[V13C14] Connected Hope

Elianne Hyatt sat by the window in her room on the top floor of the Magic Corps station, quietly embroidering a piece of cloth.

Once the sky was dyed in the crimson sunset, she returned her embroidery needle to the pincushion.

Currently, she was wearing a dress that covered up to her neck, combined with a pair of gloves, a headscarf, and even a veil. This was a more conservative outfit than any nun.

The reason for her excessive clothing was to hide her rotting skin and uneven hair.

This was still significant progress compared to before, when she refused to leave the cover of her blanket. At least now, she had the willpower to dress herself.

However, her internal doubts did not disappear. Elianne still wondered if she was better off dead, which clashed with her determination every day.

For now, at least, she has managed to keep living.

(…I guess I’ll light the lamp and continue embroidering.)

Elianne had never been particularly good at embroidery, so she had to double-check the pattern after every stitch.

But this was a good thing in her current state.

Her thoughts would eventually start wandering if she only did things she was accustomed to. On the other hand, doing unfamiliar things would consume her attention and prevent her from thinking bad thoughts.

Ellianne returned her embroidery tools to the desk and walked over to the window, which she had opened a tiny gap for ventilation.

As she reached out to close the window, Elianne saw something. There was a silhouette fluttering through the vermilion sky, but it seemed too large to be a bird.

(T-That’s…)

The figure wobbled dangerously low to the ground, before suddenly rising with great momentum. Then, it repeated this process several times as it got closer and closer.

“Elly!!!”

The moment she heard that voice, Elianne flung the window open.

“Glenn-sama!”

The figure turned out to be Glenn, clad in blue robes. He ended up flying into Elianne’s room headfirst and sliding across the floor.

Glenn slowly rolled over and raised the bag in his right hand.

“I brought Gluttonous Zoe… back…”

He spoke in a raspy voice, but trailed off as his arm fell limp at his side. His eyelids went shut, and his usual cheerful smile was nowhere to be seen.

“G-Glenn-sama? Glenn-sama!” Elianne screamed as she approached Glenn.

She had no way of knowing this, but Glenn had gone on to deliver Gluttonous Zoe to the capital immediately after the battle with Theodore. As a result, he had flown an incredible distance with barely any time to rest.

“S-Someone! Anyone, please come! I need help!”

Elianne raised her voice for the first time in a long while.

＊　＊　＊

The Silent Witch had defeated Theodore in Sazandol, and the ancient artifact he stole eight years ago was returned to the capital.

However, the death of Gluttonous Zoe’s contractor was not enough to return everything the artifact had consumed.

One week had passed since Glenn delivered Gluttonous Zoe to the Magic Corps station, and they had yet to recover Elianne’s skin and hair.

“The type of the thing stolen affects the stabilization rate.”

Currently, Hubert was explaining the situation to Glenn and Norman in a study room of the Magic Corps.

While Hubert possessed a challenging personality, he was also a genius in the field of magic tools. So much so that Gideon Rutherford had requested his assistance in analyzing Gluttonous Zoe.

“Let me put it in simple terms. It all depends on whether or it’s physical or not.”

“Physical?” Glenn asked. “What’s that supposed to mean? It doesn’t sound simple at all.”

“Physical means something you can touch. According to the reports, Monica had her memories stolen, but she managed to recover them without any issues. No one can touch memories, right?”

Glenn found it difficult to follow, but Norman, who was listening alongside him, seemed to understand to some extent.

“Dee-sensei. What does that mean for the Smoke Mage’s age? Does that count as physical or not?”

“I’ll be honest with you. We still don’t know.”

“Huh? Then what have you been doing?”

Glenn interjected in exasperation, but Hubert simply continued with his usual grin.

“What happened to the Smoke Mage is somewhat similar to body manipulation magic, though there are some subtle differences. I’ll spare you the details, but Gluttonous Zoe seems to consider age and magic as somewhere in between physical and non-physical.”

Glenn mulled over Hubert’s explanation in his head.

When reclaiming things from Gluttonous Zoe, physical things were hard to stabilize, while non-physical things (like memories) were easier to stabilize. Age and magic fell somewhere in between.

(I guess the President’s face is somewhere in between too? The whole changing faces thing should be based on magic… I think…)

Had Isaac reclaimed his face in the first place?

Glenn was not given any detailed explanation, but he saw Cyril return with Gluttonous Zoe and he knew that Monica reported back safely. This meant that everything was probably alright.

“Hmm-mmm-mmm… The Smoke Mage’s age is certainly an interesting topic, but we can leave that aside for now. I’m sure you want to know about the young lady’s skin and hair…”

Even while delivering grim news, Hubert refused to stop smirking.

“She won’t ever return to normal. The stabilization rates for skin and hair are just too low.”

“No way!”

“Well, maybe she could get some better treatment if the Royal Institute of Magic got their hands on some medical-support tools. But unfortunately for her, those are challenging to transport.”

“W-What? Can’t they just take Elly to a facility with those tools…?”

“In that case, they’ll have to send Gluttonous Zoe along with her. However, the bigwigs here don’t want Gluttonous Zoe leaving the capital. Looks like we’ve reached a dead end.”

Glenn found himself glaring at Hubert, even though he knew that this served no purpose. There was simply no other outlet for the frustration and helplessness surging within him.

(But we all worked so hard to get Gluttonous Zoe back… I-I promised Elly…!)

Glenn grinded his teeth as he sat back into his chair. Norman looked at him with concern, while Hubert watched with amusement.

Glenn resisted the urge to punch Hubert, leaving his fists shaking.

“Anyway,” Hubert said, waving a ring-adorned finger left and right. “Here’s a question for you. You’ve heard of the Transport King and the Anderson Company, right? They’re the ones who came up with refrigerated carriages.”

“What does that have to do anything?”

Glenn snapped back with a low growl, but Hubert simply continued in his usual tone.

“Refrigerated carriages are equipped with magical tools that maintain the constant use of ice magic. What do you think is the most prominent feature of these carriages?”

“…The fact that they keep food refrigerated,” Glenn muttered, “Isn’t it obvious?”

Without affirming or denying Glenn’s response, Hubert turned to Norman, who straightened his spine and spoke with confidence.

“Unlike small magical tools, medium to large-sized tools are easily damaged by vibrations, making them difficult to transport. Meanwhile, the one used in those carriages is a medium-sized magical tool, so it should not be suitable for installing on a carriage.”

“Which means?”

“It means they have the technology to protect larger magical tools from vibrations, allowing them to be transported by carriage. I believe that is the most prominent feature of refrigerated carriages.”

“Oh, I see,” Glenn mumbled, genuinely impressed.

However, he quickly went back to glaring at Hubert again. In the end, the topic of refrigerated carriages still had nothing to do with Gluttonous Zoe.

However, Norman soon gasped in realization.

“I see now. The Anderson Company has the technology to transport large magical tools… In other words, their carriages are capable of transporting the medical-support tools from Ambard…!”

Hubert fluttered his hands and put on a smile.

“Well done. And it seems someone already negotiated a deal with the Anderson Company and Count Ambard in this short period of time. Quite the capable guy, don’t you think?”

It was not possible to borrow the Anderson Company’s refrigerated carriages and Ambard’s medical-support tools just by asking nicely.

To think someone had done all this behind the scenes! Glenn could not help but wonder who.

“So once those medical tools are transported to the capital… Can they cure Elly?”

“Don’t ask me.”

Hubert simply gave a nonchalant shrug. Considering how medical-support tools were still a developing technology, this was the natural response.

But at the very least, there was room for hope.

Glenn did not know who, but someone out there had pulled the threads of hope together.

“Oh yeah,” Hubert continued. “I heard those medical tools need a bunch of mana to activate. They’re apparently looking for volunteers who are good at mana manipulation.”

Immediately, Glenn stood up and declared, “I’m going!”

＊　＊　＊

Two weeks had passed since the battle with Black Dragon Theodore, and the Seven Sages made their return to the capital one after another.

The first to return was the Artillery Mage, who had headed for Kerbeck.

Following him, the Starseer Witch, Abyss Shaman, and Fifth Thorn Witch returned from their stay in Sazandol.

A few days later, the Aquamancy Mage returned from his expedition with the navy.

Additionally, after confirming that the water dragons in Sazandol were mostly gone, the Dragon Slayer Mage returned to the capital using flight magic, with the Silent Witch on his back.

At this point, only the Fourth Thorn Witch, the Starspear Witch, and the Barrier Mage had yet to return to the capital.

Melissa Roseberg was staying behind to oversee the Sazandol branch of the Mage Association, and Carla Maxwell was delayed due to handling the aftermath of the Rainfield Forest.

As for Louis Miller, he had apparently decided to leave a few members of the Magic Corps to defend the border, as he made a temporary return to the capital. He was currently on his way back.

Meanwhile, the Royal Institute of Magic had started experimenting on the medical-support tools. They were hoped to eventually be used for removing shadows, as well as stabilizing Elianne’s stolen skin and hair.

Glenn had little to contribute on the research side, but he was confident in his mana capacity and mana manipulation techniques. The researchers gladly accepted his offer.

“Glenn-kun, can I talk to you for a moment? Or rather, I have something to report.”

Glenn was approached by a young man with tied brown hair. It was Hugo Galletti, the disciple of the Artillery Mage.

The Seven Sages as a whole offered their full support to the medical tool effort, but among them, Bradford Firestone had the greatest involvement.

While Bradford boasted the highest firepower among the Seven Sages, he shared some similarities with Glenn in terms of mana capacity and mana manipulation techniques. In other words, he was the Sage most suited for supplying the medical tools.

As a result, his disciple Hugo often visited the Royal Institute of Magic, usually to deliver messages.

“Hugo-san? What’s this about?” Glenn asked.

“Apparently, the researchers are ready to start experimenting on the samples. And of course, the early experiments come with the risk of failure.”

Even with access to the medical-support tools, it was not feasible to start research immediately.

The first step was to inspect the tools for possible damage and malfunctions caused by the transportation, and training the researchers on how to use them. There were many such tasks, and all of them took time.

Only once these preparations were complete could they start working on a way to stabilize Elianne’s skin.

…However, Elianne was the daughter of a duke. Experimenting on samples of her skin was too risky, as the high chance of failure meant she could lose part of her skin permanently.

It was only natural to begin the experiments in an area with less risk.

“…So they considered starting with the young lady’s hair,” Hugo explained. “But if they’re going with hair, there’s a much more suitable experimental subject, right? You know, the guy who’s returning to the capital soon…”

Glenn understood what Hugo was implying.

There was a certain man who lost his hair to Gluttonous Zoe. This man possessed high physical strength and magical resistance, making him the ideal subject for experiments.

The only issue was whether or not he agrees to being experimented on.

“…What did the other Sages say to that idea?” Glenn asked.

“Three votes that he makes a run for it. Three votes that he gets violent.”

Glenn silently cast one vote for ‘violence’ as he looked out the window. His master was somewhere out there, in the northeastern sky.

Vote Breakdown

Escape: Starseer Witch, Thorn Witch, Dragon Slayer

Violence: Artillery Mage, Abyss Shaman, Silent Witch

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