༺ You Okay? ༻
Vermel sighed softly as he watched the Prince being carried off on the stretcher.
It’s over.
This was where he had to do well. Vermel got up.
“Where are you going?”
“I have to check something.”
He was going to follow Prince Klion. Vermel headed to the infirmary while pretending to go to the restroom.
Vermel Horde. It was he, the male elf student who had received an award certificate for his contributions in guiding the students alongside the faculty and minimizing casualty. His extraordinary actions even made it into the chairman, Robespierre’s, ears.
To acknowledge him for it, the chairman had invited him to his office at the start of the semester.
─ What would you like?
Vermel had given some thought to the chairman’s question.
His financial situation wasn’t bad. He had more than enough funds. The money that he had made in Kaurelia would sufficiently get him through until graduation.
There was something else that Vermel sought.
─ That’s what you wish for? How do you know about that?
Vermel had requested the fabrication method of the scroll containing an Ultimate Innate Magic. It was a rare item that the veteran players picked up occasionally while planning their route.
With the duel event now over, it didn’t matter if Klion died. He wasn’t a figure essential to the game’s ending to begin with.
In fact, the impatient players would throw Klion to the beasts for the sole reason that they hated seeing him hit on the female characters.
But the course changed.
In most of the routes, it would either be Iluka or the protagonist who fought against Klion. Especially if the protagonist had similar stats, he would fight a surrogate battle against him. Iluka’s redemption narrative would then begin once the asshole of a Second Prince was wrecked
But since Vermel had already experienced every strange encounter1A supposed random meeting with a stranger that usually results in the protagonist becoming stronger in Kaurelia, it was set in a direction that Klion would do anything to avoid fighting against him.
If it had been following the course, then Iluka should have fought against the Second Prince, but….
Things took another turn.
Is Aether…. an actual transmigrator?
He wasn’t sure. Her behavior patterns were too weird for her to be a player like himself.
But this much was certain. That she read his expression before accepting to fight against Klion.
She might be acting after seeing my reactions.
He got goosebumps.
Vermel shook his head vigorously, then concentrated on what needed to be done right this moment to put his personal build strat into plan.
The first thing he saw as soon as he opened the door and stepped into the infirmary was Klion with his head wrapped in bandages. The lab coat-clad infirmary doctor sat next to him. She had long ears like himself and with eyes that were a shade of green.
She was an elf.
Sephia Glyston. There’s no one in this world who’s as good as her when it comes to Heal Magic.
Innate Magic of the healing variety wasn’t a common thing. If it had been, the Empire would have formed a ‘walking dead’ army out of the combat mages and cleared out the northern front.
Doctor Sephia is at Tilette only because she’s an elf originating from Kaurelia. If she had been born as a citizen of the Empire, she would have been toiling in the north for her whole life.
Of course, Kaurelia was also frantically wanting to send her off to the southern sea front. But Sephia had been able to finely balance herself between the two nations and reach an agreement so that she’d remain an infirmary teacher at Tilette.
What a setting.
That was actually a convenient device to assist the protagonist party.
“Oh, a friend?”
“Is the Prince doing alright?”
“I’ve taken care of most of it. He should be waking up soon. Ah, I guess that’s now.”
As soon as Doctor Sephia had said that, Klion got up holding his head.
“Uugh.”
He survived a blow to the head from a giant caliper…. That’s a testament to how incredible Doctor Sephia’s Heal Magic is.
Vermel didn’t think more about Sephia’s abilities. His priority was checking the Prince’s condition.
Klion gazed at Vermel through narrowed eyes. Judging from his blank face, it seemed like he was back to normal.
“Then I’ll leave you guys be. Call me if you need anything.”
As soon as she stepped out, Vermel pulled out a scroll from his inner pocket and rolled it up in his hand.
“Do you remember what happened earlier?”
“No…. Why am I here? Ugh, my head…!”
Vermel was relieved by the Prince’s reaction.
He’s no longer brainwashed.
A common symptom between those who’ve been released from mind-control magic was that they didn’t remember the events of the last few hours.
For Klion, he’d have no memories of challenging Iluka to a duel or fighting against Aether and passing out after she bashed him in the head.
“You were just in a Campus Duel with a female student. You lost the fight, got injured, and ended up here.”
“Is that true? I have absolutely no recollection, but…. Did I drink and act indecently, perhaps?”
“Yeah, you caused quite a mess.”
At that, Prince Klion heaved a big sigh. He needed a moment to calm down.
Klion explored his mind for some minutes but shook his head in the end.
“But I can’t recall anything. I think I heard Duke Blanton saying that he’d do something about the daughter of Viscount Eliyev…. Would that be the reason?”
“Yeah.”
A small groan crawled up the walls of the infirmary. Klion’s expression turned even darker.
“Alcohol is the bane of everything in life. This is why I shouldn’t have drank so carelessly….”
“No, it wasn’t because of alcohol.”
“Mm, then what could it have been? Do you mean to say that I’ve been going around committing such acts while sober?”
“Yes.”
It was a long story. It could take the whole day to convince him.
But this needed to be done. It was a troublesome and difficult route but if he succeeded, then the chances of clearing it would escalate.
A golden opportunity to expose all of the beasts who were rooted within the Imperial court.
That opportunity was only available if Klion stayed alive until midway.
**
“That’s the truth?”
“That’s the truth.”
The story progressed dramatically.
“Duke Blanton is a Cataclysm?”
“He is.”
“And I’ve been brainwashed by him to go around doing repulsive things?”
“That’s it.”
Prince Klion seemed skeptical about what Vermel had told him, but he nodded in acceptance for now. After hearing him out, Klion let out a groan.
“If those are the facts, then that would mean that the entire Imperial court has fallen into the hands of demons.”
“Not yet. The Empire hasn’t completely been taken over by the beasts just yet.”
“There’s something we can do about it even if what you’re saying is true?”
“As long as you can do your part well, Prince.”
Then Vermel presented a scroll that was tens of inches in length. Within it, geometrical shapes intersected each other and solidified the areas between phases.
The more complicated the rune etched on the paper, the higher the level of magic.
“What is this?”
“A countermeasure against being mind-controlled.”
[Ultimate Innate Magic ─ Disobedience]
It was the rune that Vermel had requested from the chairman, etched onto the scroll.
The complete configuration for ‘Disobedience’ was extremely difficult to get a hold of. But since Vermel knew what identity the Tilette Academy’s chairman was hiding, he had been able to ask this of him and obtain it.
“You just need to flow some mana into this and inhale the released particles every 24 hours. Then you’ll be able to escape Duke Blanton’s brainwashing.”
“… I’ll give it a try.”
Klion still seemed to be on the fence but that was good enough. As long as he realized that there was something suspicious happening within the palace, the Second Prince could be brought to their side from being a villain.
From times of old, they said the best tactic was to make enemies your allies. Since Klion had the power of being a Prince, it would at least help to have him as an ally.
But it’s too soon to be reassured.
This was only the first step. Vemel’s mid to long-term goal was to use Klion and remove Duke Blanton, then replace his spot with another figure.
While Vermel was thinking about this, Klion suddenly dropped his head.
“What are you doing?”
“I apologize for having behaved uncivilly before the people as an Imperial figure.
“That isn’t your apology to make. It’s Duke Blanton who we need to go after.”
“My actions towards my peers don’t change simply because I can’t remember. If as a Prince I don’t even take that much responsibility, then I will not be fit to lead the Empire. Either way, it was my problem for not having been able to resist the mind control.”
Klion bowed his head once again. He then insisted that he needed to apologize to the other students for his disrespect and uprighted himself.
“No, you shouldn’t do that yet.”
“…Ah, that’s right.”
The Prince seemed to instantly realize what Vermel was implying.
“Duke Blanton could eliminate me if I behave oddly.”
“So you need to act the part of the miscreant Prince for a while. Can you do that?”
“I don’t like having to be scathed by the ladies, but I suppose it can’t be helped.”
Come to think of it, he was still a womanizer before being brainwashed.
Klion was a guy who would make a pass at any beautiful woman; it was just that he didn’t overstep boundaries. He was someone so obsessed with them that when you freed him from being brainwashed and went down the atonement route, he ended up as a comedic character who’d regularly confess to other characters and get rejected.
It seemed that Klion was destined to be beaten some more by Aether. Vermel gathered his things and left the infirmary.
There was no time to lose.
Because the next stage was rescuing the First Prince.
