Chapter 98

At Dahlia’s answer, I frowned.

“The professor next door?”

Winter Winslet lived in one of the Academy’s top-tier residences.

Naturally, the adjacent residence would also be a top-tier one.

And there were only five such residences in the entire Academy—

Each one was occupied by someone befitting of that level of prestige.

Someone like Saintess Sophia, for example.

“Was it Professor Sophia who brought me back?”

“No. You know, um… someone kind of… peculiar. A little strange…”

The Laurencia Royal Academy had its own “Good, Bad, and Weird.”

The good one was Professor Sophia, the bad one was Winter Winslet.

And the weird one was, of course, that one.

“Monastrell.”

Dahlia spoke her name with a slight tremble.

“But Professor Monastrell told me not to tell you under any circumstances that she brought you back. She said if I blabbed, she’d rip my tongue out… but I couldn’t lie to you, Master…”

“There’s no need to worry. She was probably joking.”

Honestly, if it was Monastrell, she likely meant every word.

But I said that just to ease Dahlia’s mind.

I’d take personal responsibility for her tongue’s safety.

Still… Monastrell?

How or rather why did it have to be her?

That name caught me completely off guard.

A storm of speculation whirled in my mind, and just when I felt like I was about to drown in it, a new visitor pulled me out.

“Professor Winslet? I heard you’d woken up, so I came to see you.”

“Professor Sophia.”

It was Sophia. A mysterious woman dressed in simple, loose-fitting clothes that were neither priestly robes nor a nun’s habit.

It didn’t take much to figure out why she had come.

When I was brought into the infirmary, she was probably the most skilled healer that could be summoned…. not just in the Academy, but in the entire country.

They didn’t call her the Saintess of the Church for nothing.

“It’s a relief. I wasn’t sure you’d ever open your eyes again.”

“Thanks to you. It was a flawless recovery.”

“No, not really. When I got here after hearing you’d collapsed, there wasn’t a single visible injury. You looked more like someone who’d just fallen asleep.”

“Is that so?”

It seems the defensive spell I cast in a rush had done a decent job of blocking the Caraphine explosion.

But maybe the sudden surge of mana use had put too much strain on my mind?

“Well, still…divine power can be effective even without physical wounds. You did good work.”

“I honestly didn’t do anything.”

“No need to be so modest.”

“No, I mean it. I really didn’t do anything as a healer.”

“Hmm?”

Professor Sophia and I stared at each other in mutual confusion.

Caught in what now felt like a silent standoff, she was the first to speak.

“Have you ever been seriously ill in your life? Enough to need a healer?”

As a transmigrator, I had no knowledge of Winter Winslet’s past.

Cautiously, I asked why instead.

“My divine power didn’t respond well to you. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

If someone called the Saintess of the Church says her healing didn’t work, it’s not because she lacks skill. So I started looking for another explanation.

“They say it happens, though. Rare cases. People born with that kind of constitution.”

“It’s more than just a constitution. Something’s different. What I found was…”

Professor Sophia trailed off mid-sentence and fell silent.

Her expression darkened.

“What is it?”

“It’s nothing. Please pretend you didn’t hear that.”

There are two reliable ways to make someone angry:

One is repeating the same thing over and over, and the other is stopping mid-sentence.

When I narrowed my eyes and stared at her intently, Professor Sophia bit her lower lip slightly, then sighed in surrender, as if she had no other choice.

“Haa… fine. Just stop looking at me like that. With those… dangerous eyes.”

Having won her surrender, I relaxed my gaze.

“Ahem, anyway…according to my diagnosis…”

Professor Sophia spoke in a calm voice, but the words she said landed like a bolt from the blue.

“It seems you have a problem with your heart.”

Apparently, Winter Winslet has a heart condition.

***

“There’s a problem with my heart?”

“Yes. It felt like an old illness. You didn’t know? If this is the first time symptoms have shown up… well, you’ve been lucky, that’s all I can say.”

At her words, I reflexively checked to see if my heart was beating properly.

Was it going a little fast? Or a bit slow?

Not that I was a doctor. Doing that only made me more anxious.

Could it be… the reason Winter Winslet was known as a villain with a 100% death rate was because he actually died from a heart condition?

I asked,

“Is there anything that could help with the illness? Like regular exercise, a change in diet, or maybe some effective herbs…?”

Sophia shook her head.

“It’s not that kind of issue. Your illness is… something you were likely born with. And more importantly… it’s practically incurable.”

A congenital heart condition and an incurable one, at that.

I rubbed my eyes with my palm, trying to gather my thoughts.

In Candela of Judgment, divine power works by restoring the body to its original state.

So if my heart had been defective from birth, that would explain why divine healing didn’t work.

Still, just because divine power didn’t help doesn’t mean I should give up.

Healing may be a strong suit of divine magic, but it’s not its exclusive domain.

There’s natural magic from druids, black magic that acts directly on the three elements of human life, and even among the more obscure branches of witchcraft, there has to be something that can help.

All I need is to figure out what the illness actually is.

I asked,

“So what’s the name of my condition?”

“…I don’t know.”

That’s a lie.

Why won’t she meet my eyes?

“If you don’t even know what the illness is, how can you say it’s incurable?”

“…Just a hunch.”

This was getting ridiculous.

“Look me in the eyes and say that.”

I said it while fixing her with another intense, burdensome stare. But this time, Sophia turned her head away completely.

Is it really that serious?

So serious that she won’t even tell the patient what it is?

Professor Sophia still had her head turned to the side as she approached me, making her posture look oddly awkward.

“I’m sorry there’s nothing I can do to help. But since I’m here, let me at least check your condition before I go. Sit up for a moment, please.”

I did as she said and raised my upper body. The blanket slid down.

I wasn’t wearing anything on top, so it was clearly visible—

A bluish bruise, like a deep contusion, spreading across my left chest.

From the side, I could see Dahlia looking on with a worried expression.

“Relax your shoulders, and breathe slowly and deeply.”

I followed her instructions.

Professor Sophia placed her hand on my back and began to channel divine power into it.

A wave of nausea hit me.

Truthfully, I hadn’t been feeling well since waking from the nightmare.

Professor Sophia spoke.

“You’re much better now, though.”

“This is better?”

“When I was first called, your heart was barely beating. What in the world happened to you?”

“I don’t know.”

I couldn’t exactly tell her what I’d done as Nice Goodman.

So this was the only answer I could give.

“I used a large amount of mana all at once.”

“I see. By any chance…”

With an uneasy look, Professor Sophia opened her mouth as if to say something, then stopped herself and said,

“It’s nothing.”

Is this woman trying to get on my nerves today?

That’s what I was thinking when it happened:

[Notification]

[A death flag has been raised by this character.]

“…Professor Sophia.”

“Huh?”

“If you’re upset about something, just say it.”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

That’s what I want to ask.

The kindest person in the Academy wants to kill me.

What did I do wrong?

But Professor Sophia simply pulled her hand away from my back and stepped back, acting like she didn’t know anything.

“Your condition seems stable. You shouldn’t have any major issues going about your daily life. It might be a little uncomfortable, though.”

“Am I getting better?”

“I don’t know. But for now, you should avoid overexerting yourself. Especially anything that might strain your heart or just to be safe, using magic too.”

“Got it.”

“And if… your symptoms return, call for me immediately. I wasn’t much help this time, but I’ll make sure to find something that might work next time.”

“How very kind of you.”

A death flag and an oddly generous attitude.

I don’t know how to interpret Professor Sophia’s behavior of showing two completely opposite sides at once.

If I think back to the original game, Sophia wasn’t the type to harbor any secret agendas…

“I’ll drop by from time to time to check on you. Well then.”

With those words, Professor Sophia turned and walked out of the hospital room.

She was walking briskly, and it somehow made her look like she was running away.

***

Sophia had grown up in an orphanage run by the Church, ever since the day she was born.

That meant the number of years she had lived was the same as the number of years she had walked the path of faith.

And so, as she left Professor Winslet’s hospital room, Sophia felt a sense of unease and fear that even prayer couldn’t soothe. For the first time in what felt like ages.

Was I mistaken? But this is the second time now.

When Sophia first checked on Professor Winslet’s condition three days ago, she sensed something foreign in him.

It wasn’t the kind of thing she could chalk up to a misunderstanding or simply ignore, so she had come to see him again today.

To confirm whether her senses were right.

And when she used the examination as an excuse to channel divine power into his body, she sensed an evil, malevolent energy that pushed back against her own.

It was much weaker than the first time she had felt it.

No, perhaps it had simply hidden itself better.

If Professor Winslet was connected to “that”, then this wasn’t a matter that could be dismissed as a personal failing.

Should I report this to the Church?

The deeper Sophia sank into her thoughts, the faster her steps became.