Chapter 41: 48

Chapter 48

The Battle for the Sage’s Seal (3)

[Abnormal Condition: Exhaustion]

High fever, indigestion, chronic fatigue, migraines, periodic unconsciousness, shortness of breath, vision loss, maladjustment to magic power, state of muscle atony. 

Please get sufficient rest to get rid of your abnormal condition!

I knew the fact that there was a limit to a person’s vitality very well.

While it was great to work hard on my survival activities and training until the day I graduated, I also realize that it would all be meaningless if I didn’t take care of my health.

Because of that, I had tried to check on my physical condition consistently and to live as healthily as possible, making sure to consume a variety of nutrients. However, it couldn’t be helped that I still had an absolutely enormous amount of labor-intensive work to take care of.

Although they say that the symptoms that come from being overworked differed between individuals, I had no idea that the fatigue would come on as quickly as it did. It hit me like a storm. Before I could even attempt to straighten myself out, I ended up fainting. I couldn’t resist it in the slightest.

Everyone experienced moments throughout their lives where they had fevers that were hard to endure.

Even when lying down not doing anything, it could be hard to breathe.

Even when you tried to straighten out the haziness in your mind, you would find yourself caught up in the sensation of floating out into space again.

You would return to your senses, lose them again, and then later return to them again.

As my vision briefly returned, through my vision it appeared that Yennekar, whose face was completely stiff, and Lortel were talking about something.

After that, I lost my sense of clarity once more and I fell into a dreary world made up of my old memories.

Memories of playing Silvenia’s Failed Swordmaster’s Act 2, Chapter 10—the battle for the Sage’s Seal and the Glast Subjugation.

The finale of Act 2, told through Taylee’s eyes after he got caught up in it… It had definitely begun when Professor Glast kidnapped Taylee’s companion, Ayla.

I faintly recalled the story of the act’s finale, which I had watched absentmindedly through a monitor.

An extraordinary scholar, born with an immense academic talent that surpassed anyone else in history. He made dozens of magical advances that no ordinary person could easily achieve. His name was the great sage, Silvenia.

I clearly remember Glast’s story, where he tried to resurrect Silvenia by studying Celestial Magic that twisted the providence of the world.

He tried to reopen the doors to the age of progress once more by infusing Silvenia’s spirit into the body of Ayla, who was also born with a scholarly talent… It was the story of a madman.

A character that failed to achieve his dreams, dying by falling from the top of the tower of magic power he had embodied.

Just what was that guy’s research about, and what was the deal with the age of progress…? Why did he make such a ridiculous choice, abandoning his ethics and career? Even amongst the players, there were lots of people who questioned Glast’s actions.

Though, I guess if you could understand it easily, you couldn’t call it the story of a madman.

Most of all, before all his plans came to an end and he fell from the top of that tower of magic, his final words were rather unexpected.

The last line he had uttered before his death; about his dreams of academic progress, the age of progress, and dedicating his entire life to discovering those with talent.

The top of the tower of magic power, made up of Celestial Magic. Spreading both of his arms out, talking about the world and confessing his will just before his death… What…. Was it…?

“Zzzz…”

My eyelids snapped open with a start. As if against my will, it was telling me that it was time to wake up.

My entire body was heavy, especially my lower abdomen. What was this chunk of meat on my lower abdomen? When I looked to see why I had a hard time lifting my torso, I saw a girl with a giant witch hat—the size of her head—lying on my stomach.

“……”

“Hmm… Too… Salty… Only a little…”

That kid… How can she be so annoying, even when asleep?

I tried to lift her up and throw her aside like usual, but for some reason I couldn’t lift her.

Lucy is just as light as she looked. So light, you had to wonder if she was really even human… To the point that you could easily carry her while moving.

Lucy seemed to be the same as always, so maybe the reason that I couldn’t lift Lucy was because of my physical condition.

I was in a completely weakened state. Even though I had a mountain of work to do, my body had reached its limit. I let out a deep sigh as I laid back down.

The scenery is familiar. It was my cabin, but the blanket was new… It must have been a product from the Elte Store. I didn’t know exactly what happened, but I have a vague idea.

Without much trouble, I could remember the image of Yennekar and Lortel making a fuss.

“Uhm…”

Maybe as a response to me moving, Lucy opened her dopey eyes with a blink.

She rubbed her sleepy eyes and sat up, looking straight at me while still sitting on my lower abdomen. 

Then, staring back blankly into the air, she said…

“… I’m hungry.”

“Do you really do nothing besides sleep and eat?”

“Oh. Congratulations. You’re conscious again.”

She then raised up her hands into the air to roll up her overly long sleeve before she pressed her index finger against my solar plexus.

She continued to speak slowly, in a rather soft whisper.

“Your magic power got really twisted. Since you have been constantly overdoing your training the last few months, familiarizing yourself with elementalism, and not properly resting, you ended up like this.”

“……” 

“The flow of magic power will gradually come to a stop while you are asleep. By taking advantage of that time, when you wake up and move your body around again you can do so more efficiently. Didn’t you learn that in your Magic Power Studies class? By training your magic power to your very limit right before sleeping, only to barely sleep at all… That’s why you ended up like this.”

“You… Even though you’re always sleeping in class, I guess you’re quietly following along with everything.”

“I don’t listen because I already know everything.”

The flow of magic power began to swirl around Lucy’s finger, the one that was pressing down on my solar plexus.

Lucy continued to stay still with a blank face, acting as if nothing special was happening. Before long, her collar and wide-brimmed hat began to flutter.

“I’ve been pushing down on you like this so that the flow of magic power won’t get any more tangled. It seems to be untangling a bit now.”

“Did you keep doing this while I was sleeping?”

“Well, it’s nothing too hard. Though, I fell asleep a few times, since it’s so boring.”

A refreshing feeling spread across my body from Lucy’s finger. While I was unconscious, I had felt the sensation of the energy in my body returning at times, but that must have been thanks to Lucy.

“That gaze.”

“Gaze?”

“Hmm… When I’m next to you, there are people that keep on looking at us. It’s annoying. Well, what I’m doing is necessary, so they can’t really say anything about it.”

Again, I felt that relaxing sensation go through my body. It made me feel much lighter. Taking in a deep breath, I felt as if I was starting to gain back some of the strength in my body.

“As for the physical issues regarding your vitality, there’s nothing that can immediately be done to help besides getting some rest. Though, I’m sure the magic power has all been taken care of.”

“Hey.”

Calling out to Lucy with no real purpose, she glanced down at me without a single change in her expression.

Her light gray eyes, which didn’t move an inch, seemed to be calm and peaceful. Rather, that dull feeling of hers made me feel more comfortable.

“… Thank you.”

“Don’t get sick. It’s difficult when you’re sick. There are even people that die when they get sick.”

That line. If you knew about Lucy Mayreel’s past, it wasn’t something you could easily ignore.

The archmage Glockt, who had given her the blessing of the stars.

A rainy night.

Lucy sat next to Glockt, who was like her grandfather, as he lay dying in bed.

I didn’t know how many days I was unconscious, but it was clear that it wasn’t a short amount of time.

Thinking about the fact that she was sitting next to me all that time, pressing down on my tangled magic power… it must have been an unbearable pain to her, being around someone that was sick.

No matter how much of a jerky thief she was, or how much she resembled a stray cat by breaking into my house in her free time… Even though her expression never changed, and you couldn’t determine what she was thinking… I had no choice but to guess what was hidden inside of her.

As a result, there was no choice but to at least say thank you.

Squeak.

“Oh, you’ve regained consciousness. I didn’t know if it’s okay to use the stove inside the cabin, so I set the fire outside…”

Suddenly, the cabin door swung open and an unexpected person walked in.

After sweeping his long, unkempt hair back, Ziggs Eiffelstein entered with a lively greeting before suddenly going stiff.

Lucy was on top of my lower abdomen, pressing down on my chest, when she turned her head and looked up at Ziggs.

With her blank face, she grabbed her hat and vanished in an instant. Only a fleeting afterimage of the wind was left as proof that that lazy genius had been there.

“……”

Ziggs swiped his bangs up at once as he entered the rest of the way, sitting down comfortably on a wooden chair with a look of disbelief on his face.

“Ed, just how many people have you…? A-as expected. It’s not that unusual for a strong male to have several females.”

“……”

“Is this… the open mindedness that comes from a civilized society…? Perhaps I have been looking at a civilized life with too much of a stereotype…”

If I left him as-is, when Ziggs went ahead and laid his hand on another woman, Elka would lose it.

First, I had to clear up the misunderstanding.

* * *

Translator – Plumper

Proofreader – Harley

* * *

“Since Yennekar was sick at the start of the semester, it would be dangerous for her to miss any more classes. Lortel kept on pushing back her work at the store, but when it got to the point where she couldn’t do it anymore, she went back to the commercial district.”

“I see. But how did you end up taking care of me in the cabin?”

“Lortel came and asked me to. Though, I’m kind of dense when it comes to something as delicate as taking care of someone else. Women tend to be a bit more dexterous and delicate when it comes to these things when compared to men. I asked her if it would be better to ask a girl—like Elka, Anise, or Clara—instead, but she said that this was a life-or-death situation, and I needed to do it… So that’s what happened.”

Ziggs scooped up some soup from a pot and handed it to me.

I at least had enough strength to hold up the bowl and spoon, so I took a bite. It didn’t taste that great.

It seemed that he had made it with a bunch of random ingredients and poor skill.

“In the first place, don’t you manage your school life yourself? There aren’t many people who know of you or are that close to you. They had to find someone who would agree to help, which is why they came to me.”

“I see. It must have been a pain. Thanks.”

“It wasn’t. Either way, I was just going to either rest or train, so I was able to just do it here. I hope you can take care of yourself. When I first saw Yennekar’s face, I thought there was going to be some sort of funeral.”

Ziggs let out a sigh as he poked the fire with a poker.

“Well, since it’s not a chronic disease, and it only happened from overworking yourself, there’s no need to make a fuss. You’ll get better after a few days of rest. For the time being, you won’t have much strength in your body. Just take this chance to take a break from classes.”

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“Yeah. I got a bit complacent when it came to taking care of my body. I feel bad making the people around me worry so much.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about it. This is something we’re doing because we want to. You should just focus on recovering your health.”

To be honest, the soup tasted awful, but hearing Ziggs’ words… I felt as if my body was soaking in nutrients. I kept forcing myself to move the spoon.

My current prerogative was to time to check on the things that I needed to investigate.

“Thinking about it… I heard that the alchemy students were caught up in an accident, something about secretly mass-producing Mandragora?”

“Oh. It was Elvira, that troublemaker… In the end, Taylee and Clevius took care of it before it became a bigger issue. It didn’t make its way to academic affairs.”

Act 2, Chapter 5, ‘Exploring the Alchemy Department’s Society’, seemed to have ended well.

“I heard there was a rumor that a monster the Telos Religious Group was taking care of snuck back into the underground waterways of the school.”

“Taylee and I took care of that. Ayla accidently dropped a pendant into the underground waterways, so we went to find it. There, we happened to cross paths with the monster, so we took care of it… Was there really a rumor about that?”

Act 2, Chapter 7, ‘Devil of the Underground Waterways’, also seemed to have been completed without any problems.

I could have inferred that the incidents were resolved by the rumors and the external changes that came around from time to time… but I was relieved to have heard it directly from one of the characters involved.

I wondered if the only big event left really was the battle for the Sage’s Seal.

With that thought in mind, I suddenly remembered that I hadn’t yet confirmed what I needed to check.

“Come to think of it, how many days have I been unconscious?”

I thought that it was only going to be a day or two as I brought up that simple question.

Ziggs responded light-heartedly, though I wondered if it was even okay to do so.

“It’s been ten days. Everyone is going to go crazy when they see that you’ve woken up.”

“What?”

“Though, they won’t be able to see you today. At this hour, Yennekar should be at school, and as for Lortel… She had an important negotiation to prepare for tomorrow, so it would be hard for her to come.”

The negotiations regarding the sale of the Sage’s Seal.

Tomorrow was the day it would take place.

My breath caught for a moment.

I hadn’t finished gaining a proper idea of the current situation.

I had no way of knowing how the tables may have turned while I was unconscious.

“Hey, Ziggs? Can you tell Lortel something for me?”

“What? Is it something urgent?”

“Yeah… It might sound a bit weird, but…”

If I had enough time, I’d consider more options as I tried to pick the safest course of action. But in the current situation, I had to use every method that I could.

“So… Uhm… There’s something that I want. If I just have that one thing, then… Really, I think I can answer any request you make… Anything it may be…”

“… All of a sudden?”

* * *

Call meeting with the negotiators.

Luncheon.

Verification of the Sage’s Seal condition.

Confirm purchase method.

After collecting each person’s bidding price written down on a parchment, the highest bidder will purchase it.

Proceed with the transfer of the ‘resonance owner.’

Afterwards, dismissal.

After reading the report on the itinerary for the purchase of the Sage’s Seal, the piece of paper in Princess Penia’s hand burned to ash.

The fact that the Sage’s Seal was going to be sold had yet to be publicized. 

“……”

Princess Penia had asked the school to allow her to attend the negotiation as an observer.

Although there was no need for the Princess to attend the negotiation, as it had nothing to do with the royal family, the school listened to her request as it came from royalty. As long as there was an excuse, it would be fine.

In any case, negotiations involving such a hefty sum of money were often accompanied by witnesses to observe and provide public credibility. As she was a part of the royal family, her public credibility was as heavy as the weight of her lineage.

The number of people participating in the negotiation for the purchase of the Sage’s Seal was small. In the first place, there weren’t many groups that could afford to pay that much.

In the end, the Elte Company and the Rothstaylor family were the only ones left.

It had appeared that there would be fierce negotiation between the two over the purchase. Surprisingly, the decision seemed as if it would end in an instant.

The young principal, Obel Forsyth, had come up with a pretty clever idea. It was like an auction, as he was going to sell it at the price they named.

However, he wouldn’t disclose a suitable starting bid.

The Elte Company and the Rothstaylor family. 

With the two bidders submitting their price on a piece of paper, he would end up selling it to the one with the higher price.

“For this… It’s highly likely that the bid will go in Krepin’s favor.”

That was why Princess Penia’s nerves were on edge.

Simply put, the Elte Company was involved with the negotiation with the intention of buying a ‘product’ to make a bigger profit.

On the other hand, the Rothstaylor family seemed to want to get their hands on the Sage’s Seal for a bigger reason. If it wasn’t to make a profit, there was a high chance that they would be willing to spend a considerable sum of money, to the point that one would wonder if it was really okay.

Even if he did end up losing the deal, he’d be prepared to then negotiate with the Elte Company, who would be the new owners of the seal.

Of course, there was no way of knowing what an appropriate amount might be, and they couldn’t randomly spend a large amount of money. That was why there was going to be a war of nerves between them. 

“Telling them about this method only a day in advance… The Elte Company and the Rothstaylor family must be experiencing headaches over this.”

“Of course, Claire. If they let them know too far ahead in advance, they could end up meeting and negotiating how much they would charge.”

If the school wanted to make a profit, they needed to make it so that it felt as if the Elte Company and the Rothstaylor family were fighting against an ‘unknown enemy.’

The pressure of not knowing how much the other would spend… They wouldn’t be able to know how much they should raise to safely get their hands on the seal.

“Principal Obel was quite smart about it. You don’t want to drag on the negotiation for too long, as it may start to spread strange rumors. It’s good to handle it this way and end the bidding as quickly as possible. There’s also a lesser chance of losing money. But… No matter how hard I consider this method, Krepin will surely get his hands on the seal.”

The Elte Company was unlikely to see any real value in the Sage’s Seal. 

“As expected, I’m uneasy about this…”

Just what was Krepin trying to do by getting his hands on the Sage’s Seal?

The lack of information on Krepin also made her feel uneasy. If only they could have figured out what the mysterious Duke was thinking, then… The situation would probably have become a lot clearer.

Unfortunately, Ed—who was the clue to it all—had been unconscious for nearly ten days. Because of that, she was completely in the dark.

If she couldn’t ask Ed directly, then why not try asking the people around him? She had thought of doing that before.

After all, anyone who was close to Ed might have heard something of his inner thoughts or background.

However—according to the rumors—Ed was always quiet during school, just listening during his classes and focusing on his practical training. He seemed like someone who didn’t have many relationships. Also, he always appeared to be rather busy, as he was working hard just living one day to the next.

Princess Penia sighed as she sat still on the corner of the school’s bench.

“When I traced the rumors about him at school, it said that the only person who could be considered close to Ed Rothstaylor was the second-year top student, the elementalist Yennekar Palerover.”

Claire, who was standing next to her, tried offering her advice.

“I could try and call on her, though I am unsure if we can get any sort of meaningful information from her.”

“No, you don’t have to. I had already met her once, as I was walking through the school grounds.”

A person would have to have been living under a rock to not know of Yennekar Palerover.

Both when she was caught up in the Glasskan incident and during the disciplinary committee hearing afterwards, Princess Penia had assisted her.

The pink-haired girl had once sent a letter of sincere thanks to the royal residence, in order to formally show her gratitude.

Since she was a girl who was loved and gave love to everyone… The princess felt a bit jealous.

Wherever she went, she brought the impression of flowers blooming. Everyone smiled brightly as they spoke to her.

Everyone lived happily ever after.

She was truly a girl that should have been the main character of a fairytale.

“I asked her about Ed Rothstaylor during a joint elemental studies class about a week ago.”

However, it was after Ed had fallen unconscious.

When Penia met Yennekar at school… Yennekar looked at her with cold eyes.

She had no idea just what kind of change of heart she had.

Yennekar played around at school with her usual bright and lively manner, but towards Princess Penia alone she lacked a friendly attitude. She tried to not show it too much on the outside, but it was clearly visible to Princess Penia.

The reason for that… It was obvious. It was the same with Lortel.

Even that innocent girl, who was loved by everyone in the school, was not on Princess Penia’s side.

Considering that fact, Princess Penia took a deep breath.

The autumn sky was high and clear.

“Anything?”

It was a hectic time. She had wanted to visit the cabin to check on Ed’s condition at least once, but the work regarding the Elte Company was piling up and weighing down on Lortel’s shoulders.

Lortel, who had her hair tied to one side, let out a sigh. She then offered a cup of tea to her unexpected visitor.

“Anything? I didn’t expect Ed to say such a dangerous thing.”

“That’s what I’m saying, Lortel. I’m sure you also know his true nature.”

As Ziggs sat down on the sofa in the sitting room and drank his tea, he let out a sigh.

Lortel, who was already weighed down by her work, straightened her shoulders and gave a sly smile. 

“Anything, huh? You’re a merchant that you’ll do anything… You’ve made quite an unusual mistake, Ed.”

In the sitting room, where the darkness started to slowly settle, Lortel tried to stifle the smile threatening to spread across her lips.

Just what was she imagining…? Even if she tried to stay still, that crazy smile of hers started to show. It was terrifying to Ziggs, who was watching her. He could still see her worry about Ed, who had only just gotten out of bed. 

‘I’m glad that Elka is so pure.’

The world of civilization was a world that was both mysterious and terrifying.

The time for the negotiations had come.

Sadly, nobody realized yet that the boy laying in a cabin in the woods held all the keys.

____

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