Steven parted ways with Nathan and David and went to meet Byron, who was still near the area.
Steven felt that Byron had some kind of news for him, though he had no idea what this cat wanted to tell him.
Steven looked at the cat on the ground. He couldn't help but remember the funny incident from earlier, and a smile unknowingly appeared on his face.
'That was unexpected. It made me see Nathan as a little boy.'
'...Yes, he really is just a fourteen-year-old boy. Maybe because of the way he acts, I never saw him as just a little kid?'
"What's the matter?"
Byron looked at Steven with eyes that seemed worried.
[Steven, Fillican is in pain. Can you help him?]
Steven frowned and asked Byron,
"Where is he?"
Byron's ears twitched slightly as he remained in his cat form.
'Good. The first step is complete.'
Byron turned around and told Steven,
[Follow me. I'll take you to him.]
Steven nodded and followed Byron as thoughts began to fill his mind.
'In pain?... That's strange. Is he suffering from something?... Or maybe that's normal if you possess demonic power?... If it's the latter, then he has already formed a contract with demons... or maybe... not just now. Did he make the contract before coming to the academy?'
'If what I'm thinking is correct, then I should kill him now before he becomes troublesome later.'
Byron led Steven toward Fillican in the eastern part of the academy, where Fillican was sitting in one of the corridors that seemed to be used by very few students.
Steven stopped three meters away from Fillican and looked at him.
Fillican was sitting on the floor with his back against the wall. His face was pale, sweat covered him, and the upper buttons of his white shirt were undone in a messy manner. He slowly turned his gaze toward Steven after noticing his presence.
Steven made no attempt to hide himself, so it was only natural that Fillican noticed him.
Steven looked at Fillican silently, while Fillican looked at him for a moment before looking away as if Steven weren't even there.
Steven felt something soft touching his foot. Looking down, he saw the little cat's paw pressing against his black pants, while those bright honey-colored eyes looked at him expectantly.
[Why did you stop? Come on, go help him.]
Steven looked at the cat for a moment, then gave a slight nod before walking toward Fillican. When he was only two steps away, he stopped, extended his arm toward him, and spoke calmly,
"Do you want some help?"
Fillican looked at the hand stretched out before him. He couldn't help but bite his lower lip before slowly extending his own hand and taking Steven's.
The moment Fillican grabbed his hand, Steven took advantage of the contact and poured his mana into Fillican's body through his hand, through his veins, and toward his heart.
Steven sensed Fillican's mana inside his heart, where most people stored their mana.
He sensed the pure mana within the heart, but amidst that purity was a small mass of impurity.
Steven looked into Fillican's distracted green eyes and at his pale face.
'He's contracted with a demon... but the contract isn't complete.'
There were two kinds of demon contracts. The first was a temporary contract, which could also be called an incomplete contract. The second was a complete demonic contract, and the difference between them was enormous.
Someone who formed an incomplete contract with a demon had not fully accepted or submitted to that demon.
The other type required the person to obey every order given by the demon. If they disobeyed even a single command, their body would explode and scatter like sand.
The first type of contract could be removed, though not easily. The condition for removing it was for the person to drink three cups of blood from the demon they had contracted with, or permanently kill that demon.
The second type, however, could never be removed until death. Even if the demon died, the person who had made the contract would also die.
Steven asked Fillican,
"Do you feel sick anywhere? Your body doesn't seem to be injured."
Fillican withdrew his hand from Steven's, placed it against the wall for support, and took several breaths to calm himself. After regaining some composure, he spoke,
"I'm fine... I just trained far too much today to the point that I can't move my limbs."
Steven watched Fillican's expression for a moment.
'Liar.'
Steven felt that Fillican was hiding something, but he recognized that expression and that condition. It wasn't unfamiliar to him.
Especially since, many times in his previous life, he himself had been in the exact same state Fillican was in now.
It was a psychological condition that sometimes caused a complete emotional breakdown. It resulted from something or some tragic event that had happened in the past. Whenever the person remembered it or experienced something that reminded them of it, they would begin to collapse. It could last for an hour or, in the worst cases, up to half a month.
Steven could easily distinguish people with such conditions or those trying to hide something, and for that reason there were some people whom he treated with a bit of kindness that they perhaps never even realized.
Fillican looked at the cat standing beside Steven before asking,
"Was Byron the one who brought you here?"
Steven nodded.
"...He seemed worried about you and wanted me to help."
Fillican lowered his eyelids, smiled faintly, and said,
"You have a cute cat."
Fillican removed the hand supporting himself against the wall and walked two steps toward Steven before stopping. Suddenly, he raised his hand and gently patted Steven's hair.
"But it's better if you don't come to me again."
Steven's body stiffened, and his eyes widened slightly because of the unexpected action this villain had just done in front of him.
Fillican withdrew his hand from Steven's head and said,
"Don't you know the rumors about me?"
Steven was still stunned by the unexpected pat on the head. It was the first time in both his previous life and since reincarnating here that anyone had patted his hair. Even old Carlos had never done such a thing.
Steven himself often patted Mark's hair, as well as Byron the cat, and he had even patted Nathan's hair before.
But this was the first time someone had patted his.
Steven raised his hand, touched the place Fillican had patted, and silently looked at him.
"...."
When Fillican saw Steven remain silent, he said,
"Those rumors are true, so don't come to me again."
Fillican gave Steven one last look before turning around and walking away.
After taking a few steps, it seemed as though he remembered something. He stopped, turned halfway around, and said to Steven,
"...If you don't know the rumors, then look them up."
After saying that, he turned around again and disappeared from Steven's sight.
Steven raised an eyebrow in confusion.
'Huh? He wants me to look up the rumors so I'll stay away from him?!'
Steven couldn't help but feel that the villain Fillican was the strangest person he had ever met.
He couldn't help but feel a little confused, but he turned around and returned to class, as there was still a little time left before the next lesson began.
'I shouldn't rush into killing him now... Maybe he can still be saved.'
...
After classes ended, Steven had no choice but to head toward Teacher Logan's office, where he had to receive his punishment for sleeping during class.
However, Steven didn't feel that this was the real reason he had been summoned.
'Is it because I dodged his attack? Or did he sense my killing intent?'
Steven stood in front of Teacher Logan's office. A rectangular nameplate bearing Teacher Logan's name was hanging on the door.
Steven knocked lightly on the door twice and waited for permission to enter.
When he heard permission, he opened the door. Just as he was about to step inside, a massive chain suddenly shot toward him at high speed.
Steven instinctively wanted to dodge, but after thinking about it, he realized that Teacher Logan would never harm a student. At least, that was what he knew from the novel.
Although, in the final moments, Teacher Logan had protected the villain Fillican at the cost of his own life, he had also tried to stop the villain Fillican from harming those around him.
For some strange reason, he truly cared about the student Fillican, and he fell into deep sorrow after learning that Fillican had collaborated with the demons. He had no choice but to protect his student while also trying to stop him from killing innocent people.
But...
It had all been meaningless, because the villain Fillican was already under the demons' control, and it seemed that only the last trace of his sanity remained.
Steven stood still without trying to avoid the incoming chain. When it came within five centimeters of his face, it suddenly stopped.
From Teacher Logan's actions, Steven now understood that the teacher suspected he was hiding his true abilities. So, before Teacher Logan could question him, Steven decided to turn the situation against him.
Steven looked at Teacher Logan with wide eyes, then lowered his gaze, made a gloomy expression while clenching his fist tightly, and began accusing Teacher Logan.
"Are you trying to kill me just because I dozed off for a moment during class?"
Teacher Logan looked at Steven in confusion.
"Huh?"
Steven didn't give Teacher Logan any time to process what had happened and immediately pressed the attack.
"I'm sorry, Teacher. I won't do it again, so please spare my life."
...