—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The lair of a dragon.
If one were to imagine the commonly held image, it would be fitting to picture the entrance guarded by magical beasts or familiars serving the dragon, and upon entering, there would be a huge dragon coiled up and sleeping inside a spacious cavern.
In general, human imagination was more or less the same, and there tended to be a certain stereotype established from reading numerous fantasy novels.
Thanks to that, my imagination was also roughly similar to that stereotype, but…
“…This is quite different from what I imagined.”
Is this really a dragon’s lair…?
The words nearly spilled out of my mouth, as the image was somewhat different from what I had in mind.
From the entrance to the inner cavern, it was all a large cave.
But that was about all I got right.
As I stepped inside, a sophisticated atmosphere greeted me, making me wonder if I had arrived at a dragon’s lair located in some remote countryside or at Hannam The Hill in Gangnam.
“Of course it is. Humans mistakenly assume that we live in a bare cave with nothing in it.”
“…This is just an apartment, isn’t it?”
“Apartment…? I don’t know what that is, but when I ordered the dwarves, they just grumbled and took care of everything.”
As expected of a dragon.
I gently ran my finger along the marble-finished cave wall, then gave up on understanding and shook my head.
Well, in a world where reincarnation and regression happen, there could certainly be a dragon living in a cave that has been remodeled to an unrecognizable level.
There was one truth of life that I realized from the moment I became aware that this world was somehow twisted when I reached a certain age after being reborn.
If you can’t understand it, just accept it.
One could say it was a golden rule that helped in living life.
As if following that saying, I quickly accepted it without understanding and meekly followed behind Sylphia.
Although it may look like this on the outside, it was still a dragon’s lair after all.
If I accidentally touched something strange, it wouldn’t be surprising if security traps meant to prevent intruders were activated.
Eventually, Sylphia, who had reached a huge door, placed her palm on it and opened the door.
And what was visible through the open door was…
“What is all this…?”
“These are the materials I’ve been collecting little by little. There are also research materials obtained through direct experiments. I haven’t been collecting for long, so the quantity isn’t particularly large.”
“…You call this not particularly large? There’s this much piled up?”
The amount of books and piles of papers that greeted me was so vast that it made me want to retort Sylphia’s words to the point of tripping and falling over.
If I exaggerate a little, it seemed like an enormous amount piled up to the ceiling of this spacious cave.
“I told you I found a plausible method, right?”
“I just hope that method doesn’t involve human modification.”
“Ahem.”
Sylphia cleared her throat as if I had hit the nail on the head.
No, was it really human modification?
My startled emotions were clearly reflected on my face, but without giving me a chance to stop her, Sylphia opened her mouth and started explaining.
“The important thing is the cause. The reason why Rudrick is essentially receiving a terminal diagnosis is simple. It’s because there’s too much mana residing in your body. You know this, right?”
“I heard that even if I use magic over and over, it doesn’t decrease, so it’s in a supersaturated state above the threshold… Theoretically, it’s not impossible.”
“That’s right. The mana concentrated in a supersaturated state affects the body. Anything in excess is not good. So from a certain point, the mana circuits that can no longer endure it become unable to function as ‘pathways’ for mana to flow, and it becomes a vicious cycle where the body, starting from the most basic circuits, breaks down in succession.”
Sylphia, who continued her explanation in a calm tone, raised her index finger like a teacher instructing a student and asked.
“So here’s the question, Rudrick. By the time I learned about this cause before the regression, it was already too late to do anything about it. But now, the timing is good, so to speak. It hasn’t been long since the regression, right? To the point where Rudrick can still move around fine.”
“…Well, I suppose so for now.”
“Then what is the fundamental way to cure all diseases?”
“To remove the cause.”
“That’s exactly right. And the cause for Rudrick is precisely that mana in a saturated state to the point of excess.”
I joked earlier, hoping that she didn’t have the qualities of a mad scientist, but now it wasn’t a joke.
An ominous feeling started to rise in an instant.
No, no matter what, Sylphia wouldn’t harm me, right…?
“Then first, let’s try removing that mana.”
“…Don’t give me that nonsensical talk about how a true support character doesn’t heal allies but finds and eliminates the source of damage.”
“I’m serious!”
At the idea that was as bold as the bald monk from the Storm of the Void, an instinctive rejection rose up first.
And perhaps my dull reaction was seen as a stubborn rejection, Sylphia made a somehow wronged expression and protested.
“Look, Rudrick. What do you think will happen if the mana is removed?”
“…Well, I suppose it would at least buy some time for now. If you take the alcohol out of a bag filled with it, the bag will shrivel up.”
“Right? At worst, if things go wrong, you’ll only lose your mana permanently. That’s all there is to it!”
Hearing her talk as if it was nothing, as if spouting nonsense, made me feel strangely sad.
I’m sure when I first met Sylphia, she didn’t have this image…!
The Sylphia who, even when I fell asleep in the middle of work due to food coma, wouldn’t wake me up but kindly took over my tasks and handled them for me was already nowhere to be seen, and only something that used to be Sylphia remained.
What made Sylphia become like this?
“It’s a bit extreme, but it’s a cure in a sense. If the mana disappears completely, there will be no reason for the circuits to break down.”
“Miss Sylphia, a person dies without mana.”
“They won’t die. In fact, there are cases where people are born with mana insensitivity and can’t use mana at all… Well, instead, their bodies might be a bit weaker than others…?”
…
I was at a loss for words.
It wasn’t easy to think of what to say in response.
Certainly, what Sylphia was saying made logical sense, but it wasn’t something I could easily accept.
In fact, for a matter like this, it would be rational to entrust it to a dragon whose magical abilities were incomparable to human great mages.
I fully understood that in my head as well.
But at the same time, I couldn’t help but feel a creeping doubt as to whether it was really okay to leave this to Sylphia.
Well, I don’t mean to be rude to Sylphia by saying this, but…
Separate from recognizing it as rational in my mind, when I hear Sylphia talk, it strangely feels fake, so to speak.
Still, I couldn’t bluntly refuse someone who offered to help.
Sigh.
I sighed and asked.
“So what do you want to do and how, Miss Sylphia?”
“I’m going to first expel the mana.”
And as if she had been waiting for those words, Sylphia confidently answered.
“Expel the mana? How?”
“Others might be thinking of some crude methods, but… There are ways to do it without resorting to such primitive methods. Ahem.”
A magic circle appeared at the fingertips of Sylphia, who answered with her chest puffed out and in high spirits.
A magic circle densely filled with geometric patterns inside the circle.
Although I didn’t have any particular expertise in magic circles, the meaning of those patterns was clear, so I could easily recognize it.
“…You’re applying it like this. I didn’t know it could be used on people, not objects.”
It wasn’t some tremendous or amazing shift in perspective.
Rather, it was a magic circle with a meaning so clear and simple that anyone who considered themselves a mage could recognize it.
It was just that the simplicity was complemented by an ignorant level of perfection.
If I were to draw an analogy, it would be like polishing a basic Fireball magic to the extreme.
“Of course, it’s unreasonable to apply it as it is right away. If you’re conscious, Rudrick’s defense mechanism will probably activate reflexively even if you don’t intend to resist.”
“Defense mechanism…?”
“Yes. Even if Rudrick really tries not to resist, his body will automatically react. It’s not enough to just engrave this magic circle. First, Rudrick needs to fall asleep. In a sleeping state, the instinctive defense mechanisms that humans possess are also mitigated.”
“…Hmm. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem painful or anything. Let’s give it a try.”
“Oh.”
Perhaps she didn’t expect this reaction from me.
Sylphia made a puzzled expression and tilted her head.
“…Why?”
“…You’re agreeing this easily?”
“It’s not painful, right? Does it hurt like getting a tattoo when engraving the magic circle?”
“No, not really… Since the magic circle will dissipate along with the mana anyway. It’s not directly engraved on the skin or anything.”
“Then that’s fine.”
Even at my answer, Sylphia made a doubtful expression, then gathered mana in her other hand.
The technique formed by the gathered mana was a sleeping spell.
If I didn’t resist with great magic power, it would be enough to cleanly and concisely put me into a sleeping state like anesthesia.
And as if to confirm something, Sylphia, who had been hesitating, asked me again.
“…Are you really going to do it?”
“Yes.”
“…I didn’t expect you to agree so readily.”
Sylphia, who muttered, reached out her hand to me.
And then, my vision slowly faded to black.
Just before my vision cut off, I thought I heard a strange murmur.
“…What are you going to do if I do something weird? How can a man be so careless?”
…It must have been my imagination, right?
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
