Ran stepped into the training hall of the Dante Pavilion and spoke.
“Professor. A message just arrived from the Central Academy of Hitahita.”
Ever since the Soltia Conference ended, there had been a flood of handshake requests over the past three months. This, despite the fact that my thesis and research hadn’t even been fully verified yet.
— Elize: Professor, I heard the rumors! Wow, seriously incredible. I’ve been doing well too, but things have been kinda rough lately...
— Balmung: You were already busy, but now it seems you’ll be even more so. I worry whether you’ll have time to rest.
Starting with the people closest to me—Elize and Balmung, who were both away at the time.
Then came the professors from the Department of Magic and the Department of Assassination, the White Saber and Black Abyss divisions, and even the Elder Council of the Hiaka royal family who praised it as a magnificent achievement.
It was laughable.
Meanwhile, in Kreutz, once the Soltia Conference minutes were leaked (though who on earth could’ve leaked them~), public opinion started to crumble.
───
< So even the Empire got steamrolled by Hiaka... >
Sigh... Should’ve just stuck to selling Virgin Church merch instead of dumping tax money into worthless illusion magic. What the hell are we supposed to do now?
───
───
< This can’t be real lol >
Clearly a massive illusion
───
───
< So illusion magic’s really done for? >
I’m a senior in Illusion Studies. What the hell do I do now?
└ It’s not too late. Domestic guardian route, let’s go
└ What’s that
└ Unemployed
└ —_—
└ Run
└ But there’s no paradise to run to, lol
└ ♥♣[Belto Construction Co., Ltd.] Hiring civil engineering and admin workers. [(Raiden Constr.)] Entry-level and experienced site staff now hiring. [Brudel Industries Co.] Safety Manager Wanted. [(RudyC&C)] Construction/Admin positions...♥♣
───
───
< So Dante and Head Professor Cain just singlehandedly made 1,200 illusion professors from Kreutz unemployed >
1,200 and not a single one could beat them? What the hell were they doing...? Kreutz gets twenty times the illusion budget compared to Hiaka, where did all that money go??
└ Wolfgang: burp
└ Ah fuck
───
───
< (Breaking) Batalion betrays Hiaka for real this time >
Tried and failed—currently seeking asylum in the Empire
└ He’s so screwed lol
└ Totally tanked it lmaoo
└ If that guy’s leaving, it’s seriously over lmao
└ 😂😂😂 Doombeast Batalion strikes again, certified curse of death
───
...And so on.
The responses were overwhelming.
But I didn’t answer. Not to anyone—except Elize and Balmung.
“What did Hitahita say?”
“They requested a special lecture. On the end of illusion magic, under the recommendation of Professor Gyulgyul.”
“......”
When I opened my eyes, I was floating in midair. This was [Levitation], a level-8 [Footwork-type] ability I had recently learned. Around me, hundreds of weapons extended and withdrew their blades like waves crashing in slow motion. I was training to operate the 『Heavenly Armory of Celestial Soldiers』 the way a Constellation would.
“Tell Professor Gyulgyul I apologize.”
“Understood.”
I had to avoid going out as much as possible—there was no telling when the assassins from Kreutz would come knocking.
After all, I’d dropped a bombshell. If I got unlucky, even the Cross Constellation† might join in the assassination attempt. And I wasn’t yet capable of fighting a Constellation.
Not yet.
“Looks like your papers are finally heading for the Empire.”
“Yes. Everything’s ready.”
Ran and Adele’s research focused respectively on demon-kind curses, and curses derived from demons. Once the illusion era truly ended, their papers would soar a half-step ahead of the times. Scholars would inevitably start citing them as references.
It was a transitional period. An age of chaos.
During such a time, I expected no contact, no rewards. All the pieces were already in place. In due time, the next step would come naturally.
And yet, there was a reason why Ran ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) didn’t leave after giving her report—and why I was waiting for her next line.
Because this was far, far more important than any of the things mentioned above...
“And the SoftFluffyCreamBun was sold out today.”
Thud. A lump of lead dropped into my chest.
“What??”
I shot upright in midair.
Then I glared at Ran with all the fury I could muster.
“Ran... Did you really just say that to me...?”
“I couldn’t help it. The line was already long in the morning. I figured it might happen, but people ahead of me bought them all.”
“......”
How could this happen.
I felt like my heart had caved in.
I clutched my head.
“No....”
Why was I acting like this?
Ever since starting this research, I’d begun to suffer from an unexplainable sense of emptiness. And strangely, I started craving sweets.
Research is always about ‘overcoming despair only to meet new despair’—maybe that’s why?
One day, I bought it intending to feed Eve, but she tore off a piece and asked if I wanted a bite. And in that moment, the sweet taste of the SoftFluffyCreamBun gave me a small salvation!
Even now, it was the same.
“Ran! You could’ve forgotten everything else, but not that...! The SoftFluffyCreamBun should’ve been your top priority...”
“Is that so.”
“Without it, I can’t do anything. Go to the shop owner. Beg them to make one more...”
“But you told me to keep the department name hidden.”
“Of course I did!”
“And you refused when I offered to make it for you.”
“Even if you make it, it’s not the same. Even I can’t replicate it. It’s not about the recipe. It’s about the will. That artisan baker lady, who likes working just enough and playing just enough—only when she decides, on her own, to make a batch of SoftFluffyCreamBuns, in the quantity she wants, at the time she wants... only then are they truly complete!”
Ran scratched her cheek. Even without a 【Script】 notification, I could tell she thought I was overreacting to something completely trivial. But I couldn’t help it. This was a serious matter.
“Ran... my assistant...”
“Yes.”
“Can’t I just ask you as a customer? Just one more bun...”
“Impossible. She only makes twenty a day.”
“Secondhand, then... somehow...”
“She said it has to be eaten within thirty minutes of being made.”
“Did she?”
“It’s been thirty-one minutes.”
KRAAGH!
I writhed in the unbearable agony of existence.
Last night, as I lay in bed, I was holding on just for this moment. I even dreamed of taking a bite...
My SoftFluffyCreamBun...
“......”
In the depths of my despair, for some reason, Ran approached and gently patted my head.
What the hell is this.
When I looked up at her, she was staring down at me with her usual blank expression.
“Good boy.”
I stared at Ran in a daze for a moment. Her touch was surprisingly gentle.
I remembered a time when she did something similar. It was with Head Professor Cain.
His dazzling lectures at the Soltia Conference hadn’t happened overnight. He had his own share of missteps. He used to rehearse in front of dolls, and whenever he started tripping over his words, he’d glance at their faces and start to tear up. Back then, Ran would hold Cain, stroke his head, and say “good boy.”
In short, Ran was treating me like a baby now.
“Ran.”
“Yes.”
“You’re not human, are you.”
“No.”
“So you don’t have a gender. You’re hundreds of years old. And you’ve been trying to mimic humans all this time.”
“That’s correct.”
“But you’re not a demon either. I can tell for sure that you’re some kind of spirit or a [Stigma] sent by the System⧉. So then... what exactly are you?”
It was a question I’d asked a few times before. And every time, Ran never answered.
Same now.
After removing her hand from my head, she looked at me with flat eyes and replied.
“That’s a secret.”
...Fair enough. Everyone’s entitled to one.
At any rate, since there was no SoftFluffyCreamBun, I spent the whole day wallowing in gloom, repeating ability training.
⋮
That night, Ran returned with news about the mass production of the reagent developed through the ‘End of Illusion’ research.
With just a single oral dose, it shattered the very existence of almost any illusion cast with intent to deceive.
The product was cheap, and the name was simple.
Pink Pill.
***
Around this time, Adele began traveling across all of Hiaka, collecting data on the mass-produced version of the “Pink Pill.” It was for additional research and future academic papers.
She benefitted greatly from the name “Head Professor Cain’s Research Team.” At this point, simply stating her affiliation granted her entry into noble households. Even the security forces fully cooperated with her.
The drug, rushed through clinical trials, was first distributed not to the general public but to VIPs. Nobles, capitalists, and prestigious families—the privileged class of society—were always curious whether they were under any kind of manipulation.
“There are still people who believe in crap like this?”
“Excuse me?”
“Don’t make me laugh. Seriously?”
But among them, there were some who showed an unusual level of hostility.
This one was a noble’s child, about fifteen years old.
“They dress it up with fancy terms like ‘new medicine,’ but in the end it’s just a scam.”
“There’s no intent to deceive. It’s cheap, too...”
“That’s exactly the problem! You really think this is a pure treatment? It claims to eliminate illusions created with the ‘intent to deceive’? That premise alone is already contradictory.”
“......”
“The moment people start depending on the pill instead of their own eyes, it just becomes another form of deception. Eventually, they’ll keep seeking it.”
The boy scoffed.
“That pill is just another scheme to control pathetic humans. But it won’t work on me, Haveth.”
“Ah... okay...”
“Still, I’m curious. Hand it over. I’ll tell you the results tomorrow.”
And with that, the young master took the pill—and was murdered that same evening.
Adele was shocked when she received the obituary. Later, she borrowed a 『Glass Butterfly』 from Gray and reconstructed the scene around Haveth.
— Mom...?
Immediately after taking the pill, Haveth began to see something strange.
On the forehead of the woman he’d lived with for ten years, who had always said, with a smile, that they could be a family even if she hadn’t given birth to him—there was now a blunt horn.
Add to that the black sclera, red irises, and fingernails protruding from her fingertips.
— Yes, Haveth.
— ......
— What’s wrong, my son?
— ......
Adele felt goosebumps. The mother, unaware that her illusion had shattered, turned to the mirror, then looked back at her son.
— Mom... Mom... why... why are you...
The mother smiled.
— You caught me.
Next, after killing her son and attempting to flee, she was apprehended and killed by the guards.
Its true identity was that of a highly evolved hornless demon, one on the verge of developing a horn.
When they belatedly examined the state of the husband—the baronet—it was found that mold had infiltrated his brain, rendering it similar to a parasitic fungus. He had been leaking information from Hiaka to somewhere unknown.
That day marked the first death of a hornless demon.
The following day, fourteen more hornless demons were killed. Still, at that point, few took it seriously.
But ten days later, when 172 hornless demons were captured and killed in a single sweep, everything changed. The majority of them were entrenched figures with immense power in politics and finance.
At that moment, the Hiaka royal family designated it a maximum-level national crisis.
Everyone began to see the truth.