Broken Possessors of Infinite Regression Academy

As soon as he heard those words, his face twisted in rage, but then he seemed to think it was just a bluff to extract a confession and soon regained his composure.

“If you kill me, do you think the order will stand still? And there are plenty of eyes outside who saw only you and me here. If I die—”

“That’s right. I’ll become the culprit.”

His face twisted again. He seemed to realize that I must have some confidence to speak like this.

“Don’t worry. The script is already prepared. You attack me to stop me from getting closer to the truth, but you end up dead in self-defense. Traces of pheromones used by a succubus will be found on your body. Easy, right?”

I lightly shook the bottle in my hand.

“I caught a succubus yesterday. She wanted to live, so she spilled everything when I questioned her. And she knew something quite interesting. Berserk mode? Apparently, it’s something they mix into the pheromones when they want to get rough occasionally.”

Nika whimpered that she had all her energy drained by the queen, but quieted down immediately with a glare from the Chairman.

“You were so enthralled by the succubus that you lost the ability to make rational decisions, and to protect the secret, you bit down on the pheromone hidden in your mouth. You went berserk and became too violent to control, so you ended up dead. How does that sound? Do you like it?”

“…!”

It’s half a lie and half the truth.

What kind of ability does a succubus have to make a sane human go berserk like a berserker? The so-called berserk mode just makes things a bit rougher in bed.

Moreover, no matter how aroused someone gets from pheromones, a man wouldn’t attack another man. In the end, it meant it would be difficult for this guy to attack me.

But that’s why Rosalia is standing at the door. When she opens the door at my signal, this guy will charge at her like a monster, seeing a woman.

The plan was for the Chairman to kill him before he could attack Rosalia. This was the agreement made last night, and what I’m about to do now is not part of that agreement. It’s to make it look like I was attacked by this guy.

“What, what are you doing…?”

I opened my mouth and put the protruding part below the thumb of my left hand into my mouth, bringing my front teeth up to the knuckles of my middle and index fingers.

—Crunch! Snap!

Then I bit down with force.

“Hee, heeek?!”

My front teeth pierced my skin, tearing off chunks of flesh. Blood burst out between my lips. As my teeth hit the bone with a sickening crunch, he screamed shrilly.

Ignoring the scream, I bit down again with all my strength. The flesh began to tear off completely.

—Crack!

“Ahhh?!”

Finally, my front teeth dug into the bone and met each other through the flesh. He kept screaming as he watched the bottom part of my finger being completely bitten off.

I spat out the chunk of flesh that filled my mouth. The piece of flesh, with the thumb and index finger attached, rolled across the floor. Blood gushed from my tattered left hand.

“You, you’re insane! Insane!”

Seeing the blood, his eyes rolled halfway back in his head, and he started shouting wildly, spitting everywhere.

“Just a little finger bite with my teeth, and I’m insane?”

Bleeding profusely, I approached Alexander. Tied up with ropes, he tried to back away, crawling awkwardly on the floor. I grabbed his hair, pulling his head up with one knee on the ground.

“If I’m going to kill the Pope’s own son, I have to do at least this much, don’t you think?”

“How did you— Ugh?!”

I pressed my mangled wound against his mouth, smearing it all over. Pieces of flesh clung to his lips, and his teeth and mouth were soaked with blood. He struggled wildly, but couldn’t overpower me.

When I pulled my hand away, his blood-smeared lips and mouth came into view. To anyone seeing this, it would look like Alexander tried to kill me and, in a desperate struggle, bit my finger off.

I stood up and sprayed pheromones on him, still dazed. Then, I hid the bottle back in my sleeve and cast a status-clearing spell on myself to avoid being affected. This way, investigators would detect pheromone residues.

“Grh… you… insane bastard…”

Alexander struggled pathetically, half his eyes rolling back. I waited a moment for him to become more agitated.

Soon, he let out a strange scream and began grinding against the sofa. That was enough. Now, it was time to start acting, something I wasn’t naturally good at.

I burst through the door as urgently as possible, rolling on the floor to make my mangled hand visible.

“Mir Mira Crate, what happ— Aaaah!”

Rosalia, approaching for the next part of the plan, screamed genuinely. This was unplanned, so it was natural.

The saint candidate’s piercing scream drew everyone’s attention. They all looked at my mangled left hand in shock, especially the Chairman.

“Rosaliaaaa!!!”

As all eyes focused on me and my torn hand, Alexander, who had almost freed himself from the ropes, charged at Rosalia.

I deliberately staggered to the side, ensuring everyone clearly saw his ferocious behavior and the blood on his mouth. From a distance, a high-ranking priest looked astonished, and an investigator shouted urgently.

“What happened, student?”

“He did something strange! I’ll explain later, but kill him quickly! Otherwise—”

“Rosaliaaa!”

Alexander, completely lost to his berserk state, lunged at Rosalia. His intentions were clear.

—Thud!

But his body never reached her. The Chairman had blown his upper body apart. His lower half stumbled a few steps before collapsing.

The head, covered in blood around the mouth, rolled across the floor, its eyes wide open until the end.

“……”

Everyone fell silent at the shocking scene. Rosalia, half-sobbing, tried to heal my hand, but I stopped her with a look and spoke to the investigator.

“There might be traces of him left in the room. You should investigate.”

“Alright.”

The investigator went inside and soon returned with a stern expression.

“I detected demonic energy. It appears to be from a succubus.”

“…!”

As people collectively gasped in shock, the investigator carefully handed me something—my severed finger.

“First, get treated, Mr Mira Crate. You must be in shock, so we’ll get your explanation later. And as for the Starlight Order members?”

The investigator’s gaze turned icy.

“You prepared, inspected, and approved this place, yet demonic energy has been detected. You will have to provide an explanation for this incident.”

The high priest looked extremely flustered. Indeed, the Chairman had agreed to every excessive demand, leaving no room for accusations of tampering on our part.

While the investigator’s subordinates surrounded the high priest, the Chairman gently brushed the dirt off my finger and brought it close to the severed area. Rosalia gagged at the sight.

“Let’s reattach it.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

White light emanated from Rosalia’s palm. The severed bones reconnected, the torn flesh mended, and finally, the ripped skin healed.

While I flexed my left hand, Rosalia, teary-eyed, punched me lightly on the chest.

“When did I ever tell you to go this far? I told you not to get hurt. You said you understood and that I didn’t need to worry.”

“I’m not dead. I didn’t even lose consciousness. I’m not seriously hurt. That’s enough.”

“Not seriously hurt? You call this not seriously hurt? Your finger was completely severed!”

I lowered my voice so the Chairman wouldn’t hear and whispered in her ear.

“Back then, losing a finger wouldn’t even count as an injury. So I’m fine.”

“Just because it was like that before doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt now…”

“Maybe, but it’s really nothing.”

I laughed it off. To me, it truly was a minor injury, but it seemed different in this world.

Why else would healing magic have developed so extensively? To instantly heal such wounds and push soldiers to keep fighting. A soldier whining about a lost finger would have been smacked.

“Mr Mira Crate?”

Suddenly, a shadow loomed over me. I looked up to see the Chairman staring down with a grave expression.

“Yes, Chairman?”

“How are you feeling? Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.”

I raised my left hand. I really was fine. It wasn’t a serious injury, and thanks to Rosalia, I had already fully recovered. My words were neither bravado nor stoicism but the truth.

However, the Chairman still looked deeply concerned as she approached.

“I wasn’t referring to that wound.”

“What other wound do you mean—huh?!”

Before I could finish speaking, the Chairman knelt on the floor and pulled me into a tight embrace.

My face was buried in her broad chest, feeling almost suffocatingly protective. As I flailed my limbs, her hand began to gently stroke my head.

“It’s okay, shhh… I know. Being exposed to a succubus’s pheromones must be very difficult to endure… But it’s alright. Please, just hold on a little longer… I will help you…”

‘What kind of strength…!’

I struggled desperately to free myself, but it was no use. With nothing solid to grab onto and the Chairman hugging me with all her might, there was no chance of breaking free.

I suddenly realized the Chairman didn’t know I could neutralize status effects. So, naturally, with the pheromones detected in the room, she assumed I had been exposed as well. She thought I was suppressing my arousal.

“…”

I shot Rosalia a pleading look for help. She hesitated, looking flustered, before cautiously speaking up.

“Um… Chairman, when I was healing him, he seemed fine. Maybe you can let go now—”

“Nonsense, candidate for sainthood. Naturally, he would pretend to be fine in front of you, suppressing his true feelings. He must be suffering greatly right now.”

I was indeed suffering greatly, but for reasons different from what the Chairman thought. I tried to push away from her shoulders, but she only tightened her grip on my head, mistaking my resistance for a desperate attempt to control my supposed arousal.

“Shhh… It’s okay. It’s alright… I can take it all, so just relax and stay calm… I’ll take care of you until it passes, so you won’t have to lash out at anyone else…”

‘How am I going to convince her?’

Maybe I should just come clean.

.

.

.

It seemed like the only way to end this situation was to explain everything. I took a deep breath and tried to gather my thoughts, preparing to tell the Chairman the truth.

“Chairman, please listen to me. I appreciate your concern, but you misunderstood—”

But she interrupted me, her voice gentle but firm.

“Don’t worry, Mira. I understand what you’re going through. Just focus on staying calm.”

‘This isn’t working.’ I realized I needed to be more direct.

“Chairman, I can neutralize status effects. I already used a spell to counteract the pheromones. I’m really okay.”

She hesitated, her grip loosening slightly.

“You… you can?”

“Yes, I can. I did it as soon as I sensed the pheromones. Please, you don’t have to worry.”

She slowly released her hold, looking at me with a mix of confusion and relief.

“Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

“I tried, but… well, it was a bit difficult.”

Rosalia sighed in visible relief, and I could finally breathe properly again.

“I’m sorry for causing such a fuss,” I said, looking up at the Chairman.

She nodded, looking a bit embarrassed. “I see. I was just… worried.”

“I understand. Thank you for your concern.”

With the misunderstanding cleared up, I could finally focus on the aftermath of the situation. There were still questions to answer and explanations to give, but at least now, I could do it without being smothered.