PMEVBO 29

The most authoritative holy book recognized as orthodox.

The holy book contains the following passage:

One day, the devil bestowed power upon the lava serpent Vulcanus, saying,

“You shall bite and corrupt those beloved by Debiamas.”

The devil’s minion, the lava serpent Vulcanus. The venom of that monstrous serpent causes those who manifest divine power to go berserk, ultimately driving them to ruin. 

Connecting this to the passage in the Hail Book, it must have been the power the demon bestowed upon Vulcanus.

It had already been three days since Atsula overheard the conversation between the duke and the butler. Thanks to that conversation, he became certain that Lucariel had ingested Vulcanus’ venom.

“The fact that he killed the maid and then stole item related to treatment from the duke was a huge clue.”

With Lucariel having ingested the poison, the game was as good as over.

“Healing? Give that to the dogs. It’s only a matter of time before that bastard goes berserk. No matter how great a panacea it claims to be, it can’t handle demonic power.”

He never imagined that so-called panacea would be a human being.

Recalling the heretical evidence acquired hours ago, Atsula twisted his lips.

<Experiment #13>

Subject: Adult male (right eye removed)

Experimental Tool: Iser Hayut (Power of life)

Process: Subject’s hand in contact with experimental tool for 30 minutes.

Result: Right eye regeneration confirmed. Subject died after severe convulsions.

Note: Healing confirmed, but death occurred due to shock from pain during the process. Further review needed on pain mitigation methods when using the Power of Life.

<Experiment 49>

Subject: Adult female (left wrist amputation)

Experimental Tool: Iser Hayut (Power of life)

Process: After amputating the experimental tool’s left wrist, the subject’s hand was in contact with the experimental tool for 20 minutes.

Result: The experimental tool’s wrist regenerated in 4 minutes. During these 4 minutes, the subject did not complain of pain. However, after the experimental tool’s regeneration was complete, the subject experienced extreme pain for the subsequent 16 minutes of recovery. Subject processing completed.

Note: No death by shock occurred, but considering the experimental tool’s regeneration speed, additional review of pre-experiment processing is required. To minimize pain, it is necessary to inflict more severe damage on the experimental tool than on the subject to maintain prolonged regeneration. This point must be considered in the design of the next experiment.

<Experiment No. 666>

Subject: Myself

Experimental Tool: Iser Hayut (Power of Life)

Process: Experimental tool pierced through the chest, the subject’s hand was in contact with the experimental tool for 20 minutes.

Result: No pain occurred due to the contact. However, immediate effects such as rejuvenation or halting aging were not observed.

Note: A point of injury with no pain transfer was identified during the 20 minutes, but whether immortality can be achieved through the Power of Life remains uncertain. Repetitive and periodic experiments are necessary.

The journal stolen from the duke’s office bore the ridiculous title, [Experiments and Considerations for Immortality]

Yet the path to immortality was nowhere to be found; the stench of rotting corpses wafting from those records made them resemble a death list more than research. The duke’s foolish persistence was laughable, and Atsula couldn’t help but clutch his sides in laughter throughout the reading.

‘Fools who challenge His Holiness’s authority have existed in every era, but seeing it firsthand is a first.’

The fools’ words were always the same. They all rotted into dust. The duke, this fool too, would surely follow that path eventually.

Thanks to that, he’ll be the only one to profit. If that bastard Lucariel commits murder using divine power, even His Holiness, who cherishes him, will surely condemn him.

Even if it’s revealed that Vulcanus poison caused the rampage, it won’t matter. Not only did he conceal the manifestation, but he committed murder using divine power. That is undoubtedly blasphemy.

And if it’s exposed that Vulcanus poison caused the rampage, Atsula will present evidence of the duke’s heretical experiments to His Holiness and request a heresy trial, framing it as if the duke had fed Lucariel the poison himself.

‘But, I can’t go before His Holiness holding nothing but a scribble notebook.’

Wouldn’t it be better if he captured and present that Iser or whatever he is and offered him up?

That was why. That was why he’d sneaked into Lucariel’s room this late at night.

But,

“What? No one here?”

In that bastard’s room, where he forbade servants from entering and even did the cleaning himself, there wasn’t a single rat.

***

───【 Help 】───

Until next skill cast

D-0(4h 32m 2s)

remaining.

────────────

Current time: 3:00 AM. Less than five hours left until our parting. I was spending my final night with Iser.

This will probably be the last time we sleep together in the same bed.

Because I’d decided to send Iser to Isabelle first thing tomorrow morning.

I’d always let him sleep with me when he said he couldn’t sleep alone, but I didn’t know what good it did. He hates it when I pat his back. He hates hugs even more. Why did he want to sleep with me when he always ended up sleeping apart like that?

The bedroom was dimly lit by a single candle. Iser was sleeping curled up in the corner of the wide bed. Seeing his scrawny yet adorable form, I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.

The only time I ever hugged that little young master was that day when I covered my face with a towel. After that, he insisted he hated it and slept far away. …Could it be I accidentally rolled over and squashed him in my sleep?

Judging by the steady breathing, our young master must have already drifted off to dreamland.

Only I feel regretful, again.

Just then, I realized the breathing I thought was calm was somehow off.

“…Iser?”

I hurriedly approached Iser. Irregularly heaving shoulders, parched lips. I immediately placed my hand on his forehead.

“Ah, damn it, the gloves….”

Realizing too late I was wearing gloves, I used my teeth to tear them off and fling them aside. When I brought my bare hand to his forehead, I felt an unprecedented, excruciating pain.

“Ugh.”

The pain felt like my organs were being torn apart, choking my breath. I froze, unable to pull my hand away.

At that moment, Iser opened his eyes.

“…No. Don’t touch me.”

He held my wrist through my clothes, he laboriously pushed my hand away from his forehead.

“Normally, even if we touch… it’d be fine for about 20 minutes. But right now… no. You’ll die in less than five minutes…”

“……”

……No wonder it hurt like hell. I took a deep breath, then looked at Iser’s hand holding my wrist and spoke.

“You’re different from usual. You usually have a low body temperature. But you’re burning up now. You must have a fever.”

I said that because I was worried about the heat I could feel even through my clothes, but the hand gripping my wrist slowly relaxed.

“Why… why do you remember my body temperature? Are you… a pervert?”

“No, what are you even…?”

Stumped for words, I just stared at him, and Iser turned his head away.

I was stunned. I said he was cold because he was cold, and hot because he was hot… Why am I a pervert?

But the sense of injustice was fleeting. What mattered now was Iser’s condition.

First, I should give him some fever medicine and put a cool washcloth on his forehead.

Ah, but there’s no medicine in the hideout…

“I’ll go upstairs for a moment and be right back.”

“What?”

Iser whipped his head around to stare at me. His wide, startled eyes looked like a cat watching a servant who’d broken the routine. I chuckled softly and said,

“I’m going to get some fever reducers.”

“…Forget it. I get like this sometimes. Just give me a few hours… I’ll be back soon.”

Come to think of it, Isabelle in the original story often suffered from high fevers too. But she’d get better quickly once she took fever reducers.

…Ah, I really should get some fever reducers. As if reading my thoughts, Iser grabbed the end of my sleeve.

“Even without fever reducers… I’ll be fine…”

“If there’s medicine, you’ll recover faster. Then you should take it. Why suffer for no reason?”

“…….”

The duke, that bastard worse than a demon, probably didn’t bother to bring fever reducers just because Iser was sick. Thinking about how long this child must have endured alone, suffering in silence, I wanted to get him some fever reducers by any means necessary. Probably anyone would feel the same.

I carefully removed Iser’s hand with my gloved hand and gently patted the back of his hand a couple of times. Then, I placed a damp towel on his forehead and said.

“I’ll be right back. Get some sleep.”

I slipped out of the hideout. This time, Iser wasn’t there to see me off because he was sick too, so I didn’t forget to check the lamp before leaving.

Guided by the light, I passed through the underground corridor and climbed the ladder. Pushing up the bottom of the vanity cabinet, I felt the familiar air of the room.

After returning the cabinet bottom to its original position, I hurried out of the room.

It was just as I closed the door and turned around.

Ah, right. I need to lock the door…

Only after securing the lock I nearly forgot, turning the handle one last time to confirm it was locked, did I step out into the corridor.

***

The room, left hastily by its occupant, was quiet.

As the sound of footsteps faded beyond the closed door, the darkness beneath the bed moved. From within, a long, outstretched hand groped along the floor and crawled out.

Atsula, crawling out from under the bed, slowly straightened his back and scanned the room. Then, he looked at the vanity cabinet and slowly lifted the corners of his mouth.

“Heh.”

Oh, what to do? I found it.

The room, with no candle lit and the moon hidden behind the clouds, grew dark. Red eyes, facing their prey, flashed in the darkness.