Chapter 116. Open Secret (2)

At the absurdly logical statement, I couldn't help but stifle a laugh internally.

"That's unexpected. I thought every member of the Donatien family discarded their moral compass for the sake of magic."

"Well, I didn't learn magic from the Donatien family."

Aileen spoke with a self-mocking smile.

Her face was marked with complex emotions.

"Hey, when is Aiden supposed to deliver the test subjects?"

In the midst of this, when a strange voice echoed from inside, Aileen hastily knelt and hid behind the shelf.

"Wha-What are you doing!? Aren't you going to hide!?"

Realizing that the presence was heading our way, she urgently whispered to me.

Is it really necessary to hide?

The reason I came to this place was to prevent the upcoming event known as the 'Bloody Tuesday'.

To stop that, I needed Aiden's research log and to terminate 'Aiden's apprentices' who planned to resume their experiments with them.

In other words, the voices coming from the inside belonged to those who needed to be eliminated.

"Aagh—just a bit more and I think I'll have the results... huh?"

I met eyes with a mage who was stretching and approaching the entrance.

I would have liked to exchange greetings, but it didn't seem like the right timing.

His bewildered gaze moved past me and towards the back.

He was probably checking to see if the barrier was working correctly.

"The barrier is... huk!"

Before he could finish his pompous monologue, I dashed forward and kicked the guy.

I didn't kick him particularly hard, but the way he fluttered away like a butterfly was quite impressive.

"Aren't we supposed to not get caught?"

"What makes you think that?"

"I thought you dismantled the barrier so that we wouldn't be caught..."

Realizing how odd it sounded, Aileen cleared her throat awkwardly.

"Since it's come down to this, we should just deal with them all."

Leaving her to echo my thoughts, I began walking towards the mage I had just sent flying.

"Keheuk, cough!"

The mage, who was coughing, looked up and met my eyes.

What he saw was a man wearing a grotesque mask.

Though, in my twisted aesthetic sense, it seemed fine.

"Hi-Hiik!"

He seemed genuinely terrified.

His face exuded a distinct 'color of fear', which, for some reason, mildly irritated me.

What an ungraceful appreciation of art.

With that thought, I pointed the sword I had drawn at the mage's neck.

"Where are the records of the research conducted here?"

"Who... Who are you!?"

Why does it matter to you?

As I tightened my grip on the sword's hilt, a thin line of red blood trickled from the mage's neck.

"Urgh..."

Despite his fear, the mage stayed silent.

A surprisingly stubborn guy.

Thinking there wouldn't be any consequence from delaying any further, I grabbed his collar and headed deeper into the lab.

'They seemed to be conversing, so there should be others inside.'

My assumption was correct.

Inside a room filled with towering bookshelves and countless experiment devices, two people were engrossed in their work.

"Hmm?"

Noticing something amiss, one of them looked up at me.

Although he seemed unable to grasp the situation, once I pointed the sword at the neck of the fallen man, his face turned ashen.

"Ho-How did you get in here...!?"

"Their reactions were too consistent. Isn't their cluelessness proof enough we reached the right place? Aren't mages supposed to be smart?"

"L-Let go of Emil!"

The mage I had grabbed was apparently named Emil, judging by how the other mage started yelling.

"Don't move."

As I spoke coldly, a look of frustration spread across the mages' faces as they retreated.

'To anyone looking, it probably seems like I'm the villain here.'

Honestly, if a regular person saw this scene, they'd probably think so.

A man wearing a bizarre mask, holding someone hostage and making demands... How else would it look?

"Where is Aiden's research log?"

"... The log?"

"I'm talking about the book containing the research records conducted here."

On hearing that, the mages hesitantly and instinctively glanced towards a section of the bookshelf.

'Looks like it's over there.'

Still holding my hostage, I moved towards the bookshelf.

'What should I do with Aiden's apprentices here?'

I wasn't afraid of shedding blood, but I still felt an instinct to reject it.

Or rather, I only 'thought' I was feeling rejection.

Even now, the sight of the trembling captive mage didn't stir any emotions within me.

'I must have undergone significant changes.'

Maybe I'm becoming more like Yulian.

Perhaps I've adopted Yulian's mindset through method acting.

If so, what is my true identity?

Just then, my gaze was drawn to one of the iron cages.

The cage was divided into three sections. In one of them, a demon with budding horns lay slumped.

'... Haaa.'

A humanoid demon.

I knew what that implied.

"Now let Emil go!"

Nausea rose uncontrollably.

The idea of hesitating even for a moment to deal with such creatures made me nauseous.

"Gah...!"

"E-Emil!!!"

Switching my grip on the sword, I swiftly sliced through the neck of the held mage.

A cascade of crimson blood sprayed in an arc, spattering across the ground, causing the fellow mages to scream out in horror.

One of them, with a voice of despair, chanted through tears.

The other, seeing this, tried to chant as well, but—

"Urgh!"

Aileen emerged from her hiding spot, casting a spell to subdue them first.

"You bastard, die!"

As the teary-eyed female mage stretched out her hand, metal magic, reminiscent of what Aileen used, burst forth from her.

However, it was so weak that to call it mere fragments would be an overstatement.

Even boasting immense power, a foretold trajectory renders any attack useless.

Turning my body to dodge while closing the distance instantly, I brought my sword to the neck of the female mage.

"Grr..."

Not particularly fond of torturing others, I flexed my right arm and swiftly slashed the blade.

With a chilling sound, a fountain of blood erupted as the mage, frothing at the mouth, collapsed face-first onto the ground.

Afterward, I approached Aileen.

One apprentice of Aiden remained.

Though Aileen had subdued him, he squirmed backward in an attempt to distance himself, fearing for his life.

"S-Spare me! I already told you where the research log is!"

"How ridiculous."

I glanced momentarily at the humanoid demon caged behind bars.

"Didn't they say the same to you?"

"... We-We were conducting experiments! Isn't sacrifice necessary for technological progress?"

"Then take this as a step towards technological advancement as well."

Swooosh—!

As my sword glimmered, the pleading voice of the mage ceased, and silence fell over the room.

"... I feel conflicted."

"What's weighing on your mind?"

With Aileen speaking up, I raised a questioning eyebrow.

"These individuals, they were part of the Donatien family, so I was somewhat acquainted with them."

"Were you close?"

"If we were, I'd likely be lying among them. Even so, I am still affiliated with the Donatien family."

That makes sense.

Despite her being outcast, her family name was still 'Donatien'.

After wiping the blood from my sword with a swing, I approached the cage.

The humanoid demon, still seemingly human, lay slumped but breathing.

"They have crossed an irreversible line."

"I'll finish this."

"... Then allow me to do it."

A humanoid demon—a creature once human.

The emotional toll on her would be severe.

It might feel akin to 'committing murder'.

"All said and done, I'm a member of the Donatien family and was part of its research group."

In a tone suggesting atonement, she slowly took out her wand and pointed it at the demon inside the cage.

***

Mages were taught that quelling their exploratory desires was seen as virtuous even before considering righteousness.

A temporary lapse in morals was said to be more beneficial than the damage to one's conscience.

'That's the teaching of the Donatien family.'

Though she learned little actual magic within the family, she had heard until her ears bled of their lofty ideals.

'This is what came of it, Aiden.'

She never quite resonated with the noble aura of the "Donatien" from the start.

Through this incident, Aileen realized that her dissatisfaction with family teachings wasn't just a superficial annoyance.

"These need to be taken care of."

A familiar voice brought her out of her thoughts.

The Black Knight.

A man adorned in a grotesque yet inexplicably stylish mask.

"I wonder what expression he'd have seeing his achievements vanish so quickly."

"Seems like you have a score to settle with Aiden."

"Plenty of grudges. It was about to increase, but this was avoided too."

About to increase? What could it be?

Aileen was momentarily puzzled by his words but decided not to dwell on it.

After all, this masked man was nearly impossible to decipher.

"This place appears linked to the demon incidents in the slums."

"Hmm."

The short hum from the 'Black Knight', his back to her.

Moments earlier, his actions in dealing with the mages seemed almost human.

It's a ridiculous statement, perhaps.

However, the indignant response to unjust actions was genuinely discernible to her, or rather, it felt that way.

It might simply have been a fleeting impression.

"Submitting this to the Magic Tower won't be enough to prove Aiden's crimes, correct?"

"It's likely so. There's probably no way to prove he conducted such experiments."

"Which means, destroying it is our best option."

With that, Aileen took a gem from her jacket and tossed it towards the bookshelf.

The sound of crackling mana reacted with the gem, which burst into flames and began consuming the bookshelves and their contents.

"Weren't you tempted?"

"Not really."

Crackling as they burned, the books soon reduced to ashes.

'Why did they do this?'

Was the knowledge... or the family's secret so crucial?

The question arose from deep within but began to fade like the smoldering remnants.

"Seems you're curious."

The 'Black Knight's' words caught her off guard.

"Yes, I wondered if this was truly necessary."

"I agree with you."

"Agree? You're not even a mage."

"That's true as well."

What does he want to convey, I wonder.

"Then we can ask the very person, why this was done, what they were thinking."

"What?"

Feeling an intense gaze on her skin, Aileen instinctively turned towards the entrance of the lab.

Standing there, with eyes like a surging torrent, was a man with a face threatening to tear someone apart.

Aiden de Donatien.

The owner of this lab had arrived.

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