Not knowing that he was a byproduct created by Persona, there was only one reason Jay’s body could be deteriorating. It was this school itself.
Though he’d grown somewhat accustomed to it, the school’s bizarre atmosphere oppressed Jay. And above all, the greatest source of stress was being unable to properly help the students suffering in absurd situations. Helping them in small ways here and there wasn’t enough to completely alleviate his guilt.
“Haah……”
Belly gazed up at Jay, who was sighing deeply enough to sink into the ground. His gaze was full of worry. Perhaps from crying so much earlier, the area around his eyes seemed slightly bloodshot.
Jay noticed Belly watching him and smiled, then gently stroked his head with his fingers as he spoke.
“That’s right. Hyung needs to earn your keep.”
Moreover, the penalty fees specified in the contract were too much for Jay to handle. He was, according to his setting, a poor fallen noble obsessed with money, after all.
“Besides, I can’t just leave them behind.”
Vittorio, who was timid and stuttered. Ivan, who was lethargic and showed hostility. Sayed, who had asked for help. Chung, who seemed perfect but wanted to improve her situation more than anyone by obtaining the Holy Grail.
Jay, with his meddlesome nature, couldn’t leave those students behind even if he himself was suffering. If he left them, he felt he would regret it until his last breath left his body. At the very least, Jay wanted to look after them until the contract period ended.
I, too, still wanted to watch over them. For now…… for now, it seemed my body would hold up.
And so, I and Jay barely managed to finish our daily routine while carrying our deepening worries, then laid our body down on the bed. Our exhausted body instantly fell into sleep.
* * *
“……Master.”
Master had fallen asleep. Now it was time for Persona to be released and for my master to awaken. But no matter how long I waited anxiously by his side, the one I was waiting for did not wake.
“Master…… Master, please wake up.”
I called out desperately, but Master was still in the form of Jay Doe. A strange appearance that resembled Master yet didn’t resemble him. The terrible Persona was still operating.
Another side effect? Recalling what Master had experienced just a few hours ago sent chills down my spine.
Master is a fragile person. He’s living a life that others would envy. He’s solidifying his position as the next head of the Information Guild and has innate abilities. He was certainly living a successful life.
However, Master always seemed anxious. He always doubted his own life and never truly engaged with anyone. Like a blindfolded horse being whipped, he ran endlessly. This aimless racing created the ability called Persona.
And finally, Master’s body became as precarious as if standing on a cliff’s edge.
I gritted my teeth and could only watch Master. Since I couldn’t deactivate Persona on my own, that was all I could do. As time passed, fear climbed up my spine and choked my throat. By the time the morning star rose, I could barely breathe.
Just before I fainted with my breathing completely blocked, Master’s appearance slowly began to return to normal. I’d never been so glad to see that dull brown hair as I was now.
I exhaled deeply and laid my body down beside Master. Perhaps from the deep relief, I swallowed hard as if tears might burst out. This couldn’t continue. If we proceeded slowly like this, it might be too late.
“I need to…… hurry things along.”
* * *
A few days after Persona’s side effects occurred. My body was rapidly deteriorating, and Jay couldn’t escape the aftermath either. Jay was basking in the sunlight in the garden with a body as heavy as a water-soaked cotton ball.
“Today, I should go to the infirmary……”
Since his impression of Carl was so terrible, Jay sighed several times even after making up his mind. He pulled himself together and headed to the infirmary. In the infirmary he barely managed to reach, there was Carl with a tired expression rivaling Jay’s own.
“Ah……”
He looked at Jay with surprised eyes for a moment. But soon he lowered his head with eyes full of despair. Had he been expecting something?
When Carl raised his head again, he had become Connubium’s lethargic infirmary professor.
“What do you need?”
“My body isn’t feeling well……”
He gestured with his eyes for Jay to sit down. Jay obediently sat in the chair. Carl examined Jay’s body half-heartedly, then slightly frowned with shadowed eyes.
Even from his perspective, Jay’s body—that is, my body—wouldn’t be normal. However, since the problem wasn’t with any part of the body itself but due to Persona’s overload, he wouldn’t be able to address the issue.
“It seems you’re suffering from accumulated fatigue.”
“B-but for that to be the case……”
Carl wordlessly held out a tonic. At that seemingly indifferent attitude, Jay’s anger flared. Finally, Jay snatched the tonic with a grimace and was about to leave the infirmary. That’s when it happened.
“Jack.”
“My name is—”
“Jack, I’ll wait, no, I’ll come find you.”
Why is he suddenly acting like this?
Carl’s eyes were filled with worry. Jay couldn’t understand his reaction. Right now, Carl was on a mission. Though I had gone AWOL, from the outside it would appear I was on a mission.
For a guild member to react with anything other than their assumed identity while on a mission was against the rules. It was practically an iron law. And yet he was saying such things now. Had Carl gone crazy?
Jay left the infirmary with a grimace, completely unable to understand Carl’s words. Carl’s reputation in his mind must have become even more disastrous. He roughly gulped down the tonic and headed back to the garden to soak up some sun, if only briefly.
“Whew……”
The garden touched by meticulous hands was truly beautiful no matter when he looked at it. Though the stress Connubium gave him was great, Jay thought absentmindedly that if the day came when he left this school, he would miss at least this garden. Jay, who was staring into space without reading anything, felt peaceful for the first time in a long while.
An unexpected figure entered Jay’s field of vision as he returned greetings to students who greeted him.
“Huh?”
Dark skin and upturned eyes. It was Sayed Murad, who covered his right eye with a plain headband. Not caring that his white uniform was getting dirty with soil and dust, he was diligently tending to the garden’s flower beds. His sweat-drenched appearance made it clear how long he had been devoting himself here.
“Murad……?”
Jay didn’t recognize him as Sayed at first. That was because he thought tending the garden wasn’t work for a student like him. That’s why he initially thought he had seen wrong. But when he looked carefully with narrowed eyes, it was indeed the Sayed he knew.
“Ah, Professor.”
Sayed noticed Jay and stood up briskly, approaching with a gentle smile. His appearance, filthy with soil, was unbelievable for a Connubium student. Since this was a place attended by children of high-ranking people, they appeared the furthest from manual labor on the surface.
Jay unconsciously grimaced at the unexpected sight and asked him.
“Wh…… what’s this? What are you doing here?”
“Ah, did you not know?”
Sayed looked at Jay with round eyes, as if surprised instead. Jay felt like he had become stupid under that gaze. It was the feeling of not knowing something obvious.
In fact, Jay was the only one who didn’t know.
“All students below A-rank have designated labor hours.”
“……Really?”
Jay had never imagined that the labor he only heard about in morning reports would be this full-scale. He thought it would be something light like classroom cleaning at most.
In truth, Jay couldn’t have known the details. It had been decided he would only work for a limited period, and he hadn’t received complete education about Connubium.
The work of maintaining Connubium’s vast garden was done by C-rank students and slaves. However, it was now mid-semester. There were barely one or two C-rank students aside from Sayed. They were either freshmen who had just enrolled or the lowest class who had only stayed for about a month.
They quickly adapted to reality and rose to ordinary B-rank. B-rank students also labored, but it generally took place in areas Jay couldn’t see.
Sayed spoke as if to reassure Jay’s worried face.
“Yes. Still, it’s better than working on the farm.”
“The farm?!”
Jay’s eyes widened in shock. Farm work was one of the harsh labors. Cleaning the livestock barn and caring for the animals was no easy task. Moreover, dealing with large livestock also brought the threat of injury.
Jay couldn’t help but be shocked that Sayed was doing such labor. Even if he was C-rank, he had been born with a certain class.
“No, why are you doing that……”
At Jay’s pitiful face, Sayed smiled gently, but his drooping eyebrows only made him look more pitiful. Jay, flustered, looked him over and was about to dust off his clothes, but hesitated, worried that even this might be used against Sayed and cause him disadvantages.
As if fully understanding Jay’s situation, Sayed stepped back.
“It’s okay, Professor.”
“……See you later.”
Between them existed a clear distance. A sorrowful distance where even cheap sympathy couldn’t be offered.
Jay lowered his head and quickly left the spot. He simply couldn’t stand being there. The garden that had felt pleasant just moments ago became an unbearably uncomfortable place.
Jay, who had left as if fleeing, unconsciously looked back. There, Sayed, who had been smiling gently just moments ago, was tending the garden with a cold expression. Vivid anger burned within him. At that unfamiliar sight, Jay startled and moved his legs as if running away.
