…Night had fallen.
Only then did Sasha realize. It had been 30 days since she’d fled from Tane.
She had reason to notice. A full moon had risen in the night sky.
The moon had waned and waxed only to become full once again.
“……”
…There’s a tale in the Empire that if you make a wish upon a full moon, it will come true.
They say the full moon represents a wish that is destined to be fulfilled.
“I… don’t want to kill.”
She didn’t believe in superstitions. She didn’t believe in religion either.
She had always thought those things were nothing more than illusions born of human weakness.
If a god truly existed, then on the day her father went to the convent… things would never have turned out the way they did.
“I don’t want to hurt anyone…”
But in this moment, she couldn’t help but pray with all her heart.
Because praying was all she had left.
“…That day… did that happen because Father confessed his sins?”
“Is that why… why I’m being punished like this? Is the punishment… still not enough? Is that why I’ve ended up like this?”
“…Are you saying this is a sin that can only be paid for with death…?”
“…If that’s the case, I wish you’d just told me from the start.”
“If I’d known… I wouldn’t have tried so hard.”
I wouldn’t have bothered learning magic. Wouldn’t have tried to become a student.
“……”
She couldn’t feel anything anymore.
Even the pain, even the feelings that had once filled her head….had all vanished.
Sasha made her wish.
In some back alley. In a desolate corner untouched even by magic lamps, among dying candle flames.
“…Someone… please…”
With a voice that cracked apart, she murmured:
“…Please…”
…She knew.
There was no such thing as salvation.
The large scar etched across her back. That was a wound carved by her father when he had lost all reason.
It had been the doing of the Special Task Force. They’d approached her, claiming they would help bring her father back, that they’d save her and her father. They had used young Sasha as bait.
That scar was the evidence of it.
So she would never believe again.
Those who approach her saying they’ll save her cannot be trusted.
And yet, even so, she prayed.
To the full moon.
To the symbol of a wish that is finally fulfilled.
“…Please… help me.”
The candle flames sink low.
──Silence.
There is no help.
[We’ll help you.]
[Let’s kill.]
At that moment, voices like that rose up from deep inside her.
“……”
Nothing changes. Nothing ever will.
Reality is just a back alley somewhere, filthy water dripping, drop by drop, in a corner.
And so…Sasha raised both hands.
Then slowly, she began to choke her own neck.
“…ghk…!”
…She must have known that there was no such thing as salvation.
“G…ngh…!”
And so, even with her clouded judgment, she knew this was right.
She, who had fused with a demon, had to die like this.
She had lived too long. A life that should have ended long ago.
Crunch—
Her vision faded. Strength drained from her toes upward.
Thud…
Something slipped from her grasp and fell to the ground.
Death drew close, pressing its forehead against hers…
I want to live a normal life somewhere no one knows me.
I just want to fall asleep without worries, even for a single day.
I wish there were just one person who would believe in me.
“…A…del…”
─I wanted to live.
That was the moment.
Booom──!!!!
The silence was shattered.
Adel Bliss.
He smashed through the locked alley door and immediately restrained Sasha’s arms.
Blood dripped steadily from his forehead as he pressed his palm against her abdomen.
◆ [Shape Transformation] Trait Activated.
“I finally found you.”
***
[Sin!! Sin!! Sin!!]
[We have to kill. Let’s kill! Kill!!!]
I swallowed my irritation. I’d intended to extract the demon parasite in one go using my Trait, but it was already fully fused with Sasha.
Even through my hand, its buzzing will was transmitted to me.
“Listen carefully, Sasha. I’m going to transfer the demon clinging to you over to me.”
Her pupils trembled. With her mouth wide open, Sasha repeated small broken moans.
Her feet shifted back and forth, like someone confronted with something utterly unbelievable.
“Leave the control of your mana waves to me. Push the waves out as if you’re opening your heart. Don’t try to control it.”
As I grabbed her shoulders, she slumped forward.
“A-Adel…?”
“Yeah.”
“…Is it really you, Adel?”
Her voice was completely hoarse. It sounded like she hadn’t had a sip of water in days.
So that’s why she had already undergone full integration. She must have used the demon’s power in place of nourishment.
“It’s really me.”
“H-How… are you here…?”
“I’ve been looking for you across the entire Empire. It wasn’t that hard.”
“…Why… why…?”
Sasha shook her head frantically. Restless, like someone who couldn’t breathe, she finally spoke.
“…No. No, you can’t be involved with me…”
“I can’t be involved with you? And why’s that?”
“L-let me go!”
As she tried to run, I pulled her back. Thinking about what she must’ve gone through these past thirty days, there was no way I could let her go now. I forced her down as she struggled to break free.
“……”
“Let’s go back, Sasha.”
At that, she stopped resisting.
Slowly, Sasha shook her head. She pressed her lips tightly together and avoided my gaze.
“…Go back where, exactly?”
“To Tane.”
“…I can’t go anywhere.”
“If you stay like this, you’ll die.”
“Then maybe that’s just… my fate.”
“……”
I picked up a card that had fallen on the ground.
Caked in mud, it was Sasha’s student ID.
Sasha Koskov.
That was the name printed on it.
“Fate…”
I’d already finished my investigation.
Why the demon of Justice and Execution was still roaming the streets and why the headmaster of Tane had been absent when it was time to eliminate it.
Why had Sasha’s future changed when originally, her family name was never meant to be revealed?
The reason was this:
Originally, midterm exam scores were never publicly posted. The only reason they were this time was because of Adel Bliss, the early enrollee who frequently skipped class without permission.
It had all happened as an effort to have me held back.
In the process, Sasha’s family name ended up being exposed to the entire student body.
The reason for the headmaster’s absence was also simple.
During the battle between Camilla and Adel, a demonic barrier had been formed. Originally, several students from the knight department entered to stop it and died.
It wasn’t a massive loss, since the demon worshippers withdrew their power once they confirmed Adel’s death, but deaths still occurred nonetheless.
Professors and students, no less.
The resulting unrest made it impossible to cover up, and the headmaster canceled all external events to stay at Thane.
But this time…no one died.
Because I had stepped in and broken the barrier.
With no longer any need to cancel his external itinerary, the headmaster went on his scheduled business trip.
That’s why the demon parasite had been able to survive until now.
“…That won’t happen, Sasha.”
“……”
“We can still turn everything back. We can put it all right again.”
I could see it. Her heartbeat was growing stronger.
“Leave the flow of your mana to me.”
“If I do that, then, then…”
But the next moment, she started to falter again…
“…What’s going to change, really?”
Guilt. Resignation.
The look of someone broken under crushing pressure.
“…I’m still a Koskov. My father was a demon worshipper, and now there’s even a demon latched onto me. That truth is going to come out…whether I die here or not.”
“…There’s nothing I can do. No matter where I go in this world, I’ll always be alone. Acquaintances are forbidden; friends are out of the question. Romance? That’s laughable.”
Sasha took my hand and brought it to her back. At the same time, she lifted her shirt to show her stomach. Though the position looked like a hug, she soon shoved me away with force.
“The scar from my father’s blade….proof that I’m demonized. It’ll never go away.”
“My heart’s the same. It’s already beyond repair. I can’t accept anyone’s kindness at face value. All I feel is distrust for people. I’m nothing more than a miserable, repulsive woman.”
“Even if you… even if you came all this way to find me like this…! I… I…”
“……”
I remained silent.
To be honest, it was something I couldn’t understand. I didn’t even know how to understand it. And even if I did, it would be nothing more than shallow pity.
The knots in her heart were something that would need time to unravel. In a proper environment, slowly.
But right now, there’s no time.
There’s still too much left to do to waste time like this.
So I opened my mouth.
“You might be right about all of that.”
Sasha who was drenched in cold sweat had her eyes closed, hyperventilating.
“You’re the daughter of a criminal. A child from a family tied to demon worshippers. Nearly being killed by your own father because of adult circumstances. Of course that would leave a scar. Both on your body and your heart.”
“I’ve even heard your father carried the disgrace of being a drug user. In the Empire, that kind of dishonor is fatal. No one in Tane would want to be associated with you under those circumstances.”
“Romance is probably out of the question. You’re quite pretty, sure. But nobles don’t choose their partners based on looks alone. Even if you went back… at the graduation ball, at the Tane festivals… at the social gatherings, you might never find a partner.”
“…You’re right. That’s… true… someone like me…”
The light faded from her eyes. In response, the demon parasite began to lash out wildly with energy.
But I simply took a deep breath and held her face. I forced her to look me in the eyes.
I wanted to be her refuge, and I hoped that the words I was about to say would reach deep inside her.
“But maybe… there’s someone out there. Just one person in the world who would say they like you just the way you are.”
“Somewhere, without a doubt… whether you’re the daughter of a demon worshipper, whether your heart is fragile and weak, whether you’re a Koskov, or a short-tempered girl with a sharp tongue… there’s someone who would say it’s precisely because of all that that they like you.”
“They’d say they like the kindness hidden behind your harsh words. That they like the strength in your fierce eyes. That your deep blue-black hair feels calm and composed. That your sincerity when you apologize for misunderstandings is endearing… Someone will say those things. I’m sure of it.”
Her tightly sealed lips began to tremble. Sasha looked at me with eyes full of disbelief and asked:
“…Who, who would ever like someone like me…?”
I answered, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“I would. Me, Sasha Koskov.”
“…What?”
“That’s how I feel. So I don’t want you to die.”
Her reaction was as if time itself had stopped.
Sasha, tilting her head in confusion, suddenly took a deep breath.
As I watched her heart pound in her chest, I awakened her mana wave.
Was she tasting some kind of firework-like burst of emotion?
As her trait revealed, her adrenaline began to surge, and the empowered mana wave slowly pushed back the demon’s power.
Her once-shrunken posture straightened.
“Trust me.”
“…Adel.”
The light had returned to her eyes. Seeing that refreshed expression, like her body and mind had been cleansed, I smiled back at her.
“Hand it over to me.”
“…Thank you, Adel.”
“Give me control of your mana wave.”
“But there’s one thing you’ve overlooked.”
“We’ll talk about that later…!”
“Hearing something like that… only makes me less willing to burden you.”
What kind of nonsense is this?
“Thank you… for letting me feel this way.”
“Oh, come on. You brought this on yourself. Sasha!”
“But this is just… huh? Mmph?!”
I didn’t care about consequences anymore. It was time for an old-fashioned but effective method.
There was no time to delay. The Special Task Force Captain was nearby.
I forcibly kissed Sasha and seized control of her mana wave.
Ding—
◆ [Total Magical Structure Analysis] is resonating with another’s mana wave.
Ding—
[Adel Bliss] → [Adel Bliss (Demon of Justice and Execution)]
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