Gamble [Ch-7]

'Why are you here...?'

Though I didn't expect to meet this Demonic Beast now, I knew all about it. It was one of the higher-level Demonic Beasts that even the MC would encounter only within the later stages of the game; it was undoubtably the Undead and Humanoid Demonic Beast, ⸢Venomous Banshee⸥.

It's appearance was nearly identical to what I had observed within the game: disheveled hair that covered her eyes and unusually pale skin with a slight green hue.

'Wait... Was that the reason I had felt that discomfort?'

Though my new mother hadn't stated any such effects could occur, it was true that there were still unknown factors to my condition given that the curse was still relatively unknown. If my hypothesis was correct, then however uncomfortable, being able to sense Demonic Beasts and possibly even Demons was a huge advantage for me-

'She's preparing to attack!'

The fact that she was taking in an incredibly large but silent breath all but confirmed my suspicions of her identity, and though I was preoccupied with my hypothesis regarding my prior discomfort, I could plainly see the creature begin her preparations to attack.

Venomous Banshees, though physically weak, were adept in matters of poison and ailments and usually inflicted said poisons through their mouths. Instead of screams, these Demonic Beasts expelled aerosolized poisons that they brewed within their stomachs whenever they wished to do so.

But since these poisons were brewed inside the banshees, they were akin to their own lifeblood; this meant that expelling these poisons would deem the end for the said banshee.

But the trade-off for this was huge; it was near a one-hit KO. If infected by this poison, the player had mere seconds in game to be healed or use a panacea; otherwise, it would be game over. So, this poison, now in reality, would without a doubt be... deadly.

'And that very same poison now is aimed right at the Imperial Family.'

But how did she get here? I knew I didn't have much time to think or even react, but the question still plagued my mind.

Though a venomous banshee was a humanoid Demonic Beast, which meant it had very basic intellect and hence could talk and communicate, that was it; there was no possible way that she alone could have managed to successfully infiltrate the harbor,not to mention target the most influential and powerful family of the continent, the Imperial Family.

This was troubling. Though the continent may currently appear stable, it was in a state of interior disarray, though it wasn't listed as to why within the game. This discord and separation within the continent was clear when my family, the Elizieres, launched a rebellion, which was joined in on by quite a large amount of noble houses.

So aiming at the Imperial family, with a good chance of eliminating them, could completely destabilize the continent and allow demons like Yelgrand to possibly take over the continent and make life a living hell for everyone on it.

But this knowledge regarding the current state of the Imperial family was rather priveleged. A mere Demonic Beast like a banshee could not have known this information, not to mention used it to create such a dastardly plan all alone.

'Wait... Alone?'

The fact that she transformed from a human attendant back to her Demonic state—which was not an ability this creature had—and the fact that she wasn't detected by any mages, Imperial Knights, or even the Imperial Family themselves should have clued me in on this conclusion.

'... Could it be... The Tutorial Incident?'

The tutorial incident that was underway, which was where most of the securitive forces were currently focused... Could it be a distraction? But... I never even knew about this situation in the game; there was no news about the Imperial Family falling gravely ill under poisoning due to this incident, let alone anywhere throughout the entire prologue.

Hence, at least according to my knowledge of the future, this plan was bound to fail. Still, this was a lucrative idea, one so thought out that it was obvious that it could not have been thought up by another demonic beast, and since demonic cultists couldn't control demonic beasts yet, that left only one option: an actual demon.

But then which one? I couldn't think of any demons that were summoned at the moment... Besides, this was all just a guess; I really couldn't confirm anything. But if it were true... What exactly should I do now?

Should I help? Should I interfere? Would it disrupt the original storyline? Would it make this unknown demon target me in the future? Would it worsen my chances of survival?

'... I shouldn't disrupt it.'

Though I'd rather not observe the Imperial Family get poisoned in front of me, I trusted what I had seen in the game and believed that regardless of what happened, the Imperial Family would recover from this setback and allow the game to continue on track.

'She's finished readying up.'

With that thought, I observed the banshee finish taking in her lengthy and silent breath as she prepared to let out her deadly poison onto the still oblivious family.

'...'

I stared at the Imperial Family with conflicted feelings when my gaze lingered over to Amelia, more specifically her wheelchair. Though I didn't want to recall it, the silhouette of Amelia sitting in a wheelchair brought a certain, painful memory to mind.

"I forgive you.."

The words intruded as they made their way into my ears, as if whispered by ghosts, causing a multitude of deeply suppressed, painful memories and emotions to rush through me.

'...'

'... Damn it.'

'...'

'I'm doing this just to avoid any further variables.'

I convinced myself by thinking those words to be true. I was not a man who acted on impulse. If by chance the Imperial Family couldn't be saved, the game would change even more drastically than if I did something now. Especially since the closest person to the banshee's breath would be Cillian, and if something happened to Cillian, a complex and necessary part of the storyline would disappear.

I couldn't risk it. That was the reason. Truly, that was it. Preventing this attack, though it might alter the story, was thus the safest path I could see. The alterations that could come from this would be minimal compared to the possibility of further diverging from the game's storyline if I didn't do so.

'Now then... what should I do now?'

Since I had acted on impulse, I didn't have more than a split second left to act. I needed to find out what I can do to prevent this, and fast.

Attempting to use magic, skills, or traits would be useless since I myself didn't know how to use them yet. Other than this, though I had expansive knowledge of practical combat and weaponry, this wasn't a situation in which I had access to firearms or had strong enough weapons to do any damage to the banshee.

If I couldn't take any direct action, there was only one way left to deal with the situation. It was similar to this unknown demon's plan.

'A distraction.'

I couldn't call out to the family to warn them; it would be too late, and she would already have poisoned them by the time they could act. I needed to distract the banshee, but how?

Though I thought of it myself, the question was redundant. I knew what to do, or at least had an idea that could work. Though I wasn't completely sure it would work, based on the warning my now mother had given me and the strange phenomenon that had occurred, this could work, and frankly, I couldn't think of anything else.

'...I'm just going to have to gamble on it.'

The idea was undeniably a stupid one that could possibly put me in even more danger, but my intuition was screaming at me to do it, that it was the best move in this situation and would definitely benefit me in the future no matter the current cost.

'...I'm going to regret this.'

I quickly lowered my blindfold and looked straight at the demom, immediately pulling it back up after.

Though it may seem useless, it was an educated guess based on what I had learned: removing the blindfold would likely begin to release demonic energy and, given my own reaction to the demonic beast, cause it to react to the demonic energy as well, though I didn't know how it would react. Regardless, it should at least cause a minor distraction, and that was all I needed.

And, thankfully, I was right. Though I had only removed my blindfold for a split second, the venomous banshee, in confusion, had completely turned towards me. This game gave me just enough time to yell.

"Cillian! Kill it!"

The boy flinched in surprise after having his name called, but immediately recovered and realized his current situation. Without missing a beat, a basket-hilted sword appeared within his hands, and with a fell swoop, he cleanly beheaded the Demonic Beast.

It was over; the demonic beast's body slumped over into the chair behind it within the attendant's booth while the green-coloured blood oozed from its rather gory, decapitated head.

'It's done.'

With that thought, I endured the suspicious looks of the Imperial Family as I waited for the academic officials and Imperial Knights to arrive. Which, thankfully, did not take long.

***

Quite some time had passed since the attempted assassination of my family; the academy officials had shown up, including one of the the vice-headmasters of the academy himself. It had been quite the heated discussion between father and him regarding what had happened, and afterwards quite a few apologies had also been made—on both sides.

Authorities had taken the corpse of the Demonic Beast into custody, located the injured but still alive attendant whom the beast had replaced, and even taken statements from everyone involved, including the odd child called Raziel Eliziere.

The boy, who was currently being hounded by my idiot brother, had been central in thwarting this assassination attempt but was initially suspected of being part of this attempt but had been cleared after having his identity verified. Though this didn't clear him completely of suspicion, it wasn't long after that they learned of his accident and cleared him entirely.

After all, how could this fragile child have contributed to this heinous attack while resting and recovering at home? Even if he knew our schedule and knew our family—apparently through his father's stories—he was injured, he couldn't see fully well, and apparently still was still recovering from his loss in mobility. Though personally I didn't believe this, it was true that I believed him to be innocent.

'He couldn't possibly have done something so nefarious.'

And still, if by some chance he had actually assisted in this potentially fatal incident, why did he help us in the end? What would he have possibly gained from this? If he was aiming for some grand reward from the Imperial Family, it was pointless. Once inside the academy, you couldn't leave for the next 6 months, and during that time our statuses would be equal; the Imperial Crown had no power within academy walls.

And if he was doing so hoping to be owed a favor, he was unaware of what sort of life we had lived within the walls of the Imperial Castle and how easy it is to dismiss such 'favours' using pure speaking skills or imperial power. Whatever his aim was, it was a fruitless endeavor. So, with that reasoning...

'He has to be innocent.' 

This was the conclusion that the rest of the authorities had come to as well, but still, something was bothering me. Though he might not have noticed in the frenzy of everything, I too had been looking at him during that all throughout that situation. And I had seen something rather precarious, which had caused me to keep observing him further; even now my gaze was fixed on him.

He, though discretely, like me, had been avoiding coming into contact with people who were rather mana-sensitive and had given his statements to common guardsmen instead of the Academic Mages or Imperial Knights. All this with a facade of untrue emotions, an expression I was rather familiar with throughout the Imperial Palace.

But now, after all the hassle had been cleaned up and we were ready to board, we had been given the standard issue, student watches. And it was this common item that was causing him to make an expression of genuine curiosity and wonder, completely contrary to what I had observed for the past 2 hours.

'How curious...'

But besides this, there had been another, more important reason that I had been observing him—one on which my life might depend on... His eyes.

-Step

-Step

But first, I needed to handle this overprotective father of mine that was walking up to me after finishing his heated discussion with the vice-headmaster.

It would appear that he had still not been worn and likely was going to scold me for what I had done amidst that chaos.

'Damn it, I was sure he wouldn't have noticed.'

"Amelia..."

"Yes father?"

"Don't play innocent with me, young lady."

"Whatever do you mean?"

"I saw you activating your magic; did you think I of wouldn't notice that subtle white glow underneath our family after Cillian beheaded that beast? You didn't need to do that; we weren't even injured."

"But I really didn't activate any magic."

"I can see the dried blood that you spit up on your forearm."

"... I thought I cleaned it up well."

"Amelia!"

'Damn it... I got caught.'

"I'm sorry father... But I couldn't take any chances! I just can't stand to see another person I care about get hurt, especially given what happened to Cillian in the past."

"He's completely recovered now, Amelia! Besides, that was half a decade ago! Both of you are 15 now! You don't need to play doctor constantly! Especially since your condition worsens every time you use your holy magic! Look what happened; it's eaten away at your legs due to your use since then."

Father lifted up the blanket to reveal my plight, the sight of my legs that had gone a pale black, consumed by that forsaken Demonic Energy.

"That demonic bastard! He cursed you with the most troubling spell for Holy Magic users! Why did he have to use a Demonic Curse of Sacrilege?"

'Demonic Curse of Sacrilege', the cause of my plight; the curse that eats away at my lifeforce every time I use my magic, magic that uses 'Light Mana'. Given my disposition for holy or healing that uses this mana, it's like poison that cannot be avoided.

Light mana circulates in my body daily, causing me crippling pain; even now I was on some rather heavy painkillers. Furthermore, every time I use healing magic, the curse painfully, quite literally, eats away at me and my vitality.

Still, I didn't regret what I did one bit. I would have done it again no matter how many chances I had; after all, that was the only way I could have saved that idiot brother of mine.

"Father.. Like you said, that was years ago; don't get so angry! It was trade I'd happily do again if I were ever in that same situation; I needed to quickly advance my holy magic no matter the cost! We needed it to cure Cillian!"

"That's my problem! You did something unnessary, dear! You could have just waited for the other specialized holy magic users to arrive!"

"You knew that would be too late! Cillian would have died! I had to learn advanced holy magic quickly! Besides, I always had the predisposition for holy magic! I would have learned the advance spells eventually... it's the same thing, I just learned it quicker... for a price."

"My dear child, it's not the same thing! What happened to you was twisted... What kind of sick demonic miscreant taught you such powerful holy magic and cursed you so that you would die the more you used it!"

"..."

"..."

Silence grew, as a look of frustration and melancholy enveloped my beloved father's face. In response, I just attempted to lighten the mood.

"... I'm fine now, father. Besides, it's true that the holy magic he taught helped save Cillian's life... Though now I'm vaguely beginning to regret it."

I spoke as I observed my happy, healthy brother that was still hounding the poor child of the Eliziere with incessant questions, blissfully unaware of what he had gone through, as my poor mother just stood farther away with a tinge of anger breaking through her sculpted persona as she looked at him.

'He's going to get scolded one way or another.'

"Making jokes, are we now? ... I know I say it too much, but thank you, dear, truly. Though I wish I was wrong, without you, we would have lost your brother. That dark and dreary time would have gotten even darker... But I still feel sorry; you must have felt as if you had no other option left if you wanted to save your brother."

"I wanted to do it, father; it was my choice. I don't regret it at all. Besides... looking at that child, it seems there might be hope for me to survive after all."

I spoke, continuing to look at the child of the Eliziere house; my father soon joined me in doing the same.

"You sensed it too, dear? That sudden demonic energy."

'Rather saw it, father... But I won't tell you that.'

Due to my own curse, I had read up on most curses alongside my parents. I knew he had a 'Curse of Demonic Manifestation', the worst curse of them all, from his eyes alone. But still, though he should have been sick and weakly or, though less likely, dead, he was still roaming here relatively fit as fiddle and even moving around up and about. His accident was probably just a well-crafted lie.

If my overprotective father knew all that, he would undoubtably kidnap that child under false pretenses and research how he was managing to stay in such a precarious state in an attempt to cure me. This would inevitably cause a large problem between House Eliziere and the Imperial Family.

'Though I wouldn't want to harm that boy either, this was the true reason.'

I'd much rather befriend him; it shouldn't be too hard since it looks like Cillian has taken quite the liking to him. And when Cillian likes someone, it's very hard to tear him away from them; he's like a lonely dog in that sense. He gained that questionably unfortunate trait during his own life-threatening illness.

"Yes, father, but I think it's a likely from a curse, it's similar to mine."

"I believe so too, dear, but it doesn't hurt to be careful. And regardless, you absolutely can't let him know about your curse... who knows what he'll do if he knows. Try to get information on his condition without letting him figure anything out about yours."

"... and now that I've said that, let me remind you; though for now that curse is being hidden by that blanket we specially developed, remember not to remove it unless you're alone or go near mana-sensitive people."

He finished his short speech, all the while looking at me with an expectant face.

"But of course, father, I'm an Imperial Princess... I know how to judge people and situations, and most important, to be cautious but decisive."

"Good, I'm proud of you for remembering that. Just be safe, and tell me whatever you find out; maybe we can manage to find a cure for you with the information you gain from him. I love you, my precious daughter. Don't forget to call often. Bye-Bye."

He quickly finished his words and kissed my forehead following which, my idiot brother ran over causing my father to hurriedly move up, acting a little stiff as he waved me goodbye.

Though my parents knew of my curse, he didn't. We were all fearful of what it might do to him if he remembers anything of that time; hence, we avoided talking about the curse whenever he was around and had hidden it from him, even till now.

"Let's go, Melia! The new attendant said that they were finally going to allow us to board! Come on, hurry!"

He yelled as he began to rush my chair towards where Raziel was standing. The poor child was holing onto all 3 of our bags with an exhausted expression, which he quickly managed to hide when we reached and replaced with an expression of genuine wonder and hope once again; it was nearly identical to Cil's. Though I mustn't judge them, I must have had the same expression when I saw what followed after the following words left the attendant's mouth. 

"The gate will now open; please get ready to board."

---

Elsewhere, a shadowy figure looked through a floating screen, replaying something again and again like a video in rewind and slow-motion. He opened a smartphone-esq device and found a contact; quickly navigating the device's options, he called it.

"I've had some unforeseen luck, sir."

"..."

"Yes. I've found the progenitor's vessel."

He spoke as he stared at the silver-haired boy on the screen, looking at his eyes, sclera black as night. Looking at Raziel.