Back to the Academy
"Understood."
I replied while gently lowering the Count of Arcadia's hand.
"...First, allow me to explain Isabel's condition."
"Go ahead."
"Currently, your daughter... Isabel has been branded with the Demon Mark. It gradually drains her life force, eventually claiming the life of the marked individual. It's a curse."
I deliberately omitted the part about dying and then becoming subservient to demons. After all, with Melek dead, that wouldn't happen.
"How do you know that? Why should I trust your words...?"
"If you look at her right wrist, you'll see Melek's mark. Sane!"
I called for Sane, who had been waiting outside the room.
"Yes?"
"Sane, who just responded to my call, is a member of the Empire's Demon Countermeasures Division. Naturally, she knows a great deal about demons."
"Demon Countermeasures Division...? I've heard of it. It came up in the Empire's social circles before... The story about how they executed an entire noble family overnight for contracting with demons."
"Is there any need to separately prove that Sane belongs to the Demon Countermeasures Division? ...If we leave things as they are, Isabel will die soon anyway."
It was an established fact that Isabel would die if left alone.
The Count of Arcadia closed his eyes for a moment and let out a groan after hearing my words.
"Hmm... Very well. I'll trust what you say. Then... what should we do?"
'Put a resurrection necklace around your daughter's neck and kill her. Then she'll come back to life and all debuffs will be removed. Ta-da!'
I couldn't say that, so it was better to gloss over it.
"Sane here knows the spell to remove the Demon Mark, as she's part of the Demon Countermeasures Division."
"Eh?"
"Ooh... I see..."
Sane let out a dumbfounded sound. ...Did she have no talent for acting? She did fine the first time I saw her.
Hope flickered in the Count of Arcadia's eyes upon hearing my words.
"Could you have everyone step outside for a moment? ...The removal spell requires quite precise work, so any interference could be dangerous. If something goes wrong, everyone could die."
"No matter what sounds you hear... you must never open the door."
"U-understood. I'll have everyone leave."
Following the Count of Arcadia's instructions, the maid, Louis, and the Count himself exited the room.
"Please... take good care of her..."
He left those words behind before departing.
***
Only Sane, Isabel lying on the bed, and I remained in the room.
"...I don't know how to remove that mark. Does a method even exist?"
"Just stay quiet since I know what I'm doing."
"Tch..."
Sane pouted her lips in a timid act of rebellion. ...She was kind of cute.
I removed the reverse cross necklace hanging from my neck and placed it around Isabel's.
"What are you doing...?"
"Quiet."
"Who... who are you...?"
Isabel's eyes opened. ...Fortunately, her consciousness didn't seem fully intact.
I pulled out the dagger I had hidden in my coat and drove it into Isabel's heart.
Shunk. The moment the dagger pierced her heart, crimson blood soaked her body.
—Afterward, her platinum hair and white dress were stained with blood.
"What the hell are you doing?!!!!"
"Guh... urk..."
...Isabel's short scream faded. Then, an ominous black darkness enveloped her body.
Sane protested to me, clearly flustered by the sudden situation.
"...Wait. Everything's going according to plan."
"What plan?! You... are you really a demon... huh?"
The wound on her body gradually healed as the black darkness began to fade.
After some time passed, her body returned to its state before the dagger had been thrust into it.
—The mark of Melek on the back of her hand had completely vanished.
'Good. It went just as I expected.'
"Hey... seriously, who are you? I'm asking because I'm really curious... what's your real identity?"
"Just an ordinary academy student named Logue."
"Ugh... ugh..."
Isabel was trying to open her eyes.
'This is bad... How am I supposed to explain this...'
The problem was that Isabel had been conscious just moments before. Even if her body was healed, there was no way she'd look kindly on the people who had stabbed her in the heart.
Moreover, the blood that had poured from her chest had stained not only her platinum hair and white dress red, but also splattered across the surrounding bed and furniture.
'It feels like I'm witnessing a murder scene I once saw in person...'
While I was thinking about how to make excuses, Isabel opened her mouth.
"Y-you... fuck..."
The look in her eyes as she stared at me was filled with fear. ...Seeing her body tremble, it seemed the sensation of having her heart pierced had left her with trauma.
"The mark that was leading you toward death has now disappeared. In a few days, you'll gradually recover your life force.
...Focus on resting."
Leaving those words behind, I hurriedly left the room.
"You don't need to explain properly?"
"I don't know what kind of explanation would make her understand. ...Anyway, I saved her life."
I could hear the Count of Arcadia and Louis, who had rushed over after hearing the commotion, screaming at the sight inside the room.
...Should I run?
After a moment of hesitation, I concluded that at least explaining the situation to the Count of Arcadia was the right thing to do, and returned to the room.
Before I knew it, Kien was standing beside me.
"Y-you bastard! What did you do to the young lady!!!"
Louis grabbed me by the collar. His face was flushed with extreme agitation, veins bulging.
"...I only treated her. Look over there."
Where I pointed, the Count of Arcadia and Isabel were locked in an emotional embrace.
"...Huh?!"
Louis released my collar and ran toward them.
"Logue... did it work?"
"Yeah. ...Isabel's mark is gone."
Kien silently squeezed my hand tightly. It was probably because she now held hope that her younger brother could be cured as well.
...Unfortunately, this method couldn't be used again.
'To cure Kien's younger brother, I'll have to go to the black market...'
Even with the combined strength of Sane, Kien, and myself, it wasn't a place where safety could be guaranteed.
...After all, we'd have to steal an item from the auction house.
It was something that required quite thorough preparation. It would be best to check on Kien's younger brother's condition first and then set a schedule.
The Count of Arcadia finished his emotional reunion with his daughter and was approaching me.
"You... thank you so much. I swear on the name of Arcadia... I will definitely repay you."
The Count of Arcadia spoke to me in a trembling voice, his eyes reddened.
It seemed he valued the fact that his daughter had ultimately woken up in perfect condition more than the fact that she had been covered in blood.
'Good thing I don't have to explain the details.'
It had been a worthwhile murder.
***
The feeling of my body being constricted had disappeared.
The sense of exhaustion that felt like something was draining me, and the body that had been growing weaker by the day.
Even the strange pattern that had appeared after a casual dungeon run had vanished.
"Hah... hah... fuck..."
I recalled the scene from earlier.
That guy who had expressionlessly driven a dagger into my heart without a trace of emotion.
I'd heard from Father that it was part of the treatment, but I couldn't forget the sensation of the dagger piercing into my body.
When I came to my senses afterward, the wound was nowhere to be found. It felt as if what had just happened was a dream.
...But the blood-soaked state of my hair and dress, along with the bloodstains splattered everywhere around me, proved that it had all been real.
My body trembled. It was the first time I'd ever felt the sensation of death.
Once I finally managed to calm myself, I felt something strange around my neck.
'What is this...?'
It was an old, faded reverse cross necklace.
'Did that guy put it on me before leaving...?'
...Disgusted by its sinister appearance, I threw the reverse cross necklace into the corner of the room.
Fortunately, after that incident, my body gradually returned to its former state over the next few days.
"Hah... hah..."
"Sob... thank goodness..."
Though Father's and the maid's tearful faces as they looked at me felt a bit burdensome, it was refreshing just to have that constricting sensation throughout my body gone.
'...Come to think of it, it's been a while since I went to the academy. That girl who was next to that guy looked familiar...'
The pink-haired girl who had been clinging to that man's side. From the way she was tightly holding his hand, they seemed to be dating.
"Hah... Isabel. I hear your lifesaver also attends the academy. Make sure to properly thank him when you meet him later...!"
"What?!"
"Our Arcadia family is one that knows gratitude. We have received a debt that must be repaid over a lifetime...!
If there's anything you can do to help, assist that man in any way possible...!"
It was like a bolt from the blue.
Just thinking about that guy's face still made me tremble... and on top of that, he was a student at the same academy?
...Honestly, I only felt bewilderment and anger toward him, but after learning that he had healed my body, I felt grateful.
'If it weren't for him, I would probably be...'
...Either dead or on the verge of death. Even if his method was a bit extreme, the fact remained that he had saved my life.
With complicated feelings, Isabel waited for the day she would return to the academy.
***
'It's been a while...'
After my injuries had healed somewhat and I'd visited Kien's younger brother, I returned to the academy.
—Kien's younger brother's condition wasn't as bad as I'd thought.
Of course, it was true that he was gradually becoming more dangerous as his life force continued to be drained, but his condition was still stable enough for him to maintain consciousness.
...Almost as if he were resisting Melek's mark.
'When I checked Kien's younger brother with the status window, there weren't any particularly unusual traits... Maybe there's individual variation in how the mark manifests?'
Thanks to that, I had bought myself time to prepare at a leisurely pace without needing to rush into the black market.
...While thinking about that, I opened the classroom door and stepped inside, only to see a familiar platinum-haired female student whom I hadn't noticed during my previous visits.
She looked at me and cried out in surprise.
"Y-you...! W-we were in the same class?!"
"...I'm surprised too. Same class, huh."
Fortunately, she seemed to have fully recovered.
Though her expression as she looked at me still carried a hint of fear.
'Does she still find me scary...?'
She gritted her teeth and approached me.
Isabel's lips moved as if she wanted to say something, then she spoke to me.
"Th-thank you... I don't think I said it before..."
I couldn't hear the rest clearly, but it seemed she had wanted to express her gratitude.
'Still... it was worth it.'