The Death of the Foolish Sheep (4)
The Death of the Foolish Sheep (4)
#38
It was not a familiar ceiling.
It was a ceiling so strange that the word "unfamiliar" barely covered it. This was probably the first time in my life I had opened my eyes to such a luxurious ceiling. Lately, I had been losing consciousness far too often.
Come to think of it, where was Estelle?
My last clear memory stopped right at the moment I lost my reason and attacked Estelle. After assaulting the vice-head of a Count House right in their mansion, was death what awaited me if things kept going like this?
"You're awake."
"Ah..."
When I turned my head to the side, a girl was sitting in a luxurious chair decorated with pale wood and gold. It was Estelle.
"This is a guest bedroom in the mansion's annex. I gave orders that no one was to enter the annex today, so at this moment, it is just you and me in this room, Mr. Do-yun."
"Lady Estelle, I apologize. Just before, I—"
"Don't worry about it. I had anticipated some level of side effects anyway. However... don't you have something to explain to me? Regarding the failure of the experiment, that is."
An explanation, she said.
What exactly did she want to know? The experiment I conducted with Elysia? The half of the Imprint I received? Or why I had fallen into that state earlier?
"No matter how inexperienced I am with contracts involving living beings, this is a first for me. Because of the contract with you that stimulated your Preconsciousness, my mana was nearly drained. Look. I am still suffering from mana depletion even now."
Estelle made a motion as if to conjure a flame at her fingertip, just as she had before. For a brief moment, a golden spark seemed to flicker, but then it weakly fizzled out. Seeing it extinguish as powerlessly as a spent lighter, she was likely indeed suffering from mana exhaustion.
"If it were a moderate external factor, I had intended to control it with my own power. However, this incident went beyond what I could handle. And I have already grasped the fact that Senior Elysia and Mr. Do-yun conducted some kind of experiment—an experiment using Mr. Do-yun's male organ. I won't get angry like before, so tell me everything you've been hiding from me."
She said she had already grasped it... I stared at her for a moment, then cautiously opened my mouth.
"Before that... could you at least tell me what will become of me going forward?"
"Too many people witnessed Mr. Do-yun attacking me. I'll try to keep them quiet, but I doubt I can silence everyone. If the rumors reach the Academy, the school authorities will likely try to dispose of you. I'll handle things myself to guarantee your safety as much as possible, so for now, just focus on explaining what you know."
Those words again.
I'd handle things on my own.
Just do as you're told.
Those words hit my chest with an odd intensity. It hadn't even been a week since I arrived at the Academy, yet in that short time, I had been swept up in a frenzy to reach this point. I'd been pushed along, moment by moment, without knowing the reason, the structure, or what would come next.
And yet, even after just barely surviving something that truly crossed the line, I still knew nothing. My safety was guaranteed after attacking a mage in the center of the mansion? Could I really trust this woman? A cold unease crept over me, the anxiety that even everything she had shown me so far might have been an act.
The submerged anxiety slowly began to tighten around my throat. With a voice turned cold, I barely managed to continue.
"Are all mages... always like this?"
"What do you mean?"
"There's a reason for everything, so that's just how it is. I'll handle it, so you just do as you're told... Isn't that how all of this is?"
My voice wasn't raised. Quite the opposite, in fact. But perhaps because of that, my suppressed emotions seemed to seep through plainly.
"You clearly said it was a safe experiment. You never mentioned anything like this could happen, did you? If I had known it was this dangerous, I would have refused outright or at least said something beforehand. Wasn't it you, Lady Estelle, who promised to guarantee my safety from the start? Even if you tell me now that you'll protect me, honestly, I doubt I can trust those words."
"Mr. Do-yun..."
After taking a breath, I looked straight at Estelle.
"Just this once... please, tell me first. What just happened to me, and what will happen to me now. Why are you experimenting on me? And all the rest. Why me, of all people? Where have all the other teaching aids gone? Didn't you clearly say there were other human experiment subjects? Where are all those people now?"
I could feel her golden eyes staring directly at me.
#39
The girl's voice resonated beneath the white ceiling, far too high for a mere bedroom.
"I can give you an explanation, but will you be able to handle all of it? I suspect these are matters that you, as you are now, cannot bear. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss."
"There's no reason I can't handle any more than this. My life is hanging by a thread as it is, isn't it? Even if it means dying, I'd rather know the whole truth."
Rustle—
The girl rose from her chair, sat at the head of the bed, and then parted her small lips to speak.
"I don't know everything either. Especially why the experiment failed. However, I do know the story about the other human experiment subjects. Since I serve in the Infirmary."
"..."
"Do you know the average working period—no, the average survival period of a Teaching Aid?"
"Not really."
"It's roughly around two months. Typically, all of them die within that timeframe."
"What kind of experiments could possibly lead to that outcome for everyone?"
"Don't you already know?"
"To consume human beings as guinea pigs like that, have you ever considered that those people are pitiful?"
"Even so, we simply received the Teaching Aids through a legitimate contract. Because those people were originally meant to die in the present world."
"Meant to die?"
"Yes, only humans who have been sentenced to death in their respective countries in the present world can be posted as Teaching Aids... I know, don't look at me with those eyes. I'm aware now that this has nothing to do with you, Mr. Do-yun."
"Then why... am I here?"
The voice that escaped my lips was lower than before. It wasn't anger, but rather the voice of an old man standing at the end of his life, barely clinging to a question he could no longer avoid.
"You said only humans who have received a death sentence can become Teaching Aids. Lady Estelle just said exactly that a moment ago. But I am not that kind of person. I have never killed anyone, and I have never been sentenced to death in any country. For that matter, Korea has abolished the death penalty, and I have never even left the country. So why on earth am I here?"
Estelle did not answer immediately.
The golden eyes that had been quietly watching my face wavered for a very brief moment. This was a first. She, who had always acted like someone holding all the answers, was unable to open her mouth easily at this moment.
"... That is,"
She slowly lowered her gaze.
"I also thought it was strange at first."
It was a short sentence, but oddly enough, it brought an even greater unease. She had just admitted she thought it was strange. Yet the matter had progressed to this point. That ultimately meant she, too, had placed me on the laboratory table even while harboring doubts.
"You thought it was strange, and yet you still used me in the experiment."
"I won't deny it."
Estelle did not make excuses. Rather, because of that calmness, the air inside the spacious bedroom grew even colder.
"When I first looked at the Infirmary records, Mr. Do-yun's documents clearly had the official seal of assignment as a Teaching Aid stamped on them. There were traces of the sealing procedure being processed according to formal protocols, and most of your identity in the present world had been erased. On the surface, it was perfect. As long as no one deliberately looked into it too closely, that is."
"What was different when someone deliberately looked into it?"
"It was too clean."
"... Excuse me?"
"The documents of humans who become Teaching Aids are usually dirty and chaotic. Execution records, transfer routes, signatures of officials from various nations, confirmation seals... things like that are all jumbled together. Since it's a matter of overwriting a dead person's place with a different post, there's no way the traces could be neat. But Mr. Do-yun's documents were weirdly sleek. As if there had been no defects from the very beginning."
The moment those words ended, a cold sweat trickled down my spine.
"Are you saying someone manipulated the facts about my identity?"
"I can't jump to conclusions yet. But at least one thing is certain."
Estelle spoke.
"Mr. Do-yun is probably someone who shouldn't be here."
Even though it was an insignificant remark, my heart sank a beat too late.
Someone who shouldn't be here, she said.
"Then couldn't you just send me back?"
I spoke those words without realizing it, but the end of my sentence split weakly. Even I knew. That things had already progressed too far to be resolved.
Estelle slowly bowed her head.
"I'm sorry. I only intended to take Mr. Do-yun away from Senior Rubel to observe her actions. Frankly, I did not care how the experiment turned out."
"..."
"That day was the first time I had ever seen her crave something so intensely. I didn't bring Mr. Do-yun here with any grander intention than that."
Knowing it was wrong, she brought me here simply to use me as a chess piece. A cold anger crawled up my back.
But unexpectedly, the words that came out of my mouth were extremely composed. Perhaps my brain had censored them to ensure my survival.
"So, you knew from the beginning that everything was wrong, yet you played a neutral role just to use me as a tool in your power struggle."
"Do you happen to have a complaint about that?"
"... No, I don't particularly have a complaint. The one who was deceived is at fault, I suppose. And besides, no one knows what would have happened if I had followed that woman. It's just that, even now, I would appreciate it if you could return me to where I am supposed to be."
She would probably refuse.
I had a hunch it was impossible; too much water had been spilled to scoop it back up. And as always, my ominous premonitions were never wrong.
"I'm sorry. Now that everything has come this far, I can't let Mr. Do-yun go. However, now that things have turned out this way, I think I should share the information I know with you as well."
"... What is it?"
"Thinking about it now, I am beginning to suspect that even my first meeting with Mr. Do-yun was orchestrated by someone."
"Forgive me, but what led you to that conclusion? I'm not quite following."
The girl calmly continued her words.
"In the center of Arcanum, within the Academy, there is something called the Book of Fate. Have you ever heard of it?"
"I'm so sick of hearing about it now."
"I'm not sure where you heard about it, but anyway, this will be quick."
After saying that, she lightly brushed the edge of the blanket with her fingertip.
"Perhaps—just perhaps—someone intentionally placed Mr. Do-yun into the Academy to distort the contents written in the Book of Fate. I hadn't given it much thought before, but after finishing today's experiment, I'm almost certain. This might be a trap designed to put me in a difficult position."
"Isn't that too much of a leap?"
"But look at the facts. My Unique Magic has become completely entangled with Mr. Do-yun, and my mana is still being drained. My mother also left the household vacant for a long time due to affairs in the present world. And because of the aftermath of this experiment, I won't be able to wield proper magic for the time being. Not until I completely resolve the contract with Mr. Do-yun, that is."
"Are you suggesting that someone is deliberately putting House Eurasia in a predicament?"
"I would prefer it if it ended at just that. There aren't many people in the world who would dare challenge a Countess of Arcanum. If it's a person of that caliber orchestrating this, and my mother is absent, then we are all finished."
***
Finished, she said. Was someone planning an attack right in the middle of this floating island full of mages?
"If you've heard of the Book of Fate, you must also know about the Hunters."
I nodded slightly.
"With their level of power, they can never contend with the mages of Arcanum. If they thought it was a fair fight, they would have invaded head-on in the first place."
"So, are you saying they might stage a surprise attack?"
"Hmm... You're about half right. To be precise, they force a one-on-one confrontation."
"How is something like that possible?"
"They hide the very space they occupy. That way, they can ambush their opponents without being seen by others. Most Hunters use this method to conceal their own weakness."
"Then what about the strong Hunters? You mentioned earlier that a strong Hunter might be orchestrating this."
"Well, mages of that caliber would have their own methods. I recall reading in the Academy's history books about an incident fifty years ago where a siege barrier designed to defend against external attacks was used to hunt down young mages."
If something like that were to happen, everyone in this mansion would likely be finished. Did mages with that level of power truly exist?
"I was only assuming the worst, so don't worry too much. There are hardly any Hunters left who would commit such madness. I think this incident is probably just a probing attack by the Hunters to create a crack in Arcanum's power structure."
Probably... was that so?
"That's the end of my story. No matter how things unfold, you must understand that I need to settle the price of our contract as soon as possible—even a single day sooner—to restore my mana."
"Yes, then how do we end the contract? Should I offer my hand, like we did when we first made the contract?"
At that moment, as my awkwardly outstretched arm reached toward the air and became meaningless,
the small girl came into my arms.
Peck.
Lips that brushed past as lightly as a lark settling on the tip of a branch
left behind the first scarlet mark of my life.
