Chapter 136
Cardel approached gently.
He extended his hand with an ominous smile.
-Student Yuda.
-I have something serious to discuss.
-It will only take a moment.
As proposed, we had a brief conversation.
It was indeed a matter that needed to be settled.
The snake and professor headed to a secluded place, in case there were any listening ears. We faced each other in a chilly atmosphere.
The conversation that started like that continued for just under 30 minutes.
To state the conclusion first.
-Then... I'll believe you understood.
-Please choose wisely. For my part, I'm showing mercy to a student.
The conversation left a definite result.
Thanks to that, the traitor's identity became certain.
I wrapped up the conversation with a warning that wasn't a warning.
Though I felt a meaningful gaze from behind, I just walked in the direction I had to go regardless.
There was no worry from the start.
'Anyway.'
Everything was according to plan.
There was no need to worry about a play dancing on my palm.
I just watched from a position one step away.
I was silent with a sunken heartbeat.
'Though there's no reaction yet... soon when cornered, what will happen.'
A day passed with such idle thoughts.
The next day, rest was given.
Faculty meetings, writing testimonies and reports... I thought I'd be suffering from annoying work for a while, but most matters related to that were left to the professors.
As it was such a sensitive part, the academy seemed to be exercising caution.
Thanks to that, students with assistant professor status could get a brief vacation.
I was the same.
"Hmm."
I spent time holed up in the dormitory.
With a book stuck in my fingertips, in a room without sunlight, I wanted to quietly kill time.
Of course, the reason I added that I was hungry after the sentence.
Was because life was so hard that even such a small wish couldn't come true.
I raised my head with a troubled smile.
The dormitory interior reflected my vision.
Between familiar scenery were girls with pink, blue, platinum, red, and orange hair.
The children were all staring at this side with determined gazes.
As if they wouldn't let go no matter what I said.
"Um... everyone? I've been saying I'm fine since earlier."
Though I tried to speak.
"Y-Young Master! When your body is sick, you need to rest well...!"
"Don't make noise and just sit down."
"Mm... if you keep doing that, even Yuda will have no choice but to get angry."
"Just accept it obediently. If you think about it, you're the one who did wrong."
Only the girls' scolding returned.
Shrinking at that, I leaned against the innocent wheelchair and muttered.
"I don't particularly feel sick though..."
That's right.
I was imprisoned in the dormitory from broad daylight.
By none other than the protagonists' hands.
'I didn't know everyone would react so sensitively.'
I chewed over one monologue inwardly.
The death dragon subjugation just a few days ago.
Because the original plan went awry, it was an event where I had no choice but to shoulder some strain.
I ended up consuming a large amount of life force beyond basic output.
Fortunately it wasn't to the extent of affecting lifespan, but I had to suffer from muscle pain and fever for a few days afterwards.
Of course, it was a minor ailment compared to the bottom times.
'This is troublesome.'
I didn't want to make the children worry.
So I intended to keep the fact that I overdid it as secret as possible, but.
I was betrayed by unexpected people.
None other than Irene and Charlotte.
The two who had participated in the subjugation at the time blew my condition.
With serious gazes saying I needed protection or something.
-Yuda is a patient. He shouldn't overdo it until he recovers.
-Since I can't stop you myself... I thought you might listen if I brought in the other kids.
As it was an action stemming from worry, it was difficult to blame them.
Their eyes soaked in melancholy kept bothering me.
Anyway,
Through that process, the other children also came to know about that day.
Regia, Emilia, Elise... the three whose expressions darkened.
When they heard I had coughed up blood in the end, they all turned pale and peeked around asking if I was okay.
Such circumstances existed in the current situation.
Snake, pilot, narcissist, fox, little prince, rose.
A dormitory with as many as 5 people sitting down excluding me.
Though it didn't feel particularly cramped or uncomfortable as it was spacious enough to not lose to an ordinary mansion from the start.
Still, I felt bad about constantly receiving worry.
'I'm truly grateful for the sentiment but...'
But wasn't putting a person in a wheelchair too much?
Now that my life force was gradually recovering, it was a difficult situation to say I was sick.
Of course, it was useless to object like that.
"To say you're fine... I can't believe you since you've already collapsed once."
"You need to take some rest! The commoner and I came to take care of you, so stop complaining and just recuperate!"
"Young Master... sniff, d-don't die."
"Everyone will be sad if Yuda dies. And me too."
Nagging pouring out in a rush.
My mouth closed involuntarily.
Especially Regia was looking this way with teary eyes, with momentum like she would cry if I didn't stay still.
In the end, I surrendered before pure gazes and decided to go along moderately.
It wasn't that difficult a thing.
"Haha..."
As I let out an empty laugh, the rose sitting nearby poked my cheek.
She was a girl also in a wheelchair.
A mischievous smile hanging on her mouth corners.
No matter how I looked, she seemed to want to tease this side.
She spoke with a rarely made smile.
"So... how does it feel sitting in a wheelchair for the first time?"
"I think I understand Your Highness's frustrating feelings a little."
"Let's get along well between patients from now on. Of course, I won't allow you to die before me."
"No... mine is just a temporary symptom."
"Hmm."
Her Imperial Highness looked particularly pleased.
Was she so happy about the couple items of wheelchairs?
It was a reaction even letting out a slight nasal sound.
"With a face as white as a girl's... you're no different from a sickly flower."
"Though I can't compare to Your Highness."
Actually, there was an aspect of reaping what I sowed.
Dizziness from life force deficiency.
When I showed appearances of collapsing or staggering a few times in front of the children by chance, they all became overprotective and started monitoring me constantly.
I should have just quietly laid in bed until recovery was over.
From the start.
If I had just properly dealt with the puppeteer then, the death dragon wouldn't have revived, and then there would have been no need to consume life force.
Of course, there were somewhat unfair circumstances hidden on this side.
I complained a little.
'Who would have known that name would be called...'
A smile so eerie it gave goosebumps.
Only madness and realization glistened in the puppeteer's pupils.
I remembered his lightly moving lips and that sound.
-It was you, ■■■■.
How.
By what means did he know that name?
In this world, only I... and those people should know that code.
Problems that always escaped control tended to give headaches.
As I was briefly turning my head with silence, suddenly a noisy atmosphere touched my ears.
It was the voices of the rose and fox arguing without fail.
"The pet sure has a lot to say."
"At least pets receive plenty of love from their owners. Aren't patients and physicians just relationships formed by work?"
"My... did you forget? This side even received a promise to be made happy."
"What a sight, boasting about mere promises."
"While touching skin here and there at that."
"How vulgar... perhaps I should fix your head before your body."
"Can you handle it? To dare make such statements to a nation's imperial princess."
"I'm not interested in humans' petty hierarchies."
"What an ill-mannered beast."
"And you're a bothersome woman."
Should I say I've gotten used to it now?
The two who fight whenever their eyes meet.
Though it didn't feel like they actually hated each other, they often clashed perhaps because they both had tempers.
I pinched both their cheeks as if soothing the girls.
The soft sensation touching my fingertips stopped the quarrel.
"I'm sure I asked you to get along well."
"...She started it first."
"I'm the one who should say that. Arrogant beastkin."
The fox and rose were grumbling to the end.
Noisy sounds were heard from the kitchen saying they would prepare dinner.
"Young Lady...! Th-the stew is burning!"
"Eh, eeh? What should I do? It was fine when I practiced alone..."
"First you need to turn off the fire!"
"Wr-wrong! I-I'm scared of fire..."
"I'll do it!"
The narcissist sniffling at things not going according to plan.
The pilot quickly fixed the ruined cooking as she had excellent life skills.
"Mm. Everyone looks happy."
And the little prince smiling intently behind.
The noisy air of the dormitory seemed like it would continue for a while.
***
Five days after the attack.
The faculty's situation was still the same.
Though efforts to root out the traitor continued one after another, they hadn't achieved meaningful results.
Thanks to that, only chilly air circled among the academy's adults.
A situation of watching each other.
As there were restrictions on information at the assistant position, I couldn't know how seriously the situation was rolling.
I could only infer their wandering through the sharp atmosphere.
I put aside interest moderately.
Anyway, this side was in a position to walk a different path from them.
It was obvious my mind would just get complicated if I paid needless attention.
'I should hope it flows according to plan.'
I quietly leaned my back against the backrest.
As I chewed over briefly continuing idle thoughts, the fox pushing the wheelchair from behind threw a question.
"So... is there a need to go out in the morning?"
"Master is waiting."
"When I saw last time, she didn't seem particularly glad though."
"She's a person who dislikes people from the start. But she's also unknowingly kind."
"You seem to trust her a lot."
"Because I received a lot of help from her."
I answered lightly.
The rolling wheels crossed the corridor, advancing towards the hospital room at the far end.
It was on the way to visit the drunkard.
Currently Selena was staying in the academy's hospital wing.
-No. I can't cooperate in dangerous situations.
At the time of the attack.
The woman who blocked us heading towards the underground passage.
It seems after falling under hypnosis and fainting, she was found collapsed on the nearby floor by other professors.
The drunkard who naturally went through hospitalization procedures stayed there.
It wasn't that the aftereffects particularly remained, and her lost consciousness soon returned, but strangely it seemed she couldn't regain her strength since waking up.
Because of that, she hadn't been able to attend the faculty meetings that continued for the past few days.
This was also the reason I visited the hospital room every day.
'I need to convey the contents of the meeting.'
I needed to hear her opinion about the traitor too.
Anyway, I was in a position of having her as my direct superior.
Conveying trivial matters missed in the meeting and the current atmosphere the academy was running in was also a duty given to me.
The reason that I just wanted to see her face was big too.
Anyway,
"Master."
I brought the wheelchair into the hospital room.
What was waiting beyond was a white room.
It was a dreamlike space without even a trace of human presence.
I instructed the fox to wait outside the door, and as I moved the wheels alone, suddenly my eyes met with the person sitting on the bed.
It was the drunkard lost in thought quietly today too.
"...You came. Student Yuda."
Though she tried to greet me gladly, the worry appearing on her face didn't erase.
Her depression that was thick originally seemed to have lowered in brightness much more.
Eyes dyed with intoxication as usual.
Her purple hair flowing down was sprawled on the blanket.
I could tell her condition wasn't good through the dark circles deepened under her eyes.
Had she tossed and turned last night too?
"You seem to have become more haggard."
"It's no problem... let's talk about work first rather than that."
An expression remaining particularly dark.
The woman spoke while taking a sip of the liquor bottle she had been fiddling with at her fingertips.
I clearly took it away the day before yesterday saying what alcohol for a patient... it seemed she had already emptied several bottles she had hidden.
Because of the gloomy atmosphere, it was awkward to point it out.
Having no choice, I conveyed the work contents as she requested.
It was about today's meeting.
"The academy atmosphere seems to be settling down roughly."
"I see... originally it's work I should handle, but I'm causing trouble for Student Yuda."
"Not at all."
Conversation continued for a while.
The woman in the sickbed couldn't take her eyes off the wheelchair I was riding even while listening to the story.
It seemed she was distressed by the fact her disciple was injured.
The fact that I particularly had a sick appearance played a part too.
I didn't know consuming life force in disaster subjugation would be used like this.
I smiled gently.
"Master."
That's right.
Wasn't this enough by now?
5 days after the attack.
She too must have drawn various conclusions inwardly.
I brought out the question I had been waiting for all this time.
"I'd like to ask your thoughts now."
"What?"
"Because you haven't given any opinions so far."
"What do you want to ask me?"
"The traitor's identity... I want to know who you guess it is."
"The traitor."
"It's an important issue."
Selena Drunkard.
She was the dean's top disciple, a person of high position enough to wear the head assistant badge, and moreover a veteran who had experienced the academy for a long time.
Surely she would have figured out the identity of the faculty member who betrayed the academy too.
Whether it was the excessively incompetent dean.
Or the most suspicious Cardel.
Or some other unexpected person.
If not even that.
"What do you think, Master... no."
Actually.
"Traitor."
Or herself.
I was staring at her with white pupils along with eyelids that had gently opened before I knew it.
The answer that didn't return formed a moment of silence.
"......"
The hospital room soaking in stillness.
The snake glared.
At his master, a born educator, a scarred adult, and... the academy's traitor.
I was facing her for a long time.
Before long, her closed lips parted.
It was clear pronunciation that belied her intoxication.
"As expected... you knew."
The traitor, Selena Drunkard.
According to the original work, a seed of destruction was planted by the heretics.
The woman muttered.
"...It's all my fault."
A recollection of sins committed for a long time.