Episode 25. Interlude – You Were That Kind of Woman

The hideout of the Devil God Church.

Inside the hideout, where thirty-nine corpses lay scattered, I struggled to get up.

“Ugh… It hurts like hell, seriously.”

The aftereffects of the Holy Mark Amplifier had kicked in.

They said it was made without considering the aftereffects, and the pain from my twisted meridians was beyond imagination.

‘But at least its performance is solid.’

Even though it was just a prototype that could only increase magic power by 30% of the theoretical limit, the effect was still impressive.

‘If 30% is this much, what would 100% be like?’

I smiled contentedly, thinking of the Seven Star Grass I had packed in my bag.

“Let’s see…”

Now that the aftereffects were over, it was time to investigate the inside.

‘Honestly, I don’t have high hopes.’

The guy had placed high-level restrictions even on his low-ranking subordinates to prevent information leaks.

Even if I searched this place thoroughly, the chances of finding useful information were slim.

‘But it’s still better than doing nothing.’

I moved through the corpses scattered on the floor, investigating the hideout of the Devil God Church.

After searching every nook and cranny for a while, I found a pile of black nails in a small room that looked like a storage area.

“These nails contain the ‘curse’ that blinded Iris’s eyes.”

There were at least hundreds of black nails piled up.

The amount of curse in each nail wasn’t much, but with this many, it was a different story.

‘But even this isn’t enough to curse the entire school.’

I had learned about large-scale rituals from Senior Sophia before.

The key to a large-scale ritual is how much material is prepared and how intricately the ritual is designed.

And.

‘Where the caster performs the ritual.’

For a ritual of this scale, it would be difficult for the caster to operate from the ‘outside.’

Moreover, this ritual had to last for months until all the power of the ‘Seven Eyes’ was drained.

No matter how powerful the ritual created by an Archbishop-level Mine, it would be impossible to maintain if the caster was outside.

‘Which means.’

The Grand Archbishop of Dreaming, Ashtaroth, had been hiding inside the school for the months the ritual was active.

“No… no, not months.”

The Mines had clearly said they had been preparing this plan for years.

It was highly likely that the caster had disguised themselves and infiltrated the school long before the ritual began.

That would make it much easier to activate and maintain the ritual from within the school.

‘In other words.’

The Grand Archbishop of Dreaming, Ashtaroth, is currently disguised and hiding inside the school.

‘It would be hard to find him without knowing who he’s disguised as.’

There are nearly a thousand candidates in the school alone.

Adding professors, various workers, and people working in research labs after graduation, the number becomes much larger.

‘I couldn’t investigate all of them.’

Even if I tried, it was questionable whether I could find an Archbishop-level Mine who was determined to hide.

And most importantly.

“There’s no reason for me to go looking for him.”

I chuckled as I looked around the bloodstained hideout.

Right.

What reason do I have to go out of my way to find him?

‘He’ll come looking for me.’

If Ashtaroth finds out that his years-long plan has been leaked, he’ll be desperate to find me.

‘I don’t even need to leave evidence.’

In fact, leaving too obvious evidence would make him suspicious.

All I have to do is wait quietly until he finds me.

“So… you were inside the school.”

Before leaving the hideout.

I flicked one of the black nails I had brought and looked up at the moonlit night sky.

I don’t know who you’re disguised as.

I don’t know why you went to such lengths to target Iris’s ‘Seven Eyes,’ or what you planned to do with the power you stole from her.

In my past life, you died at the hands of the ‘Sword of the Holy Kingdom’ before we even met.

‘But.’

One thing.

I know for sure.

“Ashtaroth.”

This time.

“You’ll meet me before the Sword of the Holy Kingdom.”

* * *

On my way back to the school dormitory from the Devil God Church’s hideout.

Walking through the streets that had long since fallen into darkness, I frowned.

“Ugh… I’m so tired from all that fighting.”

All my wounds had been healed by the Blessing of Resurrection, but fatigue wasn’t something that could be fully recovered.

The aftereffects of using the Holy Mark Amplifier and the fatigue from fighting thirty Mines made me drowsy.

‘I should hurry back and sleep.’

As I quickened my steps toward the dormitory.

“Huh?”

I saw someone crouched in front of my dorm room, nodding off.

Pink hair peeked out from under the robe.

“…Iris?”

When I cautiously called her name, the woman who had been nodding off suddenly stood up.

“You damn…! Oh, no, Mr. Dale! Where have you been all this time?!”

Iris approached me with an angry expression.

“I tried contacting you so many times!”

“Ah.”

I turned on my Hero Watch and saw a flood of messages from Iris.

“You didn’t reply, so I asked around and heard you went to the outdoor training ground with a permit from Professor Jade! Do you know how worried I was?!”

Well.

If I suddenly disappeared after getting a permit from Professor Jade, known as the ‘Student Killer,’ anyone would have been as shocked as she was.

“It’s fine. Nothing happened.”

“Nothing happened? Look at the state of your clothes!”

“That’s…”

I looked down at my clothes and saw they were torn in several places.

‘The Blessing of Resurrection only heals the body, after all.’

I had wiped off the blood of the Mines before returning to the dorm, but I couldn’t do anything about the tears.

“Well… I rolled around in the mountains.”

In the end, the excuse that came out of my mouth was embarrassingly weak.

“…You rolled around?”

“Yeah. The item Professor Jade asked for was in a rough terrain.”

“Hmm.”

Iris looked at me suspiciously, then grabbed my hand and pointed to the door.

“Open the door.”

“…Isn’t it risky for you to enter the male dorm at this hour?”

“That’s why we should go in before anyone sees us. I had a hard time sneaking here without Camila noticing.”

At Iris’s urging, I opened the door.

The interior was so shabby that it was hard to believe it was the same school dormitory as hers.

“Now, take off your clothes and come here.”

“…Take off my clothes?”

When I looked at her in surprise, Iris’s face turned bright red as she shouted.

“Y-your injuries! I need to check your injuries!”

“Ah, yeah. But I’m really fine.”

“Hmph. If you don’t take them off, I’ll do it for you?”

That would be a reward… no, wait.

“Alright.”

I took off my shirt and approached her.

Iris examined my body with a serious expression.

“Hmm. No visible injuries.”

“See? I told you I’m fine.”

“No. Heroes’ bodies are so tough that injuries often don’t show on the surface.”

Iris carefully reached out and touched my body.

“You said you rolled around in the mountains?”

“Yeah.”

“Looking at the state of your clothes, it must have been quite a rough roll… You might have internal bleeding.”

As she said this, Iris carefully channeled her magic power.

A warm light from her Holy Mark seeped into my body.

It felt like drinking a warm soup as heat spread through me.

“…That should take care of any internal bleeding.”

“I would have healed on my own if you left me alone.”

“Hmph! I told you not to say things like that!”

She lightly flicked my forehead with a stern expression.

“Understand? Even if you’re a Hero, you can’t treat your body carelessly. Heroes feel pain just like anyone else when they get hurt.”

“……”

Suddenly.

A faded memory flashed through my mind.

-You shouldn’t treat your body so carelessly.

-It’s fine, I’ll just come back to life anyway.

-But you still feel the same pain!

Ah, right.

You were that kind of woman.

In my past life, and now.

Unchanging.

Always.

Always.

“Mr. Dale?”

“……”

“…Are you crying?”

I wiped my eyes and shook my head quietly.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“……”

An awkward silence filled the room.

“Ahem, ahem!”

Unable to bear the awkwardness, Iris cleared her throat and stood up.

“Anyway! The reason I contacted you today is something else!”

Come to think of it, I hadn’t checked why she had messaged me today.

“Mr. Dale, are you free this weekend?”

“I should be… why?”

“Would you like to go out with me?”

So that’s why she contacted me. She wanted to go out somewhere this weekend.

‘A date with Iris.’

Of course, it wasn’t quite at the level of a ‘date’ yet, but still.

The thought of spending time alone with her was an irresistibly sweet proposal.

“Where are we going?”

“That’s…”

Seeing her hesitate slightly, I smiled warmly.

‘Where does she want to go?’

A theater in Valhalla City? Or a cozy café?

Given her love for food, it might be a famous restaurant.

‘Anywhere is fine.’

As long as I could be with her, even if it was the slums, it wouldn’t matter.

‘Though she wouldn’t suggest going to the Ant Hill.’

I chuckled as I waited for her answer.

“Mr. Dale… have you heard of the Ant Hill?”

“…What?”

Are you seriously suggesting we go to the Ant Hill?