Chapter 39: Fake Stigmata (2)

[Marcus (Lv.20+36) has been defeated] [Experience gained] [Lv: 47 -> 49]

[Player ID: Sian]
[Lv: 49]
[Strength: D+]
[Agility: C+]
[Stamina: C-]
[Mentality: B]
[Mana: C+]
[Charm: A]
[Owned Stigmata: Blink] [Set]
[Owned Stigmata: Cherry Blossom Garden]

As soon as the bisected body of the guy fell, a translucent status window appeared in the air. The overwhelming flame mana dispersed, and all the accumulated ‘Burn’ stacks disappeared.

The temperature of the interior, which had been as hot as an oven, slowly decreased, and the flames that had been wrapped around his whole body gradually subsided.

The sticky, unpleasant mana was no longer felt. From his forehead to his groin. The corpse, split exactly in half, didn’t even twitch.

“Sigh…”

I let out a light sigh and looked around. The body, burned black by the fire, was distorted beyond recognition.

Only the fake Stigmata, which was emitting faint flames from his neck, indicated who the corpse of this boy, turned to charcoal, was.

I sheathed my sword and murmured quietly.

“…I guess this was the right thing to do.”

The sensation of killing, felt at my fingertips, was never a pleasant kind. Even though that guy was a person who deserved to die.

I know that this world is not as peaceful as the one in my past life. It’s a place where it’s foolish to be tricked, a sin to be weak, and a lawless era where the fist is closer than the law.

It was a world where I had to kill others in order to survive. So what I’m doing now is not regret for killing.

This is a process of determining whether my murder was justified.

Life as an adventurer is never smooth.

I never know when a new party member I just met might try to kill me.

If I take on an escort mission, I have to kill bandits and mercenaries to protect the carriage, and if I meet members of the dark cult, I have to kill them to not die.

Being an adventurer is a profession that is closer to murder than anything else. So, I’ve seen so many people who have become accustomed to murder while living as adventurers for five years.

The endings of those who became accustomed to murder and fell into the wrong path were never good. I didn’t want to end up like that.

So when I first cut someone, I vowed. Unless it was unavoidable, I would leave murder as a last resort.

However, the middle of a building that was on fire and collapsing was not a place to be lost in such thoughts.

“For now, let’s think after we get out.”

There were too many problems piled up right in front of me.

A fake Stigmata was influenced by the ‘seed’. Was this a simple coincidence, or had one of the ‘seeds’ been passed on to the Dark Cult?

And if this wasn’t a simple coincidence, was there a connection between the fake Stigmata and Elissa?

A girl suffering from mana excess who did not appear in the ‘original work’. And the performance and side effects of the fake Stigmata, which were severely stronger than in the ‘original work’.

My instincts were screaming that there was something.

“Sigh.”

I tried to calm my mind and looked at the exit.

Crack. With an eerie sound, one of the burnt beams collapsed.

The flame mana that had been scattered around, having lost its focal point, began to devour the restaurant building. The speed at which the flames spread increased.

While I was standing blankly at the unfamiliar sensation of killing, the flames had already reached my eyes.

I looked at the bisected corpse of the guy one last time, then clenched my left hand.

[Activate Stigmata ‘Blink’]

With a strange floating sensation, refreshing air entered my lungs. My body, soaked in sweat, trembled slightly in the cool night air of March.

The gazes of the autonomous district guards who were controlling the street and the people who came to watch were focused on me.

Perhaps the sight of me walking out of a burning building, wearing clothes with scorch marks and holding a blood-stained sword, looked suspicious.

“Stop! Put down your weapon and identify yourself!”

I didn’t want to cause trouble with the guards when I was already tired. I discarded the half-broken sword, took out my student ID from the inner pocket of my uniform, and answered.

“…I’m Sian, a first-year student in Class A of the swordsmanship department at the academy.”

“Ah, you’re an academy student.”

As soon as the guard captain checked my student ID, the guards lowered their spears. The sharp atmosphere instantly crumbled. Because the guards could not punish an academy student.

In the Middle Ages, a university was essentially an educational guild, a city-state, and an academy city.

The chancellor of the university was the lord, and the city around the university was practically under the control of the university. Therefore, students of the university had immunity within the city.

This was the same in [Arcana Academy], which was set in the Middle Ages, so academy students had immunity within the autonomous district.

Even if I had set fire to that store, the autonomous district guards had no way to punish me.

An ordinary guard who couldn’t even handle mana properly couldn’t defeat a student who had taken Class A in the swordsmanship department, where only geniuses gathered.

So, the guard captain carefully asked me.

“Could you, perhaps, testify about what happened in there?”

“Yes. But I don’t think I can right now. It’s an internal matter of the academy. I’ll explain everything when the teacher arrives.”

The story about the fake Stigmata must be kept confidential.

If rumors spread that this was because of a fake Stigmata, the people of the autonomous district and the academy would be thrown into chaos.

Then, information about what a fake Stigmata is would naturally be released, and more students would turn to fake Stigmata.

That had to be prevented at all costs. The midterm exam was less than a week away, and if the number of fake Stigmata holders suddenly increased, it would be impossible to handle.

I can’t create more casualties because of my stupid actions. So, even though the guard captain asked a few more questions, I didn’t answer.

“Sigh…I understand. Then you must stay with us until a teacher from the academy arrives. Do you agree?”

“Yes, of course.”

Only then did the guards clear the way. Among them, Elissa, with a worried expression, was running halfway. Beautiful eyes resembling aquamarines were mixed with faint moisture.

The girl, who was always elegant, had a worried expression. The girl who had come running carefully hugged me and asked.

“Sian! Are you okay?!”

“Yeah. I’m a gold-badge adventurer, you know? This much is nothing.”

It was true that the compatibility was bad and it was delayed because I tried to subdue him as much as possible, but in terms of simple skill difference, the guy could never beat me.

Even if the guy’s level was briefly higher than mine at the end, a guy who had no combat experience and was wielding a sword wildly in pain could be easily avoided.

In the first place, my Stigmata itself is really a cheat code, limited to interpersonal combat. How can you cut someone who can freely jump through space with a sword?

“But there’s blood here…”

“It’s not my blood. Don’t worry.”

“Sigh…that’s a relief. Anyway, as Sian asked, I asked the academy guards to call the teachers.”

“Thank you.”

I wonder if Elissa’s first impression was that of a neat and calm girl. The sight of Elissa hugging me with such a loose expression had a strange charm.

I wanted to stay hugged like this for a while, but now was not the time. The guards were fighting to prevent the flames from spreading.

The guy named Marcus was my fight to deal with, but I, a swordsman, had no ability to extinguish fires. The only one who could stop the spreading flames was Elissa.

“But, Elissa.”

“Yes?”

“Could you put out the fire? I dealt with the culprit, but I can’t do anything about the flame mana. It doesn’t matter if there’s no one inside, so you don’t have to worry about mana control.”

“Of course.”

Elissa smiled lightly and pulled up her mana. As an overwhelming amount of water attribute mana was released, blue mist formed over the open space.

“Everyone, can you step aside for a moment? I’m going to cast a large-scale spell soon!”

Shouting that, Elissa, who had condensed mana at her fingertips, took a step towards the burning restaurant. It was just a light step of a fragile girl, but the aftermath was never light.

[Elissa (Lv.45) activates the unique magic ‘Water Zone’]

As soon as Elissa took a step, mana spread out radially. A huge magic circle appeared around the burning building. Overflowing water attribute mana filled the space.

The girl lightly waved her hand, and five water pillars rose from the magic circle. Following Elissa’s hand gestures, the huge water pillars were slammed into the burning restaurant.

The flames, which could have spread into a large fire, were extinguished with a light wave of the hand, and Elissa smiled at me.

“How about it? Is this enough?”

“Yeah. Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome. Since I couldn’t help you catch the holder of the fake Stigmata, I have to help you with this, at least.”

Perhaps it was because of the lingering feeling of murder and the worries about the seed. At that time, I didn’t notice anything strange in Elissa’s words.