Chapter 130
Chapter 130
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 130
Chapter Title: Followers (3)
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“Did I hear that wrong?”
“You heard it right. We might need to get Theodor transferred to the Wooden Cross.”
Judith peered intently into my eyes once more.
Whenever my consciousness was devoured by ‘that thing,’ the most prominent feature that stood out clearly was my eyes.
I didn’t know how long this method would distinguish it from me, but for now, eye contact was the easiest way to prove it was me.
“Why do you think that?”
After a brief pause, Judith asked me.
Shirley had been listening with a puzzled expression, but sensing the gravity of the situation, she sat up straight.
“Judith, after hearing what you said, I went to see Theodor.”
It started with Judith’s words.
Having heard that Theodor was quite isolated in the Thorn Crown House, I had gone to check on his situation myself.
Shirley, who already knew about this, nodded along in agreement.
“It wasn’t just isolated. There were signs of violence.”
“So the Crown of Thorns Class ended up doing it.”
“What? Theo got beaten? By who?”
Judith and Shirley spoke up almost simultaneously.
I calmed Shirley, who had clenched her fists in anger, and continued.
“For now, they’re covering it up as an accident during self-study. I wondered why a mage like Theodor would put up with something like that, so I asked him, but he wouldn’t open up.”
“It’s hard to understand. Theo’s a black mage on par with a one-man battalion.”
It might make sense if magic use was still banned, but now that the ban had been fully lifted due to the monster threats, it was hard to fathom Theodor ending up in such a predicament.
I had thought the same as Shirley.
But Theodor was under a different kind of pressure now. And I knew better than anyone what that pressure was.
“It’s because of me. I’ve unknowingly started being revered as the Executor.”
“What? I don’t quite get it. What does that have to do with anything?”
“Seems like the ones revering me think Theodor shouldn’t be by my side.”
The moniker “Demon of the White House” that had followed the young Theodor when he entered Aegis Academy had faded away.
Most cadets at the academy were born with some magical aptitude anyway, and those majoring in black magic had even stronger aptitudes.
Whether predicting death or wielding ominous powers, it all fell under black magic.
So there was no need to call Theodor the “Demon of the White House” anymore.
But now, that stigma I thought had vanished was rearing its head again. Because of me.
“I’ve noticed it more since I started using the wheelchair. Everyone approaching me calling me ‘Executor’ was wary of Theodor.”
“Wary how?”
I recounted what had happened during my two visits to see Theodor.
“Aria Janet Vanson and some nameless cadet made comments like they were aware of Theodor?”
“Yeah. I was so busy I brushed it off, but then I started thinking. Why is Theodor trying to sweep this under the rug?”
From what I’d observed so far, Theodor might seem indifferent on the outside with his inscrutable expressions, but he wasn’t emotionless.
Anyone could tell just from how he treated Arthur, his closest confidant, that Theodor still had emotions.
Based on my observations up to now, I had reached this conclusion.
“The more Theodor resists, the harder it’ll be for him to shake off the ‘Demon of the White House’ stigma. And that’s exactly what my unwanted followers want.”
“How does that connect?”
Judith had pondered it herself, but she couldn’t agree with my conclusion.
And rightly so, because what was happening at the academy now was something no one with normal thinking could easily comprehend.
“If Theodor’s an evil being, it’s easy to pull him away from a saint’s side. They’d have the justification.”
“But all that does is remove one person guarding your side.”
Judith’s question was valid.
Taking away someone you could call a friend from the one you revere is illogical by common sense.
But if I’m the saint known as “Aegis’s Executor,” it changes everything.
“I told you before, didn’t I, Judith? There seem to be people in the hospital ward who follow me.”
“You mentioned it on graduation day.”
“That follower is Colette, the nurse who took care of me in the ICU. She was always kind, but she had one peculiar expectation of me.”
Judith, who had been listening quietly, suddenly scowled.
“Arma, you really get into all sorts of... Ugh, never mind. Go on.”
“...Sorry about that. Anyway, Colette’s expectation was that she wanted to ‘help me fulfill my duty.’”
“Uh, you don’t mean—”
“Yeah, exactly.”
Shirley, finally catching on, made a horrified face as if chills ran down her spine.
“She wants to be your closest confidant? By getting rid of everyone nearby?”
“......”
It was ridiculous even thinking it myself, but my followers were probably sharing delusions about the ‘me’ they believed in.
In those delusions, I could be as holy and sacrificial a saint as they wanted.
Just look at the recent weeks’ events.
My reckless choices made out of desperation for survival had been embellished into me becoming “Aegis’s Executor.”
“Theodor’s a perfect scapegoat. Barely any ties to his family, and he was the black sheep.”
“These guys are insane. After Theo, it’ll be our turn next, huh?”
“Probably.”
I thought about the people gathered around me.
If Theodor wasn’t the last to be driven away from my side, then Judith, Shirley, and even Arthur—ambiguous as it was—could face the same fate.
Judith, being a foreigner, was the most likely first.
Then probably Shirley. Arthur’s turn would likely be last.
“Ha... Anyway, sorry for dragging you into this mess unintentionally.”
“Why should you apologize, senpai? It’s unavoidable. Everything that’s happened so far.”
Shirley had watched my turbulent recent days up close.
Her words now carried a wealth of condensed meaning.
“Yeah... Unavoidable.”
How did things end up like this? Looking back, it was dizzying.
“In the end, we’re back to square one. We need to keep Theodor close. I can’t stop what happens in the Thorn Crown House, but the Wooden Cross would be different.”
“But will Theodor go along with that easily? It’s his career path at stake.”
“Even a year would help. He was double-majoring with Arthur Usher anyway, so he shouldn’t have much resentment toward the Wooden Cross itself.”
The issue was that transferring to the Wooden Cross Class meant he could no longer major in black magic and would need a new major, something related to arts or physical education.
But there was my precedent of creating the nonexistent major ‘shooting.’ So it wasn’t impossible. Like ‘magical aesthetics’ or something.
‘It sounds like a pun, though.’
The point was to create a ‘plausible’ major that wasn’t practical.
“Framing Theodor to pull him from your side... Arma, I feel like there’s more to this than meets the eye.”
“Got any leads?”
“No. Just, they’re targeting an elite among elites, a black mage. I doubt they’d take such risky actions just to be special to you.”
Judith was right.
I sensed something more organized and sinister lurking behind this incident.
“Now the enemies aren’t just the [Guardian Angels]—they’re inside too.”
The Executor’s followers were no longer individuals but an organic organization.
The fervor had spread not just among academy cadets but to civilians as well. Blocking one side wouldn’t make the other vanish naturally.
And who knew how that zeal would turn on me once it cooled.
“Guess I’ll have to recite the scriptures backward and set fire to the chapel.”
“Arthur, no matter what you do now, you’ll just be seen as a pilgrim carrying out your duty. They’ll think it’s a holy revelation from Aegis himself.”
Judith spoke with the certainty of someone who’d been through this.
And she had a point—Aegis’s creation myths were full of all sorts of tales.
From people beating their own families to death to prove pure faith, to those burning down heretic villages to avoid demonic temptation.
The human heart was like a spark spreading in directions I couldn’t control.
Trying to control it was just futile struggling.
‘Machina Christie’s actions are starting to make sense.’
In the end, as Machina said, controlling this madness required a scapegoat.
A silent target to pour all rage and hatred onto—
I was witnessing a changing of the guard for scapegoats.
“So, even if we get him transferred, when and how do you plan to convince him?”
“I’ll persuade him with words first. Until he understands.”
It was my responsibility to fix it. Theodor’s plight was because of me, so I had to resolve it.
I didn’t plan to completely derail his career path either.
At least until the [Bloody Graduation] next year, I wanted him safe.
“Got it. We’ll help with the persuading.”
“Ugh~ Convincing Theo won’t be easy. But no choice. If your followers are threatening him like Judith-senpai says, better to separate him from them ASAP.”
In the end, both Judith and Shirley agreed to join my absurd plan to get Theodor transferred.
Lying messily on the bed, I laid out plans for the spring semester starting next week.
“Having Arthur here would’ve sped things up. Should’ve dragged him here searching the whole campus.”
“Visiting hours are short anyway. Colette will be here soon.”
“Tight schedule.”
“You’re a patient first. We’ll talk the rest with Arthur.”
Either way, Arthur was Theodor’s childhood friend.
They might treat each other too casually due to their closeness, but a bond from youth wasn’t ordinary.
I couldn’t exclude him from this plan.
“If we’re honest about everything, he’ll help. No problem.”
Spring semester starts next week.
If I relay today’s talk to Arthur within the next two days, things might resolve more easily than expected.
Clinging to that hope, we wrapped up.