The scene looked as though it had crawled up from the depths of the abyss.
That sluggish movement, the syringe in one hand, and the mysterious purple substance inside it.
My weapon of choice in response? A sword.
Damn it, this is a disadvantage.
Since ancient times, it’s been obvious. Swords don’t win against syringes.
“Professor Georg, what’s that drug in the syringe?”
“It’s a confidence booster. There is a side effect of temporary memory loss, but… well, it’s nothing too serious, so no need to worry.”
“Aha.”
I let go of any hesitation. Professor Georg clearly wasn’t in his right mind right now.
And I had a vague idea of why he was trying to stick me with that substance.
The countless scattered documents on the floor…
“You’re planning to make me stamp the university application form, aren’t you?”
“Now, now, saying it like that makes it sound so coercive. Don’t worry, with this drug, you’ll sign the form of your own will. In print, with steady handwriting and all.”
“You’ve created a terrifying drug, Professor. What in the world drove you to this point?”
“A curse called overwork and insomnia.”
“Aha.”
I steadied my sword.
No need for mercy.
Professor Georg had already gone past the point of no return.
“Professor, I may not be the strongest student in the Cradle, but I’ve always been a model student. I even hold a knighthood.”
I was weak.
But strength was always relative.
And if my opponent was just a researcher like Professor Georg, I could win.
“Let me show you what youth is all about.”
“Sure, go ahead and try… in my workshop!!”
Professor Georg who had been staggering suddenly charged at me like a madman.
His movements weren’t those of someone trained in combat. He even slipped on the papers scattered across the floor.
He kept repeating the cycle of falling face-first to the ground and then rising again as he launched his assault.
His movements were sluggish and wobbly. Yet, without any feints or tricks, he thrust the syringe at me with complete honesty.
Crack!
Though a syringe was undoubtedly an excellent weapon, its structural integrity was fatally weak. I swung my sword precisely at the syringe in his hand, and it shattered easily.
Even if it had a sharp needle, as long as it didn’t pierce, it didn’t matter. No matter how powerful the syringe might be, if I was the opponent, it simply wouldn’t work.
“After all, I’m someone who’s crossed the line between life and death. I wouldn’t fall to something like this.”
Just in case, I was careful not to come into contact with the liquid that had been inside the syringe.
Even though he had been holding it, who knew if the drug would take effect just by touching the skin?
“…I see.”
Professor Georg looked down at the broken syringe in his hand and let out a sigh.
Sluggish, and disoriented…. his movements still seemed like those of someone who had left his mind somewhere far away.
“You’re just tired, Professor. That’s all this is.”
“Yes… I suppose I’m just worn out…”
He wobbled again.
Professor Georg began to sway side to side once more.
His pitiful state was almost too painful to watch…
“…Huh?”
Professor Georg staggered. He swayed left and right in a loose, unsteady motion.
The world began to blur, swirling together like ink dropped into water.
“Ugh?!”
I fell to my knees. It was only then that I realized. I had been drugged.
The one who had been swaying… wasn’t Professor Georg. It had been me all along.
Then when did it even start?
“Oh dear, feeling dizzy? Don’t worry. You’ll get used to it soon enough. If it gets too hard, we can have a cup of coffee later or something.”
“The drug… it had been vaporized and spread throughout the entire workshop from the start, hadn’t it?”
Professor Georg himself had probably been under the influence too.
If that was the case, then the antidote must be…
Was it… coffee?
“Ahahahaha! Excellent, just excellent. Keep being that sharp, Johan. Let me officially welcome you back to Ars Magna.”
“Damn… it…”
Professor Georg pulled a new syringe from his pocket.
Inside it was the same drug I had just destroyed a moment ago.
“It’s time to say goodbye to your gloomy, lethargic self! Once the confidence kicks in, we can sit down with a cup of coffee and start your career counseling.”
The syringe closed in.
Damn it, if I got hit with that, it was really over.
“No need to worry about failing the entrance exam. I’ll write you a recommendation myself.”
“That’s quite the tempting offer, Professor Georg. However…”
Booom!
At that moment, a thunderous roar rang out.
A red afterimage sliced through the cluttered space—desks, equipment, everything—without touching a single object.
At the end of the streak, like a bolt of lightning given form, stood a hero with red hair fluttering in the air.
“Johan already has a prior appointment.”
Lobelia Vicious von Miltonia.
The moment she appeared, she smashed the syringe that was just about to pierce my neck, burning its contents.
The drug evaporated completely under the red lightning, with not a single drop remaining.
The foul stench spread for only a moment.
Crash!
All the windows in the workshop shattered at once, and the rush of fresh air swept away the lingering chemical odor.
“And it wouldn’t hurt to ventilate a bit. Feels like just standing here is bad for your health.”
“…I greet the Child of Crimson Blood.”
Apparently, even Professor Georg couldn’t make a scene in front of an imperial member. He dropped to his knees immediately.
“There’s no need for such formality, Professor. Isn’t this the Cradle, after all?”
“Understood.”
“Thank you.”
As Professor Georg gave a small nod and stood up, Lobelia responded with a smile.
It seemed she appreciated his quick understanding. She never liked people who dragged things out.
“By the way, Your Highness. When you said he already had a prior appointment… could it be…?”
“You’re thinking correctly, Professor. This one… is set to become a palace official after graduation.”
“Oh dear, how unfortunate.”
“Hmm?”
“I meant to say, ‘How glorious’.”
“Well, for a moment I thought surely you wouldn’t consider becoming an imperial official something to be proud of. I must’ve misheard.”
“O-Of course not.”
Professor Georg now looked like a cowardly minion pledging loyalty to a demon king.
The laid-back, dignified scholar he once seemed to be was nowhere to be found.
There was nothing left of him now but a bowed head. It was the very image of a working adult surviving society.
“Ah, Professor Georg, could you step out for a moment? I need to have a quick word with Johan, and this is…”
“I’ll return in three hours.”
“Ten minutes will do.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
With that, Professor Georg backed out of the room.
The epitome of a true social survivor.
Well, I suppose there’s no arguing with whoever controls the funding.
“Now then, shall we have our conversation?”
“…Before that, Your Highness, would you mind brewing me a cup of coffee? It’s on the shelf over there.”
“……?”
Lobelia brushed her hair back.
Her expression didn’t change, but she looked as if she were at a loss for words, stunned into silence.
At that moment, I realized the gravity of what I’d just done.
“Did you just… send me on an errand…?”
“That came out wrong! I didn’t mean it like that…”
“…You truly are something. I didn’t see that confidence coming. What is this feeling? My head’s getting warm… could this be love?”
“It’s not! I swear I’m sorry! Your Highness! It’s all my fault! Aaaaagh!”
Crackle! Sizzle!
Overwhelming fury.
Her special ability of Red Lightning sparked and hissed violently, as if echoing her rage.
“Th-The antidote! I meant the antidote! The coffee beans are filled with the antidote!”
“Haha… don’t worry. I get what you meant. Still, I must say, I’m feeling very strange about this. Haha!”
I might actually die today.
***
Thankfully, Lobelia didn’t do me any harm.
As expected of our great monarch, she doesn’t get angry over trivial matters.
“Th-Thank you for your help.”
“Think nothing of it. You’re a promising talent who’ll one day become an official of the Empire. It’s only right I look after you.”
“Haha, that was a witty joke, Your Highness. Truly, you never disappoint.”
“I meant it as a joke, but still.”
The reply that came back was scarier than if she’d just said it wasn’t a joke.
It felt… uncomfortably realistic.
“Let’s talk about the contract later…”
Did we really have to bring that up again later? It’d be nice if we just didn’t.
Better not provoke her now and hope she forgets about it naturally.
“For now, I came to deliver a message. The Headmistress has summoned you. Make sure to stop by before tomorrow’s class.”
Olga Hermod’s summons wasn’t unexpected. Something had happened last night. It made sense for her to call in the person involved.
Some formalities would be exchanged, and things would be wrapped up neatly enough.
No one got hurt, and Olga Hermod wasn’t the type to stir up trouble over nothing.
But what I was really curious about was something else.
“Why would you be the one to deliver that…?”
Why was Lobelia passing that message along?
Even if Olga Hermod was the Headmistress, could she really order a princess around?
Well… with Olga’s level of authority and power, maybe she could.
But there was more to lose than to gain. And Lobelia wasn’t the type to overlook that. Which means….this was Lobelia acting on her own.
“Exactly. If you had even one friend, this little errand wouldn’t have fallen to me.”
“Ah.”
Come to think of it, that happened at the beginning of the semester too.
At some point, it seemed Princess Lobelia had taken up the position of being my only friend.
Was that her excuse for coming to see me? If so, then maybe there was another reason behind it.
I really needed to make at least one friend soon.
“I was just curious what you and Ariel might be hiding from me.”
“Wouldn’t it be faster to ask Lady Ariel directly?”
“I’d rather not doubt a friend.”
Then what about me? I was supposed to be a friend too.
“Ariel is terrible at lying, you see. For her sake, I decided not to pry. Even among friends, you still have to respect one another’s privacy.”
“Your Highness, privacy isn’t just something for friends… Never mind.”
Complaining wouldn’t change anything.
If it were going to, she wouldn’t have ordered a background check in the first place.
“You really didn’t hear anything?”
“I never asked in the first place.”
“I see.”
I thought of Ariel.
Anyone could tell, just by watching her once, that every little action gave away her emotions.
She was probably the type who couldn’t lie without it showing right away.
And maybe that was exactly how she managed to fool Lobelia.
By playing the role of someone who couldn’t lie at all, she let countless lies get exposed while hiding the one, truly important lie.
“Well, I don’t really have any reason to hide anything.”
But I wasn’t like her.
To begin with, I didn’t understand why she felt the need to keep it secret. If I were her, I would’ve clung to Lobelia and begged her to find a way for me to survive.
It was just that…
“The last battle was pretty dangerous. Melana… that is, the traitor from Class F used chains.”
But I had no intention of becoming the kind of scum who’d expose a lie she’d gone to such lengths to protect.
And if I went and revealed it on my own, wouldn’t that just earn me her resentment?
I had no intention of being accidentally killed during training by some stray spell.
“Her body couldn’t withstand it, but the real problem was the appearance of another variable. It was Jeff. Whether he fell for the cult’s words or not, he was granted divine power and started using it to heal Melena’s necrotic body.”
I went on with a lengthy excuse.
It wasn’t the truth, but it was a plausible story.
In reality, divine power could heal even decayed flesh, and the power of the chain made of twelve links was something that even Ariel couldn’t afford to take lightly.
The logic held together.
But there was only one thing that mattered.
“I nearly died.”
My expression, my gestures, the trembling in my voice and actions—
I had to make every part of it sound utterly convincing.
Ariel owed me at least a meal after this.
***
After Lobelia left—
I let out a sigh of relief and slumped over my desk.
It had been a suffocating moment.
Every second of Lobelia’s not-quite-interrogation had left me choosing my words so carefully, I thought my head might explode.
Still, I managed to fool her.
Or maybe she saw through it and played along out of respect for my courage.
Either way, the secret stayed safe.
It felt like the end of a stormy day, but the truth was, my real work hadn’t even begun yet.
“Oh, you’re done talking?”
“…Let’s get it together, Professor Georg. Trying to kidnap a student? If you weren’t actually competent, I would’ve reported you to the Headmistress.”
If he didn’t have real skills, I would’ve shut down this workshop myself.
Still, since he does, there’s no helping it. I needed his help to make the potion that would cure Ariel’s illness.
“Yeah, yeah. So you’re already harassing researchers just because you’re destined to be an imperial official. Bastard.”
“Enough of that. Could you take a look at this? What I’m trying to study is…”
“The Archmage’s Disease, right? Or do they call it Transcendence Syndrome these days? So you’re finally picking that back up?”
“…I’ve never studied that here. How did you know?”
“I stole a peek at the notebook you always carried around like a treasure.”
“That’s a violation of privacy.”
“Didn’t I tell you to take it with you? If it was that precious, you should’ve brought it when you left the workshop.”
“……”
He had a point.
But how could I have known I’d end up resuming a research project I’d abandoned to let go of attachments?
“Well, the research itself was interesting. The theory was weak, but I could feel the passion. Or was it obsession?”
“You can tell things like that?”
“Yeah.”
Professor Georg pulled over the chair next to me and sat down, then said,
“There were tear stains.”
“That was saliva.”
“You know I analyzed the substance?”
“Why would you even do that?”
“So I could mess with you like this, you little punk.”
You’re completely out of your mind.
“Anyway, I really liked this. These days, kids don’t have any guts, but you….either you’re fearless or just brainless, asking for a budget like this… Wow. Looking at it again, yeah, you’re definitely crazy. You think a budget like this just appears because you asked?”
“But the Cradle will give.”
“That’s true.”
Just like when I was researching to save my younger brother, Chris.
Sometimes, throwing enough money at a problem might solve it. Of course, it might not.
And if it doesn’t, all that astronomical funding just vanishes into thin air.
Still, that was fine.
“And if a researcher hesitates because of budget constraints, how are they supposed to do any research?”
It wasn’t my money.
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