Conquering the Academy with Just a Sashimi Knife (Novel) - Chapter 98 - Resolution (1)

Chapter 98 – Resolution (1)

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Translated by Jinmu

Read only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Erio’s large eyes widened even further.

‘Th-that… what the hell is that monster bastard?!’

The rumors that Kang Geom-ma was strong had already spread far and wide. Not long ago, in a subspace duel, he had defeated the Star of the Continent, a genius without equal.

People called him this: the Sashimi Sword Saint.

Even if there was a certain amount of joking mixed into it, Kang Geom-ma really was exceptional.

That was why they had calculated all sorts of variables and researched countermeasures for what to do if they encountered him. But all that painstaking effort burst like foam in an instant. The strength drained from her legs too, and the backs of her knees trembled.

Paul himself had failed to notice it, but Erio, who had been watching the fierce battle unfold, was horrified.

A strength beyond all expectation. And on top of that, the pressure Kang Geom-ma gave off erased even her fighting spirit.

How could someone be like that? And at that, a seventeen-year-old whose face still had baby fuzz on it. Leaving age aside, was it even plausible for a human like that to exist in the first place?

A being whose bottom line of strength could not even be estimated.

A monster, no…

“A demon.”

The words she had only been muttering inside her head slipped out. At that, the black eyes stopped on her.

Step. One step.

Kang Geom-ma’s toes pointed toward Erio. His cold, empty eyes fixed on her.

“D-don’t come any closer!”

Erio shrieked shrilly. Every hair on her body stood on end.

But Kang Geom-ma’s feet kept moving.

“Don’t come, you demon!”

At that, Choi Seol-ah let out a snort. For a villain to be saying something like that was absurd. Choi Seol-ah shrugged and shook her head as if to say it was regrettable.

Step. Another step.

Erio’s complexion had gone deathly pale.

Chaotic emotions tore through her head.

‘I’m going to die, I’m going to die, I’m going to die, I’m going to die, I’m going to die, I’m going to die.’

At last, Erio gritted her teeth and jolted her frozen thoughts awake.

No matter how ugly it looked, she had to escape death.

She had to survive first, and then afterward plot her revenge for some future day. Erio barely recovered a thread of composure and forced her head to work.

Run away just like this?

She had just seen Kang Geom-ma’s absurd sword speed. There was no way she could escape.

Then cast magic, pour out an offensive barrage, and flee?

But for some reason, she could not sense any magic. Erio shifted her gaze toward Paul, who had been chopped in half.

‘…Don’t tell me that guy used up all the magic…?’

Come to think of it, that bastard Paul had prepared his casting even though he had not even managed to activate it. On top of that, after boasting that he would at least drain Kang Geom-ma’s stamina, the incompetent fool had ended up getting his body split apart in one go.

No matter how dense the magic in the air was, the total amount was not infinite. If you spent it recklessly, eventually it would run dry.

And yet something still felt off. The magic Paul had used before dying had not been all that vast, so why? The question flashed through her mind for only an instant. But Erio quickly realized the answer.

Erio slowly turned her head. Cold sweat ran down her forehead. Her gaze settled on the sashimi knife.

Savage killing intent was pouring from the blade and driving away the magic in the surrounding area. It seemed impossible, but it was reality.

“……”

Even now, that insane monster was getting closer. There was no time to hesitate.

In the next moment, she suddenly grabbed hold of Saki’s hair and yanked her up.

“Take one more step and I’ll cut this bitch’s throat right away!”

In an instant Erio shaped earth into a sharp blade and pressed it to Saki’s jawline. At that, Kang Geom-ma’s steps came to a stop.

Right. There was no surer method than a hostage. Using Saki as a shield, Erio cautiously inched toward the stairs.

Just as Erio was almost at the staircase, she suddenly felt something off.

Her eyes abruptly swept over Saki. The dagger that had clearly been stuck in her collarbone was gone. Blood alone was flowing from the stab wound in her chest.

“W-what the hell is th-”

At the moment Erio’s pupils widened to their limits, Saki’s lips moved.

“It hurts. Let go already.”

“……!?

Before the words had even fully left her mouth, Saki pulled out the sword she had hidden on her person. Then she reversed her grip on the hilt and, facing backward, thrust it in with all her might.

Puuuk!

“Kuaaaagh-!”

The wavy blade pierced through her navel and churned her intestines. Immediately, the poison coating the metal surged through her blood vessels like a torrent.

“Kkeuaaaaaaaaaah!”

Erio screamed in pain for a long while, and then at last her knees slammed into the floor.

It seemed Saki’s legs had lost their strength as well, because she staggered and braced herself against the wall. Erio, sprawled forward, lifted only her head and asked:

“How… how did you…?”

Saki forced out a faint smile. Her sky-blue hair slipped down along her cheek. Letting out a muddied breath, she murmured:

“Haa, haa… you were acting before too, so why wouldn’t I be able to? And besides, the House of the Bow has built up poison resistance for generations… coating arrowheads with poison and aiming for the enemy is one of an archer’s little tricks.”

Saki steadied her disordered breathing once. It did not become neat, but if she did not at least did this much, it felt like her breath really would cut off.

“…You insane bitch.”

Erio cursed in a twisted voice. The poison had already spread to her throat, and purple veins were standing out. Only the muscles of her face twitched; most of her bodily functions would not move at all.

Saki, too, looked as if she had completely exhausted her stamina. But she still forced herself to straighten her back and added:

It wasn’t that I stopped the poison from spreading with a blessing, just… haa, haa… I only slowed my heartbeat down. But if the timing had been off by even a single second, I really might’ve crossed the River Styx……

Clutching her lower abdomen, Erio viciously widened her eyes. But the vitality was rapidly leaving her face. The poison had spread to her brain, and its functions were beginning to shut down little by little.

“…Ah, ah.”

Her eyelids closed. A pitch-black curtain of darkness swiftly spread over her vision.

A short groan. That was Erio’s final dying word. Right after that, all signs of life went out completely.

“Haa, haa.”

Saki also lowered her head as though her strength had given out. As her body slowly tipped forward.

Grab.

A solid sensation touched Saki’s cheek. She only lifted her eyes a little.

At the boundary between life and death, the face she had searched for so desperately was looking down at her.

“I’m the one who’s dying here, so why are you the one making that face? Still, thanks for saving me with perfect timing.”

“……”

“And about that favor you said you’d grant me a few days ago.”

Smiling faintly, Saki buried her face deep against my chest again.

“Let me stay like this a little longer.”

* * *

Ryozo leaned his body against mine. His complexion had gone so white that all color had completely drained away, and his breathing was muddied. But even that breathing was fading like a candle in the wind.

“Ryozo!”

“……”

Even when I called his name loudly, Ryozo only opened and closed his mouth a few times before suddenly coughing.

“Cough, cough.”

The more he coughed, the more blood welled from his wound and mouth. I hurriedly checked Ryozo’s condition.

A jagged sword wound that had torn into his chest. It seemed to have barely missed the vital point, but it was clearly still a fatal injury. Perhaps because of the damp, gloomy air inside the tower, the bleeding was not stopping.

I shifted my gaze slightly. Ryozo was bad enough, but Leon, sprawled out about ten steps away, was in even worse condition.

So badly hurt that it was a wonder he was still alive. His side had been gouged open, and one of his arms had been ruined like a rag.

I had to treat them immediately. If I delayed, both their lived would go out hand in hand. I bit down on my lower lip and then let out a sigh.

‘At times like this, more than ever, stay calm.’

In a desperate situation, there was no emotion less helpful than panic. I swept my eyes over the state of the two of them and made a quick judgment.

‘First, stop the bleeding.’

I took off my school uniform jacket. Then I slashed along the hem with the sashimi knife and tore it apart with my bare hands.

“…What are you doing?”

Choi Seol-ah tilted her head with a puzzled look.

Despite how urgent the situation was, she watched as if she found it fascinating. Seeing a face stripped even of emotions like pity or compassion while people were dying made irritation surge through me for a moment.

But what could I ? Only traces of her emotions were left. There was no time to scold her.

‘She did hand over the sashimi knife and help turn things around.’

In truth, when I had reached out to Choi Seol-ah and asked for a weapon, it had been a gamble in its own right. If she had not given me the sashimi knife, I would have been finished on the spot. But for some reason, Choi Seol-ah had abandoned the villains who had been her comrades and chosen me instead. All while adding that she wanted to serve me as her lord.

I had no way of knowing whether it was because of the minion’s mark or because some lingering attachment had formed. But I could not deny that I had benefited from it.

At that moment, Rachel and Senior Hana entered the fifth floor as well. Rachel, whose complexion had been haggard, saw the aftermath and was greatly shocked. Then she asked me at once:

“…Wh-what happened here……?”

“I’ll explain later. Rachel, Senior Hana, please bring Leon over here first.”

The two of them still looked stunned, but for now they nodded as though they understood. Choi Seol-ah rolled up her sleeves too and stepped in to help them.

‘She seems oblivious, and yet not.’

If she had just stood there staring blankly the whole time, I would have genuinely blown up in anger. But she moved sharply before I even had to signal her.

When Rachel approached Leon, her brows twitched and twisted. He had been reduced completely to a lump of blood and was barely breathing. For someone like her, who interacted with Leon often, it was only natural that her expression darkened.

Rachel asked Senior Hana and Choi Seol-ah for help. Normally she would have roughly slung him over her back, but if she put force into him carelessly now, Leon’s bones would twist out of place.

The three of them brought Leon over in front of me and laid him down as carefully as possible. Seen from up close, Leon was even worse than I had expected.

Broken bones were jutting out through his elbow, and there was even more bleeding from his side than from Ryozo’s. This was beyond first aid. He needed surgery.

“…At this rate, isn’t Leon going to die?”

Rachel muttered with a grim face. I shook my head and answered her.

“No. He won’t die.”

“…Huh?”

“I’ll save him.”

When I said it in a low tone, Rachel nodded. Then she asked me:

“What should I do?”

“First, Leon needs to have his bones set before I can heal him. In this condition, in just a few minutes he could really end up in serious trouble.”

“Y-yeah.”

Rachel swallowed hard. I turned my gaze to Senior Hana and continued speaking.

“You and Rachel hold Leon tightly so his posture doesn’t shift out of place. I’ll handle the rest.”

“Okay, got it.”

To the senior who answered calmly in a situation that could easily have become heated, I thanked her with a faint smile. Perhaps sensing what I meant, she smiled back.

“What should I do… yo?”

As I gave instructions one person at a time, Choi Seol-ah sidled up next to me and asked. Looking at her bright-eyed face like a dog waiting for someone to throw a disc, I tossed her the strips of cloth I had just torn and said:

“You… no, Instructor Kim, use this to stop Ryozo’s bleeding for now.”

Choi Seol-ah nodded as if she understood. Moving her hands briskly, she wrapped the cloth around Ryozo’s upper arm and pressed down hard.

Rachel and Senior Hana also knelt and firmly held Leon’s forearm in place.

“Whew.”

I let out a short breath. I had to calm myself as much as possible.

I had to push the bone joints that had torn through the flesh back in and set them into place. I had only ever cut fish bones before, and now I was going to set a human’s bones….

I used my index finger to pull Leon’s eyelid open. His gaze was loose and unfocused.

Was this what people called a coma? It looked like if I moved my hands wrong even once, he would die of shock on the spot.

But if I left him like this, he would die anyway. So there was nothing for it but to try something.

The plan was this.

Using [Blessing of Transference], I would pour [Blessing of Painlessness] into Leon’s body and anesthetize him, then quickly set his broken bones. Right after that, I would inject [Blessing of Regeneration] as well to stimulate the growth of bone and flesh cells. As a plan, there was nothing to fault.

Someone might ask whether I, not even being a doctor, could really do all that.

If this were Earth, it would of course be an impossible act of recklessness. But in this world, the story was different.

‘Blessing of the Sword God.’

When the blessing manifested, my head cooled with a false, miraculous clarity, and my senses sharpened keenly. With those two factors, I would raise the precision of my movements.

However, if I did not combine it with the Blessing of Painlessness, agonizing pain would crash into me. Saving someone else in pain so severe it felt like I might cough blood….

I’m no saint, so why should I go that far? But if this guy dies, then who is going to stop the Demon King? Other than Leon’s unique blessing, [Miracle’s Blessing], there was no way to defeat the Demon King. Because the system had been designed that way.

‘Ah, fuck.’

On top of that, the time limit on Painlessness only had about seven seconds left. If it went beyond seven seconds, Leon’s anesthesia would wear off. Everything had to be done within that span. Cold sweat ran down my cheek.

‘…I was a sashimi restaurant owner in my previous life… and in this world I’m a surgeon?’

I swallowed the sigh that threatened to escape and bit down on Murasame. I had no free hands if I was going to treat Leon, so this was the best I could . I flicked my chin and shook the scabbard loose.

[By acting with ingenuity, the rank of your mind is increasing.]

[Using restraint, adjustments are beginning to match the user.]

Jiiiiing.

[The Blessing of the Sword God, “Yeong,” manifests.]

I immediately reached out my hand toward Leon.

* * *

A few seconds later, thanks to the rapid treatment, Ryozo’s and Leon’s complexions visibly improved.

The bones were roughly back in place, and the bleeding had lessened.

“Guhk!”

As for me, blood from my nose ran down over my philtrum and all the way to the tip of my chin.

“Geom-ma!”

I lost all strength and collapsed straight into Rachel’s arms. She was warm.

“…Haha, fuck.”

It felt as if my whole body were being chewed to pieces. And yet I laughed. That was because I had benefited greatly from the Level 2.5 pain reduction rate.