episode_0016

After finishing a happy dinner, Irha returned to her room.

Unlike the morning filled with despair, it was a night full of hope.

Rushing through her shower, Irha thought of the two people she was so grateful for.

‘Hehe..! Ras Captain-nim, Rosalie Teacher-nim… I like them both so much…!!’

Hope had emerged.

The hope that Mirha, who seemed doomed to die, would not be in pain and would live healthily again.

Ras had told Irha not to get too excited or hopeful, but Irha somehow had a good feeling.

Though she was a fool and knew nothing… she felt as if everything would work out.

Because when she heard Emma’s offer, the instinct that had urgently screamed ‘Irha!! No!!’ in her head was now strongly telling her, ‘Everything will be fine!’

‘Mirha..! Just hold on a little longer. Your older sister will come find you with excellent doctors.’

Wiping the mirror with a swish, her own face was reflected.

Indeed, even if she was a bit foolish, her cheerful, silly smile was cute and pretty.

And as her mind calmed and her mood greatly improved, she suddenly remembered the brief hug she had shared with Ras.

‘Hehe… Ras… I think his lean muscles were quite firm… and he’s very handsome too…’

She had impulsively hugged him out of gratitude, but looking back, the slightly firm sensation of his body inexplicably came to mind, causing Irha’s face to flush.

Of course, she knew that Ras was in a passionate relationship with Lizley, who was said to be the second most beautiful in their grade.

‘But lately, he hasn’t been hanging out with her… he’s been hanging out with me more…! I even run errands for Ras’s bread…!’

Suddenly feeling an inexplicable sense of pride, Irha subtly puffed out her chest while looking in the mirror.

Along with the thought, ‘Isn’t a minion actually closer, more special, and more intimate than a common girlfriend?’

Lying in bed, Irha diligently recalled the stories Ras had told her.

‘First, he said I should go around with a sad expression and no energy starting tomorrow… Sad thoughts. Sad thoughts. Saaaad thoughts…’

That night, Irha dreamed a dream that would truly be sad if it were real.

In her dream, forty-year-old Irha was still running errands for Ras’s bread.

But for some reason, the Irha in the dream was smiling happily.

*

After the Friday she met Irha, time passed uneventfully, and tomorrow was the forest exploration day.

Since it took about a day to travel from Leone to Maugen Torp Forest, all first-year students moved together towards the forest from Monday afternoon for the evaluation.

On Tuesday afternoon, the students arrived at a campsite at the beginning of Maugen Torp Forest, unpacked their bags, and set up their base camp.

Starting from the Monday travel, all activities proceeded according to the assigned teams, so Irha was with me the entire time.

However, it was now relaxation time after dinner, so Irha had the leisure to go meet Emma.

“……”

Irha and I exchanged a brief glance, and she scurried away to meet Emma for their ‘deal’.

From now on, Irha would, according to my instructions, put on the face of the unhappiest child in the world and go to hold Emma’s hand.

Superficially.

Presumably, Irha would soon retrieve that lethal drug from Emma.

To avoid even the slightest suspicion that she was in league with me, Irha began to feign immense unhappiness from Saturday, following her happiness on Friday.

Naturally, we spent several days just staring blankly at each other, without any particular conversation.

It was quite heartbreaking to see her, who loved food, once again eating only one meal a day for the sake of acting well, but it was a very correct choice, and Irha’s acting was extremely excellent.

It’s remarkable how, despite her poor intellect, she performs surprisingly well without nervousness when it comes to practical situations, isn’t it?

The reason I went to such lengths was because Emma and Lizley, like the bitches they were, were cunning and quick-witted.

Deceiving those mantis-like women required meticulous preparation.

The reason I told Irha to cooperate with Emma and Lizley was because the poison those guys… that Leon had prepared was no trivial poison, even from my perspective.

‘Incubus’ Tear’

The ‘Incubus’ Tear,’ a top-grade poison and aphrodisiac said to exist in extremely small quantities only in the Sefiroth Imperial Vault, could instantly kill me even in my current state, having regressed.

This top-grade aphrodisiac, colorless and odorless, leaving no side effects or traces once its efficacy wore off, and possessing superb potency, was originally a trap Leon had prepared for me.

In my previous life, the scheme Leon had originally prepared was roughly as follows.

First, he would have Irha administer the ‘Incubus’ Tear’ to me at an opportune moment during the evaluation. There were plenty of situations where water or potions could be handed over, after all.

Then, I, having consumed the aphrodisiac, would sexually assault Irha, and that scene would be live-streamed outside the forest through surveillance magic installed throughout the forest for the evaluation.

The academy’s faculty outside the forest, along with key figures from the student council and upper grades, would all witness this live, and Ras’s social life would be over.

Due to the nature of the aphrodisiac, it left no traces after its effect wore off, making it impossible to even claim it was someone’s machination—a truly desperate checkmate.

That’s why I could only control the situation if Irha received and held the ‘Incubus’ Tear’ herself.

If Irha had refused Emma’s offer until the end, and someone else or from a different angle had targeted me with the ‘Incubus’ Tear,’ I wouldn’t have been able to avoid being targeted by this poison, which is indistinguishable by sensory perception.

The reason I knew about Leon’s machinations and the poison’s identity was because Leon had blabbered all about it to me in my life before regression.

True to the cliché of a verbose villain, he had restrained me just before I was expelled from the academy and launched into a lengthy speech about how brilliant his plan was.

That day, bound and prostrate before him, listening to him brag about his nastiness, was the most humiliating day of my life.

Of course, ten years later, I repaid him threefold with even greater humiliation, so it didn’t really matter anymore….

[I got it!]

[Alright, good job. Now, let’s just meet up and discuss tomorrow’s evaluation with the kids. Let’s make it natural.]

[Mhm…!!! Hehe!!]

While I was lightly recalling the past, Irha’s message came through.

I had subtly gifted her a communication magic tool that I had prepared to give her once she completely became my minion, and she was incredibly grateful.

When I gave Lizley gifts like this, she would truly appreciate them in a moderately calm way, but Irha genuinely expressed her gratitude for anything, making it enjoyable to give her presents.

Anyway…

Now, there isn’t much time left.

Before regression, everything had proceeded exactly according to the plans Leon and Lizley had set up until this point.

The situation that unfolded afterward went completely unforeseen by all of them, and in a way, it drastically altered everyone’s fate.

Actually, avoiding the assassination attempt using the ‘Incubus’ Tear’ here was now simple.

We could just get rid of the ‘Incubus’ Tear’ that had fallen into our hands, either by taking it or by pouring it onto the ground.

Originally, even in this life, I had intended to avoid this aphrodisiac assassination attempt by ‘not consuming’ it.

According to what Leon had proudly boasted, the ‘Incubus’ Tear’ he used on me was his last remaining quantity, so if I avoided it just once, there would be no follow-up attacks.

However, circumstances changed, and I still couldn’t avoid ‘consuming’ it.

Do I have a hobby of consuming aphrodisiacs, you ask?

No…

Firstly, in both my previous life and this one, the medicine I was to take was not ‘Incubus’ Tear’….

That was a drug that caused severe arousal; it didn’t cause a disability that crippled the five senses.

What I had consumed in my previous life, that was….

Blink-

“Alright! Let’s take a short break here.”

“Our team is surprisingly amazing??!”

Coming to my senses, I realized the Maugen Torp Forest examination was already well underway.

Eustace, Shasta, Pio. Our excellent team members were brightly and cheerfully enjoying the evaluation.

After spending the entire morning searching for things, disarming various traps, and catching some easy monsters, it was suddenly lunchtime.

The three honor students seemed to have bonded while cultivating teamwork, as they were busy chatting amicably during their meal.

Kids, no matter what, you should still watch ahead… They were still first-years, so there were some immature aspects.

But in the current situation, it was actually better; it made it easier for us to do what we needed to do.

Anyway, what was important to Irha and me right now wasn’t the exam…!

I took out a bottle containing a cheap, soda-colored recovery potion and opened its cap.

This international-standard low-grade recovery potion supplied by the academy was a type of stimulant that slightly restored stamina and mana.

It was the cheapest of the cheap, and this soda-colored liquid was a good friend to low-ranking soldiers without money on the battlefield.

“Irha, it’s your time now.”

“Mhm..! What do I do now?”

I posed a very important question to my minion, who was looking at me with innocent, bright eyes.

“Irha, suppose you were going to make me take that medicine. Would you have made me drink the entire bottle?”

She thought deeply for a moment, then answered.

“Thinking about it, since it’s bad for the body, I probably would have only given you a very small amount…!”

Yes… she’s exactly the same in this life as in her previous one.

“And you… wouldn’t you have mixed something a little beneficial for the body with it, rather than giving something harmful directly?”

“….!!! That’s right!! Ras, are you me? As expected of the Captain, you seem to know me so well. Hehehe… Could it be fate…?”

Leaving the mumbling Irha behind, Ras Etgard’s mysterious reverse-tracking now only had one final step remaining.

“Then, would you mix the medicine Emma gave you into this recovery potion, ‘according to your conscience’? That’s your job.”

“Easy!!!”

She took the potion bottle from me, then pulled out the ‘Incubus’ Tear,’ which she had transferred to a water bottle, from within her clothes.

“Hehe. My mom, when I was sick a long time ago, she’d give me fever medicine like this, just three drops… mixed with sugar water. Here you go!!”

‘Ah…! Mother-nim…! Why on earth would you teach this child such common sense…!’

Having heard where Irha’s bad habit originated, I inwardly sighed.

Thus, before my eyes lay a terrible, nameless hybrid, born through the ultimate secret art of ‘mixing anything.’

The worst poison, which, due to its extreme nourishing and strengthening amplification effect, transformed me into a cursed fire-body constitution that burned and melted away on its own.

Yet, simultaneously, it was a timeless elixir that, through the immense intensely positive mana it contained, became my new foundation after I miraculously survived and awakened.

Having grown stronger by consuming this quack medicine, I gained the power to incinerate all creation, thus becoming the arsonist who could melt away the ice flower blooming in Mirha Livingston’s heart without a trace.

Of course, the process of reaching that state was incredibly painful, and even in this life, I would suffer considerably, though not as much as then, but the die had been cast.

However, if there was one thing I wanted to tell everyone… let’s not mix and consume medicine indiscriminately.

This was something I absolutely had to teach Irha, now reborn as my minion.

The most basic common sense, the fundamental truth that mixing and consuming just any medicine could lead to disaster…

My foolish minion knew nothing of this, neither in her previous life nor in this one.

Gazing at the terrifyingly radiant potion, I briefly fell into old memories.

*

“Ahahaha..! Ras, what did you just say you consumed? A mixture of a low-grade, standard recovery potion with a small amount of ‘Incubus’ Tear’?”

“Ugh..! Don’t laugh!! It was really painful back then. Ow!!!”

Thwack-!!

As I threw a tantrum, stars immediately appeared before my eyes. This woman, despite being the most beautiful in the world, was also incredibly strong.

“You mustn’t glare at your master like that, Ras. Won’t you open your eyes prettily and cutely?”

Damn it…! Having received one knuckle-knock, I quickly relaxed my eyes and opened them meekly, not wanting another.

Just you wait..! I’ll get stronger later and get my revenge.

Semere Laufeyga Kashmir, the most knowledgeable and beautiful woman in the world, who knew everything and nothing, continued speaking while stroking my head where a bump had formed.

“But hearing your story, I understand your peculiarity now. For you, having consumed such a deadly poison, there was no other way to survive.”

A trace of pity somehow seeped into her voice.

But honestly, even I thought I was pitiful and unfortunate at that time.

While I could laugh it off as a joke now, the pain I felt when I first consumed that nameless ‘hybrid’ was beyond imagination.

The shock that came after I first collapsed from consuming it was not easy.

I experienced vomiting, fever, chills, coughing up blood, hallucinations, shortness of breath, cardiac arrest… and more, continuously for about ten days.

If it hadn’t been for Professor Rosalie’s dedication, who stayed by my side 24/7 to care for me, I would have died then.

When I woke up, my heart and the network of mana-flowing vessels throughout my body were already incredibly damaged by the high fever; if she hadn’t stayed by my side, pouring in holy power, I would have died from spontaneous combustion.

Anyway, after waking up, I soon realized that my thought, ‘I just need to recover,’ was far too complacent.

Because my body truly began to break down after my consciousness returned to normal.

My mana, my overall senses including the five senses, and my physical body were all ravaged by scorching pain and high fever.

All five of my senses were constantly scorching hot, as if covered in ashes, and my mana burned away as soon as I gathered it.

My personality too was constantly tormented by anger and fear, like a person riding on flames.

Completely crippled, I was powerless and couldn’t even properly respond when falsely accused and cornered as a rapist.

No… in fact, at that time, my body was already close to a future where it was certain to collapse and die within a few months, so there was also an element of giving up.

However, after that day when I lost everything and was mocked in front of Leon, I, who had been burnt out and fading, began to burn anew.

Because I had found something that would never disappear no matter how much it burned, and could, in fact, burn infinitely by using itself as fuel.

My last treasure and heart, found only after losing all my material possessions.

“Ras. You are a genius of the ages, worthy of standing shoulder to shoulder with me. Petty powerhouses, as a rule, try to fit everything into the paltry prison of the body. But you burned that down yourself….”

The captivating, flame-like flickering voice of the most powerful being under this sky reached my ears.

“The body, mana, and senses all burn to ashes beneath the sky that rains down flames and lightning. But only the spirit, the flame within the heart, can burn ever more fiercely, no matter how much it burns. For in this world, the only thing without limits is the mind-image.”

In Semere’s hand, there was already an old book.

“Therefore, to you who have awakened to the realm of mind-image yourself, I shall give the most fitting gift. This is an ancient Eastern martial art that contains the power to incinerate the nine heavens with fearsome flames.”

Nine Heavens Annihilation Flame Art.

That was the name written on the martial art I received from the Queen of Witches.

“Burn even redder, my dear child. I shall be waiting above in the sky.”

Semere’s lips were redder than any time I had ever seen them.