I Become a Mafia in the Academy

Chapter 42

Fortunately, I didn't die.

My body kept expelling black blood, and new blood was being generated due to the potion.

Realizing that it was natural to vomit blood during this process, I continued to do so.

"Young Master is not an ordinary person but the legitimate son of Calione. There's no way the Young Master would die from merely taking such poison."

"Feel the poison being absorbed into your body. Move your energy to circulate the poison throughout your entire body."

"Young Master can do it."

My whole body felt as cold as if I had been doused with ice water.

Then, it quickly became as hot as if I had entered a fire.

My whole body felt prickly as if I had been thrown into a field of needles, yet at times, it felt as if all sensation had been erased.

How much time had passed like that?

Confirming that the energy rampaging inside my body had calmed down, I quietly opened my eyes to see Parnello's face with a faint smile.

"You did well, Young Master."

The black blood that had been soaking the floor until just a moment ago had completely disappeared.

"...How much time has passed?"

Parnello, hearing my question, pulled out a pocket watch from his pocket to check the time.

"About nine hours have passed since the intake. We're well past breakfast time."

"...That much time has passed?"

I thought only about an hour had passed at most, so it was quite surprising that nine hours had gone by.

Parnello, noticing my expression, chuckled.

"For the Young Master to be so surprised. It was me who was surprised, actually."

"Huh?"

Why was Parnello surprised?

"In my decades of life, I've never seen someone who bled so much after taking an elixir. If it had gone on a bit longer, the whole room would have been a sea of blood. Of course, it's all cleaned up now."

...I bled that much? I didn't remember that.

"Above all... most elixirs that grant poison resistance just increase resistance, but it seems different for the Young Master."

"Like my natural healing ability increased?"

"...Did you know?"

It was a natural thing.

After all, this was done with that in mind.

"I felt it halfway through. That it wasn't the potion healing me anymore, but my body healing itself."

"Hahaha! With this, even minor wounds will heal quickly from now on. I'd like to experiment with the same combination myself, but... the elixir you brought and the one I obtained might not be exactly the same, so I'm hesitant to try recklessly."

At my age, a mistake could lead to death, after all.

"Hahahaha!"

Parnello burst into laughter, seemingly amused by his own joke.

The thought of Parnello dying from taking an elixir was unimaginable.

A hitman of Parnello's caliber would surely have considerable resistance to poison even now.

"By the way, would you like to test if you've really developed resistance?"

"Test?"

Parnello pulled out two small vials from his pocket.

"The one with the red cap contains the venom of the African Black Mamba. The blue cap next to it is the antidote."

"Should I... try it? Is that it?"

"Wouldn't it be better to test it within the mansion where we can respond immediately if an emergency arises?"

I wondered why there was Black Mamba venom in the mansion, but recalling what kind of house ours was, I soon understood.

Well, there's an antidote too, so what.

"...Not bad. The red one is the poison, right?"

Parnello nodded.

Without hesitation, I reached for the vial to gulp it down.

"Wait."

Parnello stopped me as I was about to open the cap.

"...Why?"

Was he worried about me? I thought.

"Injecting Black Mamba venom into the bloodstream is more effective than swallowing it. I'll help you."

...It didn't seem like he was worried.

Parnello took out a syringe from his pocket, which he must have prepared beforehand, and filled it with the venom.

"If anything happens to the Young Master, I'll inject the antidote immediately."

I felt the Black Mamba venom entering my body with a prick.

"...How do you feel?"

"Hmm... I feel fine. Did the elixir work?"

I really felt nothing at all.

Just that something had been injected.

That's quite a useful ability...

Then, Parnello suddenly checked the vial in surprise.

"Oh, it seems I put in the antidote."

"...What?"

"Just kidding. You seemed quite tense."

A joke about poison... It's definitely a joke only Parnello would make.

"Do you feel any burning at the injection site, or tightness in your chest? Any such symptoms?"

"I feel... perfectly fine."

"Since there's some time left until dinner, let's wait a bit longer."

Thirty minutes passed like that.

"...It seems it was indeed an elixir."

According to Parnello, if injected with Black Mamba venom, you'd definitely feel a reaction within thirty minutes.

But, being perfectly fine up to now meant the elixir had done its job.

In fact, while I was sitting there dazed, an alert popped up about a new trait I had acquired, confirming the elixir's effectiveness.

The newly added traits were [Immune to All Poisons] and [Natural Healing].

[Immune to All Poisons]

[1. Immune to All Poisons – You become immune to most poisons. Your resistance to poison greatly increases.]

[Natural Healing (C)]

[1. Natural Healing (C) – Your body's natural healing ability increases.]

With this, I gained a total of six traits.

[Successor of the Underworld]

[Bad Boy]

[Hitman]

[Executioner]

[Immune to All Poisons]

[Natural Healing]

These were traits that would befit the head of an assassin's guild.

"Thanks for your help, Parnello. It would have been tough without you."

As I stood up, I expressed my gratitude to Parnello. He waved his hand and spoke.

"All I did was nag from the side. It was all the Young Master's doing."

He said that, but it wasn't true at all.

Because Parnello was in front of me, I could be at ease, and because I could hear his voice, I could concentrate.

If it were up to me, I'd want to repay him somehow, but since Parnello would never accept any reward from me, I just smiled.

"By the way, while the Young Master was concentrating, Alessia came. She said Lady Ji-yoon was looking for you..."

"Ah."

Alessia is Ji-yoon's maid and practically her nanny.

Is there a reason for such a person to come looking for me?

Hmm...

...Crazy.

I remembered.

"...I guess I should go see Ji-yoon for now. Thank you for staying by my side while I absorbed the elixir, Parnello."

"I only did what was necessary."

With a gentle smile, Parnello responded to my words and then left the room first.

After seeing him off, I hurried towards the room where Ji-yoon was.

Last night, I was supposed to hang out with Ji-yoon, but I ended up breaking that promise unintentionally.

As I rushed upstairs, I saw Alessia waiting in front of Ji-yoon's room.

"Young Master."

"Sorry, Alessia. Where's Ji-yoon?"

"She's still inside and hasn't come out."

"Got it. I'll go in and see her."

From the door, Ji-yoon's room was marked with colorful crayons saying [♡Ji-yoon's Room♡ Knock Required!].

Standing carefully in front of it, I gently knocked and spoke.

"Ji-yoon?"

[Brother...? Oh? Uhh, uhh... Yes...]

At first, Ji-yoon seemed to welcome me enthusiastically, but soon her voice drooped.

I cautiously tried to speak to her.

"May I come in?"

[...Yes.]

After hearing her response, I pushed the door handle inward and entered the room. There, I saw Ji-yoon on the bed, hugging a doll larger than herself and hiding her face.

"..."

Ji-yoon, tightly hugging the doll as if to hide her face, didn't even glance at me.

Naturally, I approached her, sat on the bed, and gently stroked her hair.

"Are you very upset because I didn't hang out with you yesterday like we planned?"

"...No. I'm not upset."

Ji-yoon's voice, muffled from burying her face in the doll, still sounded weak.

"I'm sorry, brother. So let's talk face to face. Okay?"

Speaking as gently as possible, Ji-yoon slowly lifted her face from the doll and looked at me.

Her eyes were still moist, with red rims, and there were tear stains on the back of the doll's head.

It seemed that not being able to play yesterday had made her quite sad, as she had cried a lot.

"Were you very sad because I forgot about our plan to hang out yesterday?"

"...Yes."

Ji-yoon answered with a trembling voice, trying to hold back her sadness.

"You didn't come to see me first..."

"Brother... *sob*... is busy... so Ji-yoon... has to endure... *sob*..."

Was she holding back because she thought I might be busy...?

I sighed and gently stroked Ji-yoon's hair.

"Were you holding back because you thought I might be tired?"

"*Sob*... Yes..."

Seeing Ji-yoon somehow reminded me of past events, leaving me unsure of what to do.

I felt as if I had committed a grave sin without realizing it.

Then, thinking about what would be best for Ji-yoon now, an idea came to mind.

"I'm really sorry, brother. So, shall we go out and have fun together?"

"*Sob*... Outside...?"

At the mention of going outside, Ji-yoon slowly lifted her head and looked into my eyes.

"Yes, today, let's go out together, eat lots of delicious food, visit fun places, and have a great time. How does that sound?"

"Fun places... delicious food...!"

Finally, trying to shake off her sadness, Ji-yoon wiped her tears and nodded her head vigorously.

"Sounds good?"

"Yes...! I want to go. Ji-yoon wants to go outside!"

"Okay, but we can't leave right away, so stop crying. Okay?"

"Yes...! *Sob*...! I won't cry...! *Sob*...!"

Seeing her trying to hold back her tears made me smile unintentionally.

"Good girl. Then, I'll go talk to Father, so you need to listen to Alessia, okay?"

"Yes!"

After comforting Ji-yoon, I left the room and immediately covered my face.

"...I've done it."

In my attempt to comfort Ji-yoon, I promised to go out and have fun, not just play inside the mansion.

"I've already promised... What should I do?"

It's Ji-yoon's outing, no less.

Not going out with Father, not for any special event, but just to have fun outside?

In the original story, Vito Calione was a man who generally avoided going outside for the safety of his children.

That's why he built a mansion as vast as a large park and invited external instructors for elementary, middle, and high school education... It meant he was thorough about his children's safety.

But what can I do, I have to take responsibility for this.

"...Let's talk to him first, there's no other way."

Surely, he won't say no if I'm going with her.

With that mindset, as I headed towards the study where Father was, he happened to be coming out of the study.

"Ah, perfect timing. I had something to ask you."

"A request...?"

"Yes, and seeing you come here, you must have something to tell me too?"

It was a perfect opportunity to bring up Ji-yoon's outing.

I nodded and answered.

"Yes. It seems like good luck."

"Haha! In that case, it's awkward to talk standing up, come on in."

So, I ended up going into Father's study unexpectedly.

"So, what brought you to see your father?"

Naturally sitting in his chair, Father, with a cigar in his mouth, asked me first.

I steeled myself and looked at Father as I spoke.

"Father, I want to go to the bustling city with Ji-yoon."

"...What?"

Thud.

The cigar fell from Father's mouth.

Huh...?

What's wrong, is it a big deal?