episode_0084

Upon hearing the name Stay from Mir Ryuin’s lips, Nis had no choice but to accept her own death.

It was she herself who drove him away to enjoy a pleasant mosquito-free environment by poking straws at the three of them.

Half of her mind was filled with resignation while the other half was brimming with questions about survival, ‘What do I do now?’ At that moment, Mir Ryuin, looking at her with an irritated gaze, opened his mouth.

“Hmm, you said you would answer anything, but suddenly you’re silent… Seems like there might be a reason you can’t answer right away?”

“Yes, yes?!”

Mir Ryuin’s words pierced Nis to the core.

Filled with anxiety enveloping her whole body, Nis sensed that something terrible was about to happen to her soon, as she looked into Mir Ryuin’s blue eyes holding her within.

“Well, it’s okay. From now on, there’s nothing to hide, so be honest.”

Snap.

Immediately following the sound of a finger snapping, a blue light shot out from the geometric patterned magic circle floating above Mir Ryuin’s finger, hitting Nis’s lips directly. For a moment, a dizzying sensation as if pierced by a beam shook her heart, but fortunately, she felt no pain.

Well, I don’t know what just happened, but for now, I’m alive…

As Nis tried to dismiss her ominous feeling as mere anxiety, thinking it was just paranoia, Mir Ryuin’s question echoed in her ears once again.

Unable to truthfully answer Mir Ryuin’s question as Nis, she was convinced that if she remained silent, she would personally experience why he was called the master of magic. So, she somehow managed to buy time by pretending not to know.

“Today, he left without a word, leaving the room at the Wolsat house where I originally lived, carrying only his belongings!”

Huh?

What came out of her mouth was a truth that should never have been revealed so easily.

As the truth emerged effortlessly, without any resistance, to Mir Ryuin, who seemed obsessed with Stay, Nis’s mind went blank.

What, why? Why did these words come out? It doesn’t make sense. Why…

“…Left? Stay did? Me? No way. That can’t be true…! But I cast a confession-compelling spell.”

The one-line question that had popped up in Nis’s whitened mind was dispelled by Mir Ryuin’s muttered words as if in a trance.

The blue light that hit Nis’s lips was not a physical ray causing harm but a confession-compelling magic, making her unable to do anything but convey the truth in response to questions.

“A mere B-rank Awakener like you couldn’t resist my magic. That means it’s the truth. Really… Stay truly… My, my Stay, left me…”

As a mere B-rank Awakener, Nis found it impossible to resist the magic of the master of magic, Mir Ryuin.

With the option of lying erased due to the confession-compelling spell, she found herself cornered, the one who drove Stay away, pushed to the edge of the cliff.

If the questioning continues like this, everything that happened between Nis and Stay will be exposed.

If only there was a little time to think, she could somehow find a way to survive by using her wits… But such good fortune is unlikely to come her way now. Am I really going to die here? If I knew this would happen, I wouldn’t have let that man, Stay, go like that…

Regret is a law that cannot be remedied, and with this deeply felt truth in mind, Nis trembled at the impending question.

“Ah, no. Just thinking alone will only magnify negative thoughts. Right, I can just ask, can’t I? Since you’ve cast the spell of forced confession. Yes. Alright. Hey there. Answer me. ‘Why did my Stay…?’”

It’s over…

As Mir Ryuin’s relentless words continued, the word “death” filled Nis’s mind, leading to a moment of resignation and letting go of life.

“Just a moment. Mr. Mir Ryuin, I can’t listen anymore.”

Mae Luina, who had been watching with piercing eyes until now, interrupted Mir Ryuin’s speech with a voice full of discontent.

“I was trying to hold back my anger out of curiosity about what you would say, but I couldn’t stay silent any longer because your expression bothered me. So, I’ll just cut to the chase. Why do you refer to Stay as ‘my, mine, my own Stay’? Did you think such absurd phrasing would be tolerated? Stay is not yours. It’s mine!”

“Yeah, it really irked me too. I was just curious about what that brat would say. But since he spoke, I’ll speak too. Why is my Stay your Stay?”

“Hah. Making some nonsense remarks at this crucial moment. You’re just trying to shut me up with your open mouth. Sorry, but Stay is mine. From the moment it was my experiment, there hasn’t been a single moment when it wasn’t mine.”

Clang, clang! Clang clang clang!

With a suffocating pressure and an indescribable energy clash among the three, sparks flew in the air.

What, what’s going on with these monsters… What kind of conversation are they having right now?

In a surreal situation reminiscent of a comic book, Nis’s head swirled with questions, but in this critical moment, she realized sharply through her honed survival instinct that this was a golden opportunity.

Oh, this is not the time for useless thoughts! Despite feeling breathless and as if gravity had multiplied, her thoughts remained free. She must make the most of this miraculously granted time for thought without wasting a single moment!

Nis’s well-honed survival instinct allowed her mind to race faster than anything she had experienced before.

“Your relationship with Stay may be nothing more than fellow trainees or acquaintances, but I’m different. I’m someone who has actually made a contract with Stay. A relationship between a researcher and an experimental subject. If you have a brain, you can understand what that means, right? That’s right. Stay chose to become mine by their own will. So, calling Stay ‘my Stay, my own Stay’ is only natural. Because it’s the truth.”

“What, what did you say? Have you finished speaking?! Don’t misunderstand! The relationship between Mir Ryuin and Stay is merely a business relationship bound by a single contract! And the relationship between Stay and me is not just acquaintances; it’s a true connection where we share emotions! It’s completely different from the emotionless bureaucratic relationship with Mir Ryuin! Don’t you dare touch my Stay!”

“Just a fellow trainee at the training camp! Don’t act like you know me well! Me and Stay, we don’t even need words to communicate. Just by exchanging glances, we understand each other’s desires. Stay can tell what I need just by looking into my eyes! That’s the kind of relationship Stay and I have! And Stay really enjoys serving me! He’s a guy who can only calm down by following my orders for life, living by my side.”

While Niece was racking her brain desperately to survive, a fierce battle was unfolding in her mind within the special ward.

Crackle! Sizzle! Sizzle!

Merely clashing emotions caused sparks to fly in the air, and the specially enchanted light bulbs flickered rapidly as a result.

The currents flowing between the three individuals were as ominous and violently trembling as the foreboding vibrations before a volcano eruption.

It felt like a situation on the brink of explosion, but the emotions of the three never erupted into a sudden crisis.

“Ugh…”

“Tsk…”

“Ugh…”

Because despite all claiming Stay as their own, there was a sense of uncertainty about their relationship with him.

As no one present desired this escalating argument, Mei Luina, who initiated the confrontation, brought it to a close with a clearing of her throat.

“Well, um. Since Stay isn’t here, there’s no point in us arguing amongst ourselves. Instead, shouldn’t we address the matter we need to discuss?”

“Yeah, right. That’s true. There was something we needed to talk about. Like the reason why Stay left earlier.”

“Uh, yeah. That’s right.”

“Then let me ask. Hey, you there? So, why did Stay leave?”

Mei Luina’s question redirected the ritualistic arrows of accusation back towards Niece.

As someone under the spell of forced confession magic, Niece had no choice but to answer truthfully.

But with the survival instinct guiding her thoughts, she miraculously found a way out and could respond confidently even in this perilous situation.

“W-Well… Stay left because he dislikes all of you…”

“…What?”

In this life-or-death scenario under the forced confession magic, this was the miraculous escape route that Niece had discovered.

“He said that due to things you all did to him in the past… he couldn’t develop any positive feelings towards you…”

Choosing and presenting the facts in a way that suited her narrative.