Ch.236Past Story: Olivia Eleonora – 2

The next day, the gift sent by the Red One Magic Tower was something no one had expected.

“…What is this?”

“Um… an experimental subject, I suppose? Or a slave. Either way, it’s hardly something appropriate to send as a gift.”

The other wizards had retreated to a safe distance, preparing spells in case of emergency, while only Abel and Helena approached the “gift” from Red One Magic Tower to examine it—or rather, the human who resembled more of a slave or test subject.

The long black hair that dragged on the floor had lost all vitality and luster, appearing utterly dry and brittle.

It seemed she hadn’t been able to wash properly for some time; her hair was matted in places and emitted a foul odor. She was completely covered in dirt and dust.

There was no life in her purple irises, which gave off an inexplicable chill. Helena shuddered as she stared intently at those eyes, completely extinguished and lifeless.

If her hair and face were in such a state, the rest of her body couldn’t be any better. Her skin was filthy, with dried blood scabs stuck all over her body. Her bare feet were covered in wounds.

The rags she wore barely covered her from chest to private parts. Even those seemed ready to tear at any moment.

However, people’s attention was focused elsewhere.

“Abel, this is…”

“You’re right, Helena. It’s burn scars. Severe ones at that.”

Burn scars covered the girl’s entire right side.

Half of her face was scarred, and the affected area grew larger further down her body. Abel carefully lifted her clothing. More than 70% of the girl’s abdomen was disfigured by burn marks.

Her right thigh and even her calf showed signs of burned skin. Only the tips of her toes and fingers had some skin tissue remaining, though it hardly mattered.

The burn scars were horrific. Beyond the grotesquely distorted skin, burned muscle tissue was clearly visible, and the wounds were filled with blisters and pus, oozing yellow discharge.

Abel removed his hand after examining the abdominal burn scars with a serious expression. The tattered cloth fell back to cover the scars.

“These are old wounds. At least a year old, I’d say. The poor condition is because she hasn’t received proper treatment. It’s a miracle she hasn’t died from infection yet.”

“What could have happened to her?”

“I don’t know. We’d have to ask her directly, or inquire with their tower. Was there no further explanation?”

“No. They just sent a letter saying it would arrive today and they hoped we’d receive it well. I never imagined they’d send something like this as a gift.”

“Just to be safe, check if there’s any mana wave emanating from her body. I’ll check for any magic circles. If there’s nothing, we should clean her up and treat her wounds first. If she dies from her injuries, who knows what kind of trouble they’ll try to cause.”

“Understood, Abel.”

Helena stepped back about ten paces and formed a magic circle in her hand. A sphere of blue mana slowly rose into the air and began scanning the girl’s body.

Despite the mana likely being quite cold, the girl showed no reaction, as if all sensation had died within her. It was the same when Abel lifted her clothes to check for magic circles.

Even though it would be uncomfortable to have a strange man examining her body, she just stood still in place. If anything, it was Helena who grumbled while watching Abel.

When the mana wave examination was complete, Helena hurriedly ran to Abel’s side and separated them. Since the examination was finished anyway, Abel allowed himself to be pulled back.

After giving Abel a sidelong glare, Helena spoke.

“Do you think she was tortured?”

“Her left side is too intact for that. I don’t think so.”

“Intact, you say?”

Helena looked at the girl’s left side with an incredulous expression. It was covered in scratches, dried blood scabs, and her nails were in terrible condition.

“I mean if those were torture marks. Besides, they don’t pull out fingernails like that for torture.”

“Maybe they just wanted to damage half her body thoroughly.”

“I doubt it. One thing’s for sure—with the right side damaged to this extent, the nerves must be completely dead, so she can barely feel pain. What’s the point of torture if she can’t feel pain? Besides, these injuries could have killed her if not treated properly. Proper torture is supposed to be just enough to cause pain without killing.”

“I didn’t want to know about those standards. Why do you know so much about this stuff anyway?”

“Because I’ve experienced it.”

Hearing this, Helena grimaced and waved her hands dismissively. Abel carefully examined the girl.

“Setting aside her right side, if her left side is just dirty from not bathing… I don’t see any other signs of abuse. They seem to have just left her like this. I’m not sure if it’s fortunate she didn’t die from infection, or unfortunate that she’s had to endure this pain. Helena, you didn’t detect any mana waves or residual mana, right?”

“I just checked everything. No mana waves detected, no residual mana felt. That means there are no visible magic circles. Of course, if they’ve hidden something in her internal organs or head, we’d need a more thorough examination than this quick check.”

“Alright, good work, Helena.”

“What are you going to do now?”

Helena glanced at the girl.

“As we decided before, I’ll keep her with me for now. There’s a temporary lodging near the tower, right? Tell the others to set up magic circles there as a precaution.”

This was the conclusion they had reached after receiving the first “gift” from Red One Magic Tower and dealing with the aftermath. They needed to prepare for any situation if there was to be a second one.

Since they couldn’t predict what might happen, Abel—who could withstand any direct magical attack without actual harm—would stay at the external lodging with the gift until a thorough examination was completed.

“This is just… I don’t know, absurd. Sending something like this as a gift, planting traps in gifts… Now we have to examine and monitor in case she’s some kind of human bomb. Shouldn’t we really put those guys in their place someday?”

“I’m just as bewildered as you are. We’ll think about how to get back at them later. We’ll return the favor and then some.”

Abel himself was dumbfounded.

The concept of a human bomb was horrifying, but not unthinkable. It was the first thing thieves would do if they happened to have a wizard among them.

That’s why one always had to be extremely careful when approaching abandoned corpses. You always had to consider the possibility of traps set on the body.

The idea of sending such a thing as a gift to another magic tower was simply appalling.

Of course, Abel’s tower hadn’t just taken the damage from the first gift lying down. After somewhat recovering from the damage, they had completely destroyed the top floor of the other tower.

By throwing Abel at it.

When they protested, asking what this was all about, they brushed it off with the excuse that it was an accident that occurred during a suicide attempt. They had no choice but to accept it since there was no evidence.

Helena spoke with a meaningful expression.

“You’re not going to do anything strange when you’re alone with her, are you, Abel?”

“Strange things?”

“You know, those kinds of things.”

“I’m not sure what you mean. Why don’t you explain with your own words? Give me some examples of ‘strange things’ or ‘those kinds of things.’ That would help me understand much better.”

“…You’re cunning. I’ll let it go this time.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

Abel smiled and patted her shoulder, then bent slightly to meet the girl’s eye level. Black eyes met purple ones.

The violet pupils were completely devoid of light, so utterly lifeless that Abel felt a chill run down his spine as he looked into them.

Her gaze was empty, and it was difficult to tell where she was looking. There wasn’t the slightest change in her expression. Abel waved his hand in front of her and spoke.

“Can you understand me, little one?”

“Little one?”

Helena interjected. Abel turned his head.

“What now?”

“Nothing, but how is she a ‘little one’? She looks at least fifteen to me.”

“Are you bringing up age in front of me? By that standard, you’re a little one to me too, Helena. So, little Helena, how old are you this year?”

Since this was true, Helena made a sound like “ugh” and quietly closed her mouth. If it was purely about age, everyone in this tower was practically a child compared to Abel.

Even the tower master, who was over 40 and approaching 50, was insignificant compared to Abel. Helena didn’t need to say more.

With Helena silenced, Abel turned back to meet the girl’s eyes.

“Now, little one. Can you hear me?”

The girl still had a blank stare. Abel waved his hand in front of her eyes and snapped his fingers, but she remained unresponsive. The girl showed no reaction at all.

“Is she deaf? Or blind perhaps?”

“I’m not sure about both, but the eye and ear on the burned side are definitely damaged.”

On the right side of her head, there was only an empty socket where an eye should have been, and the ear hidden among her hair was clearly abnormal.

It didn’t look like she could see or hear with them.

“What about the other side?”

“We’ll have to find out later.”

“You know that sounds really suspicious, right?”

“Want me to show you what’s really suspicious with your body?”

Helena laughed at that. Abel also chuckled. Just then, wizards from the external lodging arrived to report that the magic circles had been set up, and Abel stood up.

“When will we conduct the thorough examination?”

“After observing for about three days. We can’t rule out the possibility of a time-delayed trap. Bring me some scrolls later.”

“Yes, yes. Don’t worry.”

Helena waved goodbye and left, leaving only Abel and the girl with the dead purple eyes. Abel met the girl’s eyes again.

“Can you hear me, little one?”

“…”

“Little one?”

“…”

Abel gave up on conversation and stood up. Whatever the case, it seemed futile to expect a response here.

He carefully lifted the girl in his arms. One hand supporting her bottom, the other around her back. Fluid seeped from her crushed skin. Abel didn’t mind at all and applied strength to his arms.

The girl limply rested her head on his shoulder. Soon, the sound of light breathing could be heard.

‘Judging by her appearance, she seems like a slave. But those guys wouldn’t have captured a slave themselves.’

Wizards were a proud bunch who might buy slaves with money but would never capture them personally.

That meant they either bought a slave in this condition at a low price from a slave trader, or they bought a normal slave and damaged her themselves…

‘It’s worth investigating.’

Either way, it seemed well worth looking into.