A Death Row Convict Teaches at a School of Magic - Chapter 66

“…Ah.”

In the early morning, I arrived two hours earlier than usual after recollecting what I had forgotten yesterday, and once inside the infirmary, a broad sigh emanated from me.

“―What a waste.”

The woman I left hanging yesterday―Barletta―had met her demise by now.

Envy was still waiting for me underneath her corpse, and its whole body quivered as soon as it sensed my presence in the infirmary.

I had been looking forward to this quite a bit, though.

Her wide-open eye sockets were devoid of eyeballs, and the way her mouth was gaping open was somewhat humorous, reminiscent of a marionette.

In all likelihood, her internal organs were practically non-existent in her body. In the past, I had once heard that a human being who was suspended in midair for an extended period of time would be subjected to gravity’s pull for 30 minutes, mainly in the eyeballs, and each of the internal organs would be pulled by gravity and all would fall out after about five hours. At the time, due to dealing with the aftermath and not believing this dubious tale in the first place, I had never experimented with it, but now that the convenient cleanup method of Envy was available, I finally figured I would run with the concept. Irrespective of the truth of the rumors, I understood that a person suspended in mid-air would eventually die of cardiac insufficiency. The rest was just a matter of taking the time to appreciate and relish the process of it but…

In any event, grieving was of no help.

Releasing a sigh, I began to dispose of the corpse. Though that being said, all that was required to be done was to untie the ropes and let the remaining corpse be preyed upon by Envy. It only took 20 minutes to carry out this task.

Yesterday was a day I truly dreaded.

In the chair exclusively for me, I rested my weight heavily on the back of the chair. Perhaps because of my inadequate sleep, a cloud of residual drowsiness was creeping into the back of my head, like a haze.

“Phew…”

After my escape from Hansa’s store yesterday, things had been a real struggle.

Somebody must have reported the disturbance, and the Garrison Corps members, alerted by curious onlookers, set out to investigate Kafka’s. Not only were all the rare articles confiscated, but Hansa, the store’s proprietor, had his picture listed again this morning on the first half of the wanted list as a suspect.

We managed to pass through the vigilant eyes of the Garrisoned Corps and reached the site of Matthias’ mansion. I brought Hansa into the place where at a bare minimum a shelter from the wind and rain was secured and treated him there.

More than once, I even had the impulse to call for Eto during that time. While his injuries were not fatal, they were more grave than expected, indicating a distinct risk of disability if left as they were. To avert that, manpower was of the essence.

In the end, while I was agonizing over this, the other party showed up first. Whatever it was, a commotion was brewing in the city, and there were worries that I might be swept up in it. Next to Eto was Arti. I had the two of them work together on healing him, covering up with a story that the owner of a store I was familiar with had been assaulted by a wanted criminal.

“…Um, Teacher Kanaki. This man’s fingers are…”

“…He only has seven fingers now. Of course, there were a total of ten fingers and toes just now. Everything was cut off by the wanted criminal.”

“…!”

The two of them uttered inaudible screams, which were transmitted over their shoulders.

Even so, without focusing on them, my awareness was centered on Hansa’s fingers, which had been handed back by the young girl at the store earlier, and I carefully sutured each one.

For the fingers that were there, everything turned out favorably, but still, the ring and little fingers of the left hand remained severed. They were not in the small bottle she had thrown to me originally. Other marks of torment were evident in various parts of Hansa’s body, such as one of his testicles being crushed.

By the time I had treated them all, the sky had brightened and the light was beginning to filter in.

There were limits to my capabilities, and I would have hoped to send Hansa to Lilith Central Hospital for full-scale treatment, but it was clear that the Garrison Guards would be able to reach Hansa, who had a guilty conscience, so I forced him into my house as a last resort. If at all practical, I did not want to invite any trouble into my home, but I could not turn my back on him.

After sending Arti and Eto home with thanks because her parents were worried about them, I was fortunate enough to have a short conversation with Hansa, who briefly regained consciousness. That was how I came to identify the adversary of this time.

The “Cannibal Merchant” and the “Viper,” huh?

The mastermind of this incident was revealed to me after comparing Hansa’s account with the various regional wanted posters, causing me instinctively click my tongue. Let alone “Cannibal Merchant,” “Viper” was rated S+, which translated to a more vexatious antagonist than Alice.

And to top it all off, I had perfectly exposed my bare face to that individual.

“…”

Regrets for stepping through Kafka’s door at that moment were absent. I couldn’t deny, though, that I wondered whether there may be a different strategy that might be more successful. There was no sense in regretting it, yet I was still struggling to organize my mind.

The fact that I am still in the same circumstance as I then did not imply that it cannot be reversed. I can at least somewhat make up for it from here. Addressing what followed should take precedence over what had occurred.

A part of my rational mind whispered to me, and I shifted my mindset to concur with it. Reflection can have its place later. For now, I should purge my mind of extraneous emotions.

Being a rational monster, detaching my mind and body from each other was not so challenging for me.

The first thing I needed now was a disguise that would serve as the school’s teacher―a third-party teacher by the name of Kanaki Taiga, who had learned of yesterday’s incident through word of mouth. Many of the pupils in my class belonged to Kaguya and had strong links to the Garrisoned Corps. Determining how could I interact with these pupils in the same manner as usual was my first task.

ㅤ

ㅤ

■■■■■

ㅤ

ㅤ

My apprehensions proved to be groundless.

After an uneventful day, I was on my way home from school with my seminar students, Eto and the others.

It was then that I spotted a stunning beauty in jet-black color leaning against the school gate, which unwittingly compelled me to freeze in place.

“―Hi, Teacher Kanaki. I have been waiting for you.”

“…You are…”

The woman with the corners of her mouth turned up alluringly at the sight of me―”Viper” Felt, and her eyes narrowed like a serpent after noticing my reaction.