The One Who Proved
The One Who Proved
Even though I opened the window and aired it out all night, the metallic smell of blood did not easily dissipate.
The next afternoon.
As expected, it was a low-level healing priest from the Church who knocked on the dormitory door.
As soon as he entered the room, he furrowed his brow and sniffed.
"Tch, why does the stench of blood reek so much in this room? Looks like you self-harmed like a beast again all night."
The priest clicked his tongue and approached Ines, who was curled up in the corner of the bed.
Ines trembled at the unfamiliar priest's aura and burrowed behind my back.
The priest's gaze lingered on Ines's forearm.
His eyes narrowed.
"...That's strange."
The priest tilted his head.
"For shallow bite marks from biting yourself, the smell of blood filling the room is terribly strong. This isn't a wound that would cause this much bleeding..."
Just as a seed of suspicion was about to sprout.
I cut off the priest's words in a flat voice.
"It's because I went outside the barrier last night and butchered demon beasts."
"What?"
"You say you'll cover the treatment costs, but I have to earn this child's meal money. I aired it out, but it seems the smell of beast blood hasn't fully left the room and equipment yet."
Without any agitation, I gestured with my chin toward my dagger, which I had cleaned spotlessly without a drop of blood and placed on the desk.
The blade was clean, but the unique, thick stench of blood that had soaked into the bone from countless slashes of demon beast and human necks was not easily concealed.
"If the smell bothers you, I'll make sure to get rid of it completely outside before coming in next time."
The priest's gaze alternated between the dagger on the desk and my cold eyes.
A tidy room with no blood in sight, and neat attire. But this commoner student before him was the mad dog that had beaten dozens of paladins and knights half to death.
At that dry and brutal answer about having gone hunting, the priest dared not press further.
Soon, he cleared his throat uncomfortably and stepped back.
"Ahem, no. It was the smell of lowly beasts. No wonder it was disgusting."
Perfect alibi.
The priest only perfunctorily checked Ines's condition, then hurriedly left the room as if displeased.
I confirmed the door was closed and looked out the window with cold, calm eyes.
The corpse was perfectly disposed of, and traces erased. Ines's secret was safe.
The academy's afternoon lecture hall.
A small rumor was circulating among the students.
It was the story that the third-year mad low-rank mage, Erden, had been missing since last night.
"That heretic bastard, didn't he burn to death without a trace while doing dangerous magic experiments in his corner room?"
"Or he fled in the night to escape his creditors. With that stinking trash gone, the academy air is much cleaner."
The disappearance of a heretic despised by the world.
Surprisingly, no one paid much attention to his absence.
I silently turned the pages of a tactics textbook, laughing at their indifference inwardly.
But the peace did not last long.
Right after class ended.
An assistant approached me and gave an instruction in a low voice.
"The Head Professor-nim wishes to see you quietly. Come to his office immediately."
Academy Head Professor, Walder.
He was a monster on a different level from a green heretic like Erden, who had been stuck in a corner of the academy.
Five years ago, he personally proved the 'utility of magic' on the battlefield with overwhelming destructive power, burning the flesh of demon beasts and single-handedly blocking the demon army's advance.
Although some in the world still despised mages as ominous heretics, the Empire willingly bestowed upon him the unprecedented position of Academy Head Professor before his martial might.
Above all, he was the only mage who was fully acknowledged for his skills and maintained a friendly relationship even with the arrogant and exclusive Church leadership.
A cunning old snake who outwardly pretended to conform to the system of the Church and the Empire, but in the shadows gathered heretics and ran his own massive 'Magic Tower (secret research lab).'
An unpleasant intuition brushed the top of my head.
Professor Walder's personal office was filled with bizarre magical artifacts.
Sitting in the deep shadow behind a heavy oak desk, Walder looked up at me with murky eyes.
"Sit down."
I bowed respectfully and sat on the chair.
Feigning ignorance, wearing the face of an obedient model student.
"I received a report from the priest."
Walder propped his chin on his interlaced hands and opened his mouth slowly.
"Last night, a bizarrely thick smell of blood filled your dormitory room. You made an excuse that it was beast blood, correct?"
"Yes. I went hunting demon beasts to earn my maid's meal money."
I answered politely without a hint of expression.
"Hmph. Hunting. Very diligent."
The corner of Walder's mouth twisted upward.
"Then let me ask one more thing. At yesterday's banquet, someone saw you secretly talking in a corner with my only direct disciple, Erden. What did you discuss?"
My heart beat faintly, but I perfectly controlled my breathing.
So he was Erden's master.
But he can't bite me with mere suspicion.
"I know nothing of it, gyosu-nim. He just said he'd pay me generously if I served as a vanguard, so we exchanged a few words about a mercenary contract. I haven't seen him since."
Thorough denial. I offered a flimsy excuse while running calculations inwardly.
'There's no evidence. The corpse became demon beast excrement, and I shattered the barrier without a trace.'
But Walder, upon hearing what I thought was my perfect alibi excuse, let out a cold snort.
"Keuheu... Yes. Ignorant swordsmen like you who don't seek the truth will never know even if you live a lifetime."
Walder rose from his seat and slowly approached me.
The terrifying magical power of an 8-class archmage pressed heavily on the air of the small office.
"A mage who has reached a certain level can do this too, by collecting the scattered mana remnants left at the scene."
Swoosh-.
Walder gestured toward the air.
Then a bizarre blue mist rose in the middle of the office, and soon last night's image began to project.
My dormitory room.
A horrific scene of the barrier shattering, me covered in blood leaping and ruthlessly slashing Erden's neck with a dagger.
"......"
The convenience and power of magic.
It was my perfect mistake that I hadn't accounted for.
But even as my heart pounded madly, my eyes did not waver and thoroughly analyzed the illusion.
'Fortunately.'
Perhaps due to the fragments of the magical barrier Erden had set up, the corner of the bed beyond the mist.
The spot where Ines had been curled up was blurred and not visible.
At least the secret of Ines's condition and the missing vessel was not exposed to that snake-like old man.
With relief, I coolly and tautly spun my mind.
Clear evidence of murder.
But I did not panic and spout excuses, nor kneel and beg for my life.
'Why did he quietly call the murderer who killed his disciple into this private room instead of dragging him outside?'
If it were out of vengeance, he should have handed me over to the guards or heretic inquisitors and sent me to the execution block long ago.
But he did not.
On the contrary, he created a face-to-face meeting with me alone. What was he curious about?
Even after confirming the murder scene with his own eyes, he was deliberating.
How to compensate for the enormous loss of his prized disciple by using the mad dog before him.
Was I, as a piece, more 'valuable' to explore as a mage than the dead Erden?
The conclusion was simple.
I just needed to create that value. Overwhelming value that would incite his fierce greed, incomparable to a dead disciple.
I slowly raised my previously bowed head.
A sardonic smile spread across my lips as I cast off the mask.
"Yes, I killed him. The corpse should be excellent excrement inside beasts' bellies by now."
My attitude in admitting the murder was still polite honorific speech.
At that bizarre and cold temperature difference, Walder's eyebrow twitched.
"But I have a question. Even after securing clear evidence of murder, why did you not call the guards, but instead quietly summoned me to this private room?"
"You dare...!"
Just as menacing magic power was about to burst from Walder's eyes.
"It can't be that you called me because you're aggrieved about your disciple's death."
I drew up energy from deep within my dantian.
And above my rough palm extended before Walder's eyes, I released the power I had suppressed.
Woooong-!
In an instant, the dark office became as bright as day.
A dazzling, blinding pure white light erupted from my palm.
From the rough hand of a commoner swordsman, not a holy priest nor a paladin.
The most pure and overwhelming 'divine power' that even the high-ranking priests of the Church could not approach was blooming.
"Th-this is...!"
Walder's eyes, which had been raging with anger, widened as if they would tear.
His wrinkled face turned white with shock and astonishment, then soon began to flush red with uncontrollable joy.
The unknown miracle monopolized by the Church, unattainable even by a mage devoting a lifetime.
The sight of that sublime power breathing alive in the hand of a commoner swordsman.
"Your disciple was uncontrollable and arrogant, so he was useless, and I killed him."
I withdrew the divine power that had bloomed in my palm and coldly pressed into Walder's chin.
"But I am different."
One who sells his soul only to explore the world's truths and mysteries.
And the arrogant intellectual greed of a mage who outwardly pretends to be friendly with the Church, but inwardly seeks to fully dissect and seize their monopolized divine power and authority.
I accurately pierced the very heart of the old raccoon's insidious ambition.
"I can hold this miracle and become your most perfect tool to dig into the heart of the Church. Incomparably more so than a dead disciple."
A transaction where, from the position of a murderer, I boldly hold and shake the leash with an archmage.
At my arrogant and audacious declaration, a suffocating silence fell over the office.
Not long after.
"Keu, heuheuheu... Keuk, kyahahahaha!"
Walder began to laugh like crazy, holding his stomach.
There was no trace of anger over losing his prized disciple. Only the intellectual ecstasy of discovering a new research subject and perfect hunting dog enveloped the old mage's entire body.
"Interesting. Truly interesting."
Stopping his laughter, Walder flashed his murky eyes and leaned over the desk.
The creepy aura of a ruler, befitting the Empire's dark power broker, pressed down on my throat.
"Your insolent proof is certainly far more valuable than my dead, foolish disciple. I will retract the mist in this private room. I will completely erase this murder case."
Success.
The crisis had turned into a perfect opportunity.
"But."
Walder propped his chin and flashed his eyes coldly. The old fox did not carelessly trust the delicious mad dog before him.
"When acquiring a new hunting dog, one must first train it to see whether it's a mad dog that might bite its master at any moment."
He took out a piece of parchment with a bizarre red pattern from a drawer and threw it in front of me.
"If you want to open the door to my Magic Tower and seek my knowledge, first bring back the prey I throw to you. I need to confirm whether you are truly a useful butcher."
A bloody test.
But inwardly, I let out a sardonic snort.
To fix Ines's broken mind and solve the mystery of that empty vessel, I absolutely needed the knowledge of the Magic Tower that old fox had built.
I would willingly take the test, thoroughly use him, and suck out only the essence.
"I will keep that in mind, gyosu-nim."