Ch.173173 – The Reason for Nightmares

<173 – The Reason for Nightmares>

Oknodie, found on the bed, had not woken up even after several hours had passed.

Sweating coldly and appearing to be in pain, he only muttered things like “Don’t kill…” repeatedly.

Each time this happened, the expressions of Isabelle, who kept wiping the cold sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief, and Son Ocheon, who chased away onlookers gathering out of mere curiosity, only grew grimmer.

“Isabelle. How is Oknodie’s condition?”

“It’s gotten worse. The nightmare seems to have intensified.”

“That little mouse… Has he always suffered from such nightmares every night?”

Why couldn’t they have noticed sooner?

Oknodie’s painful state was alarming enough to cause regret.

“There’s no direct physical abnormality. Rather, intense mental stress is reversely affecting his physical body in reality.”

“Does that mean treatment is impossible?”

“At least it’s not a condition that can be addressed with healing spells. In my opinion, it appears to be a powerful curse related to nightmares, so I cannot intervene carelessly.”

“Can’t you just cast a curse removal spell?”

“Attempting to remove a high-level curse recklessly could cause permanent damage to the mind. Active curses infiltrate the brain and hold brain functions hostage.”

“Waah.”

“Is there no other way?”

“If we had a record of his healthy brain state on a mana board, we could use it as a reference for treatment, but since this child is of unknown identity, we lack comparative information.”

That’s right.

Even though the Foundation’s proxy had certified Oknodie as the Foundation’s scholarship student, that didn’t mean his identity records existed.

There was only the Foundation’s empty promise; the world had no information about the child named Oknodie.

“Hey, skinny. Aren’t you a healer? If you’re working for a salary from the Academy, shouldn’t you be more helpful?”

“All I can tell you is that this student is under a very powerful curse. Without someone casting it on him, the possibility of him contracting it himself is extremely slim.”

Oknodie was cursed.

By someone’s malice.

Although Oknodie usually practiced curse resistance, he wouldn’t have willingly accepted such a dangerous curse that might kill him.

There was a culprit.

Here in this Academy.

“Son Ocheon. Pressuring someone who has no solution won’t get us answers. Guard the entrance. The culprit might try to approach and cause more harm.”

“…Understood.”

“Giselle, please call a professor. Any professor who might be able to help Oknodie.”

“I’ll return as quickly as possible.”

“Waah.”

Isabelle determined that swift action was more important than unnecessary arguments.

Both Son Ocheon and Giselle agreed with her judgment, so they either went to find a professor without complaint or silently guarded the door.

“Hey, I heard Oknodie collapsed?”

“Is Oknodie okay?”

“We came to visit!”

Son Ocheon turned to the healer with a serious face.

The healer, perhaps feeling sorry for not being able to help, assisted with controlling access.

“Oknodie’s condition is currently critical, so visits cannot be permitted. If you’re concerned, please pray for him.”

Students who had just heard the news realized the situation was more serious than they’d been told, judging by the healer’s grave demeanor.

“They say Oknodie was cursed.”

“He usually went looking for curses in the bushes and got cursed on purpose.”

“That must have been exploited. He probably let his guard down with a low-level curse and ended up with a high-level one too.”

In the gloomy atmosphere, Arcadia glared at the Imperial faction students.

“If anything happens to Oknodie, I will never forgive you.”

“Why are you blaming us?”

“Do I really need to remind you that most students who dislike Oknodie are from your side?”

“There are more depraved people capable of such vile acts among you frontier folk!”

“Waah.”

“Who was that just now! Who’s mocking us as childish? Are you saying the intellectual capacity of frontier people is no different from a child’s?”

The relationship between students was rapidly deteriorating.

Peace was crumbling so quickly just because one Oknodie had collapsed.

Son Ocheon realized anew how greatly that little mouse had contributed to the Academy’s peace.

“Enough! Do we really need to determine who the culprit is right here and now? In front of the corridor where the healer said Oknodie needs stability?”

The students fell silent, sulking at each other.

In the awkward silence, urgent footsteps were added.

“I’ve brought a professor. Everyone, please make way.”

Surprisingly, the first professor to arrive at the scene was Professor Sadaco, whose eerie presence seemed like she had just stepped out of a horror film, capable of startling one’s heart.

“Dark magic and curses are as inseparable as water and fish. Your decision to find me was appropriate…”

Professor Sadaco looked at Oknodie’s condition and placed her hand on his forehead.

Making cracking sounds, she tilted her head this way and that while examining him, looking more like she was observing a murder target than diagnosing a patient.

“I need to go in directly.”

“Go in? Where?”

“Into Oknodie’s nightmare.”

The students who had been arguing loudly outside suddenly fell silent as if cold water had been thrown on them.

“I-I learned from my family… If you carelessly enter the mind of someone suffering from a mental curse, your soul could be devoured by the curse, leaving you in a vegetative state.”

“It’s too dangerous. Even the Great Forest Witch Grandmother said not to interfere with people drawn into the dream world. Meddling incorrectly could make things worse.”

Lotta, who received formal basic education from a noble family.

Dorothy, the apprentice forest keeper.

Though they lived in different regions and had different main classes, their awareness of taboos was the same.

Do not interfere with another’s mind carelessly.

It’s a dangerous act that could cost the lives of both the mentally disturbed person and the one trying to help.

“Professor. It’s too dangerous!”

“Worry about yourselves before worrying about me…”

“Are you encouraging us because you’re concerned we might collapse from worrying about our friend?”

What a kind-hearted professor, despite her scary appearance with long hair hanging down in white mourning clothes and joints that crack as she moves!

“Because you need to enter the nightmare with me.”

“…Us?”

“Close friends reduce the probability of being attacked by the unconscious. Companions are essential for safe mental diving…”

According to the professor, she intended to take Oknodie’s real friends into the nightmare with her!

“We weren’t that close, were we?”

“That’s right. No matter what we think, Oknodie probably doesn’t consider us friends.”

The students who had gathered after hearing the news retreated hesitantly.

Arcadia, who had brought the most students, felt betrayed but also understood their feelings.

She knew that most of these children were pretending to be close to Oknodie to gain her favor and protection as the spiritual pillar of the frontier students.

It was pointless to demand genuine bonds from such children in the face of a potentially fatal crisis.

As they said, Oknodie wouldn’t unconsciously strive to protect such artificial relationships.

“Princess Arcadia. I understand your feelings completely. You’re the one who cared for Oknodie the most.”

“Isabelle…”

“I’ll go in. I can trust Princess Arcadia to take care of Oknodie.”

Arcadia accepted the wet cloth Isabelle offered with an apologetic face.

“…Please. Save Di.”

Isabelle stood beside Professor Sadaco.

Son Ocheon also pointed at someone.

“You and you there. You’ll take over as doorkeepers.”

“Me…? You trust me?”

“Me? But I’m a pirate?”

“What does being a warrior or pirate have to do with anything? Oknodie mentioned you guys occasionally.”

“Oknodie talked about me…?”

“Hmm. Really? Well, I do owe him, so consider this repayment.”

Hestia and Zigoku willingly took over Son Ocheon’s position.

“Next, I should also…”

“Giselle. You stay outside in case something happens.”

“Planning to leave me out of saving the little lady? I’m hurt.”

“You’re the most level-headed among us. If problems arise, you’re the only one I can trust to handle things from the outside.”

“Waah.”

“Understood. I’ll stay. And…”

Giselle was about to point at a plant that had been bothering him for a while when he received a strong look from Hestia.

“…I hope you finish this safely without requiring my intervention.”

“What? That’s anticlimactic.”

“That gentleman is soft-hearted, I tell you. I wonder how he ever got the Dark Merchant class.”

When Isabelle and Son Ocheon turned to the professor indicating they were ready, Professor Sadaco nodded.

Chanting an ominous spell, the three people enveloped in pitch-black mist leaned against the wall next to the bed one after another and disappeared into Oknodie’s mental world.

* *

“What is this…”

“It’s Oknodie’s mental world.”

“Why is the little mouse being attacked by Academy students?”

The three people, now in the form of translucent ghosts, floated through Oknodie’s nightmare.

Professor Sadaco interpreted the dream’s reality.

“A death experience nightmare realizes what the subject fears most. For that child, being hated by everyone must be the most frightening moment…”

Don’t kill.

Now they could understand the meaning of the words Oknodie had been muttering repeatedly like sleep-talking.

Even while being driven to his death by students.

Oknodie was desperately trying not to kill people.

As if doing so even once would be irreversible.

‘He didn’t want to become the Foundation’s killing machine. That’s the battle he’s been fighting in his nightmare!’

Tears welled up in Isabelle’s eyes.