Chapter 384

“What… did you say?”

The word slipped out before I even realized it. Leo waved a hand and took a step back.

“If it makes you uncomfortable, I’m sorry.”

“Wait—that’s not what I meant!”

I grabbed his wrist. Startled, Leo clutched the vial tightly to keep it from slipping out of his hand. My thoughts dissolved into complete chaos.

“…Why? Leo. Why would I have to drink blood?”

“…….”

He knows about the Extra Chapters? How?

That couldn’t be right. There was no way he could know. No matter how I thought about it, there simply weren’t enough clues. Blood was only needed to unlock an Extra Chapter—not every time I entered one. Even I hadn’t realized blood was the key until I drank Abraham’s blood and confirmed it myself. Someone who couldn’t even see the status window had nowhere near enough evidence to connect blood with the Extra Chapters.

Did he notice how I kept coming back with information after disappearing while my core connection was severed?

Sure, from that alone Leo could reasonably guess I was hiding something. But that still didn’t explain why he’d bring up blood.

Or… had he figured it out the same way he somehow knew about Retry? Just how much does he know about me?

Leo stared at me for a long moment before finally lowering his gaze.

“I’m sorry. I know you hate drinking human blood. I shouldn’t have brought it up if it was only going to upset you.”

“No—that’s not it.”

Without realizing it, I tightened my grip around his wrist and whispered, “What would I learn if I drank it?”

Confusion spread across Leo’s face. He tilted his head slightly, looking as though he couldn’t understand why I was speaking like this.

“…Your core absorbs mana. I meant you could drink it and absorb Ismailov’s mana. Why? What’s wrong?”

“…Absorb Ismailov’s mana.”

“Your body reacts differently depending on whose blood you drink. What did it feel like when you absorbed my mana?”

“Is that really important right now?”

“Tell me.”

“I told you—it felt like I’d been admitted to a hospital.”

“Be more specific.”

I frowned at him for a long moment before letting out a sigh.

“It felt comforting. Even though it was your mana, it became so completely mine that it almost felt like I’d been given an extra life. I even caught myself thinking, So this is what it’d feel like to be given another body. Satisfied?”

“I was hoping for a longer answer. That’s a shame.”

Is this really the time for that? I bit my lip as I looked at Leo’s faint smile. Resting his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands, he asked, “Then what about when you drank Senior Mecklenburg’s blood back in Brandenburg?”

“…….”

I froze, my mouth falling open, but Leo continued as if it were nothing.

“It left too deep an impression on your memory for me not to notice.”

“…I only drank it because I had to survive. If I wanted to figure out how to succeed next time, I had to keep moving, even after Senior died…”

“I know. You don’t have to explain yourself to me.”

“…….”

“So? What was it like?”

Tilting his head expectantly, Leo waited for an answer. I kept my eyes on the floor, rubbing my hands together before replying.

“You’re asking what his mana felt like, right? It was… clean. Surprisingly gentle—hardly any aggression to it. It blended in effortlessly. Different from yours… I’d call it refreshing, maybe. There was something distinctly aqueous about it… probably because of his ability. It felt like the sort of mana that would be easy for anyone to wield, and I doubt he ever struggled to control it himself. And…”

“That’s enough.”

Leo clapped once, cutting me off. He smiled at the wary look on my face.

“See? Now do you understand? You seemed suspicious of Ismailov’s mana, so I thought if you absorbed it by drinking his blood, you’d be able to experience it firsthand. I figured you needed blood but couldn’t bring yourself to ask me.”

“…….”

Ah.

The tension drained out of me all at once. I slumped backward onto the sofa with a heavy thud, pressing my palm hard over my eyes. Leo asked uncertainly.

“What’s wrong?”

“Hahaha…”

I’d completely misunderstood. Leo had brought the blood for exactly the reason he’d said: because my core absorbed other people’s mana and amplified it. That’s why he’d asked about the scratch on my arm.

‘I almost gave the poor guy a hard time for nothing.’

As I let out a long breath and finally relaxed, Leo quietly pieced together everything I’d told him.

“If Narke is right, and mana is rooted in the soul, then it stands to reason that abilities—which are rooted in the soul as well—would follow the same principle. By drinking someone’s blood, you’re getting closer to that person’s essence… in other words, their soul.”

“…….”

I froze again. Around Leo, I couldn’t afford to let my guard down for even a second.

‘That person’s essence’… If the Extra Chapters were worlds that unlocked with that person as their master, then they, too, had to be connected to one’s essence at their core. I never had much time to speak with the world’s master while I was busy resolving the incident, but fundamentally…

Leo murmured to himself.

“The more I think about it, the more extraordinary your ability is. There’s nothing else like it.”

“…….”

“The Papal See made an excellent decision appointing you as a cardinal right away.”

“And you made an equally excellent decision taking me into Bavaria.”

I cracked a joke to lighten the suddenly heavy mood. Smiling, Leo answered in complete earnest.

“Well, that’s only stating the obvious.”

“…Thanks for looking out for me. I was actually wondering whether I should ask you to get me some blood, so your timing caught me off guard.”

“Then I’m glad I didn’t bring it for nothing.”

Smiling, I reached for the vial in Leo’s hand. He didn’t let go. I looked at him questioningly, and he shook his head.

“I’m not handing it over just like that. I brought it for you, yes—but I don’t want you drinking it and something happening to you.”

“Then what is it now?”

“If you’re really going to drink it, I’ll draw some of my own blood first. You’ll drink Ismailov’s blood one drop at a time while I’m watching. We’ll see how your body reacts, and then I’ll overwrite it with mine.”

“…What are you talking about? Like you can just overwrite it.”

“Maybe 10 ml of mine for every 1 ml of his.”

The bastard actually smiled. At this rate I’d burst my stomach before anything else. I let out a dry laugh as I looked at the vial of Ismailov’s blood—there had to be at least 20 ml in it. I stared silently at the crimson liquid before speaking.

“How did you know I was trying to learn more about Ismailov’s mana? There are still so many things we don’t know about him.”

“Wasn’t it obvious? You deliberately turned that pheasant into a flower right in front of him.”

…Yeah. His insight was genuinely impressive. Whether he realized he had hit the mark or not, Leo continued calmly.

“Think about it. If his singing attracts animals, then that mana-made pheasant shouldn’t have had any reason to move. The fact that it did can only mean one thing… Ismailov’s song—his very essence, or perhaps his mana—has something special about it. That’s what you wanted to verify, wasn’t it?”

I smiled at his words and studied him in silence for a long moment. Leo frowned, puzzled. I placed my hand over the one holding the vial and gently pushed it back against his chest.

“Thanks for the gift. But I don’t need to confirm it anymore.”

“What?”

“I’ve already figured it out.”

I glanced at the clock. It was almost time to meet Elias and Narke.

Unlocking the Extra Chapter wasn’t a bad idea. Whether it would actually open was another matter, but it was worth trying. The problem was Leo’s declaration that, for safety’s sake, he’d make me drink his own blood at ten times the amount.

I’d have to calm him down before drinking it if I wanted to get this over with quickly. 20 ml wasn’t the issue—the problem was dividing it into twenty rounds of 1 ml of Ismailov’s blood followed by 10 ml of Leo’s. I had no confidence I could get through all that in one sitting.

There wasn’t time to talk him out of it now, so it’d be better to wait until the two of us were alone with nothing pressing to do.

I stood and motioned toward the door.

“Coming?”

“Where to?”

“If you don’t have anything else planned, let’s go meet the others.”

“It’s one in the morning now, right? And we’re going hunting again at noon?”

The moment Leo and I stepped into Narke’s room, Elias flashed a grin and immediately brought up the hunt again.

“All because Luka wanted to take pictures under the magnolias~”

“You don’t want to?”

“Me? Of course I do. It’s just… Luka doesn’t seem like the type to go hunting two days in a row.”

“No, I want to. I’m going with you guys, after all.”

“This time I’m definitely beating both of you! Got it?! You, Luka—and you, Leo.”

“Hmm. Is there really no scenario where we’re on the same team?”

Only then did Elias’s eyes light up, as if he’d just attained enlightenment. Seeing him about to launch into another rapid-fire speech, I waved him off and quickly took a seat.

“We don’t have much to go over today. You all need your rest, so let’s keep this short and wrap it up.”

“Works for me. After this, I’m making a few more rose pheasants and getting in some target practice!”

“Do you realize it’s bedtime? Keep it down.”

Leo’s scolding made Elias pout. Ignoring the two of them, I got straight to the point.

“Eli. Narke. You were teamed up with Ismailov, right? What happened?”

“He started humming, and real animals came over. The fake pheasants did too.”

Before the quietly smiling Narke could answer, Elias blurted it out. I nodded and continued.

“The fact that he attracted ordinary animals with no mana suggests two possibilities. First, what he used wasn’t conventional magic as we understand it, but an ability that can’t be explained by magical theory. One that isn’t even restricted by restraints. Second, he manipulated the animals’ minds. Whether that’s actually possible is another question.”

I looked around at my friends, all listening intently, then motioned to Narke.

“Narke, mind helping me out? Which hypothesis do you think is more plausible?”

“Either one is possible. If his ability can manipulate what a specific species is drawn to, then animals responding to his singing makes sense. And considering he subdued the Rampager with his requiem… taken together, it’s reasonable to conclude that his song allows him to control living creatures.”

“Good answer. Thanks. Now here’s the real question: how could a pheasant made entirely of mana be drawn to Ismailov?”

“Hmm… that’s the tricky part. Maybe it just followed the other herbivores~?! I mean, it moves like a pheasant, doesn’t it?”

It was a simple explanation. Real pheasants weren’t particularly intelligent to begin with, but the mana construct behaved even more rigidly than the real thing. The mana pheasant only had a handful of responses: it took flight whenever it heard a loud noise or sensed a predator, and otherwise it wandered aimlessly beneath trees and through the underbrush. That was all. But if it could recognize the movements of other herbivores, follow them over, and investigate what had caught their attention… wouldn’t that cross into the territory of a real living creature?

Leo seemed to find Elias’s explanation off as well. He inhaled quietly and folded his arms.

“…Even if it had been a real pheasant, if it saw a bunch of rabbits and mice gathering somewhere, I don’t think it’d have much reason to head over there. I won’t say it would never get curious, but it seems unlikely that it’d do it every time. If it were other pheasants gathering, that’d be different.”

“Fair point. Then what is it?”

I glanced at Narke, who was still staring silently at the table, before addressing everyone.

“What if Ismailov has more than one ability? Something like… a kind of ‘charm’ that acts on mana itself.”

“‘Charm?’ Toward mana? Hahaha…”

“To explain my thoughts from the beginning, I wondered whether Ismailov’s second ability might be the ability to draw targets possessing mana toward himself. But the pheasant didn’t approach him until he started singing, and he also used a song when he dealt with the Rampager. That makes me think the ability only activates while he’s singing.”

“Hmm. You really think so? I’d like a little more evidence before buying into it…”

Resting his chin on one hand, Elias drummed his fingers against the table.

“Actually, when I caught one of the pheasants, its body shimmered for a moment. That doesn’t normally happen, does it? That’s when I realized something was off. But the thing is, those of us standing nearby weren’t affected at all just because Ismailov started singing.”

“That bothered me too. If Ismailov’s song had affected your mana as well, there’s no way you wouldn’t have mentioned it by now. So…”

I revised my hypothesis.

“What if it isn’t drawing in mana emitted by living beings, but the ambient mana drifting through the atmosphere—through the universe itself?”

“…Ambient mana?”

“Yeah. Something like the aether Aristotle spoke of.”

Strictly speaking, the pheasant was made from artificial mana—mana with no inherent properties, colorless, odorless, and flavorless. The base mana used in potions is the same. It’s produced by taking mana that has passed through a human core and stripping away the traits imprinted by its owner, making it far easier to blend with other mana.

Under that assumption, even the pheasant’s mana—which would eventually disperse and return to nature once it broke down—could be treated as part of “nature.”

That raised another question.

What exactly was ambient mana—the so-called aether—in the era after magic came into existence?

During the Ion Forso, humanity was suddenly granted mana. Our generation inherited cores from those people, so it’s easy to think mana is purely hereditary. But Narke once told me that wasn’t actually true.

The prevailing theory is that mana has always existed throughout the world. Humans simply couldn’t perceive it until the Ion Forso, when they suddenly gained that ability. In Europe, that theory eventually became intertwined with the class system, the divine right of kings, and Christianity.

The problem, however, is that while people can sense mana, under normal circumstances they can only perceive the mana inside human bodies and artificial mana. The ambient mana permeating the grass, the earth, and even the air lies outside our perception, as though our senses simply pass over it. That’s why, for convenience, people usually say those things have “no mana.”

If I had to reduce it to an oversimplification, ambient mana is essentially the magical equivalent of the cosmic microwave background¹.

“Even now, Ismailov should be able to draw in the ambient mana permeating the air and the forest around us. The question is whether he’s doing it consciously… During the pheasant hunt, at least, he wasn’t. At first, he clearly had no idea the pheasant was a fake made entirely of mana.”

For someone who speaks as though he’d seen straight through Narke, he didn’t seem capable of using abilities like Insight in everyday matters. If he could, his heart wouldn’t have started racing the moment I spoke, and he’d have known the outcome of the hunt from the start—there would’ve been no reason to pick up a rifle. The fact that he’d chosen one despite never having fired a gun before meant only one thing: he hadn’t known the future, so he’d allowed himself to hope.

Elias let out a snort.

“Aristotle would be thrilled if he came back to life. You’re basically saying we’ve got a messiah who’s unconsciously become one with nature itself and can perceive the fifth element.”

Still wearing that mocking grin, Elias suddenly frowned as another thought occurred to him.

“But isn’t it weird that he can distinguish human mana from ambient mana in the first place? If you draw it as a set, humans are part of nature.”

“It’s incomplete. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have been able to do anything.”

Just two firm sentences. Narke fell silent as soon as he’d said them.

That was where our discussion ended. We’d gathered to exchange ideas, not to settle on a definitive conclusion, and besides, none of us knew enough about mana to prove any of our theories. I saw the others out of Narke’s room, then closed the door behind me as I stepped back inside. Narke’s calm voice broke the silence.

“You have something you want to say.”

I answered with a smile and patted the sofa beside me. Narke shook his head, walked past me toward the balcony instead, and said, “Go ahead, Lukas.”

The conversation carried on much like tossing marbles back and forth, each of us passing an idea to the other. In the pale light of dawn spilling into my room, I absently rolled my pen between my fingers, lost in thought.

The Change Probability hadn’t gone down. Surprisingly enough, it’d actually gone up by 0.5%p. I just couldn’t figure out why.

Knock, knock.

“Come in.”

“Lord Askanien, Sir Ismailov is asking if he may go for a walk.”

A walk. If he left the room, I had to accompany him. Which meant I had to go out as well.

“He may go as far as the canal behind the temple. Can’t you let him out on his own?”

“I’m afraid not. We’d like to, but…”

“…….”

I really wasn’t in the mood to see him right now.

I couldn’t let him wander outside without my supervision. It wasn’t as though avoiding him was an option—we’d spent practically every waking hour together already, and we’d be spending plenty more in the days to come. Even so, I’d wanted a little more time alone to think. So much for that.

It was 5:50 in the morning. After leaving a short note for Elias and Leo, who would be waking up in about ten minutes, I changed my clothes and headed outside.

“Thank you for yesterday.”

He was sitting on the lawn beside the Grand Canal in front of the Apollo Temple, enjoying the morning breeze. I let out a dry laugh and shook my head.

“Weren’t we friends? You don’t have to be so formal with me.”

“It was the first time I’d ever fired a gun. And yesterday, Lord Hohenzollern told me to speak casually.”

It was a completely random change of subject, yet the difference in his attitude was unmistakable. Smiling at the change, I said, “So you’ll speak to me first now, even without using books as an excuse.”

“Is that a problem?”

“Not at all. I’m glad, if anything. Though there is something I’d like to ask.”

“What is it?”

“Yesterday, the pheasants your song attracted weren’t real. They were constructs made of mana. So how did they end up following you?”

“I don’t know either.”

I nodded. Of course you don’t. Fine.

More importantly, I was about to ask the question directly. Ever since my conversation with Narke, I’d become convinced of one particular possibility. And it concerned something neither of us could avoid.

“Just one more question.”

“…!”

At that moment, Ismailov suddenly sucked in a sharp breath. One hand flew to his chest, and he froze. A chill ran down my spine at his sudden reaction.

“What’s wrong?”

Ismailov didn’t answer.

“Are you hurt somewhere?”

“…….”

Instead of answering, he opened his mouth and barely managed to shake his head. Pale as he already was, the color drained even further from his face. He looked as though someone had just attacked him.

“Hah…”

He was gasping for breath, his heartbeat seemingly racing out of control. Something was clearly wrong. I reached out, intending to support him.

“Can you manage a warp? If not, I’ll call the hospital right now. Let’s get you back inside first.”

“N-No… j-just… wait…”

Ismailov spoke in a frail, halting voice. For the first time since we’d met, there was unmistakable fear on his face. I quickly scanned our surroundings. No one.

‘This isn’t good.’

I couldn’t leave him out here any longer. Just as my hand moved toward my artifact, a notification rang out. The moment I accepted the call, I was met with ragged breathing.

— [Luka! Get to the hospital, now!]

“What? Why?”

— [Heike—Heike’s core stopped. No… he’s not breathing—]

Elias stumbled over his words, unable to do anything but gasp for air. He couldn’t even finish his sentence. I narrowed my eyes.

‘His core… stopped?’

Even my old core—cracked so badly it could barely circulate any mana at all—had never completely stopped. That only happened when someone…

“…….”

I looked at the other mage behind me, clutching his face as cold sweat poured down it. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

— [Luka, I know it sounds impossible. We were with Heike just moments ago, and then this happened. We don’t know what caused it or what’s going to happen, so hurry—!]

Elias’s voice, shaking uncontrollably, seemed to drift farther and farther away. I shot to my feet.

“I have to go.”

Grab—! Thud!

An icy hand seized me and yanked me backward. The moment I lost my balance and fell, a curtain of snow-white hair spilled across my face, blotting out my vision. Something foreign pressed hard against the skin of my neck.

Crunch—!

“…!”

My entire body’s mana felt as though it were being drained away. At the same time, I had the dizzying illusion of new mana rushing into me like a flood.

What… what the hell is happening to me right now…?

Agony tore through my muscles and blood vessels. I clenched my teeth to smother the scream rising in my throat and tried to kick him away.

“Y-“

I drove my foot into him with all my strength, but the blow seemed to sink into Ismailov’s body without effect. Mana flared beneath his restraints. The air reeked of blood. Is it even possible to pierce someone else’s flesh and draw blood like this? Am I… really in reality right now? Of all things…

‘Of all times…’

He said he’d never felt the urge to drink blood. I’d reached the same conclusion myself. They said it will contaminate him—‘contaminate.’

Then why me? Why?

My consciousness began to blur. There was no life left in his eyes. It felt as though the mana my heart pumped out was pouring straight through the hole he’d opened. Drowsiness washed over me. The sky gradually darkened.

Heike. The same time. The same symptoms. Countless thoughts flashed through my head. And in the end, they all returned to my friend.

Squish—!

Blood sprayed from Ismailov’s torn earlobe. I hurled away the earring I’d ripped free with all my strength, then did exactly as he was doing. I swallowed the blood. Brilliant white letters flickered before my eyes. I didn’t have the presence of mind to read them.

Wrapping my arms around Ismailov’s head as though I meant to crush it, I squeezed out every last ounce of strength and drove my foot into the ground once more.

Splash!

The crash as we struck the water was more terrifying than any sound nature itself could make. The impact against the back of my head was quickly swallowed by numbness. Even in spring, the canal water was freezing cold.

Translator Note

1. Cosmic microwave background (CMB): The faint remnant radiation from the Big Bang that permeates the entire universe. ↩︎