Chapter 85

‘…Hey. Status Window.’

‘Why can’t I see Izack’s profile?’

‘Utility value…’

…Dammit.

I brushed the Status Window aside.

Izack was lying there, unconscious. Even a fool could tell his life was flickering out. The doctor had sawed off the arrowhead, but he hadn’t yet dared to pull out the shaft itself. Several doctors from the upper district were gathered, debating how to proceed.

“If we pull it out recklessly, the probability of damaging the spleen is extremely high.”

“So you’re saying we just leave it? The arrow is too large. If we leave a wound like this alone, he’ll bleed out in half a day anyway. We have to extract it and suture the wound immediately.”

“If we pull it now, the hemorrhaging will be so severe we won’t even see where to suture…”

—What on earth should we…

—There’s no hope…

Unable to watch any longer, I simply walked out of the infirmary. I felt like I couldn’t endure another moment of watching. If I’d stayed, I wouldn’t have been able to resist screaming at them to just do something. That would have been worse than doing nothing.

“Izack…”

Leaning against the wall, I slid all the way down to the floor. What was I supposed to do without Izack? In this harsh land, you can never have enough generals. And he was, without a doubt, a first-rate warrior. Even from a business perspective, he held heavy responsibilities. At this moment, with the conflict in the lower district intensifying, there was no card as important as Izack.

I gnashed my teeth.

“…What kind of shitty game lets a card you already pulled just explode on its own…”

There probably wasn’t one, unless it was an incredibly outdated game. But this wasn’t a game. It was reality. Even if it wasn’t the modern South Korea I used to live in, this was undeniably reality.

I realized just how stupid I had been. I curled up where I had sat down. Putting Izack’s utility aside, he was a human being. He had saved my life twice—once at the White Basin, and again in front of the gate. If not for him, I might be watching a lonely credit roll right now. I already owed him my life once, and yet… again… like an idiot…

“How am I supposed to face Ronari now…?”

I was the one who dragged their family into this story. I was supposed to be responsible for their lives. And yet…

“Shane.”

“…Vittorio.”

I quickly stood up.

“How is the search in the lower district going?”

“It seems there’s some commotion in one of the alleys. I was just about to head that way myself.”

“Thank you. You aren’t even from Denabi…”

“My life is mortgaged to you anyway. If I have to help you to get my life back, I’ll do whatever it takes.”

Vittorio then introduced the person beside him. When the figure pulled back their hood, a crow’s face appeared.

“…!”

For a second, I thought it was a real face. It was a mask—an outfit reminiscent of a medieval plague doctor. I flinched.

“And this person is?”

When I asked, a voice flowed from behind the mask.

“Hello.”

A hand in a black glove rose slightly in greeting. I bowed my head instinctively, though it was a rather dry introduction for a first meeting.

“I am Shane of the Astrier family. Might I ask your name…?”

“Lucille. Court Mage of Limone. I heard you have a talent for magic?”

“I don’t know if I have talent, but I am able to use it.”

Saying that, I looked back at Vittorio. He cleared his throat.

“I promised, didn’t I? That I’d bring a mage to teach you standard magic. This is that mage. You probably saw them once during the last dungeon raid.”

‘Ah, was it the mage from the cavalry?’

Even then, they had been hooded, so I hadn’t seen their appearance clearly.

“Learn magic from this one. Become capable of fixing me.”

Leaving only those words, Vittorio turned and left. Lucille and I were left staring blankly at each other. I couldn’t tell if Lucille was actually looking at me because of the mask, but I was busy squeezing my brain for something to say.

I understood Vittorio’s proposal well. But right now, the situation didn’t allow for it. Izack was dying in the room behind me, and Adele still hadn’t been found.

“So, I’m sorry, but could we perhaps postpone the magic lessons…”

…Just as I was about to finish that sentence, an inspiration struck my brain like a lightning bolt.

“Ah.”

“?”

I spoke as if possessed.

“You said you came here to teach me magic.”

Lucille nodded. I asked her:

“Would you be interested in learning a magic from me instead?”

‘…Annoying.’

Adele’s shortened mace struck another enemy. The man, who already had several broken bones, stumbled back.

“I can still… take it… heh… boss…”

One of the vigilantes muttered that through the blood in his mouth. But it wasn’t entirely a bluff.

—Tsk.

Adele clicked her tongue. Her mace, which should have been able to take someone out in a single blow, had lost significant power. It was because she was gripping it short. The alley was so narrow that she couldn’t use the weapon effectively otherwise.

‘And there are so many of them… These creepy brothers. They’re far too good at fighting dirty like this.’

Szilard and Bard. The two were fighting by throwing their subordinates at her like disposable pawns while searching for an opening. And that arrow that flew in every critical moment was starting to make her blood boil. Adele glared at the archer aiming at her from behind the brothers.

‘So it’s not a border fief for nothing. Even for me, this is quite a handful.’

She had known it since she first set foot in this land. There were quite a few remarkable individuals in Denabi. Not just the Lord and his eldest son, but men like Izack and Vittorio possessed considerable skill. Perhaps it was only natural. These people likely had more real-world combat experience than even the Imperial Guard Bureau’s Mausoleum Subjugation Department.

“But you lot aren’t top-tier either.”

Adele’s mace struck out preemptively, shattering the walls on both sides. As the stone crumbled, a massive cloud of dust scattered across the area.

“Dammit! What is—!”

“The dust is in my— Cough, cough! Ugh…”

—Crunch!

A gruesome sound echoed through the alley. The vigilantes reflexively backed away from the spot where Adele had been standing. Soon, the dust cloud settled. But the first thing they encountered wasn’t Adele herself.

A comrade’s legs were standing there. Everything above the waist had vanished, leaving not even a trace.

“Surprised? I can do things like this, too.”

Adele’s voice came from the air. By the time they frantically looked up, several heads had already been lopped off. Adele landed gracefully in the center of her enemies. The vigilantes didn’t even dare to attack; they simply backed away from her in terror.

“If you want to hunt a hunter, you should at least bring another hunter.”

—Clang!

No sooner had she finished speaking than her mace batted an arrow out of the air. The previously calm archer was now scowling. The same thought flashed through the minds of the archer, the Bard brothers, and the rest of the vigilantes.

‘This woman… is she really a monster?’

If Adele had actually heard them, she likely would have snorted. She knew the decisive difference between herself and her enemies was simple: whether they had ever faced a real monster.

That true monster had taught a young, overconfident Adele humility—but it had also taught her how to look down on anything less than a monster.

“How can a pack of dogs hope to catch a hunter?”

Sweat poured down the vigilantes’ faces. Just then, an urgent voice echoed from the far end of the alley.

“Found them!”

It was the guards from the upper district and the Second Gate. Even if they only had to face Adele, their odds were low. Taking on the guards as well was out of the question.

Bard declared a retreat. “Everyone, scatter and withdraw!”

The vigilantes followed the order nimbly. As the guards closed in, the gang members began to disperse into the various cracks of the alleyway.

But Adele did not let her prey escape. She had been targeting one person from the very beginning. Her leap brought a literal gale into the narrow alley. And like a bolt of lightning swirling within that storm, Adele descended upon the archer.

“So, what I’m saying is… we should infect Mr. Izack.”

“Infect.”

“Correct. A body part that has been infected and crystallized by the Mana Plague perfectly replaces the function of that organ. Of course, it depends on the probability.”

“Replace.”

“If we pour liquefied mana into Mr. Izack’s wound and use the [Mana Phase Transition] magic to slowly solidify it, we can replace the function of his damaged organs. What do you think?”

“…”

I explained the inspiration that had struck me to Lucille as hard as I could. However, Lucille merely repeated my words or remained silent.

‘Does she… even understand what I’m saying?’

At any rate, Lucille was nodding. She seemed lost in her own thoughts. I decided not to disturb her. We didn’t have much time left anyway. If Lucille couldn’t do it, I would have to attempt the treatment myself, even at the risk of my own life.

Finally, a voice drifted from Lucille’s mask.

“It’s my first time seeing it.”

I turned to her. “Pardon?”

“Mana Phase Transition. A magic that acts directly on mana to change its phase. I’ve never seen or heard of anything like this.”

Lucille’s mask tilted up to look at me. “You said your mother taught you?”

I was momentarily stunned. “Ah. Yes, I learned it from my mother’s manuscripts.”

“Impossible,” Lucille stated flatly. “This formula is too complex. A formula this intricate cannot be converted into a mental structural diagram, nor can it be applied.”

I didn’t exactly follow what she meant by that. However, I had guessed that this magic was difficult.

According to the records left in the Trastamara Library, Beatrice was an outstanding mage. Even someone as great as Beatrice had to resort to using mana crystallization as a shortcut to attempt [Mana Phase Transition]. That alone proved how difficult the standard use of the spell was.

I rolled up my right sleeve and unwound the bandages. I showed Lucille the traces of magic and plague revealed beneath.

“…!”

Naturally, Lucille’s expression was hidden by the mask, but I felt like I could sense her shock even through the wood. I briefly explained Beatrice’s other research achievements to her.

“If you use this method, you can use the magic without fully understanding it. It’s like… even if you don’t understand the circuit diagram of a machine, you can still use it as long as the circuit is complete. Ah, maybe that’s a bad analogy…”

“I think I understand,” Lucille replied immediately. “Though I don’t know what a ‘circuit’ is.”

My face brightened for a moment, then fell again. Lucille had already said the magic was difficult. At the very least, it wasn’t something that could be learned overnight.

In the end, I was the only one who could do it. I didn’t know if it would work, and using the magic this time might push me into a truly irreversible state. But…

‘If I can’t even save the person who saved my life, what kind of “protagonist” am I?’

I hardened my resolve. “Anyway, thank you for listening. I’ll take it from here.”

“Wait.”

Lucille caught me as I tried to stand. Her hand moved slowly toward her mask inside the hood. Guided by her fingers, the mask lifted slightly, revealing the shadows beneath. Soon, the mask was removed completely and placed on her lap.

I forgot to even breathe as I stared at Lucille’s face.

“You, too…”

Mana crystals covered her neck, her left jaw, and half of her cheek. The true identity of this mage named Lucille was…

“You were an infectee as well.”

She nodded slowly.