Resentment
Whoosh! Vanya sliced through the thick smoke with a powerful gust of wind.
Seeing my puzzled expression, she opened her mouth.
“In the Jakshin Cult, the highest rank below the cult leader is Priest.”
Vanya glanced behind us for a moment, then grabbed my hand again and broke into a run.
“The exact number of Priests and how strong they are is unknown.”
But there was one man. Just one man whose name had become known to the world. To prove the greatness of the weapons he created and his own achievements, he attacked a city, and it was destroyed in less than half a day. That event was what drove the Jakshin Cult into the shadows, and it became the reason they were shunned.
The man’s name was Gilleon. He had introduced himself as a Priest—the same man we had just encountered.
“I don’t know why, but it has been relatively quiet lately.”
After speaking, Vanya fixed her gaze forward and accelerated using her wind.
But I had a question.
“Wait. You said that man is a Priest and the one who destroyed an entire city.”
“Yes!”
“Then how are we escaping right now?”
Vanya froze the instant she heard my words.
“......”
Both Vanya’s and my eyes turned to the path ahead.
CRASH! Along with the sound of something collapsing, a man landed exactly where we had been about to run.
“How strange. My calculations were definitely accurate.”
It was Gilleon, the very man we had been discussing. His slender body was now equipped with various weapons that had not been there before. From a simple pistol to unfamiliar guns and even a bazooka. It was a mystery how he could carry so much on such a thin frame.
Does it have weight-reduction magic?
It was advanced magic that reduced weight.
This will not be easy.
Simply from the abilities he had shown, it seemed impossible for me to defeat Gilleon.
“...What is your intention?”
If it was a fight I could not win, I needed to at least understand his purpose.
“It is nothing special. It is simply to prove my ‘science.’”
Science. The word from his mouth turned my speculation into certainty.
Click.
Gilleon’s gun barrel pointed at me. It did not seem he intended to fire yet.
I raised my flames, preparing for battle. After all, I had no idea when the fight might begin.
We should be able to escape.
Vanya’s wind and my flames would create a synergistic effect, giving us enough leeway to get away.
Though we might die.
Since I had not seen his full strength, I could not be certain.
“......”
Gilleon stared at me as I raised my flames. Looking into his deep eyes, I spoke.
“...I don’t have that kind of hobby.”
Gilleon seemed momentarily flustered by my words before letting out a faint laugh.
“Haha, that is not what I meant. Who knows? You may yet be able to survive.”
He lowered the gun pointed at us.
“You there, dressed in black. What is your name?”
It was a simple question.
Should I tell him?
It was only six letters, but revealing my name to an enemy faction felt uncomfortable.
Click.
Gilleon slowly raised his gun once more.
“If you do not speak, you will die.”
An unknown, formless pressure bore down on me.
Faced with that pressure, I had no choice but to answer.
“...Adel Ifrit.”
Hearing my response, Gilleon lowered his gun and stepped aside.
“Go ahead. I will let you pass.”
His action was incomprehensible.
Letting us go?
He had said I might live, but I had not expected him to actually spare us.
“I will let the woman beside you go as well.”
“......”
Even when I looked at him with suspicion, he simply shrugged.
“You know it yourself even if you suspect me, yes? That you cannot defeat me.”
It was the truth. Even if we fought, the best we could manage was a narrow escape, as the result before he raised his aura had shown.
In the end, I walked back the way we had come with Vanya.
...Being shown mercy by an enemy is fucking infuriating.
Next time, I would be the one showing mercy, not receiving it.
I left the shabby house, swallowing this resentment.
In the space where Adel and Vanya had left, Gilleon, now alone, murmured.
“So it is that person...”
The person in question was Adel Ifrit.
The one the cult leader mentioned.
The Jakshin Cult Leader was, for the most part, like the other Priests and followers—someone who devoted himself solely to the advancement of ‘science.’ He rarely left the laboratory unless the matter was significant.
But recently he had visited without warning.
The Jakshin Cult Leader had said:
If you meet Adel Ifrit, do not kill him but spare him. And beware the Sun Church. The recent signs have not been good.
At those words, Gilleon had begun gathering information about him. That he was an academy entrant, ranked 500th, that he had defeated Shane in a duel, and that he had subdued a Seven Evil. The 500 ranking was hard to believe.
But sparing him is on another level.
If the leader said not to kill him, it must mean he would be of use to the cult. There had to be something only the leader knew.
That aside, the Sun Church.
The Sun Church. The representative religion of the light, and the one rejected by our Jakshin Cult. There was only one reason for the rejection.
Because the cult leader rejects it.
The Jakshin Cult Leader might seem unremarkable. To the followers, that was probably how he appeared. But the Priests who had glimpsed even a fragment of his vast knowledge took his words as natural.
What was that theory again? Something about an apple falling from the sky and what pulls it.
It was knowledge so advanced that even someone as intelligent as me could not understand it immediately. So what about the other Priests?
They must feel the same.
They were likely all respecting him with similar feelings. That was why they followed the leader’s words.
Beware the Sun Church.
The meaning behind this command could not be grasped. It was something only the leader knew, after all.
If I were to speculate a little.
Is this the time when the Saint and Saintess will appear?
The Saint and Saintess. A man and woman chosen at regular intervals by the Sun God’s artifact.
The selection criteria was simple.
The Sun God’s recognition.
It was the Sun God’s power dwelling in the artifact that chose them directly. There were no criteria. Literally none.
It sounds like complete nonsense, but the results have been good.
There were many stories in the continent’s history about the Saint and Saintess. For example, the tale of the Saintess’s light illuminating the center of the Demon World, or how the Saint’s sword split the heavens. There were quite a few.
Could Adel Ifrit be the Saint?
The wariness toward Adel and the Sun Church. The only connection between them was the Saint.
I do not need to think this deeply.
As the instruction said, I simply needed to remain on guard.
Gilleon set aside his thoughts about Adel and turned back the way he had come.
What followers will please me today?
To prove the greatness of science.
When I retraced my steps and left the shabby house, the sun had already set and it was a pitch-black evening.
Vanya and I immediately boarded a carriage bound for the academy.
Inside the carriage, Vanya wore a truly apologetic, downcast expression, so I spoke to her.
“Vanya, it is not your fault. In that situation, anyone would have made the same judgment.”
“...Yes.”
Vanya, who usually maintained her dignity when she was not being clumsy, looked so deflated that it unsettled my heart as well.
We rode the rest of the way in silence.
“We have arrived.”
When we stepped down from the carriage, Vanya’s expression had improved somewhat, which eased my mind too.
“I am fine, so do not worry. See you on Monday.”
“Yes. Adel. See you then.”
Vanya headed toward the female dormitory first.
Watching her go, I checked the time.
8:00
There was still some time left before curfew.
Instead of returning to the dormitory, I began walking toward another destination.
It is not that I am fine with it.
I had lied to Vanya. I did not want to admit how humiliating it had been to receive Gilleon’s mercy.
I never want to feel that again.
It was a first. Mercy I had never experienced even once before. I had never imagined it would affect me this deeply.
The resentment I felt now was warning me of the dangers that lay ahead.
This kind of thing will not happen again.
I had nearly died after only about two weeks. There would be no next opportunity.
If I encountered a powerhouse like Gilleon again, I would already be dead. I had survived only because his mood had changed on a whim.
I looked up at the sky. The stars embroidered across the night sky calmed my heart a little.
Step. Step.
The place I reached was the personal training room. I needed to become stronger by using this resentment as fuel.
When curfew arrived, I returned to the dormitory.
On Sunday, I headed to the personal training room earlier than anyone else, at the crack of dawn. That day, my presence was not seen at any restaurant on the academy grounds.