20 - I Healed the Male Lead's Trauma
Episode 20
4. A Junior Needs Guidance From a Senior (5)
“Yes, yes?”
It would be strange for her to know my name, but Milia asked back nonchalantly.
Is she just nervous?
She already looked like a sheep, and now she was so tense that I almost felt sorry for her.
“No, it’s nothing. What’s wrong?”
Did she get lost too?
When I pointed to Reedman, who was trembling like an aspen, Milia looked puzzled, her hand shaking slightly.
Then, she suddenly snapped out of it and shook her head.
Thank goodness, it doesn’t seem like you’re lost too.
“N-no, it’s not that, it’s….”
Then, as if she had made a big decision, she shouted.
“The garden! In the Garden of Oath… I heard the control stones aren’t working properly!”
“What?”
“They told me to report it to the research lab, but I don’t know where to go….”
It was a truly absurd statement.
It was strange enough that she grabbed a senior passing by and said there was a problem with the control stones.
‘Could she be….’
But before I could suspect Milia, a chill ran down my spine.
What if, as she said, the control stones were useless in the original story?
‘That’s right. The Garden of Oath is… designed to be sturdy in preparation for these abnormal manifestations. Fatal accidents shouldn’t happen.’
But what if Liliope died because the Garden of Oath didn’t function properly?
At the same time, a different thought flashed through my mind.
‘Then… if it activates normally, can I survive too?’
I looked at Reedman.
It was a silent warning that I wouldn’t let him off if he was playing tricks.
Only after seeing him nod desperately did I entrust him to Milia.
“Can you go to the Great Hall with them?”
“Y-yes!”
“Are you… going to the garden?”
Milia asked cautiously, but I didn’t bother to answer.
There were a suspicious number of things, but Akteon’s manifestation was more urgent.
I could postpone questioning Milia for later.
I watched Milia disappear and then turned towards the garden.
There wasn’t much time left.
I had to hurry.
* * *
As soon as I entered the Garden of Oath, I was stopped by the researchers.
“Student Ortiz, what brings you here?”
At other times, I would have gently persuaded them, but I didn’t have time for that now.
“Researchers, are all the control stones in the garden currently functioning properly?”
“What? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
Come to think of it, I don’t know who Milia heard it from.
I had no choice but to make something up.
“I sensed a strange magical reaction near the Great Hall. It seemed like a sign of a Second Manifestation, but it was very different from what I know.”
“Student Ortiz, are you asking us to believe that? You’re a student, so you couldn’t have been inside the Great Hall, and unless you’re an S-class, you can’t sense magical reactions from that distance.”
The researcher scoffed, as if to say, if you’re going to lie, do it thoroughly.
“But aren’t you a B-class student? It’s impossible.”
Even the time to argue was precious, but the more shameless one always wins in these situations.
I continued without giving in.
“What if an abnormal Second Manifestation really occurs? Can you, researchers, take responsibility for the damage caused by it?”
“Hey, student. Are you threatening me now?”
“The target who showed signs is Akteon Brondearne. I was right in front of him during his First Manifestation. And you researchers also know Akteon Brondearne’s expected grade.”
At those words, the researcher wavered for the first time.
Let’s ignore the fact that it doesn’t make sense for me to sense an unmanifested Second Manifestation with my grade.
Considering Akteon’s expected grade, this was not a matter to be taken lightly.
She unconsciously stammered.
“T-the control stones were almost completely used up during the A-class’s Second Manifestation the day before yesterday. The replacement work is in full swing, so they’re not ready.”
What?
I almost screamed in dismay.
So, in the original story, Liliope was caught up in Akteon’s magic and died alone because the garden’s control stones were all used up…!
And the fact that I was about to follow that fate made my head spin.
“…The fact that the replacement work is in full swing means there are enough control stones prepared, right?”
“Well, yes, but….”
“Can you hurry it up?”
Swept up in my urgency, she nodded inadvertently.
That’s a relief, at least.
There’s still a way.
Another headache came on, and my head throbbed.
Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I said to her.
“Just scatter them around so they don’t break. I’ll bring him.”
“S-student Ortiz. You’re going to take responsibility for everything you said, right?”
Even after saying this much, the researcher still seemed suspicious.
At most, it would be confinement.
‘It’s better than dying.’
At this point, I didn’t have the luxury to persuade them one by one.
“If nothing happens, send me to confinement or throw me to the front lines, whatever you want. If that’s what it takes to believe me.”
And I headed straight to the Great Hall without wasting any more time.
I wanted to ask them to gather other guides as well, but I didn’t dare to because I was afraid that the number of deaths would increase from one to six.
Since there were already few guides, it was uncertain whether the school would allow it.
‘I’ve at least increased the chances of survival.’
I felt strange thinking that I might die.
I even thought about bringing someone else to Akteon instead of me because I wanted to live.
But when the situation came, I ended up trying to step up myself.
The only thing I was worried about was if I couldn’t change the future.
Hiakin’s situation.
‘It can’t be helped. Hiakin will have to rely on Prince Isidor….’
Having made up my mind, I found the Great Hall, which was now close by.
In the meantime, my skin had turned cold. I soon entered.
* * *
Until this morning, Akteon’s condition was normal.
Even if someone provoked him, he didn’t seem like he would be greatly shaken, and as always, he was putting on a moderate act of innocence to look good to me.
‘The times he revealed his true feelings, even if you add them all up, were only a few minutes at most. It wasn’t much.’
During the First Manifestation and after the conversation with the Duke last time.
And… I recalled the conversation I had with Akteon before coming to school.
“Senior, I heard that the reason you decided to take a leave of absence was because of Hiakin.”
As a prospective student, I wondered if he was suddenly curious about the academy life, but that wasn’t it.
“I was curious about how he was doing. I wanted to see him before the opportunity disappeared completely. I didn’t know he was being treated like that.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
He smiled ambiguously and said it as if passing it off.
“I thought you went there because you were sure he was living like that.”
I don’t think I’m the type to reveal my inner thoughts so openly.
I couldn’t help but watch Akteon as he made such a blatant attempt to probe me.
Despite my staring gaze, Akteon instead lowered himself and said.
“I’m good at keeping secrets. How about you test how obediently I can act towards you?”
His past actions and those words themselves made it clear that he wanted to get by my side somehow.
Of course, I told him not to play tricks and changed the subject, but I had to keep thinking about those words.
‘Akteon is basically not the type to rely on someone easily.’
It’s quite surprising that he said that to me.
And I was convinced.
Akteon is the type of person who breaks down his own barriers to someone he has decided is trustworthy.
However, that also means he is a defensive and cautious person who doesn’t easily reveal himself.
The fact that such a person would suddenly have an abnormal Second Manifestation was strange to me, even when I thought about it.
‘Even if such a thing happened, he would have felt the signs himself.’
Having entered the Great Hall, I found a particularly sensitive-looking face among the students who had come to see the spectacle.
It was Kashiel.
‘I thought he would be holed up in his dorm and not come out.’
Still, he must be worried.
It doesn’t seem like it’s just because he’s his younger brother, but is it because they both experienced death?
Even as I watched the two of them, the officer’s speech did not end.
I couldn’t imagine such an incident happening in this boring atmosphere.
I’d rather it end peacefully like this.
But my expectations disappeared in less than a few minutes.
‘This is… magic?’
No.
It’s a little different from simple natural magic.
All my senses sharpened at the sharp and aggressive magic.
It was like magic that a Transcendent Being had absorbed once, then materialized and released.
But no one noticed this.
‘What is it…?’
In what I know, it was only mentioned that Akteon had a Second Manifestation on the day of the entrance ceremony.
I knew nothing about this magic.
At that moment, Akteon seemed to have felt it too, and he was looking around with a stiff expression.
Then, he found me watching him.
‘I can’t see well from this distance.’
But his condition is definitely different from before.
He fiddled with the collar of his tie as if he was feeling stuffy, then unbuttoned it.
It wasn’t certain, but he seemed to be sweating too.
‘No, it’s dangerous.’
I was about to step forward without thinking.
“Ortiz. You stay back.”
Kashiel, who was nearby, stopped me.
He must have sensed this ominous magic as it grew stronger.
However, Kashiel seemed to think that this was just a sign of Akteon’s Second Manifestation.
“This isn’t our mansion, and there are enough countermeasures for the Second Manifestation. You don’t need to step up.”
Kashiel advised in a serious tone.
“More than anything, that guy isn’t just broken because Claire’s guide died. In the manifestation that’s about to happen, that guy’s mind will be reflected as it is. A B-class like you can’t handle it.”
Broken.
The Akteon I’ve seen was overly fine.
To be exact, it was thanks to the fact that I didn’t try to know him deeply.
He seemed to have memories he didn’t want to recall, but he wasn’t overly attached to those memories.
As I shook off Kashiel’s hand, I suddenly pondered one thing.
‘…No, he might have been acting fine.’
Kashiel stopped me again.
“I warned you. It’s something that will be resolved if a high-ranking guide steps up anyway. This is Estra, so there might be an A-class, even if there aren’t many. Or a guide with high compatibility.”
Unfortunately, the problem is that Kashiel’s thoughts, which seemed quite rational and reasonable, were all wrong.
If that were the case, I would have gladly stepped back.
It was time for you, a Transcendent Being, to stop interfering.
Akteon, who was standing far away, brushed back his sweat-soaked hair and looked at me.
Akteon, who had frozen as if he had been frozen, was about to say something to me.
Thud.
He collapsed as he was.
In the midst of the commotion, the words he spat out were clearly engraved in my mind.
‘Don’t come.’
