After sending Rebecca away, I came to see Kendreik. Just to take a quick look.
“Hello, Professor.”
A dorm maid named Lucy greeted me. When I said I wanted to see Kendreik, she led me to his room.
As the door opened, I saw Kendreik sitting in a chair, head bowed. Disheveled appearance. Slumped posture. But the red hair and massive frame—it was definitely the guy I knew.
“Kendreik. The professor is here.”
“......”
“Kendreik?”
“......”
Maid Lucy glanced at me, then nodded toward Kendreik. As if to say, he’s been like this.
“Kendreik.”
“......”
“It’s me. Professor Dante. How are you doing?”
“......”
“Why won’t you answer? Can you not speak?”
He didn’t flinch. No response whatsoever. What the hell.
He’s really gone off the deep end.
“He’s been like that on and off ever since he started acting strange.”
I remembered—just a little while ago, Kendreik had seen me on the street, cigarette in his mouth, chin tilted up like a punk, walking straight toward me.
“Let’s have a fight today,” he’d said. That happened three or four times.
I ignored him every time. That was it.
“What’s wrong with him?”
I stepped back out of the room and asked the maid.
“I think... he hasn’t had his medicine.”
“Medicine?”
“Yeah, he used to take it once a year.”
She handed me an empty paper pouch. It carried a faint trace of magia.
Not magic—magia.
This is...?
I checked the system window and instantly understood what was going on.
“Of course. The Curse of Submersion...”
“A curse?”
“No, forget it. Can you not get more of this medicine?”
“No, sir. His family used to send it, but... after the Kreutz terror incident, the company collapsed...”
I see.
This medicine was a capsule of Curse No.32, The Curse of Submersion. Like how poison and medicine are only a hair’s breadth apart—there are ways to use curses beneficially.
If someone was born with a fragmented mind and couldn’t maintain coherence, they could take this to keep their psyche together.
“But these curse-meds usually last a long time. Why did it suddenly stop working?”
“I don’t know. I used to be with Black Abyss, and even there, one pill lasted a whole year. But overnight, he just ended up like that...”
“What about the other cadets?”
“Even when they visit, he barely reacts.”
“And that hair?”
A pink ribbon was tying up his short, red hair in a topknot.
“That’s something Elize tied using a bracelet. He just sat still while she did it.”
Ah, that.
I rolled up my shirt sleeve. It was a gift from Elize.
Mine and Kendreik’s bracelets were slightly different—mine had a bone drawn on it.
She thinks I’m a dog too?
“......”
Anyway.
I retraced recent events. Trying to find something that might’ve affected Kendreik.
Then—suddenly, I realized the cause.
Ah.
Got it.
The culprit was the Stigma of “Peaceful Nature☮.”
That ‘Great Recovery’ power must have healed the curse inside Kendreik’s body!
Fascinating.
Are the system interactions really this intricate?
“He’s been like that ever since. But he still eats and uses the bathroom just fine. I’m not sure about the rest... honestly, he scares me a little...”
After sending Lucy away, I reentered his room.
“Kendreik.”
“......”
Still no answer.
The Curse of Submersion enhances immersion. But like its name, the deeper the immersion, the more one sinks—the more one loses functionality in normal life.
Needing that kind of curse-med just to function means his mind was completely shattered.
He needs to focus. Something to anchor his mind.
“I’m Professor Dante. We need to fight a duel.”
It was something he used to ask for all the time, gnashing his teeth at me.
I didn’t think it would work.
But to my surprise—there was a reaction.
“......”
Kendreik slowly raised his head.
His eyes were cloudy and unfocused.
“That’s right. You need to duel with this professor. Hmm?”
But something was off. His red eyes were looking at me—but they weren’t focused.
Like those goofy crossed eyes in old cartoons.
Then, Kendreik spoke in a dazed voice.
“Uuuhh.”
......??
“What did you just say?”
“Uuuhh.”
“Have you lost part of your language function? If not, then speak like a human being.”
“......”
What is this? He can’t be messing with me.
You can’t fake your inner thoughts.
I narrowed my eyes and checked the 【Script】.
【 Kendreik: ‘Uuuhh.’ 】
Ah. I see. So that’s what happened...
This guy isn’t the Kendreik I used to know.
To be precise—this is the real Kendreik.
What I knew was the version under the curse. Now that the curse’s binding is gone, this is his true self.
How convenient.
“You were never the talkative type, huh.”
“......”
“Thinking of dueling the professor finally got you to speak. Right?”
“Uuuh...”
“Yeah, yeah. I get it. How about a walk together? Forget the duel—we need to talk about the assassination squad.”
“Uuuh.”
“Good. Follow me.”
Surprisingly, he understood. Kendreik rose to his feet and followed me with °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° that massive frame of his.
We headed to the park near the dorms.
“Alright, Kendreik. If you want to duel with this professor, you’ll need to stamp this contract.”
“Uuuh.”
“That’s right. Well done. From now on, you’re an assassin under Senior Professor Dante.”
“Uuuh.”
“You seem happy. But you’re still weak, so you don’t qualify for a duel just yet.”
“Uuuuh...”
“Don’t be sad. If you grow stronger with me, you’ll earn the right. I’ll teach you.”
“Uuuh.”
Assassination squad recruitment—complete.
Quick and clean.
He actually communicates pretty well. It’s just that his sense of self was fragmented. But the giant body and overwhelming strength among his peers were still intact.
Then it happened.
A status window popped up unexpectedly.
┃ Relationship dropped: Kendreik [0] (▼3)
┃ Reward: Star Shard × -3
Our relationship level dropped. And they even deducted star shards...
Well, I suppose his former relationship status was built on inferiority. That must no longer apply.
Still, that faint inferiority he used to feel must’ve lingered, which is why he reacted to my words.
But damn, I liked those shards.
“Alright. Head on back. I’ll visit again.”
“......”
Kendreik lowered his head. Awkwardly.
What was that?
A reaction to becoming fellow squad members?
Whatever it was, if that’s his way of showing respect—
—I’ll return the gesture.
I lowered my head awkwardly too.
“......”
Kendreik’s eyes twitched.
And another status window appeared.
┃ Relationship increased: Kendreik [10] (▲10)
┃ Reward: Star Shard × 10
⋮
If this were the old Kendreik, I would’ve picked a day to beat some sense into him. He incited Joaquin to attempt a proxy assassination on me, after all. And I knew that.
But in this state, there’s no reason for that. Maybe we could even build a new relationship.
On my way home, I mulled it over.
And in the end, I decided—I liked this version better.
So I gave him a new title:
Kendreik 2.0
AND...
Zone 0 was partially reopened.
It was a preparatory step from the faculty to begin opening up the Empire.
Because of that, cadets who submitted applications could leave Zone 0.
And the cadet who submitted the highest number of outing requests... was none other than—
“Where? Where?”
—Elize.
“Woof woof!”
According to Miniminiwoong, tons of people had arrived. No way Elize would miss that. Professors from the Empire’s [Illusion Arts] department, apparently?
So she headed to Zone 9—and there they were.
Those people?
Woong!
A few of the professors had gotten caught up in the tourist spirit and were [illusion busking]. A kind of street performance where they created what people asked for.
“A flower?”
“Yes!”
And so, a professor conjured an [illusionary] flower. Prettier than a real one. It even glowed, swayed in the wind.
“Here you go, little lady. A flower.”
“Wooooow...!”
The kid who received it looked thrilled. Even Elize’s tail began to twitch slightly.
It looked fun.
“Alright, next... Let’s see. You, the pink-haired young lady.”
“Hmm? Me?”
“Yes, yes. That uniform—you're from the Assassination Department, right?”
“Yeah.”
The tourists and cadets turned their curious gazes her way. Assassination Department? That kid?
The Empire professor smiled coolly and asked,
“So, what would you like us to make?”
“Hmm. A bone! Out of a balloon. One you blow up with your mouth.”
“A bone? A balloon bone you blow up?”
“Yup! Oh, and make sure it doesn’t pop easily.”
“...Huh?”
The Empire professor looked momentarily confused.
“You mean, take a long balloon, blow it up by mouth, shape it like a bone... and make it super durable?”
“Yes.”
“......”
One professor looked to another, and they whispered something. Then both laughed awkwardly.
“Hey, pink-haired cadet. Do you know anything about [Illusion Arts]?”
“I’ve taken a class or two. Why?”
“Because you’re asking for something extremely difficult.”
“Oh, really...?”
“Yeah. You’re practically testing us. To put it in your terms—like asking for the stealth technique only someone like Elize could pull off...”
Only Elize?
So it’s that hard?
Wait a second. I am Elize...?
Anyway.
“Well, we can’t do that right now. Could you ask for something else?”
“Okaaay.”
She settled for something else and got a real bone instead of a balloon one.
But on the way back to Zone 0, she couldn’t stop wondering. Professor Dante had casually made several balloon bones.
Huh. What’s up with that?
The real bone looked... well, real. Shape, smell—everything. But when she bit into it—clang! It shattered.
Meanwhile, the balloon bone Professor Dante made? Still perfectly inflated in her room.
......??
Even after that, Elize kept pondering. But after a while, she forgot what she was even thinking about.
She only realized one thing:
Her bone was gone.
Huh? Huh? Where’d it go...?
No matter how hard she looked, it didn’t turn up.
My bone...
It was always like this.