WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Dark Fantasy Doctor Was Mistaken for a Saint ◈
Chapter 97: Mistaken for a Suspicious Professor (4)
──────
* * *
[Aftermath of the Russell Brothers’ Untimely Deaths]
Rustle.
The moment I read the headline, I folded the newspaper in half.
‘Not a fan of this.’
Along with the headline I had just folded away, an unsettling rumor had recently begun circulating through the Academy.
It claimed that I was the mastermind behind the tragedy at House Russell.
It was not a situation I particularly liked.
“You do not seem pleased.”
Tap.
Pericia set down a cup of tea before me.
Unlike when we had been in the capital, she wore a secretary’s suit instead of a military uniform.
“Is it the rumors at the Academy that displease you?”
“Do you have some unique magic that lets you read minds?”
“No. That is the conclusion I reached after observing you for the past year in order to impersonate you.”
After setting down her own tea, she sat across from me.
“Which part of the rumors displeases you?”
“You say that as though you can change them.”
“The impression people have of Lord Julian is directly tied to their impression of Black Magic Defense. Since Black Magic Defense is currently a major undertaking for the military, we should avoid allowing its reputation to worsen from the start. If false rumors spread, we should intervene.”
The elven woman spoke with her teacup held beneath her nose.
“However, we have found no inaccuracies in the current rumors, so we have not intervened.”
“There is an inaccuracy.”
The rumors currently spreading through the Academy were utterly absurd.
“Is it not too much to say that I can kill someone with nothing but a letter if I put my mind to it?”
Naturally, that was false.
It was not as though I was Moriarty.
How could I decide someone’s life or death with a single letter?
I was merely a somewhat unusual trauma surgeon from the twenty-first century.
I did not have that sort of talent, and in the first place, no one in the world could possibly do such a thing.
“I will not deny that my letters played a decisive role in this case, but saying that I intended for this to happen seems misleading.”
Of course, I could guess why things had turned out this way.
That damned power of misunderstanding.
Sometimes it was useful, but other times things developed in directions I did not want.
This was probably one of those times.
But Pericia seemed to think otherwise.
“I reviewed the letters myself. Was this not your intention from the moment you sent them?”
She tilted her head.
“I believed you intended it from the moment you spoke to Young Lord Russell. Did you not take an interest in him because of Lady Charlotte?”
“No.”
What happened with Young Lord Russell was a coincidence.
“During class, I only spoke to him because his nails showed the typical signs of chronic arsenic poisoning.”
I only learned afterward that he had had an unpleasant incident with Charlotte.
“When he happened to mention his father, I invited him to dinner so I could confirm his usual living environment.”
“I heard that at dinner as well. You asked about his family’s digestive symptoms.”
“You remember.”
At the dinner I personally prepared, I asked Young Lord Russell about his family’s digestive symptoms.
He answered as follows.
“My father and mother have trouble digesting food.”
The moment I heard that, I immediately changed my line of questioning.
“I heard you have siblings.”
“Yes. I have two older brothers.”
“Then do either of them have digestive symptoms?”
“I am not sure. My brothers are busy, so I do not see them often. We also rarely eat together.”
The moment I heard that, I suspected the two brothers.
If the entire family showed symptoms of poisoning, it was an accident.
But if only two people escaped them, it was no accident.
I became half certain that one of the brothers was responsible only after confirming that the couple’s bedroom was not green.
“At the time, I had narrowed the suspects down to the eldest and second sons. Arsenic is so often used to murder one’s parents that it is even called inheritance powder.”
Arsenic was infamous not only in my previous life, but in this world as well.
Being superhuman did not mean poison would not affect you.
If someone was poisoned gradually over a long period, even a superhuman had no answer.
Because it was especially difficult to detect, it was often used in wine.
“That is why I sent a letter to the count’s house through the third son.”
There was nothing special in it.
House Russell was currently in danger.
It seemed someone was trying to use arsenic to poison the head of the house.
Remove all green objects from the house as quickly as possible, and feed the wines to rats.
I would soon send a package containing tools and methods for tracing signs of arsenic.
Finally, the letter was to be shared with every member of the family.
That was all.
“The culprit had been secretly poisoning the family for decades in order to inherit. Once all that effort was at risk of being wasted, the culprit could not possibly remain still.”
“No matter how I look at it, you made the culprit anxious and led them into action.”
I shook my head.
The same words could mean different things depending on how they were phrased.
“Please hear me out. While Young Lord Russell was sending the letter to his house, I secretly sent a different letter directly to the head of the house by express delivery.”
The letter sent only to the head of the house instructed him to drink an antidote made according to my recipe on the day the anxious culprit attempted to poison the family with arsenic.
“The culprit will try to poison the head of the house, even if it means taking drastic action. But if that happens repeatedly, it will become impossible to avoid suspicion. I told the head of the house to endure with the antidote in the meantime and share it with those he trusted.”
The possibility that the two sons would kill each other was not my intention.
Of course, it had crossed my mind.
But there was no evidence, so it was only a vague suspicion.
In the first place, that was for the head of the house to decide, so I left the rest to him.
“I only gave the head of the house the choice of whom to save and whom not to save. It was the head of the house who ultimately decided to exclude the two sons from his protection.”
I still remembered the contents of the letter.
“The letter I sent to the head of the house only explained how to save people. There was not a single line telling him whom to suspect, was there?”
So this was a coincidence.
I did not intend it. Absolutely not.
“Did the investigators not close the case with no charges due to insufficient evidence?”
“...”
Pericia’s brow furrowed.
She looked as though she had many things she wanted to say.
“If that is what you say, Lord Julian... very well. Let us leave it at that.”
Pericia was the first to look away.
But there was still something that needed to be addressed.
What was going to happen to my image, then?
“So what will happen to the rumors about me?”
“As it happens, I had something to discuss with you regarding that, Lord Julian. The military and the department I belong to have suggested making use of this incident.”
“This incident?”
“Yes. They wish to widely publicize that you were the first to uncover the traces of black magic connected to this case and award you a commendation.”
“A commendation...”
It was a fairly good solution.
If a commendation reshaped my image, there was a high chance that much of the negative impression would fade.
Still, something bothered me.
“Is it not excessive to award me a commendation over this one case?”
“In truth, the commendation is only the beginning. The military and the department I belong to are considering publicly announcing Lord Julian’s name whenever similar cases arise in the future.”
“My name?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“It seems the military wants to make Lord Julian the black mages’ absolute nemesis.”
Just as I thought.
The military would not give away such benefits for no reason.
The world always needed a hero in order to change.
It seemed they intended to make me that hero.
“There is a reason for this. The Black Magic Defense you are teaching is certainly necessary. The Empire has already recognized that, and the military has decided to push it forward. But the problem is clear.”
She lightly ran a finger around the rim of her teacup.
“Teaching methods of defense ultimately means teaching part of the structure of attack as well. Among a large group of students, at least one will inevitably try to abuse that knowledge. Whether out of curiosity, a hunger for power, resentment, or simple foolishness.”
I could not argue with that.
To teach someone how to block a sword, you had to explain how a sword moved.
To neutralize poison, you had to understand how poison worked.
Black Magic Defense was no different.
As you learned to resist darkness, you came to understand its methods.
The problem was that someone who learned those methods would inevitably try using them.
“That is why we need deterrence.”
That was why they wanted to make me into that kind of person.
The black mages’ Big Brother? Or perhaps their personal school bully?
Either way, they wanted to instill fear in black mages and the students taking the course. They wanted them to believe that, as long as I existed, they could not use black magic in secret.
It sounded like a rather thrilling proposal.
As the protagonist, it was a goal worth pursuing in its own way.
But there was a problem.
“Would that not make me more vulnerable?”
Until the image of an absolute nemesis had been established, I would face countless challenges.
How could anyone know how strong a fortress was if it had never faced a siege?
To build that image, I would need to become involved with black mages frequently.
Until when?
Until they tucked their tails between their legs and fled on their own.
Naturally, it was insane and dangerous.
And Pericia appeared fully aware of that danger.
“Yes. I understand your concern. It would be shameless to demand Lord Julian’s sacrifice without offering anything in return. Therefore, our side wishes to prepare several rewards.”
She took out a list of rewards from inside her jacket.
<Promotion of House Nihirit to a viscountcy>
<Promotion for your father, the magistrate>
<Tax reductions for Director Schun and the trading company>
<Provision of the imperial family’s elixirs>
...
The list went on and on.
“This is...”
“These are the rewards we have prepared. And these are only rewards for this matter. More will be added each time Lord Julian becomes involved with black mages in the future.”
“...”
Every reward was extraordinary.
But one stood out more than all the others.
<Relocation of the Schnabel couple’s graves to the National Merit Cemetery>
“...This?”
“Ah, it would be rather shameless to present something like this as a reward, would it not?”
“No. It is an honor far beyond anything I deserve.”
I thought of my parents’ graves.
They had disappeared on the Southern Front and returned seven years later.
They were now buried in the graveyard for House Nihirit’s retainers.
They had been healers in life, so they had no family grave, nor did they possess much wealth.
Usually, people in such circumstances were buried in the public cemetery at Civitas Square.
But the head of House Nihirit could not accept that his friend and his adopted son’s biological father would be buried at Civitas Square.
The gravekeepers there sold corpses at the drop of a hat, and he could not risk their bodies somehow falling into the hands of black mages.
Yet outsiders could not be buried in House Nihirit’s family cemetery.
As a compromise, my biological parents had been buried in the graveyard outside Sanctum Hill where the retainers were laid to rest.
But now...
“A National Merit Cemetery. I do not know what to say.”
People who had rendered distinguished service to the state.
My biological parents would be buried side by side with the Empire’s pillars, acknowledged by the imperial family.
Perhaps it was because I was Confucian, but this reward felt more valuable than all the ones before it.
“You need not refuse it. You have become a very important person to our Empire. Because of memory alteration, it is unlikely that black mages will find you, but there is always a possibility. And...”
Pericia trailed off.
“...I also do not wish to see the benefactors of my people insulted.”
“What?”
“Let us speak of something else. The South is the homeland of us elves. In the Demon Realm, there lies a forest where the World Tree once stood. When elves come of age, we have a tradition of leaving the walls and following the traces of that World Tree. Many young elves die in the process. That is why liberating the Southern Front was also the long-held wish of the elves, so that young elves could safely complete their pilgrimage.”
Pericia traced her finger around her teacup.
“And twenty years ago, the Schnabel couple saved many elves on the Southern Front. Even as most healers withdrew to the rear, they remained until the end with my people.”
“...”
“And their son cured the fever that troubled the elves of the South the most. The terrifying disease once called the forest’s curse has been known as malaria for quite some time now.”
Pericia smiled.
“I pushed through the relocation of their graves under my office’s authority. It is a small gesture, but I hope you like it.”
“...Thank you.”
“No, I am sorry. I should have been able to do this sooner.”
She placed her empty cup on the tray.
“Of course, you do not have to accept the medal after receiving these rewards. We will respect your wishes, Lord Julian.”
“No, I will accept the medal.”
They had shown such sincerity.
How could I fail to meet their expectations?
In the first place, it was impossible for me not to become famous.
Partly because I was the protagonist of a misunderstanding story, and partly because I had already done so many things.
So I decided it would be better to take everything they offered and move forward boldly.
“The ceremony will take place at the Academy one week from now.”
The Academy was also a military school.
There was nothing strange about a professor receiving a medal here.
“What is your schedule like until then, Lord Julian?”
“Come to think of it, I only have classes once a week.”
Black Magic Defense was originally taught four times a week.
Once each for the first, second, third, and fourth years.
But at present, I was not teaching the second years.
It was a course created this year, so there was no way to teach second-year students who had not even learned the first-year basics.
Naturally, I was not teaching the upper years either.
That was why I only had one class a week.
“The treatment center will be built next year, so you have plenty of time this year.”
Originally, my schedule had been arranged so I could teach classes, then see patients as Director Schun and supervise practical training during the days without lectures.
But the treatment center was not yet complete.
I had far too much free time.
“Will you be conducting research until next week?”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“Pericia, can you disguise yourself as me starting this year?”
“I have observed you enough to do so now. Do you have business in the capital?”
“Well...”
Mentioning the relocation of the graves reminded me.
“I was thinking of paying my respects at my parents’ graves for the first time in a while before they are moved.”
* * *
That night.
On the outskirts of the capital, far from the Academy.
H Sector, where criminals and exiles gathered.
From an abandoned quarry there came an unsettling sound.
Gurgle. Crunch.
Neither the city’s gaslights nor soot from its chimneys reached this place.
At the center of the quarry’s hollow, lit only by a hazy full moon obscured by smog, several men crawled over the dirt.
No, perhaps even crawling was no longer an accurate description.
“Hiiiiiik!”
One man screamed as his arm swelled from within like pudding.
Something viscous burst out, too thick to be called a string and too greasy to be called flesh.
If one had to describe it, it was something close to a tentacle.
The foul life born from the man’s right arm left his body and crawled across the ground.
“He... heh, uhh... uhhhhh...”
Another man was already coming apart from his mouth.
His lips stretched, then turned into a black strand, which coiled around his neck.
Everywhere in the hollow, countless tentacle-like things defiled the men.
At the center of that hellish chaos, one man shouted.
“S-Seeker! Why are you attacking us? Is this the elders’ will? Is this not too harsh a punishment for our failure with House Russell?”
A man stood where the shout was directed, staring endlessly at the full moon.
A priest whose black, tattered robes dragged across the ground, reverently holding a scripture bound in leather.
The priest’s half-lidded eyes turned toward the man crawling on the ground.
“What do you mean?”
“We carried out everything the elders ordered! Did they not only tell us to enter Count Russell’s house as retainers and assist the two brothers? Was our goal not to take control of the count’s house and wield it as we pleased?”
“Certainly, that was the elders’ command.”
“Then why are you purging us? If not for Julian, we would have succeeded! The elders even agreed to overlook this part...”
“Ah, you misunderstand.”
The priest with half-lidded eyes scratched his cheek.
“This is not a purge.”
“What?”
“How should I put it... personal research? A ritual? Ah. Prayer would be the better word.”
“What kind of insane...”
The man could not finish speaking.
Regardless, the priest looked back toward the moonlight and recited.
“Without blasphemy, there can be no reverence. Without darkness, there can be no light.”
Then he spoke to those who had once been shells for the tentacles crawling across the ground.
“You are now enjoying the honor of joining the steepest slope on the path to enlightenment. Should you not rejoice?”
His voice was soaked in ecstasy.
Amid the squirming tentacles, the priest shouted toward the moon.
“Moon Goddess. Beneath this bright moon, your faithful servant has so thoroughly defiled your creations.”
Something bubbled beneath the dirt.
An indescribably slimy sound overlapped with the priest’s voice.
“On the full-moon night you deemed most sacred. At the very site where your temple once stood. Beneath your light, I have blasphemed you so completely!”
He took a step forward.
“Come. Deliver divine punishment upon this vile servant!”
...
Silence followed.
A long, long silence.
The wet, sticky sounds of the two men on the ground losing the last of their human forms scattered through its quiet surface.
Far away, a cricket chirped once from beneath the shadow of some nameless grass.
Chirp. Chirp.
Chirp. Chirp.
Silence again.
The Seeker slowly lowered both hands.
He looked at the lines of his palms.
The moonlight twisted once across them.
He sighed.
Then,
Crack.
He slammed the scripture in his hand onto a passing tentacle.
With that alone, the tentacles filling the hollow burst apart with dying screams.
“Hiiik!”
“...”
The Seeker held the scripture to his chest and slowly raised his head again to look at the full moon.
“Gods. Is even this much blasphemy truly not enough?”
Chirp.
“Yet I shall not give up. On that day, when the most faithful of couples died so cruelly, a question took root in my faith toward you. Until I receive your answer, I will not cease this search.”
His gaze remained nailed to the full moon.
“Even if not through your mercy, I will hear your answer through your fury.”
His hand tightened once around the scripture he held to his chest.
The leather cover warped slightly in his palm.
“What sin had martyrs so faithful and noble committed, that they should be humiliated in such a swamp?”
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
