Ch.410Chapter 410 – Morning of the Bestia (3)

After breakfast had been served and some time had passed.

Fortunately, while the other party members who had been sleeping in got up in time to eat before the food got cold, Jusha, who seemed to have already become friendly with Beatrice, began bombarding her with questions, her eyes sparkling.

“So, how exactly does one get into a magic tower?”

“Usually, you study at an academy, which is an educational institution under the tower’s authority, and enter after graduation. Of course, you need good grades to get in.”

“Oh, what if your grades aren’t good?”

“Two options. Either find another job with the magic you learned at the academy, or work as an assistant to a tower mage and retake the graduation exam. But you can only retake the exam if you choose the latter option. Though you can take the retest as many times as needed.”

“This might be rude to ask, but the academy tuition…”

“It is expensive, but since the academy receives support from the tower, there are scholarships. Believe it or not, I attended on a scholarship.”

“What about, um, racial discrimination…?”

“I’m not particularly close with them, but the Master of the Orange Tower is a cat beastkin. Not from Bestia, as far as I know.”

Beatrice was kindly answering Jusha’s questions, which were mainly about the magic tower.

During their conversation, Beatrice seemed to have read Jusha’s dream and said with a smile:

“Do you want to become a mage?”

“Well, it was my childhood dream.”

Jusha replied, seeming embarrassed.

“About five years ago, I dreamed of studying abroad at a magic tower from Bestia… but the tower was too far from Bestia to just leave. So in the end…”

“Distance is certainly an issue. That’s significant.”

Beatrice nodded as she spoke.

Then Jusha looked at Beatrice carefully and said:

“And now I think I can’t go even if I wanted to. I’ll be an adult in a few years…”

“So you’re saying you’re still a child for a few more years.”

Beatrice said with a grin.

“Our bear princess would know this, but there’s no age limit for academy admission. The required completion period is three years, and you can graduate starting from age 17.”

“…So you can still enroll after turning 17?”

“You can. In fact, many people enter around that age. I personally know someone who entered at 17, graduated at 20, and joined the tower.”

Beatrice said with a smile.

Encouraged by her words, Jusha’s eyes brightened even more as she began asking Beatrice more questions, which Beatrice answered with a smile.

Finding this scene adorable, Ive and Sera, who were watching Jusha with slightly sleepy eyes, smiled and said:

“Miss Jusha is certainly very curious.”

“She’s adorable.”

The two smiled as they began eating the soup Beatrice had made.

Meanwhile, Chris had entered a state of frenzy after a long time.

“The meat, the meat is so tender! It’s soft! It’s delicious!!”

Chris’s eyes were rolling back as she ate the meat, seemingly reverting to an old habit.

While I was wondering how to pretend not to notice, Jusha, who had been asking questions, looked at Chris with a smile.

“I’m glad it suits the nun’s taste. The meat was marinated in honey.”

“Honey?”

Ive looked at Jusha with slight surprise at her comment.

Jusha smiled and said:

“Yes. In our bear tribe’s territory, there are colonies of what we call travel bees and ice bees. Since everyone in our tribe loves honey, we harvest it regularly. We’re also trying to research and raise the bees ourselves to make it a specialty product.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, and I actually brought some of that harvested honey with me this time… it’s extremely sweet.”

“My goodness.”

Interest gleamed in Ive’s eyes, as if she had found a new business item.

Soon, Jusha happily began explaining to Ive how they harvest honey and attempt to raise bees.

As Ive’s face gradually brightened with the look of a merchant who saw investment potential, and while Chris was expressing her joy while eating meat, Sera slightly turned her gaze toward me.

“By the way, Kei. How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine. I’ve recovered enough to wake up early.”

I immediately showed Sera that my physical condition was good.

Then I smiled and said to her:

“It’s all thanks to your help, Sera.”

“…I just assisted a little, so it’s nothing special.”

Despite her words, Sera’s face turned slightly red.

As I was contemplating how to tease her, Noah looked at me with a smile.

“About what we were discussing earlier.”

“Right.”

Earlier.

We were talking about the weaknesses of snow field monsters.

“It’s actually quite well-known. All snow field monsters share a common weakness.”

“What is it?”

“Fire.”

Noah quietly answered Sia’s question.

“Because they live in cold places and rarely encounter fire, snow field monsters tend to be highly wary of it. They even run away. There’s actually a survival guideline that recommends trying to drive them away by waving torches in emergencies.”

Noah added that one should attempt to escape as soon as the monsters retreat.

“Sometimes warriors hunt snow field monsters by waving torches to momentarily startle them, then stabbing them with weapons.”

“That sounds easier than I expected?”

If they fear fire, then appropriate measures can be taken.

However, Sonya smirked and said:

“Easier said than done. If you just wave it around half-heartedly, they’ll look for an opening and try to tear your throat out. It might work the first couple of times. But they quickly realize the truth when they’re attacked. They’re still afraid of fire, but they soon understand it won’t kill them instantly and will charge at you. Waving torches is just a last resort in emergencies, leaving things to chance.”

Sonya spoke with a somewhat dark expression.

She seemed to have some trauma related to this.

“So even with fire, magic would be better than mere torches. But you can’t use magic indefinitely, right? The larger the opponent and the longer the battle, the more you need to conserve it, right?”

“That’s right.”

The larger the opponent, the larger the scale of magic needed.

While Beatrice is skilled enough to last longer than other mages, it would still be dangerous to always rely on her, as she might collapse from exhaustion before reaching our destination.

Somehow I feel like the current Beatrice would force herself to endure, but it would be better to find a better method rather than pushing her too hard.

“Do you have any ideas? Ms. Alchemist?”

Sonya casually asked Sera, as if wondering what to do next.

And Sera looked at Sonya with a smiling face.

“Of course I have a solution.”

“A solution?”

“The key is to use fire to intimidate the enemies, right? Preferably while attacking them too. And a longer duration would be better, correct?”

“That’s right.”

According to Noah, fire is the easiest way to deal with these creatures.

And it seemed Sera had a different method from torches or magic.

“I’m an alchemist after all. I’ll solve this the alchemist way.”

“How?”

“How else?”

Sera said with a smile.

“An alchemist’s job is to create tools, isn’t it?”

As if saying to leave it to her.

Sera spoke with a confident voice.

+

With her hair still tied back, Beatrice was quietly observing Sera and Ive.

While listening to the conversation between Kei, Sera, and Noah, she continued answering Jusha’s questions.

Yet Beatrice kept watching Sera and Ive.

‘Strange.’

As she secretly examined the two women’s bodies, Beatrice thought quietly.

‘I never thought this would be possible.’

What Beatrice was observing was the physical condition of Sera and Ive.

She had noticed an unfamiliar sensation from both of them that she hadn’t felt until yesterday.

She probably realized it only this morning because she had decided to prepare breakfast herself and went straight to the kitchen without stopping by anyone else’s room.

So during the meal, she was quietly checking the physical condition of the two.

And she was somewhat astonished.

‘Holy power.’

The identity of the unfamiliar sensation she had felt.

‘The holy power that was detected from Togu and Chris is now being detected from those two as well.’

That holy power, which was felt from Chris and at some point from Kei, was now emanating from the two women.

‘What happened yesterday… no. That’s easy to guess.’

Seeing Ive and Sera, who had woken up later than usual, appeared almost together with good moods, along with Chris, it wasn’t hard to guess what had happened between last night and dawn.

While one part of her heart ached, and another part told herself she had no right to feel that way, Beatrice was surprised by the change in the two women.

‘The holy power inside Togu has grown stronger since then too.’

At first, she thought it might be residual holy power from Christina’s healing.

However, the holy power in Kei’s body hadn’t disappeared since then.

And now that holy power was being detected from Sera and Ive as well.

If that was the case, there was only one hypothesis she could think of.

‘[Holy power is contagious.]’

One of the statements left by Platina, the previous saint of the Emiris Order, even as she met a miserable end.

The true meaning of those words was becoming apparent.

“…trice?”

“Ah.”

Jusha, who had been speaking to her, was looking up at Beatrice with concern.

Beatrice quickly smiled and said:

“Sorry. I just remembered something I was researching.”

“Oh, then I’m just getting in the way…!”

“No, no.”

Beatrice quickly reassured Jusha, whose face was about to turn pale blue again.

And soon, Beatrice spoke to divert her attention.

“Anyway, if you want to enter the magic tower, talk to me during your stay. I can help create paths and opportunities for you. Despite how I look, my sister is quite respected in the tower. So.”

“Are you really okay?”

Perhaps she had rambled too much out of confusion.

Beatrice felt slightly embarrassed, thinking she had made a mistake.

‘This is getting harder to maintain my composure than before.’

In the past, she would have been indifferent.

But after becoming entangled with a certain man through an ill-fated connection and achieving one of her long-standing wishes thanks to him, it had become difficult to maintain her composure in matters related to him.

Even now, she was worrying if there might be a problem.

‘Calm down.’

Beatrice took a deep breath, soothing herself.

And Jusha, concerned about Beatrice, quietly asked:

“Um, may I ask what kind of research it was?”

“Hm?”

“Well, I’m curious about what kind of problem would make a mage like you so flustered…”

Jusha began tapping her index fingers together, watching Beatrice’s reaction.

Beatrice felt she had caused too much worry.

At the same time, she thought it might be okay to satisfy Jusha’s curiosity a little.

Perhaps her personality had softened compared to before, as she found herself unconsciously choosing an option she would have ignored in the past.

“Well, you see.”

Still, she couldn’t directly ask about holy power being contagious.

After thinking for a moment, she decided to phrase it differently.

“I was thinking about something like an epidemic.”

“An epidemic?”

“Yes. It doesn’t necessarily seem bad, but how should I put it? When infected, it gives you special abilities, but I couldn’t tell if that was good or not. I need to investigate it more…”

“Hmm… so it’s a type that changes people into a special constitution when infected, continues to spread, but doesn’t show any visible abnormalities. What you’re curious about is what happens when someone is infected, how they change, and whether there are any problems.”

At Jusha’s words, Beatrice almost lost her smile.

The girl had understood perfectly despite Beatrice’s deliberately vague explanation.

Although she probably hadn’t grasped the detailed content, Beatrice felt foolish for having tried to be indirect.

“I deliberately spoke indirectly, but you caught on well.”

“Oh, did I overstep?”

“No.”

While feeling slightly embarrassed, Beatrice was also curious about Jusha’s opinion.

Who knows?

Unlike herself, whose way of thinking had already solidified with adulthood, Jusha might offer a more flexible perspective.

“Then Jusha, how would you investigate this?”

“First, I’d observe the condition as much as possible. If that doesn’t work, I’d investigate directly with my body.”

Jusha took a slight deep breath.

“Since I’m a beastkin and my body is quite sturdy, I tend to think of experimenting on myself first if necessary.”

“Really?”

“Yes. After that, I’d directly examine the body. What properties it has, what changes it causes, how to prevent it, things like that.”

“It could be dangerous though?”

“You said it doesn’t seem particularly bad. …Maybe it changes you into a very unique constitution? For example, becoming better at handling magic or something?”

The magic part seemed to be Jusha’s own wish.

That childlike aspect made Beatrice smile unconsciously.

“If I absolutely had to find out, I’d experiment directly… Oh, I just thought of something.”

“What is it?”

“Earlier when I mentioned changing into a constitution that’s better at handling magic? If that happens, I think mages would really hate it.”

“Why?”

Jusha answered Beatrice’s question.

“If what I said is true, then getting this epidemic would increase the number of mages, so… wouldn’t they threaten each other’s positions? Some might want to work together, but others might try to eliminate those who reached the same position just because they got infected…”

“……”

“Anyway, I got sidetracked, but I think I’d check directly with my own body.”

Jusha immediately blushed and lowered her head.

And looking at Jusha, Beatrice…

Smiled and patted her head.

“Jusha.”

“Yes?”

“…I think you would make an excellent researcher if you became a mage.”

While thinking of her friend Asam, Beatrice looked at Jusha with a smile.

But she already felt like she had been hit hard in the head.

‘Threatening positions, huh.’

It was still a hypothesis.

But if what Jusha said was true.

If holy power really is contagious.

‘…Come to think of it, his goal did seem a bit strange in some ways.’

Somnus, or rather Emiris’s goal was to create a body to replace his decaying flesh.

For that purpose, he aimed to create the body of a hero to achieve omnipotence.

But looking at just this part, there was something strange.

‘Why did he specifically try to create a hero’s body?’

Of course, he might have considered a hero’s body to be powerful.

But Emiris’s body is currently deteriorating to the point where he’s essentially in a survival competition with Kei.

If that’s the case, the urgent priority would be to extend his survival time.

If he was going to switch bodies anyway, wouldn’t it have been perfectly possible to temporarily switch to a healthier body?

He could have cloned his own body.

Or he could have continuously created his own flesh and blood to contain his power.

But Emiris didn’t choose those methods.

‘Holy power is contagious.’

The question Beatrice hadn’t discussed with others.

That question was about to be answered.

And simultaneously, she unconsciously looked down at her own abdomen.

‘…I need more data to get confirmation.’

And at the same time, she recalled what Jusha had said.

‘It might be better to test it directly.’

She already knew what was presumed to be the condition for transmission.

And the opportunity to prepare for investigation was only today, right before departing for the snow fields.

If she missed this chance, she didn’t know when the next would come.

‘It’s for Togu. It’s for Togu.’

Beatrice thought as if telling herself.

‘Absolutely not for personal reasons. Absolutely not.’

Beatrice kept taking deep breaths to calm herself.

However, the heat in her face refused to subside.