"You're not a child, but now you take sides? I am also sincere. I don't want Shirone to be taken away."
Amira had a puzzled expression. She understood their desire to protect their friend, but they were just advanced students. There was no way they could fight against a group mostly composed of seniors.
"Do you really think you're big just because I'll be gentle with you? Do you think you can win against us?"
Starting with Amira, the entire protesting group entered their Spiritual Zone. The powerful zones of the senior students were transmitted through synesthesia to Neid and Eruki.
"Hehehe."
Observing their clash, Fermi secretly shrugged his shoulders. The current situation was ridiculous and on the brink of death.
"Yes, fight, fight. Break each other to your heart's content."
Fermi knew that all benefits arise from chaos and confrontation. In that sense, war was the last blue ocean. The accumulation of wealth was impossible without a minority of winners exploiting a majority of losers.
Fermi knew how to win a war. It was about inciting emotions. Human weaknesses were, ultimately, emotions. Those who exploit others' emotions rule the world.
Cry, get angry, and scream that you're right. That's how you raise the stakes. "Of course, I'll risk everything."
Sienna, who controlled the situation in the infirmary, looked Fermi in the eye.
"Everything is your doing, isn't it? You're a despicable guy."
She was angry but couldn't fault him. Fermi's philosophy wasn't bad. Perhaps he was even taking advantage of Shirone's situation.
Alpeas approached Siena.
"We can't do anything more."
"Director."
"It seems we've reached our limit. We'll have to accept the student council's demands."
Amy shouted, "Director! No! What about Shirone?"
"Amy, I'm sorry."
"How could you do this? You know, Director! You know Shirone isn't dead yet!"
"No. Actually, I don't know."
Surprised, Amy was left stunned. Alpeas placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "Amy, no one knows Shirone's condition. We only believe. I also believe Shirone will come back."
"But why..."
"But look. Now even unrelated children are fighting, right? It doesn't matter why this happened. I can't keep ignoring the situation where my students are fighting."
The other students were as valuable to Alpeas as Shirone. Those students were now spreading their Spiritual Zone to kill each other. In this situation, prioritizing only Shirone was a selfish act.
"I'll go down and tell them myself. I'll inform Shirone's parents and proceed with the funeral arrangements. We'll discuss disciplinary matters later."
Amy weakly collapsed in her chair. Cerielle approached with tears in her eyes.
"Amy, what do we do? Shirone, Shirone is..."
Amy's heart wasn't any different. In the end, Shirone never returned. The moment Alpeas acknowledged it, she felt as though Shirone had disappeared from her heart.
"Shirone..."
The atmosphere in front of the building was about to explode. Everyone had their Spiritual Zones deployed, and anyone could use lethal magic if they made a decision.
Amira felt a sense of doubt again. Was this really the right path? Did it make any sense to cast killer magic at each other with their Spiritual Zones deployed among fellow students?
She bit her lip and looked at Neid and Eruki. Neid was already ready for battle, but Eruki seemed open to conversation.
"You're Eruki, right? The one with the wise syndrome."
Eruki didn't respond.
"Do we really have to do this? Your friend is too emotional. But you're different, aren't you?"
"I'm sorry, but I'm emotional at the moment."
"Liar. No, it doesn't matter even if that's true. You know, don't you? Do you really think your friend is alive? Is that the conclusion you've come to?"
"Hmm, a conclusion. If so, there's only one answer."
Eruki, who lowered his eyes and remained lost in thought, stared at Amira and said, "Shirone isn't dead."
Neid looked at Eruki again, surprised. He didn't understand why Eruki, who had been insisting that Shirone was dead while they were in the infirmary, had suddenly changed his mind.
"Eruki, you..."
Eruki remained staring ahead. Amira's disappointment was growing. She had put her hopes on the person considered the most rational in the school, but it turned out he was just another boy from the advanced class.
"If you really think that, then you must have some logic to convince us."
"Of course."
Amira blinked for a moment. It was an unbelievable situation until she heard him out.
"Then tell me the evidence. Why do you believe Shirone is still alive?"
"Because it's now 4... Should I say?"
Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding.
The bell rang in the clock tower.
Eruki, capable of measuring time without looking at the clock. The method was simple: counting a second each time from a certain point. realized why Eruki's loquacity had decreased lately.
He was counting seconds. But when did he start?
Amira stared at the clock tower. Then she turned her head, realizing something.
"Now I get it. You're crazy. What does the time have to do with Shirone's death?"
Eruki didn't respond. He thought there might be a small error, but it was taking much longer than expected.
'4:07. 8 seconds. 9 seconds. What the hell are they doing?'
Amira decided her judgment was correct. It was useless to have a conversation with the emotional Neid and the crazy Eruki.
"We will take Shirone away. Let's see how long you can hold out against the graduating class."
Neid's eyes filled with killing intent by the energy emitted from the top students of the magic academy. Suddenly, a familiar yet unfamiliar voice was heard.
"It seems you're having fun. How about letting me join in? This is my specialty, after all."
Everyone looked around but couldn't see the origin of the voice. Then, two figures emerged from the shadows cast by the building: it was Kanis and Arin.
Sparks flew in Amira's eyes.
"How dare you show up here! I'll have you arrested immediately."
"If you can, go ahead. Anyway, I'm not going to run."
Kanis replied with a snort and approached Eruki.
Eruki frowned as if annoyed.
"You're too late."
"You said we should come at four, right?"
"You're 27 seconds late."
Kanis was annoyed but tried to calm down. In any case, the first thing to do was to put an end to the bad relationship.
"Here it is, the document you requested."
Eruki quickly accepted the documents Kanis was handing him and flipped through the pages. Only then did Neid, feeling curious, look at the documents and ask.
"Eruki, what is this?"
"A report from the Thunder Dragon's opinion. He had collected a sample of Shirone's tissue and sent it."
"What? When? No, more than that, how can you come from the capital in five days?"
It was a distance that would take four days even by carriage. Moreover, time was needed to analyze the sample, which meant the round trip had to be completed within 48 hours.
"I asked Kanis for help. He had a great sense of the geography of Bashka."
Kanis recalled the hardships of the journey. He managed to arrive on time, but it was a journey made with the will to face death. He rode in a carriage during the day and used Dark Port to transport himself at night. His speed was greater at night, but it was not once or twice that he lost consciousness by exhausting his magical power to the limit.
"Anyway, with this, I owe Shirone nothing."
Kanis didn't feel particularly sorry for Shirone's death. However, he did feel a sense of responsibility as a disciple for the fact that Shirone was sacrificed due to Arcane's misdeeds.
"Well, that's not my concern. Anyway, I'll tell Shirone about it."
As the situation twisted, Amira became anxious. Especially because the Thunder Dragon was the kingdom's main organization, led by Eruki's father.
"What kind of trick are you playing? Just because you're a Mercodain, do you think we'll back off?"
Indeed, the name Mercodain was intimidating, but the families of the students gathered here were not weak either. In terms of numbers, it was a power struggle worth trying.
"Don't worry about that. I used a pseudonym. If my name comes up, that old man might play some tricks. What's more important is the content written in this document, isn't it?"
"Hmph! Are you saying there's a passage like a spell to bring the dead back to life?"
Eruki opened the document and read it from the beginning.
"Title: Report on the Immortal Function and Cessation of Biological Activity."
Upon hearing the title, the protesters shivered and fell silent. The people in the third-floor infirmary also perked their ears at Eruki's continued words.
"Analysis of tissue cell samples from the subject: Non-mechanical suspended animation. No detection of organic transformation characteristic of living organisms in samples collected 24 hours after death. Attached data."
Eruki emphasized this part as if it were important.
"The Thunder Dragon classifies cardiac arrest into three cases: First, cardiac function has stopped. Second, cardiac function has stopped temporarily. Third, the heart has not stopped, but it appears to have stopped phenomenally."
Amira exclaimed with a shocked expression.
"What nonsense is this? I understand the first case, but the rest doesn't make sense!"
As if he had expected that, Eruki moved on to the next chapter.
"Explanation of the case: In the state where cardiac function has stopped, the living organism is considered dead. However, in the case of the Immortal Function, two new cases can occur."
In the solemn atmosphere, Eruki's voice grew louder.
"Case 1: When mental expansion is delayed due to a specific event, the body may temporarily stop functioning until the conclusion of the mind is reached. Attached report."
Eruki nodded and read the next chapter.
"Case 2: Although mental expansion is complete, there is a possibility that the observer's time changes, meaning that vital activity is normal but due to the space-time barrier, the activity cannot be confirmed from the outside. Attached report."
Eruki didn't feel the need to keep reading and flipped through the pages to the end.
"Based on the previous magical findings, the subject currently lying in the infirmary..."
The Thunder Dragon's report was presented to the protesters.
"Arian Shirone cannot be considered dead."
All the protesters who had been making noise remained silent. They too knew it because they were magicians. There was no one who could refute the opinion analyzed by the Thunder Dragon.
"Eruki. Since when did you..."
Eruki glanced again at Neid, who wore an expressionless face, and smiled.
"What do you think? The way I found to bring the dead back to life."
Neid frowned hesitantly. There really was a way to bring the dead back to life. While everyone was immersed in grief and harbored futile hopes, Eruki had been fighting alone.
"Now, check it for yourself."
Eruki handed the report to Amira. She took it silently, and the first thing she looked at was the first page of the report. The seal of the Thunder Dragon was clearly stamped.
Continuing the fight was pointless. The kingdom's main academic institution was proving the professors' judgment to be correct. Even if they filed a lawsuit, the court was likely to side with the academy.
"You've been through a lot, Amira."
Alpeas appeared at the building's entrance.
"Director."