"Lieutenant Jaeger, follow me."
After leaving regimental headquarters, Seraphina left only those words behind and began walking ahead.
'…….'
I didn’t bother speaking first and simply followed her. Without a single word exchanged along the way, we eventually arrived at the 2nd Company command tent. The inside of the tent was empty.
Thud.
The moment I stepped inside, 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 if they would pierce right through me.
But she could not bring herself to speak rashly.
'Status Analysis.'
[Name: Seraphina von Reinhardt]
[Emotion: Great confusion from the sensation lingering on the back of her hand. Great hesitation over whether she should share her secret.]
I could clearly see the words [Great Hesitation] floating in her status window. Behind that icy mask, she was desperately agonizing. Whether she should reveal her greatest weakness to this capable yet inscrutable subordinate.
And I had no intention of handing over the initiative. Before she could speak first, I decided to beat her to it.
"Captain, you don’t look well."
At my low words, Seraphina’s shoulders stiffened faintly. Her blue eyes flashed sharply 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 problem. It’s a medical one."
From here on, I needed to act flawlessly. It was time to make use of my skill.
'Charming Speech.'
Ding—
[Skill 'Charming Speech (Lv.3)' has been activated.]
I continued in the most persuasive tone I could muster.
"During my time at the Imperial Central Academy, there was a field I delved into with as much interest as tactics. Battlefield medicine—particularly the interaction between mana and the body. At first, they were merely papers I read because I was interested in magical techniques for treating wounded soldiers."
Seraphina’s gaze wavered faintly. She lightly wet her dry lips with her tongue and asked in a voice that was still sharp, but softer than before.
"So, what did you read in those books? And on what grounds are you saying my condition is a medical problem?"
"Your symptoms, Captain… are remarkably similar to a rare illness I read about there."
I met her eyes directly and continued speaking as though I were a scholar faced with a rare disease.
"In the early stages, it begins with intermittent fatigue or minor pain, but as time passes, the symptoms worsen. Eventually, it causes pain that feels as if it is flaying the entire body, as though every blood vessel is being pierced by needles. It may be possible to suppress it with strong willpower, but without a fundamental solution, the body will collapse first in the end."
"……."
[Name: Seraphina von Reinhardt]
[Emotion: Extreme agitation, shock and fear that her deepest secret has been seen through, intense suspicion regarding Max Jaeger’s identity]
"At first, I didn’t think much of it. The chronic fatigue you displayed, Captain. But to dismiss it as merely the appearance of a capable commander suffering from overwork… there was something unnatural about it. As though you were constantly fighting something invisible."
I took one step toward her. Seraphina’s tightly sealed lips parted ever so slightly.
"The decisive moments were what I saw at the supply depot last time and in the conference room today."
"…."
"Although they were very brief moments, there was a spasm as if you were suppressing extreme pain, and your complexion turned sharply pale. Those are not symptoms that can be explained by simple fatigue or dizziness. They are… classic seizure symptoms that appear when mana within the body goes out of control and flows backward, destroying the flesh from within."
"…!"
"Mana Overload. Am I right?"
Seraphina could no longer make excuses. She merely let out a trembling breath. She could neither affirm nor deny it. But her silence served as the clearest affirmation.
Ding—
[Skill 'Charming Speech (Lv.3)' is affecting 'Seraphina von Reinhardt.']
['Seraphina von Reinhardt' acknowledges your suspicion.]
'Good.'
Seraphina sank weakly into the chair beside the desk.
"…Yes. You’re right."
She rubbed her face with both hands, then finally spoke in a voice that seemed to have resigned itself to everything.
"It is a chronic illness I’ve suffered from since childhood. I couldn’t tell anyone. No, I wasn’t allowed to. If it became known that I cannot properly control the mana I take such pride in… not only my authority as a commander, but even my family’s standing would be shaken."
She raised her head and looked at me.
"Until now, I endured it by suppressing it with willpower. I could somehow still perform during operations…. But recently, the seizures have been coming more frequently, and their intensity has grown worse. I myself could feel that I was nearing my limit."
She stopped speaking and took a moment to steady her breath. And when she opened her mouth again, her voice had regained its former composure. It was the voice of a commander.
"This matter is known only to you and me, Lieutenant Jaeger."
An icy chill once again settled in her blue eyes.
"Of course, Captain."
I answered without the slightest hesitation. Keeping it secret. That was exactly what I wanted as well.
Seraphina was still staring straight into my eyes. The icy mask had cracked, but the wariness beyond it had not yet completely vanished.
She moved her lips for a moment, then finally asked the most important question.
"…Back in the conference room. When you held my hand. What exactly did you do then?"
There was a thread of hope in her voice.
"You only held my hand, yet the pain subsided in an instant. How in the world…."
I took a brief deep breath. Because what I was about to say was even more important. In truth, everything until now had merely been the process of having Seraphina confirm the secret I had discovered through [Status Analysis].
Now I had become the sole subordinate who shared my superior’s secret. How would I make use of that? I brought out the answer I had prepared in advance and activated my skill once again.
'Charming Speech.'
[Skill 'Charming Speech (Lv.3)' has been activated.]
"What I did for you, Captain, was a kind of emergency treatment. It is not a formal cure."
Seraphina’s gaze wavered faintly. She seemed disappointed by the words that it was not a formal cure. I paid it no mind and continued.
"Have you perhaps… heard of something called the 'Biological Resonance Attunement Method'?"
"…Never heard of it."
"Naturally. It is an ancient manual therapy that has now almost been lost in practice. I, too, merely stumbled upon the concept while digging through old papers at the Academy."
I pulled out the lie I had been using all along: old papers from the Academy. At the same time, I began explaining what I had felt through [Touch of Attunement].
"According to the paper, every living creature possesses its own unique biological energy wave. In a healthy state, that wave flows steadily and smoothly like a river. But in cases of Mana Overload like yours, Captain, the wave becomes rough and irregular, like a storm. That is the cause of the pain."
I paused for a moment and observed her reaction. Her expression was subtle. It couldn’t be helped. Unlike the proper medical knowledge I had spoken of until just now, this was practically no different from pseudomedicine. In other words, pure quackery. If I were Seraphina, I wouldn’t have believed it either.
But Seraphina had no choice but to keep listening to me. Throughout her life, she must have made every possible effort to alleviate the symptoms of [Mana Overload] even slightly. But all of them would have failed. Even in the original game, unless it was something on the level of a transcendent-grade artifact, nothing was effective against [Mana Overload].
And yet that thing had been alleviated merely by a brief touch of the hand. From her perspective, she had no choice but to keep listening to me, even if she was clutching at straws.
"The Biological Resonance Attunement Method uses the practitioner’s stable biological energy wave as a kind of tuning fork. Through direct contact via the hand, the rampaging mana’s wave resonates with my stable wave, temporarily correcting its flow. That is the principle."
I babbled whatever came to mind. But Seraphina asked seriously, as though it were her only lifeline.
"…You use your stable wave?"
"That’s right. Back in the conference room, when I held your hand, Captain, I unconsciously attempted this method. Fortunately, it seems to have worked."
"If that’s true… is treatment possible as well?"
"A cure is impossible. Because this is an extremely dangerous and delicate technique that cannot be attempted recklessly."
I drew the line carefully.
"Captain. This is not a fundamental cure. It is merely like building a temporary dike in a storm-swollen river to divert the flow for a short while. The dike will collapse someday, and the river will flood again. All I can do is buy you a little more time."
And finally, I drove in the wedge. An offer that sounded too good would inevitably be suspected as a scam. I had to make her clearly recognize that this was by no means easy for me either.
"To be honest, it is an act that places a considerable burden and risk on me as well. Directly touching mana flowing in reverse is… a dangerous gamble that could disturb even my own stable energy flow. Even in the conference room earlier, though it was only for a very brief moment, the terrible chill climbing up through my fingertips nearly made me lose consciousness."
I deliberately mixed in some exaggeration.
And Seraphina seemed completely persuaded by my words. Her wariness had vanished entirely.
[Skill 'Charming Speech (Lv.3)' is affecting 'Seraphina von Reinhardt.']
[She is beginning to trust your claim.]
"…Why would you take such a risk to help me?"
Seraphina asked in a trembling voice. I brought out the most plausible answer I had prepared.
"I merely wish to serve under a capable commander. Because you leading the company in optimal condition, Captain, is the surest way to increase the survival rate of both myself and my platoon members. This is for your sake, but in the end, it is also for my own."
Upon hearing my answer, a faint crack appeared in her expression. She looked as though she had finally made up her mind.
'Status Analysis.'
[Name: Seraphina von Reinhardt]
[Emotion: A sense of connection toward the only person who understands her pain, guilt and gratitude toward a subordinate willing to take risks, strong hope that this situation can be overcome]
"…Very well, Lieutenant Jaeger. I accept your proposal."
At her consent, I let out a sigh of relief inwardly.
Then Seraphina asked me this.
"Then… what should I do now?"