Chapter 139
He had expected her to keep her eyes closed for at least a day, but Seri-ah opened her eyes much earlier than that.
'There’s nothing particularly bad about it.'
It was actually better this way, as he could hear her own input while checking her physical condition.
Because it meant he could notice a little earlier if any problems arose.
“Where in the world is…”
Seri-ah, having opened her eyes, looked around with a bewildered gaze.
Then, discovering Zeni-ah and Franz, she urgently began to flail about.
Of course, there was no way she could get out just by doing that.
The magical engineering device was designed that way, after all.
Simply put, going in was up to her, but coming out was not.
Considering it was designed that way for some sort of experiment, it was incredibly foul, but he decided not to dwell on it right now.
“Y-you, do something…”
“I was planning to do that anyway.”
Leaving behind an awkward-looking Zeni-ah, Franz approached Seri-ah.
Seri-ah stopped thrashing and glared at Franz with eyes full of murderous intent.
It was understandable since she didn’t know the situation, but as the one who had taken charge of her treatment, he couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.
“What in the world are you trying to do to me?”
“I’m not going to do anything in particular.”
“Then why did you lock me up in a place like this?”
“Because that was the only way to treat you.”
Seri-ah tilted her head as if she didn’t understand, then slowly began to examine her own body.
The only outwardly visible change was that a bit of skin had formed over her stomach, so she wouldn’t be able to tell exactly what had happened.
But she would at least notice that whatever had been inside her stomach was replaced by something else.
Was it time to slowly start explaining?
“Zeni-ah begged me to save you, saying she would do anything. I simply accepted.”
“What…? Z-Zeni-ah did…?”
Complex emotions surfaced on Seri-ah’s face.
Zeni-ah, who had been standing behind Franz, took a step forward, and Franz stepped back to give them space.
It seemed much more efficient for Zeni-ah to explain the situation than for him to do it.
“Zeni-ah, why did you do such a thing…?”
“Because losing you was scarier than dying.”
“B-but then to that man…!”
“I know. I know that our lives won’t be much different from before.”
Listening to their conversation, Franz sighed inwardly.
For some reason, they were speaking informally to the person they should address formally, and formally to the person they should address informally.
Well, it wasn’t like he particularly wanted honorifics anyway.
Ending that thought, Franz turned his gaze away from them and began to examine the surrounding materials.
They were materials he had briefly skimmed right after becoming the Magic Tower lord, so most of them hadn’t stuck in his memory.
“How did the people of this era end up researching monsters?”
Perhaps they had tried to use the magic power that monsters possessed.
Seeing as there were even experiments to create homunculi by combining humans and monsters, it was a reasonable assumption.
“Wait, a combination of a human and a monster…?”
At that moment, someone came to Franz’s mind.
The bizarre-looking woman he had met during the process of finding the sealed holy relic.
It was her, the one who had made her dwelling in the cave and was guarding the holy relic.
She still remained in his memory because she possessed the bizarre ability to make magic itself disappear.
“Maybe there is something.”
Franz hurriedly began to rummage through the materials.
It was purely out of personal interest, but one could say that such curiosity was exactly what allowed a mage to develop further.
The materials, old but well-preserved, quickly passed before Franz’s eyes.
How much time had passed like that?
“Was it just a baseless assumption?”
Before he knew it, a pile of materials had stacked up on the table, but Franz couldn’t find the information he was looking for.
He was just about to give up.
Beneath the table, there was a small book with a rather luxurious appearance.
Picking up the book, which was about the size of a personal notebook, Franz brushed the dust off the cover.
Small letters were revealed.
[Deliaspi Dyne]
It was a name Franz knew well.
He was a genius mage who had made a name for himself as the Magic Tower lord in the distant past.
It was none other than him who had abolished the outdated magic system and established the foundation for modern, practical magic.
He had thought it was an old place, but to think it dated all the way back to that era.
Anyway, if there were any records about magic left inside, it would be a massive discovery for Franz.
There were many ways to expand one’s intellectual horizons, but the most efficient method was to converse with an expert in the field.
Even if it wasn’t a conversation, a book would yield equivalent results.
Sitting on a suitable box nearby, Franz immediately opened the book.
『February 9th, Year 17 of Astra.
I have built a laboratory to create a weapon combining a monster and a human.
Starting today, I plan to conduct experiments on monsters and humans here.
I do not know what the results will be, but it is undoubtedly a highly fascinating subject.
May this experiment resolve my unknowns.』
So that human was the one who made this place.
Not only that, but he was also the one who conducted the experiments.
If this information were to be revealed, it would cause a lot of controversy.
First and foremost, the stone statues built to honor him would probably all be torn down.
Experimenting on humans was not something easily accepted, after all.
Even if it was for the advancement of magic.
Even while thinking it was an unnecessarily unpleasant book, Franz couldn’t stop turning the pages.
『January 28th, Year 18 of Astra.
After nearly a year of research, I have finally grasped a clue to success.
As proof, I have succeeded in combining a human woman and a young dragon.
It was thanks to the dragon’s mighty life force suppressing the rejection response.
Although many were sacrificed to obtain a live dragon, at this level, their sacrifices were not in vain.
Now, the day I can cure my wife is not far off.』
Looking closely, this book seemed closer to a diary than an experiment log.
The personal entries written in between were proof of that.
Anyway, to think the day he could cure his wife wasn’t far off.
He didn’t know the exact details, but there was definitely some sort of problem, and he had undoubtedly tried to find the answer through this experiment.
A doctor would look for answers in medicine, but a mage naturally sought answers in magic.
He had done his best within his own abilities.
『February 1st, Year 18 of Astra.
The experiment is a failure.
The woman lost her memories and began to run amok.
Is there no way to recover while fully preserving the memories?
…Why did Your Highness make humans so weak.』
『February 3rd, Year 18 of Astra.
My wife has died.
I have decided to stop these experiments, which no longer hold any meaning.
I plan to seal this laboratory.
If, in the distant future, some great mage discovers this space, I want to ask.
Has Mana Petrification Disease become curable?』
It seemed his wife had been suffering from Mana Petrification Disease.
It was a disease that Mages commonly contracted, where the mana inside the body hardened like stone, eventually causing even the mana core to harden, leading to death.
That was definitely why he couldn’t receive help from Clerics.
Because what they could do was strictly limited to physical recovery.
Unfortunately, everything after that was blank.
He must have abandoned this book along with the laboratory when he closed it down.
Thud-.
Closing the book, Franz fell into thought for a moment.
“A way to cure Mana Petrification Disease…”
It still remained an incurable disease for Mages, so it was safe to say there was no existing cure.
Except for exactly one thing.
Transplanting a new mana core.
That method, which was theoretically possible but absolutely impossible to realize, was the only way to cure the disease.
And it was also the method Franz had just used to treat Seri-ah.
'Of course, if I were told to do it a second time, I definitely don’t think I could…'
Thinking that, Franz turned his head toward the magical engineering device, but Zeni-ah had approached him at some point.
“Seri-ah says she wants to talk a bit…”
“Alright, I’m coming.”
If the patient wanted to talk, he had to go.
He also had things he wanted to say while he was at it.
Franz immediately approached the magical engineering device where Seri-ah was.
Perhaps because she had just spoken with Zeni-ah, the emotion felt from Seri-ah was quite different from before.
More accurately, her wariness had softened a bit.
“You said you had something you wanted to say?”
“I heard everything from Zeni-ah. I also understand that you aren’t a particularly bad person.”
So she had understood reasonably well.
If he had told her directly, she wouldn’t have believed him, so leaving it to Zeni-ah had indeed been the right answer.
“Still. If you’re planning to make Zeni-ah do something, make me do it instead. Zeni-ah only did that to save me anyway.”
He didn’t have any particular intention of making them do anything.
Even if he did, he would have just asked them to help with research or do odd jobs around the Magic Tower.
One way or another, they had talent in magic, so they were too valuable to just leave alone.
But there was no need to explain that right now.
“Alright, I’ll do that.”
“I, even though my body is a bit like this, haven’t had anything done to me so far. So, as for your expectations…”
“I don’t know what in the world you’re thinking, but nothing like that will ever happen.”
Maybe it was because they were close, but their thoughts were exactly the same.
The problem was that those thoughts were skewed in one direction.
Franz let out a long sigh and continued his explanation to her.
Like how she had to stay in there for the time being, or what she needed to be careful of from now on.
He also told her about the new functions that had formed in her body.
“You’re saying I’ll be able to eat food…?”
“Yeah, since you don’t have a stomach, there won’t be any digestion or absorption processes, but you can eat.”
“Then can I eat meals together with Zeni-ah now too?”
“Well, for now.”
Having explained everything to Seri-ah like that, Franz finally gave Zeni-ah something to eat.
Even though it was just jerky, bread, and water again this time.
“I’ll buy you something a bit more proper tomorrow. Just endure with this for today.”
“…This is enough, though.”
“Anyway, don’t touch the things in here.”
“Understood.”
Unlike at first, Zeni-ah nodded obediently.
Wondering if he had missed anything else, Franz pulled a sleeping bag out of his bag.
It was a bit old, but it wasn’t a terrible item.
“Sleep in here.”
“…Why are you doing so much for us?”
“Because if I save you and then neglect you, I won’t be able to sleep well.”
Zeni-ah burst into a soft laugh, pfft-.
He didn’t know exactly what part of that was funny, though.
Having finished all his business on the 5th Basement Floor like that, Franz returned to the Magic Tower Lord’s Office using Spatial Movement Magic.
He needed to unseal the weapon he had torn out of Seri-ah’s body, but it seemed getting some sleep was the priority for now.
Because he had moved around too much today.