In fact, I had no intention of using mind control during the duel.
Because, in many ways, it stood out too much. If someone who seemed completely fine suddenly stopped moving and collapsed, it would clearly look strange to anyone.
However, this time the situation was a bit different. Sera was in a state where it wouldn’t have been odd if she collapsed at any moment, and she was close enough that the audience couldn’t see what I was doing.
In the final standoff, Sera had pinpointed my weak spot. I couldn’t dodge, and with my mana running low, I had to use magical energy to spill it out.
Ding dong!
‘I wonder what would have happened if I got hit.’
Suddenly, I was curious.
Of all things, that final strike matched Albert’s in strength.
I probably wouldn’t have died, but I would have suffered significant damage. Since I couldn’t regenerate my wounds in front of people, it was wise not to take that hit.
I looked at my burned right hand and pondered. I had suspected it for a while, but it seemed like something was up with this academy’s second year.
It was my first time experiencing injuries at a student level, so honestly, I was quite flustered. This was no longer about being the top student but the second-best, they said.
“……”
With a very high probability, I found the protagonist I was looking for in this second year of the academy.
If there was one, it would be Ariel.
I wondered if killing him would allow me to go back. No, I couldn’t be sure yet.
I decided to observe him a bit longer.
“The duel is over. Please move that person.”
I pointed to Sera while speaking to the professor who was judging the duel.
However, it seemed he didn’t have his eyes only on Sera.
“Where are you going? Your injuries are quite serious.”
“……?”
“You should receive treatment together. Even if the visible wounds are minor, there could be problems inside.”
“I’m perfectly fine.”
“That won’t do.”
Sera, who had collapsed on the dueling arena, was carried away on a stretcher.
For some reason, I was also being moved while still on the stretcher.
I had declined any help, saying I could walk by myself, but the response was that there was no way I was fine after such a duel.
Well, I suppose it wasn’t a duel a human body could normally endure. This was a natural response.
Several people lifted my body and forced me to lie down.
Being raised up while looking at the sky felt oddly fascinating.
Whoa!
Lying there, someone placed a blanket over me.
My uniform had burned a bit, revealing my underwear, and I was grateful to the mysterious figure for lending me the blanket to avoid any public indecency.
I was tired in many ways since it was right after the duel. Sera was persistent, after all.
And for some reason, Sera’s blood hurt me when it touched me. I probably couldn’t even eat it.
As drowsiness overwhelmed me, I closed my eyes. With a sense of floating, it wasn’t hard to drift off to sleep.
*
This world is fake, a world from a novel.
I realized this fact a little over a month after I fell into this world.
At that time, I understood the background and world view of this place, and some familiar developments led me to realize that this was the world from the novel I had read.
Until then, I had understood which novel it was. I undoubtedly knew who the protagonist was and the plot of the story.
But I had forgotten.
I was slowly forgetting the memories of being human as I became a monster.
The body I had possessed was a monster. Unlike humans, it had an unbearable kind of instinct and was a being that couldn’t survive without killing humans.
It took me a little while to realize that.
If I acted according to the instincts of the possessed body and devoured humans, I would slowly transform mentally into a monster as well.
Honestly, knowing this doesn’t change much.
Even if I knew about becoming a monster, I still had to consume humans. I was a being that couldn’t survive without eating humans.
Even if I didn’t want to kill humans, I had to. The memories of my first murder, forced by instinct, were something I couldn’t describe even if I tried to say it was something good.
Perhaps I was a creature that shouldn’t exist.
For humans, the only ‘good’ monsters were the ones that were dead.
And.
“……”
I woke up.
Today was a rare day without any dreams.
I briefly opened my eyes before closing them again. The first thing I saw was a strange ceiling.
In that state, I didn’t move for a while. Sometimes, even when I’m not asleep, I still like to stay in the warmth of sleep with my eyes closed.
As I kept my eyes closed, I heard voices.
From the numerous presences and circumstances around me, I guessed that this was a hospital room.
The voices of nurses taking care of patients echoed.
“Did you check this patient? The one with the torn clothes and burns on his hands.”
“Not yet.”
“Then bring the holy water.”
Brrrrring!
It seemed like it would be a good idea to wake up soon.
I quickly sat up with my upper body. After stretching out my body and easing my stiffness, I surveyed the surroundings.
It was a moderately late hour and a hospital room with sunlight filtering through the windows. By the time I opened my eyes, the sunset was already setting.
The sunlight pouring down on me felt a bit unpleasant. This inefficient body, which wasn’t human, would worsen its condition just from being exposed to sunlight.
At least the fact that dinner would come soon was a small consolation.
It would have been better if it were a full moon night. Unfortunately, today wasn’t that day.
“Oh, you’re awake, patient? I’ll apply the holy water for you.”
“No thanks.”
“Eh? But your wounds are……”
“No thanks.”
I sent away the human trying to apply the devil’s potion on me.
There was someone in more need of it right in front of me.
Sera, who was lying in the bed opposite mine, still hadn’t opened her eyes. She seemed to be deeper into sleep than I was.
I was curious about what dream she might be having, but it didn’t feel polite, so I refrained from peeking.
Unlike me, who had minor injuries, Sera had severe injuries, so she needed the holy water applied all over her body.
Naturally, she couldn’t apply it while still wearing clothes, so they took off what she was wearing and applied it directly to her bare skin.
I wondered if it was okay to strip off someone’s clothes in front of many people, but it turned out that this was a women’s ward. There were only women, from the nurses to the patients, so no one found it strange.
At that point, I came to realize one thing: Sera actually had a much better figure than she looked.
I absolutely wasn’t trying to look on purpose, it was purely accidental.
…Probably.
Some time passed like that.
I had intended to go home as soon as I woke up, but I was told to rest here for a day just in case there might be something wrong with my body, seeing how the dueling arena looked like a hell of flames to those who had witnessed it.
For a human, it would be normal not to be fine after such an ordeal, but perhaps they found it strange that I was perfectly fine.
I decided to take a break here for the day. Thinking about the uproar in the back alley during my absence already gave me a headache.
For some reason, whenever I left my place, a crazy criminal lesbian would come out in the back alley.
Although she wasn’t a threat to me, it was unfair that accusations for wrongdoings I hadn’t committed fell upon me.
Moreover, I hadn’t killed anyone recently in the back alley, yet if rumors circulated about a victim from the back alley monster, I’d feel an inexplicable urge to clarify things.
It was evening.
The hospital room, where no one came to visit, was quiet. It was also a bit boring.
Lying still for a long stretch of time without doing anything is harder than I had anticipated.
I counted the patterns on the ceiling with my hands, and gazed out at the scenery outside the window.
Sera opened her eyes when I had counted about half of the ceiling patterns.
A pleasant breeze was flowing through the open window. In the quiet hospital room, the sound of the wind echoed for a while.
When Sera lifted her body, her red hair fluttered in the wind. The breeze was blowing towards her.
“Are you awake?”
Since I was bored anyway, I decided to talk to her.
Sera had a dazed expression.
Maybe she was still waking up, or perhaps she hadn’t grasped the situation yet.
Maybe it was both.
“It’s a hospital room. Don’t worry.”
I explained to help her grasp the situation quickly.
“Ah, it’s Iria.”
Sera, who opened her eyes and lifted her body, greeted me cheerfully as she saw me. Just a few hours ago, we had been in a duel, yet she seemed quite upbeat about it.
Was it just that Sera’s personality was suspiciously bright?
I thought it would feel awkward when she woke up, but it seemed that wasn’t the case after all.
“Ouch, that hurts…”
Sera, who had seemed full of energy just as she woke up, suddenly moved vigorously and let out a groan mixed with pain.
She was in so much pain that her eyes glistened with a hint of moisture.
The contrast of her image now compared to when she was slicing her arm with a needle in the dueling arena left me astonished.
Is this how she usually is? It was surprising to see such a stark difference from when she was dueling. Still, I didn’t forget the doctor’s words that had been passed to me.
“For a while, it’s best if you don’t move and focus on rest.”
“Who said that?”
“The doctor.”
“That pointy-haired guy?”
Huh, huh!
I nodded my head.
I was curious how she recognized the doctor’s face, given that she had been asleep the whole time.
“Then it’s fine. I’m a regular here.”
Can a hospital be a regular spot?
I wanted to quibble about it a lot, but I didn’t make it obvious.
“I’ve been here so many times, and I’ve sent many others here too. Most of what that guy says is just to scare you, so just take it lightly… Uh oh!”
Sera ignored my warning and raised her whole body up.
With bones broken here and there.
Naturally, she couldn’t be fine. Sera let out another cute scream.
“Ugh, today really hurts.”
“Resting is what they say you should do.”
“I have a disease where if I stay still for too long, I’ll die.”
“Is that even a thing?”
“Actually, it’s a lie—It just gets boring if I’m cooped up inside all the time.”
“……”
She really was a peculiar person.
At least, I thought she was a different kind of human than me.
Sera was the girl who was called a genius by everyone. She had indeed had the talent to back it up.
But people weren’t interested in the amount of effort she exerted to reach this point.
What people liked and cared about was solely Sera, the young genius mage. There might be many reasons for this, but primarily it was because they idolized the talents they didn’t possess.
But I know.
Having dueled with her and having sneaked a peek at her memory, I understood.
Sera was not someone who relied solely on talent. Though no one recognized it, there was a tremendous amount of effort that led her to be in the second-best spot.
The reason she randomly challenged people to duels was that she wanted to grow rapidly through real combat styles.
She was someone who had accumulated more experience than anyone else. It was just that the habit remained.
Even now, Sera, instead of thinking of resting, was consumed with the idea of going outside.
Sera looked at the bandages wrapped around her body and declared that she was fine enough to slip off the bed. If her doctor had seen this, he would have screamed.
“I’m just going for a night stroll. Iria, do you want to join?”
Nod, nod!
I happened to be bored too.
I nodded my head.
