Chapter 61

Chapter : 61

“There was some progress in the research I conducted during vacation. I tried to change the mechanism of action, and for that... the existing medicine creates an obstruction in mana generation... In the case of the new medicine... In order to solve this....”

Bishot spoke about the alchemy she had researched during vacation and the treatment for Elzenic Disease.

It was a field Raphael knew nothing about, so he merely met her eyes, pretended to understand, hummed, and bobbed his head up and down. He waited for Bishot’s words to reach their conclusion.

“And so... I believe there will be results before long.”

“That is amazing! Incredible!”

Bishot held out a bundle of documents as though telling Raphael to check them, and it was quite heavy. When Raphael set the documents on the desk instead of immediately looking through them, Bishot spoke.

“I heard from Jefrin. They say you have made great progress in martial arts. Congratulations. It must surely be an achievement earned because you devoted a great deal of effort to it. Yes... it seems your field of interest has changed now.”

At the vaguely reproachful tone, Raphael asked back,

“What are you talking about?”

“After entering the Academy, you published many things in a short period. Each one was astonishing, but at some point, it stopped as though cut off by a knife. Instead, you gained fame in another field, so I naturally had no choice but to think that way.”

Raphael hesitated for a moment, then answered.

“Now that I hear it, I suppose that does seem true. I am not as interested as I used to be. Perhaps, probably, the treatment for this disease will be the last thing I do in alchemy.”

It was difficult, after all, to pretend to know and talk about a field he did not understand. Raphael decided to end it here.

“If that is so, I understand. Next time, I will speak to you only after the medicine is complete.”

Bishot overinterpreted the meaning of Raphael’s words. She believed Raphael found it troublesome to make and care about the treatment for Elzenic Disease, but for Raphael, it was not exactly a misunderstanding he had to correct. Standing beside her was mentally difficult, because he worried he might do something wrong.

“I will handle the work alone if possible. I will see you next time.”

Bishot left the club room and sighed.

How shameless.

The one who struck could sleep with both legs stretched out, while the one who was struck fumed all night. The one who tormented another could forget everything completely, while the one who was hurt suffered for life. The claim that the perpetrator suffered more than the victim was an outright lie. Bishot Puremoon had forgotten nothing.

Raphael treated her as though nothing had happened, but she remembered everything.

He had planted people around her.

He observed and eavesdropped on every little thing she did.

Pretending by chance that their tastes overlapped, he held out things like gifts. He ran into her under the guise of coincidence. Coincidence... coincidence... coincidence....

She had been young at the time. How could this happen? She had found it fascinating and even thought it was fate. It had been a stupid idea. As if such a thing existed. When she thought back on those days, she was so ashamed that she wanted to throw something, smash it, and tear it apart. It was disgusting.

After entering the Academy, Raphael changed. It was probably not an act. Raphael was not the kind of person who could pretend for so long.

Perhaps something had changed in his nerves. She was not curious about that. She simply let it pass, thinking, So that is how it is.

It was good that he no longer touched her. That alone satisfied her. After entering the Academy, she had immersed herself in the field she had wanted to pursue, and enjoying the life she had longed for made her happier than she could ask for. She thought this should be enough.

Ridiculously enough, she even felt grateful to Raphael. She was even grateful that while making medicine together, he must have had ways to harm her, yet had not done so.

It was during vacation that she gained self-objectivity. While staying alone at the Academy and continuing her research, she wondered whether this was something she should be grateful for.

Was it not only natural that a person not harm or torment another? Why did she have to be grateful even for something like this? Her eyelids trembled.

BANG—!

Bishot slammed her fist down on the desk. This was wrong.

Raphael, who had touched her through such filthy methods, was wrong, and so was she for feeling grateful that he had stopped tormenting her. Bishot bit her lower lip. Yes, the fact that Raphael had changed was something anyone would acknowledge. Listening to what her classmates said, whatever he did, he did well, and he was widely trusted.

A figure whose past conduct was impossible to imagine.

He had changed completely. But did that erase the things he had done to her? Had the changed Raphael ever apologized to her even once? No. No, he had not.

“This is wrong.”

A desire she had never felt before arose within her. As a child, whenever she saw people killing ants, breaking branches, or tormenting small animals, she had clicked her tongue and thought them ugly. Wanting to inflict pain on others was an ugly desire.

Bishot thought she wanted Raphael to be unhappy. She wished his current life would fall apart. And she was disappointed by how hateful she herself was.

She would finish the research. She would complete the development of the medicine. Until then, she would cooperate with Raphael. As it happened, perhaps because of the sins he had committed, Raphael felt uncomfortable around her as well, so it seemed she could end her relationship with him here.

If she moved away from Raphael without ever running into him, perhaps she would stop wishing for someone else’s unhappiness.

Bishot organized her books and walked toward the dormitory.

It was then that she ran into Jefrin. Seeing him smile when their eyes met from afar made a faint laugh slip out.

At the very least, she considered herself a better person than Raphael.

Even while recognizing that dividing people into ranks was an ugly thing to do, she still judged that she was better than that bastard.

No, how many people could be worse than Raphael? Raphael was that sort of bastard.

Even that bastard had made several friends after coming to the Academy.

Then what was she? Even here, the only person she could call a friend or acquaintance was Jefrin.

When Jefrin had suddenly taken a leave of absence in the first semester, she had been in a position where she had no classmate she could properly talk to. After spending the first semester like that, seeing him at the Academy made her glad, and she found herself ridiculous for feeling that way.

After meeting him and exchanging a brief greeting, she asked him a question.

“Jefrin, have you ever wanted someone to be unhappy?”

At the sudden question, Jefrin scratched his forehead with his index finger, thought for a moment, then opened his mouth.

“Yes. I have. Even now. I want those who are morally wrong to be unhappy. I want them to be punished.”

“Is that ordinary?”

“Yes. Everyone must feel that way.”

It was meaningless small talk. Bishot had simply expected the other person to agree with her. She knew Jefrin’s answer did not justify her. Even so, one corner of her heart grew lighter.

“Thank you. That helped.”

Bishot felt as though she had set down a heavy burden.

‘Maybe this is not wrong. Maybe it is ordinary.’

Bishot returned to her dormitory and sat at her desk. She opened a notebook and picked up a writing tool. She had kept her study and research environment cleanly separated from her bedroom, but today was an exception. She wrote in the notebook, organizing her emotions and what she wanted.

She wanted Raphael to be unhappy. Not because she disliked and hated him, but because of the sins he had committed so far. That was why Bishot agonized over whether to expose his wrongdoings. It was a good move, suitable for making him pay for his sins.

What made her hesitate was the scandal that would follow. She was purely the victim. She had only suffered.

But unfortunately, that fact alone would make stories about her circulate in society, and naturally, her name would be carried on countless tongues. Her family’s cold gazes would be piercing too. Could she endure that? Was this worth enduring?

Bishot placed her desire for Raphael to pay for his sins on one side of the scale and the pain she would have to endure on the other. The scale did not tip either way and remained balanced.

For now.

The next day, Bishot went to find Jefrin. It was because she remembered that he had once told her he would protect her. It had only been a promise made when they were children, but Jefrin still seemed mindful of it. If it was him, he seemed likely to grant her request.

Bishot feared Raphael’s retaliation. He had suddenly changed as though out of nowhere, so no one knew when he might return to how he had been. If she exposed what had happened to her, how would Raphael react? At the very least, he would not let it pass quietly.

At that time, she needed a means to protect herself.

---

After parting from Bishot in the club room, I sensed that something felt off. She seemed to have hidden it in her own way, but her eyes were full of dissatisfaction.

What was she unhappy about?

Even if they were not crimes I had committed, I was in the position of a sinner. Watching her mood was essential. I thought hard about why she was dissatisfied, but there was almost no way for me to know.

And it was not as though I could go find Bishot and ask what she was unhappy about, so my temples throbbed.

Still, there were a few things I could be certain of. First, it was not that I had made some mistake.

It was more correct to think that what had irritated Bishot was not something I had done, but something I was supposed to do and had not. After all, during vacation, and even now right after the semester had begun, I had practically no points of contact with Bishot.

“Ahh!”

I realized it. I understood. Thanks to diligently turning my brain, I found the answer. It had to be because of alchemy, which could be called Bishot’s identity.

When I had just entered the Academy, I had been active in alchemy. To earn money, and to prove I had not stolen Bishot’s research idea, I had released every piece of information I had heard and seen and acted on it.

Perhaps she wanted me to discover or invent something groundbreaking in alchemy again.

“I have run out of material, so what am I supposed to do...?”

I did not trust my memory. Therefore, while my memories were still relatively fresh, I wrote down every piece of information, and if something could be used, I used it. Among the cards left to me now, alchemy was no longer one of them.

“What am I supposed to do with this?”

It was not a problem I could solve immediately, so I would set it aside for now. As time passed, something would work out. Right now, I had to focus on breaking through the wall of Expert.

I reviewed the discussion I had with Katarina. I combined the sword forms we had disassembled in my head and established the formula in reverse order. Since the flow of breath and mana according to the situation was fixed, I thought about why it had come out that way. Time passed quickly.