Chapter 73

Part 23: Test Subject (1)

He sneered at me, standing there in a daze.

"It's too late. Hah, running won't do you any good. The only reason it hasn't exploded yet is because I'm still alive... or you could try to run away now and have some fun."

I had no intention of running. Instead, I asked him a question.

"The two of them seemed to trust you. Is it okay to betray them like this?"

Perhaps it was because of my calm expression. He frowned.

He seemed to dislike my calm demeanor more than the fact that he was dying.

Still, he answered my question, unlike before.

I wish I had done this earlier.

"You, you fools, you were nothing but test subjects. Me, and these kids. Well, they didn't even know why it happened, so maybe they had it worse... Ugh. But, I gave them abilities and let them dream of the future, so they'll forgive me, right?"

"Forgive you? Not a chance."

He looked surprised at my words.

"Ah, refreshing. Now that I think about it, there's no need to grumble inside anymore."

Thanks to the fact that I had almost killed him, I obtained more information than expected.

It seemed he was finding it difficult to answer, so it would be hard to get more information now.

Still, I asked one last question.

"Who do you work for? The First Prince? The Second Prince? The Duchy? Or the Empire? Is there anything else you can tell me?"

He only looked bewildered at my questions.

"You, you bastard..."

Indeed, it was impossible for him to say more.

Should I have just cut off one of his arms?

I stabbed him, narrowly missing his heart, but the blood flowing from his arms was too much.

Even an awakened noble would have a hard time surviving this.

Cough. Cough.

He tried to say something in his final moments, but only blood came out of his mouth.

"See you again."

I waved at him as he struggled to breathe.

He died with an expression of incomprehension.

Snap.

At that moment, the mana connecting him to the children was severed.

The children's bodies glowed brightly.

The same phenomenon as during the opening ceremony.

Back then, there was only one, and the building was sturdy. With two, this place might be completely destroyed.

This thought crossed my mind, but it was meaningless since I was also involved.

Perhaps because it was the moment of death, the light seemed to spread slowly.

Plan B.

The start of a truly frustrating plan, where I would die and start over.

I gritted my teeth in anticipation of the pain to come.

Flash!

The world was filled with light.

In the next moment, my entire body shattered, and the pain hit my head hard.

Then darkness.

* * *

"The opening ceremony is now concluded."

When I opened my eyes, I was back in the opening ceremony hall.

It was just as the ceremony was ending.

Unlike the times when I repeatedly died during the opening ceremony, I regained consciousness relatively quickly, perhaps because there was a gap of a few days.

Still, the pain was the same.

As I panted, leaning against the wall, the adults around me asked if I was okay and moved on.

In the novels I read in my previous life, the protagonist could die hundreds or thousands of times, but it was exhausting to die even once.

Every time I tried to do something, death found me, making my life truly frustrating.

After that, time flowed as it did in my previous life.

Yegang, who was lying in the infirmary, had already committed suicide, and this time, his suicide was also quietly buried.

The opening ceremony was completed normally, and the meeting with Catherine and the head knight went as usual.

However, the final request was different.

"I would like a private room, preferably at the end of the corridor."

There was no need to explain at length, as I did when I asked to share a room with Pia.

They already thought I needed my own room.

That night, when I arrived at the dormitory room, a student was coming out of the room next door.

I greeted the student.

"Is this your room next door?"

"Ah... Yes..."

Pia flinched and answered.

Despite the greeting, I already knew he was my neighbor.

In my previous life, I saw that Pia's next-door room was empty, so I requested this room.

After a brief greeting, I entered my room.

Like when I shared a room with Pia, my luggage was already there.

Before unpacking, I sat at the desk.

I opened the drawer, took out a pen and paper, and started organizing my plans.

The few days before I died this time were not particularly pleasant.

The chaotic movements of the new students made me quite flustered.

Due to Pia's sudden outing, I faced the enemy unprepared and ended up dying.

"Honestly, I could have gotten through this time without dying..."

After realizing things had gone wrong, I could have just run away.

Well, if I think about it that way, I didn't even need to attend this school.

I could have dropped out, returned home, and bowed to the Duke, then taken my mother and fled to a distant village.

Sigh, even if I think about it again, that option isn't easy. My brothers and the nobles attached to the Duke wouldn't let me go easily.

Still, during the unpleasant days, I managed to gather some information.

First, that teacher.

If what he said before dying was true, it means there are people who create inheritance abilities.

Is that even possible?

In my previous life, it would have been a groundbreaking invention worthy of a Nobel Prize.

Hmm. He called them test subjects, so perhaps they are still in the clinical trial stage.

Well, given the state of human rights in this place, it doesn't seem particularly special to conduct clinical trials on humans.

However, the destruction of the opening ceremony hall and the appearance of that teacher don't seem like the work of academic researchers.

This suggests that there are some formidable people operating behind the scenes.

They are capable of carrying out terrorist attacks in the Royal Academy, creating the inheritance abilities that sustain the social hierarchy of this world.

If I get involved, I'll probably just end up dying.

Or, am I already involved?

The images of the princess and Catherine came to mind.

I sighed.

Erasing the images of the princess and Catherine from my mind, I continued my thoughts.

Pia's and Melissa's necklaces.

Pia's explosion was not due to his own inheritance ability but was mediated by the necklace.

"Perhaps it's an item that overloads mana. I need to verify this."

I roughly wrote down my schedule and the people I needed to meet on the paper, then burned it.

After roughly unpacking my luggage, I lay down on the bed.

Tomorrow was bound to be very busy.

"I wish I didn't have to unpack again."

I hoped I wouldn't have to relive today and quickly went to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, two general education classes.

History and the basics of inheritance abilities passed as they did in my previous life.

The situation where I was somewhat isolated was the same, and the professors' boring lectures were no different.

Naturally, I ate lunch alone.

In the end, the afternoon classes proceeded in the same way.

The knight department's major class began with sparring with the knights, and I was called by Catherine to spar with her.

Clang!

Swords clashed,

Clang!

A sword deflected off a shield.

"Goodness, you're not sparring without mana, are you?"

"That's impossible. There's no way such movements are possible without mana!"

"Is that so..."

"Still, it's impressive. You seem to be at the level of a decent squire."

Students who had already finished sparring were whispering about my match with Catherine.

Some of the knights and a few students seemed to realize that we were sparring without mana.

"Sure, you haven't been slacking off in your training."

"Of course not."

As we sparred, Catherine and I conversed. Without using mana, we had enough mental energy to chat.

Unlike my previous life, this time I didn't try to create an image during the sparring.

Since it was difficult to properly assess our skills, it seemed better to change people's perceptions a bit.

There was no need to use mana, so the only option was to spar with Catherine, sweating and exerting ourselves.

"Still, it's hard to assess our skills with this kind of sparring."

Catherine stepped back with a regretful look.

We had sparred for a long time, but this kind of sparring made it difficult to show our true abilities.

I also stepped back and sheathed my sword.

"We should arrange a separate time for sparring later. Is that okay?"

"Sure."

I was grateful.

Among the people who knew me, she was one of the few who truly understood my skills and had fought alongside me.

To continue improving, I needed proper sparring in addition to real combat. She was the best sparring partner for that.

After the final greetings, I noticed that the reactions were different from my previous life.

I saw various expressions—envy, jealousy, admiration, and indifference—but it seemed that no one underestimated my skills.

Although I didn't show my full abilities, this was a decent start.

Now, a bit more of the basic classes, and the afternoon classes would end.

I asked Catherine for permission.

"I seem to have a slight cut. Can I go to the infirmary and then leave early?"

I showed her my arm, which was bleeding.

"Huh? When did you get that?"

"I made a mistake during the sparring without mana."

"You should have been more careful."

Although we didn't use mana, the sparring was close to real combat.

Without mana to protect our bodies, it was possible to get injured.

Of course, neither Catherine nor I would get seriously injured in this kind of sparring.

Since I had made a mistake and gotten injured, she had nothing to say.

"Did you hurt any muscles?"

"No, just a scratch. I'll go to the infirmary and get a healing spell."

The healing spells of the priests were excellent for simple injuries, far better than bandages or surgery in my previous life.

"Then you can leave early."

As expected, Catherine gave her permission.

I bowed to her and the knights and left the training ground.

The students seemed relieved to see the injury on my arm.

After leaving the training ground and out of sight, I wiped my arm with my hand.

Unlike the blood, the wound was barely visible.

The bleeding had stopped immediately.

I had used mana to block the blood vessels around the wound.

This was hardly a wound at all.

It wasn't even worth showing to a priest, and it would heal with just a touch.

It had to be this way.

This wasn't a wound I received from her.

It was a wound I inflicted on myself and squeezed to draw blood.