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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Silverriver
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“That’s certainly possible.”
Professor Akdin nodded after observing my Aura. I had asked if it was possible for something like that to manifest as a trait.
Was it really?
“There are no set rules when it comes to mana traits. For example, you saw Count Cardia’s Aura, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“What did it look like?”
“He manifested a giant spear within his sword.”
Professor Akdin sat down and looked up at me.
“My manifested form is a meadow. Like that, a mana trait can be anything, an object, a landscape… it doesn’t matter.”
He tapped the sword at his hip.
“Ultimately, what you wield is your own sword. Mana traits simply… enhance it.”
“….”
“Do you understand?”
“Yes, I understand completely.”
Professor Akdin nodded, satisfied. I glanced at a framed picture behind him and asked,
“Is that your daughter in the picture?”
“Yes… She died two years ago.”
Professor Akdin’s face fell at my question. The atmosphere grew heavy. I had asked, knowing full well who she was.
His daughter was the catalyst for his transformation into the second villain. A child born to the commoner-turned-professor Akdin after his marriage.
But she had been born with a congenital mana deficiency, slowly wasting away until her death.
A fellow terminally ill individual, just like me.
Perhaps Professor Akdin saw his daughter in me. We shared the same fate. He seemed to be coping well for now, but…
There was no telling when he might break, driven by the desire to bring his daughter back. The novel hadn’t described the trigger. It had simply stated that Professor Akdin had gone mad, becoming a villain.
“I shouldn’t have asked.”
“It’s alright. I don’t mind. In fact, I’m grateful that someone remembers she existed.”
“Then… may I ask her name?”
“Her name?”
Her name had only been mentioned once in the novel. Professor Akdin’s dying words.
Lily.
“Lily. Her name was Lily.”
I stared at Professor Akdin. It must be painful for him to recall his deceased daughter. His expression mirrored the description of him before his death in the novel.
The professor, dying under the moonlight, his daughter’s name his final words.
Unlike Ruberic Caius…
I didn’t want him to die. I wanted to change the story, to save Professor Akdin.
With that thought, I spoke,
“Lily. I’ll remember that.”
I glanced back at Professor Akdin as I left the room. His desk was clean. He always disliked messes, but…
More than that, he likely didn’t want to dirty the space near his daughter’s picture. A bittersweet feeling settled over me, and I quickly left the room.
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I had a lot on my mind. The novel hadn’t described the trigger for Professor Akdin’s descent into madness, so…
Even if I wanted to prevent it, I didn’t know when or how it would happen.
‘I can’t exactly follow him around 24/7.’
Ruberic Caius had already made a pact with the demon. I hadn’t devised a way to stop him, nor had I even considered doing so.
Back then, my priority had been my own survival. But the longer I stayed here, the more I questioned my actions.
‘Was what I did… right?’
As a human being. Knowing that someone would die and doing nothing… was that right?
I remembered Ruberic Caius. I didn’t feel guilty about killing him, but I had killed him.
And I felt responsible. But could I have saved him? Would I have been able to?
Back then, I would have said no. But now… I knew I could have. I had simply been afraid of the consequences, of the changes to the story, of my own potential death.
That’s why I hadn’t saved him. I felt a stinging sensation. The wounds from Winter Castle, bandaged and treated, had left numerous scars.
But the scars on my body paled in comparison to the ache in my heart, the knowledge that I could have saved him. I gritted my teeth, the pain a welcome distraction. The people who had died in Winter Castle. Those who would die in the future.
I took a deep breath. This wasn’t a battlefield.
This damned demonic energy had numbed me to human emotions. I instinctively touched my forehead, focusing my thoughts, setting a new goal.
To prevent Professor Akdin from becoming a villain, without drastically altering the story.
That was my current objective. With that in mind, I walked towards the club room. I had some questions for them, and I wanted to hear more about the dungeon. At least the Crown Prince and Bell would be there.
“Ugh…”
A groaning sound, like a zombie. Ghouls occasionally roamed the academy grounds, but this wasn’t a sound one usually heard within the academy walls.
I followed the sound. It was coming from the direction of the club room.
And there, at the entrance to the club room corridor…
…I found the zombie, or rather, Sophia.
She was hunched over, her body radiating a dark aura. Her hair was disheveled, as if she hadn’t cared for it in days. She looked like… a corpse. I stared at her, horrified, and asked,
“What are you doing here?”
“Ugh…?”
She looked up at the sound of my voice. Her eyes were bloodshot, dark circles prominent beneath them.
She hadn’t looked this bad even in the original story.
“D-Deron?”
“So you recognize me. I thought I’d found a corpse lying in the hallway.”
“Hehehe…”
What… what was wrong with her? She stared at me, then burst into laughter. It wasn’t a maniacal cackle, but the sudden outburst was unsettling.
She looked up at me, her bloodshot eyes pleading,
“Help… me…”
Then, she collapsed. I could only stare at her, dumbfounded. I tried to make sense of it, but I couldn’t. Had Sophia ever been this… broken in the original story? I didn’t recall it.
Sophia was passionate about magic, but she was also disciplined, aware of her limits. I had left her alone, knowing she would reach the level of Archmage on her own.
What had happened? I looked down at her outstretched hand, then sighed.
“I should at least move her.”
I couldn’t take her to the infirmary cause she wouldn’t be able to talk there. And leaving her here would only cause misunderstandings. I picked her up and carried her to my room. I needed to ask her why she was neglecting herself like this.
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Sophia’s mind was always filled with formulas and calculations.
A way to use magic without incantations or magic circles. She felt like she was on the verge of discovering it.
She had used a similar method during the Morax subjugation. Minimizing the incantations to support Deron.
Magic that was faster and more powerful than conventional spells. Magic she couldn’t use even now, having reached the 4th Rank.
Sophia clung to that sliver of insight, unwilling to let it go. The Magic Department offered numerous tempting research opportunities, but none compared to the allure of incantationless magic.
Discovering something that already existed and creating something new were entirely different concepts.
So she started sacrificing sleep. Her club activities weren’t particularly demanding. She could manage them if she slept properly.
If only she had.
As she continued to neglect her sleep, her carefully maintained equilibrium crumbled. Normally, she would have been able to handle it.
But Sophia had grown impatient. Everyone who had fought alongside her during the Morax subjugation was improving rapidly.
Deron and Adele were far ahead, and even Agnes, Lee Han, and Erina had already reached the intermediate level or the level of a Magic Swordsman.
Only she remained behind, stagnating. That feeling of inferiority gnawed at her, disrupting her focus.
Magic was influenced by the mind, so her unstable mental state prevented her from properly casting spells. The more sleep she sacrificed, the more magic she tried to force… the worse her condition became, her magic control deteriorating. Also the more impatient she grew.
Caught in this vicious cycle, Sophia suddenly felt… at peace.
Her mana calmed, the constant fatigue lifted, and the throbbing headache vanished. She closed her eyes and slept soundly, a rare treat.
She woke up feeling refreshed. She stretched, a feeling that her magic would flow smoothly now…
“So you’re finally awake.”
Sophia turned her head at the familiar voice.
And there he stood.
“You were out for a while. Just how many all-nighters have you pulled?”
Deron Philasia, a teacup in his hand, stared at her intently.
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yumm…..
Dropped?