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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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Considering that, the security on this staff could have been at a level that I couldn’t do anything about right now.
‘The blessing of magical energy is certainly great, but it’s not omnipotent.’
I had let my guard down a bit.
Although it turned out to be beneficial for me, in my current situation where I always need to be careful, letting my guard down is a fatal poison.
‘I seem to have unwittingly loosened up a bit because things have been going too well for me lately. I need to tighten up again.’
“…It seemed like he was trying to persuade you to make a contract with the Demon Lord, are you really alright?”
“Huh? I told you, I’m fine. He’s annihilated too…”
“But why were you surprised at the end? And you suddenly stopped talking…”
Only then did I realize why Kayla had that attitude.
‘Ah, she can’t hear Kumar’s words.’
Since she only heard what I said out loud, it’s understandable for her to have that attitude.
After talking about annihilating him, if I suddenly showed astonishment for no reason, she could have thought I had suffered an unexpected counterattack.
‘But I was surprised because of the staff’s materials.’
Not just materials, but a dragon’s corpse and its heart. As a magician, I couldn’t help but exclaim out loud.
Moreover, the contents of the conversation were also a problem. When I carefully recalled what I had said, Kayla had reason to worry.
‘A plundering curse, Demon Lord, Demon Lord’s name, Demon Lord’s vessel… And I even showed astonishment at the end.’
She had expectations for me beyond what I had thought.
In fact, she had bet everything on me as her last hope, so if something went wrong with me, her life would truly fall into the abyss.
‘Well, even considering that, she said she wanted to be trusted by me.’
I immediately gave an explanation to Kayla.
“I was just surprised because the artifact’s performance was beyond imagination. It has been neglected for a long time without maintenance, and the soul that was inhabiting it was an idiot, so its performance has greatly deteriorated, but there are ways to restore it, and even with its current deteriorated performance, it can handle high-level magic…”
‘Wait.’
High-level magic. The corpse of the chimera Denok and Denok’s heart that I had taken earlier, and the blue roots of Trenelsi…
“What’s wrong? Could it be that…”
“No, it’s not. Just a moment. Kayla, can you be quiet for a bit? I’m fine. Don’t worry. I just have something to think about.”
She observed me for a moment and slowly relaxed.
“I’ll trust you.”
“Yeah. Trust me. You can trust me. It’s me, after all. Can you be quiet for a moment?”
After blurting out some random words, I became immersed in thought.
After thinking for a long time, I came to a conclusion.
‘There is a possibility.’
Perhaps I could fix Kayla’s leg earlier than I thought.
‘Starting with Thea and ending with Kayla…’
It was an amusing situation.
‘Ah, come to think of it…’
I was a bit worried about Thea’s curse.
Well, it wouldn’t go out of control or anything. I had partially absorbed it and put it to sleep.
‘But just in case, we should return quickly.’
Still, I had to do what needed to be done.
I immediately went to Denok’s corpse and drew out a sword.
“Master?”
“Wait a moment.”
And I peeled off the skin around his ankle.
‘Fortunately, it’s not rotten here.’
Well, if it had deteriorated this much, he wouldn’t have been able to walk.
After collecting tendons, muscles, and some bones from the opposite ankle, I put them in a sealed container.
I had prepared it in case there was something intact to take back, and fortunately, it was helpful.
“Let’s go back for now.”
“…May I ask why you took that?”
“…Hmm.”
I thought for a moment, but then I remembered what Kayla had said on the way here.
‘I don’t want to give false hope, but… This has a pretty high possibility.’
I also remembered Kayla’s words about wanting to be trusted by me, so I decided to frankly tell her.
“I might be able to fix your leg.”
Kayla’s footsteps stopped.
“Of course, it’s just a possibility. Don’t get your hopes up too much. Ah, right.”
I looked at Kayla and said,
“You know it too, but your leg can’t be fixed in an ordinary way. Black magic will be involved, are you okay with that?”
“…I’m prepared.”
She must have guessed a bit since she saw me harvesting parts of the chimera Denok’s body.
I was planning to remodel Kayla’s damaged leg using parts of Denok’s body, and if they didn’t match, I would use the body of another monster, demihuman, or if there was no answer, another human’s body.
‘This is also a chimera, though.’
Although it was much softer, in a broad sense, it was no different from chimera production.
‘It’s not easy to find a matching body, though…’
I had to make it so that the body wouldn’t reject the new transplant, and in Kayla’s case, since she used mana, the body had to match well with Kayla’s mana.
However, Denok’s body that I had secured had already been adjusted in various ways by the Lich in the distant past.
‘Denok used magical energy, but I can imbue it with mana. If I can imbue the gem’s mana with magical energy, the opposite is also sufficiently possible. Moreover, Denok’s body has already been sufficiently modified by the Lich to combine with various bodies. If it goes well…’
The possibility was higher than I thought.
It required a lot of preparation in many ways, but this much effort was something I had originally intended to endure.
No, rather than what I had originally thought, it wasn’t even an effort.
I completely erased the traces of magical energy in the cave, devastated the interior, and collapsed the entrance.
There didn’t seem to be any hidden spaces, so I had no regrets.
‘I’ve taken everything I need.’
After confirming that the entrance was completely blocked, I said to Kayla,
“Let’s return to the base camp.”
During the return to the base camp, not a single word of conversation was exchanged between Kayla and me.
I was busy continuously thinking about this and that, and Kayla didn’t disturb me.
Even though I told her not to get her hopes up too much, she was also human, so she couldn’t help but have expectations.
Moreover, considering her obsession with her leg, it would be strange for her not to have expectations.
As soon as we arrived at the base camp, the sisters greeted us.
“How are you? Are you okay?”
“Huh? Yeah. I’m fine. Neither Kayla nor I are injured.”
“How did it go?”
“It went well. There was an unexpected harvest. Ah, Thea. Come over here.”
“Yes?”
At my sudden words, Thea approached me with a puzzled expression.
“Huh, what’s that? It looks really scary.”
Belatedly noticing my staff, Athena expressed her question.
Thea looked at me with a surprised expression when I pressed the staff against her chest.
“Don’t be nervous. It will be over soon.”
“…Yes?”
Although I had completely destroyed the security on the staff, it was still very easy to absorb all the curse remaining in Thea’s heart since it had originated here.
“…Huh?”
When I removed the staff, Thea touched her body with a puzzled face.
“Sis, it’s strange. My body feels so light.”
“What? What did you do? …Could it be?”
“The curse, I completely removed it. Wait a moment. Still, I need to check. Thea, come closer.”
“Yes, yes.”
Thea still had a dazed face.
The curse that had been constantly tormenting her had disappeared so easily…
When I first slowed down the progression of the curse, and when I started removing the curse, I had said it would take a long time, but now that it was suddenly resolved, it seemed unreal to her.
“Hmm… It’s true. It’s definitely gone. There are some traces left, but they will heal on their own over time. If you keep exercising and eating well like now, you will regain your health in no time.”
Even after the traces of the curse healed, something like a scar would remain on her heart, but it wouldn’t interfere with her life.
However, if she awakened mana, there was a possibility of contamination, so I left a message saying that even if she had talent, if she was going to learn mana, she should consult with me.
“Even if Thea has talent, I have no intention of making her fight. Don’t worry about that.”
“…Sis…”
Looking at Thea’s expression, it seemed her thoughts were a bit different…
But it was none of my business.
The guardian was Athena, and I needed Athena’s abilities, not Thea’s unknown abilities.
To be precise, it was more accurate to say that I was more interested in Athena’s abilities than Thea’s.
After they became adults… The two of them would figure it out.
I had no intention of interfering.
“If the place you were going to could immediately cure Thea’s illness, I would have gone too…”
“It was only a possibility. I had no certainty. Think of it as good luck.”
“…Thank you. I can only ever say thank you to you. Someday, someday I will definitely repay you. I will definitely become strong and be of help to you.”
“I will take it as I see fit, so just don’t betray me.”
“Even if I die, that will never happen.”
“That’s enough.”
“…I’ll do my best. Really.”
“Thank you, Sir Inha. I will also do whatever I can. Thank you for curing me.”
The sisters bowed their heads to me side by side, and I appropriately received their greetings.
“Rather than that, since we have essentially finished all our work, we will rest today and start our return journey from tomorrow. Unlike last time, we have a detailed map that we directly investigated, so we will be able to arrive much faster than when we came.”
“Finally…”
Everyone’s expressions were very bright, as if they all missed home with one heart.
After finishing a meal as plentiful as yesterday, everyone went to bed early.
Before falling asleep, there was one worrying thought.
‘It’s a bit disappointing that we couldn’t find traces of the horned orcs.’
It was a minor curiosity, so even if we couldn’t find them, it wouldn’t be a big problem, but it was a strangely lingering feeling.
‘…No, it’s fine. Rather than being curious about unnecessary things, it’s more important for me to grow now and prepare for the monster wave.’
The monster wave will definitely occur.
I was convinced this time.
The second round will flow along the same history as the first round.
In that gap, I have to take everything I can.
With that thought, I fell asleep.
The return journey proceeded much faster than when we came, as expected.
With just one day of camping, the Evergreen Forest Village was right in front of us.
When we returned, the self-defense force that discovered us immediately notified the village chief, and the chief greeted us in a hurry.
“You’ve worked hard, Sir Knight.”
“…I told you, I’m not a knight.”
After a short sigh, I informed the village chief.
“We’ll be imposing on you for a day.”
“Yes, of course.”
While resting at his house for a day, I shared some of the information I had learned with the village chief.
We were treated well, and since it was related to the safety of the village, he showed a desperate desire to ask about it.
“Predators… you say?”
“Yes. Overall, the territories of the monsters have changed. It’s true that their numbers have increased as well. My guess is that the predators have expanded their territory.”
I explained to the village chief, adding Athena’s opinion, and soon the village chief bowed to me, thanking me for the information.
After resting fully for a day, we set out on the road again the next day, and thanks to the path we had, we were able to arrive home early.
The reduced amount of luggage compared to when we left also contributed to the faster speed.
Thea and Athena ran to the house with bright expressions, and Kayla looked at me and asked,
“Are you planning to go to the castle right away?”
“Huh? Yeah. That’s the plan.”
I wanted to handle the troublesome matters as quickly as possible. After that, I needed to focus on research.
I added that I might sleep over at the castle and come back.
“You might sleep over and come back?”
Perhaps having heard our conversation, Athena, who had run into the house, popped out.
“Huh? Yeah. Ah, right. Athena.”
“Hmm? What?”
“I think it’s about time to reveal your existence.”
“Huh? Why? Weren’t you planning to keep hiding it?”
“I need to bring you all inside the castle.”
Originally, I was thinking of doing it alone, but due to unexpectedly gaining many achievements through this request, my workload had increased.
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