“…….”
The quiet plant research lab.
Being quiet didn’t mean that no one was present.
There were clearly two elves, but they were maintaining silence like the other plants in the research facility.
However, the silence became unbearable, and Millerd finally spoke up.
“Doctor, is that child really okay?”
“I don’t know. I’m a botany expert, not a doctor.”
All he had done was what he could.
Dr. Galund Tirphind, a leading authority in botany.
He has been dedicated to this field for over 100 years, making him the oldest botanist of this era.
Having lived for 200 years, he possessed a wealth of miscellaneous knowledge.
Thanks to that, he was able to realize that a circle was present in the child’s heart, prompted by the child’s seizures and the strange reactions of the mana plants.
Noticing his student’s overly tense shoulders, he sighed and lowered his cane once again.
“Anyway, you have a big mouth.”
Tsk-tsk, he couldn’t retort against his master’s scolding words.
“……You’re right. I should have been more careful.”
Millerd bowed his head in self-reproach.
Reflecting on the situation at that time, it was almost entirely his responsibility.
At that moment, the child had evaluated the demilite and commented on the scent.
Hearing that the ‘sweetness’ was missing must have triggered a thoughtless question from him.
After that, the child suddenly screamed, clasped their hands, trembled, and then started to cry.
‘I shouldn’t have asked where they had smelled that scent before…’
We weren’t detectives, but neither were we idiots.
As scholars in the botanical field, we possessed knowledge of scents beyond that of the average person.
Thus, they could quickly recall.
Among perfumes, there certainly existed fragrances that imitated the extraordinarily refreshing and aromatic demilite.
Perfume companies strive to offer products with better scents to customers, so there was a trend where products artificially sweetened with demilite had been popular at one time.
Although it was no longer in fashion, just a few years ago, that perfume was quite popular.
Most likely, the smell the child had ‘once smelled’ was that scent.
It was probably something their parents used to wear.
On that note, there was also a clue. The child was particularly fixated on the ‘demilite’ among all the flowers.
If one considered it as the scent of the perfume their parents used, this all made sense.
However, the child’s parents had long since passed away.
The rampaging circle.
And it was common knowledge how much ‘mana accumulation patients’ typically restrained their emotions.
Perhaps a memory of their parents had erupted into emotions.
Why hadn’t he realized it sooner? Millerd sighed, collapsing back into his chair with a fist pressed to his forehead.
He couldn’t bear to look at his student’s expression, which seemed to indicate that he was the most unfortunate person in the world, so he struck his cane upon his head.
Thud!
“Ow!”
He was already on the verge of tears, and now a trickle had escaped.
“Lift your head. How could I have known that child had a circle inscribed in their heart?”
“But……”
His disciple, Millerd, looked at his master with an expression of dissatisfaction.
However, lacking the courage to meet the angry gaze of his master for more than a second, he quickly shifted his gaze toward the pot that formerly held the demilite.
“……”
Dr. Tirphind checked the pot following Millerd’s gaze.
He shrugged and said, “What could have been done? At that time, it was something we had no choice but to use.”
Naturally, the lab did not have any medicine suitable for circle patients.
There wasn’t a single researcher suffering from a circle here.
Although it was a research lab for all kinds of plants, plants that help stabilize circles are rare.
Immediate effects are even rarer.
So it was unavoidable.
Demilite’s honey.
Believing that it would have an ‘emotion-relieving’ effect, they administered the child’s divine tears.
As a result, the child’s seizure symptoms noticeably alleviated.
Well, such a rare honey would surely not have weak magical effects.
As he stared at the empty pot, his disciple asked him.
“Could it be that you feel regret?”
“What? Regret over demilite?”
Smack-!
“No, I just thought you were staring at the pot…”
“Ugh, you foolish child!”
Dr. Tirphind lectured.
“Think about it. The flowered demilite and the life of the child who made the demilite bloom. Which is more important?”
To put it simply, the gold before you versus the goose that lays golden eggs.
It should be obvious which one to choose as the important one.
“……”
Millerd rubbed his forehead and pondered while looking at his solemn master.
In truth, there was no proof that Luke had made the flowers bloom.
It could simply be a chance occurrence, and even if Luke had done it, there was no guarantee that the same event could happen again.
If that weren’t the case, then their act of saving a child while wasting a plant that had been researched for over half of an elf’s lifespan of over 200 years couldn’t be seen as merely a calculated decision.
Millerd smiled bitterly.
“Ha ha. Indeed…”
It hadn’t even been a few hours since they talked to the child, yet they might have already become infatuated with that child.
“By the way, Erel…”
“Yes, that was what you murmured when you collapsed.”
“I can’t remember the last time I heard that word.”
The old man lifted his head and gazed out at the dark sky outside, lost in thought.
Erel.
Hearing the word, its meaning came to mind as if it had been forgotten for a long time.
A term so ancient that its origins were obscure, it meant ‘a being as precious as one’s own reflection.’
Suddenly, at some point, it had become a word no one used anymore.
“……It seems you really miss the embrace of your parents.”
Just as he turned his head back from the window.
-Thank you for helping Erel!
“Eh? Millerd, was that sound you just made?”
“No? I didn’t say anything?”
“What is it; have my ears gone bad already…”
“Honestly, given your age, that could happen.”
Smack-!
“Ow!”
——–
Drip, drip.
In the hospital room, Luke lay on the bed, monotonously watching the drops of the potion fall from the drip line into the collection container.
Having lost consciousness for three days, Luke was currently quite hungry, but the doctor insisted that ‘immediate food would strain his stomach, so the potion must be administered first for quicker recovery.’
“What a useless action…”
This was clearly a waste.
A waste of resources.
Luke looked at his wrist with a bitter expression.
‘Useless actions, perhaps.’ That might be the case.
For Luke, a recovery potion wouldn’t hold much meaning.
Yerna, watching him, thought she disliked how she understood Luke’s feelings.
This was all due to the results of a detailed examination at Beriton’s hospital.
‘If mana continues to accumulate at this rate, in simple calculations, in three years he will reach a mana level unmanageable for any living species.’
‘Three years…’
If he was going to die in three years anyway, then a recovery potion would be a useless action.
Coincidentally, that coincided with the time when Luke’s protection would end.
What kind of trick of fate was this?
In the end, it seemed Luke understood when he would die.
Otherwise, how could he show such a look of sorrow and bitterness when looking at the IV drip?
Perhaps it was because he knew his own end that Luke could pour all his passion into whatever he did.
“I’m sorry, Yerna. I always end up worrying you.”
“No, you really don’t need to worry about that, Luke.”
Yerna waved her hands dismissively.
He nodded but thought further. Even if she says not to worry, how could he?
Luke felt that the best thing to do was to divert his gaze from Yerna to the flowerbed outside the window.
“……”
“……”
Then silence ensued.
Luke felt strangely uncomfortable and tried to squeeze out something to say.
“Oh, by the way, how do we handle the airplane? If Shirud isn’t here, we can’t board the plane. How are we returning to Aires?”
“Oh, about that, don’t worry. Shirud hasn’t returned yet.”
“Is that true? I really feel bad for that kid; didn’t anything else happen?”
“That can’t be true. When news reached us that you had collapsed, it was quite a big deal. The spacious single room became crowded.”
The entire class had come to visit.
Emma, the homeroom teacher, had to pay special attention to Luke, who was normally a circle bearer, but she had neglected that part because Luke usually seemed so bright and cheerful, and she apologized for it.
Honestly, she didn’t do it on purpose.
At that time, she was so angry she had scolded him heavily… well, now that Luke had awakened, should she call to apologize?
No, on second thought, that was justified anger.
As a homeroom teacher, being negligent was unacceptable; she should just text an apology.
She would have to mention that Luke had woken up too.
“Shirud was a great help, you know.”
He had reportedly stayed in the hospital with Mary for quite some time.
It seemed he even held Luke’s hand tightly and prayed until he collapsed himself.
“Is that so?”
Luke nodded.
It was likely that Shirud, in his own way, was trying to stabilize Luke’s circle by holding his hand.
Though it was impossible.
The disparity in abilities was so overwhelming that even direct contact with the heart posed a question of whether it would work, rendering it a reckless attempt.
Shirud might have put himself in danger.
‘I’ll have to scold him about that later.’
With that thought in mind, Yerna suddenly took out her phone, saying she had received a call and would step out for a moment, leaving the hospital room.
Left alone in the room, Luke found himself staring out of the window, having nothing else to do.
Then he noticed the well-tended flowerbed of the hospital.
“Hm.”
Since he had nothing to do until the drip finished, he thought it would be better to enjoy the flowers, so Luke got up.
——–
“So, is this the last information you sent?”
-Yes, as you said, we searched for a few more days, but it’s only that photo we managed to recover.
“……”
Yerna stared blankly at the photo sent to her on her phone and gasped.
Wait a minute, the shape in this photo…
This is… no way.
“Uh, Yerna.”
Suddenly!
“Eek!”
Yerna hurriedly hid her phone behind her back. Luke looked at her in confusion.
“Yerna, what is it? You’re acting so startled…”
“Oh, oh, it’s nothing. But why?”
“No, I was just wondering if it would be okay to visit the flowerbed in front while on this IV.”
“Oh, is that so? Sure, let’s go!”
Yerna quickly manipulated her phone to hide the screen with the photo and nonchalantly took Luke’s hand, leading him down the corridor.
As they walked, Yerna shook her head slightly, trying to erase the image that had lodged itself in her mind.
Then, another call came in.
-Hey, why did you suddenly hang up? What’s going on?
“For now, I’m going to hang up. I’ll explain in detail later.”
Click.
“What on earth could be going on?”
“Aha ha, it’s nothing.”
Yerna’s forced laughter prompted Luke to scratch his chin, but one hand was caught with Yerna, and the other was tied to the IV drip, leaving him no choice but to tilt his head in confusion.
His expression was quite cat-like, causing Yerna to remember the photo she had seen earlier.
A photo of an animal caged in a cage.
That too…
‘A cat with horns.’
This had to somehow be related to Luke. It certainly was.
