Chapter 25 – Truth and Responsibility (3)
“Ughhh….”
“You’re awake.”
A thick, low voice answered the faint groan.
Bright sunlight streamed through the window, and thin cloth fluttered, creating a strange atmosphere.
“Where… am I?”
The boy wrapped in thick bandages raised himself up.
A quiet hospital room with no one but himself.
And what came out of his mouth was the name of the boy he had seen in that final moment.
“Cid… That bastard Cid used Mana Burn on me! He was determined to kill me!”
“Weren’t you the one who tore the Explosion Scroll at the last moment? Seems like you were determined for both of you to die.”
Ri let out a sigh and closed his book.
Soon, he drew back the curtain, revealing a face that was far from good condition.
The stylishly swept bangs hung down long and limp, and his lips were dry between his thick beard.
Even the deeply sunken dark circles proved that he had been unable to rest for quite some time.
Jii realized a long time had passed since he lost consciousness.
“Brother? How many days have I been lying here?”
“Four. Thanks to you, I haven’t slept a wink. I kept channeling mana into you to save your circle. Thanks to that, I stopped your circle from breaking.”
“Brother….”
The boy’s eyes reddened.
Though Jii had done many sly and cruel things, he was still young, and he sobbed as if he would burst into tears at any moment.
A warm hand from Ri touched such a younger brother.
“I’m glad you’re alive.”
“Brotheeer…!”
As if confirming he was indeed the boy who had tried to kill Cid, Jii burst into tears.
After crying like that for a long while, the boy clenched his fist and shouted.
Recalling Cid, who had put him in this state, an unbearable rage welled up.
“I still can’t forgive him for putting me in this state! Mana Burn? Ha, tsk, I can’t even speak. This was an attempt to kill me! I’ll tell Father right away and——”
“It was a rebound.”
“Huh?”
“A rebound.”
His brother’s calm tone reached his ears.
Jii doubted his own ears and raised his head.
His eyes were swollen from shedding hot tears, but the word “rebound” rang clearly in his ears.
“Not Mana Burn, but a rebound?”
“That’s right. Cid failed the Mana Burn. A spell cast in an exhausted state couldn’t possibly exert its proper effect. Because of that, he only shattered his own arm. What broke you was the rebound.”
Ri shot a look at his thoughtless younger brother and closed his mouth.
The first thing he looks for upon waking is Cid.
Bangs that hadn’t rested for four days concealed his deep blue eyes.
Moreover, due to the heavily sunken dark circles, thick shadows filled his handsome face.
“Th-then… is it all my fault that I ended up like this?”
“Yes. Don’t blame others—blame yourself. How long do you intend to throw tantrums?”
Rebound.
It refers to the phenomenon where mana from a failed spell returns to the mage.
Usually, when casting is interrupted or a spell is cancelled by external intervention, the mana returns to the mage’s body.
Because it is accompanied by a slight shock and resistance at that time, it was named Rebound.
But Jii’s case was different.
The magic Jii had tried to use was the “Explosion” his father had made for him.
For some unknown reason, the mana that failed in the Explosion slammed into Jii’s body.
Thanks to that, the boy’s circle was destroyed by the tremendous mana backflow.
As if he had been struck by a Mana Burn.
Moreover, it was too much to expect his magic circuits to remain intact within such a swirl of mana.
“At first, I thought it was Mana Burn too. But the healing team checked and it was a rebound. Ha, tsk, to think you failed a spell from a scroll. Even a dog would laugh, you bastard.”
His calm, reciting gaze was piercing.
His haggard eyes glared at his younger brother.
At his brother’s sharp gaze, Jii swallowed.
Of course, it was a rare thing for magic used via a scroll to fail.
Unless the scroll had been defective from the start or damaged during the fight.
Moreover, there was no way Cid had interrupted the scroll’s magic, so the possibility was next to none.
“Then you’re saying the mana refluxed because I couldn’t even use the scroll properly… Ugh!”
The very moment he understood his condition, a sharp, intense pain was felt.
A pain as searing as the moment he had been hit by the Mana Burn pierced his body.
Seeing his brother distorting in pain, Ri shook his head.
“There will be aftereffects. Withdraw from the academy.”
“Huh?”
“I’ve taken care of the personal issues. You just need to leave quietly. Don’t cause any more unnecessary trouble and do as I say.”
Upon hearing this bolt from the blue, Jii’s gaze turned to his brother.
To think he had to withdraw from the academy just because he lost a single duel….
Perhaps he had yet to come to his senses even after what happened; Jii glared with wide eyes.
“No matter how much you’re my brother, I can’t stand this! I’m not a fool! I’m the second son of Firepow! I’ll become a powerful mage following Father and you! Yes, if you’re going to be like this, I’ll tell Father and——”
“That’s not what I mean. Try making a flame.”
There was no emotion in his eyes as he spoke.
Jii’s heart felt like it had dropped at the hollow voice.
“Haha… Brother, really… why are you trying to scare me?”
Ri stared expressionlessly at his smiling brother.
An ominous silence, as if time had stopped.
Then, when Jii created a flame with an anxious premonition, immense pain spread through his fingertips.
“Kuaaaaack!”
“Do you understand now?”
His expression as he delivered the despairing news was utterly calm.
Jii looked at his trembling hand and opened his mouth.
At the fingertips that had been so confident, only hideous pain remained in place of a brilliant flame.
Neither a simple bolt spell nor a meaningless magic circle responded.
His face turned ashen as the unthinkable became reality.
“I-it can’t be….”
“Your magic circuits were destroyed by the mana reflux. I somehow managed to recover your circle, but the burnt circuits can’t be helped. Rest for a while and organize your thoughts. It will be a good time for you, too.”
“N-no, Brother! What do you mean I can’t use magic?!”
“Huu….”
Ri sighed as if the ground would give way beneath him.
His fallen bangs and dark circles.
Eyes devoid of life gazed at his unfortunate brother.
No matter how much of a delinquent his brother was, there was no older brother who would be happy to hear that his sibling had lost magic.
“I’m going now.”
Ri stood up and slicked back his hair.
The smoothly pushed-back hair fell down in a greasy clump.
“Don’t worry too much. Our uncle also lost his magic circuits once. He regained his fire, too, so don’t give up. Just think of it as the price for tormenting other students.”
“The price? The price for bothering those deficient kids? Ha! What does Father say? What about my friends!”
“Friends? The only one who came to visit you during all four days was Cid. And as for Father….”
Ri let out a sigh.
His legs, frozen in place, felt a pain he could hardly convey.
Clenching his teeth, Ri eventually delivered the terrible reality.
“Father has disowned you. I contacted him, but he wouldn’t show his face, not even once. He cursed you as one who couldn’t even use a scroll properly. I’ve informed your mother’s family, so you’ll be staying with them for the time being. Focus on rehabilitation. I’ll visit often.”
“Dis… disowned? Me? Why would I…!”
“Jii. No matter what anyone says, you’re my brother. Contact me if you have a hard time.”
“Brother! Wait, Brother!!!”
“Rest.”
Passing by his pitiful brother, Ri left the hospital room.
Silence settled in the hospital room that his brother had left.
The boy had lost the flame magic he had tirelessly boasted of, his elite friends, and even the family name he had worn like a habit.
“Keuk… Heuu… Kegh!”
His eyes, having lost what he loved and boasted of, were empty.
It was the moment when the one who had discriminated fell to the position of being discriminated against.
The boy who had become lower than those he had mocked eventually burst into tears.
* * *
[Ahh… My head hurts. Head? Where is this pain I’m feeling coming from? Do I even have a head?]
“Oh! Professor! It’s starting to operate properly!”
“Really? I’m coming right now!”
Two men headed toward the voice ringing in the empty air.
Various objects intertwined in a hazy vision like rising fog.
Soon, two men entered through the blurry vision.
Two men wearing white clothes.
One of them had long grey hair hanging down.
[I am… where is this…? Where am I? Where am I?]
Smiles spread across the two men’s faces at the precise vocabulary the unfamiliar being used.
The man with long grey hair let out a dry cough and leaned his head in.
Soon, his face came into view through the clarified vision.
“I am Bein Agnarsdotie Ahren. An alchemist, and your creator. How do you feel, Cintamani?”
The man who had entered the hazy vision was Liz’s father, Bein.
Bein tilted his head at the questionable vision and examined the protagonist.
The protagonist, barely enduring the dizziness, tried to feel his hands and feet.
But upon feeling nothing, his voice grew urgent.
[Cintamani? Creator? My arms… my legs… I feel nothing. What am I? Why was I created? If you are an alchemist, am I a homunculus?]
“Please calm down. You are the result of my research, ‘Cintamani.’ A type of magical artifact. Roy! The condition doesn’t seem good. Please check it!”
“Yes, understood!”
As if sensing the unstable condition, Bein waved his hand.
At his gesture, the man called Roy also busied himself with various tasks.
Bein and Roy.
Having scanned the two men, “Cintamani” established its identity between the chaotically tangled memories.
The being that had kept silent soon realized it was a circular crystal orb.
[I see… Have I been revived…?]
“Revived?”
Bein’s expression distorted at the unexpected answer.
Where his gaze turned was a crystal orb the size of a head.
The crystal orb emitted ominous mana and floated into the air.
“No!”
Turning deathly pale, Bein tore a scroll and lunged at the crystal orb.
Dozens of magic circles burst from the scroll and wrapped around the crystal orb.
However, the crystal orb, having disassembled all the magic, shone without a single scratch.
Having used the last scroll, Bein shouted toward Roy.
“Roy! Get out of this room! Escape the mansion with the employees… Liz! Liz is in the room across! Please take care of that child!”
“P-Professor!”
[I need power.]
When the startled Roy turned his head, Bein, caught by sticky mana, floated into the air.
Dozens of employees were visible beyond the open door.
As the flustered Roy ran toward the door, red mana closed it.
Bang!
The red light gradually approached.
The young researcher’s face distorted.
“Ahh… This research is a failure…!”
[I need a body… I need power… You shall become my hands and feet.]
The crystal orb shed red mana and nestled into Bein’s arms.
Bein, holding the head-sized crystal orb, left the room as if possessed by something, and Roy followed him, staggering along.
Only ten minutes since the crystal orb had been activated.
Bein’s mansion was eroded and swallowed by the crystal orb.
– To be continued in Chapter 26 –