“Ugh! Cough cough!”
Kora coughed. Powder from the exploded pouch spread in the air.
“What is this?”
Kora frowned at the red powders spreading before her.
But that was only for a moment.
“Ah, ugh! Gah…!”
The change came immediately. Bloodshot appeared in Kora’s eyes. She clenched and wrapped her fingers around her body. White fur was gradually growing all over her body.
Seeing that, I approached Armel.
Bam!
I slapped his face once and rummaged through his arms. Of course, I could have searched his body easily without hitting him. I just slapped him.
I found a syringe. It already had some liquid in it.
“…Tsk.”
Apparently, Kora could be enraged by the powder and she had to be injected with this syringe to detoxify him.
I shouted.
“Selena!”
“Yes!”
Selena appeared and stood right before me.
“I’ll cover you! Hurry up and evacuate!”
“No! Block the students coming this way! Don’t let anyone near here!”
“Yes?”
Selena looked back at me in surprise.
“W-what do you mean? Are you saying that you will fight that monster?”
As expected of Selena. Even without me saying anything, she already seemed to know everything about Kora.
“Yes. I don’t know what will happen, so send the students going home this way back. Chase away those who come out of curiosity. Except for the teachers.”
“That’s reckless! Frondier-nim! Don’t you know how capable Kora is! You should evacuate! I’ll do my best to stop him,”
Snap.
I clenched my jaw. I could feel the vein throbbing in my temple.
Selena was just saying what she had memorized. Like she had always done. It meant nothing and held no sincerity.
She was just acting loyal to me as she had been taught at Mando.
Nevertheless, I couldn’t contain my anger and shouted.
“Why would my life end here?!”
“……!”
My voice quivered slightly. It was the manifestation of aura. Serena’s eyes widened in surprise and she covered her mouth.
“Go. Move as I command. We don’t have time.”
“……Understood.”
Only then did Serena run off. I confirmed her getting further and further away and looked at Kora.
Kora screamed as if fighting with herself. However, her volume only grew louder.
I said to Quinie,
“Senior, please watch over Armel here. He won’t be able to move with those wounds anyway. It’ll be enough if you just keep him in check with your bow.”
“……That kid, your escort?”
Quinie glanced at Serena getting further away and spoke.
“She’s right. It’s better to run away from here. Before Kora completely transforms.”
“We can’t. Then the exact same thing that happened 13 years ago will happen again.”
“……What? You, how do you know what happened back then.”
“And this time, Kora will die too.”
If Kora goes on a rampage and causes damage to the students, going as far as committing murder.
The only path left for Kora will be death.
Since she wasn’t human in the first place but a beastkin, the Constel teachers especially won’t hesitate.
“Then you’re saying you’re going to subdue Kora without killing her?”
“I planned to do that from the start.”
If not, I would’ve waited for the teachers to come too. If Kora had just been a normal monster.
“That’s ridiculous. You’re crazy. Stop it, it’s impossible.”
Quinie tried to come to me, but I held out my hand to stop her. The Kora in front of our eyes barely resembled a human anymore. He had become a literal white tiger, standing on all fours and emanating ominous magical energy.
“Don’t move from there. Even though Armel got injured, it’ll be dangerous if we leave him be.”
“No, you……!”
“It’s fine. I have an idea. There’s just one thing I need you to do.”
I looked at Quinie with a worried expression and spoke.
“Lend me your mask pack.”
“……Mask pack?”
“You have one, right? For disguises.”
“I do, but are you really okay?”
I nodded. Quinie bit her lower lip and looked at me for a moment before taking out a mask pack and handing it to me.
“Don’t worry. I’ll come back safely. Me, and Kora too.”
I put the mask pack on my face.
I took a deep breath and held the tie in my hand.
* * *
Frondier proceeded forward, having untied his tie and holding it in his left hand.
Quinie watched his back with an anxious face.
So far, Frondier had never done anything without a reason.
It was the same during the midterm exam in the first semester when he teamed up with her. He had always prepared various numbers and was good at provoking his opponent’s psychology.
That’s why she tried to believe him when he said, ‘I have a plan.’
‘The opponent is the ‘White Tiger’. Do you know it?’
With each step Frondier got closer to Kora, it felt like he was walking into a trap.
“Keuh, keuheuheuheu.”
Armel chuckled lowly as he lay on the ground.
“It’s impossible. There’s no way to quell Kora’s rage.”
“……There isn’t?”
Quinie pointed her fan. The meaning of that gesture was obvious. She wanted an answer.
Armel said.
“The powder Kora drank doesn’t cause rage. It eliminates reason. She’s reverted to the White Tiger’s wild nature. Think about it. What does a wild tiger do? She’s just become a beast. There’s no way to quell her rage. She won’t even be thinking about it.”
Armel’s words caused Quinie’s eyes to waver.
Does Frondier know this fact?
“Didn’t he say he would subdue it without killing it? No matter what method he uses, it won’t work. Soon, Frondier’s body will be pierced by those fangs.”
At Armel’s words, Quinie looked at Frondier. Then she turned her gaze to Kora.
Kora had already completely transformed into the White Tiger. After seeing it head-on, Quinie realized it.
The one who committed the massacre 13 years ago was Kora. That she lost her reason and became the White Tiger, harming people.
‘……Kora.’