Chapter 102:
“…I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have thought that.”
Halo had been suspicious when she was suddenly summoned, but she hadn’t expected Sue to bring it up first.
She hugged herself, embarrassed. Sue emphasized her point again,
“I said it was important to you, Miss Halo, so I wanted to meet you in the most secluded place.”
“Important to me? You? …Cough, cough.”
Even though Sue had tried to preemptively shut down any misunderstandings, the sudden situation was still confusing.
Sue, watching Halo’s pale, exhausted face, continued,
“Yes, it’s about your body.”
“…Ah.”
Halo’s wide eyes, which had been darting around, suddenly froze.
“That day, you were desperately searching for holy water. The kind that removes toxins from the body.”
Sue didn’t wait for a response and took out a small vial filled with a black liquid from her handbag.
“I’ll give you this.”
She rolled the vial towards Halo’s feet, like a drug dealer selling illegal substances.
“What… is this?”
Halo barely managed to keep her balance on her shaky legs. She instinctively knew what the black liquid was for, but she didn’t want to believe it.
“Miss Halo, this is a medicine that removes toxins from your body… You’re from the Wastelands, aren’t you?”
Sue had to drop the bomb, even though she knew what Halo was thinking.
“W-what? No, why…”
Sue felt a dry pity for Halo, her face pale and tearful. And then, she finally uttered the words she had been hesitating to say,
“Your body is filled with toxins from the Wastelands. I know everything.”
Soran Halo, the protagonist who was bright, cheerful, kind, and always looked towards the future, had one fatal weakness.
It was her origin.
Even in the Wastelands, where monsters roamed freely, there were people who lived. They were called Wastelanders.
They had learned how to avoid monsters from birth, they had grown up eating rotten food, and they had breathed in the monster toxins that permeated the land itself.
That was why most Wastelanders didn’t live long. Even if they had high resistance to magic, even if they were skilled at killing or avoiding monsters.
Because there were no Saints to create holy water, no mages to create toxin removers.
Soran Halo, who had been born and raised in the Wastelands, was also a ‘Wastelander’.
She had a high adaptability to toxins and resistance to magic, thanks to her unusual potential, but even she couldn’t completely reject the repulsive toxins that rose from the ground.
The toxins that had accumulated in her body for seventeen years, from the very foundation, were still tormenting her.
That was why she had dark circles under her eyes, a frail body that was nothing but bones, and a persistent cough that sounded like she was about to spit up blood.
Halo’s condition was a twist that was revealed later in Beyond the Tiny Droplet. It was an episode that made Fritz regret his insensitivity after Halo collapsed.
“They sell holy water made by the Saints at the Grand Temple. Miss Halo, why didn’t you use holy water to remove the toxins? You must have received a generous allowance from the Lopetrefers.”
Sue pressed her, her voice accusatory.
“…No, that’s not it. You bought holy water. And you lost it that day, didn’t you? All the holy water you had saved up for your family, not yourself.”
“H-how… do you know that…”
Halo’s voice trembled, her words swallowed by silence.
It’s strange.
Sue Byron, who had nothing to do with her, knew her birthplace, which she had never revealed to anyone, knew about her condition, and even knew about her family.
“Why do you know all this, Byron?”
Sue could hear Halo’s heart pounding.
Sue remained silent for a moment, gathering her thoughts.
Duke Lopetrefer hadn’t removed the toxins from Halo’s body. It wasn’t intentional, but he had been insensitive.
He had provided a generous allowance, assuming Halo would use it to buy holy water.
Monster toxins could be completely removed by regularly consuming holy water sold at the Grand Temple. It was expensive, but Halo, who was receiving support from the Lopetrefer grand duke family, could easily afford it.
If it was only for herself.
But she had been saving up the holy water for her uncle and younger brother, who were still eating rotten food in the Wastelands.
“Don’t think too much about it. Even Lady Enzhe doesn’t know where you’re really from. It doesn’t matter how I know, Miss Halo.”
“It doesn’t matter…?!”
“It doesn’t matter. Didn’t you hear me?”
Halo bit her lip at Sue’s forceful tone. Sue had silenced her with the power of her authority.
Halo’s official birthplace was listed as somewhere in the Lopetrefer territory.
There was no rule against selecting a Wastelander as a specially recruited student, but neither the Lopetrefers nor Halo wanted her true origin to be revealed.
It would only cause trouble and humiliation.
“…Sigh, Miss Halo, I’m not trying to upset you or threaten you. I just wanted to give you this medicine to help remove the toxins from your body.”
“….”
“The holy water you lost… well, maybe the cleaning staff stole it or broke it. I’ll buy you more holy water and send it to your dormitory. Enough for your family to drink and still have some left over, so please make sure you take it too.”
Her voice was calm and composed. There was no aggression in her words, so Halo gradually calmed down and regained her composure.
Silence fell.
“…I’ll gratefully accept this.”
Halo picked up the vial from the ground and brushed off the dirt.
She didn’t know if it would actually remove the toxins, but she didn’t think the red-haired girl was lying. That was her conclusion.
It was a spring afternoon, but the shadow of the wall was long, and there was a chill in the air.
Halo gripped the vial tightly, her eyes still filled with suspicion. Sue felt a surge of satisfaction, her legs bouncing.
“You have to use it yourself, Miss Halo. Don’t give it to anyone else.”
“…I’ll think about it.”
“And drink the holy water every day. Don’t save it. Promise me.”
Halo looked at her, her eyes filled with bewilderment.
Why does she know my secret, and why does she care so much about my health?
“Byron, can I ask why you’re doing this for me?”
We’ve barely spoken.
Halo asked, fiddling with the vial. Sue could only give her one answer.
“I want you to enjoy your time at the academy, Miss Halo.”
“Enjoy? Me?”
“Yes!”
She didn’t know how Halo had interpreted her playful smile.
But one thing was for sure, the problem with Halo’s health had been resolved, at least for now. And now came the important part.
Because what Sue was about to do was no different from what ‘Sue’ had always done.
“But if you want to enjoy your time at the academy, Miss Halo, you need to learn more about the capital of Atlantis.”
As brightly as possible, as kindly as possible.
Sue expressed her strong desire to avoid any misunderstandings, even as she uttered her last words.
“I brought you here not only to give you the medicine, but also to teach you more about the capital, about the academy.”
“Hmm… What do you want to teach me?”
Halo asked, her eyes darting around.
“You know who the three grand dukes of Atlantis are, right?”
“The three grand dukes… Fritz, Lopetrefer, and Acrea, right?”
“That’s right.”
Sue clapped softly, like a tutor praising a child.
“Miss Halo, it’s not that hard to get along at the academy. Just be careful of the children of the three grand dukes you just mentioned. Try not to get on their bad side.”
Sue held up three fingers. Her voice, unintentionally, sounded desperate.
Halo tilted her head, her red eyes trembling slightly.
Fritz, Acrea, Lopetrefer.
Julia had warned her several times not to bother them.
“I have no intention of going against them.”
“Yes, of course. But life doesn’t always go as planned, does it?”
Sue sighed deeply, watching Halo’s nonchalant response.
“Miss Halo, listen carefully. First of all, never enter the glass garden, no matter what.”
“Ah… Yes.”
Halo nodded stiffly. And then, Sue’s pent-up advice poured out like a flood.
“First of all, Lady Enzhe dislikes it when people she doesn’t know try to greet her. Oh, but don’t ignore her completely. It’s the same with Lady Melaine. You know who she is, right? Lady Melaine, the second daughter of the Vava marquis family. She values people living within their means… And most importantly, Master Fritz! You know he’s Lady Enzhe’s fiancé, right? Lady Enzhe is very fond of Master Fritz, so it’s best not to approach him rashly. No, don’t approach him at all. Please!”
By the end, she was practically begging.
Halo chuckled awkwardly at the sight of her teary red eyes. She scratched her cheek and said,
“I understand what you’re trying to say. I’ll be careful.”
“Really…?”
Sue’s face brightened, despite Halo’s somewhat unconvincing response. Halo suppressed a chuckle and voiced the question that had been bothering her.
“Hmm, but I’ve met Lady Enzhe Lopetrefer once. Since my sponsoring family is the Lopetrefer grand duke family… She was very kind…”
Sue felt a wave of dizziness at the impossible phrase, ‘kind Enzhe’. She didn’t want to hear any more, so she pressed her hand to her forehead and quickly interrupted her.
“Miss Halo, please don’t.”