Chapter 63

I handed the cloudy crystal, now full, to His Grace and attached an empty cloudy crystal to the device. To stabilize the amount of blood to be extracted, I first had to channel my magic power into the device, which combined the cloudy crystals. There was one empty cloudy crystal, and two red cloudy crystals containing Bergenion's magic power. This device would activate the magic array as drawn until the magic power in the cloudy crystals ran out.

(The magic array is fine. The amount of magic power supplied is also fine. Now, I just need to observe...)

As the magic-infused cloudy crystals began to glow red, I paused the incantation and watched, breath held, as the magic poison from the wolf was sucked into the activated device. Just like when I chanted the ancient magic incantation, the black blood, tainted by the magic poison, floated up. As the single drop, no larger than a fingernail, was sucked into the cloudy crystal, the mages who were watching alongside me let out sighs of relief.

"Amazing. With this cloudy crystal, the magic barrier around the castle walls can be maintained stably, can't it?"

"There are plenty of magical creatures, so it's perfect for Galbreath, which never runs out of magic power."

"Is it possible to replace the ancient magic with ordinary magic?"

"If we can store magic power stably, there seems to be no need to stick to ancient magic."

The mages began to voice their opinions. As I was trying to decide which question to answer, Odilon, the head of the mages in Midleag, stepped in.

"You guys, if you don't understand how impressive this is, you're still inexperienced. No matter what kind of magic you use today, you can't do something as monstrous as this. I can't do it. My body would break down."

Odilon sighed as if saying, "Oh well." Odilon, who has the blood of the forest people, has golden hair that sometimes looks like young grass in the light, and appears to be a few years older than me. He has been a mage in Midleag since before His Grace came to Galbreath and was the one who calculated the amount of blood to be extracted using a complex formula.

The mages, who had been scolded for being inexperienced, were given some new tasks by Odilon, who then turned to me.

"Well, Princess of the North. You need to rest. Do you understand your current condition?"

"My current condition, you say?"

I might be tired, but the relief that the device was working properly made me feel more excited than anything. I didn't think it would be a big deal to observe the device for a little longer. When I tilted my head, Odilon let out a more dramatic sigh.

"Extreme fatigue due to the sudden release of magic power from your body."

Odilon grabbed my right wrist firmly.

"Huh?"

"Plus, the depletion of magic power due to the prolonged chanting of ancient magic."

"Um, um..."

A sense of exhaustion spread from the wrist he grabbed, even though he was just holding it and doing nothing else.

"Your body's magic power flow is a mess."

"But..."

"Before you collapse, go to the tent and rest."

Odilon spoke to me as if he were scolding a disobedient child.

(Collapse? I'm going to collapse? But I feel fine...)

I had managed to stay up for two days and nights in the research building of the Martial Raid. I thought I could still do more, but when I became aware of it, it felt like my body wasn't my own, and I dropped to my knees.

"Melfi!"

I heard His Grace's voice from behind and the sound of him running over. However, my knees were shaking, and I couldn't even lift my head.

"What happened?! Odilon, what happened?!"

I leaned on His Grace, who supported me from behind, feeling apologetic. Odilon let go of my wrist and sighed with a hint of exasperation.

"Oh well. Just like the young master in the past. Severe magic depletion due to excessive magic release. I thought this girl would be fine, but she wasn't."

"Don't call Melfi 'young master'! If it's magic depletion, natural recovery is best... but is Melfi like me?"

"The ancient magic array consumes magic power like crazy. Especially this one, which combines several abnormally complex magic arrays."

"Could it be that Melfi also has a tendency to have too much magic power?"

"Not as much as the young master, but more than an average person, right? People with too much magic power find it difficult to understand their limits. Not knowing the bottom of their magic power, they recklessly release it and collapse. When was it?"

"Ugh... don't look at me like that. I can manage myself now!"

"Really? More importantly, your young master's princess is about to fall asleep."

"Melfi?!"

While listening to their conversation from a distance, I felt as if I was in a swaying cradle. I could hear a steady heartbeat close to my ear. Although I could see, my head wouldn't work properly, and I just stared blankly at the air.

(Warm... feels good...)

The warmth, the swaying, and the steady heartbeat made me sleepy, and I slowly closed my eyes.

"Melfi, you can sleep as much as you want."

(Is this voice His Grace's?)

Hearing His Grace's gentle voice close by, I almost fell asleep, but I remembered something important and became slightly more alert.

"Your Grace"

"Hmm, what is it?"

"Three hours, three hundred rilutes"

"Huh?"

"Three hours, three hundred rilutes, strictly."

"......Understood."

"Give Tenro plenty of water."

"Don't worry. I'll take responsibility and watch over it."

His Grace, as always, was reliable. The moment my brain understood that I could trust His Grace to watch over it, I surrendered to the sleepiness.

When I next woke up, it was after sunset. I had been dozing and turned over, finding something fluffy and warm next to my stomach, which I hugged tightly.

"Kyaun" it made a cute sound and started to move with a will of its own.

(...Is this a young wolf? Why is it here?)

I looked at the young wolf, which was nibbling on my hand and rubbing its head against me, and suddenly realized where I was.

(Where am I?!)

Looking around, I understood that I was in His Grace's field tent. However, I couldn't remember why I was sleeping there. While soothing the playful young wolf, I drank two cups of water and ate a few dried fruits that were placed there.

"Are you not hungry?"

"Kyuwa?"

The young wolf's belly, which had fallen to the ground, was noticeably swollen.

"Hehe, your belly is like a balloon."

While petting the soft, fluffy belly of the young wolf, I wondered why I could see a bright light through the tent, even though the magic lamp inside the tent was not lit.

"A... Ah?!"

I must have been half-asleep. I remembered that I was treating the wolf and hurriedly rushed out of the tent.

The large, white wolf was huddled on the straw laid on the magic array. Knights like Chaos and Myran were on guard, and His Grace and the mages, including Odilon, were surrounding the device of the magic array.

"His Grace, I'm sorry! I fell asleep completely!"

"Kyaun!"

I tried to run to His Grace but stumbled on the grass and fell to the ground, along with the young wolf that had been following me.

"Melfi?!"

"Ouch..."

I hadn't fallen since I was a child. His Grace, who had come to my aid, helped me up, but I couldn't meet his eyes out of embarrassment. The young wolf seemed to be fine, licking the dirt off its white fur.

"Rest a bit more. Your magic depletion won't recover so quickly. It's only five and a half hours."

"Magic depletion... but, I can't just..."

"It's fine. Your device is working smoothly. Look at that."

His Grace pointed to the cloudy crystals that had been filled with the magic poison extracted from the wolf. One was still dark black, but another had a hint of red, indicating the blackness had faded. Sensing my gaze, Odilon showed me three more cloudy crystals. One, which seemed to have been recently extracted, was clearly the color of blood.

"Is... Is the amount of magic power contained the same? Is the magic array working normally? What about the spell formula?"

I was worried that the magic power concentration might be too low for the amount of blood extracted, so I asked a series of questions.

"It's working exactly as drawn, your magic array. It's a bizarre and complex magic array that won't work if any part is missing."

Odilon looked complicated. My magic, which I had learned on my own without attending a proper academy, must seem strange to a mage like Odilon.

I brushed the grass off my knees, took His Grace's hand, and walked to the device. The cloudy crystals containing Bergenion's magic power were almost empty. The cloudy crystal currently set to extract blood was about half full.

"The sediment isn't that bad. I think it's about time to rely on the wolf's recovery ability."

I agreed with Odilon. To my eyes, it seemed that the wolf's body no longer needed to be forcibly extracted by the magic array. The magic poison that had been eating away at the wolf's body seemed to have been almost completely extracted.

I looked up at His Grace, and he seemed to feel the same way. He looked at the wolf, which appeared to be sleeping on the straw, and nodded.

"Let's stop the device and observe for a while. The wolf's condition has visibly improved since about three hours ago."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. While you were sleeping, it even ate a chunk of Backhorn meat. It's a wild creature, after all."

If it couldn't eat, it would die immediately. Since the wolf had eaten on its own, it must be getting better.

Then, I suddenly realized something was wrong.

(I think I fell asleep around midday...)

Could it have recovered so much in just four or five hours? Moreover, the device was set to extract 300 rilutes of blood every three hours, and there were five cloudy crystals, which seemed odd.

(So, it's five and a half hours in the evening?)

The autumn sunset was early, and the sky was already dark. It was just after dusk, and the sky was still faintly bright...

(What? The eastern sky is bright?)

I looked up at His Grace in surprise.

"What's wrong, Melfi? Is something bothering you?"

"His Grace, is it five and a half hours in the morning?"

"Yes, that's right. What's the matter? Why do you look so surprised?"

What a blunder. I was so shocked that I lost all strength in my legs, still holding His Grace's hand. It turned out that I had slept for more than fifteen hours after my first magic depletion.

(At such an important time when the wolf's life was at stake, how could I...)

The young wolf at my feet rubbed against me. Its round, red eyes made me feel uncomfortable, and I squatted down.

As the night began to turn to dawn, Midleag was enveloped in a bright red sunrise. The white fur of the wolf turned red, and so did I, the young wolf, and His Grace.

"Uuon"

The mother wolf, awakened by the dawn, let out a small cry. Seeing the wolf's red eyes, which had lost their cloudiness, I sighed in relief.