A certain girl had been rescued from a labyrinth two hundred years ago.
But she had lost both her memories and her emotions.
Her identity was unknown, though her species could be determined from her physical characteristics.
She was entrusted to a settlement of her kind and began living there.
The people of the settlement warmly welcomed the girl of unknown origin.
Her memories never returned.
However, after a few years, she regained her emotions.
Bright and sociable by nature, she soon fell in love with a man from the settlement.
She ended up marrying the man without incident, but around that time she began to be troubled by something.
A magnification of sexual desire.
She sought her partner nearly every night.
Her species was not one known for particularly strong sexual desires.
They fell far short of humans or goblins.
And so, while the man had a hard time of it, they still lived together in peace.
However, around this time, changes began occurring in her body.
After she began sleeping with the man, once a month she started producing something.
Mana crystals.
Small, round mana crystals.
They contained mana of extremely high concentration and were traded for exorbitant sums.
She consulted her husband about this.
The man found it somewhat unsettling, but told her not to worry about it.
It was right after that when the man began taking those mana crystals out and selling them in human towns.
He had been dazzled by the gold — that may sound harsh, but it wasn't something he could be blamed for.
The man's family was not well-off, and she did not work either.
At the very least, the man never looked at her as if she were a money tree.
They were happy.
The incident occurred five years later.
The man was killed.
He had been murdered.
By regularly bringing in extremely valuable mana crystals, he had attracted the attention of human bandits. They assaulted him and took both his life and his property.
The man died, and she became a widow.
Ten days after the man's death.
She could no longer withstand the impulses welling up from the depths of her body, and she attacked another man in the settlement.
She knew it was wrong, but she did it anyway.
The man didn't exactly resist, and that was that.
Another ten days later, she attacked yet another man.
And another ten days after that, and another ten days after that.
Her rampage continued until her actions were exposed and she was strung up by the women of the settlement.
And then she was banished.
After that, she apparently became a prostitute, then a slave, and eventually an adventurer, wandering somewhere in the world to this day.
---
I heard this story from Elinalise first thing in the morning.
"...And that, more or less, is what my life has been like."
"You really didn't have to go into that much detail, you know..."
Honestly, I was bewildered hearing all of that.
She could have just told me about the curse.
But Elinalise had held nothing back.
"I owed it to you, after keeping silent all this time."
"Um... does Cliff know about this?"
"Of course. I told him before the wedding."
"I see... What about Sylph?"
"Sylph does not know. She wouldn't want to learn that her grandmother was some sort of harlot, would she?"
"I don't think Sylph would care about something like that, though..."
"Rudeus, I'm asking you — please don't look at Sylph differently after hearing this story. Even though my blood runs through her veins, she's a perfectly normal girl."
"Of course. That goes without saying."
Elinalise was Elinalise, and Sylph was Sylph.
But with a past like that, I could understand why Elinalise didn't want to reveal herself as Sylph's grandmother, and why she didn't want to disclose her history. Nobody wants to be looked at askance.
The past is the past.
I didn't want to disclose my own past either. It was a past I couldn't turn away from, but one that was fine as long as only I knew about it.
"So in the end, what exactly is the nature of your curse, Elinalise?"
"Mana accumulates inside my body, and when I receive a man's essence, it crystallizes. If I don't receive a man's essence, the mana builds up too much and I die. That's essentially how it works."
"But the first few years were fine, right?"
"That's the part I'm not entirely sure about... Back then, I wasn't having my moon cycles, so perhaps that was related."
"Your moon cycles..."
If menstruation was connected, then those mana crystals were probably transformed eggs.
In that case, Zenith's curse must be something different.
Zenith had already borne two children. I hadn't heard the details from Lillia, but she should still be around thirty-five, and those functions should still be working.
So far, though, there were no problems.
"Your memories never returned, right?"
"No. Not to this day."
"..."
So her memories wouldn't return.
That meant we would never know what Elinalise truly was.
There was a possibility she might suddenly remember one day, but it wasn't likely.
If she couldn't remember after two hundred years, there was little chance of it happening now.
"But Zenith's condition is a bit different from how she was as 'her.' She seems able to distinguish between her son and daughter, so perhaps there's a chance her memories could return."
"If only."
It was better not to indulge in wishful thinking.
I had the feeling it was best to assume they wouldn't return naturally.
"What about the curse?"
"So far, she doesn't show any symptoms similar to mine."
"No, she doesn't."
"She's probably afflicted with a different curse than I was."
"Is that so?"
"The likelihood is high. Do you have any leads?"
Leads. Leads.
Hmm.
Sort of, sort of not.
Nothing that I could really call a lead regarding curses.
"No, I don't."
"I see. But don't let your guard down."
It wasn't the kind of curse that would cause instant death.
But, Elinalise said, there was no telling what might trigger it or how it would manifest.
"So for now, all we can do is keep observing?"
"That's right."
I wouldn't indulge in wishful thinking.
But I couldn't help hoping that nothing would happen.
"That's about all I know. I'm sorry. I had too many things I didn't want to talk about, so it took me this long to tell you."
Elinalise bowed her head as she said this.
Well, she was right that it had taken too long.
If it had been anyone other than me, they might have yelled at her for not saying anything sooner.
But I understood all too well the feeling of not wanting to talk about one's past.
If anything, I felt guilty for not telling her about my own previous life.
"No, you told me something difficult to talk about. Thank you."
I extended my hand to Elinalise.
She took it and we shook hands firmly.
"Well then, I'll be heading back to Cliff."
"I'm going to rest a little longer and then go check on Nanahoshi and the others."
"Very well. Take care."
With that, Elinalise left the room.
In the end, we still didn't know much about Zenith.
Only that there was a high chance she was cursed, and that so far nothing had gone wrong.
Going forward, I needed to make sure I could respond immediately if anything came up.
---
After breakfast.
I was seated at a long table in a room of the floating fortress.
Sitting beside me were Nanahoshi and Cliff, and next to them was Zanoba.
Across from us sat Silvaril of the Void.
The black-winged subordinate of Perugius.
"Then, let us begin the lesson."
Nanahoshi was supposed to learn summoning magic from Perugius.
That was the arrangement, but Nanahoshi had thoughtfully arranged for the rest of us to attend as well.
The lectures were said to start from the basics, and the teacher was not Perugius.
He would only appear once they moved on to more advanced material.
Perugius was probably having tea with Ariel right about now.
I wasn't entirely clear on why Ariel wanted to become queen, but having a goal and pursuing it was admirable.
I'd cheer from the shadows.
Ariel was Sylph's friend, after all.
The hierarchy was a bit too rigid for my taste, but equality didn't exist in the world, so it couldn't be helped.
Sylph and Ariel both called each other friends, so friends they were.
Right, I needed to focus on the lesson.
"First, let's align our understanding. What is summoning?"
Silvaril of the Void posed the question.
"That person over there..."
"Cliff. Cliff Grimoire."
"Then Cliff, please answer. What is summoning?"
Summoning magic came in two varieties.
One was infusion.
This was primarily related to the crafting of magical devices.
It was, in essence, the art of drawing magic circles.
Cliff specialized in this, and it was widely practiced in the magic city Sharia as well.
The other was summoning.
Calling forth something from somewhere in the world.
From extremely simple creatures to beasts with high intelligence like dogs and cats.
Magical beasts tameable by humans.
Low-intelligence magical creatures like goblins and treants.
Or the summoning of spirits said to exist somewhere in this world.
There were no teachers for this variety in the magic city Sharia, and only a handful at the Magic Guild could handle even beginner-level material.
Some country was apparently hoarding the technology, and in any case, it wasn't taught in or around the magic city.
That was the extent of my knowledge.
Cliff apparently shared the same understanding and gave a similar answer.
"...That is incorrect."
Silvaril shook her head.
"Indeed, summoning magic cannot function without magic circles.
However, the art of drawing magic circles is not what we call summoning."
"In other words, the only thing that truly qualifies as summoning is the latter?"
I fired back with a question of my own.
This reminded me of when Roxy used to teach me magic.
"Yes. However, it is true that there are two types."
"So the other type is not 'infusion.'"
"Exactly."
Silvaril spoke in a gentle voice.
She didn't use any textbook, nor did she use a blackboard.
We took notes on what we learned using quill pens on pre-prepared stacks of paper.
It really did feel like a proper class.
"Summoning is divided into two types.
One is called 'Magical Beast Summoning,'
and the other is called 'Spirit Summoning.'"
I wrote down Magical Beast Summoning and Spirit Summoning.
Spirits, as I understood it, existed somewhere in this world but were extremely rare to encounter.
I didn't think I'd ever seen anything other than the light spirit I'd called forth from a scroll.
"How are they different?"
"Magical Beast Summoning, as you humans are aware, calls forth living creatures that currently exist somewhere in the world. Due to the ancient covenant, you cannot summon anything bearing the name 'human,' but other than that, you can call forth virtually any living creature that exists in this world."
Virtually any living creature.
So I could even summon dragons, then?
"What is this ancient covenant?"
"It is a covenant said to have been established when summoning magic first came into being in this world. Magic cannot act in violation of this covenant."
"Hmm."
Humans were off-limits.
...But was it really impossible? What was the difference between teleporting a person and summoning a person?
Oh well. This was just the basics. I'd ask again when the lectures reached that point.
"Sorry, please continue."
"You cannot summon a magical beast that possesses greater mana than your own, and even if you could, you may be unable to control it."
Come to think of it, I'd read something like that in an old book.
'Sigu's Summoning Arts,' was it?
The story of someone who summoned a being beyond their power to control and was devoured.
I had mana to spare, so maybe I could summon anything, but the question was whether it would obey.
Well, I didn't have any plans to summon anything particularly powerful.
I already had three pets at home, so there was no need to summon anything.
"Come to think of it, can you only summon living creatures?"
"Yes. The dead cannot be summoned."
"I don't mean that — could you summon an item, for example... the clothes currently in my house?"
"That is impossible."
So I couldn't summon Roxy's panties, then.
Wait, hold on.
Nanahoshi had successfully summoned a plastic bottle.
It couldn't be completely impossible.
It was more likely that this kind of technology simply didn't exist in this world yet.
And Perugius had seen Nanahoshi's research and intended to establish the technology.
That explained why Perugius was cooperating with Nanahoshi.
"May I continue?"
"Ah, yes. Sorry for interrupting."
"No need to apologize. Asking questions is a sign of attentiveness."
Silvaril nodded slowly and continued the lecture.
"Spirit Summoning is... the magic of creating spirits."
"Creating? You mean bringing them into existence?"
"Yes. It is magic that uses the summoner's mana to create spirits with specific abilities. That is Spirit Summoning magic."
Hmm.
So the scrolls I'd been using all this time — the light spirits that emerged from them had been created by me?
"Spirits possess low intelligence and will obey the summoner's commands until their mana is depleted."
"They never disobey?"
"...If you design the magic circle to prevent disobedience, then it's possible."
So because you build them yourself, you can make them do whatever you want.
It was similar to programming, wasn't it?
Wait — similar to programming? I felt like I'd heard something like that somewhere before...
"That doesn't sound right."
Cliff spoke up in a dissatisfied voice.
"You lot, Perugius's servants — you're spirits summoned four hundred years ago, aren't you? If that's the case, your intelligence is too high, and it's strange that you haven't disappeared."
Oh, nicely done, Cliff. He'd hit on something sharp.
Silvaril nodded with satisfaction.
"A fine question.
Lord Perugius's ancestor, the First Dragon King of the Shell, left behind the method of creating the eleven ancient spirits of exceptional intelligence and power. Under normal circumstances, such powerful spirits would last only about a day, but Lord Perugius developed a technique that allows them to persist for as long as he lives!"
She said this with considerable pride.
Spirits that would normally last only a day now functioned permanently.
Perpetual motion machines were impressive no matter what world you were in.
Hm?
The eleven ancient spirits?
"Not twelve?"
"No. I am not one of Lord Perugius's spirits."
"You're not?"
"No. I was saved by Lord Perugius during the Laplace War, and have served him ever since. I am merely a member of the Tenrou race."
The Tenrou race.
Well, she was the only one with wings, after all.
If the others were servants, she was more like a confidant.
Maybe a lover in secret... No, surely not.
Not everything had to be tied to romance.
"So what will we be learning?"
"Primarily Magical Beast Summoning. However, Lord Perugius considers Otherworld Summoning to be closely related to Spirit Summoning, so we will touch on that as well."
I'd get to learn both.
I was looking forward to it.
Summoning magical beasts from various places and opening a zoo could be fun.
"Spirit Summoning — I'd like to learn more about it in detail, if possible."
"I'm interested in Spirit Summoning too."
Zanoba and Cliff also seemed to have taken an interest.
Oh right. I remembered now.
Programming.
The core of the automaton.
I'd looked at that and thought it was like programming.
So if I learned Spirit Summoning, perhaps I could complete that automaton as well.
I doubted we could so easily build something that even the Dragon God of Madness, Chaos, hadn't been able to finish...
But it would surely come in handy.
You never knew which knowledge would prove useful where.
"Then let us begin with the basics of Magical Beast Summoning. First, observe this magic circle—"
And so, with that in mind, we began learning the fundamentals of summoning magic from Silvaril.
I was already falling behind the other three when it came to drawing magic circles. I might end up the worst in the class.
I should have learned the basics of magic circles myself instead of leaving it to others.
Well, it wasn't too late to start now.
There was no such thing as being too late to study.
I was only eighteen in this world, after all.
Look at Zanoba. He'd been in his mid-twenties when he enrolled, yet he was still honing his craft in automaton-making.
I should follow his example.
That said, at this rate, I was destined to be the worst in the class.
After today's lecture, I should review and prepare ahead.
"Everyone, it is nearly time for lunch. If there is anything you would like to eat, please let me know."
With Silvaril's words, the day's lectures came to a pause.
---
Lunch.
The night before, we'd been served traditional dishes passed down in the Asura Kingdom since ancient times.
Meatballs and potatoes simmered together, herbal soup.
Multigrain bread loaded with grains beyond wheat.
It wasn't all that different from what I always ate in the magic city Sharia.
It was modest compared to the grandeur of the fortress, but simple and flavorful.
Of course, "traditional" was only our perspective — for Perugius, this was simply what Asura Kingdom cuisine was.
Food from four hundred years ago.
I'd read somewhere that wars drive technological progress, while peacetime drives culinary evolution.
The Asura Kingdom's food culture must have changed dramatically over these four hundred years.
The meal was brought to our respective rooms, but I ate with Sylph.
Even in a magnificent room, eating alone wasn't enjoyable.
I never used to think that way in my previous life — I really had changed.
Breakfast had been alone, but that couldn't be helped.
Anyway, while breakfast was fixed, apparently for lunch they'd prepare whatever we wanted.
With Almanfi, the speed-of-light errand runner, they could apparently source ingredients from anywhere in the country.
Or maybe they could even order from a restaurant and have it delivered.
Convenient delivery service.
"So they could even prepare Millis cuisine?"
"Oho, then I shall request Shiroane cuisine."
Cliff and Zanoba both requested regional dishes from their homelands.
Despite everything, they must have been missing their roots.
"Understood. I shall make the arrangements."
Silvaril accepted their requests with her mask still on, in her soft voice.
"I'm fine with anything."
Nanahoshi said this.
She probably didn't realize it, but this was my chance.
I was a man who seized opportunities.
The red-haired lolicon had said to make the most of every chance.
"Do you know a dish where fresh, raw fish is pressed onto vinegared white rice?"
"Wha—! That exists?"
At my words, Nanahoshi's face brightened instantly.
But Silvaril shook her head.
"No, I'm not familiar with it. We do keep rice in stock, though."
Nanahoshi looked crestfallen.
But I was overjoyed.
If we had rice, any ingredient could work as a side dish.
"What about a dish where wheat flour is loosely mixed with beaten egg and cold water, then coated over shrimp, squid, or vegetables and deep-fried in hot oil?"
"I haven't heard of that. We have wheat flour and eggs..."
They had eggs too!
That meant I could finally eat that thing again!
But sushi and tempura were apparently off the table.
That probably meant sukiyaki was out too.
A hot pot dish simmered in mirin, sugar, and soy sauce.
It wouldn't come close to a craftsman's work, but if we had the ingredients, I felt I could make something passable...
Then again, it all came down to soy sauce.
The Japanese food we craved was flavored with soy sauce.
"Do you have a sauce made from fermented soybeans?
It's something called soy sauce or soy brew."
"There is none within the fortress."
I see. No luck.
As expected, it probably didn't exist in this world.
"However, I have heard that the Kingdom of Behelit uses a similar sauce. I shall have Almanfi search for it."
"Please do!"
I didn't care about the trouble it would cause Almanfi.
If they were willing to search, I'd let them.
---
One hour later.
In the end, soy sauce was not found.
One hour probably wasn't enough to do a thorough search.
Trying to find ingredients when you needed to prepare a meal right away — it made sense that it didn't work out.
Soy sauce was nowhere to be found.
But.
In its place.
Believe it or not.
Almanfi brought back something else.
A reddish-brown ingredient made from fermented soybeans.
It was something called "tofu" in this world's language.
But I decided to call it "miso."
Because that's what it was.
The Kingdom of Behelit... I believed it was located in the northeast of the Central Continent.
Perhaps in that country, I could find soy sauce.
I would go there someday.
Ten years from now, twenty years from now — if the opportunity arose, I would make sure to visit.
But that was a matter for later.
We had rice.
We had miso.
And so, I had white fish prepared as well.
There was no daikon radish or ginger, but there was lemon.
I wanted pickled radish too, but I'd stop asking for things that weren't available.
I used what we had and taught Silvaril every recipe I could remember.
"Is this arrangement acceptable?"
A while later, what came out was:
Steaming hot white rice.
Steam rising from a bowl of miso soup with clams.
And golden-seared white fish with lemon.
Two servings.
One was prepared for Nanahoshi.
Mine came with a raw egg.
"Still, you've gotta admit, it's nice to have this once in a while."
"...Yeah, I suppose so."
It looked like a perfect spread, but Nanahoshi seemed displeased.
Perhaps Japanese food that was merely cosmetic wasn't enough for her.
Oh well.
It was miles away from the real thing anyway.
Even an imitation was worth savoring.
"Put your hands together. Let's eat."
"...Let's eat."
She furrowed her brows and began eating with a spoon and fork.
Her expression looked thoroughly unappetizing.
She used the fork to remove the bones from the white fish, squeezed lemon over it, and placed it in her mouth.
She scooped white rice with the spoon, brought it to her mouth, and chewed slowly.
She brought the white ceramic bowl of miso soup to her lips and sipped.
And then, she murmured:
"This miso soup... you didn't even make a proper broth, did you..."
Large tears welled up in her eyes.
She was crying, but she didn't stop eating.
In truth, it wasn't good.
The rice was dry and crumbly, the miso soup was somehow too salty.
The fish was tasty but a bit fishy, and the lemon didn't quite go with it.
The balance was off.
It wasn't delicious.
The Japanese food in our memories was surely something far more delicate.
But Nanahoshi's hands didn't stop, and neither did her tears.
She ate in silence and finished everything in no time.
"...Thanks for the meal."
That final line was enough to make me satisfied as well.
---
After the afternoon lecture ended, I returned to my room.
Summoning magic lectures were interesting.
Perhaps Silvaril was simply an excellent teacher.
I hadn't learned much today, but before long I'd probably start falling behind.
I needed to review ahead while I still could...
Then again, how many days would this take?
At this pace, maybe about a week?
As long as I attended homeroom, I could take as much time off from school as I needed, but I didn't want to be away from home for too long.
I was worried about how Lucy and Zenith were doing too.
Well, for now I'd focus on the task at hand.
All I could do about Zenith was observe, and Aisha was looking after Lucy properly.
What I needed to do right now was review and preview summoning magic.
Knock knock.
I'd just sat down on the sofa and pulled a stack of papers from my bag when someone knocked on the door.
"Rudeus, you there?"
She didn't wait for an answer. It was Sylph.
Spotting me, she came into the room without hesitation and plopped down beside me.
Then she let out a long breath.
I picked up a nearby pitcher and poured water into a cup, handing it to her.
"You must be tired."
"Thanks."
Sylph took it and gulped it down.
"Phew."
She really did look exhausted.
"How did it go? With Ariel?"
"Hmm, let me think. It seems pretty tough."
"I see."
"Lord Perugius doesn't really take Ariel's propositions seriously."
Ariel had apparently been trying to persuade Perugius to join her camp by explaining the benefits of having him on her side.
If she became queen, she could grant him noble titles.
She could give him territory within the Asura Kingdom.
Even if he wanted to do business, she could provide favorable conditions.
But Perugius had summarily rejected all of it, saying he had no use for such things.
"Well, obviously. That's only natural."
"Do you think so?"
"Because Lord Perugius has no interest in those things — or rather, he despises them. That's why he lives in a place like this."
"Huh? Didn't Lord Perugius say he lived here because it was convenient for preventing the revival of the Demon God?"
Sylph tilted her head.
Had he said that?
Well, that was probably one reason too.
"I mean, if he wanted power, he would have been in a position to receive it. He's a hero of the Laplace War, after all. Silvaril even said he grew tired of the stiffness of the Asura royal court. Offering him that kind of incentive would only backfire."
He could leave this fortress at any time if he wanted to.
Yet he stayed sequestered away.
I didn't know what the reason was, but there had to be one.
"I see, you're right. Maybe Ariel is getting desperate too... Hey, Rudeus, what do you think she should do?"
"What should she do..."
How would I know?
But I did feel that Ariel was skipping steps.
Normally, you'd start by building a rapport.
Then ask for favors.
If met with reluctance, you'd present conditions and plead your case.
I believed things required those kinds of stages.
Ariel had high charisma.
That was probably why, up until now, she'd been able to bring people into her camp without going through the step of befriending them first.
So now she was struggling with someone whose charisma couldn't reach.
Whether it was Nanahoshi or Perugius.
Was I the same way?
I wanted to do Sylph favors, but I had little motivation to do anything for Ariel's sake.
"First, she should try to get on good terms with Lord Perugius."
"On good terms?"
"Yeah. Ask about his hobbies, listen to his tales of past heroism."
"Hobbies and tales of heroism..."
"Taking Zanoba along might help too. He's probably the one Perugius likes best among all of us."
Have Zanoba and Perugius strike up a conversation, with Ariel chiming in.
Even that might be effective.
"Mmm. Got it. I'll try telling Ariel."
"Don't take it too seriously, though. I could be wrong."
"Hehe, thanks for the advice."
With that, Sylph planted a small kiss on my cheek.
The softness of her lips blew away my resolve to study and brought forth darker thoughts.
I could lift her up right now and carry her to the bed and the two of us could...
No, no.
I couldn't be swayed by momentary weakness.
I had studying to do.
So I'd just let her pat my butt a little and call it even — no, that wasn't right.
"By the way, how did things go with you, Rudeus?"
"Hmm. So-so."
I told her about sealing the perverted Demon God, and about today's events.
Zenith's curse.
Summoning magic.
And the meal with Nanahoshi.
"...You're awfully kind to Nanahoshi, Rudeus."
She got a little sour during the part about the meal with Nanahoshi.
So she really did object to me eating alone with another woman.
Zanoba and Cliff had been there, technically.
Maybe it was the fact that I'd gone out of my way to prepare something for Nanahoshi.
I needed to smooth things over here.
I had to tell her that I was in love with her, not Nanahoshi.
"Um, Sylphiette?"
"What?"
"Would it be all right if I gave you a big hug?"
At this, Sylph puffed out her cheeks and turned away.
"You're always trying to smooth things over like that, Rudeus. Why? Because you feel guilty?"
Huh? What?
Today Sylph was a little cold.
What was going on?
Was she angry?
Before, she was always... how to put it...
Were we in a slump?
We'd been together almost three years now.
The dreaded third year.
No, the number of years didn't matter.
What should I do?
This was bad. What should I do?
"Kidding! Sorry. I just felt like teasing you a bit because you were talking about Nanahoshi so happily."
Sylph stuck out her tongue playfully and hugged me tightly.
I hugged her back.
Warm and soft.
Sylph's familiar feel.
Maybe I really was doing things that Sylph disliked.
But I didn't want her to hate me.
I'd really be more careful from now on.
"But if you're going to take Nanahoshi as your third wife, consult me first, okay? Don't just spring it on me like you did with Roxy."
"That's not going to happen. I don't like her as much as you or Roxy. I just happen to know a bit about her homeland and want to help her out. But that's not because of love or anything..."
"Hehehe. Sure, sure."
Sylph laughed and patted the head of the man rambling out excuses.
Then she gave my back a light pat and pulled away.
"Well then, I'm heading back to Ariel. Good luck, Rudeus."
"Yeah, you too. Do your best, Sylph."
This was bad.
I thought things had gone well, but somehow I'd made Sylph frustrated without even realizing it.
This wouldn't do.
I shouldn't keep doing things that pleased Nanahoshi.
Hmm.
"Hm?"
Sylph was about to stride elegantly out of the room, but she stopped when she opened the door.
Nanahoshi was standing on the other side.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude... *cough*... *cough*..."
She was coughing badly.
She was clutching her chest and throat, looking like she was in serious distress.
"Sorry. I couldn't help overhearing... *cough*... I have no intention of doing anything with Rudeus either, so please don't worry... *cough*..."
"Um, yeah, that's fine, but are you okay?"
"I'm fine... *cough*, *cough*..."
Nanahoshi looked worse than I'd ever seen her.
Her coughing had a strange quality, as if something was caught in her throat, and it was deeply unsettling.
"Just a little... I've been coughing badly since a moment ago... *cough*... *cough*... I went to Cliff for a detox spell but he was busy, so I came to Rudeus... but I didn't want to be misunderstood about us, so I was going to bear with it today and go to Cliff tomorrow instead..."
"No, it's fine, really. You don't have to worry that much..."
Sylph reached out in a panic and grabbed the shoulder of Nanahoshi, who was about to turn and leave.
"Um, I can cast it for you. But if it doesn't get better, maybe Cliff should cast an advanced one?"
"Thank you... would you?"
"Okay, let me do it for now."
Sylph gently placed her hand on the back of Nanahoshi's neck.
She could cast detoxification without incantation.
A feat I'd never managed to pull off.
Well, there was still hope for me yet.
"Huh?"
Sylph tilted her head.
The next moment, Nanahoshi coughed violently.
"*G cough*... *G cough*..."
"Huh? Something's weird. The mana is... huh?"
Sylph tilted her head again while placing her other hand on Nanahoshi's shoulder.
Meanwhile, Nanahoshi's coughing grew worse and worse.
"Hey, are you okay?"
The instant concern entered my voice—
Nanahoshi clutched at her mouth.
"Ugh— *GAACK!*"
A wet, splattering sound.
"What?"
A clump of blood had fallen to the floor.
"H-hey."
"..."
Nanahoshi stared at her own hand in a daze.
Then, slowly, she turned her palm toward me.
It was covered in blood. Completely red.
The next instant, Nanahoshi lost consciousness and crumpled to her knees.
"What? Why?"
I wasn't the only one standing there in shock.
Sylph, equally unaware of what had happened, stood frozen.
"Just now, something inside Nanahoshi... why? What?"
She was looking down at Nanahoshi's collapsed form, blood splattered on her face and hands.
Her face was pale.
I quickly walked over to her.
"Sylph."
When I called her name, my voice came out hoarse.
Sylph flinched and stumbled backward, her eyes filled with fear.
"N-no! It wasn't me! I didn't do anything!"
Sylph backed all the way into the corner of the room.
I followed her in silence.
She pressed her back against the wall, realized there was nowhere left to run, and squeezed her eyes shut.
"I know I said something earlier, but I was just joking around! I would never do something like this!"
I pulled a handkerchief from my pocket, dampened it with hot water I produced through magic, and wiped the blood from her face.
"What?"
Then I wiped the blood from her hands as well.
A patient's blood was a treasure trove of pathogens.
Wiping it off probably wouldn't make a huge difference, but leaving it on her wasn't good.
Sylph accepted it all without resistance.
"It's all right, Sylph. I saw everything clearly. It's not your fault."
"Y-yeah."
I was calm.
Seeing Sylph so flustered had actually helped me regain my composure.
I should be calm. I probably was.
"It's okay. Sylph didn't do anything. Nanahoshi has been unwell for a while now. Got it?"
"Yeah..."
"This time, the timing just happened to be terrible. The worst possible timing converged. It wasn't because of anything you did."
"...Y-yeah, but... when I tried to use magic, something felt strange inside Nanahoshi's body. The detoxification mana wouldn't flow at all... and instead, it was like something was swelling up inside her..."
Nanahoshi was lying on her side, blood flowing from her mouth and nose.
She was unconscious.
It was a dangerous state.
Sylph was in a panic.
I needed to calm her down.
No — I needed to give her something to do.
When someone was panicking, sometimes giving them a single task to focus on worked better.
"Listen, Sylph. Go get Cliff or Lord Perugius. Someone. Anyone."
"S-someone?"
"I'll assess Nanahoshi's condition and do what first aid I can. While I do that, you go call for help. Can you do that?"
"Y-yes."
Sylph's eyes focused.
Then, with a sharp turn, she bolted for the door.
I knew she'd been through her share of crises, but having someone you knew cough up blood right in front of you — that had to be a shock.
Especially since it had happened right after she'd touched Nanahoshi.
No matter how jealous she was, Sylph wasn't the type to do something like that.
But Sylph could be impulsive sometimes...
No, no.
Impossible. Absolutely impossible.
"Right."
I stopped thinking and turned to Nanahoshi.
First aid was limited in what it could accomplish, but I'd do what I could.