The Overpowered Cult Leader at the Academy Chapter 42

Chapter 42

Slave Contract (1)

“It looks terrible.”

“You’re the one who made it like this.”

“You could’ve widened the distance and looked for a thod.”

“Hey. Don’t smack with facts.”

Soloven, who walked into the chapel, didn’t seem injured at all.

She hadn’t been hit by any attacks, and although the lightning armor had been incredibly powerful, not a single strike had landed directly on her.

If it had been a life-and-death fight rather than a spar, it might have been a bit troubleso.

I threw a remark at Soloven, who calmly stated the obvious. I didn’t know about pain, but my whole body tingled from the burns.

Burns were just like that by nature. Thanks to that, I greeted Soloven with my entire body wrapped in bandages.

“So why did you call ?”

“I wanted to make a proposal.”

I was the one who had called Soloven. I had ended up showing her quite a good side of myself. It wouldn’t hurt to earn a few more points.

“A proposal?”

“Yeah. I did win, but it feels a bit unsettling. I’ll lend you my na. It’s nothing much. Just on the condition that the number of tis you can call in free rcenaries increases by one. What do you think?”

Soloven’s beautiful eyes widened. She probably hadn’t expected to say sothing like this. Soon, she gave a refreshing smile and nodded.

“If you had shown this side of yourself from the start, you would’ve had many followers.”

“Well, there are circumstances, you know.”

“I suppose so. Here, take it.”

With an easygoing remark, Soloven smiled faintly and tossed sothing to . I caught the object as it flew in a smooth arc.

It was fairly heavy. If thrown hard, it could seriously count as an effective hit. The shape was cylindrical?

“It’s a burn ointnt that Rahorakti prides itself on. You looked like you were having a hard ti.”

“Nice. Sorry, but there’s nothing for electric shock.”

“It’s fine. I already shook it off long ago.”

“……Just take one hit right now.”

Here I was covered in bandages, and she said she was already healed? Feeling an inexplicable sense of defeat, I stood up and threw out a comnt.

“Then I’ll get going. Take care of yourself.”

As if she wasn’t interested, Soloven imdiately left her seat. That, too, was just like her, so I didn’t even feel motivated.

Clicking my tongue softly, I tossed the ointnt to Winter.

“Uwek!”

“Uh, hey. Sorry. I thought you’d catch it.”

Caught off guard by the sudden attack, Winter was struck on the head and let out a strange scream.

I apologized, not having expected that she wouldn’t even be able to catch that. Winter glared at with sharp eyes for a mont, then sighed and walked over.

“If it’s good for burns, I’ll apply it.”

“Yeah, please.”

“If it hurts, tell .”

“That won’t happen.”

“Gghk! Just! If I say so, just! say it…….”

“……Alright.”

She flared up on her own and then imdiately asked in a gentle tone, so I gave her an answer for now.

Even so, it really didn’t hurt. As her hands began unwrapping the bandages, I looked at the person sitting across from .

“Mm~ That gaze is scary~”

“You’d better explain yourself properly.”

In the final monts, it was Canis who struck from behind. Well, thanks to her, I was able to spar under favorable conditions, but a blow to the back of the head was still a blow.

If I let this brat get away with things like this, there would be no end to it. Of course, I had no intention of letting it slide easily either.

“So. Did you find out anything?”

“Hmm?”

“Wasn’t it to see how I fight?”

“Oh my~ You figured it out right away.”

She was overflowing with composure. I didn’t like that look on her, but that was simply part of Canis’s personality.

She would act like that even in situations where it didn’t fit, so there was no real point in criticizing it. I lowered my gaze slightly.

Only then did Canis speak a little more seriously.

“Thanks to you, I learned everything I wanted to~”

“Good. Since it’s co to this, shall we settle accounts? I don’t want to keep soone by my side who betrays others as easily as eating a al.”

“Hmm~ But I’ve only done it this one ti?”

“I know you’d do it again without hesitation.”

“Hoh? Am I that easy to read?”

She didn’t even deny it. Canis wore a surprised expression. That didn’t an she was so petty person who knew nothing of loyalty.

Of course, she probably didn’t understand loyalty. But that was because what drove her wasn’t her own safety—it was her objective.

If there was sothing she wanted to learn or achieve, she would use any ans necessary. In that sense, she was sowhat similar to .

“Because you’re like . That’s why I can read you. It’s easy.”

“No. You’re different. Completely.”

“?”

It was Winter who refuted . With her lips pouting, she was applying the ointnt. Winter didn’t like Canis.

She disliked being treated like a toy, and she had also taken to heart the blow to the back of my head earlier.

After glaring at Canis once, Winter stood up and moved to the other side. Soon, she began unwrapping the bandage on my other arm.

“Yeah, let’s settle this.”

Was she trusting ? I patted Winter on the head once and addressed Canis.

“There was sothing you wanted in return for helping with this.”

“Mm~ Finally~ The main point. I’ve been waiting, you know?”

“Right. So what do you want to ask?”

The price Canis demanded was, in a way, anticlimactic. That I answer her questions without lies. And not just once, but twice.

It sounded trivial, but having seen Canis in the ga, I realized this was a crossroads.

In the ga, Canis beca a boss with a very high probability. The cause was, of course, Anger parasitizing her body.

Whether she was devoured by that Anger or not changed everything. And what determined that rested entirely on Canis’s resolve.

If you diligently engaged in interactions and worked hard to raise her affinity, the probability of saving her increased, at least sowhat. But I had no intention of going that far.

At my nod, Canis activated so kind of magic. Mana blood in the air and began writing out letters.

“Sign here~”

It was an oath to speak the truth. A highly dangerous spell that consud one’s lifespan if a lie was spoken.

Without hesitation, I finished signing in the air.

“First. Dabi~ You know more about Ancient Magic than I do, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

The first question was one I had expected. I nodded calmly.

An answer that I knew magic passed down only within the Ulbushis Family. And that I knew even more than the next successor of the Ulbushis Family.

At that, Winter’s face, still applying ointnt, twisted strangely. Her expression clearly asked why I knew such a thing.

“Mm. Honestly, I thought maybe Dabi was soone like .”

“Did you.”

“Seems like I was right~”

“I doubt it.”

Was she searching for soone of her own kind? A person with restrained emotions. Soone who shared a mutual understanding unique to them. That was what Canis was looking for.

Soone who used the sa Ancient Magic as herself. Unfortunately, though, I possessed perfectly normal emotions and a perfectly normal way of thinking.

“Second. Dabi~ You know about the future , don’t you?”

“What?”

The next question was a bit shocking. Winter’s mouth fell open as well, clearly not expecting sothing like that. I examined Canis with lowered eyes.

Her staying by my side, pushing into that fight—was all of it for this mont? If so, were those actions connected to the question she just asked?

I wasn’t sure. It was abrupt, to say the least.

“I’ll need to ask what led you to that question.”

“Mm~ Sure. Shall I provide so extra service?”

When I asked back, Canis readily agreed. She placed her index finger against her chin and tilted her head.

“All living beings possess mana~ You know that, right?”

“Yes.”

“Weeds, fruits, beasts. Everything that lives possesses mana without exception~”

“So what?”

“But Dabi completely lost his mana during the attack incident, didn’t he? In that case, there shouldn’t be any mana visible. And yet, sohow, mana is being detected~”

I tilted my head. It was a setting I had never even heard of in the ga. I definitely had no mana. Yet she said there was a mana reaction. As if there were a result without any material.

I glanced at Winter in case she might know sothing, but it seed she didn’t, likely because it wasn’t related to the divine side.

“Stop the unnecessary talk. Get to the point.”

“Mm, you’re impatient. For example, either it’s a lie that you lost your mana. Or you possess a mana-capable entity within you~ I think it’s one of the two?”

“Hmm?”

It was certain that I had lost my mana. In that case, was it the mana-capable entity side? I had sowhat anticipated that there could be settings in reality that didn’t exist in the ga.

But I wasn’t sure about the idea of a mana-capable entity. As I was thinking that over, sothing suddenly flashed through my mind.

I glared at Canis.

“I thought~ maybe a slightly special entity was attached to Dabi. But that’s not it~”

Only then did I vaguely realize what Canis was getting at.

“But as it happens, I have sothing similar too~ Our Anger uses magic without mana~ It causes mana reactions without mana.”

Winter’s face instantly turned pale.

What Canis was saying was that I was no different from that dreadful monster.

It was only natural for Winter to be shocked once she realized that. The hand that had been applying ointnt froze in place.

“Our Winter~ is worrying again~ But Dabi has a complete body, you see.”

“A complete…… body?”

“Anger possesses physical force~ but that doesn’t co from a physical body. But Dabi has an entirely physical body~”

There was only one thing that displeased . The fact that she was equating with sothing like Anger. That alone was unpleasant.

But there was no harm in listening. I had to hear it anyway. I waited with a bit of patience. I needed to know what kind of delusion was forming inside that small head of hers.

“……What does that have to do with the future?”

“Because I developed a truly~ amazing spell. A spell that turns Anger into a human! A spell only I conceived and only I completed, but haven’t used yet~ And now there’s a similar entity right in front of ? So I wondered, could Dabi be the Anger I created in the future?”

It had absolutely nothing to do with Canis’s spell. I let out a faint chuckle.

Honestly, I couldn’t fully understand Canis’s suspicion.

Still, I could see how she might arrive at that conclusion. I would need to investigate this mana reaction further, but it certainly wasn’t for the reason she thought.

And right now wasn’t the ti to dwell on that.

The reason she had created that spell—I understood it the mont I heard it.

She wanted to break free from Anger, from Ancient Magic itself. As one thod, she intended to turn Anger into sothing other than a parasite.

Anger was a parasite, filth clinging to one’s psyche. She wanted to escape from that.

The easier thod would be to pass it on to soone else. But both the one who passed it on and the one who received it would inevitably die.

So that was why she intended to change Anger itself. The idea wasn’t bad, but it was aningless.

“So that’s why you asked if I ca from the future.”

“Right~ In my judgnt, the only way sothing like that could exist is through that spell I created independently. And if you’re Anger from the future, then you’d be my friend, wouldn’t you?”

“What nonsense. I didn’t co from the future.”

“Oh? That’s unexpected.”

Only then did I let out a snicker.

The two won looked at curiously as I suddenly laughed.

Co to think of it, there had been a point in the middle of the episode where Canis drastically changed her stance. Was it because of this spell?

Well, that was that.

In any case, it was still within the scope of what I had anticipated.

That one fact alone instantly brought a sense of composure.

“That’s enough answers. I’ll give you one piece of service in return.”

“Hmm?”

“That spell you created. It will surely fail.”

“…….”

“The idea is good, but… well. You’re underestimating Anger too much.”

The expression on Canis’s face, which had been smiling brightly the whole ti, stiffened.

“And lastly. Anger is a disease.”

“A disease……?”

“Yes. Which ans it can be cured.”

“!”

Canis looked startled. It was sowhat refreshing to see.

I let out a rather sharp smile.

“You’ve been paid for helping with Lightning Nightmare, so shall we now discuss the matter of betrayal?”

Seeing my fierce grin, Canis rolled her eyes.

“Because of you, I ended up injured like this, so compensation is a given. And later, I’ll be going to hunt a shark—when that ti cos, all necessary funds and personnel will be covered by the Ulbushis Family. How about it?”

Tilting her head at my words, Canis’s eyes widened. Then she gave a sharp smile and nodded.

After hearing her answer, I imdiately drove Canis out of the chapel.

“Being smart is a hardship.”

That brat would probably suffer quite a bit.

In the vast swamp she created herself. Swept away by the countless possibilities and hypotheses produced by that brilliant mind of hers, she would spend her days agonizing.

She would endure imnse pain throughout the process.

Of course, I had no intention of giving her an easy answer.

“…….”

“…….”

The chapel fell silent after Canis left.

“Y-You’re… not really from the future, right?”

“Are you joking…… If I knew the future, would I be struggling over money?”

“I-Is that so?”

Apparently unable to fully grasp it, Winter tilted her head for a mont before nodding. It seed she had reached her own understanding.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Winter resud applying the ointnt.

Soloven’s proud claim had indeed been reliable.

The tingling areas noticeably subsided once the ointnt was applied.

“Is it really okay to just leave her like that?”

“What. Canis? She’s lacking in so ways, but I’ll squeeze far more out of her than that, so don’t worry. That brat needs to be taught a lesson.”

“……On that, I agree.”

Even kind-hearted Winter wished for Canis to receive severe punishnt.

Canis, you bastard. What kind of life have you lived to be treated like this even by Winter?

I had considered killing her, but then a better idea ca to mind.