episode_0049

“Ugh..”

Arthur woke up feeling heavier than usual, for some unknown reason.

“Huh..? Kkaaa …

The moment he put strength into his legs to move, Arthur screamed in pain at the muscle pain he felt in his legs.

Because of this, Aris, who was sleeping next to him, was startled and quickly checked Arthur’s condition.

“What’s going on? Are you okay?”

“Ah, Alice.. My legs hurt so much..!!”

Seeing Arthur struggling with his legs, Alice put her hand on Arthur’s calf and felt his muscles.

Arthur’s calf muscles, which he had touched, were hard as rocks and swollen as if they had been overworked for a long time.

No matter how I look at it, it seems like it’s my fault… But I think it’ll be okay if I just rest today…

“Arthur, I think your muscles are really tense. Maybe it’s because you overdid it yesterday..?”

But Arthur shook his head at Alice’s words.

“No! I didn’t do it that badly, and this isn’t the first or second time this has happened recently.. There must be another reason!!”

“Really..? I think it’s like muscle painㅡ”

“No? I think it’s the mana training that’s the problem.”

“!!”

Arthur was this perceptive? Haa… I should have adjusted it a bit… But if I just keep quiet, there’s no evidence, so I guess we can get away with it.

“I think it’s a side effect of mana training. Since I did it every day, I think I should change it to once every two or three days from now on.”

Huh? Then I can’t do it every day. It won’t work like this..

“Um.. Or maybe there’s a technique I learned that can help you recover a little bit when you’re mana exhausted? Of course, it’s hard to do.. But Arthur, I can do it every day for you.”

It’s all a lie. I could have healed them all, and it wouldn’t have been that hard, but I had to fool Arthur.

If I restore all my mana too easily, I’ll never be able to do it at night again, and Arthur will ask for it every day, so I absolutely cannot allow that.

It’s just muscle pain anyway, and there are other solutions. If I just restore some of his mana, Arthur will wake up in better condition than usual, so you’ll have no choice but to believe me.

Arthur sensed something strange, perhaps because the favor was full of impure intentions.

“..Aris, you’ve been acting strange lately..? It’s like you don’t want me to miss a single day of training.. ”

“Uh, yeah..?”

“And lately, I feel better at night, and my skin seems to get better as the days go by.”

Narrow eyes, a look that seems to be looking at something suspicious.

Arthur is suspicious of me..?

“ㅁ.. I don’t know what you’re talking about? Well.. I tried to help you as much as I could because you wanted to increase your mana. And at night, I just like being with you. Maybe my skin is sweating more because I’ve been working out harder lately?”

A very logical answer. If you think about it normally, Aris’ words seem to be correct.

Since he had suspicions but no evidence, Arthur decided to trust Alice for now.

“Okay, then that recovery method? Do it now. I’ll try mana training right away.”

“ji, right now..?”

“Yeah, if that doesn’t work, I’ll just reduce my mana training.”

Arthur lay back down on the bed and used up all the mana in his body, and fell asleep because he was exhausted from mana.

“Haa.. I guess I should at least pretend to do it to some extent..?”

Alice placed her hand on Arthur’s chest and began to slowly drain mana into him.

The mana that flowed into Arthur’s heart little by little was sent back out to Arthur’s brain, and after a while, Arthur was able to wake up from his sleep.

“Euuugh.. Alice..?”

Oh? I only put in a small amount… Oh, right. You said this method is to wake up the mind first, right? So Arthur is in a state of mana loss, but his mind is still awake?

“Arthur? How is your current condition? This is the limit of what I can do.. I don’t think I’ll see any more effects than this…”

“My head hurts a little.. How many minutes has it been?”

“About 3 minutes..? It hasn’t been that long.”

“I see.. When I checked my physical condition now, I can definitely feel that I have recovered a little.. But I think I can go about my daily life at this level, right?”

“Is that it..?”

“Yeah, but I think you have to be careful. This is a state where mana is restored, but it seems like it’ll take half a day? to get out of mana exhaustion. You can’t use any mana during that time.”

“Well, since you haven’t had any use for Mana in a while, it’ll be okay, right? If anything happens, I can protect you.”

“… ”

Hmm… I thought Alice did something, didn’t I? I feel like I just suspected her for nothing and I’m sorry… She’s always so nice to me.

Perhaps because of Alice’s acting, which was somewhat sincere, Alice succeeded in dispelling Arthur’s suspicions.

“Thank you, Alice. I feel bad for always being the one helping you, so let’s just go on a date this afternoon!”

Arthur was grateful for Alice’s hard work and dedication, and in return, he decided to arrange frequent dates where Alice would sing to him every day.

Of course, unlike Arthur’s pure heart, Alice gradually became filled with greed.

What a great harvest! I get to use Arthur at night and get a chance to date him by helping him recover mana in the future!!

The corners of Alice’s mouth went up at the unexpected gain.

“Then let’s just have lunch and go out!”

… … … …

In the afternoon, the two of them had a good time exploring the area outside the academy, and before going home in the evening, Alice took Arthur to the theater, saying that she wanted to see a play together for the first time in a long time.

Since it had been a while since I had seen Arthur, I went in with some expectations. However, as soon as the play started, Alice suddenly said she didn’t feel well and left Arthur behind to go to the bathroom.

“You didn’t get caught, right?”

Alice pretended to go to the bathroom and ran towards the potion shop.

The reason for going to the potion shop was simple. If I use Arthur at night, does he feel muscle pain the next day? Then, if I buy a health potion and use Arthur, and then feed it to him, Arthur won’t feel muscle pain the next day, and it will also restore some mana, so I can commit a perfect crime that Arthur can never suspect.

“Heh.. Heh.”

“Please give me 30 health potions!! Low grade!!”

“Yes? 30? Do you have money? The price is a bit…”

Of course, this wasn’t a problem for Alice, since she had saved up quite a bit of money while working as an adventurer.

“Here! Is this enough? The rest is a tip, so give me some service later!”

The employee’s eyes widened at the heavy bag of money that Alice handed him, and his attitude changed in an instant.

“Thank you, sir. Here are 30 of the lower stamina potions you mentioned.”

Alice quickly stuffed the potion into her subspace pocket and ran back to the theater.

…

“Aris.. Why are you so late? All the important scenes have passed..”

“Mi, sorry.. I think I ate something bad yesterday.. Hmm.”

In fact, if you think about it logically, there was no reason for someone as strong as Aris to have a stomachache unless they drank poison, but since the theater was dark, he couldn’t see Aris’ awkward expression, and since there was no reason to be suspicious anymore, Arthur just assumed it was like that and let it go.

…

-Clap! Clap! Clap!

When the play ended, applause echoed throughout the theater.

“Was it fun, Arthur?”

“… ”

When there was no answer, I looked around and saw Arthur sleeping in Alice’s eyes.

-Sigh.

“Ugh… Why are you dating when you’re tired instead of just sleeping?”

Alice carried Arthur on her back and left the theater.

“Sometimes I like this too. It reminds me of the old days.”

Alice began to reminisce as she recalled the times when she had carried Arthur like this many times when she was a child living in the village.

“Back then, I lived without any worries..”

Life is running out.

No matter how hopeless my situation is.

Even if Arthur doesn’t remember.

Am I right to act like this?

If I were to die at that very moment, wouldn’t I regret it? Because I wouldn’t be honest with Arthur.

I’ll die regretting the hurt I caused Arthur with my mistakes at the last moment…

Let’s stop now..

I can’t say anything about the mistakes I’ve made so far, but that’s how much I cherish Arthur.

Because I want to be honest with Arthur at least until the end.

[Does that action really have any meaning?]

of course..

[No, there isn’t. You’re destined to die anyway, so what does it mean to you who will soon die and disappear no matter what you do?]

No.. that’s not right.

[Who decides what is right and wrong? No, that’s not the issue in the first place.]

Then what’s the problem?

[Your life is a very special life. You have always been better than others, so aren’t you living a life that everyone envies? But the problem is that you have burned all your life and gained nothing.]

…

[Isn’t there really nothing? Rather, death is coming quickly, so you will regret it right before you die without being able to enjoy your youth. You should have not lifted the curse then! Hehe.]

Don’t talk nonsense! I didn’t mean it with such a light heart!!

[On the other hand, the child you saved will live well even after you die. You must feel it too, right? A talent beyond human. With such a talent, someone like you will soon be forgotten and will shine brightly..]

shut up!!

[Or how about I say something like, I sold my entire life to save you, so please hang out with me for the rest of your life. Look only at me.]

But if that happens…

[Yeah, maybe you’ll die from guilt. You’re everything to that kid.]

That’s right… you must never say that!

[On the other hand, if you keep your mouth shut and die, aren’t you a child who will somehow survive in the world? Then what do you want to do?]

I… I…

[Yeah.. I should get compensation.]

See… compensation..?

[Isn’t that unfair? You lived a life that everyone else envies. You felt that sense of superiority, but you gave up everything for a child who lives a miserable life. Shouldn’t you have gained something from it?]

No.. Just being together is enough..

[Is that your true heart? Don’t try to fool yourself.]

…

[Don’t you want to dominate that child? The child you always had to protect, the child who was lacking, the weak child who was bullied. That child is now trying to escape from your hands.]

[A child who would have lived a life of trash if it weren’t for your help]

Yeah, I want to dominate.

[Hehe. Don’t you feel inferior? He’s a kid who’s not better than you at anything, but when you see him running wild without any gratitude, it seems like he needs some ‘education’.]

Yes, Arthur needs education.

[Yes! So, while you’re still alive, shouldn’t you tell me your original location?]

Right. I… but…?

[There is no need to question morality. It is your right.]

right..?

[Have you forgotten what you sacrificed? You deserve it.]

Yeah… I’m qualified. If not me, then who else would be qualified to do that to Arthur?

[Put your current thoughts into action. Forcefully subdue that child and do whatever you want. Relieve stress, relieve desires. Isn’t that good? You won’t remember anyway.]

[There is no reason to feel inferior and envious of that child’s talent and the rest of his life. You will be superior until you die.]

… … …

About two hours after arriving at the Academy, Arthur woke up.

“Aris..?”

“Are you up?”

Arthur nodded, got out of bed, started to stretch, moved his body here and there, and started to smile brightly.

“It really works? I don’t have any muscle pain and I feel better than usual!!”

“Aris! Could you do this every day? Of course, if it’s too hard, I can’t help it…”

“..? When we were dating earlier, you said you’d do it every day.”

“What are you talking about? You were on a date earlier?”

What are you talking about? No way…

“Arthur? Do you remember what you did today?”

“Today? I woke up and was talking to you, and when I said I was having a hard time because of the side effects of Mana exhaustion, you said you’d help me.”

“… ”

Why don’t I remember Arthur dating me? Am I missing something?

While thinking about the cause, one of the curses on Arthur’s status window came to Alice’s mind.

[Curse of Oblivion (SS)]

-If you consume all your mana and become mana exhausted, you will fall into ‘Oblivion’.

No way…? If falling into oblivion means losing memories from the past…

Let’s calm down for now and play along to Arthur’s rhythm.

“Ah.. I told you I wanted to go on a date before you fell asleep, and that I would do it every day if it worked, but I guess you were too tired to hear me.”

“Is that so?”

Arthur believed Alice’s words without thinking much about it.

After that, Alice had Arthur train in mana again.

“It’s evening now anyway, so I’ll have to do it again to be able to wake up tomorrow morning. Do you want the day and night to be reversed?”

At Alice’s words, Arthur also started practicing mana again without saying anything, and when he placed his hand on Arthur’s chest, who had fallen again, and sent mana, Arthur woke up again just like in the morning.

Alice forcibly pulled Arthur out once to check if her thoughts were right, and Arthur, greatly offended, got angry and kicked Alice out of the room.

Of course, this method was risky for Alice, but it was also the most reliable method. Even if Arthur remembered, he could somehow calm her down, so she wasn’t too worried.

The next day, when Alice headed to Arthur’s room, she saw Arthur smiling brightly and welcoming her, as if he didn’t remember what happened the night before.

It could just be that I was in a good mood because it was morning, so I let him see it. Let me ask him if he remembers exactly.

“Arthur, do you remember the Mana training yesterday?”

“Huh? What do you remember?”

Arthur, you don’t remember what happened last night?

What does that mean?

Can I play with it as I please from now on?