I Became the Savior of the Academy’s Villains

Chapter 132

Bzzzt!

"Ugh! Aaaargh!"

"Ooh~ How fascinating. It works this way too, huh?"

Donovan, trapped within a magic circle, and Herote, who seemed to be torturing him.

Of course, she wasn't truly torturing him—she was experimenting on his body—but to Donovan, what he experienced felt exactly like torture.

"It's certainly impressive. To think such a masterpiece was created out of that hole-ridden experiment. It must mean the test subject was better than the experiment itself, don't you think?"

Herote expressed her admiration, but Donovan did not react at all.

He simply stared vacantly into space with dead eyes.

Watching him, Herote licked her lips and then glanced at the clock.

"Hmm... It's already gotten this late. It's a shame, but we'll have to end today's experiment here."

"......"

"Then take care and rest up until I return~."

Snap!

With those words, Herote snapped her fingers.

She disappeared, and Donovan was then transported into a specially-made iron cage.

As soon as he arrived in the cage, the light returned to Donovan's eyes.

"Young master! Are you alright?!"

"......"

Inside the steel bars, Miros was also trapped with him.

He too seemed to have been subjected to experiments somewhere, for his eyes had lost their light and he was drooling.

"Young master..."

Donovan looked at him with a bitter expression.

But soon, making a serious face, he swept his gaze around and approached the bars, grabbing them tightly.

Clang! Crack!

"Kh!"

The moment he touched the bars, powerful magic power vibrations erupted, ripping his hands open.

The excruciating pain forced him to let go at first, but by now, he was able to just barely endure it.

"Ugh! Mmmph!"

Donovan held on to the pain for a few seconds before finally letting go.

Fsssh!

His palms, stained bright red.

But soon, the torn flesh healed up, and before long, his hands were as good as new.

'If it's to this extent, I can do it!'

For the past two weeks, each time Donovan returned from his experiments, he would check the durability of the cage and accustom himself to the pain it caused.

He'd been acting as if he'd lost all will in front of Herote, but had been constantly waiting for any chance to escape.

Now all that remained was for Miros to recover his senses and give him an order.

"Young master! Please come to your senses! Young master!"

Donovan shook the spaced-out Miros.

After a while, Miros slowly turned his head and looked at Donovan.

"Donovan...?"

"Yes, young master! It's me, Donovan!"

"Why... ugh!"

Whatever Miros tried to say, he suddenly clutched his head and bowed it in pain.

"Ugh... aaaargh!"

"Young master!"

Seeing Miros in such agony, most likely the side effect of the experiments, Donovan bit his lip and grabbed his hands.

"Young master! You must pull yourself together! This Donovan has found a way out of here!"

"A way... to get out of here...?"

At the mention of escape, Miros's eyes briefly flickered with focus, but quickly turned hazy again.

"It's no use... we can't escape... we can't get away from that witch..."

"It's alright! All you need to do is give me an order, and I, Donovan, will break these bars down and escape in no time!"

"But... I..."

At that moment, Miros suddenly burst into tears.

"I can't use magic anymore..."

"......!"

Miros realized he could no longer use his magic circuits.

That's why he had abandoned all hope and was just sitting there.

"There's no point in living anymore... The family must've abandoned me, too... I just..."

Miros bowed his head.

"I want to die."

"......"

For a mage, being unable to use magic power was no different than death.

Especially for someone as talented as Miros, to be unable to use magic anymore meant that dying was preferable.

Donovan knew this, so he remained silent for a moment, but soon spoke with a solemn tone.

"It's alright, young master! You still hold the right to command me!"

"......"

Miros weakly lifted his head to look at Donovan and gave a faint smile.

"You're right. I still have you, Donovan."

"Exactly, young master! So now—"

Donovan encouraged him enthusiastically, but Miros spoke with a cold voice.

"Donovan. I give you permission to use all of your power, so kill me."

"... What?"

"My life has no meaning anymore. I don't want to live like this. Kill me..."

Donovan is bound by duty to obey Miros's orders, but he cannot carry out any command that would threaten his master's life.

Thus, the order is nullified.

But even if it weren't, Donovan would never have obeyed.

"Young master..."

Looking at the utterly defeated Miros, Donovan wore a pained expression, but soon his eyes sharpened with resolve.

Smack!

"!"

"Young master! Get a hold of yourself!"

Donovan's palm struck Miros across the cheek.

He'd controlled his strength so that only a red mark remained, but it seemed to shock Miros deeply.

Crack!

"......"

Aside from that, thanks to the "Blood Contract", Donovan felt a tightness crushing his heart.

Even though the pain was excruciating enough to make him cry out, he held it in and spoke.

"Young master. No, Miros. I understand how you feel. But your life is too precious to give up here."

"B-but... I..."

Miros, struck by Donovan, looked completely stunned and couldn't continue his words.

Donovan pressed on even more firmly.

"Just because you can't use magic anymore, or because your family abandoned you, doesn't mean you should give up on everything. You're still young, Miros! And as you yourself know, you're extremely talented! If you make use of your eternal loyal servant, me—Donovan—you can rise again at any time!"

"......"

Eternal loyal servant.

Miros, hearing Donovan call himself that, went blank for a moment.

It's true.

Bound by the Blood Contract, Donovan would never betray him no matter what.

And on top of that, he's an exceptionally capable servant.

Even if he can no longer use magic, with Donovan, he might be able to do something—anything.

"... Ha. I never thought I'd find comfort from you. Very well."

At some point, the light had returned to Miros's eyes.

He wasn't as arrogant or relaxed as before, but at least he didn't have the dying look he'd had moments earlier.

"Donovan. I permit you to release your power restrictions. Now, get me out of here."

"Yes, young master!"

Miros gave the command in a somewhat recovered but strong voice, and Donovan, face filled with emotion, began to transform.

"And one more thing."

"?"

Before that, Miros called out to him.

Donovan looked puzzled, and Miros, with a bitter smile, said,

"From now on, just call me Sir Miros."

The fact that they still hadn't been rescued from Marquis Kisen's estate surely meant he had been abandoned.

* * *

"Well, unsurprisingly, I simply let them go."

While recounting the escape of Miros and Donovan, Herote let out a chuckle.

Luca frowned at her.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Do you think they could possibly escape from me with just their own strength? No matter how careless I am, I'm not such a fool as to let people like them slip past me."

One of the top three mages on the continent.

Someone who'd reached the absolute peak of human magic.

From Herote, a 10th-tier mage with no higher stage to climb, there was no one who could escape.

"Why did you let them go?"

Luca immediately asked the fundamental question.

Why let them go?

There was no reason to release such difficult captives.

"I got everything I wanted out of them."

Herote's answer was just as fundamental.

She had gotten all she could from them.

There was no reason to keep holding them.

"You got everything you wanted?"

"That's right. In fact, I'd say I got more than I expected."

Seeing Luca ask with confusion, Herote chuckled quietly.

"As a matter of course, I questioned Marquis Kisen about their involvement. Accountability must be determined, after all."

Whether or not Miros and Donovan were acting under Marquis Kisen's orders, their family was still responsible.

From reparations for the academy to charges as serious as treason for attacking the Hernan Empire's most critical facility.

It's an incident that could shatter Marquis Kisen completely.

"But Marquis Kisen denied every crime. Even regarding Miros Kisen."

"Is that possible?"

The real Miros Kisen had literally been in Herote's hands.

Yet they denied every accusation against him.

It made no sense.

"Of course it's nonsense. But they made it make sense."

"Made it make sense?"

It was an odd phrase.

Luca tilted his head in confusion, and Herote held out a hand.

A projection appeared above her palm.

Slightly dark silver bobbed hair, and deep violet eyes.

A beautiful young man who looked somewhat like Miros but gave off a different vibe, stood across from Herote.

― Our family's young master, Miros Kisen, committed a crime at the academy? That's preposterous.

― But Miros Kisen is literally in my hands. Want me to show you?

― By coincidence, our family also has "Miros Kisen" right here.

-......?

― Miros, come here.

At that, someone called Miros trotted forward and stood in front of the young man.

The youth placed a hand on this Miros's shoulder and spoke.

― See? My son, "Miros Kisen," is right here.

The projection ended there.

Herote sneered.

"Ridiculous. Gardaf Kisen thinks he can just get away with violating a taboo as big as this one."

"Taboo... Hah."

Only then did Luca understand.

He realized what other taboo Marquis Kisen had broken.

"Miros Kisen is a homunculus, or a clone. I always wondered why they'd use such a precious heir as a terror suspect at the academy, but I never imagined this sort of secret."

A homunculus, a living being created by alchemy, or a clone generated by magic.

Such was Miros Kisen's true nature.

'I didn't expect this. I thought they were just trying to strengthen their heir.'

As Luca clicked his tongue inwardly, Herote chuckled again.

"As soon as I returned, I rummaged through Miros Kisen's mind. Most of the memories were fabricated, and the remaining ones were locked by a taboo spell so I couldn't read them."

"Hah."

"But I'm Herote Marcato, one of the continent's greatest mages. Marquis Kisen's secret family spells are nothing to me; I can dig them up."

Herote spoke with utter self-confidence.

"I unraveled all the magic spells Marquis Kisen placed on Miros Kisen and Donovan. The two of them are now free from Marquis Kisen's control."

"Impressive."

"Oh my, was that a compliment just now?"

Surprised by Luca's honest appraisal, Herote blinked.

To this, Luca flatly replied,

"If something's impressive, isn't it natural to say so?"

"... Heh. There's nothing wrong with that. It just puts me in a good mood."

"But how does that relate to letting them go?"

"Simple. Letting them go turns them into living bait."

"Bait?"

Seeing Luca's query, Herote grinned slyly and raised her index finger.

"That's right. The ultimate bait... to catch the big fish that is Marquis Kisen."

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

For a second, I thought Herote was so incompetent that she let Miros and Donovan escape without knowing.

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】