Chapter 42
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: The Time of Choice
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Radia couldn't make sense of this situation at all.
"I..."
The figure with a face half caved in and legs twisted in directions they shouldn't be was visibly in dire straits at a glance.
This was none other than the culprit behind the incident, the one emanating ferocious energy.
No one else but the demon.
The mana wielded by mages or knights lost half its power and grew blunt against the malice spewed by the demon.
Unless it was an extraordinary force, it couldn't pierce the demon's hide.
Only a scant few could wield such a sharp spear, so against ordinary demons, entire knight orders resorted to overwhelming numbers.
In other words, this made them monsters capable of holding down a whole knight order single-handedly.
"Such a monster..."
Had been defeated in the most anticlimactic way.
As Professor Aiden stepped on its back, the demon let out a wretched wail.
"Kugh, kuaaaagh!"
Its lungs compressed, forcing out ragged breaths laced with thin streams of blood.
As resistance faded, Aiden stripped away the burlap sack.
His movements were utterly indifferent, devoid of any delicacy.
Radia swallowed hard upon seeing the demon's revealed face.
"...Pro, Professor. This..."
Unaware of Radia's unease, Aiden quietly recited.
"You said you remembered my questions."
"......"
Once to the botany professor, once to the massive figure clashing with the magic tower mages, and finally pointing at the swarming demonic beasts behind, he met her gaze once more.
"The time for choice has come, Radia."
Radia's eyes widened.
What choice could there possibly be in this situation?
Yet Aiden repeated the questions he'd sporadically posed since the start of the field training, as if it were just another day.
"Now, let me hear your answer."
Contrary to her desperate hope that it was a joke, Radia froze solid under Aiden's eyes, burning quietly without a trace of playfulness.
* * *
After the incident had settled, I was leisurely savoring coffee in my research lab.
The magic tower had taken damage but held firm, and I respected the tower master for unleashing fury against that colossal strike.
Unless age had caught up, the tower master had proven themselves.
'No replacement needed, then.'
With the field training over, daily life returned to normal.
Pastoral and cozy, you could say.
'Which makes sense, if you think about it.'
Everything about the magic tower, barring my field training, was classified.
Only bits leaked out.
The meager report submitted was in the form of a modest experiment log: deliberately creating an environment tainted by demonic energy in the magic tower.
Isel picked up the Swiss from the break room supplies she'd bought and asked me.
"Don't we have a coffee machine now? No need for me to..."
"I've grown accustomed to the coffee you brew. It'll be tiring, but bear with it."
Isel's ears perked up, and she started managing her expression as if nothing was amiss.
Though she'd already been caught by me.
Avoiding my gaze, Isel let out a dry cough.
"W-Well, no helping it. It might inconvenience me a bit, but for you, Pro, Professor, I'll manage."
Why was she so thrilled, then?
Elin, sprawled on the adjacent sofa, rolled her eyes in exasperation.
"Ugh, why does senpai like that guy so much..."
"Ah, aaaaaaah!! I didn't hear anything, aaaaaaah!"
I squeezed my eyes shut at the sudden shriek.
Isel's face flushed crimson, her eyes flashing.
"You heard?"
"......"
Admitting it outright seemed like it would cause a scene, so I shook my head vaguely.
"I heard you suddenly getting excited and shrieking."
"Phew......"
"Not something to sigh in relief over. Keep it down."
I savored the aroma of the coffee Isel had served, then took a small sip.
By the way...
"Why are you here?"
It was the usual, yet all the more peculiar for it.
Hadn't Elin been disappointed in me?
"What's that mean? Can't I come?"
Her boldness left me speechless.
As I stayed silent, Elin squirmed on the sofa like, "See?" Her posture in search of comfort was unmistakably feline.
You're the one making a fuss like a punk...
I shook my head.
'Fierce and bad-tempered—birds of a feather.'
Somehow, their identities aligned.
No wonder the portmanteau of cat and thug exists...
Mainly "cat-thug"... Never mind.
Let's drop the analysis.
Elin shot me a look that said, "What does a butler like you know?"
The familiar glare brought a strange sense of relief.
"Professor doesn't block people who come or chase those who leave anyway. Like a playboy."
"That's a gross misunderstanding about me."
"Is it?"
Elin propped up her upper body, locking eyes with me.
...I just didn't see the need to block anyone coming.
"...I don't court anyone. At least spare me the playboy label. It invites misunderstandings."
"With that face?"
Whatever "that face" meant, it couldn't be bad.
Word was, it was a craft pieced together from the ideal types of female staff.
The pinnacle of character customization experts.
Even if I couldn't trust my own aesthetics, I could trust those picky women.
A masterpiece satisfying dozens of them—impressive, indeed.
'So I just slapped on gag settings like Hallucination of Disgust atop it?'
No wonder I'd draw ire...
I erased all conversational flow.
Better the adopter than the suggester.
I was innocent.
Knock knock knock.
I turned at the sound of the door.
"Ah, yes. One moment. I'll get it."
Isel opened the door and froze.
Flowing cerulean hair.
To me, it looked like blue chitin, but plainly, that form was...
"P-Please... don't be disappointed. It was my fault."
I let out a small sigh at the tearful voice.
"What's the matter, Radia?"
Standing at the door, shedding tears drop by drop with puffy eyes, was none other than Radia.
"What's the matter, Radia."
Radia stared at Aiden.
No, not at the man seated on the desk now. Further back.
Perhaps recalling a few days prior.
'Right.'
It was when Professor Aiden had hauled out the demon beneath the pallid violet earth.
"...This person. No, impossible! How? Professor, did you know?"
Aiden shook his head at her frantic questions.
"Radia. You said you wanted to take responsibility for the field training disaster."
Her body went cold.
Asking that now, after all this?
Pushing understanding aside, Radia raised her voice again.
"It's the botany professor! The field training disaster!"
"Yes, it is."
"H-How could that person be a demon? Why? Who could even do this..."
As she rambled incoherently, Aiden gripped her wrist.
Their eyes met.
"Radia. Look closely."
What was she supposed to see?
Trembling pupils scanned the surroundings as Aiden instructed.
"Recite my questions again."
"Ugh......"
When Radia shook her head, Aiden reviewed them one by one.
"What will you do if deaths result from your choice."
"I don't know! I don't know?! Don't ask me that!"
"If you can only save one of two, who will you choose."
"This demon is the botany professor, right? If we ask the Holy See, maybe we can save..."
"If everyone here gets hurt because of your choice."
"Stop! Please stop! I couldn't possibly choose something like that! What right do I have?!"
Radia shook her head furiously.
She strained to pull free, begging him to let go of her wrist, but Aiden held firm.
Her wrist only reddened the more she struggled.
"Look again. And think."
Aiden swept his gaze around.
As if telling her to do the same.
The colossal entity belched, raising its whip-like arm to tear up the earth.
Each tremor shook the ground, accompanied by whistling winds and successive screams.
Hordes of monsters prowled, lunging at students.
Elin struggled in the distance.
It was utter pandemonium everywhere.
In any instant, someone could die.
Feeling it viscerally, Radia's teeth chattered.
"This demon is indeed the botany professor. He created that colossal entity, birthed the hordes. All the deaths so far are his doing."
"What does that have to do with your questions, Professor!"
Professor Aiden paused a beat.
In the frozen silence, he spoke again.
"As you say, entrusting the botany professor to the Holy See might save him. Setting aside the astronomical cost."
"Then!"
"But the magic tower mages will die."
Radia's eyes bulged.
Aiden emphasized deliberately.
"Isn't that the colossal entity you've questioned and watched all this time? No need to hide now. The brewer is the botany professor. The guardian of the contamination core is too. If you choose to save the botany professor..."
Aiden passed sentence.
The colossal entity would crush all the magic tower mages and students.
It would probably rampage beyond the tower, killing university students too.
Until someone slew the brewer.
Radia went rigid.
"You can only save one or the other. Radia. Someone dies by your choice. There will be casualties."
"...Why make me choose, Professor? You're here."
"Because you wanted to stand above others. Because you looked at me and said you wanted to take responsibility."
"...The responsibility I wanted wasn't this. I..."
The responsibility she spoke of then differed from now.
He understood.
Back then, her "responsibility" meant mere post-disaster cleanup for the field training fiasco.
In short, smoothing it over.
The responsibility he now thrust upon her was for the root cause of the disaster.
Same words, vastly different connotations.
Tears finally spilled from Radia.
Her legs buckled; she could only cling to Aiden's arm with both hands.
"Radia. Do you remember my other questions?"
"...I don't know. Please, I'm sick of it. Stop. It's too much now."
Even as she begged, Aiden pressed on.
"When everyone drags at your ankles, when you can barely fend for yourself, I asked if you could still refuse to abandon anyone."
"Please, Professor. Please......"
Look. Look ahead. Don't cover your eyes. Face it.
As if urging that, Aiden continued.
"If you don't choose, someone dies. Perhaps even now, as we speak."
"Why be so cruel only to me? Why only me......"
What had she done so wrong?
She ruffled her hair with one hand, tormented.
Aiden shook his head at the sobbing Radia.
Continued denials.
"I also asked if you could bear responsibility for your choices."
"I can't. It's too much. Too much... I'm just a student."
"You know excuses like that won't fly."
Aiden's gentle, compliant tone cut through her excuses.
Whatever the tone, the message was relentlessly cruel.
"Whoever you choose, guilt over selecting will linger in your heart. A burden to carry lifelong. Whether you kill the botany professor or stand by as he slaughters the magic tower mages and students."
"Stop........."
"Radia."
His voice firm and resolute, Aiden's words made her lift her head.
She wanted to beg him to stop, but he released her wrist, refusing to hear it.
Then he drew the sword from her waist.
He placed it in her hands.
"Now..."
Aiden's eyes sank endlessly.
Guiding the sword into her limp grasp, he wrapped her palm, clenching it into a fist.
"It's time to choose."
What will you do?
The blade I'd handed Radia pointed toward one: the botany professor or the magic tower mages.