Last of Yours (2)
“Hey, it’s noisy outside.”
“Someone from the Outer Deity Management Bureau showed up. They said they’re taking her away.”
“Hmm.”
Zernya, in the middle of changing Ire’s cold compress, stretched her arms overhead.
“So where are they taking her?”
“The Northern Outer Deity Biological Research Institute.”
“That’s the place that does human experimentation.”
Ire, who had been groaning in discomfort, suddenly snapped her eyes open. Seeing that, I feigned ignorance and answered.
“No way.”
“It’s not a lie. Everyone from the Adelbein family knows about it.”
“Even so, is that something you should be telling me?”
“You’ll be fine with it, won’t you?”
I stared hard at Zernya.
She cleared her throat with a small cough, then casually loosened her scarf. The barcode tattoo on the nape of her neck was laid completely bare.
“Besides, if you look at the bigger picture, I’m a victim too.”
Previous: 30% chance per second to start a fight.
Current: 25% chance per second to start a fight, plus 5% chance to make conscientious remarks or lewd gestures.
These values are the default.
When treating a patient, she becomes unusually gentle. Of course she still grumbles, but compared to the days when she used to stomp on feet, it’s practically adorable.
I thought hard about why this change had occurred.
Father.
Once the southern front stabilized, Father took a position as a university professor. While teaching Zernya, he had secretly instilled a sense of ethics in her.
It was a fairly logical conclusion.
Zernya, who had been tending to Ire, kicked the door open and went to put that conscience into action. The Adelbein family reigned as the dominant power in the north; if she showed her face and slipped some money into the right hands, most bureaucrats would back off on their own.
“We’ll see you in a week.”
The Rakdalman group bowed deeply, then turned tail and fled.
Zernya puffed out her chest and lifted the corners of her eyes in satisfaction.
“What on earth did you say to make them run off so quickly?”
“Umm.”
She swallowed a small sound before answering.
“That I am the legitimate daughter of the Adelbein family, that even a public official can be stripped of their clothes, that this girl is a patient, and that I would cut off all circular investment from corporations related to the research institute. Something like that?”
“You hit them from every angle.”
I thought about it again.
This woman must never be made an enemy.
When Zernya returned to the room, she helped Ire sit up. Ire’s back was drenched in cold sweat.
“Hey, turn around while I wipe her back.”
“I’ll just step outside.”
I decided to chat with Sonia until Zernya called me back. Sonia offered me a few of her homemade cookies and asked,
“Is your research on that resonator or whatever going well?”
“I have to finish it within a week.”
There were two problems.
First, both professors had thrown out their backs, leaving the lab without anyone in charge.
Second, I had to transport Ire to Iryuel Academy while she was still mentally stable.
The two issues meshed together in the most aggravating way possible.
“Will this even be possible in a week…?”
The latter issue was especially troubling.
“You’ll manage somehow, Young Master.”
“Don’t put pressure on me.”
“It’s neither pressure nor a joke.”
Sonia spread both arms and pulled me into a hug. It was sudden. She patted the back of my head and recited,
“There, there.”
“…What are you doing?”
“This Sonia has learned and replicated the behavior of a human mother comforting her child. It would be good if this helps you regain your energy, Young Master.”
“Am I a child?”
“From my observation, you are indeed a greenhorn.”
Sonia pulled back, her face expressionless except for the slight upward curl at the corners of her mouth.
“Of course, that remark was also learned and delivered.”
Zernya Adelbein and Ire Haslen were mortal enemies.
After becoming student council president of the college, Zernya’s arrogance pierced the heavens. She dreamed of standing above all others and contracted with an Outer God to reach an even higher realm.
The Outer God gave her only one condition: ‘Offer the entire college as a sacrifice.’
By then Zernya had already fallen beyond redemption. She used every ounce of her medical knowledge to torment those who resisted, driving them onto the altar in a frenzy.
Ire challenged her, literally smashing her own head against the problem to stop it.
In most loops the attempt ended in failure, but on a few occasions she succeeded dramatically. Each time, Zernya met a filthy end.
To offer the entire college as a sacrifice, the person making the wish had to be included among the offerings.
When Ire succeeded in stopping her, Zernya abandoned the college and fled to the academy. She hid in some random building until the contract’s conditions expired and the penalty struck.
The school was swallowed by hellfire, and the devil’s watchdog appeared.
Burned, her lower body severed, the moment she was devoured by the avatar, she finally realized how arrogant she had been.
Denying it until the very last instant, the girl reached out to Ire, who had come chasing after her too late. Help me. Save me.
But by then Zernya’s heart had already been eaten.
With pupils dilated and unfocused, she stared at Ire… and breathed her last.
All those memories must have lodged inside Ire like shattered glass. Because that was exactly what she had written in her diary.
That was why she would never be able to understand the current situation.
“Her body is burning up.”
Changing the towel, wiping her back, prescribing antipyretics.
Those were the only things a first-year premed student could do.
But it was enough.
Sometimes the identity of the caregiver mattered more than the method of care when it came to easing someone’s illness.
After twelve hours of devoted nursing, the fever finally broke. Only then did Ire manage to speak.
“Just… why?”
Her voice was trembling.
“Why are you doing this much for me… when you’ve barely even seen me before?”
I watched their conversation from a distance.
Zernya let out a dry laugh.
“I’m a doctor and you’re a patient. That’s all.”
People can change.
Some say humans cannot be rewritten and should be used as they are, but even those people would admit that a meaningful experience can transform anyone.
“Stop groaning and stay calm.”
Ire’s pupils widened until they seemed ready to swallow the whites of her eyes.
“This guy is creating something incredible right now. Once it’s finished, all the monsters inside your head will be done for.”
By now Ire probably couldn’t tell who was the villain and who was the hero anymore.
A decisive blow was needed.
A decisive blow that would completely pull the protagonist onto my side.
The time limit was one week. Within that time I had to create a vaccine or whatever it took and give Sapaul a taste of bitter defeat.
“So… you’re asking to borrow the right to use the lab for a short while?”
“Yes.”
Professor Stranoff clicked her tongue. Lying face-down, she peeled an apple with crisp slices and popped one into the mouth of Professor Feynman, who lay beside her.
The two of them let out groans almost simultaneously.
“Are your backs all right?”
“Please don’t mention that.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Both professors lay prone. I took two tablet stands out of my bag.
“What are those for?”
“You two must be bored. I thought you might read some papers with these.”
A gift from me.
Professor Feynman choked on his apple.
“Would you like some water?”
“Please… cough, hack.”
While fetching water I studied the professor carefully. There were more than a few kiss marks on his neck and arms. Oh, shit.
“Are you okay, Professor?”
“I have zero sensation below the waist…”
“Aaaagh! Anyway!”
Professor Stranoff cut him off.
“You want to run the research equipment while we’re gone, correct?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
I knew it.
“It’s impossible for an undergraduate to lead a research team. Even if I gave permission, the external researchers and post-docs would block you with everything they have.”
I know you’re competent, but that would mess up the family tree.
“Besides, a test run isn’t that simple.”
If you touch something wrong and an experiment explodes, writing a report won’t be enough to fix it.
“I know your effort went into this paper, but as co-authors, the fate of two doctoral students is on the line.”
If those two can’t graduate this year, they’re screwed.
“That’s not the only problem. The reason this research received so much support is because many high-ranking people—or their children—have been possessed by Outer Deities. There’s an unwritten rule that they must get first priority.”
If the next project loses funding, will you take responsibility?
She shot her words like bullets. She was a professor, after all.
“How many entities at most can fit inside the resonator?”
“Calculating the crystal’s strength, roughly ten. It’s not that many, but considering what humanity has suffered so far, it’s a giant leap forward.”
I nodded.
In short, the schedule was already booked. The odds of a slot opening up for Ire were practically zero.
Of course, one solution was to build multiple resonators, but then the materials became the issue.
Where could I find another crystal with purity and reflectivity as high as the white crystal?
“So you’re saying you can only contain that many Outer Deities…”
Professor Feynman, who had been staring blankly at his tablet, clapped his hands and offered a suggestion.
“Idel, I have a good idea. Would you like to hear it?”
“What is it?”
“Find someone to collaborate with.”
What? Does that mean increasing the number of graduate students?