Infinite Mage - Chapter 105: Vajra Ascent (4)

“Are you dividing sides like children? I’m serious too. I don’t want them taking Shirone.”

Amyra looked dumbfounded. She respected the desire to protect a friend, but against the advanced class, they stood no chance.

“Do you really think you’re so great? Think you can beat us?”

Amyra led the protest group into their Spirit Zones. The potent zones of the advanced class students resonated with Nade and Yiruki’s empathy.

‘Hehehe. Hehehehe.’

Fermi, watching their standoff, chuckled to himself. The current situation seemed ludicrous to him.

‘Yes, fight, fight. Destroy yourselves.’

Fermi knew that profit came from chaos and conflict. War was the ultimate blue ocean, where the few winners exploited the many losers.

He knew how to win in war: desensitize emotions. Emotion is a human’s weakness. Those who could manipulate others’ emotions ruled the world.

‘Mourn. Rage. Shout that you alone are right. That’s how you fuel the fire. Of course, I’ll reap all the benefits.’

Siena, observing from the infirmary, caught Fermi’s smirk.

‘It’s all your doing, you wretched boy.’

Angry but unable to blame him, Siena recognized the merit in Fermi’s philosophy. Perhaps even Fermi was exploiting Shirone’s situation.

Alpheas approached Siena.

“It’s inevitable now.”

“Headmaster.”

“It seems this is as far as we go. Let’s accept the student council’s demand.”

Amy protested.

“Headmaster! No! What about Shirone?”

“Sorry, Amy.”

“How can you do this? You know Shirone isn’t dead!”

“I’m not sure.”

Shocked, Amy froze. Alpheas touched her shoulder.

“Amy, no one knows Shirone’s condition. We just believe. I believe he’ll return.”

“But why…”

“Look outside. Students who shouldn’t be involved are fighting. Why it happened doesn’t matter. I can’t let students fight any longer.”

Alpheas, valuing every student, couldn’t prioritize Shirone in this chaos.

“I’ll go down and speak. Inform Shirone’s parents and start funeral procedures. We’ll discuss the disciplinary action later.”

Defeated, Amy slumped into a chair. Siena approached her, teary-eyed.

“Amy, what now? Shirone, Shirone is…”

Amy felt the same. Shirone hadn’t returned. The moment Alpheas admitted it, Shirone vanished from her heart.

“Shirone…”

Outside, the atmosphere was tense. Everyone was in their Spirit Zones, ready to cast deadly spells.

Doubt crept into Amy. Was this the right path? Could logic justify students from the same school aiming deadly magic at each other?

She bit her lip, alternating glances between Nade and Yiruki. Nade was ready for battle, but Yiruki seemed open to a conversation.

“You, Yiruki, the Savant, right?”

Yiruki didn’t respond.

“Is this necessary? Your friend is too emotional. But you’re different, right?”

“Sorry, but I’m emotional too now.”

“Lies. Or, it doesn’t matter. You know, don’t you? Do you really think Shirone is alive? Is that your conclusion?”

“Hmm, a conclusion? Then there is only one answer.”

Yiruki, who had been thoughtful, glared at Amyra.

“Shirone isn’t dead.”

Nade, shocked, looked at Yiruki. Yiruki had insisted Shirone was dead until now. The sudden change was baffling.

“Yiruki, you…”

Yiruki still faced forward. Amyra’s disappointment grew. She had hoped in the most rational person in school, but he was just another high-class kid.

“If you really think so, you must have logic to convince us, right?”

“Of course.”

Amyra blinked. It was unbelievable until she heard it.

“Then provide evidence. Why do you think Shirone is alive?”

“Because it’s 4:07 PM.”

Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding.

The clock tower rang.

Yiruki, as a Savant, didn’t need a clock to tell time. He was simply counting seconds from a point.

Nade realized why Yiruki had been silent lately.

‘He was counting seconds, but since when?’

Amyra, shocked, turned from the clock tower.

“I get it now. You’re crazy. What does time have to do with Shirone’s death?”

Yiruki didn’t answer. He thought there might be some discrepancy, but it was much later than expected.

‘4:07 PM. 8 seconds. 9 seconds. What’s happening?’

Amyra concluded. Her judgment was right. Conversing with an emotional Nade and insane Yiruki was futile.

“We’ll take Shirone. Let’s see how long you can last against the advanced class students.”

The energy from the school’s top students made Nade’s eyes fill with murderous intent. Then, a familiar but unexpected voice rang out.

“Having fun, I see. Mind if I join? This is my specialty, after all.”

Everyone looked around, but couldn’t see the voice’s source. Soon, two figures, Canis and Arin, emerged from the shadow cast by the building.

Amyra’s eyes sparked with anger.

“You all! How dare you do this here! I’ll restrain you right now!”

“Go ahead if you can. I’m not planning to run anyway.”

Canis nonchalantly responded and approached Yiruki.

Yiruki frowned in annoyance.

“You’re too late.”

“Wasn’t it until 4 PM?”

“You’re 27 seconds late.”

Canis bristled but managed to suppress his anger. Settling the debt he owed was the priority.

“Here it is, what you asked for.”

Yiruki quickly took the document Canis handed over and flipped through the pages. Nade, puzzled, peeked at the document.

“Yiruki, what’s that?”

“A pathology report for Shirone. I sent his tissue samples to the King’s Commission.”

“What? When? And how could it arrive from the capital in just 5 days?”

It would take four days by carriage alone, not counting the analysis time at King’s Commission.

“I asked Canis for help. He knows Bashuka’s geography well.”

Canis ground his teeth, recalling the ordeal. It was a journey taken at the risk of his life to meet the deadline. He traveled by carriage during the day and used Dark Port at night. Though faster at night, it drained his magic to the point of losing consciousness multiple times.

“Anyway, this clears my debt to Shirone.”

Canis didn’t particularly feel remorse for Shirone’s death, but as a disciple of Arcane, he felt a sense of responsibility for Shirone’s sacrifice.

“Well, it’s not my business. Anyway, I’ll let Shirone know.”

The situation took a strange turn, and Amyra felt uneasy, especially knowing the King’s Commission was headed by Yiruki’s father, the leader of the kingdom’s top organization.

“What’s this trick? You think we’ll back down just because you’re Mercodine?”

The students gathered were from families no less influential than Mercodine’s. They had enough power to fight back if they pushed with numbers.

“Don’t worry. I used a pseudonym. If my name were there, who knows what that old geezer would pull. More importantly, isn’t the content of this document what matters?”

“Pfft! What, some magic spell to revive the dead written in there?”

Yiruki closed the document and started from the beginning.

“Title. Opinion on Immortal Function and Cessation of Biological Activities.”

Hearing the title, the protest group tensed and fell silent. Those in the infirmary on the third floor also perked their ears to Yiruki’s following words.

“Analysis of the subject’s tissue sample. Non-kinetic cataleptic state. No organic transformation found in the sample taken more than 24 hours after death. Data attached.”

Yiruki turned to the next page.

“Based on the data, the subject is considered to have ceased biological activities, but it’s premature to extend this state as an absence of life.”

He emphasized this important section.

“The King’s Commission classifies heart stoppage into three cases: First, the heart’s function has ceased. Second, the heart’s function has temporarily ceased. Third, the heart has not ceased, but appears so.”

Amyra scoffed in disbelief.

“What nonsense is that? I understand the first case, but the rest makes no sense!”

Yiruki turned the page, unfazed.

“Explanation of cases. Although a biological entity is considered dead with the heart’s function ceasing, two new cases are possible with Immortal Function.”

The silence deepened as Yiruki’s voice rose.

“Case 1. If mental expansion is delayed due to a particular event, the body may temporarily cease functions until the mental conclusion is drawn. Report attached.”

Nodding, Yiruki read the next section.

“Case 2. Even if mental expansion concludes, the observer’s time may differ. That is, life activities are normal, but the external world cannot confirm those activities due to a spacetime barrier. Report attached.”

Yiruki briskly flipped through the remaining pages, reaching the final section.

“Based on the magical findings, the subject, currently in the infirmary…”

He presented the report from the King’s Commission to the crowd.

“Shirone Arian cannot be considered deceased.”

The previously noisy protest group maintained a stunned silence. They, being mages, knew no one could refute the King’s Commission’s analysis.

“Yiruki. When did you start…”

Yiruki, facing a dazed Nade, smirked.

“How about that? The way I found to revive the dead.”

Nade awkwardly pursed his lips. There really was a way. While all were lost in false hope and sorrow, Yiruki had been fighting a lonely battle.

“See for yourself.”

Yiruki handed the report to Amyra. She wordlessly took it, her gaze fixed on the first page stamped with the King’s Commission’s seal.

Further struggle seemed pointless. The kingdom’s top academic institution affirmed the teachers’ judgment. Even if they filed a complaint, the court would likely favor the school.

“You’ve worked hard, Amyra.”

Alpheas appeared at the building entrance.

“Headmaster.”

Alpheas’s appearance seemed to bring a close to the confrontation, with the weight of the situation palpable in the air.

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