An Ancient Secret Art That Has Almost Been Lost

"Lieutenant Jaeger, follow me."

Leaving regimental headquarters, Seraphina said only that and started walking ahead.

'…….'

I did not bother speaking first and simply followed her. We walked without saying a word, eventually arriving at 2nd Company's command barracks. It was empty.

Thud.

As soon as I entered, the door behind me closed with a heavy sound. Seraphina walked to the center of the room, turned around, and faced me head-on. Her ice-cold eyes stared at me as though they might pierce straight through me.

But she could not bring herself to speak rashly.

'Status Analysis.'

[Name: Seraphina von Reinhardt]

[Emotion: Great confusion over the sensation lingering on the back of her hand. Great hesitation over whether to share her secret.]

I could clearly see the words [Great Hesitation] in her status window. Behind that icy mask, she was desperately deliberating. Was it truly safe to reveal her greatest weakness to this capable but unreadable subordinate?

And I had no intention of surrendering the initiative. Before she could speak, I decided to make the first move.

"Captain, your condition doesn't look good."

At my softly spoken words, Seraphina's shoulders stiffened slightly. Her blue eyes sharpened with wariness.

"What do you mean, Lieutenant? Are you saying my judgment was clouded during the meeting just now?"

"No."

I shook my head.

"It's not a tactical issue. It's a medical one."

From this point on, I needed to put on a perfect act. It was time to use the skill.

'Captivating Speech.'

Ding-

[The skill 'Captivating Speech (Lv.3)' is activated.]

I continued speaking in as convincing a tone as possible.

"During my time at the Imperial Central Academy, there was a field I studied as avidly as tactics. Battlefield medicine—particularly the interaction between mana and the human body. At first, I only read those papers because I was intrigued by magical techniques for treating wounded soldiers."

Seraphina's gaze wavered faintly. She ran her tongue lightly over her dry lips, then asked in a voice that was still sharp but somewhat softer than before,

"So what did you read in that book? What grounds do you have for saying my condition is a medical problem?"

"Your symptoms… are astonishingly similar to a rare disease I read about there."

Looking straight into her eyes, I continued speaking like a scholar confronted with a rare illness.

"At first, it begins with intermittent fatigue or minor pain, but as time passes, the symptoms worsen. Eventually, it causes pain that feels as though it is slicing through your entire body, accompanied by the sensation of needles pricking the blood vessels throughout you. You may be able to suppress it with sheer willpower, but without a fundamental solution, your body will eventually collapse first."

"……."

[Name: Seraphina von Reinhardt]

[Emotion: Extreme agitation; shock and fear at having her deepest secret seen through, and intense suspicion of Max Jaeger's identity]

"At first, I didn't think much of it—the chronic fatigue you displayed, Captain. But there was something unnatural about it, something beyond the appearance of a capable commander worn down by overwork. It was as if you were constantly fighting something invisible."

I took a step toward her. Seraphina's tightly closed lips parted ever so slightly.

"The decisive evidence was what I saw at the supply depot last time and in the briefing room today."

"…."

"It was only for a very brief moment, but the spasms that seemed to accompany the suppression of excruciating pain and the sudden pallor—those aren't symptoms of simple fatigue or dizziness. They are the typical symptoms of an attack that occurs when the mana within your body runs out of control and flows backward, destroying your body from within."

"…!"

"Mana Reflux (Mana Overload). Am I right?"

Seraphina could no longer make excuses. She could only exhale a trembling breath. She could neither confirm nor deny it. But her silence became the clearest confirmation of all.

Ding-

[The skill 'Captivating Speech (Lv.3)' affects 'Seraphina von Reinhardt'.]

['Seraphina von Reinhardt' acknowledges your suspicion.]

'Got it.'

Seraphina sank weakly into the chair beside the desk.

"…Yes. You're right."

She rubbed both hands over her face, then finally spoke in a voice that sounded as though she had given up on everything.

"It's an illness I've suffered from since childhood. I couldn't tell anyone. No, I wasn't able to. If it became known that I couldn't properly control the mana I take pride in… not only my authority to command but my family's standing would all be shaken."

She raised her head and looked at me.

"Until now, I've endured by suppressing it with sheer willpower. I could somehow still perform during operations…. But lately, the attacks have grown more frequent and more severe. Even I could feel that my limit was approaching."

She stopped speaking and took a moment to catch her breath. When she opened her mouth again, her voice had regained its former composure. It was the voice of a commander.

"This is something only you and I know, Lieutenant Jaeger."

Her blue eyes once again turned icy.

"Of course, Captain."

I answered without hesitation. Keeping it secret was something I wanted as well.

Seraphina continued staring straight into my eyes. Her icy mask had cracked, but the wariness behind it had not completely disappeared.

Her lips moved hesitantly for a moment, then she finally asked the most important question.

"…Back in the briefing room. When you held my hand. What exactly did you do?"

There was a faint thread of expectation in her voice.

"You only held my hand, but the pain subsided in an instant. How did you…."

I took a deep breath. What I was about to say mattered even more. In truth, everything up to now had merely been the process of confirming the secret I had discovered through [Status Analysis].

I was now the only subordinate who knew my superior's secret. How could I make use of that? I brought out the answer I had prepared and activated the skill once more.

'Captivating Speech.'

[The skill 'Captivating Speech (Lv.3)' is activated.]

"What I did for you was a kind of first aid. It isn't a formal treatment."

Seraphina's gaze wavered faintly, as though the words 'not a formal treatment' had disappointed her. I continued speaking without paying it any mind.

"Have you perhaps heard of something called 'Biological Resonance Tuning'?"

"…I've never heard of it."

"Naturally. It's an ancient manual therapy that has almost been lost. Even I only came across the concept by chance while digging through old academic papers."

I brought out the lie about old academic papers from the Academy that I had used so many times before. At the same time, I began explaining what I had felt through [Touch of Tuning].

"According to the paper, every living thing possesses its own unique bioenergy wave. In a healthy state, those waves flow steadily and smoothly like a river, but in someone suffering from mana reflux like you, they become rough and erratic like a storm. That is the cause of the pain."

I paused and watched her reaction. Her expression was difficult to read. It couldn't be helped. Unlike the proper medical knowledge I'd offered so far, what I was saying now was little more than pseudoscience. In other words, snake oil. Even if I were Seraphina, I wouldn't have believed it.

But Seraphina could do nothing but continue listening to me. She must have devoted every effort throughout her life to relieving the symptoms of [Mana Reflux] even slightly. But all of it must have failed. Even in the original game, nothing short of a transcendent-grade artifact could affect [Mana Reflux].

An affliction like that had been alleviated merely through slight contact with my hand. From her perspective, even if she had to grasp at a straw, she had no choice but to keep listening.

"Biological Resonance Tuning uses the practitioner's stable biological energy waves like a tuning fork. Through direct contact with the hands, it makes the rampaging mana waves resonate with my stable waves, temporarily correcting the flow."

I babbled whatever came to mind. But Seraphina asked seriously, as though it were her only lifeline.

"…You use your stable waves?"

"That's right. When I held your hand in the briefing room, I unconsciously tried this method. Fortunately, it seems to have worked."

"If that's really true… can it be treated?"

"It can't be cured. This is an extremely dangerous and delicate technique, so it can't be attempted lightly."

I carefully drew a line.

"Captain. This isn't a fundamental treatment. It's like temporarily building an embankment on a river raging beneath a storm to divert the water for a while. The embankment will eventually collapse, and the river will flood again. All I can do is buy you a little time."

And finally, I drove the point home. An offer that sounded too good was bound to be suspected of being a scam. I needed to make it clear that this was by no means easy for me, either.

"To be honest, it also places a considerable burden and risk on me. Direct contact with mana in reflux is… a dangerous gamble that could even disrupt my own stable energy flow. Even in the briefing room, though it was only for a moment, the brutal cold traveling up through my fingertips nearly made me lose consciousness."

I deliberately mixed in a little exaggeration.

And Seraphina seemed completely convinced by my words. All her wariness had disappeared.

[The skill 'Captivating Speech (Lv.3)' affects 'Seraphina von Reinhardt'.]

[She is beginning to trust your claim.]

"…Why are you willing to help me despite taking such a risk?"

Seraphina asked in a trembling voice. I brought out the most plausible answer I had prepared.

"I simply want to serve under a capable commander. The captain leading the company in peak condition is the surest way to improve the survival chances of my platoon members and me. This is something I'm doing for you, Captain, but in the end, it's also something I'm doing for myself."

At my answer, a faint crack appeared in her expression. She finally looked as though she had made a decision.

'Status Analysis.'

[Name: Seraphina von Reinhardt]

[Emotion: A bond with the only person who understands her pain, remorse and gratitude toward a subordinate willing to take risks, and strong hope that this situation can be overcome]

"…I understand, Lieutenant Jaeger. I accept your proposal."

At her acceptance, I breathed an inward sigh of relief.

And then Seraphina asked,

"Then… what do I do now?"