Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Tamed Beast (1)
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I let out a long sigh as I faced Theodore.
It felt like crises were coming at me one after another, as if testing me.
If I had any religion, I probably would have prayed to God right at this moment.
*Lord, why do You test me?*
But I had no spiritual guide to lean on in times like these.
I had to push through with these hands alone, come hell or high water.
“…”
“…Theodore?”
“Ah.”
Theodore had been staring blankly at my chest, so I wondered what was wrong. Turns out, the holster he was wearing even this early in the morning just looked awkward.
“I’ve had a lot on my mind lately.”
“…”
“Doesn’t it seem weird? Now I feel embarrassed for no reason.”
“It doesn’t seem weird.”
Theodore turned his head away after saying that.
To be honest, even I’d started thinking I wasn’t in my right mind lately.
The fact that I was holding it together at all was impressive.
To keep Theodore from worrying more, I hurriedly draped my outer coat over my arm and patted his shoulder.
“Let’s talk on the way.”
Right now, Theodore was probably itching to go look for Arthur immediately.
I might not know his innermost thoughts because of his eccentric side, but I’d seen plenty how the two of them were always stuck together like inseparable friends.
And yet, he still didn’t get up until I prompted him again.
“Come on. You want to go find Arthur, right?”
“…”
Only then did Theodore peel himself from the chair and awkwardly follow behind me.
I’d turned into a coward who couldn’t even sleep without a gun, but with Theodore White—the genius slated to become a supernova in the black magic world—by my side, what was there to fear?
*And Arthur’s on my mind too.*
The Arthur who tried to kill me, and the Arthur who didn’t want to.
The Arthur I saw that day had looked like two souls inside one body fighting for control.
But if the ‘dangerous to me’ version of the missing Arthur had taken over, as Theodore said, I wouldn’t be lounging around sleeping so peacefully.
Since I didn’t have many ways to fight back against Arthur, if he’d really wanted to, I could already be dead.
That meant there was a high chance the current Arthur wasn’t the dangerous one. And besides, having Theodore around was safer for me than being alone.
“Arma Cruise?”
“Ah, sorry.”
Maybe the awkward silence was getting to him, because Theodore spoke up.
I replied inwardly apologetic for treating him like my personal knight.
“You’ve checked the dorms, of course?”
“Yes. There wasn’t even a sign he’d returned to his room.”
“Without asking the Student Council.”
“Since… we don’t know what Arthur might have done.”
“I see.”
It made sense why Theodore had come to me.
He was the only one who suspected Arthur and I had met.
No formal complaint had come from me, but if the Council knew Arthur had vanished at this timing, it’d look pretty suspicious.
“So that’s why you came babbling nonsense the day I was discharged.”
“I think it was a poor approach.”
“Yeah, kinda.”
When Theodore had told me about Arthur’s disappearance, he’d probably wanted to ask if I knew where he’d gone.
But I must’ve looked worse off than he expected, so he held back.
“Hmm, likely spots are the back mountain with the Silver Star Pavilion and the caves around there.”
Aegis Academy was built on a massive island about a quarter the size of the capital.
It created a unique terrain where there were plenty of places to hide, but nowhere to actually escape.
There were always a few oddballs who rejected dorm life and hid in the woods, so as an upperclassman, I often got roped into search parties.
*I never thought that experience would come in handy like this…*
Theodore hesitantly spoke up as he followed me expertly off the path onto a trail.
“I came to you like this, but… I’m not sure if I should even be accepting your help.”
We’d passed the dorms and entered the woods behind the Wooden Cross House.
I gave a short reply to his words.
“Why?”
Even though he was half a head shorter than me, Theodore kept pace with my quick steps as he said,
“For some reason, Arthur definitely attacked you, Arma Cruise.”
“Like I said earlier, I’m not holding him accountable.”
Theodore frowned as if he’d heard something bizarre in response.
“Then… may I ask why you didn’t report him?”
“If you ask now, I’ll have to lie. Still want to?”
The biggest crisis facing me right now was undoubtedly that ‘nameless thing.’
Even at this moment, I was doubting my mental state.
At the same time, it wasn’t impossible that all these bizarre events were real, tangible threats happening right now, which made me anxious.
So I couldn’t just come out and tell anyone what I’d been through.
If that ‘existence that grows stronger just by being recalled and focused on’ was real, the moment its secret got out, it would gain power.
Unaware of my turmoil, Theodore pressed.
“Why didn’t you report him?”
“It happened during a drinking bet with Arthur Usher.”
I couldn’t honestly say it was because I needed to hear about the ‘future’ from him.
I wasn’t one to put effort into lies that would get found out anyway as part of my upbringing, so I brushed it off half-heartedly.
Theodore, following behind, let out a small chuckle.
“I don’t know about you, Arma Cruise, but Arthur can’t drink alcohol.”
“Huh, that’s unexpected. Some kind of conviction?”
“More like it’s part of his restraint.”
“Restraint, huh…”
It didn’t apply to commoner civilians, but all cadets at the Academy had at least one restraint. The only difference was the degree.
This was a control measure born because each Aegis Academy cadet was like an unreliable weapon of immense power.
“Strict family upbringing, I guess.”
“Yes.”
We were searching places where Arthur might hide, avoiding the other cadets’ eyes.
Theodore seemed to ponder for a moment before speaking.
“You must be wondering why Arthur’s in such a dangerous situation.”
“You don’t have to say if it’s hard.”
“No… You said you’re okay, Arma Cruise, but I can’t hide this from someone who got shot because of Arthur.”
I couldn’t help but be extremely flustered by Theodore’s preamble.
“If Arthur violates his restraint, mental binding activates immediately.”
“What? Wait, mental binding?”
“Yes. And the strongest of Arthur’s restraints is ‘do not attack ordinary people without magical aptitude.’”
I was lost in confusion, not knowing where to even start questioning Theodore’s rapid-fire explanations.
“Mental binding—you mean the curse that triggers if you break the restraint? It’s not something you trigger easily, but that condition is way too ridiculous.”
Non-mages are rare at Aegis Academy, but outside, they’re everywhere.
The vast majority of people on the street are ordinary folk without magical aptitude.
If Arthur was sane, he wouldn’t suddenly attack a random passerby, but uncontrollable incidents don’t happen in normal circumstances.
“Wait… ordinary people without magical aptitude. That’s—”
“You, Arma Cruise.”
“Damn.”
This was horrifying even for me.
Yes, Arthur had pointed a gun at me and genuinely tried to kill me, but it was hard to imagine he’d done it planning mutual destruction.
Because I happened to be a non-mage without magical aptitude, the gun that would’ve bypassed me was now aimed at Arthur’s own head.
“Then… what if it’s already too late?”
“It should be fine for now. If Arthur’s mind were fully bound, we’d know.”
“Why’s that?”
Theodore gave me a look like *how do you not know?* but then seemed to recall our earlier conversation and explained again.
“Mental binding is a spell that activates by fully binding Arthur’s mind, as the name implies. So when the magic circle triggers, it consumes mana.”
“I see. That would make mana detectable from Arthur, breaking the seal.”
“Yes. Once the seal breaks, it notifies the Student Council and Administrative Committee by default, so we’d definitely know what happened to him by then.”
We’d talked for quite a while as we walked, and before I knew it, we’d reached our destination: the back mountain.
It had a proper name—Whistle Mountain—but no cadet ever bothered pronouncing it.
I drew the gun from my holster, checked the loaded rounds by breaking open the barrel, and said,
“But if the mental binding has already started, there’s nothing we can do even if we find him now, right?”
“Aegis Academy’s education is top-notch.”
It was an out-of-left-field comment.
I turned to Theodore.
He showed me a syringe filled with that now-familiar purple liquid.
“Theodore Special…”
“Hm?”
“Nothing. You’re planning to use that to plant a suggestion in Arthur?”
“Yes. For now, I’ll try convincing him nothing happened.”
Even though the situation was serious, was it normal to think about using a drug you made on your friend?
I was speechless at Theodore’s calm brand of madness.
I’d been threatened by Arthur and even shot, but right now, I felt a bit sorry for him.
That’s when it happened.
“Sorry.”
Theodore suddenly apologized.
“Huh? For what?”
“You were definitely threatened by Arthur, right, Arma Cruise?”
“You could say yes, or no.”
“I don’t know what happened to Arthur. But…”
Theodore trailed off unusually, his eyes darting around.
Then, in a voice that sank lower and lower, he added,
“Arthur didn’t hate you, Arma Cruise. I can say that for sure.”
“I didn’t think he did.”
Theodore’s lips quirked up ever so slightly at my words.
“I hope Arthur could hear that. As long as he’s safe.”
“He’ll be safe.”
Maybe he took my words as clumsy comfort, because Theodore nodded heavily.
But I hadn’t meant to comfort him.
I was still convinced Arthur was safe.
For now, at least.