ITITPS 17

Chapter : 17

In an instant, I collected my chaotic emotions.

This is inside a game. No matter what happens, all I need to do is enjoy it.

Serena and I ran toward the source of the scream.
Only after passing three compartments from first class did we finally find the victim.

“M-Master of the Tower? It’s the Master of the Tower!”

“Someone’s dead here!”

People recognized Serena—the empire’s most famous name after the imperial family, the one-woman bombing squad—and parted, murmuring.

Then I saw the man at the center. I hurried toward the fallen figure.

It was as if there were a hole stabbed directly into the middle of his heart.
Blood spatter marked the wooden planks covering the train floor.

Exactly like Chapter 6’s intro.

The order was different, but the early progression was identical.
I leaned in, searching the man’s arm for the mark that would still be there.

“Wait, Asha! Stay back!”

“Huh? Why…?”

There shouldn’t be anything dangerous here though?

Just as I flipped his arm to check the inscription—

[You are exposed to dense mana.]

[Warning! HP dropping to yellow zone.]

“Cough—Gah!”

“Asha!”

A fit of dry coughing hit me and a thick chocolate smell filled my nose.

Well, of course. A high-ranking demon’s writing wouldn’t be free of mana.

This is basically a human mana detector, isn’t it?

Need to measure mana? Just use me! The higher the mana concentration, the harder I cough up blood. Tee-hee.

Blood dripped from my lips into my hands when a choice window popped up.

[(Attempt mouth-to-mouth on the corpse)]
[(Throw something at the train wall to blow off steam)]

“Pfft!”

Sorry, the choices were so ridiculous I accidentally laughed out loud.

I looked down once more at the man.
He was a middle-aged extra character, about forty.

Handsome or not, I was not kissing a dude fifteen years older than me—not in reality, not in VR.

I reluctantly chose option two.

My avatar naturally pulled a dagger from my belt and threw it.

Whoosh! The blade sliced through the air—

“What the—?”

It bounced right off with a crackling spark, like it had hit something solid.

Serena’s eyes widened as if she realized something.

My throwing strength is never weak. Under normal circumstances, a wooden train wall could never repel my dagger.

Which meant there was only one answer.

This train—more precisely, Car 5—was already surrounded by a demon’s barrier.

[Serena’s Affection +2]

“I didn’t expect that from a knight.”

“Is the train wall made of steel?”

The murmuring grew around us.

Well, none of these people are fighters. No wonder they don’t grasp what it means.

“What is going on?”

“Asha! Are you all right?!”

That was when Mikael and Ilya finally burst in, having noticed the uproar.

No clue where they’d been, but from their disheveled appearance, they’d clearly had a scuffle.

Ilya rushed to me and paced around helplessly like an anxious puppy.

“Blood—there’s more blood…”

“Calm down, Ilya.”

“How am I supposed to calm down when you’re like this?”

At his words, even Serena and Mikael fell quiet.

Okay, yes, thanks for the concern, but can we progress the story already?

This episode is cramped inside a train so Serena’s overwhelming DPS is basically useless.

Feeling slightly gloomy, I wiped my forehead—only to remember my hand was covered in blood.

Now blood was dripping from my forehead too.

“Asha…”

Ilya, looking unbearably forlorn, took out a handkerchief and carefully wiped my forehead, mouth, and hands.

The more his white handkerchief turned red, the more pained his expression became.

Honestly, I’m not even hurt.

“How about resting for now, Asha?”

[…Okay, I’ll leave it to you]
[Don’t be ridiculous]

A choice popped up at Mikael’s suggestion.
If I picked the first option, I’d probably get TPK’d.

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

[Mikael’s Affection –3]

The moment I snapped back, Mikael flashed a wide grin.

“…Well, if that’s how you are, fine. Let’s check the writing on his arm.”

Why is he smiling when his affection dropped?

If I hadn’t seen the system message, I’d swear he was in a good mood.

Low-affection Mikael is so creepy.

While I was thinking a mildly rude thought, Ilya flipped the man’s arm.
There was a scar engraved like letters.

“‘I am among us.’ …What’s that mean? Master of the Tower, you know?”

Mikael read it aloud, then scowled and ruffled his soft blond hair in frustration.

Ilya just blinked, unable to interpret anything.

Serena, on the other hand, stiffened.

She had fought countless demons on the front lines and read more books than anyone here.
Of course she would recognize it.

Serena and I met eyes.

The two of us exchanged a loaded glance, while confusion spread among Mikael, Ilya, and the other passengers.

Time for my cool moment.

I cleared my throat and prepared to speak—then froze at a sensation from my abdomen.

There are several mandatory features VR capsule systems provide.

If anything life-threatening happens to the user,
or if a user needs to eat, sleep, or—yes—use the bathroom.

So users don’t die of dehydration or, uh, make a mess in the capsule,
it always monitors your real body.

Bathroom…!

Of all times.

A cramp hit my stomach and cold sweat trickled down my back.

Before, I could’ve logged out freely—time paused.
But not anymore.

If I log out now, my avatar will probably go unconscious.

“Asha? You look pale…”

Serena’s worried voice barely registered.

What do I do? Hold it?

But this chapter lasts at least three more hours.
No way I can make it.

Groaning, I made my decision.

[Would you like to log out?]

YES. YES!!

[Loading…]
[Exiting “Raison d’Etre.”]

“Asha!”

Ilya’s desperate shout was the last thing I heard as I returned to reality.

“Flan! Open the bathroom! Now!”

Then I sprinted.
I nearly died, seriously.

“Asha!”

Ilya reacted quickly, catching Asha the moment she collapsed.

Panting breaths escaped her lips, then stopped entirely.

I should’ve forced her to sit down…!

Regret flooded Ilya.

From the moment he and Mikael entered Car 5, he’d sensed something was wrong.

Anyone who couldn’t tell while she was coughing up that much blood
was either a fool or didn’t care at all—and he was neither.

There were warning signs after that too.

Though Asha acted composed, the cold sweat and pale complexion couldn’t be hidden.

Ilya bit his lip, on the verge of tears.

She was the kind of woman who would say “I’m fine” right up until the moment she died.

Not showing it doesn’t make the pain disappear.

If no one else could see it, he should have.

He shouldn’t just notice—he should do whatever it takes to protect her from hurt.

But…

He also wanted to respect Asha’s will completely and follow her lead.

He wanted her never to suffer again—never to die.

Two wishes that could never coexist froze him in place.

“Your Grace. Take her back to first class and lay her down. Stay with her.”

“…I was going to from the start.”

He hurried away, carrying Asha carefully as if she might shatter.

Even Mikael was too startled to utter a word.

Which was fortunate—right now, Ilya wouldn’t have tolerated any sniping.

“Master of the Tower. Do you know why Asha collapsed? Is it…the injury from the palace crack?”

“It’s not that.”

Serena gave a vague denial.

It was clear why Asha, fine until moments ago, suddenly coughed blood and fainted.

As Mute diagnosed—exposure to dense mana worsened her condition.

But Serena wasn’t certain enough to say aloud that it might not be temporary.

Asha had confronted one of the Demon Lord’s Four Lieutenants herself inside the imperial palace crack.

That trauma could be amplifying her reaction now.

In my memory, Asha never shed a single tear regardless of the injury, Serena thought.

The Asha she knew—who fought on with an arm severed,
who kept swinging her sword even after losing both eyes—
would never faint from pain.

How terrible must the agony be this time?

She didn’t even want to imagine it.

“Haa…”

It hurt.
Breathing felt like wading through thick sludge.

A crushing pressure squeezed Serena’s chest.

“…First, let me explain the meaning of the message.”

But now was not the time to wallow.

She steadied herself and pointed to the dead man’s arm.

“‘I am among us.’ About a hundred years ago, a similar sentence appeared.
It was the story of a high-ranking demon who toyed with humans while wearing their skin.”

Serena frowned at the memory.

She’d come across it in the Tower’s 198th-floor library.

In that repository of knowledge where only the Tower Master and a chosen few could enter—
books unimaginable in scope slumbered.

Among them, an ancient tome.

“A demon disguises itself as a human? Is that possible?”

“The Tower’s records include demons capable of freely altering their appearance.
Which means—”

Serena lifted her head and declared:

“—The demon who killed this man is here. Inside this train.”