episode_0248

“Magic to cure disease?”

“Yes… … !”

I suddenly felt like it was a bit out of the blue, but I knew that she wasn’t the type of person to spout meaningless nonsense, even if it was out of the blue.

“Let’s sit on the sofa first.”

* * *

I was able to hear the details from her.

“Is that what your lord said?”

“Yes, yes… … ! So, that… … He asked if there was any magic that was effective against disease.”

Reika’s explanation was as follows.

The question was whether there was any magic that was effective against illness, just as there was magic that healed oneself not long ago.

It seems that she didn’t know about such magic, but since she was asked to do it, she came to me, who was like a magic teacher.

“Perhaps Mr. Swen… … I thought you might know… … . In fact, it was Master who helped me in one way or another when I was stuck.”

Now that I think about it, the reason I met her was because I was mistaken for a wizard and became her teacher.

Actually, I was just casually talking about it at the time.

After thinking for a moment, I turned to Reika, who was hesitant… … I decided to tell the truth.

“Actually, I don’t know the details.”

“Is that so… … ?”

“Yes. I only vaguely know that there is a power called Mana… … We don’t know how to deal with it or how to amplify it. So, it’s all just a display of Reika’s talent. I didn’t do anything.”

There was no reason to keep hiding or deceiving her.

Since a wizard named Reika had already appeared, there was no point in continuing to deceive her since other wizards would definitely appear here and there besides her.

“Ah… … .”

The slightly trembling voice made me feel sorry for her.

“I’m sorry if you were disappointed.”

I lowered my head, but Reika waved her hand as if embarrassed.

“Oh, no… … ! Wow, what a disappointment… … It’s absolutely not like that. Still, like Master said, go to the mountain and meditate… … By doing this, I felt more mana, I became better at handling it, and the magic I could use increased… … Well, it was helpful enough for me. To me, you are still my one and only teacher… … !”

“Mr. Reika… … .”

“Well, so… … What you should be sorry about is, ah, no… … Think about it… … .”

I laughed out loud as I looked at Reika, who didn’t know what to do.

okay. If you say that, it must be strange to insist on it until the end.

“I understand. anyway… … I don’t know much about magic that cures diseases. I’d like to ask Ms. Reika.”

“Um, me?”

“Yes. Do you feel like something is popping or something like that?”

As far as I know, she was a woman who knew everything – from the magic that manipulated ice to the healing magic that saved Serpina not long ago – purely through her intuition.

If there was a magic that could cure disease, she would definitely have felt it herself.

but-

“That… … I don’t have anything like that yet… … .”

“Is that so?”

I had a little hope, but it seemed like it was just me.

In fact, if she had realized this sooner, she wouldn’t have asked me this.

“Well, I’m sorry about something… … Because of incompetence… … .”

“You’re incompetent. That seems like a bit of a thing for Reika, the first wizard on the continent, to say. Excessive humility is not a virtue?”

“You mean humility… … ! Me, something like me… … .”

Anyway – there seemed to be no magic that could cure disease.

One important fact here.

Serpina, why did you ask Reika that?

The answer was obvious. I guess he wanted to save people… … Because he had such feelings from the beginning, he was forced to move despite knowing that his reputation would fall.

“So how did the story end in the end?”

“Well, just… … There is a magic that temporarily increases your immunity and gives you a feeling of not getting sick, giving you strength… … There is no magic that can cure disease… … I told you.”

“I see… … Yes?”

what?

“… … ?”

“What did you say just now?”

Reika looks at me in surprise, her eyes widening.

“Why, why… … ? I, I… … Maybe I made a mistake… … Did you do it? If I make a mistake, it’s definitely my fault, not Swen’s-”

“No, no. That’s not it. Temporarily increases immunity? Enough to not get sick?”

“Ah… … This is it, my lord, not long ago… … This is an application of the magic used to treat Serpina… … .”

Reika slowly raised both hands and started waving them around.

“So, in Serpina’s case, she concentrated her mana on the injured area and made that area particularly strong… … made? feeling? Speaking of… … In this case, the energy of mana is spread throughout the body to prevent people from getting sick… … ? sense? uh… … So.”

It’s not a proper explanation, but it has to be that way.

Reika didn’t learn magic from someone to use it. She learned almost all magic on her own. It’s just that, just as humans are born and continue to try to breathe and walk – it’s something we notice very naturally.

“Anyway, if I do that, won’t I get sick?”

“Yes? ah… … yes… … The effects of the magic will last at least a week… … I don’t get sick for a week. maybe… … Wouldn’t it make you healthier?”

“Getting healthier?”

“So, um… … What should I say… … Those who are strong will likely become even stronger… … ? Apparently, the power of mana is spread widely across the energy existing in the human body… … I was feeling it… … Because you do it?”

The explanation is still a mess, but that’s not important.

The point was that she could apply some kind of ‘buff’ that strengthened her physical abilities!

And, while under the buff, it seemed like he couldn’t get sick. I don’t know if medical science in this world has discovered that far, but considering that diseases are something that penetrates a person’s weakened immune system in the first place, she’s probably right.

“Reika, how did you find out? That’s what will happen.”

“Yes? No, just… … I remembered it when I was treating Serpina… … ? Ah, I thought it could be applied like this… … .”

‘oh my god… … .’

One thing I always forgot because of my fierce appearance and lack of confidence in my words and actions.

The woman before my eyes, Reika Nighthart, was the greatest wizard on the continent. The pinnacle of the magic world, the first to appear but also the best!

“But… … For those who are already suffering from a disease, collecting magic power will not solve the problem… … I can’t fix it. So, in conclusion, I couldn’t be of much help-”

“No, Reika!”

Without realizing it, I hold her hand tightly.

“Ah… … !”

“I think that alone is a meaningful discovery. Reika is really amazing. really… … Really, it feels ridiculous to be humble or anything!”

“Ah, aww… … .”

Reika blushed profusely and lowered her head, probably because she was embarrassed that I was taking her on the plane.

Well, it might not help right away, but… … Now that we know that she has de facto buff abilities, there will definitely be a chance to use them.

“Please take care of me in the future, Mr. Reika.”

“Yes? ah… … Ah, yes, yes… … !”

She bobbed her head from side to side as if she didn’t know what to do.

Soon, he smiles and nods, looking at me and smiling.

As I watched Reika smile, something inside me that valued efficiency began to reflect.

‘Actually, it would be nice if you could just live in peace without having to use magic… … .’

But what can you do?

Those who are gifted with talent in difficult times have no choice but to shine in the end, but their talent holds them back and they have no choice but to be dragged into the battlefield where blood flows into a river.

Nevertheless, I hoped that I would not have to use her again anytime soon, but—

* * *

“Plague… … Do you mean Serpina?”

“It looked like that.”

Looking at Serpina, who was smiling bitterly, I let out a long sigh.

“Well, that doesn’t exist in watermelons. He abandoned the territory without any reason and withdrew his troops. And with good timing, a plague began to spread in the territory that Yeo had abandoned. Coincidentally, a wizard appeared in our military not long ago. As it happens, the person who did all that was no one else, but she-”

―Serpina von Eyngart.

A rare villain and tyrant who plunged the world into chaos and must never appear again.

“But, in the end, it’s just a rumor, isn’t it?”

“It’s a rumor… … okay. That’s just it. But what can you do? Swen. You don’t know… … This is a very familiar situation to her.”

She told me so.

He says he always lives with the realization that all the malice in the world is pointed at him.

What would it be like to live a life where everyone you trusted betrayed you and preyed on you?

It was clear that the depth of it was twice as heavy as the weight of the words she had spoken so far.

“And, just in time, there was someone who jumped on the wave of those rumors.”

“No way… … Are you Yuuri?”

“Ho?”

“In this situation, it seems unlikely that there would be anyone else who would benefit from such rumors.”

As far as I know, Yuuri already lost Hernandorf in a meaningless war.

The battle with the Chell army, which was like a bitter enemy, was also in vain due to the plague.

The calculation was that by attributing the cause of the natural disaster, which cannot even be blamed, to our military, which was originally trying to fight, we would be able to regain the public sentiment of many of the residents of the territory who had left her… …

“He said he said that to her. I will avenge Hernandov and Emma.”

“… … yes? Emma?”

“Emma Adlen. You know it too. It looks like he was struck by a plague and turned his back on the world.”

… … As soon as I heard that story, I felt it right away.

She may not have any serious calculations. Yuuri just attacked in genuine anger without any hesitation.

but… … If you think about it a little, you probably didn’t know that making such a bold declaration was actually increasing risk, right?

If it was just a rumor from the people of the territory, she would be like a flower-playing party if she just stayed still.

‘furthermore… … Serpina moved Yeongjimin. Just thinking about this seems like a breakthrough… … ?’

‘… … .’

“So… … What does it look like?”

“What do you mean?”

“This is a story about whether the rumors are likely to calm down.”

“I see. Calm down… … .”

Serpina closed her eyes slightly and smiled again.

The smile that Irene had when she was abandoned by Rin, as if it was about to collapse at any moment.

“It can’t be helped, right?”

“… … Yes?”

“That is not the only malicious rumor following Yeo. I guess I should accept it.”

As soon as I heard those words, for some reason I got emotional, and without realizing it, I raised my voice in front of her.

“Yes, my lord. In order to prove that the rumor is true, Yuuri must explain why the lord forced the people of the territory to move. Unless you can refute that, the statement that your lord used magic to spread the plague cannot be established!”

The logic that most strongly supported the thesis that Serpina solved the plague was that she was a rare evil woman and a tyrant.

However, such a rare tyrant forcibly moved the people of the territory before the disease spread?

It was like… … Doesn’t it look like they are trying to save the people of this territory?

“It’s not like I didn’t think about it. but… … .”

“… … ?”

“I don’t know about you, but the public sentiment among the people who moved to the unexplored areas of the north is not that good.”

After listening to the explanation, I heard that there were people who had family left in the plague-ridden central region, so there were also people who harbored resentment towards Serpina, who was supposed to be grateful.

Even when the blockade was imposed, even those whose families had not yet come from the central region were dissatisfied with her.

It was a measure taken to save as many people as possible, and she was prepared for it not to be recognized, but it seemed that the receipt this world demanded from her was more than she was prepared for.

“That… … .”

“No matter what I say, it probably won’t work.”

Are you saying it’s just a coincidence?

She had surprisingly good intuition. Probably, even if I touched on the contradiction in that part, it would be dismissed as ‘it’s just a coincidence.’

“It’s okay. It’s not something I’m that unfamiliar with. My life… … .”

… … Because it was like this all along.

“In the first place, I am a human being… … Because he is a tyrant who should not exist on the continent.”

As I looked at the side of Serpina’s face as she finished it, I could feel the anger rising for the first time in a long time.

‘what’s this… … ? I made decisions for our military and actually saved many people who almost died… … Serpina’s reputation has fallen further than ever. And that too, because of a problem that was actually not her fault.’

Is this really the best outcome?

As long as you have the upper hand in terms of strategy, it doesn’t matter if she gets ruined?

――It was that time.

‘!!!!!!!!!!’

I realize, as if struck by lightning.

The meaning of ‘This is the most efficient answer’ predicted by a brain with intelligence of 100.