A Harsh World for Men (3)
[Continental Calendar 997, March 2nd, 2:12 PM. Esdinas Academy, Old School Building Lecture Hall Infirmary.]
Thanks to the student council president's ultimate act of self-sacrifice—baring everything he had—the Esdinas Academy had managed to glean a few key pieces of information about angels.
One. Angels do not possess men.
"Isn't that just the case with the angel that possessed Angelica?"
"I checked with the academy's religious studies experts separately, and they said there's no record of a male angel in any case. So it's probably true."
"Whether they don't want to possess men or simply can't, that's why angels have only appeared in women up to now. Understood."
Rydmila raised the question, but there wasn't a single counterexample in the records. Male angels don't exist. At least not in outward appearance.
Two. Destroying an angel's halo doesn't end it. The angel lingers around, waiting to possess its target.
"Like a ghost, huh."
"Was the condition some kind of setup? A recreation of the battle?"
"I think it's the target's clothes. There were some others there in different uniforms, but it possessed something almost identical to Angelica's uniform."
"Thank goodness the academy allows students to wear their uniforms in ways that suit their individual styles."
The angel had wandered the area even after its halo was destroyed, searching for a vessel to possess. Fortunately, it couldn't find Angelica and ended up possessing the student council president Julius's crossdressing outfit instead. At the very least, they'd achieved an encouraging result: a reliable way to "permanently eliminate" angels after defeating them.
Three. The medium angels possess is likely clothing.
"This one's still speculation, but think of it as the angel's soul infiltrating the body through clothes."
"Instructor Esta, does that mean the academy uniform in this case?"
"Well, uniforms are uniforms, but it could be called 'feminine attire'? Once it possesses the clothes, when it tries to burrow into the body, if it's a woman, it possesses her, but if it's a man..."
If it's a man, you'd get the phenomenon like with Student Council President Julius—his flesh being forcibly dragged around and flung by the clothes. That bitch angel must be literally losing its shit over realizing "oh crap, it's a dude" after possessing the outfit.
The recreation of the academy attack scenario was mostly complete. The academy didn't have many solid sources for more info yet, so they'd have to focus on whatever places might yield something.
Here.
"Hey, this is the infirmary, not a classroom."
Based on the subject that Instructor Cardisha had placed in the center of the Old School Building's infirmary and was examining.
"Instructor Cardisha. Isn't this basically a lab?"
"Student Phoenix? Saying it like that makes it sound like I've been treating some girl possessed by an angel like a 'test subject.' I'm legitimately working on her recovery here."
Instructor Cardisha pointed to Angelica, lying in what looked like a glass coffin in the middle of the lab.
"Let me explain first. After securing Angelica, the academy staff with expertise in alchemy sealed her away."
Angelica lay there with her eyes peacefully closed, dressed in a plain white patient gown. A loose, dress-style one at that. With no patterns or anything, it almost looked like a shroud.
"More precisely, we put her in a special suppression case."
"Looks like a coffin, Instructor."
"Unia. It's not coffin-like—it's a straight-up coffin."
"Pardon?"
"Just in case, we might have to hold a funeral like this. She's still alive, though."
Instructor Cardisha lightly tapped the glass case with her hand.
"It's a special case designed to block any magical interference. Physically tough enough to withstand a B-rank attack, from outside or in."
"From inside too...?"
"You never know. If Angelica wakes up..."
Instructor Cardisha hardened her expression and struck a pose like the angel had.
"How dare you mortals imprison me in this coffin? The audacity!"
"......."
"Hm? Student Phoenix. What's up?"
"Nothing."
Does Instructor Cardisha know? That someday she'll get possessed by an angel herself and trigger the Apocalypse, saying lines just like that.
'Becoming an angel doesn't mean instant bad end, after all.'
A great angel possesses a heroine's body. But if you defeat the angel possessing the heroine, like we did with Angelica? The angel vanishes, leaving the flesh behind. And after that, there's a special event waiting.
"I ran some mana tests, and there's probably no angel left. It couldn't find Angelica and got shattered along with Student Council President Julius's clothes."
"If there's no angel, why hasn't Senior Angelica woken up yet? It's not like she's just sleeping deeply..."
"We even slapped her cheeks a few times?"
Evangeline pointed to Angelica's cheeks inside the glass case.
"And the handprints are that dark, but she still won't wake."
"Looks like they poured water on her too."
"They probably used wake-up magic as well? In case she's under a sleep spell."
Evangeline, Rydmila, and Unia each chimed in with their takes on Angelica's condition.
"Yep. Slapped her, splashed water, shook her, even used a mana defibrillator."
"Was it because it's mana-based electric shock?"
"Tried real electricity too."
Even shocks from lightning-attribute magic didn't wake her. Real electric shocks didn't either.
"Is some kind of mental magic at play?"
"Spot on. But I don't know what kind."
Instructor Cardisha gave a wry smile and pointed to Angelica's head.
"We tried everything to wake her. No dice. My guess? When the angel took over, it sealed Angelica's soul somewhere so it couldn't come out."
"Any evidence?"
"Eh, no? We tried everything, and she won't wake. Unless the angel pulled some trick, our instructors should've spotted it."
A bit arrogant maybe, but Esdinas Academy's instructors are top-tier in their fields. Esta alone is proof, and Cardisha has broad knowledge across disciplines. They even have doctors who can save you if they quickly seal and preserve severed limbs. If they conclude "can't diagnose or treat with current knowledge," that's it.
"Might sound like we're blaming the angel for our incompetence, but that's my take."
"I think so too."
"Oh, really?"
Cardisha's eyes lit up the moment I agreed.
"You think so too, Student Phoenix?"
"The human mind is surprisingly easy to tamper with."
"Hmm...?"
"Instructor. Mind if I give it a try?"
I pointed to Angelica's head.
"One try seems worth it."
"Phoenix."
Instructor Esta reached out, placing her hand under mine as I moved toward the case.
"It's dangerous."
"Me, or Senior Angelica?"
"Both. I trust you, but if something goes wrong in this unknown situation and Angelica gets hurt..."
"The one who gets hurt will be you, Student Phoenix."
Instructor Cardisha tapped her left wrist with a stern face.
"Word got back to her family that Angelica's suspended. Fine as the culprit behind the Old School attack, but if a family elder wants to see her personally?"
"Even if they come to the academy, hear about the angel, and feel it's unfair their daughter got tangled in this unprecedented mess, if you mess with her, that backlash arrow points right at you."
Fair point. If someone's critically injured in an explosion and carted to the hospital, and the ER doc tries something that ultimately kills them? Nothing stops the grieving family from suing the doc for murder. Gotta view the world positively, but sadly, plenty of people aren't. Especially Angelica—a noble—and they're the ones running this world.
"Mr. Phoenix."
Unia asked me.
"Are you confident?"
"Confident."
It's new territory, but not impossible.
"Confidence is always there. It's all theory and guesswork, but if it works, it's all good, right?"
If you survive a near-fatal explosion, they call you a miracle worker who raises the dead.
"Alright. Then explain first before trying. How do you plan to approach it?"
Instructor Esta asked.
"Esta."
"It's fine, Cardisha. I'll take responsibility."
"You...?"
"He's my charge. If I don't stop my student, the instructor bears the consequences."
Cardisha squeezed her eyes shut at Esta's resolve.
"...Can't be helped. Fine, I'll help too."
"Cardisha?"
"I'm the lead here, and this is the infirmary. But you gotta convince us both, Student Phoenix?"
Instructor Cardisha pulled up a chair and sat.
"What magic are you casting on Angelica?"
"Literal magic."
"What kind?"
Hypnosis magic."
"......Hypnosis?"
The room's gazes turned on me, loaded with meaning.
"Yes. I'll use hypnosis to awaken Senior Angelica's mind."
"She's already asleep—can that work?"
"She's lost consciousness, but her ears are open, senses alive."
I lightly tapped my temple with my index finger.
"Hypnosis sounds like brainwashing or control, but it can also wake someone who's passed out."
"...Even someone brain-dead?"
"Depends on their will."
Not impossible.
"We can only hope. If her deepest wish comes true and she still won't wake, her soul's dead—not her heart."
"In other words, it's a bit like..."
"A wish, or 'hope.' I just stimulate it with mana."
I mimed grasping Angelica's head.
"But there's a side effect."
"Side effect?"
"Yeah. It touches her hope—or 'dream'—but..."
I pointed ahead.
"It's not just visible or audible to me. Everyone nearby hears it too."
"......That."
"We might learn Angelica's desires, whatever they are. Cool with that?"
"Um, Mr. Phoenix?"
Unia raised her hand.
"Suppose I pounce on you with some desire, get possessed like Angelica, and you do this..."
"Your desire manifests here as an illusion for everyone."
"......."
"Ready to peek into Angelica's desires?"
"...Everyone. Listen well."
Instructor Esta removed her wrist panel.
"For Angelica's dignity, everything here stays secret. Got it?"
Everyone nodded, and Instructor Cardisha touched the case. The head section's lid slid open.
Shhk.
I gripped Angelica's head like a scalp massage, channeling mana into her skull.
Shaaa...
Above Angelica, monitor-like screens flickered to life with mana, spreading in all directions.
And there—
"......This isn't manipulated, right?"
"If it was, those dudes down there would be swarmed by me."
A single empress reigned over a horde of handsome men.
"Ohohoho! All men are mine! If any woman wants to fool around with a man, she needs my permission!!"
A woman in leather dominating all men, controlling their chastity against every female, gripping a red rose whip with a butterfly mask.
"Everyone."
Instructor Esta covered her face with one hand.
"Secret. Got it?"
Of course. Our little secret.