Chapter 125
Chapter 125
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 124
Chapter Title: Capgras Syndrome
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The chances that this continent knew about Capgras Syndrome were slim to none.
I only had a basic understanding of it myself, and was completely ignorant about its causes or treatments.
But more importantly than that...
“Professor, where are you?”
The top priority was subduing Aria, who was charging at me in a frenzy.
Kwang!
“Urk!”
Even using protective magic with the Black Necromancer, Aria’s tightly clenched fists easily shattered it.
As if to prove she wasn’t just any regressor, she unleashed a barrage of diverse techniques as she pressed forward.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
I cast wind magic on my body to float up and create as much distance as possible, but golden energy surged from her soles, accelerating her to catch up in an instant.
‘She’s already mastered Golden Dragon Steps?’
Among movement skills, it was the most efficient and powerful top-tier one.
The scariest thing about Golden Dragon Steps was that it ignored spatial constraints.
As Aria stepped into the air, a golden platform appeared beneath her foot, propelling her upward.
With just a few leaps, she overtook me, who had launched myself with wind magic.
Her fist then came hammering down from above.
“I won’t kill you. I need to know where the professor is.”
Kuuung!
I instinctively raised both hands to block the brutal impact. It was the best defense I could manage.
Crack!
The impact twisted and snapped both my forearms. My eyebrows twitched in pain as I gritted my teeth.
But it wasn’t over yet.
The force sent me plummeting downward. I curled up as much as possible and tried to cast protective magic again with the Black Necromancer’s help.
Was it because my arms were twisted?
The magic wouldn’t manifest properly.
The Black Necromancer’s magic alone couldn’t fully cushion this impact.
I thought I had no choice but to endure it, but just before hitting the ground, a massive golden butterfly appeared below and softly caught me.
Not only that, but a light also gently healed my broken arm.
[Th-that’s... a high-ranking spirit?]
The Black Necromancer gasped in surprise, but I turned my gaze to the opposite side.
There stood Erika, who had followed us, manipulating magic alongside her spirit.
“You okay?”
“More or less.”
After a brief check-in, we both turned our heads at the same time.
Aria had landed cleanly and was still glaring at us murderously.
“So, even Professor Erika’s in on it.”
“......What?”
Erika looked at me like she had no idea what that meant, so I explained simply.
“She thinks we’re not us—that someone else is impersonating us.”
“Like illusion magic?”
I shook my head at Erika, who was preparing purification magic.
Aria wouldn’t fall for something like illusion magic.
“It’s a type of mental illness.”
“......”
“I don’t know why Aria’s been driven to this point, but we need to subdue her first.”
“This is a real pain.”
Erika bit her lip with a hiss. The situation—needing to subdue her without killing—was extremely challenging.
Her opponent was a master who had fought a bloody battle against the Magic Inquisitors single-handedly.
Even if Aria had the advantage in compatibility and the Inquisitor Captain was injured...
Few on this continent could pull off such a feat.
[We might need mental magic.]
The Black Necromancer’s suggestion was quite persuasive. Physical combat was tough, so mental magic was the way to go.
Especially since she was in such an unstable state right now.
But to do that, we needed to regroup. It wouldn’t be easy for just the two of us to create an opening against Aria.
“Stoooop!”
This was the academy, so naturally, the longer it dragged on, the more people would gather.
Professors were already rushing over, having noticed the commotion.
“What’s going on here!”
“A-Aria?”
“Calm your mana first. Please explain the situation.”
The other professors tried to resolve it rationally through dialogue, but Professor Kerun—the former mercenary health instructor—took a stance in disbelief.
“I had no idea one of our students was hiding this kind of monster.”
An overwhelming wave of bloodlust.
The killing intent she had directed at me now spread even thicker toward the professors.
“The professors too? You must’ve gone through a lot preparing.”
Now Aria was convinced even the other professors were fakes. The situation was escalating.
‘Right now, without her weapon, is our best shot.’
If she got her hands on that greatsword, even all the academy professors together might struggle against her.
After all, she’d taken on the kingdom’s elite Magic Inquisitors alone, so she could probably handle that much.
‘She’s probably been fighting based on techniques learned in a previous regression, so she must have learned the greatsword.’
Even I would’ve recommended the greatsword for Aria—it was the most efficient, versatile option with plenty of unique items.
No, in the first run, I might’ve suggested it myself.
So her unarmed combat skills were probably generally low. She only had basic self-defense and movement skills like Golden Dragon Steps to fight us with.
Even so, Aria’s bloodlust was no joke. It was like facing a tiger that had lost its fangs—but the tiger was still far too massive.
And we couldn’t kill her; we had to subdue her while controlling our strength.
I wanted to resolve it through talk if possible, but knowing that wasn’t an option, I was prepared to take damage to subdue her.
“Wh-what’s going on?”
“All the professors are gathered?”
“Is there a fight?”
Students heading to their next class. Among them, I spotted Elenoa and various other game characters.
“Aaack!”
The moment she saw them, Aria clutched her head in agony.
“Aaaaaah!”
It was sudden, but a golden opportunity. I immediately signaled Kerun, and Erika’s spirit cast support magic on her.
“Let’s calm down a bit!”
Kerun struck Aria’s nape precisely with a hand chop, and she collapsed unconscious.
Was it a technique from her mercenary days?
Grateful for the clean takedown, I still couldn’t help watching the fallen Aria with a troubled expression.
* * *
“So just stay put in there.”
When I spoke toward the room where Aria was confined, she replied in a cheerful voice from inside.
“Yes, Professor!”
Kerun had said her clean technique would keep a normal person out for at least three hours, but Aria woke up in just ten minutes.
I knew she wasn’t a normal girl, but her freakish physical abilities never failed to amaze me every time.
Others worried we might have to fight to subdue her again.
But if she truly had Capgras Syndrome, there was another way.
Just letting her hear voices.
Back when I learned about Capgras Syndrome, one case that stuck with me was about a man who spoke to his mother.
He screamed at his mother right in front of him that she was a fake, an impostor mimicking his mom.
But when they had her speak to him from the next room over the phone, he calmed down astonishingly and accepted her as real.
Not seeing faces.
That was how to keep Aria contained without harm.
“Wow, that’s wild.”
Pindenai, who’d heard the full explanation, stuck out her tongue as she stared at the door.
“You know all sorts of stuff, Master. Never heard of a disease like this before.”
Did anyone on this continent know about Capgras Syndrome?
Probably not, I thought, as I warned Pindenai.
“If Aria tries to come out, call me no matter what. Don’t let her escape, and don’t let her see anyone else’s face.”
“Got it. Tch, can’t even smoke in the dorms.”
Leaving Pindenai—who smacked her lips—I headed to the first floor of the girls’ dorm.
It was the duty room in the women’s dormitory, but several heavy-hitter professors were gathered there, with the Dean at the center.
“Phew, I heard the situation from Professor Erika. Some kind of mental illness?”
“Capgras Syndrome. A mental disorder where you believe the people around you aren’t real but disguised as someone else.”
“There’s a disease like that?”
Professor Kerun, the health expert, asked with a puzzled look. Even she, knowledgeable in this area, had never heard of it.
Feigning mild regret, I nodded calmly.
“It’s rare, so it’s not well-known. But that’s not the point.”
Right—Aria’s exact diagnosis didn’t matter.
“The issue is there’s no standard treatment, so we need to find one from here on out.”
At my words, several professors shot to their feet.
“Wait, why not just send her to a hospital right away?”
“We’re professors who teach students, not doctors who treat them.”
“It could endanger the other students.”
Their sharp responses were understandable, in a way.
They’d indirectly felt just how ridiculously strong the girl they’d seen as merely gifted was.
If she rampaged again, the other students could be at risk.
The Dean seemed inclined that way too, glancing at me with a subtle expression.
Erika crossed her arms and offered her cold opinion in response.
“Aria became like this just two days ago. Two days ago, she was attending classes normally.”
“......”
“This means there’s a high chance the cause is something within the academy.”
“E-even so, we can’t just leave her be!”
One flustered professor shouted at the implication of academy responsibility, but Erika was firm.
“Professor Deus is the only one who knows her condition and how to handle it. If there’s a doctor in the city hospital who knows about her illness, we can hand her over. But...”
“......”
“Otherwise, what’s the difference from tossing out a lab rat? The other students matter too, of course.”
Her icy voice, devoid of emotion, carried even more weight. But I could sense the deep trust toward me beneath it.
“Aria is an academy student too. I believe the fastest way to respond and resolve this is to leave it to Professor Deus.”
“Urgh.”
The Dean wiped the cold sweat from his brow and sighed.
“This year has been full of incidents.”
Grumbling like that, the Dean synthesized all opinions and reached a conclusion.
“For now, let’s observe. If after three days Aria’s condition worsens, we’ll have no choice but to send her to the hospital.”
“Understood.”
With that, the professors dispersed, leaving me, Erika, and Professor Kerun.
“Mind if I tag along? I’ll check if any city hospital knows about Capgras Syndrome.”
Kerun seemed intrigued by the unfamiliar disease.
“So, what’s your plan?”
Erika’s voice, soft now compared to the chilling tone from moments ago.
I glanced at her sudden shift, then stepped outside.
“The Aria fighting us complained of a headache.”
“It happened suddenly when she saw the passing students.”
“It wasn’t just any students.”
I’d clearly seen key game characters mixed in among them.
“I think we need to check on certain students.”
First, it seemed like I needed to meet Aria’s old comrades.