Volume 3 - CH 12.2

“As long as I’m in school, no one is going to mess with you.”

“You …… can’t do that.”

“I can do it,—- because I’m the strongest.”

“Ha, haaa……!?”

Mabel said with a stunned look on her face.

Then, for some reason, she glared at me in a suspicious way.

“Are you hitting on me, by any chance?”

“Hah?”

“My brother said it. My brother told me to be careful of guys who try to impress me by making themselves look big.”

“No, no……”

I was indeed uncomfortable.

I shouldn’t have said anything weird. ……

“Well being the strongest is a joke as expected, but I just wanted to say that I’m confident in my strength. At least I’m not about to lose to Kyle or any of his higher ‘products’. So you can relax.”

“……”

“And …… if your brother has a wish, it’s not to have himself killed. I think it would be for his only sister to be free.”

Silence fell with the night wind.

Eventually —-

“Thanks. But……”

Mabel opens her mouth quietly.

“……I still can’t believe it.”

Mabel stood up quickly.

She looked at me with her sky-blue eyes.

” I’m going to give it my all tomorrow, and I’m going to beat you.”

I smiled back at Mabel.

“Then I’ll go all out tomorrow. I’m going to prove that I can beat you at your best and take Kyle out without a second thought. That’s a good place to start.”

“…… got it.”

Mabel nodded and turned on her heel.

As I watched, I finally relaxed.

”It was a good thing I had followed her. I remember that if I win, I’ll get prize money. I wonder how much —-.”

As I was thinking about this, Mabel looked back at me with only half of her body, as if she had just remembered.

“I’m sorry about the inn. I hope that girl wasn’t hurt either.”

”It’s okay. …… Eh, girl?”

” The girl with the white hair.”

“Nanii!!?”

Did she see Yuki?

I decided to bluff

“What?… What are you talking about, ……?”

“……? That girl, the one you brought in?　In bed.”

“Haaa!？ No, no, I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

“…… if you want me to keep it quiet from your maid and that hero that’s fine.

“No, no, no, no!”

I don’t need that kind of concern!

“Wait, I really don’t know. When you and I were going at it in that room, was there anyone else there?”

“……Come to think of it she disappeared before I knew it.”

“The door was closed, and there was no way someone could have left!　I’ve been alone the whole time. What in the world did you see?　Stop it, you’re freaking me out…….”

“……?　You mean it was an astral monster?”

“Uh……n.”

It’s not communicated in a subtle way.

Doesn’t this country have a culture of ghost stories or something like that?

Seeing me twisting my neck.

Mabel’s mouth relaxed as she stifled a laugh.

“…… so weird.”

****

I leave Mabel and am on my way to the city late at night.

“Yuki’s hunch seems to be coming true. Seika-sama.”

I was stifled by Yuki’s abrupt words.

“Ugh. …… Yeah, Yuki’s amazing. You’ve grown up.”

“I’m not saying that, master!　What are you thinking?　You decided not to show off your power in this life, didn’t you?”

” …….Well”

My tone turns sullen.

“I felt bad for her.”

“…… huh~~”

Yuki sighed heavily.

“You would always pick up unfortunate children as if you were picking up a dog or a cat, and then take them as your apprentices.”

:That’s true. But they all turned out fine, right?”

“…… It’s true that, for some reason, all the children that Seika-sama picked up were excellent.”

“It was the result of everyone’s hard work.”

Then, as if to add something more.

“In all seriousness, winning a tournament like this is nothing to worry about. The real strongmen won’t come out for something like this, and everyone knows that much. Even Mabel said that, didn’t she?　Lugrok has more soldiers than Kyle.”

“Humu, then how much more dangerous could they be?”

“When one man can destroy an entire army by himself, or wreak havoc, or bring the dead back to life.”

“That’s true…..”

Then Yuki says after a moment of silence.

“But …… is that girl’s story true? Yuki can’t believe it.”

“Is there some part of it that stuck with you?”

“……I’m talking about the surgery to open your head and change personality. Is such a thing really possible?”

“It’s not impossible.”

I explained.

“I heard that something similar had been done in the past at the Epileptic Asylum ……, a facility in the West where insane people were kept. They used to do the same kind of surgery where they would insert blades into the brain. Surprisingly, some of them were able to live their daily lives after the terrible seizures and violent urges stopped. Most of them became cripples, died from the wounds from the surgery, or took their own lives after what appeared to be a successful operation.”

“But still, creating ruthless soldiers through surgery is ……”

“No, it’s still not impossible.”

I say.

“The surgery performed in Western epilepsy centers did not have a clear methodology as far as the records show. The way the blade was inserted differed from doctor to doctor, so it is not surprising that the results varied. So, on the other hand, if a method with a high success rate could be established through experimentation, the story would be different.”

“Experiments, sir?”

“Yes.

I continued.

“The Lugrok Trading Company deals with slaves. They can get all the experimental materials they need. There will be a certain amount of products that will become unsalable because of madness or illness. And since we have healing magic in this world, they can prevent people from dying from surgical wounds.”

“I see……”

Then next, Yuki asked timidly.

“Can’t Seika-sama reverse the changes caused by the surgery?”

“Impossible.”

I answered immediately.

“To restore the transformation of the soul, it would require a method similar to that of raising the dead. It would be fine after a day or so, but after so many days have passed, well….”

“I see……”

“Still, I’m not going to kill Kyle, though.”

“What?”

Yuki sounded surprised.

I didn’t dare tell Mabel, but I had intended not to do so from the beginning.

“Even if his personality has changed, they can still rekindle a new relationship. I don’t know if Mabel would accept Kyle the way he is now, but that’s not up to me. Besides,” 

I added,

“I’d feel sorry for him, too, if he dies as a puppet.”

…… ha~~”

Yuki sighs heavily again.

“Seika-sama is too kind”

“I wonder if that’s so.”

‘Yes, you’re sweet. The sweetness you have for children seems to have not changed at all since your previous life.”

“I’ve lived for more than a hundred and ten years, you know. It’s not like I’m going to change just because I’ve been reincarnated.”

“Still…”

Yuki’s tone then takes on a slight tone of reproach.

“Seika-sama, you have decided to be cunning in this life,  I think it would be unwise for you to do anything that would make you disregard your original intention.”

“……Ah”

I say after a slight pause.

“The reason for that is to avoid making the same mistakes as in my previous life…… It’s okay to take care of others a little to the extent that it doesn’t interfere with that goal.”

“Mu….”

I laugh a little and add 

“And you’ll get tired of always thinking of ways to deceive and fool those around you.”

I said quietly, trying to soothe the demon on top of my head.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make it work.”