Chapter 95
Chapter 95
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 95
Chapter Title: What's Inside (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Theo, come over here and take a look.”
Shirley stood with her hands clasped behind her back as she inspected Theodore’s body up and down, then added that he didn’t seem to have any injuries.
‘Even if he was confident in his own judgment, that was still a bit too reckless…’
It wasn’t my place to say, but Theodore had these reckless streaks sometimes.
Probably no one could match him in that regard.
On top of that, the guardian angel thought the reason Theodore was especially compliant with me was due to fragments of memories in his head.
It might have felt like conclusions drawn from my own thoughts and experiences because they were mixed with his memories and ideas from back then, but I knew that wasn’t the case.
“I’m certain right now that I’m being influenced by some existence that isn’t me. That’s the only thing I can be sure of.”
Where did my thoughts end and its thoughts begin?
In a situation like this, how far did my will truly extend?
Amid all this uncertainty, there was one thing I knew for sure.
Even while Yvon’s existence had possessed me, it couldn’t make me recall ‘memories I currently didn’t know.’
‘That’s why I kept trying to hear the truth of the incident from Theodore’s mouth.’
The more I knew about Yvon’s existence and feared it, the stronger it grew.
Conversely, for Yvon’s existence to easily gain power, it just needed to make me—and all of us—realize its greatness.
The reason it couldn’t do that was because directly making us aware of its own existence was impossible for it.
“According to Theodore, your eyes…”
“Just call it the guardian angel like always.”
“I’m not sure if we should keep calling such a shady thing an angel. Anyway, he said your pupils glow strangely every time you’re influenced by that guardian angel guy, so isn’t that nothing to worry about?”
Judith’s words were reasonable.
But it wasn’t a perfect solution.
If I closed my eyes completely or headed into the darkness, how would anyone know what was reflecting in my pupils?
“For now, that seems like the most rational way to distinguish, but we can’t rely on such a stopgap forever.”
“So what are we going to do now?”
Shirley, who had been quietly listening to our conversation, cut in impatiently.
At that, everyone, including Judith, fell silent and looked at me.
‘It feels like I’m voluntarily walking into a tiger’s mouth…’
I had only one rational choice.
“I need to tell Makina the truth and ask for her cooperation.”
“…”
Shirley’s expression crumpled in an instant.
Seeing her face made my feelings complicated.
In the first place, my influence had played a big part in why Shirley distrusted the student council led by Makina.
On top of that, I wasn’t thrilled about having to ask Makina for help either.
However…
‘Among the graduates, the only survivors were me and Makina Christy.’
In the memories Theodore had barely dredged up from his mind, only two survivors remained: me and Makina Christy.
Given that I became the last survivor, the condition for determining survivors there probably wasn’t a contest of strength.
There had to be a reason why Makina and I survived until the end.
“I feel like I can no longer separate myself from Makina Christy.”
“Ha… Senior, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Shirley fiddled with her hair. Her face was etched with fatigue.
She shook her head vigorously, then crossed her arms and leaned against the wall.
Pale moonlight filtering through the curtains drew white lines across Shirley’s body.
“Makina… knew you were isolated and still left you alone. Yudit Senior and I both saw it.”
“That’s true.”
“And that’s not all? Think about everything that’s happened from last fall until today. Makina has never once taken your side.”
“But when I got shot—”
“Are you kidding me right now? With us watching wide-eyed, does it make sense that Makina, with her divine power, would stand there talking about school rules and let you die?”
Shirley, thoroughly worked up, fired off her accusations at me rapid-fire.
Her reddened eyes seemed to broadcast her agitated state.
“I know what you’re worried about.”
“No, Senior, you don’t know a thing. You don’t know why Yudit Senior hasn’t said a word, or what Theodore and Arthur are feeling coming here—you don’t know anything!”
I had no response to Shirley’s words.
Because I really didn’t know anything.
‘Come to think of it, Yudit has been keeping her mouth shut tightly since earlier.’
Moreover, Yudit didn’t look angry, but her expression was so icy cold it might have been better if she had been furious.
I’ve never been good at understanding the natural flows between people or their warm interactions.
Maybe that side of me was what drew Yvon’s existence to me.
“Am I missing something…?”
When I asked cautiously, Yudit just rolled her eyes away without giving me the answer I wanted.
Theodore and Arthur were the same.
The two of them just quietly listened to Shirley and me.
“It’s because we’re worried about you, Senior! Stop saying such nonsense!”
“Ah.”
“What do you mean ‘ah’!? Argh, this is so frustrating!”
Shirley tore at her own hair furiously.
Since it was late at night, she seemed to be taking care not to make too much noise.
I hurriedly grabbed Shirley’s arms to stop her from tormenting herself and opened my mouth as if making an excuse.
“I know. And I know it’s thanks to your worries that things didn’t turn into a big disaster.”
Yudit’s expression had softened a bit from earlier but was still cold.
“I’m truly sorry for making you worry. I… didn’t dare ask for your help lightly because I was afraid it would drag you all in.”
I flicked my fingers to brush aside Shirley’s hair, which was still messy from her tearing at it moments ago.
Shirley looked embarrassed belatedly and made a sheepish face.
I continued speaking.
“To be honest, it’s still hard for me to ask for your help even now. You saw what I did to Theodore earlier, right? I’m scared of when I might suddenly change again. Even if there’s a way to tell, that’s all there is.”
No matter how much my pupils’ rims glowed when influenced by Yvon’s existence, wouldn’t it be too late once an incident occurred?
“Fine. Say you suddenly change. So what are you going to do about it?”
Yudit, who had been listening to me with a frosty expression, shot back.
My eyes naturally drifted to the sword belt at Yudit’s waist.
Of course, in this case, it had worked because Theodore had held back to some extent.
If Theodore had wanted to, he could have shaken me off without me even touching him.
Among the four people here, there was no one I could overpower in a physical fight…
But the ‘Yvon’s existence’ that might dominate my mind wasn’t something to handle with just physical combat.
“The more I hear you, the more I think this.”
“…”
“What you’re afraid of is something a bit more transcendent. I sense a fear of something formless, unreal, something far greater.”
Yudit leaned deeply into the armchair and closed her eyes.
“Let’s not dig deeper. Anyway, I agree with you. I can’t believe Makina has no connection at all to our situation.”
“Yudit Senior, you don’t like Makina either?!”
Shirley’s mouth fell open at Yudit’s sudden words.
As expected, the two of them had interacted far more than I’d thought, even normally.
Yudit, rocked back and forth by the excited Shirley shaking her, finally answered.
“Aren’t you curious how she’ll act? Up until now, Makina has been ignoring Arma. But now a huge problem has arisen with Arma. And the one who can best resolve Arma’s issue isn’t the wooden cross or the crown of thorns—it’s Makina of the Black Lily.”
She was referring to Makina’s majors in theology and white magic.
As expected, Yudit had intuited the truth about my problem to a considerable degree.
‘She’s sharper than I thought…’
But the water was already spilled.
And from now on, I planned to demote ‘Yvon’s existence’ to a mere ‘guardian angel’ and spread that narrative so it couldn’t awaken its true power.
“Then let’s hear the plan going forward.”
I had been sitting in the most secluded corner of my room, but I dragged my chair over and strode to where the other four were gathered.
Then Shirley, who had been leaning against the wall, Theodore on the bed, and Arthur guarding beside him (with a reluctant expression) all took a step closer.
We gathered around the guest table in the parlor and sat facing each other.
‘So it comes to this after all.’
My hands trembled.
My mind, already consumed by fear, dragged me back into that dream from that day.
The future where Theodore, Yudit, Shirley, and Arthur all died…
To overcome the fear, I declared it deliberately.
“I’m going to tell Makina Christy about the entity summoned to this island—the guardian angel. I’m already under its influence. So from now on, don’t unconditionally trust what I say.”
Would the scenes I’d seen in my dreams over and over replay, or would this time finally bring a new ending different from the predetermined one?
That would probably be a task for all of us gathered here to unravel together, not just me.
“I’m sorry, but this isn’t just my problem anymore. The stronger the guardian angel’s influence grows, the more danger not just I, but all of us will be in. I want to stop it before it gets bigger.”
Combining the scenes from my dreams with Theodore’s words, Yvon’s existence would ultimately grow stronger, devour us all, and gain godlike authority.
There must be a reason why Yvon’s existence was fixated on me.
First, figuring out what benefit Yvon’s existence gained by devouring my soul was the top priority, but to do that within the academy, I needed the immense authority of Makina Christy as student council president.
‘With today’s events, the guardian angel must have gained a lot of power already.’
Moreover, now Makina would strongly perceive the guardian angel just like us and fall under its influence.
Above all, I needed Makina, who could control the cadets of Aegis Academy—those easily excited, selfish ones wielding power and authority.
The problem was that Makina, who was older than me, was graduating soon.