Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: The Culprit
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How many times had I ever felt someone's breath this close? That thought suddenly crossed my mind.
While working as a sherpa in the Demon Realm Forest, I'd unintentionally brushed up against clients now and then, but nothing like this blatant approach.
Staring at the small lips of the girl inching toward me, trembling like a mouse before a cat, it felt surreal, like I was dreaming.
Weeeeeng!
Whether fortunate or unfortunate, a shrill warning blare suddenly pierced the air.
It was the distinctive sound that rang out when someone triggered a magic trap.
The rough exhale snapped my hazy mind back to reality, and Rin's unfocused eyes sharpened as well.
"Stop!"
I twisted away immediately, shoving Rin aside, then sprang up and gripped my sword.
Rin sat there in a daze, staring at me. I was certain I needed to cut her down right then and drew my blade—but
"Grab that bitch!"
"Thief! It's a thief!"
"Block the entrance!"
Not just the guards, but professors—even the Dean—were rushing out in a panic. The situation felt off.
I whipped my head around. Ares and Hayun under the tree had already been spotted by the guards and were being interrogated.
"......"
Rin slowly stood, glancing at me before surveying the surroundings. The academy, lit only by starlight and moonlight moments ago, was now swarming with adults dashing about with lanterns.
"A thief broke in?"
One of the guards had definitely said that earlier.
But watching them mill about in confusion, it seemed odd.
No chasing tails or forming a perimeter—just chaos.
"Over here! Near the library!"
"What are you talking about? I'm on them—they're past the pond!"
"Main gate! Heading for the main gate!"
Watching the guards pursue, it seemed like there were multiple thieves. A few professors began firing off spells, and reports came in of fleeing thieves collapsing.
'But what could there even be to steal around here?'
This area saw hardly any foot traffic in the academy. If anything, maybe that confession tree where Hayun and Ares had been?
Then, a female student came sprinting toward us.
"Rin! It's chaos out there! We have to run—now!"
"Uh, yeah!"
I remembered her as the girl always hanging around with Rin. Didn't know her name exactly, but she gestured frantically, and Rin naturally moved to follow—but
Thwack.
I slammed my scabbard—the one Hayun had handed off—into the girl's abdomen, tripped her legs, and pressed my sword to her throat.
"D-Daniel? What the hell!"
Whether she'd snapped out of it or was just pretending, it was Rin's usual vibe now, startled as she tried to intervene. But I shook my head.
"How are you even here?"
Thieves were causing a ruckus outside, and suddenly this girl shows up?
Way too suspicious.
She scowled deeply in response.
"I saw you sneak out! You and Hayun messing around at the cafe! I saw you heading out tonight too—from my window—so I told Rin!"
I glanced at Rin, who nodded.
"Y-Yeah. Hare told me, so I followed you..."
Unlike her usual self, Rin hesitated, but aside from the weird mood earlier, her memory seemed solid.
"I'll explain everything that just happened! So for now..."
"No."
Rin must've thought my hardened expression was her fault, pleading desperately, but that wasn't it.
"So you used your friend just for some petty theft?"
I looked down at Hare as I spoke, and she shouted in outrage.
"What bullshit! I knew Rin liked you, so I told her to help her out—and I tagged along just in case!"
Veins bulging on her neck, she looked genuinely furious, but my mood only chilled further.
"There's a magical beast called a cockatrice in the Demon Realm Forest."
Rin shot me a baffled look, but Hare's face stiffened, her eyes widening.
"It doesn't like killing people—it prefers deceiving them. Makes it a pain to hunt. The thing bolts at the slightest hint of danger."
"......"
"It doesn't wield mana, but it has this bizarre power. Personally, I call it sorcery, not magic."
A truly unique creature. Most ghost stories and legends from the Demon Realm Forest could be chalked up to it.
Trapping first-time visitors in endless loops around the same spot for life? Child's play for it.
Party members spotting perfect doppelgangers. Hands turning into legs or vice versa. Nearby plants sprouting teeth and devouring humans.
It doesn't want death, but its pranks usually end that way—a real bastard.
"Know the easiest way to spot when it's working its sorcery?"
My lips twisted into a smirk.
Ridiculous. A sigh escaped me.
"Check the moon's color. When you're caught in its spell, your vision syncs with its— you see the colors it sees."
Rin jerked her head up, panic making her lips tremble.
"G-Green?"
The brightly shining moon glowed an eerie mold-green.
"It's been green since you showed up. No clue how you're wielding cockatrice sorcery, but you're suspicious as hell."
I pitied the guards and professors too distracted by 'thieves' to even glance at the moon.
Not that they'd know it meant cockatrice sorcery anyway.
The thieves scrambling now were basic illusions it used to escape.
"Heh, heh heh."
Hare muttered in admission, nodding.
"Heh heh! Didn't think you'd know about cockatrices. How do you even? You could count the people on the continent who do with your fingers."
So elusive it never shows itself, so no one even knows it exists—no bounties either.
'More like I'm the one curious.'
How the hell did this girl know about cockatrices? But suddenly, her form shimmered and vanished like a mirage.
"Guess you know this too, then? Once you're in a cockatrice prank, you can never escape!"
Hare's voice echoed.
Guards and professors outside halted in confusion, scanning around.
"I was gonna go easy on you for Rin's sake, but no. Time to give you some trauma."
Trees across the academy warped. They split open, tongues and teeth sprouting from within.
Key point: I wasn't the only one seeing it—guards, professors, even Rin.
Couldn't focus solely on me, so she wasn't mastering the cockatrice power fully.
The approaching tree beasts shed leaves that sharpened into fangs hurtling toward me.
"No!"
Splurt!
I didn't bother dodging. Rin hurled herself from behind me, shielding me.
Caught off guard, I watched her clutch her pierced, gushing shoulder and scream into the air.
"Hare! Why! Why all of a sudden!"
No answer for her friend. Fangs kept flying. Rin stepped in front, casting a protective spell.
"I-It's fine! Daniel, don't worry. I'll protect you!"
The barrier was impressively intricate and sturdy. I knew she had magical talent, but this level at eighteen? No small feat.
Unfortunately,
"Huh?"
The fangs ignored the barrier entirely, streaking toward me.
Crack! Crack!
More fangs embedding.
Rin had thrown herself again, taking dozens in the back. One arm dangled mangled.
"......"
I silently watched her.
Bleeding profusely, limping, she still intercepted fangs for me, stroking my cheek with her remaining hand.
"Sorry... I'm so sorry..."
Sorry for what?
"Sorry for not respecting your feelings. Sorry for not being there when you needed strength. And... sorry for trying to kiss you."
"......"
"As your childhood friend... can I ask one thing?"
Her breathing grew ragged; the fangs halted. Tree beasts lunged at professors instead.
"What?"
I replied curtly. Rin smiled faintly.
"I hope... you don't hate me..."
"......"
I caught her collapsing form and laid her gently on the ground.
"So much... I wanted to say."
Gazing at her teetering between life and death, I rose slowly and drew my sword.
What was Hare thinking, watching her friend die? Did she even see her as one?
"You know something?"
I said to her.
"Why do we see the green moon the cockatrice sees when its sorcery hits?"
Wind rustled; professors clashed in the distance.
"Its senses sync with ours. We see what it sees, feel what it feels."
One hell of a creature.
"Not the point, really. The key is—"
I paused, condensing rising irritation into words.
"—it's a goddamned extreme psychopath."
To the point of hallucinations, auditory delusions, phantom pains.
"Everything we're seeing? It's the cockatrice's daily grind—what it experiences, sees, feels."
Truth is, cockatrices aren't much.
Just a psycho that shares its senses.
"That's why phantom pain feels off from real agony. It's never been properly cut or stabbed."
How I pinpointed its weakness.
"You acted invincible, but hunting cockatrices? Dead simple."
Squelch.
Hayun's sword plunged into my thigh. Dizzying pain raced up my spine, stabbing my skull.
"Gaaaaah!"
Hare's scream echoed mine.
"Told you—senses are shared."
I yanked the blade free and stabbed my abdomen.
"Kyaaaaaaaah!"
"Cockatrices flee bawling after one hit."
Snickering, I asked,
"How long can you last?"
*
To put it mildly, I didn't need to self-harm further. Hare passed out from the pain first.
The moon returned to normal. Guards and professors slashing and spell-slinging at air were clueless.
We'd explain simply to the Dean tomorrow. Now, heading back to the dorms.
Rin, half-dead from blood loss moments ago, marveled at her intact body. Ares and Hayun were terrified.
(I'd gotten a healing spell—fully recovered. That's why I could stab myself so freely.)
At the dorm entrance, Rin asked the grim-faced pair,
"Want a spell for deep, worry-free sleep? No side effects."
"......Please."
"Me too."
They'd felt being devoured by plants, torn apart—yet held it together.
"Daniel too?"
"......Sure."
Adrenaline killing sleep, I accepted. Rin smiled softly, cast it on me, then herself.
"Lie down, and you'll sleep like a baby. I use it often—guaranteed."
She thumped her chest. Despite her bestie betraying her, she smiled reassuringly.
We headed to our rooms.
Undressing, I pondered.
Didn't care what Hare stole or why.
What mattered:
'Even facing death, she didn't change.'
I'd let it play out until she thought she was dying for a simple reason.
To see if pushed to the absolute brink, she'd turn into the Army of Death's master.
She didn't.
'Thought it was my best hypothesis.'
Instead, dying, she smiled at me—utterly relinquishing everything.
Sleep overtook me.
Thoughts swirled, but Rin's spell worked too well.
I drifted off unwashed.
*
Crash!
A racket jolted me awake. Sunlight streamed in. Fatigue gone—Rin's spell was potent—but no time to appreciate.
Armored knights smashed my door, bursting in.
Half-asleep, before I could speak, they roughly dragged me out.
Escape crossed my mind, but assess first.
'What the hell?'
This wasn't just witness questioning from last night.
Ares from the same floor was being hauled too. Downstairs, Rin and Hayun waited.
A stern, bespectacled woman forced us to our knees, arms crossed, declaring,
"You are under arrest for stealing the Former King's treasure from Aios Academy last night. Further proceedings..."
"What are you talking about!"
Ares bellowed incredulously.
"We're the victims! The culprit was...!"
His outburst trailed off.
"The culprit..."
Wondering why, I continued,
"Seems like a misunderstanding. We caught the culprit yesterday."
Right. It wasn't us.
"The culprit..."
The culprit...
Words failed. I glanced sideways. Hayun and Rin paled, sharing my chilling dread.
The culprit,
who was it?