—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Silverriver
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
I quickly wiped the blood from my lips and looked at Erina. She was approaching me, her eyes wide. The red ring on her finger glinted.
“You can’t hide it. I already saw.”
She stopped before me. Well, she had seen me cough up blood, so unless she was blind, she would have noticed.
I looked down at my hand, the dark red blood sticky and unpleasant. I grimaced.
“I thought the rumors about your illness were exaggerated…”
“I’m mostly recovered now.”
“Liar.”
She retorted bluntly, wiping my hand with a tissue. The crimson blood stained the white tissue. I watched her, then spoke again,
“I really am mostly recovered. I can move around without any problems…”
“Then why did you cough up blood just now?”
“….”
I fell silent at her question. I didn’t have an answer. I didn’t know why I had coughed up blood on the stairs, or what that vision had been.
Erina sighed.
“When Agnes said you were hiding your injuries, I didn’t understand what she meant. Now I do.”
“Agnes said that?”
“She came to me and told me.”
Erina finished wiping my hand and picked up the bloodstained tissue.
“You’re here to visit Crebiton, right?”
“Yes. You too?”
Erina nodded. Had Crebiton and Erina known each other? That was news to me.
“This way.”
Crebiton’s room was tucked away in a corner of the third floor. The facilities were decent, as expected of Iliad Academy’s infirmary, but the atmosphere felt… gloomy.
“Crebiton, we’re coming in.”
There was no response from inside. Erina opened the door without hesitation. It was a two-person room, but one bed was empty.
Crebiton lay in the other bed. A familiar stench filled the air. I was instantly reminded of Winter Castle, the metallic tang of blood from the battlements.
That same, pungent smell permeated Crebiton’s room. I almost grimaced, but stopped myself. It would be rude to show disgust while visiting a patient.
“….”
Crebiton didn’t acknowledge our presence. He simply stared at us with dull, lifeless eyes.
He smelled… like death. Like a decaying corpse, devoid of life. It was hard to believe this was the same person who became a raging Berserker at the sight of blood.
I placed the fruit I had brought on the bedside table, pulled up a chair, and sat down.
Up close, I could see that Crebiton’s injuries were more severe than I’d thought. The bandages wrapped around his arm were stained crimson, and his face was covered in small cuts.
His body was a testament to countless battles.
“What… brings you here?”
Crebiton finally spoke, his voice raspy and strained.
“I came to visit you, at the president’s request. I heard you were hospitalized.”
“The… president…?”
A flicker of life returned to Crebiton’s eyes, then quickly faded, replaced by a dull emptiness.
“The dungeon run… it must have been canceled because of me.”
“It was.”
“I’m sorry… it’s always my fault.”
I watched him silently as he continued his self-deprecating mutterings. His condition seemed… serious. He continued berating himself, oblivious to my presence.
At least he wasn’t harming himself. I didn’t know the extent of his Berserker condition, but…
It was clearly eating away at him. I stared at him for a moment, then stood up. There was nothing I could do for him right now.
“Get well soon.”
He didn’t seem to hear me, continuing his quiet mumbling. I carefully closed the door and left.
“Deron.”
“…What is it?”
Erina stopped me as I was about to leave the infirmary. She was tugging on my sleeve, slightly stretching the fabric. I frowned.
“Crebiton… is there anything we can do?”
“Why are you asking me?”
I was genuinely curious. If he was that consumed by self-loathing, there was nothing I could do. If I knew more about the Berserker condition, I might have been able to offer some help, but…
‘The Berserker constitution wasn’t even mentioned in the original story.’
From the moment I was transmigrated into this novel, I knew I couldn’t rely solely on the information within its pages. There were details the author hadn’t revealed, or hadn’t even considered, that were now my reality.
Winter Castle was a prime example. The Orc Lord, Count Cardia’s master-level strength… none of that had been in the original story. I had learned it all through experience.
Crebiton’s condition was certainly concerning. I would research the Berserker constitution, but… that was all I could do.
Crebiton, unlike Professor Akdin, wasn’t a major character. I didn’t even know if he would survive. So there was no reason for me to go out of my way to help him, to risk altering the story.
The help I could offer Crebiton was limited to the courtesy of a fellow Class A student, nothing more.
Erina blushed and scratched her cheek, looking embarrassed.
“I don’t know why I asked you that.”
A moment of silence hung in the air. Erina opened and closed her mouth repeatedly, then I asked,
“Did you know Crebiton before?”
I was curious. I doubted she had come to visit him simply because they were both in Class A. As expected, Erina nodded.
“We’ve… met a few times outside the academy.”
“Outside the academy? I heard he was injured during a sparring match at the Hispande Earldom.”
“That’s because he was originally a member of the Hispande household.”
“You don’t mean he’s a noble, do you?”
If he were from the Hispande Earldom, his name would be Crebiton Hispande. But he didn’t have a surname.
Erina continued,
“Of course not. He was a servant of the Hispande family.”
“A servant?”
“Yes. He was a servant, but I don’t know how he ended up at Iliad Academy. Perhaps his talent was recognized?”
“So you just… met him a few times, Erina?”
Erina shook her head.
“No. He was my sparring partner. Outside the academy.”
“…?”
Erina glanced around the infirmary, then lowered her voice.
“No one knew Crebiton could wield a sword. Or about his… condition.”
“Then how did you end up sparring with him?”
“I saw him practicing with a wooden stick, hiding in the forest.”
A look of sadness crossed Erina’s face.
“If I had known about his condition, I would have stopped him from using a sword.”
The red ring on her finger glinted. Had it always glowed like that? I stared at the ring, then asked,
“Does that ring always glow like that?”
“No. It didn’t used to, but… it’s been doing that lately.”
She had won it as a prize at the Spring Festival. I felt like I’d seen it somewhere before, but I couldn’t quite place it. I had many questions, but I simply nodded and left the infirmary.
Preventing Professor Akdin’s descent into madness was more pressing.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Time flew by, especially during breaks. I continued my morning exercises throughout the break. The wounds from Winter Castle still ached, but it was manageable. Regular bandaging every other day helped.
They were healing. I still hadn’t made any progress in controlling the demonic energy, but I was growing more accustomed to my mana. Mana that devoured other mana. It made sparring… complicated.
Agnes hadn’t shown up for morning exercises in days. I heard she was undergoing psychological counseling, as recommended by Professor Akdin. I understood her trauma from Winter Castle, her first experience with killing, so I hadn’t bothered to visit her.
Silence hung heavy in the training grounds. Erina had been quiet since our visit to Crebiton. She trained diligently with Lee Han, without a word.
Lee Han’s stamina seemed to have improved. He hadn’t requested another mana-infused spar since witnessing my mana, but he still asked for regular spars.
“Fists again, please.”
He always requested I use my fists. He seemed determined to overcome that weakness first.
‘This is… a problem.’
I had noticed during our spars that Lee Han was… weak. He hadn’t faced the trials he was supposed to.
The hardships and adversities he was meant to endure had been subtly diverted by my actions, and the ranking matches had been canceled. Even with me holding back, he wasn’t showing much progress.
I could handle Professor Akdin, but Lee Han’s weakness was concerning. He was, after all, destined to face the Demon King.
I would have to do something about it. Agnes was probably stronger than the protagonist right now. Having partially awakened her Ice Palace in Winter Castle, she was now capable of fighting Adele.
Sophia hadn’t been seen since before the break ended. She must have been completely engrossed in her Reverse Engineering research.
And so, everyone spent their time in their own way. I, too, enjoyed the rare opportunity to rest. I hadn’t entered any dungeons, and the break was almost over, but…
The respite was welcome. And as always, the break ended quickly.
“Did everyone enjoy their break?”
The doors of Iliad Academy opened wide.
The new semester had begun.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
