Episode 25. Intermission – You Were That Kind of Woman
The hideout of the Masin Church.
I staggered up from inside the hideout where thirty corpses were strewn about.
“Ugh… It really hurts so bad.”
The aftereffects that come when the stigmata enhancer’s duration ends.
They said they made it without any consideration of the aftereffects, but the pain that came with the blood and energy in my whole body being distorted was beyond imagination.
‘But one thing is certain: its performance.’
Even though it is still a prototype that can only theoretically increase magical power by 30% of the maximum that can be increased by a stigmata booster, it has this level of effect.
‘If it’s only 30 percent, it’s like this, so what if it’s 100 percent?’
I smiled contentedly as I recalled the Chilseongcho I had packed in my bag.
“Let’s see… .”
Now that the aftereffects were over, it was time to start investigating internally.
‘Honestly, I don’t have high expectations.’
He was the one who tried to completely prevent information from leaking out by imposing a high-level ban on even his lowest subordinates.
Even if you search this place thoroughly, the chances of finding anything useful are slim.
‘It’s better than not doing it though.’
I searched the inside of the cult’s hideout, weaving between the corpses strewn on the floor.
I must have wandered around for quite some time, searching every nook and cranny.
I found a pile of black nails in one corner of a small room that looked like a warehouse.
“They say that the ‘curse’ that blinded Iris is contained within this nail.”
The number of black nails piled up is estimated to be in the hundreds.
The amount of curses contained in a single nail was not that much, but if the number was this much, it would be a different story.
‘But even so, this alone isn’t enough to curse the entire school.’
I once learned about large-scale rituals from Senior Sophia.
In large-scale rituals, what is important is how many ingredients are prepared and how elaborately the ritual is planned.
and.
‘Where did the magician perform his magic?’
For a large-scale ritual like this, it would have been difficult for the core caster to operate from ‘outside’.
Even this is a ritual that must continue for several months until all of the powers of the ‘Seven Eyes’ are taken away.
Even if it is a magic spell created by an Archbishop-level magician, it would be impossible to maintain it if the magician is outside.
‘That’s what I’m saying.’
This means that Archbishop Ashtaroth of Dreams remained hidden within the school for several months while the ritual continued.
“No… no. It’s not been a few months.”
Apparently, the miners said they had been planning this for years.
It was highly likely that the caster had been hiding in the school disguised as someone else long before the actual spell was activated.
It’s also much easier to activate and maintain the spell within the school.
‘in other words.’
Archbishop Ashtaroth of Dreams is currently hiding in the school disguised as someone else.
‘It’ll be hard to find him unless we know who he’s disguised as.’
There are nearly a thousand candidates within the school.
If you include professors, employees who do miscellaneous tasks, and people who work in research labs after graduation, the number increases even more.
‘I couldn’t investigate each and every one of those people.’
Even if they were to investigate, it was questionable whether they would be able to find the Archbishop-level mine that had deliberately hidden itself.
And above all.
“There’s no reason for me to go looking for it.”
He looked around the blood-stained interior of the hideout and let out a snicker.
okay.
Why would I bother to put in the effort to find him?
‘He’ll come to me first.’
If Ashtaroth found out that a plan that had been in the works for years had been leaked to someone, they would have no choice but to come after me with bloodshot eyes.
‘The country has no need to leave any evidence.’
Rather, if you leave evidence too blatantly, they will become suspicious.
All I have to do is wait quietly until he finds me.
“Yeah… I was in school.”
Before leaving the hideout.
I looked up at the moonlit night sky, flicking the black nail I had brought with me.
I don’t know who you are pretending to be.
I don’t know why he went to such lengths to target Iris’s ‘seven eyes’, nor what he planned to do with the power he took from her.
In your previous life, you died by the hand of the ‘Sword of the Holy Nation’ before you even met me.
‘but.’
One thing.
There is one thing I know for sure.
“Ashtaroth.”
This time.
“You will meet me before the Sword of the Holy Nation.”
* * *
On the way back to the school dormitory after leaving the hideout of the Masin Church.
I squinted my eyes as I walked down the street where darkness had already fallen a long time ago.
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“Ugh… I’m kind of tired because we fought a bit.”
The wounds were all healed by the protection of revival, but not all fatigue was recovered.
The aftereffects of using the stigmata enhancer and the fatigue from fighting thirty mines were setting in, and I was starting to feel drowsy.
‘I need to go to bed quickly.’
As I was hurrying my steps towards the dormitory.
“uh?”
I saw someone squatting and nodding off in front of my dorm room.
Pink hair visible through the pressed robe.
“…Iris?”
When I carefully called her name, the woman who had been dozing off suddenly sat up.
“You little shit! Oh, no, Mr. Dale! Where the hell have you been all this time?!”
Iris approached me with a very angry face.
“How many times have I contacted you!”
“ah.”
When I turned on my Hero Watch and checked it later, I saw that there were a lot of messages from Iris.
“When I didn’t get a reply, I checked and found out that Professor Jade had given her permission and was heading out to the outdoor training grounds. Do you know how surprised I was?!”
but.
If she had gotten permission from Professor Jade, known as the ‘student killer’, and then suddenly lost contact, anyone would have been as terrified as she was.
“It’s okay. Nothing happened.”
“What is that about a person who said nothing happened?”
“that….”
When I looked down at my clothes later, I saw that they were torn in many places.
‘Because what is regenerated by the protection of life is only the physical body.’
I was able to wipe off some of the blood on my clothes before returning to the dormitory, but there was nothing I could do about the torn clothes.
“That… rolled down the mountain.”
What came out of my mouth in the end was an extremely poor excuse.
“… rolled?”
“Yeah. The item Professor Jade asked for was in a rather rough area.”
“Huh.”
Iris looked me up and down with suspicion, then grabbed my hand and pointed to the door.
“Open the door.”
“…Wouldn’t it be embarrassing if I got caught entering the men’s dorm room at this hour?”
“So, we have to go in before anyone sees us so that we don’t get in trouble. We already went through a lot of trouble to get here without Camilla knowing.”
At Iris’s urging, I opened the door.
Her dorm room was revealed to be so shabby that it was hard to believe it was actually a dormitory at the same school.
“Okay, take off your clothes and come over here.”
“…Take off your clothes?”
Iris blushed bright red and screamed as she looked at her with a bewildered expression.
“Hey, the wound! You should see the wound!”
“Oh, yeah. But it’s really okay.”
“Take it off. If you don’t take it off quickly, I’ll take it off forcibly.”
That’s rather a reward… No, that’s not it.
“okay.”
He took off his shirt and approached her.
Iris looked at every part of my body with serious eyes.
“Hmm. There are no visible wounds.”
“So I said it’s okay.”
“No. The hero’s body is originally so strong that wounds are often not visible on the outside.”
Iris carefully reached out and touched my body.
“You said you rolled down the mountain?”
“huh.”
“Judging by the condition of your clothes, it looks like you rolled around quite a bit… You may have internal bleeding.”
Iris says this while carefully drawing up her magical power.
The halo of light from her stigmata seeped into my body.
A warmth spread through my body, as if I had drunk a warm soup.
“… I think this will stop the bleeding.”
“If you don’t do this, it will get better on its own if you leave it alone.”
“Tsk! I told you not to say things like that, didn’t I?”
She lightly hits my forehead with a soybean with a stern expression.
“Do you understand? No matter how much of a hero you are, you shouldn’t use your body carelessly. Even heroes get hurt just the same.”
“… … .”
Suddenly.
A page of faded memories flashed through my mind.
-You shouldn’t use your body like that.
-What’s the point of dying anyway, I’ll just come back to life.
-But you still feel the pain the same!
Oh, yeah.
You were that kind of woman.
In my past life, and now.
Without change.
always.
always.
“Mr. Dale?”
“… … .”
“… Are you crying?”
I shook my head softly, wiping my eyes.
“No, it’s nothing.”
“… … .”
An awkward silence descended on the room.
“Ugh, ugh!”
Perhaps unable to bear the awkwardness, Iris coughed in vain and stood up from her seat.
“Anyway! There’s another reason I contacted you today!”
Now that I think about it, I still haven’t checked why she sent me the message today.
“Mr. Dale, are you free this weekend?”
“I think it’ll be time… but why?”
“Would you like to go out with me?”
I was wondering why you were contacting me, and it turned out you were planning to go out together over the weekend.
‘A date with Iris.’
Of course, my relationship with her wasn’t yet at the level where I could call it a ‘date’.
Still, the idea of being able to wander around alone with her was an incredibly sweet offer.
“Where are you going?”
“that….”
I smiled happily as I watched her hesitate slightly.
‘Where do you want to go?’
A theater inside Valhalla City? Or a cozy cafe?
Since she loves to eat, it could be a famous restaurant.
‘It doesn’t matter where.’
As long as I could be with her, I didn’t care even if it was a slum.
‘But I don’t think I’d want to go to an ant hole.’
While smiling bitterly and waiting for her answer.
“Mr. Dale… have you ever heard of an ant hole?”
“…what?”
Are you really going to the ant hole?
