landbeastnovel Chapter 358
Chapter 358
Chapter 358
I lost my words, snorted, and took a step back.
"Hahaha...."
[Why are you laughing?]
"It's so clinical I can't help but ask. Let me just get one thing straight before we start. If we're going to resolve this in such a medical atmosphere... what happens if I leave it to you and something goes wrong with my ears? Like the skin flying off entirely."
Of course, given everything this bastard had said to me so far, there was absolutely no way he'd intentionally blow my skin off—but it was entirely possible through malpractice, wasn't it?
[I'm not cutting into flesh. If that were the plan, I would've taken you to another professor or to Mother.]
"Then why are you insisting on treating me yourself? Is this your area of expertise?"
[Right now, I'm the only one who can do it.]
Leo's gaze was resolute. He looked down briefly, deliberating, then opened his mouth. His words were written at the tip of the quill floating in the air.[If the situation deteriorates, I'm prepared to call Elias if need be.]
"......"
Good.
Then I'd be prepared to spend two Retry points. Sorry about that.
I kicked off my shoes and flopped onto the bed. Watching Leo's back as he locked the door, I asked.
"So, what exactly are you going to do?"
[The doctor said your hearing should return to its previous state once the magic power throughout your body has been fully replaced with new magic power. The magic power stored in your ear tissue was destroyed by the bishop's formula. Fortunately, because you blocked the formula early, the tissue itself wasn't destroyed—which is why recovery would be possible after a month.]
"You're my doctor right now, so when you say 'the doctor said it should...' it kind of makes me nervous. Could you sound a little more confident?"
[I can't help it. I'm not confident.]
I'm going to lose my mind....
I'd trust the track record Leo had shown me so far. Lying there as if a surgery were imminent, facing the light on the ceiling, my heart was pounding. I'd actually undergone a major surgery before, and ironically, my heart hadn't raced like this back then. Granted, at the time I was bleeding out and my pulse was steadily dropping, but even if blood flow hadn't been insufficient, I was certain my heart would be beating far harder now than it had then. I figured it was only natural for your heart rate to vary depending on whether or not the person operating on you was an actual medical professional. Right on cue, Leo casually struck a spark.
[Take out your earring and remove all metal.]
'Telling me this after I'm already lying down—how quack-like.'
But for courtesy's sake, and for my mental health—even if I already knew he was a quack, having him admit it out loud was a different matter entirely; if he actually agreed, the damage would be doubled—I decided not to say it.
I sat up again, removed my pendant and watch, and handed them to Leo. I could see the plants on the wall slithering down to the floor.
'...Why are those coming down now? No matter how you look at it, plants shouldn't be moving like that.'
While my eyes were stolen by the creepiness of the endlessly stretching plants, Leo tapped my shoulder and pointed to the journal.
[Alright, let me explain again. In summary, the magic power stored in every organ that makes up the ear can't function properly, so you'd have to wait a month—the period it takes for most of the magic power to be replaced.]
Leo's hand lightly covered one of my ears.
[So let me try an experiment. Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.]
CRACK—
"...!"
Healing magic power so intense my vision went hazy surged in and seeped through me. I pressed my head and grimaced. In my briefly unfocused vision, I could see what the quill had written.
[How is it? Can you hear anything? Even just for a brief moment, however faint?]
Could I hear anything, even for a moment? The state of nothingness that felt terrifying because it had been less than a full day and I hadn't adapted—that state remained exactly as it was.
All day, I'd felt the urge to grab onto whoever was standing next to me. Whoever it was, simply because my hearing wasn't functioning right now. That strange, uncomfortable impulse—one the old me would never have felt—I'd been suppressing all day, and I was still suppressing it now.
Maybe because Leo's words had given me a sliver of hope, I'd been moving my lips without answering, waiting to see if I might hear even the sound of wind—but I was still left with nothing but merciless silence. Not at all. Completely quiet. I spoke words that still couldn't be heard. As always, with no way of knowing whether my pronunciation was slurring or tangling.
Leo nodded with a troubled expression.
[Mm, I see.... As expected, simply pushing new magic power into your ear's existing magic power doesn't solve it. Even if new magic power flows outside the cells, it can't extract the magic power stored in each individual cell and replace it. So now we need to try a new method. I don't know what you're expecting, but it's not that complicated.]
"So what is it?"
Leo opened his mouth and looked down at me. The pen kept starting and stopping, as if he was trying to say something and then holding back repeatedly.
[I'm going to cauterize you from here on.]
"......"
I smiled and sat up. Leo grabbed my shoulder and pushed me back down onto the bed. I felt the vibration in my vocal cords intensify as I shouted.
"Cauterize?! You're going to cauterize a person? With what?"
[Listen. The magic power in your ears and every organ connected to them needs to be replaced with new magic power. Your body is already circulating magic power right now, so why isn't your hearing coming back? The destroyed clumps that were already in there need to be extracted. To do that, there's no choice but to attack and empty them all out, then inject new magic power in their place. And as it happens, you're someone who can accept new magic power more stably than anyone else.]
"......"
Simple and clear. It really must be the right answer. In short, Leo was going to 1. channel not Healing Magic but offensive magic into my head to destroy the magic power in my sensory organs, and 2. immediately inject new magic power to replace what was destroyed.
'...Now I understand.'
Why he didn't tell anyone else and insisted on performing this surgery himself—I could now guess the reason from the second point. My mouth was already going dry just from speculating whether my guess was right.
But the immediate problem was the first point. Doubt surged again, and cold sweat ran down. I swallowed dryly and muttered.
"Leo, never in my life did I think I'd have my head cauterized by a friend's hand...."
[It won't just be your head. It could spread and cause damage elsewhere.]
"So you're saying you'll cauterize me from head to toe? How bold of you."
[If you don't want to—]
The quill began writing those words on the paper. Wait—I wasn't saying I wanted to stop right this instant. I snatched the quill in one motion, stopping it from writing further. Leo, startled by my action, stopped speaking. I, too, belatedly realized that instead of covering Leo's mouth or waving my hand, I'd moved as though the pen were his mouth.
"...No."
I didn't have the luxury of an adjustment period while missing a sense in the middle of this crisis. And even if that weren't the issue, I....
I didn't want to bury my face in an old journal and make futile gestures like snatching a pen to stop words that had already burst out a few seconds before. If I trained to adapt to the lost sense, I wouldn't make mistakes like this, and I'd be able to read lips expertly by watching others' mouths, and I'd be able to wear a real smile rather than one fabricated to reassure others and myself—but I didn't have the confidence to endure the time in between. If only I could be granted that right now, I wanted to look at my friends' faces while having a conversation again.
No—let me be a little more honest.
I wanted to hear the words they spoke in their own voices.
"I've come this far—I can't not try. Do it. I'm ready."
I took a long, deep breath and spoke. Leo stuck a syringe into some vial and pressed it against my arm.
[It's a painkiller.]
A clear magic potion entered my arm. I found myself genuinely curious how someone whose only medical education amounted to the bare basics he'd learned as a child knew how to administer an injection—whether it was magic medicine or whatever else. Had he practiced at some point?
When Leo snapped his fingers, the plants on the floor shot up toward the ceiling. Plants again—why? The moment I was struck dumb by the sight, Leo, who'd been looking down at me, froze mid-motion. Then he pressed one hand over his eyes and let his shoulders sag.
[I can't....]
The quill, which had been grazing the paper, stopped in place. Seeing that Leo's lips weren't moving, he was clearly unable to continue.
[I can't do it.]
"......"
Are you kidding me?
I let out a hollow laugh and bolted upright.
"Are you messing with me? I finish bracing myself and now you can't do it?"
[I need a little time to adjust too. Telling me to hurt you.... This is insane.]
"You've been hurting me just fine normally, haven't you? I've been to the underworld a hundred times because of you."
Leo stroked his chin with a faintly pained expression. Then he gestured to me.
[Get up.]
'Now he wants me to get up again? No matter how I look at it, this is so quack-like....'
I clicked my tongue with skeptical eyes and stood.
Leo moved to the empty space beside the bed—the operating table in disguise—to the wall farthest from it. The moment he deliberately put distance between us, I knew instantly what he was about to do. Instead of assuming a combat stance, he made the sign of the cross. Magic power crackled in the shape of a cross. I immediately reached for my wand holster, but....
"...!"
Nothing there. By the time I turned my head, some plant stem had already swiped it.
CRASH—
There was no sound, but it was unmistakable. My head struck the floor, and magic power crushed my chest. Through the collision of what looked like violet magic power, a boot stamped down hard on the spot. I steadied my breathing while trying to push away his magic power sparking above me—above my lungs, that is, under his foot. The plants that had covered the floor crossed over my neck and arms. I could see Leo smiling and murmuring something.
'Is this guy insane?'
When it's not training, he balks and says he can't attack me, but during training it's fine to treat me like this? Of course he'd always been like this, but thinking of his attitude from moments ago, the contrast was so extreme it shattered my sense of reality. Someone save the trainees' human rights, for f—.... Leo helpfully snapped his fingers, pulling the journal and quill over and pushing them in front of me. What he'd been murmuring earlier was now written there.
[This should be a good way to start.]
"This is...."
[Give it everything you've got.]
Leo snatched the journal by hand and thrust it in my face, his lips moving. The words being written accordingly were chilling enough to make me laugh in disbelief. Give it everything I've got on this plant-covered field that was completely stacked against me? As expected, whether he'd intended it or not, the earlier training session had essentially been a prelude to the hearing recovery exercise.
My breath was cut off. Aggressively sharpened magic power churned through my head. Plant fragments annoyingly obstructed my movements. Being told to give it everything I had in this environment didn't mean dodge well enough not to get hit even once, or fight back with the goal of taking Leo down. In other words, it meant nothing more than: even if you get beaten, try to get beaten a little less.
"......"
[Breathe.]
"Wait. Wait... hold on."
That was probably what was written in the journal. And I'd probably said something like this too. Or maybe I couldn't get the words out at all. There was so much magic power rammed through my head that no thoughts could form. My ears, my neck were burning. Behind my eyes was hot too. Magic power was surging upward as if reversing course. Each time a wave ended, the plant in my grip went limp and snapped. New stems immediately covered my hand. The magic power in my body was steadily depleting. Magic power rushed to the areas under concentrated attack, but it was instantly scattered again by Leo's assault. Disappearing just like that. He'd said to give it everything I had, but I wasn't about to use mental-type magic on top of everything to crush my friend. I might have had a chance with magic power alone, but his Unique Ability blocked that. All that remained in my head was one thing. The magic power I could make my own—well-refined, purified magic power....
Its source was right in front of my eyes. I stared through my blurred vision, then closed my eyes.
CRASH—CRASH—CRASH—BOOM—
The violent tremor that struck like an earthquake forced my eyes open again. Two magic powers clashing inside my body produced shockwaves, and it didn't stop there—even the ambient magic power nearby was being sheared away. I clenched my teeth to suppress the scream trying to escape.
[You're not giving it your all, I see. Still, looks like I've drained a good deal of your reserves at this point.]
This much?
Even just this was beyond the level of ordinary training. Being one-sidedly overwhelmed felt less like training and more like fighting a Berserker or Pleroma in actual combat. I'd burned through more stamina than even those encounters. The physical pain was bad enough, but I also had to reinforce my Mental Strength—because if I didn't, I might....
Crisp, clear magic power pinned me down and rose above. I struggled to hold onto my consciousness as it kept blanching white. It was better than when I'd faced Ainsidel. I had to stay focused. Incomparably better than facing him....
[Now I'm going to get serious.]
"...!"
I reflexively jolted. An incomparable volume of magic power slammed into my head. It felt as though the back of my skull had simply ceased to exist. My vision burned white. My mouth must have opened on instinct. The smell of blood assailed me. The instant something metallic hit my tongue, I clamped my mouth shut. Blood seeped through my sealed lips. The person in front of me pried at my jaw. No, on a human level, absolutely not. No matter how many times I went through this, drinking blood—a friend's blood, at that—was unconscionable. That thought was the last thing left, and it made me clench my teeth to the brink of cracking my molars.
[It's not my blood.]
Leo snapped his fingers and showed me a blood bag.
CRASH—!
I opened my mouth at the searing pain that struck my core. As if. Even if you bought blood, even if you mixed your magic power into it, how am I supposed to believe that? In that instant, a hand pressed down on my head.
"Gkh...!"
[You need to drink it now. You know it has to be replenished immediately after being destroyed.]
A negligible amount of blood fell into my mouth. I could feel magic power rushing like mad toward the most severely damaged area. Only after seeing me swallow did Leo rise from his spot, looking as though his soul had been wrung dry. I couldn't think of anything either. No thoughts formed, and no sensation registered.
"......"
At that moment, Leo's eyes went wide and he lifted his head, withdrew his magic power, and stood up. Someone's here. Those words appeared in the journal he'd been floating in the air.
I said nothing, just heaved for breath. A total catastrophe. And the catastrophe wasn't over. He'd tried hard for a non-medical professional, but the silence persisted. I felt the quiet and slowly closed my eyes. The path along which the mass of magic power moved was vivid to me. He rounded the hallway and approached the door, and then from far away, outside air drifted in faintly. I opened my eyes, feeling the core inside me greedily trying to absorb even the external magic power touching my skin. What he'd said was written in the journal.
[His Excellency Hohenzollern. And... hm, Ulrike?]
"......"
Of all people, not even complete strangers. Breathing alone was exhausting, and now that people I knew were here, tension seized my entire body. Leo must have greeted them, so someone must have spoken, but those words weren't recorded in the journal. Was it only the speech of the person who'd channeled magic power into the journal that got transcribed here? I stared at the journal where nothing was being written. A voice as faint as an ant's whisper drifted from far away, beyond the bend in the hallway.
"No one seemed to know where Lukas Askanian is staying, so I came here. I thought about sending a carrier pigeon, but they get blocked in front of the Crown Prince's Palace."
'...They're looking for me, not Leo? No.'
I reflexively twitched my fingertips, which had no strength left in them. They're looking for me—and I'm supposed to be escaping to the hospital right about now? No, right now, with the blood....
"......"
Wait.
"...!"
I grabbed my ears and shot to my feet.
CRASH—
"...Is someone inside? If so, right now...."
I'd overestimated my stamina, and my vision tilted. Far across the room, Leo's words were being written in the journal that had tumbled away. But even without looking at the journal, I could tell what he was saying.
"No, no one's here. Something must have fallen."
A shrill ringing, something like tinnitus, buzzed through, and then everything cut off again. The frigid silence that had stayed by my side all along continued.
It didn't matter.
I opened my mouth and replayed the voice that had entered my ears moments ago.
Leo's hypothesis had worked on me.