Chapter 29

Thud.

A girl’s body crumples and collapses into a bed of flowers.

With one eye closed, she soon breathes peacefully, reminding one of Sleeping Beauty.

And there, Yujin briefly looks down at her before standing up.

《Looks like you didn’t end up doing much after all.》

Upon seeing this, Tiamat comments from the side as Yujin shrugs.

“It’s not like I did nothing. I did seal off the demonic energy.”

《But this child is already transforming into a demon. More specifically… we missed the chance to remove the Seed of the Demon. Whether physically or spiritually, she’s already no longer human.》

“That’s why all I could do was seal the demonic energy. If I had tried to extract the seed, this young lady would’ve died.”

As Yujin confirmed, the corruption had already passed the point of no return. The girl and the Seed of the Demon had long since become one.

In this state, there’s no way to separate her from the demon. Tiamat added,

《Already, this child and the demon are indistinguishable. It’s not that the Seed of the Demon is some separate entity tormenting her. More likely, it’s another self born from her inner weakness and malice that continues to erode her mind and spirit.》

“Hmm… Is it too late?”

《Sealing the demonic energy bought us some time, but ultimately, it’s just a matter of time… Since the demonic energy was sealed, the likelihood is high that she’ll continue to weaken. After all, demonic energy forms the very foundation of a demon’s power.》

“Such a pity.”

Yujin mutters this while stroking his chin.

To be precise, the girl in front of him is currently like a terminal cancer patient.

Had early measures been taken—like surgery—she might have been saved. But now, with the cancer cells having spread far and wide…

There’s simply no other method unless time itself can be reversed.

However…

《I’ve said it before, right? Time for a Transcendent has an absolute aspect. And absolute time isn’t easily interfered with by even a Transcendent. If it were, everyone would’ve meddled with time during the Great War to secure their own victory.》

Interfering with the time of a Transcendent isn’t easy, even for a Dragon whose power approaches omnipotence. Of course, it’s not necessarily impossible…

《Of course, since you inherited my mana, you might still be able to interfere with the incomplete transcendence of time that you possess. But you won’t conveniently rewind this girl back to when she wasn’t a demon.》

Meaning the time of the girl who’s already half-demon can’t be rewound to when she wasn’t. Tiamat adds that the birth of a Transcendent isn’t something that can be so easily suppressed.

“So there’s absolutely no way?”

Even terminal cancer patients have chemotherapy as a last resort.

Granted, chemotherapy is often a desperate measure due to lack of alternatives, aiming to extend life even slightly, or because abandoning the patient isn’t an option. It’s an extremely painful process, but it’s not entirely without hope.

Yujin asks if there’s any such method for this girl.

《There’s no way to turn her physical form back from demon to human. However, the fortunate part is that this child is still maintaining her sense of self.》

“What do you mean…?”

《Inside this child, another self has likely been born, nourished by inner weakness and malice through the Seed of the Demon—a new self reborn as a demon. For her to maintain her original self, she must either accept it, overcome it, or coexist with it.》

“Hmm.”

In short, it means she must either assimilate with her demonic self, defeat it, or find a way to coexist with it.

“Assimilation seems easiest, doesn’t it? The other two options seem to require her spiritual strength to at least match that of her demonic self… Judging by her current state, it’s hard to tell.”

《That’s true, but assimilation also deviates somewhat from maintaining her original self. There’s a risk of self-corruption.》

“Hmm…”

《Of course, there are ways you could help, but it doesn’t feel like the right time to bring them up yet.》

Just then, as Tiamat said this—

Rustle!

The sound of someone pushing through the garden bushes approached quickly. Yujin had already been looking in that direction.

“The demonic energy traces lead here!”

“Damn… Your Highness, Princess!”

Soon, two women appeared through the garden.

***

A little earlier, at the Student Dormitory.

“It’s not here, President.”

“Damn… Were we toyed with?”

President Ines and Professor Reina hurriedly moved to the student dormitory after being startled by Yujin’s not-so-joking remark.

However, he wasn’t there. At best, they only caught a few students sneaking into the opposite gender’s dormitory for secret rendezvous—hardly worth the trouble of rushing over.

Only then did they realize they’d been tricked. Even though the trickster himself hadn’t intended to deceive them.

Still, it couldn’t be helped. Hadn’t his words been rather ominous? Like warning them that the students might be in danger if they didn’t hurry…

They had no choice but to act.

But upon arriving, they found Yujin nowhere to be seen, only catching innocent students in the middle of their clandestine meetings. As president, this was enough to make her face turn bright red.

‘You insolent brats! And I haven’t even held hands with a man yet!’

The president felt her blood boil witnessing the passionate trysts of the students. What kind of upside-down world was this? She hadn’t even touched a guy yet!

“But, President, take a look at this.”

At that moment, Reina handed something to the president.

“What’s this?”

“It seems to belong to a student.”

A pristine cardigan. Upon seeing it, the president’s expression turned serious.

‘Could it be… someone’s been kidnapped?’

Moreover, if it was a kidnapping victim… surely not.

“Professor Reina, where did you find this?”

“Follow me.”

Seeing the president’s grave expression, Reina realized the situation’s severity and quickly guided her along.

Arriving at a certain dormitory, the president sensed something and stiffened, realizing her fears were about to come true.

“Ah… is this the princess’s demonic aura?”

“What?”

She detected the faint trace of the princess’s demonic energy.

So subtle that it wasn’t surprising Reina couldn’t sense it. After all, the four great forces—mana, divine power, aura, and demonic energy—are scattered throughout the world. The faint remnants left behind by the princess were difficult for Reina to distinguish from the ambient demonic energy.

Even the president, who possessed dragon blood and a sensitive perception of energy, might’ve missed it if she weren’t paying attention.

“Damn… Could it be the princess!”

Immediately, the president began chasing the trail of scattered demonic energy. Reina followed closely behind.

In no time, they passed through the student dormitories and headed toward the academy garden.

“The demonic energy leads here!”

“Damn… Her Highness, the princess!”

Emerging through the garden, they soon discovered something.

“”…!””

In the center of the garden, bathed in moonlight, stood a half-lidded man with black hair.

Simultaneously, a fallen girl lay before him.

Anyone observing would think the girl was in danger, and the two women shared the same thought.

Action came quicker than words. Reina rushed forward and scooped up the princess, while the president stepped between them and faced off against Yujin.

“What is the meaning of this?! Exactly…!”

“Shh.”

When the president raised her voice, Yujin placed a finger to his lips, causing her to hesitate.

“Don’t raise your voice so loudly, President. Aren’t the students sleeping behind us?”

“….!”

Her words made the president unconsciously glance behind her. To her ears, Yujin’s statement sounded like this:

-There are defenseless students behind you. Surely you’re not planning to fight?

Realizing this, the president bit her lip and instructed Reina.

“Professor Reina, please escort Princess Elysia to safety.”

“…Understood.”

Reina understood that staying would only hinder the president. Without a word, she began retreating with Princess Elysia.

“Aah, Professor Reina Sahart.”

“!”

Just then, Yujin called out to Reina as she retreated. Pausing, Reina stiffened as Yujin smiled and said,

“When Her Highness awakens, please convey this: if she needs help, we’ll always be waiting for her to reach out.”

“…”

Hearing this, Reina involuntarily interpreted it as:

-We welcome you, even with the demon within you.

Chills ran down her spine as she quickly retreated without responding.

Naturally, only the president and Yujin remained.

Yujin muttered while watching Reina and Elysia disappear.

“So Her Highness is… higher ranking than I expected. My apologies for not knowing.”

“Is this… are you trying to play dumb now?”

Under the moonlight in the garden, finding the princess collapsed and Yujin standing idly beside her—this looked suspicious. Especially to a president already suspicious of Yujin, it only deepened the suspicion.

“Playing dumb? Honestly, I’m not quite sure what’s going on myself. But it seems there’s some misunderstanding. I merely happened to meet Her Highness by chance.”

“That’s… no.”

The president felt she was getting unnecessarily entangled. After all, there was no real evidence against him. The sole reason was finding the targeted princess collapsed alongside him—suspicious, indeed.

But based on appearances alone, questioning him wouldn’t cause major issues.

Deciding to calm down first, the president began interrogating slowly.

“…Very well. Let’s ask a few questions.”

“I’m listening.”

“Why did you contact us so late after arriving at the academy? Didn’t I ask you to notify us once everything was settled?”

This was one of the things that puzzled her. She had clearly requested that he send someone to fetch him once he finished organizing things, yet suddenly he claimed to have arrived at the academy much earlier.

Breaking through spatial coordinate distortions and all… Why?

“There’s no grand reason. I didn’t want to bother you by asking you to come pick me up, so I decided to come myself. Though, I apologize for contacting you late. I got a bit lost admiring the academy’s scenery.”

His answer was highly suspicious precisely because it wasn’t grand at all. Narrowing her eyes, she continued.

“…The academy area is known for its distorted spatial coordinates. How did you manage to arrive so quickly without using spatial travel?”

“I used spatial travel. Piercing through spatial coordinate distortions was no challenge for me.”

“Huh…”

The president momentarily opened her mouth to speak but closed it again. It made sense. He was the first mage to establish theories on space-time magic. Such a feat might indeed be trivial for him.

But his innocence couldn’t be proven by mere questions like these. The president asked further.

“What did you mean by your earlier comment when you contacted us, hinting that we should hurry before heading to the dormitory?”

“Ah, it was just a light joke. It’d be troublesome if someone like me, not a dorm supervisor, ended up near the student dormitories.”

“…”

Was that really all it meant? Hearing this, the president’s suspicions deepened. No matter how she thought about it, his words carried too much weight to be mere jest.

She asked again.

“And what’s your explanation for being together with Princess Elysia?”

“Just a coincidence meeting Her Highness.”

“Coincidence? A coincidence?! We found what appears to be Princess Elysia’s outerwear near the dormitory grounds. How do you explain losing clothing during a casual stroll?”

As she spoke, the president lifted the pristine cardigan. Yujin raised an eyebrow and replied.

“Hmm… Is that so? Who would’ve thought something like that was left behind. Her Highness must be quite clumsy.”

“…”

Though seemingly unaware of the cardigan’s existence, his cryptic response hinted at overlooked details. Continuing, he said,

“I don’t know much, but perhaps Her Highness accidentally dropped it?”

“…Do you really think that makes sense?”

“I have nothing more to say on the matter.”

“…”

Thus speaking, he shrugged, prompting the president to tense up and ask,

“Well… this is my final question.”

“Let’s hear it.”

Though willing to listen, his tone suggested he had no intention of continuing a proper Q&A session.

“Why was the princess collapsed?”

“Ah, that…”

Yujin glanced distantly at the moon as if distracted before finally speaking.

“Come to think of it, it seems a demon resides within Her Highness.”

“…What? Suddenly what…”

“Strange indeed. Why would someone of Princess Elysia’s stature be infiltrated by a demon while residing within the academy?”

“….!”

Hearing this, the president froze.

The fact that Princess Elysia harbored a demon was the utmost secret. To avoid sparking voices calling for her death and causing public chaos, this truth has been concealed until now.

If it were revealed that Princess Elysia was being eroded by a demon and was living not in the royal palace but within the academy, what would happen?

The public would fall into confusion, and the academy might be attacked for sheltering and protecting a demon-infested princess.

Perhaps amidst the chaos, the academy itself could be engulfed in conflict. Internally, there would likely be significant turmoil. Students might get seriously hurt.

Of course, the president wasn’t unaware of this fact. She merely assumed that the information wouldn’t spread easily since both the Church of Ten Thousand Gods and the empire were trying to keep it hidden.

If someone learned of this and leaked it, it would naturally be covered up. But what about the man before her?

Currently, the man before her is someone whose existence is almost universally known across the nation. If such a person loudly declared that the imperial princess was being infiltrated by a demon…

Some would investigate, and the radicals within the Church of Ten Thousand Gods who wish for her death would eagerly support such claims.

Currently, the Church of Ten Thousand Gods is divided into radicals who want to kill the princess and moderates considering the empire’s relationship. If someone lit the fuse in this tense situation, it would explode instantly.

Could this have been planned while publishing the thesis on space-time magic? Though it seemed like a stretch, it wasn’t entirely implausible.

“…Why bring up this topic?”

The president asked cautiously, harboring deep suspicion. Smiling faintly, Yujin replied,

“Well, I figured the president knows better than I do.”

“Is that so.”

His words confirmed her suspicions. The president believed their thoughts aligned.

Then there was only one solution—somehow silencing the man before her.

Woooom!

“Guess I stirred up unnecessary trouble, huh?”

Seeing the president channeling magical power, Yujin gave a wry smile.

“In that case, there’s nothing I can do.”

Slowly opening his crimson eyes halfway, he prepared for what was to come.

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