Chapter 33: Older people are more likely to be clumsy

“The treatment is simple. The problematic blood vessels—the circuits in your body that convert mana into excessive yin energy—will be severed. It might hurt a bit, but isn’t that better than dying?”

This was the treatment proposed by Dr. Erneong, the physician from Paris, France.

A potion to suppress the body’s rejection of the circuits would be administered, followed by the severance of the blood vessels.

The Nine Yin Severance (Guum Jeolmaek).

Rather than purifying the cursed blood of ice, it would be entirely removed.

In essence, it was akin to replacing all the blood vessels in her body with new ones.

An outrageous surgery.

Setting aside the prolonged pain, Seol Yeonhwa wondered if such a procedure was even feasible.

With trembling eyes, she stared at the Blue Tower Master who had brought the doctor.

Elnair Grantz, the master of the Blue Tower, patted her shoulder with a grandmotherly smile and said,

“Dr. Erneong is highly knowledgeable in surgical procedures using magic. Don’t worry, Yeonhwa. They call it a full-body mana circuit, but the blood vessels causing the real issue are only nine in number.”

It would be fine, she assured.

For now, they would just test the reactivity of the blood vessels and their affinity with certain components.

But to Yeonhwa, everything that followed sounded like nonsense.

Treatment?

Surgery?

Experiments?

She didn’t want to know any of it.

Yet, the only experts she could rely on were the two people standing before her.

She felt like they were her only hope.

“I’ll make sure to save you,” they said.

Seol Yeonhwa listened to their words in a daze, more detached than usual.

***

“Such a needlessly cautious girl.”

After Seol Yeonhwa left the reception room, Elnair Grantz, the Blue Tower Master, muttered while puffing on her pipe.

The crackling sound of burning tobacco accompanied the wispy smoke drifting into the air.

Unlike the leisurely atmosphere of the swirling mist, Elnair’s expression carried the weariness and slight anxiety of a mage who had lived for centuries.

“If she’s a woman, she ought to have some boldness. What’s there to ‘think about’? At her level, she must know her time is running out.”

“Calm down, babe. Isn’t this the opportunity we’ve been waiting for?”

Dr. Erneong, the foreign physician from Paris, waved his hand with a relaxed demeanor.

“That circuit is almost like a ‘living’ thing. Its performance depends heavily on the will of its owner. It might take some time, but we need to let her simmer. This is a long game. We know that obtaining that circuit will solve everything, but isn’t it better to stay calm?”

“…I know that.”

Elnair, too, had little time left.

Having lived over a century and reigned as the Tower Master, she had only one or two years remaining.

Before her inevitable end, she needed to elevate her realm, her ‘status’ as a mage, no matter what.

Elnair’s current realm was Master.

Comparable to a Swordmaster in the world of swordsmen, it was an astonishing achievement.

However, she hadn’t fully transcended the limits of humanity, and her lifespan remained predetermined.

This time, she had to surpass humanity entirely, breaking free from the constraints of mortality.

As the master of the Blue Tower and a high-ranking mage, she knew there was a realm beyond—historically documented.

Grandmaster.

The realm of a god of magic.

A stage recorded in legends and ancient texts… or so it was said.

Publicly, that’s how it was known, but among the upper echelons of society, whispers circulated that such monstrous beings still existed in secret sects or hidden places.

Elnair knew of the old monsters at the Academy, but they were too uncooperative and sensitive to anything that strayed from the righteous path.

For a procedure like this—replacing a body’s circuits—they were the last people she could involve.

“That’s why I didn’t want to send her to that superpower academy. So stubborn, that girl. Tsk, she usually holes up in her room, refusing to do magic research, but suddenly she’s off to school?”

“She probably wants to enjoy what little time she has left,” Erneong replied.

“…Are you mocking me?”

“Oh, come on. Why would I mock my teammate, babe? Let’s take it slow. She’s almost ours.”

Dr. Erneong shook a vial of pink perfume hidden in the corner of the room, chuckling slyly.

Illusionary Fragrance (Hwanmokhyang).

A scent that subtly manipulated a person’s mind and emotions, a type of medicinal drug.

In this case, it was being used as a poison to erode the target’s mental defenses.

“A renowned doctor from abroad and a kind, grandmotherly magic mentor. Isn’t our combo perfect? Plus, babe, you get the key to elevating your realm and the circuit, while I get experimental data. The rewards couldn’t be more perfectly aligned.”

Known to those in the know as a mad scientist and doctor, Erneong, a high-ranking dark mage, clapped his hands with a bright smile.

“Unless some prince charming shows up to sweep her away, the outcome is already set.”

A complete victory for them.

At Erneong’s confident declaration, Elnair’s tense expression softened, melting into a smile.

Elnair and Erneong exchanged warm glances before sealing their pact with a kiss.

***

[The Goddess, with a worried expression, asks what happens if the medicine is given too late and she dies.]

“Geez, old folks can be so reckless.”

[…?]

Oops, my mistake.

I forgot to cut off the mental link and sent that thought as is.

Clearing my throat, I deliberately avoided looking at the sky and added,

“If her condition worsens, her complexion will get worse, and moving will become harder. She’s likely fine as long as she’s still coming to school. If she dies early despite all this care, well, that’s just her fate, isn’t it?”

[The Goddess smiles, saying she’s more curious about what I meant by that earlier comment.]

“Knowing too much can hurt you, Goddess.”

[She tells me to shut up and explain.]

After some back-and-forth with the Goddess, we settled on binging a romance drama to move past the issue.

“Anyway, we’ll have all the potion ingredients by this weekend. What could go wrong in the meantime?”

A few days from now, the potion will be complete. Nothing should happen before then…

“Seol Yeonhwa. Seol Yeonhwa? What’s with all these absences today?”

“Professor, there’s a festival going on!”

“What? Enjoying a festival is important, but isn’t studying history just as crucial?”

Amid the professor’s excuses and the students’ jeers, the lecture began.

I, in the same class as Seol Yeonhwa, paused for a moment.

She’s usually so diligent—why isn’t she here?

Why didn’t she come to school?

…No, it’s probably nothing.

It’s likely just a coincidence, but when these bad feelings turn out to be right, it really sours my mood.

Tapping the desk to gather my thoughts, I sighed and made a decision.

Since I’ve already decided to help, I might as well hurry up before I get annoyed.

After the history lecture, I glanced at my phone, scrolling through my sparse contact list, and called someone.

“Hey, Imir. You free after school?”

***

Cough, cough!

Her body felt cold.

An unbearable chill surged from her lungs, forcing out ragged breaths.

Icy air leaked through the fingers she pressed against her mouth.

For the past few days, her symptoms had worsened. Seol Yeonhwa grimaced, pulling the thick blanket tighter around herself.

Just when she thought she’d grown used to the cold, it pierced her body even more fiercely.

She felt like she might freeze to death.

In April’s spring, she was still wrapped in blankets warmed by an electric pad, exhaling shaky breaths.

Normally, she’d be sitting in front of her monitor, but her condition was too severe.

A nap might help a little, but with the pain hitting her now, she didn’t care about that.

It was just painful.

Why did she have to endure this?

Being called a genius felt meaningless, and she couldn’t see what was good about her life.

Even shaking hands with others required her to mind her icy touch—what kind of life was that?

Why am I still clinging to hope?

With her eyes tightly shut, Seol Yeonhwa recalled the greedy gaze of the Tower Master from a few days ago.

Elnair, the Blue Tower Master, thought Yeonhwa didn’t notice, but she did.

Since last year, as Yeonhwa’s skills skyrocketed, the Tower Master’s eyes had changed.

At first, she thought it was her imagination.

But meeting her gaze repeatedly confirmed it.

The curiosity and greed unique to an aged mage.

Not the look of a mentor proud of a fast-growing disciple or a pillar of the Tower, but the eyes of someone eyeing a rare elixir.

The contrast with her usual grandmotherly demeanor made Yeonhwa keep her distance.

She never imagined Elnair would bring in an outsider to dissect her circuits.

Cough, cough.

Coughing painfully again, Seol Yeonhwa groaned and thought,

Why is my life like this?

There was no one she could trust, and the only ones who might save her were the Tower Master and that shady doctor—how absurd.

Her body was closer to that of a normal person, maybe even a recluse, but Erneong’s proposed procedure offered a chance at survival.

Of course, she couldn’t fully trust the Tower Master or the doctor’s intentions.

But that was the only lifeline she had, pathetic as it was.

What a wretched life.

A bitter smile crept onto her face.

Too weak to move, she ignored the buzzing of her phone for half a day.

Collapsed on her bed, coughing, she suddenly heard a sound.

Ding-dong.

The doorbell rang unexpectedly.

To be continued…

***

The “babe” that is used by Erneong to Elnair Grantz was actually translated as “sister” which I found odd (and disturbing) so I just changed it to “babe”.