Episode 70
XX Year OO Month 04th
Nice to meet you! I'm Ferroche.
Today is my second day at the Starlight family mansion, and the first day I've decided to start writing a diary!
For reference, this diary is a gift from Ms. Clana, and it has grammar correction magic cast on it. So I can write without any burden.
Anyway, the reason I'm writing this diary is... because Frey's misdeeds have gone too far!
To absolutely, absolutely never forget Frey's evil acts! And to leave his misdeeds recorded for posterity! I've started writing this diary.
Anyway, today Mr. Frey did something terrible to Ms. Lulu! How do I know? I overheard sounds coming from Mr. Frey's room!
"Lick. Clean it thoroughly by licking it with your tongue."
"...Yes."
I was furious and tried to open the door to confront Frey, but the commoner students nearby stopped me.
So there I was, trembling with an angry expression, and when Frey came out of the room looking relieved a moment later, I watched for an opportunity and quickly slipped inside!
"Um, are you okay..."
"D-don't come near me!!"
"Ms. Lulu..."
"Don't come!! I said don't come!! Even if you're the Saintess, you'll become unfortunate!!"
But once again, Ms. Lulu pushed me away saying things I couldn't understand. Thanks to that, I'm a bit sad... but I won't give up.
I will definitely save Ms. Lulu from Frey's clutches and become friends with her!
Oh right, something strange happened tonight too.
Around dawn, I suddenly heard screams so I quickly went out to the hallway, and someone was standing right there in the hallway!
For a moment I thought it was a ghost and was about to cast a purification spell, but soon I realized it was Ms. Irina.
"Ms. Irina? What are you doing there?"
I tried to calm my startled heart and approached Ms. Irina, intending to ask what she was doing in the hallway at this hour.
"C-crazy... right now those guys... no way..."
But Ms. Irina either couldn't hear me or was muttering incomprehensible words while staring at something.
"Ms. Irina! What's going on!"
I soon realized that what Ms. Irina was staring at was the door to the room where Ms. Kania was staying, so I urgently approached and asked.
If something happened, I need to help Ms. Kania who is on our side!
"Hmpf!"
But as soon as Ms. Irina heard my question, she covered her mouth and slowly turned her head to look at me!
"Is it something that serious? Then I need to quickly help..."
"N-no! Nothing happened! So just go back!"
I was about to head toward the room with clenched fists, worried about Ms. Irina and Ms. Kania who definitely seemed to have suffered something, but Ms. Irina blocked me with a deeply flushed face.
"But, just now from over there..."
"...You don't need to know yet. Go back."
I was uncertain because it seemed like strange sounds were coming from the room, but Ms. Irina was desperately blocking me while glancing sideways at the door, so I had no choice but to turn back.
What on earth was that?
XX Year OO Month 05th
There's no one as pathetic as someone who doesn't know shame.
Frey, who abuses Ms. Lulu, harasses female students, and even attacked Ms. Aris who brought his meals, is exactly that kind of person.
"Ms. Aris! Are you okay!"
"...Yes."
Yesterday morning, Ms. Aris emerged from Frey's room in a wrecked state, answered my question with a soulless voice, and headed to the first floor.
Her whole body was covered in food, her hair was disheveled, and there were handprints on her cheek—it was certain she had suffered rough treatment from Frey.
"Frey! What did you do this time!"
"Hmm?"
So eventually I pushed past the commoners trying to stop me and barged into Frey's room to confront him!
"What exactly did Ms. Aris do wrong to end up like that!"
"A commoner keeps trying to lecture me."
The words Frey eventually spoke were truly disgusting.
"So I pinned her on the bed to show her where she stands, but she resisted. So I poured the food next to me on her and she quieted down."
"Y-you... and you still call yourself..."
I muttered without realizing it because his expression as he answered so shamelessly looked so evil, and Frey approached me and whispered in a low voice.
"Ask if I'm human? I am human. But that thing that just left my room isn't human."
"What?"
"Both Aris I just played with, and the commoners secretly watching this scene through the crack in the door right now, are merely toys I can enjoy or break whenever I want."
When Frey finished speaking and clapped his hands, Ms. Lulu, who was trembling in the corner of the room, started crawling toward Frey.
"I need to play with my pet, so would you leave now?"
Yes, this was the ugliest of all the evil deeds Frey committed today.
He did various other ugly things after this, but that's become routine now so I won't bother writing them.
XX Year OO Month 06th
I don't care anymore.
I hope that bastard Frey dies soon.
XX Year OO Month 07th
Was I possessed? I ended up writing profanity in my diary that the Order strictly forbade.
But I had no other way to vent my anger without expressing it that much.
You're asking what exactly happened yesterday? It's a terrible memory I don't even want to recall, but I can't run away from it... so let me write it down while suppressing my disgust.
It started yesterday evening when Frey, who had been holed up in his room for some reason, appeared in the dining hall.
"Come, come, today is a party! I will graciously bestow food upon you lowly ones, so eat with gratitude."
When Frey said that and clapped his hands, various party foods started coming in one by one.
Of course, I suspected that the evil and vile Frey definitely had some scheme planned.
But before I knew it, I was mindlessly eating the delicious party food set before me!
It's certain that the wicked Frey used some trick to increase my appetite!
But other commoners were also eating while glancing around cautiously, and since nothing happened, I decided to keep eating.
While I was eating my fill, suddenly my eyes started getting heavy, you see?
I thought it was food drowsiness and got up to wash my face, but all the other students had their heads buried in the tables.
'...I-it's a trap!'
When Frey, who was sitting at the head seat, raised the corner of his mouth and stood up, I finally realized it was a trap.
Is this how a fish feels when it bites the bait knowing full well that what's swaying before its eyes is bait to catch it, but couldn't overcome desire and bit anyway?
"Mmm, mm..."
But since I still had some consciousness left, I urgently tried to cast a purification spell, but I couldn't overcome the rushing drowsiness and ended up collapsing on the table.
By the way, at the last moment, I felt dark mana from behind for some reason... it must have been my imagination, right?
"Mmm..."
After being unconscious for a while, I slightly opened my eyes to see Frey groping Ms. Aris who was in front of me.
Seeing that all the other female students next to me had also been propped up on their chairs... Frey...
I'm sorry. My hands are suddenly trembling. I'll write again in a moment.
Yes, I stabilized my mind and came back.
Anyway, watching Frey grope Ms. Aris's body... I fell back asleep due to suddenly rushing drowsiness again.
It's really strange. Normally I would have resisted with mental resistance, so why did that happen then?
Was someone hitting the back of my head every time I regained consciousness?
Anyway, the place I opened my eyes again after that was the female students' dormitory.
"Lady Ferroche has woken up!"
"Phew... thank goodness."
I was blankly staring at the female students surrounding me when they suddenly started asking me questions with trembling voices.
"Lord Frey said we were all drunk on alcohol..."
"Is that really true? No matter how I think about it, something is strange."
"Lady Ferroche has strong mental power, so perhaps you know something?"
"Ah, that's..."
At first, I tried to hide the truth. I thought the female students would be shocked.
"Please... tell us the truth. Saintess."
But when Aris, who had been groped by Frey earlier, asked with a hardened expression, I couldn't hide the truth anymore.
"...Then, I'll tell you."
Thanks to that, the area around me as I write this diary is now filled with a chilling atmosphere.
I hope this chilling energy filled with my grudge reaches Frey.
XX Year OO Month 08th
Oh God, why do you give me such trials.
.
Morning arrived on the 6th day since the break began.
"...Irina, is the investigation on 'Imprinting' finished?"
As I rose from my seat receiving the dazzling morning sunlight, I realized Irina was standing before me with a worried expression and asked her a question.
"Ah... well, yes. It's finished."
After stumbling over her words for a moment, Irina nodded and held out various materials to me.
"This is...?"
"It's a type of ancient magic. It was in the old texts."
"Damn it, these things are almost all ancient magics. What on earth were the ancients doing?"
Looking through the materials she handed me, I frowned and sighed when I heard it was ancient magic.
"First, you can think of 'Stigma' as a kind of curse. But... its purpose differs from normal curses or black magic."
"Different purpose?"
"Curses and black magic originate from feelings of envy and desire to destroy the opponent, right? But stigma is... different from that."
When I tilted my head at her words, Irina spoke with a serious expression.
"Stigma is branded to judge that person and make them repent."
"Judge and make them repent?"
"Yes, that magic is no different from divine punishment delivered by humans."
Feeling that things were becoming more serious than I thought, I stiffened my expression, and Irina sat down and began her story.
"Anyway, since 'Stigma' differs from 'Curse' in both composition and purpose, the method of breaking it is also very different."
"How is it different?"
"Most curses have complex breaking methods or are designed without any existing method. That's because they want to make the cursed person suffer as much as possible. But stigma..."
After trailing off for a moment, Irina pointed to the materials I was holding and continued.
"The breaking method is clear and easy. And it's designed so that one can repent while following that breaking method."
"Then that's fortunate. It'll be easier to break than other curses, won't it?"
When I smiled and asked that, Irina shook her head and said.
"No, this is the key point. You said the stigma placed on her was the 'Stigma of Misfortune', right?"
"Yes, and?"
"If my guess is correct... the reason she pushes people away is because the stigma branded on her is the stigma of 'Misfortune'."
After saying that, Irina paused briefly before asking me a question.
"Frey, what does she need most?"
"Hmm... attention and affection, probably? She has serious affection deficiency disorder."
"As expected, I knew it would be that."
After hearing my answer, she sighed and began explaining.
"She has the stigma that brings misfortune branded on her, and the method to break that stigma would be receiving attention and affection from others."
"Aha... so that's why the characteristics..."
"But the problem is that the stigma's effect and the breaking method conflict."
Saying that, Irina bumped her two fists together and continued with a furrowed brow.
"People who loved Lulu would have been swept up in her misfortune and met with harm. Kania told me that after investigating her parents, surrounding people, and friends, they all met bad ends."
"Then..."
"Yes, she always pushed others away because she didn't want others to be swept up in misfortune because of her."
Only then could I understand why she commits suicide in every route.
Lulu, who knew very well what happened to people who gave her love, committed suicide to protect the 'Player' who kept trying to 'conquer' her and love her despite being pushed away.
"Wait, something's strange?"
I, who had fallen silent from the shock and sadness of learning the truth, started asking Irina about two questions that came to mind.
"First, why doesn't she push me away?"
"Because she thinks you deserve to die even if that happens."
"...Ah."
Hearing that, I realized that at the current point, I'm treated as an enemy of all and a scoundrel who deserves to die.
"She, who was probably driven to her limit by continuous misfortune, is probably planning to use the twisted attention and affection you send as nourishment to break the stigma."
"Because I'm a villain who won't matter if swept up in misfortune?"
"Yes, no... that's not it. You're not a villain."
Hearing that, I chuckled and asked the next question.
"Right, let's leave that... next question. Why do the stigma's effect and breaking method conflict?"
Hearing that, Irina didn't answer immediately and started flipping through documents, and I asked while watching her.
"You clearly said stigma is magic for judgment and repentance. But the 'Stigma of Misfortune' placed on her is in some ways more vicious than a curse?"
"...Someone abused the stigma."
"Abused the stigma?"
When I frowned at Irina's answer, she sighed and asked.
"Do you know how I found out about 'Stigma' in such detail?"
"Hmm... because you're an unparalleled genius mage?"
Not having a particularly good answer, I casually flattered her, and she replied with a flushed face.
"W-well, that too, but... there's a bigger reason."
"What is that?"
"I've confirmed the symptoms of the 'Stigma' you mentioned several times in the previous round."
"What!?"
When I widened my eyes at her words, Irina said with a hardened expression.
"Honestly, when I first heard it, I was uncertain... but as I investigated, I found it was the same symptoms I confirmed in the previous round. That's why I could find it out so quickly and in such detail."
"Do you remember where you saw it by any chance?"
When I asked her cautiously, she swallowed dryly and answered quietly.
"When we invaded the Demon King's castle, I found it among the slaves they were controlling and the prisoners locked in the dungeons."
After those words ended, silence flowed between me and Irina for a moment.
"...Anyway, to break it, I just need to keep giving Lulu affection and attention, right?"
When I broke the silence and asked calmly, Irina quietly nodded.
"Sigh, she's already unfortunate... and she'll become even more so."
I sighed and lamented at having accidentally entered the only route that could save Lulu, and Irina looked at me cautiously and tried to comfort me.
"You don't need to worry about that. According to ancient texts, the 'Stigma of Misfortune' doesn't affect those who are more unfortunate than the person with the stigma. So you... um..."
"...It won't have an effect on me?"
Hearing that, I smiled bitterly and muttered.
"Haha... should I be happy about this... or sad..."
"Frey..."
"Never mind, I should be happy. I can save Lulu without any burden."
I forced a smile as I rose from my seat, and while preparing to go out, I started conveying instructions to Irina.
"Today Kania will stay overnight where Kadia and Aria are. For a safety check and to receive treatment from Kadia. And I'll be away from home for a while too."
"Where are you going?"
"I made some interesting friends recently. I'm going to have a talk with them."
As I said that and was about to leave, Irina grabbed my arm.
"Frey, I have a favor."
"Hmm?"
When I looked at her with a quite serious expression in confusion, she asked with a trembling voice.
"Please tell me what the second trial is."
"That story again? The second trial really isn't anything special! So don't worry too much and..."
"Please... Frey..."
"Hmm..."
I was about to laugh off that question as usual, but since Irina was asking while on the verge of tears, I sighed and opened my mouth.
"Alright, I'll tell you."
Then Irina nodded with a slightly pale face, and I gave her the softest expression I could and started explaining about the second trial.
"Then, I'll be going. Watch the house well while I'm gone, Irina."
After finishing the explanation, I gently patted her shoulder and left the room.
'...Why is Irina acting like that?'
Her expression that I saw last was deathly pale.
.
"Then, let's conclude today's meeting."
""You've worked hard, Lord Frey.""
I, who had left the mansion and presided over the Demon King's Army meeting until late at night, ended the meeting and rose from my seat to head outside.
"Um... please help me with my training."
"Oh! Me too! I want to train too!"
"...Later."
Passing by a woman with cute eyes and a woman with rabbit ears who had been pestering me for sparring for several days, I asked Demirkan who was waiting at the entrance for a spatial teleportation magic.
"Aren't you going to train with them?"
"They're combat executives, they'll figure it out themselves."
Demirkan, who smiled at my words, slightly bowed his waist and whispered to me.
"You wish to drop the moon, don't you?"
"...Except for the most shining moon."
"I see. Then farewell, hope of the Demon King's Army."
And the next moment, the Starlight Duke's mansion began to appear before my eyes.
"...Do they really mistake me for the Demon King?"
I tilted my head uncertainly, then realized that the front of the mansion was bustling.
Wondering what was happening, I cautiously approached the mansion and saw several students staggering and retching in the mansion's yard.
"...Oh, no."
Realizing that poison gas made of moon mana was leaking from inside the mansion, I turned pale and started running toward the main gate.
It seems the Council of Elders has finally caused an incident.