Chapter 52

Vittorio took a step forward.

I waved my hands back and forth toward him.

“I’m not saying I’m going to blow you up, so you don’t need to get ready to pounce like you’re going to kill me. I couldn’t even do that if I wanted to. Not yet, anyway.”

“Then what do you mean? You’re going to use magic on me?”

“I told you magic is a conversation with mana, didn’t I? What kind of request do you think I made to the mana in that dungeon? Go ahead, take a guess.”

Vittorio spoke with a voice like a growling wolf.

“Just say it.”

Geez.

Have it your way then.

“First off, you probably know that the blood flowing through the ‘clones’ living in the dungeon is mostly composed of mana. Those things bleed blue, after all. I simply gave a command to that mana-blood.”

I flourished my fingers like I was some kind of wizard out of HarXX Potter.

“Become a solid!”

“?”

“Then the mana, which was a liquid, suddenly hardens and expands in volume. Imagine that happening inside the body of a cloned monster.”

“I see.”

Vittorio nodded.

“That was the secret behind the explosions.”

“Exactly. So… you get it now? What I’m trying to do.”

“You plan to reshape the mana crystal in my chest. By switching the phase of the mana from solid to liquid, and liquid to solid… Does that mean you can also turn solid mana into a liquid?”

“Correct.”

I snapped my fingers.

I approached the table in the study.

Beatrice’s thesis was lying there.

I pulled out some of the reference materials attached to it.

“Here. See this?”

A magic circle was drawn there.

“This is the spell: ‘Mana Phase Transition: Signal - Melt.’ With this magic, I’m going to melt the mana crystal digging into your heart.”

As I said that, Vittorio muttered to himself.

“There really… was a way.”

Of course, of course.

What did I tell you? I said I was for real, didn’t I?

“But it’s going to be a bit of a pain to pull off, so just wait a second.”

I picked up the ice pick that had been sitting on a stool.

“Wait, what are you doing?”

“I haven’t actually learned the melting spell yet.”

As I spoke, I rolled up my right sleeve.

I unwound the bandages on my arm and pulled off my glove.

A faint blue light shone through the loosened bandages.

Revealed beneath was a right arm that had been completely crystallized.

“What happened to your arm…?”

For the first time, his voice trembled.

I answered nonchalantly.

“Pretty, isn’t it? It might look like this, but it still functions for now, so don’t worry. I can even feel pain properly.”

I showed Vittorio the outside of my arm.

There was a magic circle I had etched there.

It was the circle inscribed with the formula for ‘Mana Phase Transition: Signal - Coagulate.’

“This is how I learn magic. It’s a secret, so don’t go blabbing about it.”

I sat on the stool and continued.

“This is a method developed by my mother. By etching a magic circle onto a mana crystal that has replaced a part of your body, you can use that magic more easily.”

“…”

“Well, I can use it because I’ve had some good luck too, but… it’s complicated, so I’ll pass on the explanation! Oh, I meant I’ll skip it.”

“Then you’re saying you’re going to etch the remaining magic onto your arm right now?”

“That’s right. How else am I supposed to melt the crystal in your chest?”

I took a deep breath and aimed the ice pick at my right arm, which I had rested on the stool.

“This hurts like hell, and because of that, it takes forever. So just sit there and wait. I’ve said it a few times, but I keep my promises. I’ll definitely save your life, so don’t sweat it.”

Just as I was about to start.

His hand grabbed my arm holding the pick.

I stared at him blankly.

“What is it?”

“You. There is still one thing you haven’t mentioned.”

What now?

Do you want more magic theory?

If the explanation gets any longer than this, the genre’s going to change.

It won’t be a fief management or survival story anymore; it’ll turn into a magic academy novel.

However, Vittorio’s question wasn’t about magic.

“Your arm. It shouldn’t have been this bad originally.”

“…”

“I saw it once back in Limone. The mana crystal on your right arm. Back then, it only covered a portion of it. How did it end up like this?”

I gave a cheerful smile.

“Well. Things happened.”

“Did this happen because you used magic?”

Oh, he’s got sharp instincts.

“No. It’s completely unrelated.”

“Don’t lie. Is this the price for using your magic?”

“Man, you really are persistent. I said I’d save you, so why are you acting like this?”

I shook off his grip on my arm.

“I took a little bath in liquid mana. That’s why it ended up like this, so let’s just drop it. Okay?”

I said it shamelessly.

Lies are always best told with a straight face.

Especially in a situation like this where someone has hit the nail on the head.

Vittorio’s guess was correct.

The more I use magic this way, the higher the mana concentration in my blood rises.

Right now, my blood mana concentration is 0.048%.

I figured I could hold out for maybe two more uses of magic.

Or so I thought.

I didn’t need to be dramatic and say I was dying, but…

Right then, something flashed past my hand like lightning.

The ice pick I had been holding in my left hand was gone.

It was already in Vittorio’s hand.

“Give it back.”

“No.”

He threw the ice pick.

The pick embedded itself into the door of the study.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Instead of an answer, a sudden notification popped up in front of me.

‘What the…?’

It was a bit cliché, but I couldn’t help but ask myself that question again.

Why was this showing up now?

I didn’t know what triggered it, but man, those stats were killer.

I practically salivated.

I had intended to make Vittorio one of my people from the start.

High stats, not exactly a main character, and I liked his personality.

That was why I was willing to take the risk to treat him.

I figured it would boost his trust.

‘But it’s already up quite a bit, isn’t it?’

Maybe it was because of everything that happened in the dungeon.

Either way, it was something to be happy about.

If I could just create a few more events, I might actually be able to bring him under my wing…

‘But how am I supposed to do that if you’re the one blocking the event?’

I looked at Vittorio.

“Listen. You’ll die if we don’t do this.”

“Then think of another way.”

“I’m doing this because I can’t think of another way! I don’t exactly enjoy my body turning into mana crystals, either.”

“As I thought. Your crystallization progressed because of that magic.”

“Dammit.”

Ah, I shouldn’t have said that.

It was a slip of the tongue.

“No, what’s with the sudden change of heart? Didn’t you come all this way just to live? I’m telling you, I’ll save you.”

“Your death is not something I desire.”

I narrowed my eyes and stared at Vittorio.

“I appreciate you worrying about whether I live or die, but since when were we so close?”

Sure, it was true that I’d played a pretty big role in the dungeon.

He probably trusted my abilities now.

But enough trust to give up on his own survival?

That felt a bit off.

‘Wait, does this guy actually like me?’

Suddenly, I felt goosebumps all over my body.

“Do you perhaps…?”

“The Lord must know about your arm as well, right?”

Vittorio cut me off. I nodded blankly.

“Then he will recognize it immediately if your crystallization progresses further. He will seek to find the reason. If that happens, I will be in a difficult position as well.”

“Ah. So that was the reason.”

I breathed a sigh of relief.

…Sorry for the misunderstanding, Vittorio.

“There is another reason.”

“?”

“You are indispensable to the survival of Denabi. Without you, Denabi’s future is uncertain.”

He continued.

“And if Denabi falls to the Mana Plague, the prospects for our neighboring territory, Limone, will also grow dark. There is no meaning in me surviving ignobly on my own.”

“But…”

“There are no ‘buts.’ Your survival is my survival. For whatever reason, I have judged that I cannot let you die.”

“Oh…”

He really thinks highly of me.

So, we’re in the same boat, is that it?

“Besides, the pain in my chest has lessened since clearing the dungeon. The symptoms have likely stabilized.”

“That’s a relief, then.”

“I wasn’t going to drop dead immediately anyway. It isn’t as if I cannot wait until you find another way. Devise a method that does not harm your own body. Of course, the sooner the better.”

I’m grateful he’s thinking of me that way, but…

‘I told you, man. I’m doing this because I don’t have any other bright ideas, you know?’

I grabbed my chin, looking down.

“Hmm. Even if you say that, I don’t know what else I can do…”

Vittorio pointed at my arm.

Specifically, at the magic circle on it.

“That arm. You said etching a magic circle there to use magic was a method devised by your mother.”

“Yes. And?”

“The Limone Legion has a mage as well. You must have seen him. Because of that, I know a little about magic. The magic he uses has no issues related to the Mana Plague. At least, not as far as I know.”

Well, obviously.

So?

“If you could use your mother’s magic properly—the way mages originally do—instead of using that method… wouldn’t the risk of crystallization disappear?”

“I mean, sure, but…”

It wasn’t like I hadn’t thought of that.

If I could use this magic formally, it would definitely be useful.

Just as he said, there would be no risk.

But I used this method precisely because I couldn’t learn magic that way.

“If magic were that easy to learn, I would have done it already. But you’re lucky if a fief has even one mage. There’s no way someone like me could become…”

Regardless of what I said, he spoke over me.

“I should consider having someone teach you magic.”

“Teach me magic?”

“I will ask the mage of our legion. Since your mother was also a mage, you must have the talent.”

Hey, just how far are you going to take this on your own?

Whether I thought so or not, Vittorio was relentless.

“I must return to Limone for now. I will be back soon.”

Having said his piece, he stepped out of the study as he pleased.

I followed after him.

However…

“As I thought, Father was right. You were here.”

Jin Astrier was standing there.

Wow! It’s the protagonist.

Should I ask for an autograph?

Wait, the atmosphere doesn’t seem right for that, does it?

Jin spoke without even glancing at me.

“It’s been a while, Vittorio. What exactly were you planning to do with my younger brother?”

I tried to answer for Vittorio.

“Brother. No, Jin. This is…”

“You stay out of this.”

Jin cut me off sharply.

It was an incredibly cold reaction.

“I will ask one more time. What were you intending to make my brother do?”

As he asked, Jin’s hand was already resting on the hilt of his sword.

The long-awaited first encounter with the protagonist was about to begin under the worst possible circumstances.