Fleminar had helped us bring Albert to the hospital. Miyabi had brought Maki. Apparently, this was a hospital associated with Ginsei Academy.
Both of them were taken in immediately. Albert recovered fast enough, but we've been waiting for news on Maki for all this time.
The sun was already setting when a nurse came to us.
"You're the ones who brought in the girl, Maki Olsen, right? She has just woken up, if you want to go visit her."
"I-I'll go."
"Wait, Miyabi, I'll go with you."
Miyabi immediately jumped after hearing the nurse, so I had to quickly follow her.
"We'll wait here, Yuuto."
"Please call if you need anything desu."
I nodded at Lizel-senpai and Reina. It probably wasn't a good idea for all of us to go at once anyway.
Miyabi followed the nurse and I followed behind her. It wasn't long until we reached the room Maki was in.
But the nurse stopped a second before she opened the door. It seemed she wanted to warn us of something.
"We gave the patient a few tranquilizers, but please try to not get her too agitated."
"O-okay?"
"Alright, I got it. Just let me go see her."
I found the nurse's words quite strange, but Miyabi probably didn't even hear her with how worried she was. She half forced the nurse out of the way.
When we entered the room, Maki was resting with her eyes closed. The upper part of the bed was slightly lifted, so it was almost like she was sitting.
Maybe hearing the door, Maki opened her eyes.
"Miss Miyabi?"
"Yes, it's me, Maki."
"And he is…?"
"My name is Yuuto. I'm the Devil King Candidate of Lovers."
"Ah, the Candidate miss Miyabi wanted me and Rebecca to support. What happened? Why am I in the hospital?"
Could she have lost her memory from the time she was being controlled by Ibiza? If that was the case, it would be much harder to figure out his ability.
Miyabi took Maki's hand on her own. I only then noticed Maki's hand had been slightly trembling this whole time.
"I don't want to make you do this, Maki, but we need your help. Please try to remember anything you can."
"… Okay. I'll try, for miss Miyabi."
Maki closed her eyes and started trying to concentrate. I didn't know her very well, but I can easily imagine this was the type of thing she did when she found a question she didn't know or something.
After a few seconds, Maki started recalling the events that popped up in her head.
"I remember a girl from my class said she wanted help studying. We studied together a number of times, but the last time… I think she drugged me. When I woke up, I was tied down and there was this man, the Candidate of Devil."
I have to imagine this girl Maki studied with was another one of Ibiza's victims. If his target has always been Miyabi, then she was probably just his first step up the ladder.
"He started taking off my clothes and then he… forced himself on me. I begged him to stop, but at some point I felt something around my neck, then I started feeling like he was the most important person to me. Even after he let me free, I still didn't run away from him and begged for more, and eventually became his Card."
Tears started forming on Maki's eyes. Her hands started shaking more, but Miyabi kept a tight hold on them.
"One day, Rebecca came to get me, but I didn't want to go. The Candidate of Devil made us wear some lipstick laced with some drugs he enjoyed, so I used that on Rebecca. The Candidate of Devil used that chance to also get Rebecca, and I didn't even try helping her when she was being punished for breaking uncle's arm."
Uncle probably meant Miyabi's father. Maki seems to be a year younger than Rebecca and Miyabi, so that's probably why she calls him that way.
After that, Maki told us about what she remembered, but most of it was just Ibiza abusing his power. There was a part about some experiment he was conducting in Miyabi's former house, but Maki didn't know much about it.
Then, we got to yesterday.
"I was trying to get the Candidate of Devil's attention, but then he told me he was bored of me and said to go play with his friends. Then they, they… *barf*"
Maki almost threw up, but somehow managed to barely hold herself back. That said, she had clearly reached her limit.
Miyabi tried her best to support Maki, but she shook her off. Maki started taking off her hospital gown, not even caring for me being there.
The reason why we didn't stop her is because we saw them. Marks, tattoos, piercings, even stuff I didn't recognize. Some of the injuries on her were clearly recent, and on some her flesh was dark, almost like it was rotting or something.
These painted a much clearer picture than Maki's words. What exactly Ibiza does to those he manages to catch.
"N-no… no! Noooo!"
"Calm down, Maki!"
Maki started shaking uncontrollably, like she was having a convulsion. I had to help Miyabi keep her in place.
I didn't even remember about Maki being basically naked. I was still too shocked about the state she was in.
She eventually stopped shaking so much, but then she started crying. She wasn't even bothering to cover up.
"Miss Miyabi, please tell me it was just a bad dream. Please tell me it's not true."
"Maki, I… can't."
"Uuu… uwwwaaaaa!"
The dam burst, there was no stopping it anymore.
Miyabi turned to look at me, but I also didn't know what to do. Would it have been better to lie to her? Or help her face reality?
"What's going on here?"
Probably after hearing all the noise, someone opened the door. But it wasn't the nurse, it was actually Fleminar. Also, she had changed from the bloomers into a shirt, skirt and white jacket. Was she a doctor or something?
She took a quick look around and seemed to understand the situation. She walked until she was right beside Maki. Fleminar then put a hand on Maki's chest and another on her head. Maki seemed to start calming down.
"There, there. You'll be fine. I promise I will help you heal, but first you have to calm down."
It wasn't long before Maki's breathing returned to normal. Was this some kind of magic that put people to sleep?
"I take it this is the work of Devil? I even see curses placed on this girl. No wonder the doctors here told me they couldn't do anything."
"U-um, will she recover?"
Miyabi timidly asked Fleminar. I don't know if it was because she was a Candidate, an adult or because she was the one helping her friend, but this was the first time I saw Miyabi like this.
"I promise you her body will return as if nothing had ever happened to her. I could also seal the memories, but it's best to deal with trauma directly, that's where you, her friends, come in. Rather than that, Morioka-kun, you are trying to find a way to defeat Devil, right?"
"Y-yes. We came to see if Maki could help figure out his ability."
"I'll have to advise against that, but the boy from before is in a much better state, so you could try asking him. But if Morioka-kun doesn't think he can win, please tell me. I'm not one to meddle in another person's fights, but I have no intention of letting this Devil attempt to become Devil King."
"Y-yes ma'am."
Fleminar wasn't showing it, but it wasn't hard to tell she was angry. But I feel this is the normal reaction in this situation.
Miyabi and I were about to leave when we heard Maki's voice again. It sounded so faint it was almost like she was asleep.
"Miss Miyabi… please… save Rebecca…"
"… I will."
So we left Maki's room and looked for Albert's. It wasn't too far away, so we were there pretty quickly.
Of course, we first asked how he was feeling. After a little bit of talking, we got to asking what we wanted to know, that is, if he could give us any help regarding Ibiza's Characteristic Magic.
"It's hard to say. Suddenly, I felt something around my neck, and then it was like I had the same level of loyalty towards that guy as I have to lady Neith. It was to the point I even attacked just because he ordered me to."
"That's it?! You're useless!"
"I'm sorry I can't be of more help."
"Urrgh!"
Miyabi stormed out of the room. I could understand her impatience, but it's not as if it's his fault.
"Sorry. Hope you get better soon."
"It's alright. Thank you for the visit."
After saying goodbye to Albert, I went after Miyabi. She had been waiting just outside, walking back and forth.
I knew she was anxious, but there was nothing I could say that would help her. So, rather than relying on words, I simply hugged Miyabi.
She seemed surprised at first, but eventually calmed down.
"… I'm sorry about just then."
"You don't have to apologize to me. Let's go meet with Lizel-senpai and Reina."
We went back to where Lizel-senpai and Reina were waiting for us. We waited until we were in Lizel-senpai's car to tell them the stories we heard.
"That's horrible desu!"
"It is, but this also confirms my suspicion. Ibiza's goal is probably to get the Yuugaoze's Bloodline Magic from Miyabi and transplant it into himself."
Yes, that's the conclusion Lizel-senpai had reached after her research. Throughout history, the Candidates of Devil that performed the best were those of the Yuugaoze family, and only those who could use their Bloodline Magic.
Lizel-senpai told me there was a ritual to transplant a person's magic circuits to someone else, so we started suspecting Ibiza's objective for targeting Miyabi. Now, it seems it's pretty safe to assume that it's the case.
While it's not much, it was a step in the right direction. Miyabi said she would ask her mother about their Bloodline Magic to see if we could get any information about what it was exactly.
/
The next day, I was called to the headmaster's office.
For a second, I was worried that I might be in trouble because of the fight yesterday, but that didn't seem likely. I mean, if it came up, I'd just have to say I was defending myself.
"Excuse me."
I knocked on the door and entered the room. Of course, the Devil King himself, Barbatos Gandou, was there waiting for me.
"Yo, Yuuto, come in, sit down. Sensei has something important to talk about."
I sat down on the chair prepared in front of the Devil King's desk. He opened 1 of his drawers and took out a book, placed it on the table and then pushed it towards me.
Curious, I picked it up and opened it. I didn't even look at the cover. I read a bit and… it's a story? Wait, I know this.
I closed the book and looked at the cover. Isn't this a Light Novel?!
"I recently found this one. The protagonist gets stronger by doing lewd stuff, and I immediately remembered Lovers. I thought you could use it as a reference guide, so here, take it."
"I don't need something like this!"
Also, I've already read the full series, but that's beside the point.
"Maybe you think this is too light for the kind of stuff you do? I'll have you know things get quite hot later on. I haven't finished yet, but I heard there's even sex scenes."
"Is this the kind of thing you should be giving your students?!"
"Sensei is only trying to help. Like I said, I thought it would be useful reference hahaha!"
Jeez, is this guy really the king of the Demon and Human Worlds? How isn't the world burning down yet?
In the end, the only way I was able to convince him that I wouldn't take the Light Novel was by telling him I'd already read it. Of course, that prompted a conversation that lasted for nearly an hour.
Anyways, after that, we moved on to a different topic.
"Oh yeah, by the way, the bets were recently closed for the Devil VS Lovers Festival. Wanna look?"
"I'm not sure you should be showing me this, but sure."
The Devil King took out another book, this one wasn't a Light Novel. It detailed who was on whose team for the festival, and which Candidates had bet on who.
Only Stella, Neith, Ruki and, surprisingly, Fleminar, bet on me. So that's Star, Chariot, Judgment and Priestess.
Magician, Emperor, Empress, Hierophant, Strength, Justice, Hanged Man, Temperance, Tower, Moon and Sun all bet on Ibiza.
World, Fool, Death, Wheel of Fortune and Hermit couldn't be found, so they weren't able to bet on anyone.
"Well, actually, I simply didn't tell Amon about this, since he's busy with something else right now."
"I see. Even so, I'm really at a big disadvantage."
"You really think so? The people that bet on you are at least lending a hand, the ones that bet on Ibiza probably aren't even looking at his face, they just think it's a won bet."
"By the way, what's the prize going to be? If you don't mind me asking."
"Some discount coupons for the school cafeteria."
Wow, what a lame prize. If word of this got out, both sides would probably just stop competing all together.
"I'm also preparing a bigger prize for the leader of the winning team, but I can't tell Yuuto what that'll be yet."
Meh, after the coupons, I don't really care to know. I'm fully expecting something like an anime DVD or something.
"Which brings me to the next question: have you found a way to kill Ibiza?"
"… I've been trying to figure out his power so I can find a way to save those he's controlling. But I haven't really been thinking of killing him, no. I was going to let him face justice."
"Unless you mean Justice as in the Candidate, I'd have to advise you against that. Whatever Ibiza's done so far or in the future won't lead to any repercussions for him."
What?! Does the Devil King not know what Ibiza has done? I'm pretty sure the Devil World has laws and stuff, so how can there be no repercussions?
Seeing my confusion, the Devil King decided to explain what he meant.
"I suppose this isn't strange. Yuuto's a human, so you don't really know how the Devil World and its laws work. There are laws in the Devil World, but it's more a dog eat dog thing. For example… right, is Ibiza a criminal for having raped his Cards?"
"Of course!"
"Wrong. The contract for becoming a Card clearly states that the Card offers everything they have to their master. After that, their will becomes irrelevant, only the master's will matters."
"But they only became his Card because of his mind control."
"Aah, now that's an interesting point. It's fine to use on humans, but it is against the law to use mind control to force another devil to do something. You might be able to make a case against him using that, but it wouldn't do anything in reality."
What? I'm so confused. Didn't he say I'd have a case against Ibiza? Then why did he say it wouldn't actually do anything?
"Yuuto might have noticed it by now, the Devil World does have laws, but those are mostly just left on paper. The only real law is that the weak obey the strong. Unlike humans, devils don't have anything like basic rights. Let's say you were to try and make a case against Ibiza, the only thing you'd realistically achieve is publicly shaming his victims, after all, in devil society, it's your own fault if you fall into someone's trap."
W-what? But that's… I get that the devil society and human society are different, but then…
"... What should I do then?"
"Didn't sensei tell you before? If you want Ibiza to face punishment, you'll have to get your own hands, or someone else's, dirty."
I remembered what Fleminar had told me the day before. So that's why… I can't count on people coming to arrest Ibiza or anything like that.
So is that it? If I want him to pay for what he's done, I'll have to do it myself or get someone to do it? Even in this case, is this the right thing to do?
"Unfortunately sensei can't just go telling you Devil's powers. But, just between you and me, mind control isn't it."
The way he said it, it seems like it's some other Arcana's power. I'll have to keep it in mind for the future.
But if it's not mind control, what is it? That seemed like the most likely candidate so far, but was there another power that would work in similar ways?
"I would rather Yuuto win this fight, so sensei will give you just 1 more push. You're going in the right direction by investigating the Yuugaoze Bloodline Magic, there lies the key for understanding Ibiza's power and how to save his victims. I'll tell you if you simply killed him, it would not get rid of his magic."
"Aren't you referring to the previous Devil? Can't Ibiza have a different power?"
"It's true a Characteristic Magic might manifest differently depending on the Candidate, but the Arcana's power itself is the same. I know every Arcana's power, better than some Candidates themselves even. So Yuuto can trust sensei's words."
That's an interesting bit of information. So while it may manifest differently, the power itself is the same. It would probably be worth it to look at the previous Devil King Wars' records.
While it is annoying that the Devil King won't just straight up tell me what Ibiza's power is, I suppose even he has to keep some semblance of neutrality.
I should probably leave. I've been here a while, and honestly the thing about the Devil World's laws was a big hit to me. I thought things would work out fine as long as I figured out his power, but now I have to ask myself if I can even bring Ibiza to justice.
I was about to leave, but then I remembered another question I wanted to ask. No one has asked me to ask this to the Devil King, but I figured he would be able to give me an answer.
"Say, did you know the previous Devil?"
"Of course. I'm the one who killed her in the end."
Okay… not what I was expecting, but I suppose it makes him the perfect person to answer my next question.
"Do you know if she had any resentments when she died? Like, against her family or something."
"Not sure, never really looked into it, plus it's been 20 years. All I can say is that her last words were 'I'm glad whatever-her-name-was ran away' or something along those lines. I heard her sister or something ran away on her, but it doesn't seem like she held any grudges."
I see. I should probably tell this to Miyako when I have the chance. It'll probably be a weight off her shoulders.
In any case, after that was done, I left the Devil King's room. I still had a lot of work to do before I fought Ibiza.
