A Mob Character Who Just Wants to Get Banished and Escape This Death Game vs. The Party Members Driven Mad by the Radiance of His Brilliance - Chapter 17

This is bad, a voice in my heart screamed.
If I left Ingrasius alone now, I had the overwhelming feeling something irreversible would happen.

“H-Hey! Wait, please!”

I called out to him.

Unlike the other three in our party who rely on magic in battle, Ingrasius is a close-range fighter—nearly on par with me.
By the time I glanced away for just a moment, he was already gone.

I exhaled sharply and activated my magic furnace.
Closing my eyes, I concentrated on the sound of Ingrasius’s footsteps—then broke into a sprint.

“I know it’s against military regulations to light a furnace outside the battlefield, but I don’t have a choice.”

I ran through the stone corridors of the Ogdanel Castle ruins, weaving through the halls until I arrived at the room Ingrasius had likely entered.

“Ingrasius, I’m sorry! I said something stupid. Just open the door so we can talk!”

I pounded on the steel door, but heard no reply from within.

Instead, I heard a creaking—something straining, groaning under tension.
A terrible feeling spread through my chest. I stepped back, ready to charge.

“Make a sound—anything—right now, or I’ll blow this door off. Three… two… one!”

As panic crushed my chest tighter and tighter, I kicked the door with full force.
The steel—built to resist even fairy magic—crumpled inward under the blow.

And when I burst inside and saw what was happening, all the bl00d drained from my head.

My mind went white.
I clenched my teeth and leapt forward, driven by pure instinct—faster than I could think.

Ingrasius had a noose around his neck. He was seconds away from hanging himself.

I tackled him off the stool, knocking the rope away.

“Ingrasius! What the hell are you thinking?!”

The slackened rope fell against my back, but I couldn’t care less.
The only thing that mattered was that Ingrasius had just tried to end his life right in front of me.
I held him down on the floor.

He struggled, tears in his eyes. I saw the pistol clutched in his hand, and my vision went red with rage.

I wrenched the gun away and kicked it across the room.

Then I grabbed him by the collar and slammed my forehead into his.

“Did you really think I’d let you die, you absolute idiot?!”

◆◆◆◆◆

“…Sorry. I lost control.”

Once I’d cooled off, I apologized for everything I’d shouted.

Ingrasius remained curled in the corner of the bed, completely silent.

“But I won’t allow it. No matter how much you may want it—I will never allow you to throw your life away.”

I didn’t understand.

Ingrasius was the most level-headed member of the party.
He was the priest who always listened to others, helped them through their pain.
He was a devout follower of the Salius Faith.

And yet… wasn’t suicide considered a grave sin in that religion?

Even if he was hurt by what I’d said—even if he cared for me deeply—
I never thought Ingrasius would be foolish enough to try and die over it.

Still hiding his face, Ingrasius remained silent.

I spotted a knife lying near the bed and immediately snatched it up.
I didn’t know if I could trust him right now—not like this.

“I’ve survived this battlefield long enough to see more comrades fall than I can count.
Trying to die like this… it’s a slap in the face to everyone who died along the way.”

Soft sobbing reached my ears.
I placed his sketchbook in front of him.

I gently wrapped his trembling fingers around a pencil.

“…Why did you try to die, you idiot?”

‘Abandoned… Abandoned… Abandoned… Abandoned…’

That was all Ingrasius wrote.

Over and over, as if possessed, he scrawled the same word across the page.
His hand didn’t stop. I had to take the sketchbook away.

I let out a heavy sigh.

Right now, there was no reasoning with him.
And at this rate, I couldn’t take my eyes off him for a single second.

“Come on, you have to eat to stay alive.”

I brought a piece of bread—softened in soup—to Ingrasius’s mouth.
When I gently placed it between his lips, he finally started chewing.

Since that day, Ingrasius had completely lost the warm familiarity he once radiated.
Now, he just sat in bed with his knees drawn to his chest, wearing a lifeless expression.

I’d tried talking to him.
But every time, the only thing he wrote in his sketchbook was the same phrase: “Abandoned.”
Over and over again.
I didn’t understand any of it.

What troubled me most was that he seemed to have lost the will to live.

Unless I fed him, he wouldn’t eat. Unless I tucked him into bed, he wouldn’t sleep.
It was as if he had forgotten how to live altogether.

I left hygiene duties—like showers and washing—to Professor Alhansen, but everything else fell to me.
As his superior officer, and as his comrade, I couldn’t let him die.

The only consolation was that, when called to the battlefield, Ingrasius still performed his duties.
But even then, it felt like a ghost mimicking its past life.
It made me worry that something had to change—soon.

Suddenly, Ingrasius grabbed a fork.

I swatted it away instantly.
His arm hung limply, having just tried to stab himself in the chest.

“Tch… For the love of—would you please give up on trying to die already?”

I gave him a light knock on the head.
Still curled up on the bed, Ingrasius just stared at me with vacant eyes.

But what bothered me most…
Was how suddenly he would try to take his life.

That was what truly infuriated me.
Even now, I was forcing myself to suppress my anger.
I could never forgive him for trying to throw his life away so easily.

Why had Ingrasius become like this?

It didn’t make sense that simply hearing I planned to leave the army could unhinge him so completely.
And it troubled me even more that he wouldn’t talk—wouldn’t explain any of it.

Isfana and Professor Alhansen had taken action.

Because of that, I’d been able to understand their feelings—at least a little.
They acted because they had something they wanted, something they hoped for.

But Ingrasius…
He didn’t try to talk. He just kept trying to die.

◆◆◆◆◆

“Mikkanen, I believe it’s time to send him to the lavatory.”

“Thanks, Professor Alhansen.”

He had likely stopped by on his way from the lab. I leaned against the doorframe, grateful for the help.

Watching someone who’s constantly trying to kill themselves is… harder than I imagined.

“Hey, you commoner. Eat this.”

Without warning, Isfana appeared and handed me a piece of chocolate.
A rare treat, especially in a battlefield like this.

“…You, bringing me food? Is it going to rain spears tomorrow?”

“Don’t be stupid. You’ve been watching over that priest without rest, haven’t you? If it wears you down, it’ll affect you as my commanding officer.”

When I didn’t immediately unwrap the chocolate, Isfana gave me a hard glare.
Reluctantly, I peeled back the silver foil.

With a crisp snap, the dark candy broke, and I placed a piece in my mouth.

The sharp sweetness gently eased the heavy knot in my chest.
For the first time in what felt like forever, I felt my mind begin to relax—enough to even joke.

“Well… this whole mess is probably my fault anyway.”

“No, it’s not. The priest and that fake scholar are entirely different matters.”

I tilted my head at her words.

Of anyone in our party, Isfana had likely spent the most time speaking with Ingrasius.
So if she was saying something was different—then I wanted to know why.

“You see, a genius like me—ugh, and that detestable fake scholar—we only lashed out after your idiotic words pushed us.
But that priest? He was like that from the start.”

Isfana’s deep crimson eyes fixed squarely on mine.

“That one… he was breaking, little by little, from the very beginning.
It was only a matter of time before he ended up like this. I always had a feeling.”