“Ahhh…”
At Yujin’s words, Elysia just stared at him blankly. And then…
Drip, drip.
“Eh… eh?”
Tears began to flow from her one remaining eye. Streaming down her cheek, they hung off her jaw before dropping with a soft plop.
“Ah… I’m sorry. Why am I suddenly…”
As she said this, Elysia tried to wipe away the tears, but they wouldn’t stop flowing.
“Guh… Hiccup…”
Like proof of all her struggles up until now, she finally burst into tears. Watching this, Yujin realized anew.
“You’ve been through so much, haven’t you?”
Elysia was in an extremely unstable mental state. Yujin had known this fact from the very beginning.
After all, their first meeting had been when she broke down in tears upon seeing him—or rather, Enkeos that he was holding. There was no way he couldn’t have noticed.
When they made the contract, even though he offered help without asking for anything in return, it seemed like earning even a little trust would be difficult, and it was true that he didn’t have any obligation to help her without conditions. So he ended up making a contract that felt like something out of a demon’s proposal—but in reality, it was just a meaningless pact with no binding force. After all, Yujin hadn’t used Dragon Language when he made the contract with Elysia.
In truth, he simply wanted to help her as an educator. Still, Yujin wondered if he should’ve said something like this earlier.
“She’s more unstable than I thought.”
Yujin had no way of knowing what hardships Elysia had endured up until now. He didn’t know what inner battles she fought or how she resisted while being constantly eroded by mana.
Because of this, after their first meeting, when they had a proper conversation, and she seemed relatively fine, he forgot about it—forgot that she wasn’t okay at all.
“I’m sorry.”
With those words, Yujin gently wiped away the tears from the corner of her eyes. At his touch, Elysia hesitated.
“No, Professor! It’s not your fault…”
“It is. I thought I understood how troubled Your Highness was, but it seems my arrogance and assumptions were wrong.”
Indeed, Yujin was here purely to help Elysia. There were countless people dying somewhere in the world whom Yujin could do nothing about, but at least he believed it was his duty as a person to help those he could see and reach.
Still, reflecting on his actions back then, he realized he had acted too calculating, almost like making a demon’s deal.
“The contract aside… No, because we made a contract, I should have taken full responsibility for Your Highness. But I failed to realize how deeply your pain had festered. Your mental state is an important factor, and I admit I’ve been too complacent. I’m sorry.”
Having said that, Yujin pulled out a handkerchief from his Space Pocket and gently wiped away Elysia’s tears. Accepting his gesture, Elysia looked at Yujin blankly.
“…Why…”
“Hmm?”
“…Why are you so kind to me, Professor…?”
At Elysia’s question, Yujin paused to think. Why was he being so kind to her?
“As a professor helping a student… That wouldn’t make you believe me, right? Honestly, it doesn’t sound believable myself.”
“…”
“In that case, let me ask Your Highness something. What do you think when you see a child crying alone in the rain?”
“That’s…”
“If they’re all alone, without parents, crying until they dry up and wither away…”
“…”
“You’d probably feel pity and want to help them, right?”
“That’s… what I’d want to do.”
“Exactly. I feel the same way. To me, that’s how Your Highness looks.”
At this, Yujin smiled faintly and continued.
“Even if you don’t believe my words, there’s one thing I hope you’ll trust: the world has more good people in it than you might think.”
“…”
“Otherwise… humanity would’ve perished long ago, wouldn’t it?”
That goes for any world.
Having said that, Yujin put the handkerchief away.
By now, Elysia’s tears had stopped.
“Then, shall we begin? We can’t keep chatting forever.”
*
Elysia’s treatment commenced.
Of course, calling it “treatment” might be slightly misleading, but broadly speaking, since it aimed to resolve physical issues, it fit the term.
“Now, I’ll release the seal on the mana affecting Your Highness. Are you ready?”
“…Yes.”
Elysia nodded firmly despite her tense expression.
“I have afternoon lectures, so I can’t stay long… Let’s aim for three hours for now.”
“Three hours…”
A long time or a short time—it depended on perspective. For Elysia, it felt quite lengthy.
“We’ll start by getting accustomed to the mana. The unsealed mana might act unpredictably, but I’ll control it. Let’s begin.”
Gulp.
Elysia swallowed hard as she braced herself for the seal to be broken.
And then Yujin extended his hand toward Elysia and slowly channeled mana.
Woooom!
Deep crimson mana formed a multi-dimensional magic circle—a high-level magic formation typically used by Dragons. Such seals required spells of matching power to undo them.
Certainly, he could use Dragon Language, but Yujin judged it premature to reveal that to Elysia. Though she likely sensed he wasn’t an ordinary human, there’d be time for her to learn eventually.
For now, Yujin activated the spell regardless.
Whoooom!
The spell triggered.
Click, click.
It sounded like gears interlocking. The magical seal binding the princess’s mana began to dissolve.
And soon enough…
Click!
It was like a lock opening. The sound of the magical seal breaking rang out.
HOOOOWWW!!!
“Hic!”
Simultaneously with Elysia’s gasp, white mana erupted outward.
HOOOOOWWWWW!!!
Instantly, wherever the white mana touched, pure white flowers began to bloom.
Sssshhhhhhhhwa!
A vast field of white flowers spread rapidly around Elysia.
In moments, the entire dormitory was covered in flowers—an overwhelmingly beautiful sight. But…
“Ugh, aaaah…”
To Elysia, it looked different.
An endless field of dead flowers stretched before her, crawling with maggots. Blood started pooling across the room.
All these grotesque visions appeared vividly in Elysia’s eyes. It was like a nightmare come to life.
And, at the center of it all…
‘…!’
There stood another version of herself.
One-eyed, with flowers blooming from her side, this other self glared intently at her.
Elysia realized now.
This was the Demon’s Ego—the weaker, darker part of herself born from her own fear and evil.
Elysia trembled as she stared at [her].
Then, after staring silently for a while, [she] spoke.
Mine.Give.
With that, [she] lunged at Elysia.
Though Elysia instinctively stepped back, the figure before her seemed more like a phantom.
Despite her retreat, [she] closed the distance instantly and grabbed Elysia by the throat with both hands.
“Kehk…!”
[Give it.]
The Demon’s Ego, its face twisted like a demon’s, stared at her with bloodshot eyes and repeated the demand.
[Give it give it give it give it give it give it give it give it give it give it give it give it give it give it give it give it give it give itgiveitgiveitgiveitgiveitgiveitgiveitgiveitgiveitgiveitgiveitgiveitgiveitgiveit!!!]
Mad cries filled with chaos and malice. Yet strangely…
Elysia thought [she] looked desperate, almost frantic. Just then…
[Die!]
“Keek…!”
[She] tightened her grip on Elysia’s neck and shouted. Elysia had no time to think further.
“Kh… haa…!”
Swishhhhh…
Suddenly, a sword appeared in her hand.
A pure white single-edged blade, resembling flowers.
Forged from mana, curses, and demonic power, the blade materialized.
Elysia herself didn’t know how it came to be.
But she swung it instinctively at the other version of herself standing before her.
SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!
A sharp slicing sound cut through the air. Then…
Creeeeak…
The Demon’s Ego grinned eerily. Only now did Elysia notice something odd.
POOF!
The vision of the other self choking her disappeared, leaving only…
“…Professor?”
Somehow, Yujin was there now.
‘Huh?’
But it was already too late. The blade was mere inches from Yujin’s neck. By the time she realized, it was too brief a moment to react and stop.
If this went on, Yujin’s head would be…
Thud!
‘…?’
…Not severed?
No, rather…
‘Did he catch it?’
Precisely at that moment.
BOOOOM!!!
A deafening roar echoed as a powerful wind swept through, scattering the white flower petals around.
With just two fingers and his thumb, Yujin caught the blade imbued with mana, curses, and demonic power.
“A mere parasite trying to show off its tricks, huh?”
He muttered lowly, half-opening his eyes.
BOOOOOMMMMMM!!!
An overwhelming surge of mana erupted from Yujin’s body, incomparable to the white mana Elysia had released earlier.
The scattered flower petals disintegrated, and the rampant mana recoiled in confusion, retreating—and not just retreating, but fading along with the petals.
“…!”
Powerful, noble, majestic mana radiated from him. Contrasting sharply with it was a savage, ferocious energy.
Under its pressure, the mana within Elysia cowered and shrank back.
KYYYYAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!
A scream reverberated from deep within her soul. Yujin, still half-lidded, pierced straight through Elysia—or rather, her inner self—and spoke.
“If you’re a parasite, then behave like one and get exterminated quietly. It’s better to go peacefully than to provoke trouble, isn’t it?”
