25 - I Healed the Male Lead's Trauma
Episode 25
5. The Heroine Didn't Need a Hero (1)
The day flew by in an instant as Akteon's Second Manifestation, dubbed a rampage, was brought under control.
After successfully stabilizing him.
When I finally emerged outside, thinking I'd never see it again, it was already past midnight.
I wasn't granted the honor of collapsing onto my dorm bed immediately after escaping the main building.
Instead, I was dragged to the Garden of Oath with him to undergo a rank assessment.
'So, so tired.'
In theory, as a B-rank, it was impossible for me to completely stabilize magic power, even if I attempted to Guide an S-rank.
At best, I could buy time until someone of a higher rank arrived.
But not only did I succeed in Guiding where even the late Professor Hexion had failed…
'...I've never heard of a Second Manifestation's rank changing.'
An unwanted change had occurred.
And at the very top of the high ranks, revered like nobles throughout the entire country.
S-rank.
Recalling the events of dawn, I almost clutched my head, but swallowed the scream rising in my throat.
Everywhere ached as if I'd been beaten or overworked with high-intensity labor.
If this were my bed in the dorm, I could at least groan in secret.
But this was the magic power management room in the school's research building.
Connected to the Garden of Oath, there were too many eyes on me.
"Now I understand why Ortiz was in such a hurry."
"What do you mean?"
"She suddenly came and urged us to expedite the installation of the Control Stone Bracelet."
The researcher I'd seen yesterday spoke to me as I was about to undergo a detailed examination.
"If you were just a B-rank, it would have been difficult to sense the signs of a Second Manifestation, but it makes sense if you were an S-rank."
She said only what she wanted and ushered me inside.
Just recalling yesterday's events makes my head ache.
"What's going to happen from now on…"
The Manifestation of an S-rank Transcendent Being, a rare occurrence, swept through the school in an instant.
The fact that the protagonist was Akteon of Brondearne would provide even greater fodder for the students' gossip.
The researchers here were a prime example.
"As expected of Brondearne."
"Could they be conducting some kind of secret experiment there? Like artificially creating high-ranking Transcendent Beings."
From admiration to absurd rumors.
Ridiculous stories continued all day long.
'The latter is plausible, though. Everyone there grows up exposed to the magic power of high-ranking Transcendent Beings from a young age.'
But all of this would inevitably flow towards the biggest topic of this incident, my name.
The truth is, I was hiding my rank.
It's the result of secret research.
My attunement rate is high, or it's a mutation, and so on…
Rumors about me were spreading as we speak.
'The price for survival is all sorts of gossip… well, it's a cheap price, I suppose.'
Since there were no recorded cases, the headmaster, professors, and researchers decided to keep me locked up in the Garden of Oath for the time being.
I don't know how long I'll have to stay here.
'Ugh, this is annoying…'
Those gazes, as if I were a rare object, were truly unpleasant.
"Ortiz, were you perhaps hiding your rank?"
As if I would, when my life would be over if I were caught.
I had to come up with an answer that the researchers would readily accept to dispel this misunderstanding.
"Everyone with connections knows that I fainted during Akteon's First Manifestation Guiding. That was also the opinion of the apothecary in my family."
"Ah, that's right."
Someone immediately agreed, as if they had already checked with the management office.
Can civil servants be this loose-lipped?
At this rate, even classified information will be transmitted to enemy countries in real-time.
I wanted to be sarcastic, but I needed information just as much.
"The idea that I might have been hiding my rank… I think it's an understandable opinion, given how unbelievable this is. But to say that I underwent some kind of secret research in that short amount of time, and that I might be a product of it, is a bit of an overreach, don't you think?"
Fortunately, my relatively peaceful protest worked well.
"Ahem, yes. Whoever it is, I should tell them to focus on resolving this incident instead of indulging in wild fantasies."
Those who had gathered around me cleared their throats and dispersed.
In any case, I was only able to leave after going through various formal procedures, including physical measurements and magic power tests.
I was exhausted after conducting a Guiding test with my hand on a giant magic stone with a thin, stick-like core in the center.
Escaping the gloomy humans and the desolate magic power management room and being greeted by the sunlight.
'What a load of crap this is, right from the start of the semester.'
But this relief didn't last long.
* * *
To avoid the whispers that followed me everywhere, I had no choice but to take a route I didn't usually take.
After wandering around for nearly 20 minutes, a distance that would normally take less than 5 minutes, I finally arrived at the dorm.
Due to yesterday's events, more than half of the classes were suspended from the first day of the semester, making the dorm louder than usual.
I was about to enter the building, feeling like a monkey in a zoo.
Kashiel, who was coming from the main building, stopped when he saw me.
Anyone could see that he was uncomfortable with me, and I was about to go inside pretending not to see him, but he approached me first.
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm tired and just want to lie down in my bed."
"You don't have to make it so obvious that you don't want to talk to me."
I shrugged instead of answering.
I still don't particularly like Kashiel.
Unlike Akteon, who had avoided being involved with Guides due to trauma, this guy had arrogance stemming from possessing both high rank and status.
'And this will continue to be a source of conflict and an obstacle between him and me.'
Furthermore, the fact that he was worried about me, not Akteon, was another reason why I disliked him.
"Thanks for your concern. I didn't die, thanks to you."
Now I knew well, thanks to glimpsing Akteon's past.
No matter how much they were half-brothers, Akteon meant nothing to Kashiel.
They were only bound together as a family because of the Duke, so there was no law that said they had to accept each other.
His attitude, which occasionally revealed that he treated Akteon carelessly, irritated me, who had lost all my family and only had Hiakin by my side.
Even if he was conscious of me, the longer we talked, the more frequently we would fight.
"You won't die easily from now on."
For example, that way of thinking, reassuring himself that I wouldn't die just because my rank had increased a bit.
"I guess so. It seems like I won't be able to live comfortably, but that's okay."
So I pretended to be dizzy to cut off the conversation.
Kashiel nodded at my claim of being tired, but he seemed to want to say something else.
'I must be overthinking things right now.'
If it weren't for yesterday's events, I wouldn't be dealing with him like this.
I'm sorry, but I'm too busy worrying about my own problems right now.
The most pressing issue right now isn't Kashiel, but something else.
Akteon and Brondearne.
'He was already hinting that he was disappointed when my rank was only A-rank.'
Not A-rank, but a whopping S-rank.
He seems to have connections in this Estra Academy, so he must have heard the news about me faster than anyone else.
There is only one proposal that the Duke, having heard about my rank, will make.
That I be connected to someone from Brondearne.
At this rate, the Duke will try to hold onto me by any means possible.
Considering my situation, bound by just one bracelet and unable to escape, I'll soon be caught as he wishes.
The future, where I'll be subjected to whatever he wants regardless of my will, just because I'm an Evolved Being, already feels repulsive.
'The Duke has already plunged the lives of his wife and mistress into hell one after another.'
In Akteon's trauma.
I remembered the woman who had fallen into the mire because of the Duke.
I couldn't become the same.
It suddenly occurred to me that Akteon might also have recalled the Duke's machinations.
'Akteon…'
He was currently in isolation.
Compared to Guides, who can only stabilize magic power, Transcendent Beings who wield magic power naturally become extremely dangerous as their rank increases.
The Control Stones that prevent unauthorized use of magic power cannot use the standard ones.
He had no choice but to be isolated in a researcher's secret room while preparing a more robust one.
'If I end up in a similar situation, I can't even begin to guess how he'll react.'
His own mother was confined in the Duke's residence in such a state before dying.
If even I, whom he has developed feelings for, become the same.
'…Nothing good will happen. And no matter how high-ranking they Manifest, Evolved Beings are ultimately destined to be disposed of if their danger level increases.'
Unless the current system changes, prematurely revealing my power will only make Akteon unhappy.
I didn't want him to experience any more bad things, after having lived with only painful trauma until now.
'…Is this pity?'
Akteon from last night was still vivid.
From the moment he regained consciousness and met my eyes to the moment he heard about the change in my rank.
Constantly aware of something and afraid, yet at the same time, he seemed to have grasped an unfamiliar peace.
He kept making me feel sorry for him.
Even though the only things that mattered to me were my and Hiakin's well-being.
'At least we can hold hands.'
It seems that we both have the same goal of escaping Brondearne.
To do that, we needed to escape this uncomfortable environment and shackles.
I was drained when I finally returned to my room.
I took off my coat and threw it over the back of the chair, and as I collapsed onto the bed, a heavy sense of fatigue washed over me.
I mumbled as I fell asleep.
To escape this situation, first.
'Control Stone Bracelet.'
The cold sensation of the newly issued bracelet sent shivers down my spine.
The biggest reason why so many Evolved Beings were helplessly drafted into the battlefield.
Last night, the Control Stone, which I thought would never break, shattered under the strong magic power of the Transcendent Being.
'Since breaking it was possible…'
Maybe.
Could I make it malfunction whenever I need to?
