With so many people coming in, the plague is carried into the village and spreads among the populace. Amelia quickly transforms into a traveling doctor and orders the sick to be moved to a single building.

She handpicks several healthy people to become nurses and makes them cover their faces with clothes washed in distilled water. She then relays tasks to each villager — cooking, washing, and other things. The entire village soon operates with the efficiency of a factory, but more and more people become sick with every passing day.

Even Julius June.

“Mama… Mama, it hurts… Mama…”

“I know, kid. I know.”

Amelia grasps Julius’ hand and wipes his face and chest.

“Tell me, do you feel pain when I touch your stomach?”

“Uh-huh…”

“What about here?”

“Mama, it hurts everywhere… Mama, will I die?”

“No. No, you’ll be just fine. It’ll pass. No matter how bad it feels right now, it’ll pass. Trust me.”

“I trust you, Mama…”

“Good boy.”

Julius eventually goes to sleep. His little face grimaces in pain.

Saint Julius! No, please don’t die!

Sop! Knight Julius!

Devil! Don’t just sit there! Do something! Use your devil magic to save Knight Julius or something!

Er, ladies? I’m alive, so…

Grandson, please don’t die! Be strong, boy!

Er, grandfather…?

Doctor… about the devil’s disguise…

Yes… I recognize him. Every medical professional on the planet does.

My god…

“They’re all vomiting black substance which points to internal bleeding… Liver? No. Varices? No… It’s a plague… Bacteria infection. Yes. Need antibiotics. How? Think… think… Soil bacteria and fungi… which ones? Think…”

The devil works day and night, nursing the sick, conducting research, and securing food. She barely sleeps and doesn’t have time to think about being hated.

“I need time… No. No time… I need results—fast… How… Think… Damn it! Think, you stupid bitch!”

Amelia…

Mama…

“A way to isolate microorganisms… A tool… No! Magic! That’s right, I’m in a world with fucking magic! Fucking duh!”

D-doctor could it be…? Could he—she be…

Pay attention everyone, this is the moment that forever revolutionized the world of medicine.

But… But she doesn’t even have mana. So how…

Amelia walks to a patient with mana. She splits a part of her body and slips it into his body.

Eww! It’s like a tiny lizard’s tail!

It slithers its way inside him and heads for his mana source. She then… siphones his mana!?

She can do that now!?

She can do that now.

The patient contorts his body in pain so she retracts her body part and moves to the next person.

Stolen story; please report.

No wonder no one can get a handle on the devil’s mana resonance! Teacher, has this been done before!?

I… don’t know… In all my years of research, it never came across my mind that it’s even possible. Utterly fantastic!

The devil forcefully stores the mana in her body and attempts to circulate and manipulate it. It doesn’t seem easy. Her body becomes unstable. She pushes through and uses magic to separate some kind of incredibly tiny substance from mold.

This is it! It’s happening! History is being made before our very eyes!

D-doctor, please calm down.

The substance is effective at fighting the infection in the blood sample. She creates several pills and conducts human trials on… herself. She purposely infects herself with the plague to test her medicine. It fails. She tries again, and again, and again… She’s weak, so weak she can barely keep herself together. She cast off an arm and a leg to conserve energy. Then an eye. Ears. Intestines. Bones. She gets rid of everything that isn’t necessary for her experiment, but she makes sure her face and hand look the same… to comfort Julius.

Mama… That’s enough mama…

Some patients are dying. She’s running out of time.

But she succeeds.

Yes, in the end, she succeeds. Julius is saved. A cure is created. The plague that has ravaged the land for years is defeated.

But they saw her.

Yes, they see the red demon in the hospital and hunt her down like a dog.

Why didn’t she fight back? She can kill them in that situation.

She can… but she won’t.

Why?

Why didn’t you fight back, devil?

…

Why don’t you say anything? Where did that sharp tongue of yours go?

Shut up, you’re annoying!

The red demon is cornered at a cliff. They throw torches at her. They set her ablaze.

Just fight back. You have a right to.

She falls to the world below and the image turns black.

She survives.

Yes.

She’s in pain.

Unimaginable pain. If you concentrate, you can feel it too. Do you dare to?

No…

How much time has passed?

A week, I guess, before she regains enough energy to reform herself.

So all those years, all that effort, and she’s right back at where she started.

I wouldn’t say that… Julius survived. The day was saved. The village prospered.

That’s not very evil of her.

I suppose…

Huh… Judge, I request we stop using the word ‘devil’ to refer to the defendant… until her actions earn that title.

Motion accepted. Any objections?

None.

Fine by me.

No comment.

Very well, what about you defendant? What would you prefer we call you? Amelia Ambrose? Adrian Acker? Mrs. June? Or are there other names you go by?

Fuck off! Fuck right off, all of you! I don’t need your sympathy! I need your hatred! Pure, boiling hatred!

Clearly.

The first thing Amelia does when she gets up is return to the village to check up on Julius. She stays with him for two more years while spreading the medicine throughout the region.

Doctor, that’s you!

Yes, the good ‘Doctor August’ visited Green Berry and other cities to impart his miracle medicine. Millions more would’ve died if not for him… her. Ha! Quite confusing isn’t it?

As she saves lives, she also messes up a few buildings and writes ‘Beware The Devil!” on the walls.

Devil— Lady Amelia, is graffiti truly the most villainous action you could think of?

…

Once everything is settled. She enrolls Julius in a boarding school. Put most of the wealth she gathered under his name and fakes her death.

Her responsibility to him is complete. But that’s not exactly ‘dumping him on the first doorstep she finds,’ is it?

…No.

Mama.

I’m not your mama.

Some nights, when I was sad, I thought I saw your ghost. That was you, wasn’t it? Always watching over me. Keeping me safe, all this time.

What? Do you think I have time to do something like that? Ha! Don’t make me laugh. You’re nothing to me! Do you hear me?! Nothing! You’re just an annoying, smelly brat, I couldn’t wait to get rid of!

Mama… That’s you, crying on the screen.

S-shut up! Something was in my eye!

Amelia visits Julius in his dorm room and bends down to kiss his forehead. Her eyes and nose are red from crying.

“Catch you later, you snotty brat. Don’t let anyone bully you. Always eat your greens. And always wipe your nose, okay? Otherwise, the girls won’t like you.”

“…Okay, mama… Zzz”

“Huh… cheeky.”

Lady Amelia pets his hair and disappears into the night. Her journey to become the devil truly starts now.