Chapter 4
Chapter 4
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: 3. Wounded Little Sister
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“What the hell is this crowd?”
Nurse Karen couldn’t help but feel flustered. After all, this was an academy that taught both swordsmanship and magic, so injuries were bound to pile up.
That was why the infirmary was one of the largest spaces in the academy, always equipped with the latest facilities.
But even this infirmary was packed to the brim, and today’s chaos at the academy was downright bizarre.
On top of that, it wasn’t even during the semester—it was vacation time.
There were so many students that it felt like almost every kid left in the dorms had been carted in. The place was bursting at the seams.
“What in the world?”
Most of them had fainted for no apparent reason.
It started with the new professor, Peril, collapsing in her lab with foam at her mouth.
Then some kids training in the sparring grounds passed out with marks like they’d been struck somewhere.
Witnesses said they’d suddenly shouted at thin air and swung their swords wildly.
And it wasn’t just there—the library, cafeteria, hallways, classrooms.
Students were dropping everywhere in this bizarre incident.
The place hit hardest was.
“The first-floor central entrance.”
Slipping her hands into the pockets of her white coat, Karen let out a heavy sigh laced with deep concern.
Most of the students who’d come down to the first floor to visit the faculty support office had been carried in unconscious.
“Among those who went to the faculty support office, the ones who didn’t faint all used the other stairs.”
Her own investigation had revealed that only students who came down the central hallway or through the entrance had collapsed.
“Guess I’ll have to check it out.”
Since the semester hadn’t started yet, most students still at the academy were those who’d stayed in the dorms over break.
No need to worry about rumors spreading outside, but if this kept up once classes began, it’d be a problem.
She could ask other professors, but that would take too long. Better to handle it herself than sit here doing nothing.
There wasn’t much she could do for the students anyway.
Setting aside her stethoscope and syringe, Karen picked up her sword, neatly wrapped in bandages.
If an enemy hurts her allies, she kills that enemy to protect them.
That was one of her philosophies.
“Everyone stay put. If you go outside before I get back, you’re all dead meat.”
Clunk.
She tied her gray hair back with a hair tie, then slipped her non-prescription glasses from the bridge of her nose into her front pocket.
“It was real! There was an undead at the first-floor central entrance!”
“Hah, but look. There’s nothing here now?”
Arriving at the central entrance, Karen approached the piercing voices with a bored expression.
It was the minimal guards left during break and Maylin, a second-year infamous for her foul mouth and genius reputation.
“Damn it! I’m telling you, it was there! Don’t you know kids are flooding the infirmary?”
“That’s why we’ve checked this place over and over, and there’s nothing!”
“I said it was!”
Karen’s lips twisted upward at Maylin’s outburst.
She hated rude students with a passion.
“Wanna talk for a sec?”
But true to her genius reputation, she was the only one among those who’d come down the central stairs who remembered what she’d seen.
*
“Then I’ll take my leave.”
As soon as I finished eating, a maid swooped in like she’d been waiting to clear the dishes. She seemed pretty uncomfortable around me.
Can’t blame her for the awkward position.
She was trying her best to be polite while visibly fretting that I might make some unreasonable demand.
Left alone in the room again.
It didn’t feel lonely or boring. I’d always had a hard time feeling loneliness to begin with.
Ghosts unbound by physical space were everywhere.
[You sure know how to make enemies, Young Master.]
“Can’t be helped.”
Standing curtly by my desk was an elderly man. His tidy appearance and clothes made it hard to believe he was dead.
He’d served the Verdi Family since ancient times and was still at it.
[I’ve never seen him before I left for the academy.]
Ghosts pop up and hide all over the place, so I let it slide.
I couldn’t understand all their actions anyway.
“So I’d like your help.”
[You need my assistance?]
His voice trembled at my words. He seemed moved, on the verge of tears, as he slowly placed a hand on his shoulder and bowed deeply.
[Even as a ghost, the only reason I couldn’t leave this estate was to repay the debt I owed the Verdi Family.]
“What’s your name?”
[I’m Scrall. It’s an honor to finally repay the kindness you showed me 150 years ago, Lord Ditros Verdi.]
“Even though I plan to defy the current family head?”
[You, who awakened me, are the true master of Verdi.]
“……”
I fell silent and looked down at him. His unquestioning obedience felt off, too easy.
[But without him, I can’t act at all right now.]
I couldn’t even stick my face out the window, thanks to the perfectly functioning protective spell—aka my imprisonment.
“Then, Scrall. Are you a bound spirit?”
[No, not quite. I can’t go too far, but I can move within Northsweden.]
“The mountains?”
[Possible.]
“Good. Then head to the North Wedden Mountains. I hear the battle with the barbarians is in full swing, so check the situation.”
[As you command, Master.]
Scrall vanished straight through the wall. I sat calmly, trying to decipher the magic trapping me in the room.
Thud thud thud thud.
The heavy footsteps from outside shattered my focus.
Anticipating the visitor, I’d asked the maid for a tea set and lit the kettle to boil water.
Click.
The door, which hadn’t budged no matter how I’d twisted the knob moments ago, swung open smoothly.
“So, you’re back after all?”
Dark black hair just like mine. A woman in a light blouse and skirt.
Deia Verdi.
My little sister, who hated my guts.
She crossed her arms, smirking with her big eyes.
“What was it? You came back labeled a devil worshiper? I told you not to pull that lame acting crap.”
“Hoo. That all you got to say?”
At my weary remark, Deia’s vein popped right up, and she stormed in like a gale through the open door.
“I told you not to talk like that! What, puberty hitting you super late? Where’s that old way of speaking? Why act like some thug?”
“……If you miss the old me, sorry.”
But there was no helping it.
Now that I’d become Deius, I had no intention of going back to that speech pattern.
It was way too frivolous.
“Miss it? You think I miss hearing that creep hit on his little sister whenever he was bored?”
“…That.”
Yeah, Deius Verdi was a total lunatic. Indulging in revelry and debauchery even in this remote Northsweden.
He’d even thrown sexual innuendos at his blood-related little sister without fail and propositioned her at night.
A madman among madmen.
A lecher among lechers.
If womanizing was a contest, he was Cao Cao; if it was drinking, Zhang Fei.
And he wasn’t even strong in combat or blessed with magical talent.
Backed by a border family, he was just gambling with tigers in a well—that was Deius Verdi.
“Sorry.”
It was what the body’s original owner had done, after all.
I had to apologize. I’d done it several times already, but Deia scoffed.
“Bullshit. Cut the dog-and-pony show. Who’re you fooling with that noble act?”
“……”
“I know your true nature. When you said you were ditching women for your fiancée and heading to Robern Academy, guess what I thought?”
Deia kicked the sofa I was on. The tea I’d brewed for her spilled onto the floor.
“I figured you’d be back in a month. I know you swap girls weekly. Thought your fiancée might last you that long.”
“……”
“But you held out three months? How depraved do you have to be to get called a devil worshiper and kicked out?”
“There’s a reason.”
“A reason! Sure! There’s gotta be a reason you flash your dick around! Bright Family hasn’t demanded a breakup yet, so you must’ve sweet-talked your fiancée good?”
“Haa.”
My head was starting to ache.
I understood her pain, but this was crossing the line.
“Enough.”
“Enough? You think saying ‘enough’ makes me…!”
Dark mana burst from my fingertips. It gently enveloped Deia’s body and pushed her out the door.
“Fix your damn speech! I hate seeing you laugh like a clown every day and crack your sleazy jokes! Pretending to be normal is disgusting!”
“……”
“Just get out of the estate! Go die!”
Bang!
The door slammed shut, and Deia’s unsatisfied voice echoed from outside like a tantrum.
“Phew.”
It’d been six months since coming to this world.
Three in the estate, three at the academy.
But life was still tough.