Chapter 64
Chapter 64
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: Control
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"Makina must have seen Sir Reynolds coming in..."
We naturally believed we had to reveal the truth about this demon summoning incident, so it didn't bother us, but Makina had clearly noticed Sir Reynolds entering and yet hadn't stopped us from speaking.
That situation felt a bit suspicious, but for us, it was actually a favorable turn.
"But why? This nagging feeling..."
It felt like I was missing something essential.
Sir Reynolds entered the student council room slowly, hands clasped behind his back, pipe never leaving his hand.
-Tap, tap, tap.
He made a peculiar sound by picking up and setting down the pipe in his palm.
Upon closer inspection, it was the thick gold ring on his middle finger clinking against the pipe.
"Chancellor..."
"I've heard plenty about that deplorable incident. Makina Christie, Cadet President, I'll speak with you separately."
"Very well."
What was it? Why was he so composed?
Makina wasn't just unsurprised—she even wore a pleased smile, as if we'd helped her achieve something.
But that smile vanished the instant Sir Reynolds turned and looked back at her.
"You'll have to answer for that abbreviated report."
"Abbreviated? I didn't omit a single word about what happened or how it was handled."
"I see. You just left out what resulted from it, didn't you? So is it an abbreviation or an intentional omission?"
"I never imagined it would actually happen. A demon summoning through sorcery? Ha ha... Isn't that just childish fantasy?"
Sir Reynolds's sharply trimmed mustache twitched as if he'd caught her out, and he slammed his pipe down on the table with a thunk.
"Makina!"
The violent gesture made me flinch, and the other three jumped to their feet as well.
We'd been at odds with Makina just moments ago, but as cadets ourselves, we couldn't overlook such an outburst from a professor.
"What do you think you're doing?"
At my words, Sir Reynolds glared as if he'd heard every ridiculous thing.
As I was about to press further, Makina extended her hand to stop us.
"Now, now, that doesn't look good, Chancellor. And you should think of your health. You four, please head back for today."
Makina spoke gently to us.
"Let's go, senpai."
Led by Shirley, I followed with Judith, then Arthur and Theodore behind.
Before closing the door, I peeked through the crack. The student council room was already hazy with smoke from Sir Reynolds's lit pipe.
-Click.
Having argued heatedly with Makina only to be abruptly dismissed, we exchanged bewildered looks outside.
"Ahh, nothing's going right..."
Amid my boiling frustration and lingering excitement, exhaustion hit me belatedly.
My eyes grew heavy, and my head throbbed with every turn.
In the end, the moment we were chased out marked the point where my knees buckled, and I lost consciousness.
***
In the end, Arma Cruise, who had roamed the academy burning with fever, collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.
Shirley let out a small scream in shock at the sudden fall without warning.
The commotion drew over cadets from the student council who had been watching, forcing the fallen Arma Cruise and the four others to be chased out of the Black Lily House like unwanted guests.
"Arthur, sorry, but could you carry him to the dorm room?"
"Sure."
Arthur easily hoisted the grown man onto his back, but he clicked his tongue softly at the ominous heat emanating from behind.
He'd heard the state wasn't great, but the frequent illnesses left a poor impression.
Dissatisfied with the unresolved ending, the four gathered in Arma Cruise's room, each wearing a grim expression.
"Arma. Key?"
"..."
"Looks like he's out of it."
Judith reached into Arma’s jacket pocket and pulled out the now-familiar key.
With a click, Arma Cruise's dorm room opened—not exactly welcoming.
"Still... like this."
Was it from the recent days' events?
The room, reflecting Arma's mental state, had changed from the setup he'd maintained for the past ten years.
Furniture piled around the bed, clothes hung at the headboard to block the view.
Above all, the rifle case for major classes stowed under the bed rather than in the closet hinted at the owner's shifted mindset.
"Lay senpai here."
"Got it."
Shirley quickly pulled back the covers to make space.
Arthur laid the feverish Arma down on it.
Arma's body, already hot as a coal when they left, now burned like an inferno.
"This isn't good. Senpai refused the infirmary, right, Theo?"
"Yeah. Aftermath of the curse incident. He said if word got out he was hurt, the cadets would panic."
"Is that our problem? If he keeps this up, we'll be carrying a corpse. Better to drag him to the infirmary."
"No, that doesn't seem wise."
"Even you now, Judith senpai? Influenced by Arma senpai?"
Shirley, who had been shuttling between the bed and sink to prepare wet cloths, gently placed a cool one on Arma's forehead.
Surprisingly, it quickly warmed to lukewarm.
Shirley kept grumbling as she repeated the process on the collapsed Arma’s forehead.
"What they were arguing about with Makina—it's been bothering me."
"I agree with Judith senpai."
"Ugh. What about you, Asher senpai?"
Arthur glanced at Shirley before replying flatly.
"Better not to. Theo said that every time he wakes in the infirmary, it shakes him emotionally."
"...Really? Why doesn't senpai tell us any of this?"
"He's always been sickly, so it's different from us healthy ones since birth."
Shirley deliberately groaned as she wrung out another cloth cooled in cold water.
Wrung properly, it was a major challenge for Shirley.
The Spencer family's superhuman strength meant raw power beyond reason.
Learning to "control it to normal human levels" was practically their coming-of-age rite.
Shirley stared at the endlessly dripping cloth with an "oh no" expression, then soaked the nearly dry one in the basin to absorb water.
"Anyway, we knew senpai had been unstable these past few weeks, right? But lately, it's gotten way worse."
Shirley suddenly spoke while gazing worriedly at Arma, who was starting to mumble deliriously in his fever.
"Can't even sleep properly, terrible complexion. And not just that? Looks like you and Arthur Asher senpai had a duel, but neither says a word?"
"Shirley senpai, that's—"
"Enough, Theo."
Arthur, leaning against the wall far from Arma's bed, shook his head.
Judith interjected to prevent the conversation from escalating.
"Anyway, we achieved our goal, so once Arma wakes, he won't push himself."
"Our goal... Oh, the talk with Makina today? The demon summoning thing."
"Yeah. Arma firmly believes it worked, and seeing recent events, I think he might be right. Plus, we have a body as evidence."
"...So circumstantially, Cale Ace was really sacrificed as an offering in a demon summoning ritual?"
The Cale Ace murder that had put Arma in a bind now did so again.
Moreover, Makina Christie, student council president and academy sanctum, had deliberately left the troubled Arma to fend for himself.
Everyone in the room except Arma could easily recall one or two rumors about his ordeals, knowing he'd suffered plenty.
"What was Makina trying to control in the first place?"
No one could answer Shirley's question.
Makina had been elected cadet president in her second year and held the position for a full ten years—an elite among elites, never stepping down.
Was it really campus unrest that such a Makina sought to control by using Arma as a scapegoat?
The nagging sense it was a convenient excuse stemmed from that meaningful smile when facing Sir Reynolds.
"What a weird school."
Tap, tap, tap... Judith drummed her fingers on Arma's desk as she spoke.
The salty winter sea breeze rattling the windows felt chillingly bleak.
"With things as they are, it might actually be good for Mr. Arma Cruise."
Theodore, about to call him "Arma Cruise" again, added the honorific late under Shirley's sharp glare.
He couldn't fathom why it felt so natural, which troubled him.
Shirley eyed Theodore disapprovingly and asked,
"But why do you think that?"
"Mr. Arma Cruise is currently consumed by his own thoughts. None of us know the depth of fear he holds."
"Hmm..."
Shirley looked puzzled despite Theodore's explanation.
Their understanding of Wooden Cross Class and Thorn Crown Class magic differed fundamentally in depth.
Theodore summarized the phenomenon as concisely as possible.
"As far as I know, a person's mind is a finite resource. Publicly announcing and resolving the demon summoning might be better for Mr. Arma Cruise. However..."
"However?"
"Black magic gains secondary boosts from awe and fear. If announced, the 'summoned entity' might gain even greater power instead."
Judith nodded at Theodore's words.
"I see. Feels like removing the keystone to prop up the top one."
"-How do you know such tricky idioms when you're a foreigner, Judith senpai?"
Shirley's out-of-left-field question briefly eased the tense atmosphere.
Judith chuckled and replied, "I study language through comedies."
Even amid the silly banter, Shirley diligently changed the wet cloth on Arma's forehead.
Perhaps due to the devoted care, the near-40-degree fever began to subside slightly.
-Dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong...
The bell, used only to mark class starts and ends or the hour, rang out clamorously.
"Alert."
The four cadets, excluding the unconscious Arma, exchanged tense glances.
Arthur, nearest the window, flung it open, and servants running about below delivered unbelievable news.
"All personnel must carry weapons—! All cadets except mages shall equip formal weapons, not sidearms—!"