the opponent as if taking a stroll.
There was a gentle smile on her face, her gestures polite.
“But what was the source of that will? If I had to guess, wasn’t it rooted in hatred?”
“……”
“You’re fighting with the sole desire to take revenge on someone, aren’t you?”
“……Yes.”
The opponent lowered their head deeply.
Was it self-loathing they felt? Sadness? Or perhaps helplessness.
Maybe they were recalling the very moment that gave birth to their hatred.
There are many people like that in the Cradle.
Melana and Jeff are the same.
Those who survive here don’t survive because they are strong.
They become strong in order to survive.
“……Hatred can certainly become a good driving force.”
Tillis said, placing a hand on the student’s shoulder.
“But what happens after you achieve revenge while consumed by hatred? Hatred breeds more hatred. That chain will never end unless one side breaks it.”
Nonsense.
Depending on the situation, those are the kind of empty words that could get your head smashed in.
If someone who didn’t understand said that, it would only provoke anger.
But what she said next wasn’t common or cliché.
“Can you become strong enough to devour even that chain of hatred? Can you kill even the blood relatives of the one you seek revenge on?”
Tillis didn’t say to forgive.
On the contrary.
She urged them to become someone thorough enough to swallow even hatred itself.
“If not, it might be better to steady your heart a little. With a half-hearted mindset, you won’t achieve anything.”
Otherwise, give up.
She told them to fall completely into either black or white.
It revealed her nature.
“Negative emotions and the helplessness that comes from failing to resolve them……”
In a way, it was almost laughable.
Isn’t she the very one carrying countless chains of hatred herself?
She is a monster. The title of Saintess does not suit her at all.
“……can bring something terrible. And by then, it’ll be too late.”
She creates hatred instead.
She wipes out gangs and criminal organizations in the slums, yet always leaves survivors.
Leaving them alive so they will come back for revenge.
A mad psychopath who deliberately creates chains of hatred to lure revenge toward herself.
That is Tillis’s true nature.
“Phew……”
The sparring had just ended.
It seemed like a good time to speak, so I stood up.
The moment I took a step forward, Tillis’s gaze turned toward me.
Just meeting her eyes made me want to step back.
To hide that fear, I bowed slightly and introduced myself.
“Hello, Saintess. My name is Johan Damus.”
“Ah, perhaps you’re the one from before……”
“Yes, we met before. We were both preoccupied at the time, but I wanted to say this, even if late. Thank you for saving me.”
“Oh my, it’s you from then? And I see your girlfriend is here too. Nice to meet you. Did you get back safely?”
“Yes, thanks to you. But Lady Ariel is not my girlfriend. I do have standards.”
That’s seriously going too far. How can you say that to someone?
“No, shouldn’t I be the one who’s offended here?!”
Ariel glared at me with a frown at my sudden remark.
Look at that vicious expression.
“And since we’re on the topic, Sir Johan has always—!”
“Ugh?!”
Flinch!
Ariel and I were about to launch into a full argument, but that grand ambition was cut short.
Tillis had closed the distance in an instant.
At the sudden turn of events, Ariel grabbed her hat and shrank back, while I had to face Tillis’s emotionless gaze.
“You.”
“Yes.”
“You’re loved by spirits, aren’t you?”
“……Am I?”
“Yes. It’s a rare constitution.”
I knew from the beginning that she would take interest in me. That’s why I avoided contact with her.
But things have changed.
“If it’s alright, may I request a spar today as well?”
So now, I’ll approach it from the opposite direction.
While Tillis examines what kind of person I am, I will simply observe the malice gathering around her.
A hellish form of mutual benefit.