[…Callus…]

Her condition is worsening every day, I don’t know how to cure her and the church doesn’t have any spots currently open to heal her. 

That isn’t a problem, we’re House Afrecht, we can just hire a healer and buy a physician. Eris will be fine, there’s no way…she would die from this.

“Forgive me, this is something beyond my abilities.”

Once.

“This, I’ve never seen this before, it spreads beginning from the spine.”

Twice.

“It’s impossible, the most we can do is offer her mercy.”

Thrice.

Three times I nearly swung my staff in anger, it was an irrational anger, I had no idea why I was acting like this. It’s not like this was their fault, but when they couldn’t heal her…I felt so, so disappointed.

They were healers, they were physicians, and the last one dared to offer her mercy. 

My parents in the North can’t come down, I’ve sent a letter that will take weeks to arrive. Unless we find a way soon, I may have to suspend her life in ice. If I do that, her nerves may weaken, even deteriorate to a point where she can never stand again.

It will be a life where she’ll have to be fed at every meal, assisted to the restroom, and live her life in humiliation.

“Brother.”

I turned around, relieved to hear her voice.

Only to realize that too, was an illusion.

She lay unconscious on her bed.

“My dream…? I suppose it would be nice to have peaceful days like this, forever. If that could happen, we could dream whenever we wanted to dream. So dream big, Callus, or you’ll regret it.”

What are you dreaming of now?

While I experience this kind of feeling.

Regret…

[…]

It’s been a month and a half since I arrived at the Academy, and while I haven’t got a way to cure my leprosy, I believe I’m getting closer.

I’ve made better progress with figuring out how to deal with Marietta Durnett.

Still, I have concerns.

“Hello, you must be Sir Noctum.”

There was a guard in front of the doors to the royal library, he seemed to be experienced, perhaps the contents of the royal library constituted putting a good soldier here.

I took the winged dragon insignia out of my pocket, holding it up in front of me.

“It is indeed the winged dragon insignia, please proceed.”

He opened the doors for me, and within that library, I saw a vast amount of books.

“Forgive me for impeding but, I greatly admire the house of Noctum. I believe you will prevail in the end.”

“…”

To be honest, I was speechless. We had no influence to speak of, and our once great military might had been whittled away by the barbarians to a point where I can’t be sure of survival.

Yet, here is someone who admires our deeds.

I wish I could respond with certainty, to tell him we would win. 

“I appreciate your words.”

That’s all I could tell him.

I entered the library, and the door closed behind me.

There were all sorts of documents in here, pertaining to the entire history of the empire, every noble house that ever existed, all records of information.

“I’ve never heard of the Durnetts, never has that name been mentioned.”

I had talked to Oskar about it beforehand inside the confessional.

He hasn’t heard the name Durnett once, even though it’s a noble house, and one that the Progenitor hails from.

It makes me all the more curious, but it could be something like tasting forbidden fruit.

I looked through the library for a good while until I found the area dedicated to the history of noble families.

Ducat…Dummel…there it is, Durnett.

‘History of the House Durnett.’

‘Producers of the Single Unit System, a form of magic that accelerates casting speeds. Their family was once prosperous until they dared to steal the Sacrificial Arts from the safeguarding hands of the Magic Tower. Thus, they faced the full wrath of the Tower in cooperation with the royal family.’

Flipping through the pages, I found a list of family members from House Durnett.

‘Lineage of House Durnett’

‘The Founder of House Durnett, and consequently the creator of the Single Unit System, Ellias Durnett.’

‘Last Patriarch of House Durnett, Gerald Durnett, the one who ruined House Durnett by stealing the Sacrificial Arts.’

…

Strange.

‘Descendants of Ellias Durnett.’

‘Descendants of Henry Durnett.’

‘Descendants of Irileth Durnett.’

‘Descendants of Dominick Durnett.’

…

‘Descendants of Gerald Durnett.’

I haven’t found Marietta’s name under any of the Durnett Ancestors. Is she an illegitimate child? Or perhaps a descendant who slipped through the cracks of imperial knowledge.

I kept reading, skimming through some pages until I reached a chapter with a bold print that caught my eye.

‘The Everlasting Witch.’

‘An abomination in her own right, she who possesseth strength beyond humanity, she who held back the forces of Alaric royalty and consumed the mages of the tower under her magic. She was a demon of Durnett, created through the sacrifice of thousands of souls. Through her, it was only then that the house Durnett was exposed for what it truly was.’

The demon of Durnett.

Is this Marietta?

The result of thousands of souls being sacrificed to a sacrificial art, is that how a progenitor is created?

It’s worse than I expected, all the records of her presence in the Retrieval War were of brutal victories until the final battle at the north gate of Castle Sol where she was ultimately slain.

Slain.

If she was slain, then how can she be here? There isn’t any real information on what the demon of Durnett wanted. Was it just a matter of fighting a war? Was this even Marietta Durnett?

Is she a Durnett at all?

I already know, there’s nothing else in this library that will be of use. The records on vampires are so recent I could hear of them in a pub, the vampires only emerged 80 years ago, with them being classed as a moderate threat.

The record on vampires in this library might have something about the albeit short history of Vampires.

“…?”

What?

‘Vampire King Saladin.’

Who…is this?

‘Saladin was a renowned Hessian swordsman, hailing from the Dunes. What’s believed is that after the year 526, he had not found a worthy opponent, and wished to extend his life until he died an honorable death. This was important in warrior culture for Hessians.’

It was then that he participated in his final war at age 61, it seems exaggerated but it says here that he killed a thousand opponents before being slain in battle.

In that very spot, blood filled the atmosphere and shrouded the area in clumps of red. When the bloody mist had gone, Saladin had risen again.

He possessed strength beyond humanity, impossible speed and strength, he tore through the battlefield.

The final survivor was spared to tell of this tale, his final comment included this. 

While staring into a pair of glowing red eyes, he had heard the Vampire King Saladin say, with even a twinge of disappointment.

‘Perhaps now, I will never find a worthy opponent.’

I’ve never heard of or seen this guy in the game, I didn’t know another Vampire King existed. If I never found him, then there are only two ways it could’ve gone. Either he stayed hidden in an unexplorable area, or he finally did meet that worthy opponent.

Either way, there are no clues on where he went after this.

It sounds within the realm of impossibility, for a human to kill such a being…unless he awakened a special Talent. Special Talents are abilities granted by a God you formed a contract with, it’s impossibly hard to form such a contract.

The needle prick when I entered the Academy should’ve turned on the option to make a contract with a God as long as I met the prerequisites later down the line. 

But this isn’t a game anymore, so I’m unsure as to if those systems are even in place.

Right, there should be a book like that somewhere in this library.

“Sir Noctum.”

“Hm? Oh, yes?”

“The Prince has requested your presence.”

This will have to wait until later then.

“Please guide me to him.”

It was a short distance away, the library was close to the rose garden, and in the middle stood something reminiscent of a Greek stone pagoda.

Oskar sat there with another man whom I recognized.

“You…”

It was Callus Von Afrecht, he seemed to be angry for some reason. Veins bulge out from his hands as he walks towards me, and as he approaches, he reaches for my collar.

“What did you do to my sister?”

I let him grab it.

“What did you do?!”

“You should think about who you’re doing this in front of, and who you’re currently grabbing.”

With those words, he resentfully lets go of my collar and sits back down on the right side of Oskar. I go ahead and take my seat on the left side.

“I brought him here as you had requested, instead of resorting to violence, tell him what you told me.”

Surely, it doesn’t feel good having the protagonist look at me like that. 

“After the day you dueled my sister in the testing hall, she began to get sick. At first, I thought it was just a common cold, but after a week she started coughing blood. After a month, she collapsed and went into a coma, even now! She’s there, lying on that bed.”

His eyes glared hatefully at my mask.

“None of the doctors knew what it was, isn’t that strange? No one can assess what it is. She only had those problems after that day, because she only came into contact with you.”

Is that how he figured things were going? That I’d intentionally caused his sister to become immobile? Possibly to the point of death?

“I…I think it could only be you who did this.”

“It wasn’t me.”

“Then how-!”

He held himself back from exploding, even in the game his temper was pretty bad, but he could always keep himself in check. He was a magician after all.

I looked in Oskar’s direction, his expression held expectation. This would be the right step to build his strength, whether it be to have the Afrechts owe us a favor, or even better, have the genius serve him.

Initially, I wasn’t ever going to help.

I had no intention of being involved with Callus Von Afrecht, or rather, I had no intention of being beneath him. I had no plan of fighting the demon lord, it was a fool's errand in every sense, someone like me couldn’t possibly kill something that was a fragment of God.

However, if he’s beneath Oskar, and by proxy beneath me, then I won’t have to deal with anything related to that directly.

I nodded at Oskar.

“It would seem you two are well acquainted.”

Callus had a sour expression.

“Duri is what you could consider my right-hand man.”

That’s just because I’m probably the only one working with you in the first place.

“He’s well versed in medicine, while you were telling your story, I initially thought you came because you knew he was a healer.”

“What are you suggesting? That he try to heal my sister? I had some of the best healers in the surrounding area come and try to heal her, but it resulted in nothing.”

With the straightest face, Oskar replied.

“He’s actually healed someone from the very symptoms you’re describing.”

Huh?

“What?”

“The recipient of his healing was none other than my sister, would I recommend him if he wasn’t reliable?”

Woah, what a scumbag, he just sold out his sister.

“You…you did?”

Oh my god.

“Indeed.”

Oskar…you’re the best.

Callus’ hunched over, as if in pain. Then, with veins protruding from his forehead, he looked back up.

“Please…help my sister…”

Holy…he looks pissed.

I looked over at Oskar, his face seemed to be saying ‘Not yet!’

“If it’s for my sister, I’ll do anything.”

Oskar’s face, at an angle that could only be seen by me, seemed to be replying ‘Bingo!’

“Then, if you allow me to examine her, I’ll be able to find out how far the illness has progressed.”

“We can take the carriage I came in, it’s waiting outside right now.”

As we stood up, Oskar, still sitting on the seat, got a final word in.

“Oh, Callus, don’t forget what you said today.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll do anything. Remember?”

“O-oh, yes, your Highness.”

Sometimes, he looks like a demon.

I walked with Callus to the carriage.

I wonder if he will be able to handle it when he finds out what really caused his sister to become like that.