Episode 48
"Cough, cough!! Krrgh..."
"...Lord Frey, are you alright?"
I, who had been coughing in the bathroom for a while, answered in an irritated voice as Irina knocked on the door and questioned me.
"...Don't worry about it. Just clean properly."
"It's time to clean the bathroom."
However, as Irina stood her ground and replied, I frowned deeply and spoke again.
"...Do it a little later."
Before me, a sink covered in blood was visible.
"I've finished cleaning everywhere else. Now only the bathroom remains..."
"...Shut up and wait!!"
As she tried to open the door and enter, I shouted urgently and began wiping away the blood covering the sink.
"...What?"
But no matter how much I wiped the sink, again and again, far from disappearing, the blood began to spread.
"W-what? Why is this happening?"
Flustered, I began urgently wiping the sink using even star mana, but the blood only spread further instead of being erased.
Eventually, I turned the faucet attached to the sink to wash away the blood, but...
".....!"
What flowed from the faucet was not water but blood.
Standing with my mouth agape at this incomprehensible situation, staring at the faucet, the blood filling the sink overflowed and began dyeing the bathroom floor red.
"...What is this, a hallucination?"
I must be seeing a hallucination right now.
Come to think of it, it's been a while since I've had hallucinations. I thought I had already graduated from such things in the previous cycle... Did it start again after hearing my younger sister's auditory hallucination last time?
"...What a mess."
The blood pooled on the floor climbed up the bathroom walls and began dripping onto me.
Feeling slightly uncomfortable, I grabbed the door handle to leave the bathroom, but for some reason, the handle wouldn't turn.
After struggling with the handle for a while, I was about to break the door but held back and returned to the sink with a sigh.
Then, my reflection in the mirror began to make a chilling smile.
[Name: Frey Raon Starlight]
[Abilities: Strength ???/ Magic ???/ Intelligence ???/ Mental Strength 9.3]
[Special Notes: Star's Protection/Critical Condition/Vitality Depleted/Sickly/Mental Abnormality]
[Alignment: Hero]
[Goodness: 100]
I covered my appearance with an information window and began to murmur quietly while looking at my mental strength value.
"...At this point, my mind should be clearing up."
And the moment I spoke those words, my head cleared and the familiar bathroom began to appear before my eyes.
[The System's First Trial has begun!]
And a red notification window as well.
'...I knew something felt strange.'
Only then did I realize that this hallucination was shown by the System.
With my current mental strength level, I wouldn't be affected by ordinary mental attacks or illusions, let alone fall victim to them in the first place.
Therefore... the only existence capable of showing me such a long-lasting illusion is the System, or precisely, the 'System's Trial.'
The 'System's Trial' is a grueling trial that the System imposes on its users, and the user is tested through various stages.
And the first stage is precisely the hallucination I just experienced.
'...The next week or so is going to be troublesome.'
The System's 'First Trial' lasts for one week. Therefore, starting from today, I will continue to see hallucinations.
However, this doesn't pose much of a problem for me.
Due to the high mental strength cultivated through experiencing the previous cycle, even if I fall victim to auditory or visual hallucinations like just now, I only need to endure a little for my mind to clear and return to normal.
This is a fact I discovered when I heard the hallucination of my younger sister crying in the carriage last time.
Of course, at that time, I was so mentally overwhelmed that I panicked slightly. But having unintentionally rested deeply for three months, my current mental state is very stable.
And honestly... having experienced far more terrible things countless times than these crude illusions, I feel nothing.
Therefore, it seems I'll be able to get through the 'First Trial' without much trouble.
"Lord Frey...?"
"...Hmm?"
Just as I finished my thoughts and was about to leave the bathroom, Irina's voice came from beside me.
Wondering what was going on, I looked to the side and saw Irina, who had opened the bathroom door, staring blankly at me.
"Um... what exactly is this?"
"...Ah."
Soon she pointed at the sink with slightly trembling hands, and I inadvertently looked down to see blood overflowing mixed with water.
"How did you get in?"
"L-Lord Frey opened it for me, didn't you?"
"I did?"
I urgently shut off the faucet and asked coldly, and Irina said that I had opened the door.
It seems the door opened when I put force on the handle earlier.
"Um... are you really alright?"
"Well..."
I was about to answer with a frown at her words, but I momentarily lost my words seeing my disheveled state in the mirror.
Blood was streaming from my lips, and my hands and clothes were stained with blood.
"...It seems my body hasn't fully recovered yet."
Eventually, after roughly washing my mouth and hands at the sink, I took off the clothes I was wearing and handed them to her, then spoke as I left the bathroom.
"Clean it thoroughly. Wash the clothes neatly."
"Um... what on earth is this..."
"Answer."
"...Yes."
Having finished speaking, I closed the bathroom door, lay down on the bed with a sigh, and muttered.
"...Should I really bribe someone for the final exam?"
As I pondered how much I would need to give the dean to avoid failing this time, I slowly closed my eyes as drowsiness began to wash over me.
I pray that today of all days, I dream not of nightmares or stories of the past, but purely of cats.
.
"Just what on earth..."
As Frey lay in bed and began to fall asleep, Irina stared blankly at the sink with a frown.
"...There was definitely no chronic illness afflicting Frey."
No matter how much I searched my memories, I have never seen any memory or information that Frey had a blood-coughing illness.
In the first place, if such a thing existed, the Starlight family's enormous wealth and power would certainly have cured it.
Then why did Frey Raon Starlight cough up so much blood?
'...Come to think of it, it was strange back then too.'
Irina, who knew the flow of mana well, could roughly guess his physical condition when Frey first collapsed.
Because mana was forcibly stuffed into his body, his mana circuits spread throughout every corner of his body had burned and severed, and he had suffered quite serious damage.
However, human mana circuits have evolved over thousands of years to adapt to mana for survival, so with proper treatment, recovery would take about a week.
Yet he woke up only today... a full three months and one day later.
I don't know why such a thing happened, but I certainly remember a scene that could serve as a clue.
When he collapsed while spewing blood from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.
Of course, as he said when leaving the bathroom just now, one might think it was an aftereffect of the commoner dormitory incident, but there is no connection between burning mana circuits and coughing up blood.
Irina, who has had her mana circuits break or burn countless times from repeated training in the previous cycle, knows this fact very well.
'Come to think of it, I heard he had severe hemoptysis in the sickroom two months ago too...'
For someone suffering from symptoms completely unrelated to hemoptysis to continue coughing up blood is quite suspicious.
Then what exactly is the cause? A hidden chronic illness? Someone's attempt at poisoning? Or... the 'variable' that Clana always claims?
Anyway, what's important is that his physical condition is very serious even to someone like me who has no expertise in medical science.
And at the center of it is the mysterious hemoptysis.
'Liana also used to cough up blood occasionally while protecting me. Seeing that...'
Continuing her various thoughts while wiping away the blood Frey had vomited in the bathroom, Irina suddenly began to recall an incident from the past.
'Indeed, Liana is...'
The mysterious woman Liana who helped her has too many things in common with Frey.
The glittering mana that felt like she had experienced it somewhere before, her frail appearance, the coughing up blood...
According to a certain conclusion Irina reached two months ago, there is a considerably high possibility that Frey and she are the same person.
Then what exactly is the reason?
She wants to grab Frey by the collar and ask him the reason right now, but Irina's cold reason is stopping her.
This is because the cruel and terrible aspects of Frey that Irina witnessed in the previous cycle, which were perhaps worse than the Demon King, remained as trauma that was not easily forgotten.
Also, since his true 'purpose' is unknown, pretending to know prematurely wouldn't be a good choice.
"...Huu."
Having organized her thoughts, Irina wiped the sweat forming on her forehead and left the bathroom.
"Mmm..."
Then, Frey sleeping soundly in bed came into her view.
Staring piercingly at him, Irina quietly approached the dormitory entrance, locked the door, and began heading toward Frey.
"Lord Frey."
Soon, sitting slightly on the edge of the bed, Irina began whispering quietly in Frey's ear.
"Frey."
Even at her tickling voice, Frey remained silent.
"...Just what are you thinking?"
Having asked again while quietly listening to Frey's faint breathing lingering in the room, Irina began to stare piercingly at Frey's face.
His face, at least in appearance, had the same pure form as when she first met him.
Of course, that pure and snow-white face had lost its light as its equally pure and white heart became stained ugly and filthily...
If light still remains in him... no, if he never lost his light in the first place......
"...Ah."
Lost in thought for a moment, Irina suddenly realized she had been stroking Frey's hair.
Hurriedly removing her hand for fear Frey might notice and wake up, Irina fell into thought for a moment seeing that he was still in deep sleep.
'...Earlier, it definitely felt familiar.'
Earlier when Frey held her, as she quietly remained in his arms and explored his body with her hands, it seemed she faintly felt the sensation and wounds similar to when held by Liana.
Although she couldn't be certain since Frey immediately pulled away from her. But now that he's deeply asleep...
"...Gulp."
No matter how diligently she investigates, there are clear limits for Irina, currently a commoner of no consequence.
Until now, she had managed to bridge the gap by running around directly, but now it has become quite difficult to obtain information without taking such risks.
No matter how much his reputation has fallen, the Starlight family is one of only three ducal houses in the empire, and among them, the one with the greatest power.
Therefore, investigating Frey, the first son and acting head of such a ducal house, is an extremely difficult and arduous task.
Therefore, being able to directly investigate such a Frey, even if slightly dangerous, has sufficient merit.
Of course, if she could use magic, the story would be different, but she currently has mana depletion, so she has no options.
'Just a little, just a very little...'
Having steeled herself, Irina began to carefully bring her hand to Frey's body.
"Mmm..."
Then Frey, letting out a soft groan, began to toss and turn slightly.
Frozen for a moment watching him, Irina finally confirmed several times that he had fallen back into deep sleep before quietly sighing and moving her hand again.
- Swipe
Irina's hand gently swept over Frey's body.
"...Hmm."
After tilting her head for a moment, Irina glanced at Frey stealthily, then began sweeping his body with her hand again.
- Swiipe
Having swept every corner of his body with her hand while watching Frey's reaction for a while, Irina finally carefully removed her hand from his body and muttered inwardly.
'The clothes are too thick...'
The clothes he had changed into after handing her his clothes were quite thick.
Wondering why he wore such thick clothes when going to sleep, Irina grumbled for a moment, then took a deep breath and began carefully removing his clothes.
"...Mmm."
Then, his snow-white bare skin began to appear.
Hesitating for a moment at the sight, Irina checked Frey's reaction again and began carefully lifting his clothes.
- Rustle
Then what entered her eyes was his upper body, with traces of burned mana circuits remaining here and there.
".....?"
Staring blankly at the sight for a moment and about to cover him with clothes again, Irina began tilting her head at the sudden sense of unfamiliarity.
'Why are the traces of mana circuits... so irregular?'
Just as the structure of organs inside a person is the same, the structure of mana circuits is also the same for all people.
That is why mana utilization methods and breathing techniques could be standardized and widely spread throughout the world.
However, the traces of mana circuits remaining on his body are a bit peculiar.
A strange scene best described as having parts here and there covered by some special effect began stimulating the curiosity and academic passion that had contributed the most to raising Irina to the level of a great mage.
'...I don't know exactly, but it looks like parts of the body are intentionally hidden.'
Staring piercingly at his bare skin and making conjectures, Irina concluded that this bizarre situation arose from wrapping certain parts of the body with some special medium to hide them.
'Then, what exactly is he hiding...?'
Having reached that point, Irina began running her trembling hand over Frey's bare skin to discover what he was hiding.
- Swipe
As her hand touched Frey's bare skin, a somehow rough texture began to be felt from the smooth skin, and the moment Irina felt that texture and frowned deeply,
"...What are you doing right now?"
Kania asked in a cold voice from behind.
"Hwup!!"
Almost screaming, Irina urgently covered her mouth to barely suppress the sound and sneakily looked at Frey.
"Mmm..."
Although he was tossing and turning quite a bit, he was still in deep sleep.
"Irina?"
"Uh, well..."
Seeing him and breathing a sigh of relief, when Kania asked with a frown, Irina hesitated before answering.
"Um... I was just checking... if there might be a mark of the Demon King's army on his body... as an investigation..."
"I've already checked every nook and cranny for such things. So there's no need to examine any further."
"Ah, I see. Then..."
Having made an excuse, Irina quickly got up from the bed and hurriedly slipped out of the room.
"...Young Master, Irina has left."
Watching her leave quietly, Kania began speaking to Frey in a low voice.
"I know you're awake. So please get up now and share what Irina was doing."
Since Frey normally wouldn't fall asleep unless Kania was nearby for fear that the 'main heroines' might try to kill him while he slept, she quietly took out her notebook and began preparing to write down his words.
"...Young Master?"
However, as time passed, Frey remained silent.
"Mmm..."
"Young Master, are you alright?"
Soon, when Frey let out a slight groan, Kania approached him with a worried expression and cast a weather-clearing spell on him as she asked.
"Are you having a nightmare? It seems you've been having nightmares more frequently lately."
"......."
But Frey still remained silent.
"...It's the Trial."
Looking at him with a serious expression, Kania realized this situation was caused by the 'Trial' he had warned her about before, and quietly approached his side.
"Why is the world so desperate to devour you, I wonder..."
Soon, stroking the face of him who had remained asleep with a stiff expression, Kania quietly slipped her hand into his loosened clothes.
- Shaaa...
Then, countless wounds hidden by black magic were revealed, and looking at those wounds, Kania took out medicine from her bosom and quietly added.
"...Even though you're such a kind person."
Having finished speaking, she began carefully applying medicine to Frey's wounds.
It was when Kania had nearly emptied the medicine container that Frey woke again.
.
"S-scary..."
Meanwhile at that time.
"Still... I need to do something too..."
Perlotche had secretly infiltrated the basement of the Sun God's temple where she had felt a strange energy for some reason for the past three months.
"...Saintess, what are you doing there?"
"Eek!"
Of course, it was only 'secretly' by her own standards, so she was caught by the Pope just before entering the basement.
"Ah, that's..."
"Didn't I tell you? This is where the temple stores and investigates the strange items confiscated by the order."
"I-I'm fine though..."
When the Pope spoke with a solemn expression, Perlotche answered timidly.
"...Even if the Saintess is fine, the investigation items aren't. Your holy power is so strong that they would be damaged."
"Hmm..."
Still, when the Saintess looked at the Pope with distrust, he sighed and quietly opened the basement door.
"...What is this?"
"These are all confiscated items."
Then, various ornaments came into Perlotche's view.
"If you're really curious, I can show you..."
"Yes, then..."
When the Pope spoke calmly, the Saintess began to enter while radiating holy power from her body, but,
"However, if the investigation items break from the holy power... you'll have to take responsibility."
"Ugh."
"...And I mean quite a heavy responsibility."
When the Pope spoke in a slightly angry tone, Perlotche lowered her head deeply and began trudging back to the temple building.
"Tch, you've become more suspicious lately."
Watching her coldly, the Pope quietly looked around and entered the basement, muttering.
"Children have decreased in the market lately for some reason, what should we do?"
Then, a chilling voice came from the basement that definitely had nothing but ornaments.
- ...Investigate their whereabouts.
"Yes, I understand."
Answering while groveling at the voice, the Pope cautiously asked another question.
"Um... but wouldn't it be better to move the location?"
- ...What?
"Since this is where the Sun God temple's cathedral is located, problems may arise during rituals, and furthermore, the Saintess keeps coming here for some reason..."
- Rumble!!
"Hiek!!"
Sweating coldly while speaking, the Pope immediately prostrated himself and began begging with both hands together.
"I-I'm sorry...! Please have mercy...!"
- ...Proceed according to plan.
"Y-yes! I'll do my best!"
Speaking with a servile expression, before the Pope appeared children who were trembling violently, tied up tightly with rope, instead of the ornaments that had been there moments ago.