The Academy’s Deceased Ate It All

She and I faced each other and said nothing.

No—it would be more accurate to say neither of us could.

I had no clue where to even begin, and Minerva—whatever was going through her head—just kept her face turned to the side.

Even Sbeungali wasn't saying a word.

"Haah…."

When I let out a sigh, Minerva flinched far harder than the moment warranted.

For starters, I grabbed one of the chairs beside me and pushed it over toward her.

"U-um. If such be the case, then gratefully shall I accept thy kindness."

Minerva said this and carefully lowered herself onto the chair.

Watching her, I was rattled that what I'd half-suspected had turned out to be true, and yet I steadied myself surprisingly fast—fast enough to startle even me.

I figured it was probably thanks to having precedents like Margo and Sbeungali.

It was just that the way my heart started pounding the instant I saw her had nothing to do with the fact that yet another Seven Calamity had been living inside me.

Minerva.

It was the fact that, of all beings, one who could wipe out everyone—me included—in a heartbeat had been existing inside me.

'…It's fine.'

If she'd wanted to attack me, or had any intention of it, she'd have done it long ago.

And going by her bearing right now, she didn't seem to harbor any hostility toward me, or any ill intent.

No—if anything….

"First of all."

When I opened my mouth, she carefully turned her head and looked at me.

Even I, who saw girls like Han Su-yeong, Jin Ye-seul, Lee Ye-eun, and Lee Yu-na on a regular basis, flinched for a second—she looked that unreal.

"…Mind if I ask what happened?"

"Ah, mm. So that is it. So that is what thou askest first."

Minerva murmured this and nodded.

But before long she lifted her chin as if she understood and looked at me.

"Very well. In any event, mine is a body that should long since have crumbled to dust the moment I fell to thee. And as a rule, the victor holds the right to dispose of all that belongs to the vanquished. I shall answer thy questions with all that I know, in utmost good faith."

After speaking boldly, Minerva went right ahead and gave me her answer.

"As to what came to pass—in truth, even I do not rightly know."

"What?"

"I-it is true."

When I shot back sharply before I could stop myself, Minerva flinched and murmured it.

"By rights, I ought to have died the moment I made thee take on my living blood, and gave up even mine own heart to neutralize it."

I nodded at her explanation.

At that, she straightened her posture and went on.

"Had it been a wound taken in battle, perchance I might have restored it forthwith… yet since I gave it up of mine own will, that I could not do. So I accepted my death calmly. As thou knowest, by then I had attained nearly all of my long-cherished wish. I had no regrets, either."

She folded her arms and blinked her eyes languidly.

"And yet at some moment, when I came to my senses, I found myself plopped down all alone in a space that was naught but pitch black. At first I took it for the afterlife… but ere long, I came to realize it was within thy shadow."

Along with those words, she lifted a hand toward me as if to show off.

And as Henir's Shadow surged and flickered like flames from the wrist she'd raised, I let out a cough in spite of myself.

"Beyond that, I came to understand that I had assimilated with thy shadow and, against mine intent, ended up swallowing it whole. Thanks to that, I have come to wield the shadow's abilities as if they were mine own."

At her words I immediately opened my status window and checked Henir's Shadow.

But there wasn't a single change in the window.

"S-so… it seems I shall be dwelling at thy side for a time."

Minerva tucked both hands between her legs and fidgeted, as if uncomfortable about something.

Then, with eyes tinged orange, she glanced at me and mumbled,

"Shouldst thou find it unpleasant, I shall remain within the shadow. For the time being, I have become subordinate to thee, and so I cannot defy thy commands."

"No. I mean. It's not really that unpleasant…."

"I-is that so?"

At my words Minerva quickly lit up.

"Then I may continue to abide with thee? Dost thou mean to say I may come forth now and again to walk at thy side, to meet thine eyes and speak with thee?"

For a second I couldn't help but look away from her sparkling eyes.

At that Minerva let out an "ah" too and pulled the body she'd leaned half-forward back to where it had been.

"C-come to think of it, of late I have not felt the gazes."

"Gazes? What gazes."

"The gazes that were watching over thee."

Minerva answered in a tone like it was no big deal.

"From the day thou camest here seated in that, that chair with wheels, no fewer than two gazes were often turned upon thee."

"…."

For a second I was at a loss for words, but Minerva nodded placidly.

"Still, well, they seemed to bear thee no ill will, and above all, they vanished without a trace from the very day thou begannest to walk again on thy two feet… and so I simply let it pass and thought no more of it."

As she murmured that dodging and moving around to avoid those gazes had been pretty rough, I watched her and threw out a question to hide my fluster.

"Hey, more importantly—you said you deliberately made me take on your blood, right? And to neutralize it you fed me your… heart."

"That I most certainly did."

"Could you tell me what the effects of that are? And about 'Dragon's Blood,' the authority I got from you, too."

"As much as thou shalt wish, my dear."

Minerva nodded with a look that was clearly even more delighted than before.

No—I even caught her humming a little tune partway through, so it couldn't have been my imagination.

"To begin, they say that those who endure being doused in a dragon's living blood gain skin like unto steel, and that no manner of blade may pierce them. My blood, likewise, is no different."

"You're saying it's like a dragon's?"

"Place me not on the level of those wretched dragons, my dear."

Minerva lifted her chin with a confident expression.

"Thy body, having been doused in my blood, shall grow ever more resilient as time passes—not at this very moment, mind—and even when wounded, it shall mend with haste. And as I said before, no ordinary blade shall be able to so much as scratch thee. Well… pain thou shalt still feel."

"And?"

"Thy blood shall be a deadly poison, and at the same time the sole cure for that very poison."

At that, Nidhogg's Fang, hidden inside my forearm, suddenly came to mind.

Since it had come up, I drew it out, and Minerva nodded as if intrigued.

"Nidhogg, is it? That fellow's venom is rather fierce as well."

"How does it compare to yours?"

"My dear, seek not to compare me with one who used to gnaw on tree roots."

Minerva scrunched her eyes in displeasure.

"To continue mine explanation… I was the Seven Calamity who ruled over poison. Poison was mine forte and a part of mine own being. The very ground that mine breath settled upon could not sprout a single blade of grass for decades. And such a venom of mine now flows within thy blood."

"…."

When I looked down at my arm with an uneasy expression, Minerva quickly spoke up.

"O-of course, it shall do thee no harm whatsoever. And on top of that, thou canst neutralize the poison with thine own blood at will, so there is no cause for worry at all."

"Yeah, well…."

When I nodded a touch grudgingly, Minerva spoke with a sulky look, slightly put out.

"Moreover, since thou hast taken mine heart, in truth thou may'st be considered to possess limitless mana. Pain thou may'st feel when wringing it forth, of course, yet thou shalt never be troubled by want of mana."

"That part's good."

"Naturally."

Only after hearing my favorable answer did she finally nod, looking pleased.

And then she slowly turned eyes that sparkled like jewels this way.

"And as for mine authority… to speak of Dragon's Blood, well."

She quietly opened her mouth.

"I become thee, and thou becomest me."

"That means…."

"Dost thou wish me to speak more plainly?"

I nodded at Minerva's words.

At that she gave a bright smile and said,

"For thou art the one who hath swallowed mine existence; therefore, for an instant, thou canst call forth mine form, take it upon thyself, and wield it."

[Insane….]

Sbeungali quietly cursed at her words, and I nodded as if that alone was enough.

And then I carefully asked the thing I'd kept wanting to ask but hadn't been able to bring up right away.

"Then just one last thing."

At the look on my face, Minerva wore an expression like she already knew what I was going to say.

"Ji-na, my sister… tell me everything you know about her."

At that, Minerva nodded.

"Thy sister is…."

"…."

Yu Ji-hyeok was walking down the hallway with a thoroughly hardened expression.

Inside his head, the story he'd just heard was circling around without pause.

'First, I pray thee, understand that mine memory is not whole.'

That was how Minerva had begun, with a serious expression.

'In truth, even mine memories of thee are not whole. There are many a hole here and there. I do remember that thou wert with another besides thyself—a human woman—and that there was yet another someone, but mine memory hath grown so faded that I cannot even hazard a guess at who those two might have been. …Surely it must be someone's meddling.'

Ahriman.

It had to be him.

Always, always that bastard.

'Thou didst say thou hadst come to seek traces of thy sister. It was not thine original purpose, but somehow it had come to be so… The details I do not remember. I am sorry.'

Minerva had gone on, face scrunched as if trying to dredge up the memory.

'Yet there are two things I remember for certain.'

First, that he'd said his sister was in the same world as him.

And second….

'Thou didst say—plainly—that thy sister's body and mind had been sundered apart. And likewise, that even shouldst thou find both, thou knewest not what would come of it….'

Thud!

Yu Ji-hyeok slammed his fist into the wall with all his might.

He just couldn't keep his fury in check.

"Ahriman…!"

He muttered it as if spitting it out, hurling someone's name with pure hatred.

Rage, grievance, hatred, helplessness, pent-up resentment… it was a voice with everything churning together in a dizzying mess.

Why on earth is he doing this to me.

What am I to him—what did I ever do to him that he keeps pulling this kind of crap?

At the news that he'd rummaged through and torn up his head, flung him into an unfamiliar world, and as if that weren't enough, flung that girl into this world too, it felt like all the blood in his body was surging backward.

No—more than that, just what the hell is that bastard.

Just what is he, that he could throw me into this world and toy with his fellow Seven Calamities.

And as if that weren't enough, he'd supposedly dragged that girl into this world as well.

From the sound of it, she'd been cast into a time period staggeringly far removed from his own.

And when he'd heard that her body and mind were separated, it was almost beyond belief.

He couldn't understand what that even meant, but he could at least grasp that she'd been through something horrific.

Maybe, just maybe, like Alice Blesbuck had said, that kind of…!

"…hyeok! Ji-hyeok!"

"…Ah."

It was only after someone abruptly grabbed his right arm and yanked it that he was finally pulled out of his thoughts.

"Wh-what are you doing? What in the world is this!"

That someone was none other than Lee Yu-na.

She cried out, her face drained white, as if she'd had the fright of her life.

"What on earth happened? What could happen to drive you to this state…!"

As if her own fist had been the one crushed, she scrunched her face in pain and let go of the right arm she'd been clutching tight in both of hers.

His right hand was a mess of blood, and only then, feeling the pain, did he turn his gaze to see the half-shattered wall slick with blood.

"…Enough. I'm fine."

Yu Ji-hyeok said this and pulled his right arm back behind him.

At that, Lee Yu-na, who'd been taking out a handkerchief and some ointment, started in alarm and grabbed his wrist.

"Fine, my eye! Does this look like an ordinary wound to you? You need first aid right now and then proper treatment…."

"I said I'm fine."

A flash of irritation surged up, but he said this and tried to gently shake off Lee Yu-na's hand.

But Lee Yu-na, refusing to back down, gripped his wrist tight.

"Yu-na, I really am fine. Okay? It's because of something really sensitive and personal… so please, just leave me alone."

Yu Ji-hyeok barely held back the irritation welling up as he said it.

He wanted to vent his pent-up resentment at someone right that instant, but he knew better than anyone that it was the stupidest, most unreasonable thing he could do.

"Th-then at least let's get it treated… yeah?"

At Lee Yu-na's words, Yu Ji-hyeok turned his head away and let out a small sigh.

And then, shaking off her hand once more, he said,

"This has nothing to do with you, so back off, would you."

"Ah."

At those words from Yu Ji-hyeok, Lee Yu-na couldn't help the stunned look that came over her face.

It might have been nothing, really—words she could have just let slide.

But….

"…."

At his words, Lee Yu-na felt something inside her snap clean off.

That something she'd kept pulled taut for long years, afraid someone might touch it—pulled so tight that the slightest touch would slice your finger.

So feebly, in an instant.

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