“G-Gone?”
“The barrier is completely gone… What in the world happened?”
Those who had instinctively shut their eyes, bracing for the explosion, slowly opened them one by one.
As they looked around, they were so stunned that they were left speechless.
The sphere, which had swelled as if it would explode at any moment after shattering the barrier, had vanished without a trace.
All that remained was the research building, its outer wall deeply gouged as if it had been gnawed away by rats.
A heavy silence settled over the area as if nothing had happened.
After a brief pause, everyone’s gaze shifted toward the man standing alone at the scorched epicenter of the explosion.
“C-Count Vermont!?”
No one could understand what had happened, but all the professors present at the scene knew one thing for sure—
Count Aslan Vermont had done something.
Just before the barrier shattered, Aslan had confidently walked beneath it.
Then, an ominous black smoke had erupted from him, enveloping the crimson sphere.
When the black smoke dissipated, there was nothing left.
Even though they had seen the entire sequence of events with their own eyes, not a single person understood what had just transpired.
“What on earth did you do? I couldn’t sense even the slightest tremor of mana…”
“That black smoke just now? No, that flash of light—what was that?”
The professors rushed forward, bombarding Aslan with questions.
For a moment, he was at a loss for how to respond.
If he outright mentioned Black Magic, the entire crowd would be thrown into turmoil before he could even explain.
On the other hand, giving a theoretical explanation would take far too long.
“…”
After a brief moment of deliberation, Aslan let out a faint smile and spoke.
“It’s going to be a long explanation. I’ll present my findings at tomorrow’s academic conference. If you still have questions, feel free to ask them there.”
He would have to explain it all tomorrow anyway.
There was no reason to waste his breath in this chaotic setting.
With a nonchalant reply, Aslan turned and walked away.
“Assistant! Assistant! Reschedule my appointments! I need to attend tomorrow’s conference!”
“Damn it! I didn’t reserve a seat! I’ll have to attend even if I have to stand…!”
The professors started scrambling in a frenzy.
Most of them had planned to skip this year’s academic conference, assuming it would be uneventful.
But now, it had suddenly become the must-attend event.
.
.
.
‘That was way too close…’
The crimson sphere was gone,
but its scars remained vividly imprinted on the academy’s research building.
Just how intense had the heat been to melt the stone walls?
If I hadn’t arrived in time and used Black Magic to disperse the mana…
There would have been an unimaginable number of casualties.
“We’ve captured the culprit!”
“Are you the one responsible for casting that destructive magic near the research building?”
“Y-Yes… That’s right…”
The culprit had been caught with surprising ease.
In fact, he had turned himself in.
It didn’t seem to be a deliberate act of t*rrorism—just an unfortunate accident during his research.
The professors gathered around the detained man with grim expressions.
“What kind of spell did you use?”
“It didn’t seem like a conventional combustion reaction. What was that magic?”
Rather than focusing on punishment,
they immediately bombarded him with questions about the phenomenon they had just witnessed.
Disciplinary action could come later—right now, their curiosity was too overwhelming.
“W-Well… You see… Recently, it was discovered that mana can be physically split into particles, right?
I found that when mana is divided, the energy released is proportional to the lost mass. However, the coefficient is astronomically high… The energy emitted from a single mana particle is millions of times greater than a combustion reaction.”
“Millions of times greater!? Are you certain? Do you have proof?”
“All my data was in the research lab, but…”
“Damn it! You need to remeasure and submit your findings to the academic community! Or better yet, come to my lab! I’ll personally verify it! But more importantly, continue your explanation.”
“Y-Yes… Based on that principle, I hypothesized that if I could induce a chain reaction of mana fission, I could harness a massive amount of energy. To put it simply, when a mana particle breaks apart, the fragments scatter in all directions. Those fragments then collide with other mana particles, causing them to break apart as well, repeating the process until the entire highly concentrated mana source undergoes a simultaneous reaction. That’s what happened just now…”
“…”
The researcher finished his explanation in a deflated voice.
The professors were all frozen in shock.
And I, too, was equally stunned.
‘Wait a second… That’s just nuclear fission…?’
The theory he described was almost identical to nuclear fission.
If you substituted mana particles with uranium or plutonium, it would be indistinguishable from an atomic reaction.
The problem was… nuclear fission was the fundamental principle behind one of the deadliest weapons in existence—the atomic bomb.
A principle that allows immense energy to be released from a small source.
The moment people hear about such a principle, the first thing they will think of… is a bomb.
As I glanced around, I saw that all the professors were wearing serious expressions, struggling to find words.
Clearly, they were all thinking the same thing.
“If that’s true… then by utilizing this principle…”
“We could harness the released energy to boil water, turn turbines, and generate power for daily use!”
“There’s no need to deforest mountains just to gather firewood, and it doesn’t produce smoke—what an environmentally friendly energy source!”
“But… couldn’t this also be used to make bombs…?”
“Bah! You refine high-purity mana just to waste it on something as useless as a bomb? Have you lost your mind!?”
“Does a mere bomb bake bread or produce anything of value!?”
“I-I’m sorry!”
…Or so I had assumed.
The professors were far more excited about the nuclear power generation aspect.
The moment someone mentioned bombs, they were immediately bombarded with criticism.
Watching them enthusiastically debate among themselves, my tension finally eased, and I let out a sigh of relief.
‘Right… This world is, overall, quite peaceful…’
I had forgotten.
Aside from Aslan Vermont and Sephiroth, this world was rather soft and forgiving.
Unless I personally introduced the concept of nuclear war, it wasn’t something this world needed to worry about.
‘The villain of Chapter 1 was Aslan. Chapter 2 was probably be Sephiroth. Then after that…?’
I suddenly found myself wondering who the remaining villains would be.
There was no way there were only two.
Including the final boss, there had to be at least one more.
Yet, so far, I hadn’t encountered anyone as wicked as Aslan Vermont or Sephiroth, which left me puzzled.
Could someone be hiding their true nature, pretending to be good?
Or maybe someone would fall into darkness later?
Perhaps… the next villain hasn’t even been born yet.
‘Either way, I need to be prepared.’
Since I had only played up to Chapter 1, I had no information about the future villains.
But that didn’t mean I could just sit back and do nothing.
The good news was that the Hero and his party were on my side.
And not just any party—they were a dream team, including a Necromancer, Dark Knight, Sword Master, and a Healer.
As long as they continued honing their abilities, they should be more than capable of handling any future threats.
Of course, I would remain vigilant and always prepare for the worst.
But for now, I decided not to dwell on it too much.
“Count! Are you hurt…?”
“My thighs are a little sore from being carried by Sylvia, but that’s about it.”
“Oh, that’s a relief… What about Charlotte and Julia…?”
“I left them near the outskirts since it seemed dangerous. They’ll be here soon.”
“I-I see… So no one was injured… That’s good…”
“…”
Yuri let out a deep sigh of relief before collapsing weakly to the ground.
She must have been incredibly shaken by this unprecedented disaster.
And yet, despite her own fear, she had been worrying about others first…
“Sit down and rest. Calm your nerves first.”
“No… It’s not that I was scared…”
“Then what?”
“It was obvious people were going to get hurt, right in front of my eyes… But I was so powerless that I could only save a few at most… That sense of helplessness…”
“…”
Yuri trembled, staring blankly into the air with unfocused eyes.
In that chaos, instead of thinking of escaping, she had been focused on saving others.
Was she really the same species as me?
She was too good-hearted.
“Count… how did you become so strong? Can you teach me…?”
She glanced up at me with eyes filled with admiration.
Me? Strong?
What a ridiculous thing to say.
“I was just lucky.”
“Come on…”
“I’m not saying this to be modest—I mean it. I was really just lucky. I’m physically as weak as Julia and can’t even sense mana, but I happened to be born with a talent for Black Magic. Most of the time, that talent is completely useless, but in situations like this, it allows me to save lives. That’s all there is to it. It’s not about being strong or weak.”
“No… Count, you are strong. I’m not talking about physical strength or magic ability. I mean yourself—you, as a person.”
To Yuri, I must have seemed like some kind of incredible figure.
I let out a small chuckle and placed my hand on top of her head.
“If that’s how you feel, then I guess my bluff worked pretty well. I was lucky that my bluff was convincing, and lucky to have capable people by my side.”
“Bluff…?”
“It’s true. I’m just a weakling pretending to be strong. But if you, someone who is truly strong, put on the same act, it wouldn’t be called bluffing—it would be called confidence.”
“…!”
“If an ordinary person were in that situation, they wouldn’t be thinking about saving others—they’d be too busy trying to survive. The fact that you were able to save anyone proves that you are strong. Believe in yourself, Yuri. Whether you call it bluffing or confidence, strength always finds those who believe they have it.”
“Yes…!”
Finally, Yuri responded with a voice that carried a bit more strength.
I just hoped she wouldn’t be too harsh on herself.
In the original story, she had to push herself to the brink to awaken her true potential,
but that wasn’t necessary here.
“By the way, the moment you saw me earlier, you called me by my name, Aslan Vermont…”
“Ah!? I-I’m so sorry, Count! I was just so shocked that I blurted out whatever came to mind…!”
Yuri’s face went pale in an instant, her entire body trembling as she looked up at me with worried eyes.
She must have thought I’d be furious for a commoner calling a noble by name.
[The Evil God ‘Kali’ is ecstatic, shouting that our healer must feel very close to you if she calls you by name in her mind!]
As Kali suggested, I was overjoyed, so much so that I wanted to let out a cheer.
But I held back my laughter, struggling to keep the corners of my lips from twitching.
So I wasn’t the only one who thought I was getting closer to Yuri…
