Chapter 141: of Bottled Love: The High Priest’s Judgement

“Hey, Ria?”

“... Mmm?”

As we followed the woman leading us, I decided to ask Ria a question I had been pondering for a while.

“You can examine others too, right? So, what’s the difference between what you do and what the healing magicians here do?”

I knew for a fact that Ria could examine others with mana. She even taught me how to do it, albeit what I could do was probably very rudimentary. But, since it had never come up so far, that meant that Ria couldn’t do what the healing magicians here could do… or at least, I thought so.

“That is… a difficult… question… What I… do… is very… basic… compared… to their… work… I can… treat… disease spirits… and… simple… ailments… The… skill itself… is the same… They are… just much… better than… I am… at it...”

“I see…”

So the reason she never examined me was that she didn’t have the requisite skills?

“I did… try to… examine you… once…”

“Huh? You did?”

“Yes… When you… were drunk… and had… a hangover…”

“... Ah.”

The… hangover… That one wasn’t pleasant…

“But… I couldn’t...”

“You… couldn’t?”

“Mana… is used… to examine… someone’s body… But… all mana… that enters… your body… is absorbed… immediately…”

“Wait, wouldn’t that mean the High Priest would have the same problem?”

“He might…”

Great… And I didn’t know how to turn it off either… Just great...

“But… I’m sure… he will… able to… do it… nonetheless…”

“Really?”

“The High Priest… is very… skilled… as a… healing magician…”

“Nn…”

Hopefully, she was right and he could do it despite my body draining the mana…

“Dear guests. If you could wait here for a moment.”

The woman stopped in front of a large double door and bowed to us.

“We will wait,” replied the Elder.

“Thank you very much. Then, excuse me.”

The woman opened the large door and disappeared inside, leaving us alone.

“Is this where the High Priest is?” I asked the Elder.

“Most likely.”

While I talked with Ria, the had priest led us through multiple hallways, then to the outside and into a different building before finally stopping right here. Except for the supposed reception hall, everything was… very modest, in appearance. The most you could see were decorations of large creatures, likely the Great Spirits again. The only exception was this overly large door, probably twice my size in height alone. Dozens of creatures were depicted on it, seemingly… fighting something.

Unfortunately, I knew too little about the Great Spirits and the accompanying faith to say what it was that they fought.

Wait, didn’t the Elder tell me about that Great Spirit War before? Maybe it is related to this?

Although, she kept herself short with a slightly basic summary… That the Great Spirits fought each other and that that monster, Yumias, was also involved somehow.

“Excuse the wait.”

Just when I was thinking of asking Ria again, the door opened and the woman reappeared again.

“The High Priest is ready to see you. However, I must ask your guards to stay behind and that you leave any weapons you carry with you here.”

Not like I was carrying any weapon anyway… I did have some mana crystals but they probably didn’t count as a weapon, right?

“That is fine. Yumi, Karen, Rina, Lily, Sele, Miss Ria. Shall we?”

The Elder turned around, asking for our response. Everyone promptly agreed… except for Lily…

“Do I really have to leave my weapons behind?”

“Yes. We cannot allow any danger to approach the High Priest. Please disarm.”

“Ugh…”

Rather reluctant, Lily handed over her weapons to one of our escorts… Well, it was only a small dagger and a… shortsword. Not even Lily would bring along her huge sword to this place.

“Okay, ready…”

“... Then, you may come in.”

The woman held open the door and ushered us in. Just behind this door, the High Priest was waiting. I was nervous. Really nervous. And completely ignoring my nervousness…

“Thank you.”

The Elder strode onwards, entering the room first.

“Yumi.”

“Nn, I know, Sis…”

Karen looked at me, slightly worried. Did my nervousness actually show?

“Let’s go.”

After taking a deep breath, Karen and I followed the others inside. A small room. Shelves with books lined the walls and in the middle of the room, a table with several chairs were placed. Little else was in the room.

“Welcome! Welcome, my friends! Welcome to this humble abode of mine!”

With widespread arms, an animal-masked man welcomed us, his voice energetic as usual.

“It is to my utmost pleasure to welcome you to these grounds, Fairy Lady and her friends. Ohh, and I see even the bonded couple here. Welcome, welcome! Come in. Don’t be shy.”

Once everyone entered the room, the woman priest left and closed the door behind her, leaving us alone with the High Priest.

“Old man, you’re as energetic as usual.”

“Ahaha! How couldn’t I be when the Fairy Lady herself comes to visit? But first, sit down. It is tiring to just stand around. Take a seat.”

“Then, if you allow…”

We all took a seat at the table. Astonishingly, it had just enough chairs to seat us and the High Priest, as if it had been prepared beforehand.

“Ohh… It couldn’t be… Might you be Milady Mortas? The esteemed Milady Riava Mortas?”

“Mm… That is… my name…”

“... To think I would be blessed with your presence as well. Ohh, truly, a wondrous day! Thank you, Great Spirits, for granting me this meeting!”

He clasped his hands and gave his thanks towards the ceiling… I mean, the sky and the Great Spirits.

“Yumi, he called her ‘milady,’ didn’t he?”

“Nn… He did…”

That Academy professor had also called her ‘Lady’ but this was even a step above…

“Maybe she really is from a noble family after all…”

“Who knows…”

We were told she probably wasn’t but… She did seem to be famous here and there…

“To think so many blessed meetings could come in a single day! I am truly fortunate! Ahh, but I digress! You have come here for a reason, have you not? Is this about the matter you consulted me about, Fairy Lady?”

“It is, indeed.”

The Elder nodded and right after, the High Priest seemed to… calm down, looking straight at the Elder. It was impossible to read his expression beneath the mask, though.

“So, you wish for me to examine one of these girls?”

“That is correct. Although, if possible, we would like you to examine some of the other girls as well.”

“Troubling circumstances, I presume?”

“Yes.”

“I understand.”

The High Priest nodded in acknowledgement.

“Whether I examine one or more makes little difference. There is little else to do for me anyway.”

“Old man, aren’t you the High Priest? And you say you got nothing to do?”

“Hahaha! Fret not, I truly have little to do. The youngsters do most of my work nowadays.”

“You’ve really gotten old, haven’t you?”

“None can escape the ever-present grasp of time, Fairy Lady.”

The High Priest laughed heartily once more as if it wasn’t a problem at all.

“Well then, there’s a small room where I can examine you in peace. Who wants to go first?”

He turned to us, looking around and waiting for someone to speak up. And, well, since we have come originally because of me…

“Nn. I guess I should go first…”

“That will be fine by me. Follow me.”

I hesitated a little, still nervous and unsure.

“Uhm! Would it be okay for me to come along?”

“Sis?”

“... If she herself allows it, I see no reason why not.”

“Yumi?”

“... Nn, let’s go together.”

Taking the offered hand, Karen and I followed the High Priest, who was quietly chuckling.

“Mh, well then, sit down.”

“Nn.”

I sat down on the chair he offered while he sat down on the opposite one. Randomly reminded me of when I helped out Ria with the regular checkups, except this time I was the one receiving the checkup.

“Now then, I know from the Fairy Lady that your situation is presumably very unique and possibly troublesome even. However, from the way she said it, it is not exactly a disease that ails you. I admit I have little idea what she could mean.”

“Nn… It’s… You could say my body is a little… unique…”

“Unique… Mhm…”

“Nn…”

Not being able to see his expression was… making me a little nervous, to be honest. Especially now that he had decided to take things seriously and his feelings couldn’t be heard from his voice anymore.

“Well, I suppose I will see. Before we start, however, I’ll have to inform you how we will proceed. I will send mana into your body and examine its state. That means I will examine your muscles, skeleton and your organs, including all sensitive parts. Are you fine with that?”

All of it… Well, he was like a doctor, so that was about expected, right?

“Nn, that’s fine.”

“Great. Shall we start then?”

“... Nn.”

“Then, your hand, please.”

I took a deep breath, readying myself. Then, I stretched out my arm to him.

“Okay, this might feel a little uncomfortable.”

He took my hand and a short moment after he voiced his warning, a weird… uncomfortable feeling ran through my hand and then my arm.

“Oh? Mh?”

Then it immediately disappeared again.

“Now, this is odd. Let me try again.”

The weird feeling reappeared, travelling through my arm before disappearing once more.

“Mhhh? Hmm… I assume this is related to the uniqueness of your body, but the mana I sent in keeps disappearing.”

“Ahaha…”

“Well, one moment… I need to fetch something.”

“Nn?”

He let go of my hand, stood up and walked to the back, to a cabinet. He opened it, revealing tools and the like of which he took one.

“Okay, let’s try this again, shall we?”

The tool was a small bracelet that he put on his wrist.

“That is?”

“A tool to help with mana control. This should prevent my mana from being lost so easily.”

Such a tool existed? How convenient…

“Your hand.”

“Nn.”

I presented my hand to him once more and we repeated the whole spiel. Just, this time, the uncomfortable feeling—which was, in fact, just his mana ploughing its way through my body—didn’t disappear.

“Mh? Mm?”

The High Priest suddenly tilted his head, when the mana reached my torso.

“This is…”

The small blob of mana moved around, exploring every nook and cranny in my body, but mostly my torso.

“Hmm…”

He suddenly stopped moving the mana, seemingly thinking about something. After several seconds of silence, he decided to speak up.

“Frankly, this might be a little out of my expertise… Then again, I would be hard-pressed to name someone who could call this their expertise… Mh… Might I trouble you to tell me what you know of yourself?”

“Nn, well…”

I exchanged a quick glance with Karen, and she nodded. She probably thought as well that he was trustworthy enough. Since that was the case, I decided to tell him what we knew about me and my body. About the mana crystal, the relation to the witch and my, frankly, very... squishy self. Of course, we kept quiet about pretty much everything else, like me not being from this world.

Once we finished, the High Priest fell silent again, likely pondering about what we had told him.

“Mh… So that is the story behind it… That more or less fits with what I saw.”

“Nn?”

“To keep it short, if you were a humanoid, I would have to question how you are even alive in the first place.”

“Uhh…”

Well, someone with no skeleton was… Yeah…

“Having no bones is one thing… Instead, there seems to be condensed… flesh, mimicking bones.”

That’s pretty much what I expected but… hearing it from him… It completely destroyed that little stupid hope that my bones were just a little on the soft side, yeah…

“Then, humanoids have various organs to keep themselves alive. I won’t go into what each does because… Nearly none of them exist in your body anyway.”

“Huh?”

“The only organs that I could make out were your digestive system and your reproductive organs. However, the former seems… not quite functional.”

Repro— So that’s what he meant earlier with sensitive parts? Ahhh! Okay, he was just an old doctor, nothing more. No need to be embarrassed. Just a doctor! Anyway, what was that about my digestive system?

“So, what does that mean?”

“I don’t know. I’d have to examine it in detail with your permission.”

“Nn…”

As long as we kept it at the examination with mana…

“Mm… Wait a moment…”

The High Priest stood up and walked to one of the bookshelves in the room, skimming through the book titles.

“Which one was… Ah, there.”

He fished out a single book.

“As you said, your state is similar to that of a monster but it is also different I believe. Do you know about magic beasts?”

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“Uhm… I think magic beasts were a cross of animals and monsters?”

“Most of them are, that is correct. There are some creatures that are classified as magic beasts despite them not being such a cross. Dragons are a famous example of this.”

“Dragons… But how does this relate to this?”

“That’s what I want to check.”

Confused, I tilted my head but the High Priest just ignored us, skimming through the book instead.

“Mhm… Nothing, it seems. Haa...”

He closed the book and returned it to its place on the bookshelf, before returning to his chair.

“Frankly, I am stumped. Your body is lacking most functions a humanoid body usually possesses. In fact, even the few it does have might not be vital to it. I hoped there’d be something about magic beasts that might be similar but… nothing...”

“Not vital?”

“Yes. Let’s take your digestive system as an example. The digestive system is complex and we barely know how it works. However, we know that it is, of course, vital to a humanoid’s body. The food we take in turns into nourishment for our body. But what I am wondering is, whether that is true for you as well. Your core is the mana crystal. So, isn’t mana what you need as nourishment? In which case, what purpose does the digestive system in your body serve?”

“Huh?”

That’s… something I never actually thought about… I knew my body was weird but I never really thought about, well, my stomach.

“Of course, I might be all wrong about that and you actually do need the nourishment of some sort… This is hard to determine and not something I would be able to do. At the very least, monsters are known to survive without regular nourishment. They possess digestive systems solely for the purpose of taking in physical substances with mana.”

“Physical… like mana crystals?”

“That is correct. Or the flesh of monsters.”

“...”

Okay, so swallowing a mana crystal was actually… normal, in a way. For me.

“But when asked whether it is necessary for monsters to do so, the answer would be no. They absorb enough mana from the atmosphere to survive. Well, you would probably find out more about that when you ask someone who knows about monsters. I’m a specialist in people.”

Like the guy from the Academy. Well, we did learn quite a bit from him.

“Either way… I have to apologise but there’s little I can do to help… Even just clearing things up is impossible for me… The closest I can think of would be… That your body mimics the appearance of a humanoid.”

“Mimics?”

“Yes.”

Mimic… I could transform my body into something else, so…

“Since you can control mana to a degree, have you never tried examining yourself?”

“Nn? You mean, with mana?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Well… Not really… And my own mana...”

I could sense where my mana crystal was but that was the extent of it. Most mana was just instantly absorbed and that included mana I was taking control of myself. As long as it was within my body. The closest I could think of was how I was hiding my mana. It was a little like… a switch, within me, that I could flip on and off. Admittedly, I had little idea of how it worked either.

“Ahh, right. The absorption… That is one very odd thing… You cannot control it either?”

“No.”

If I could, I would’ve stopped it long ago.

“Mhm… Could you give me your hand once more?”

“Nn?”

The High Priest suddenly took off the bracelet from his arm and instead put it on mine.

“This tool supports the control of mana. Try to examine yourself with this once.”

“Nn… Okay…”

With the help of this tool? Could it really do that?

Curious, I gathered some mana in the hand wearing the bracelet… It did feel… easier? But I couldn’t quite examine myself…

“It’s easier, I guess, but… I have no idea what to do with it…”

“Ah, you don’t have much practice with using mana to examine someone… I see… Of course not...”

“Ahaha…”

“Well, feel free to try around a little if you want… I once more apologise I cannot be of further help.”

“No, this is already something, at least.”

Knowing that I lacked most organs and a skeleton for a fact was… Well, not really eye-opening, but it did give me some… closure, you could say. Maybe his analogy of saying I was mimicking a human’s body was pretty close to the truth? It did sound… reasonable, somehow. Otherwise, I couldn’t explain it either. But then again, monsters were… mimicking living beings. Didn’t that professor say something to that effect?

“Ah, right. There’s one thing I noticed…”

“Nn?”

“Again, I am not an expert on the matters of monsters and their mana crystals. But according to my knowledge, the more mana a crystal contains the tougher it grows. And it also changes shape to a degree… The weaker the less… symmetrical its shape is.”

“Haaa…”

While I didn’t know about the shape but I did hear several times that the crystals grew tougher.

“The crystal I could feel in your body was… very symmetrical… It wasn’t quite a sphere but something… close, I believe. Either way, it felt like the amount of mana such a crystal should exhibit should be far larger than the mana your body actually contains?”

“It should be… larger?”

“Yes. Assuming what you said is the truth and the Witch Yumias had her hands in this, maybe the crystal that formed was intended for a far larger amount of mana. But it doesn’t have as much mana as it should, so it voraciously absorbs it from the surroundings…”

It voraciously absorbed mana because it was lacking…

“Again, this is just my theory. And who knows how much mana it truly would need. The strongest monsters in existence possess more mana than the entire country’s stockpile of mana crystals.”

“That’s a lot…”

If I actually needed that much mana, this probably would never end, would it?

“Anyway, that was the last thing I wanted to add.”

“Nn, thank you.”

This already helped a lot. It felt a little like… a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Yes… I did feel a little relief. Odd. Here we were, and the final nail was hammered into the coffin. But, surprisingly, I was relieved…

“Mhm, well… I believe this is all I can do for now. Or, did you also need an examination?”

The High Priest, ready to wrap up, turned to Karen.

“Eh? Well, yes…”

“Mh. Is it related to this?”

“Not quite… But a little, maybe…”

“Hmm? A little related… Well, I’ll take a look. Could you switch seats?”

“Of course.”

“Nn.”

Following his request, I left the chair I occupied and switched with Karen. Sitting down on the chair she just sat on, I could feel the residue of warmth on the seat.

“Your hand, please.”

“Here.”

“Mm.”

The High Priest took her hand and started with the examination. Honestly, seeing him holding Karen’s hand did bother me. Just a little. But it bothered me… Maybe I was a little possessive too.

“Mh. I see. A demonkin that awakened to its roots.”

“Awakened to its roots?”

“That’s what we call them. It’s a peculiar condition of demonkin. Extremely rare, as far as I know.”

So rare that we actually had three of them here… Two were still waiting outside. Well, assuming Sele really had the same condition.

“Alas, I admit this, too, is something I am not perfectly familiar with. The demonkin aren’t fond of the ones with this condition. I assume your life wasn’t easy either, seeing that you are with mercenaries.”

“...”

“Be that as it may, there is a little I can tell you.”

“... Really?”

The High Priest nodded, much to both of our surprise.

“Do you know of the story that proclaims demons as the progenitors of today's demonkin?”

“I do.”

I didn’t.

“Mh, as I thought. So, the question is what actually are demons? And that, unfortunately, is something I know very little about. I heard it used to be a research topic in the Academy before it got forcefully stopped since it hurt relations with Aldreigh.”

“It was stopped?”

“Yes, it was. Aldreigh wasn’t fond of our kingdom looking into their past, you could say. To prevent relations from deteriorating, they stopped the research.”

Karen frowned when she heard about that.

“However, there are a few things we did learn. Demons are… varying, in appearance and abilities. In a way, they are similar to monsters, which might be where the discrimination stems from.”

“They’re… similar to monsters?”

“Yes. They do not possess a mana crystal and they are functional living beings. At least, the demonkin are, including the ones that supposedly awakened to their roots. But very, very old accounts of demons tell of creatures not too dissimilar from monsters. However, they were highly intelligent and possessed no mana crystal.”

The High Priest paused for a moment before continuing.

“The problem is that these accounts date to far before even the Great Spirit War. It is said that a large war eradicated all demons in the world. Very few beings from that time are still alive. And if we keep it to the ones we can converse with… the only one alive might be the Witch herself.”

“... What about the Great Spirits?”

“Ahh! The Great Spirits! I am pleased to know you would ask for help from them! However… They rarely talk to us… and they do not respond to requests of this nature. Unfortunately, you wouldn’t be the first to try so.”

“...”

His momentary elation aside, it didn’t seem like that was an option either.

“But… Aldreigh might know something. I mean, the people high up. They, even more than Lafria, are a nation that pursues knowledge. They extoll self-discovery and knowledge about magic of any kind. Yet, their own past is something they keep under the coffin’s heavy lid. I cannot explain it in any other way than… that they know something.”

“Aldreigh…”

So, the only option was that we tried to find a clue in Aldreigh?

“Well, that aside, do you have any particular discomforts?”

“Huh?”

“Do you?”

“Eh, no…”

Stumped by the sudden question, it took Karen a moment to respond to him.

“Mh. That is good. Some demonkin like you experience various troubles. The symptoms they have are as varied as they could ever be. If you have no discomfort, that is a good sign.”

“I see…”

That she was having no troubles was a good sign, he said. That was a relief.

“Still, I probably should tell you what I do know about demons and the demonkin. However, since this might be a little long, we should first finish everything else. Is that acceptable?”

“... Yes, it is. There are also two other girls who would like to hear that, I’m sure.”

“Oh? Three of you. Even for me, so many in one spot is a first. Mhm, then we shall discuss this after.”

He nodded a few times, before changing the topic.

“Now, to the other part. The pink strand in your hair, do I presume right that it is not dyed?”

“... Yes.”

“As I thought.”

I could feel my body tense up. This… So he noticed something when he examined her.

“Do you know of the term mana corruption?”

“Uh, I think it was when one monster manakin’s mana corrupted another being’s mana, right?”

“Oh, you know about it? That is admittedly a surprise.”

“A professor in the Academy told us about it.”

“You visited him? I see, I’m not the first you consulted. That makes sense.”

As best as we could consult that odd guy.

“Then, I assume you already understand yourself that this is, without a doubt, such a case. Right?”

“... Yes.”

“Mhm. Well, as long as you know, that is good. Although, there’s nothing we can do against it.”

“...”

“Ah, don’t look so concerned. mana corruption is technically nothing… troublesome.”

It wasn’t?

“In fact, for some people, it might even be a boon. A person who wasn’t a manakin before could turn into one. Which is, without a doubt, the most common reason for its occurrence among humanoids as well. And as a manakin, they also enjoy the benefits it brings. Most notably a longer lifespan. Although, most attempts end in vain since monsters strong enough to corrupt a humanoid aren’t known for being docile.”

“...”

“What I don’t know is, how it would affect someone who already is a manakin… By all rights, mana corruption shouldn’t occur in this case, yet it does.”

He held his chin, staring straight at Karen while pondering.

“The only thing I can recommend is observing it. Since you said there were discomforts earlier, I assume this extends to this as well?”

“Well….”

“... Is there something?”

“It’s not exactly something of a discomfort.”

Karen averted her gaze, glancing awkwardly in my direction. Was it related to me? Ah, was she talking about...

“It’s, uhm…”

“Heightened desire?”

Karen nodded at the question. Apparently, I was wrong? I didn’t know that she experienced that.

“Mhm, that could be an influence of the corrupting mana, yes. Since the mana in question is of a rather peculiar nature. However, it could also just be because of your newfound relationship.”

The High Priest chuckled, causing Karen to inch back a little in embarrassment. 

“If it’s just that, there is nothing to worry about. That is a normal part of everyone.”

“I… I see…”

“Are there any other problems?”

“Well, I don’t feel hungry… Even when I eat, I don’t really feel filled… Only when… then…”

Once more, she glanced in my direction, hoping he would get the gist. She was likely more than a little troubled at discussing this with him. I could only cheer her on in my mind.

“Mhm… That is an issue, all right. Did you have trouble because of the lack of hunger?”

“No… Not at all.”

“Even when you didn’t eat?”

She nodded. Which only caused the High Priest to tilt his head.

“I guess I have to apologise once more. I have little idea what could be the reason for that.”

“I see…”

“Apologies.”

“No, it’s okay. Thank you.”

He didn’t know either… then… who could know about this? It seemed, there was no other way than actually asking Yumias, after all…

“Are there any other things you would like to talk about?”

“No, that’s all.”

“Then, it seems we have finished.”

The High Priest clapped his hands once as if to mark the end of it.

“Let us return to the others for now. Ahh, to think the Fairy Lady is waiting just outside. Truly, I thank you, Great Spirits, for this day!”

Leaving those words behind, he went to the door, leaving ahead of us... Exchanging a wry smile, Karen and I followed behind, marking the end of our slightly odd examination.

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