The Calm Before the Storm
The conversation with Elesia proved far more enlightening than I’d expected. No matter how many eccentric stunts she pulled, it drove home the fact that the title of Saint wasn’t something just anyone could earn. …Of course, that didn’t erase any of the bizarre behavior she’d shown so far.
Anyway, the moment my talk with Elesia ended, I headed straight for Tana. She was attending a lecture that rarely overlapped with mine, so finding her wasn’t difficult. The real problem was her attitude.
“Sorry, I’m a little busy right now.”
I waited until her class finished, then approached and asked if she could spare a moment. She gave me an awkward smile and turned me down. Her excuse was that she was swamped with midterm prep and assignments, but my instincts screamed otherwise.
This was Tana deliberately avoiding me.
It was probably because of what happened at the café. Even though we’d glossed over it thanks to Yuha’s presence, she must have decided it would be too awkward to treat me the same way now that I’d seen her true self.
Yeah, that was the normal reaction. I’d actually wondered why she’d recovered so quickly.
Still, normal was normal. I had business with her. If she wouldn’t meet me willingly, I’d just have to make her look.
I pulled the half-full bottle of Holy Water from my pocket and showed it to her. The liquid carried a power that felt both different from and fundamentally identical to Elesia’s Holy Power. A sacred radiance that naturally drew every eye in the room.
In an instant, all attention locked onto us. No one asked outright—they just kept stealing glances—but the effect was undeniable.
And of course—
“W-what is that…?”
—Tana was no exception. If anything, because she already knew something about Holy Power, it hooked her even harder.
“Ready to talk now?”
I grinned, still holding the gently swirling Holy Water. After a brief hesitation, Tana gave a small nod.
I led her straight to the café—the same one where I’d met Yuha before. The moment we stepped inside, her pupils trembled ever so slightly.
We ordered whatever drinks and quickly claimed a table. Neither of us had come here just to sip beverages.
“Since it looks like neither of us wants to waste time, I’ll get straight to the point.”
“…….”
“Erhen Pharmaceuticals. What exactly is that place?”
Tana’s hand twitched. Yet her lips remained sealed. I watched her quietly, then rephrased the question.
“Erhen… has something to do with Demonic Energy, doesn’t it?”
Even at the mention of Demonic Energy—something that belonged to neither demons nor devils—Tana held her silence. I leaned back in my chair, observing her.
The truth was, before coming here I’d already looked into Erhen Pharmaceuticals’ products. Their flagship line was literally medicine. Medicine for Awakeners. Everything from medical supplies to mana-circulation enhancers that helped the body flow more smoothly. A few cheap options existed, but most were exorbitantly priced. That made sense—products aimed at Awakeners couldn’t exactly be cheap.
The reviews were generally positive. Users claimed their mana had increased or their bodies felt refreshed, allowing them to aim for the next rank. Many posts practically screamed “highly recommended.”
Even if I ignored the obvious advertisements, the sheer volume of testimonials from Awakeners who said they’d seen real effects was staggering. Sure, expensive medicine should work well, but there’s always a catch with medicine.
Not every pill can be effective for everyone. Even elixirs can fail to work or, if taken incorrectly, become poison. No matter how premium the ingredients, it’s impossible to deliver perfect results to every single person.
Well, unless they’d somehow made an actual elixir.
If they had created a true elixir, there was no way it would only be sold at “expensive” prices. Elixirs were the stuff of legends—capable of curing any disease and raising one’s rank through the pure mana contained within. If such a thing could actually be manufactured, the world would have lost its mind long ago.
Yet Erhen Pharmaceuticals remained eerily quiet. No scandals, no groundbreaking announcements. It was almost as if they only wanted those in the know to know.
And when I first mentioned the company, the expression that flashed across Tana’s face…
It all pointed to one conclusion: Erhen’s medicine wasn’t made with ordinary “ingredients.”
Of course, this is still just speculation.
Everything I had was conjecture, pieced together from background knowledge gained upon entering Final Academy and information I’d confirmed while staying here. And that conjecture could never become truth.
Not unless someone told me the truth directly.
As I studied Tana, several odd details stood out. The way she kept her mouth tightly shut yet kept glancing around. How her eyes kept flicking to the napkin in front of her…
…Wait a second.
I quickly pulled out a pen, scribbled on the napkin, and slid it toward her.
Are we being eavesdropped on right now?
Tana’s eyes widened. After a moment of hesitation, she nodded.
I was an idiot.
Why hadn’t I considered wiretapping? Because there were no electronic devices on her body? Because my senses hadn’t picked up any suspicious individuals nearby? Those were just excuses. There were countless ways to overhear conversations without any of that. I’d simply been trapped in the mindset of a modern society without magic or Awakeners. I thought I’d fully adapted to this changed world, but I was clearly still lacking.
Scolding myself for the blunder, I wrote another line on the napkin. The message was simple.
Is someone watching us nearby?
If they were observing us right now, simply exchanging napkins wouldn’t be enough. We’d need to act more naturally.
“You keep dropping things.”
I tossed out a casual remark to create an excuse for handing her the napkin. At the same time, Tana read my question. She immediately shook her head.
No one was watching nearby. That made things much easier. Now we could focus purely on talking.
“Where exactly did you hear the rumor that Erhen Pharmaceuticals is connected to Demonic Energy?”
It seemed Tana already knew the truth, because she finally spoke. At the same time, her fingers moved busily across the napkin.
It’s true. Erhen Pharmaceuticals is clearly connected to Demonic Energy.
My guess had been correct.
Tana continued speaking.
“Our company’s success rate and profits are higher than other companies, so some tabloid rumor must have leaked out. It’s absolutely not credible.”
In the basement of Erhen Pharmaceuticals, they perform human experimentation and human sacrifice to harvest Demonic Energy.
“Besides, our medicines use extremely rare ingredients and prioritize perfection, which is why they’re expensive and produced in limited quantities.”
Those medicines are sold only to a select few customers.
“That’s why our success rate is higher than other drugs. They call it artisanal craftsmanship, right?”
Most of the medicines are used for physical enhancement. A very small number can even forcibly awaken talent. I am one of the people who consumed such a drug.
Some of what she said I had already expected. Since Demonic Energy couldn’t simply be turned into medicine through normal processing, there had to be a special manufacturing method. Even at Final Academy, the process of extracting and utilizing Demonic Energy was only shown in simplified form, so I couldn’t be completely certain.
But what shocked me far more was that Tana had taken one of those drugs. Her talent and the fact that her name had never once appeared before now had felt slightly strange, but I never imagined it was because she’d consumed something like that.
Only now did some of the empty settings surrounding Final Academy begin to make sense. Knowing the hidden truth let me see things I hadn’t noticed before.
Tana went on to tell me several more details about Erhen Pharmaceuticals. Most of it was information that had already spread within the game, so I already knew it.
And then, at the very end—
“So… are you done asking questions?”
A contract medium with a demon race is bound to my heart. So if the chairman of Erhen wants, he can activate it at any time.
If that happens, a lot of people will die. Especially you—since you’re the chairman’s target, it’s certain.
The revelation that a contract medium was bound to her heart made my eyes snap wide open. So the trigger for her falling to darkness was this contract medium, and the one who could activate it was her own father, the chairman of Erhen?
The information hit me like a freight train. It was so shocking I couldn’t even speak properly.
Even as I sat there speechless, Tana picked up the pen again and continued writing.
This contract medium cannot be undone by ordinary means. If the chairman senses any shock, he will definitely activate it.
So it has to be handled in a single strike. A blow powerful enough to shatter my heart.
My eyes widened as I read the words on the napkin. The moment I saw them, I understood exactly what she wanted.
So… I’m begging you.
The drink she’d ordered had already gone cold. The hand holding the pen trembled violently. Nevertheless, Tana finished the final sentence and slid it toward me.
Please kill me.
The very last characters shook wildly, as if desperately denying the words themselves.