Chapter 7 : Surgery (2)
Chapter 7 : Surgery (2)
Deltain's work continued.
As always when he was deep in work, his sleep time was cut to the extreme, and nothing existed in his head other than thoughts about the flaws in his design.
This was the same even the moment he went to the Duchy for Agnes's treatment.
Deltain, who had dark circles as thick as Agnes's, just kept kneading her body with a dazed face.
It wasn't in a sexual sense.
It was as if he was trying to figure out her anatomical structure; Deltain's touch moved strictly along her muscles and blood vessels.
"Deltain."
"...."
"Deltain?"
Agnes called Deltain several times, but there was no answer. That was the level of his concentration.
His golden eyes were burning in the way Agnes liked so much, but Agnes was dissatisfied with that. She wanted that gaze to be directed at her eyes.
"Deltain."
"...."
"Honey."
Twitch.
Deltain's body trembled. As his head lifted, Agnes deepened her smile and spat out words one after another.
"Darling, cutie, Master-nim..."
"Shut up."
"So you finally look at me?"
"What is it again?"
There was no sign of Deltain's previous temper.
Agnes giggled and placed her hand on such a Deltain's cheek.
"You looked tired, so I was cheering you on."
"You need to relearn the meaning of the word 'cheer.' At the very least, the cheering I know doesn't make the other person angry."
"Are you angry?"
"Yeah."
"Want to touch my chest?"
Deltain's expression furrowed even more.
Agnes shrugged and said,
"They say men's anger goes away if you let them touch your chest."
"The source of that information is... no, I can guess."
Deltain clicked his tongue.
"Bullshit. At least as far as I know."
"What do you know? You were a virgin until recently."
"Suddenly, I thought it might be beneficial to the world if you just stayed stuck in bed."
"That's a problem. My place is next to you. I need a body that can follow you wherever you go."
"Then stay still."
"Okay."
Agnes was satisfied, so she shut her mouth and offered her body according to Deltain's movements.
She still didn't know what he was making. But even so, there was a strange kind of faith inside Agnes.
Deltain with a face like this always brought out results beyond what she expected, so she couldn't even imagine him failing.
Lovely.
Agnes described Deltain like that. The way he burned his own life for perfection, the life that didn't fade even a bit despite that, and the way he listened to every request even while making an annoyed expression.
'...Ah.'
Agnes belatedly shuddered and erased the thought.
This was not a good train of thought.
In the midst of this, Deltain said,
"Don't move. You're breaking my focus."
"Sorry, you just hit my erogenous zone."
"Do you have erogenous zones on your palms?"
"If you touch me, my whole body is an erogenous zone."
Deltain made a dazed face. If one had to describe it, that was it. He was staring at Agnes as if looking at some bizarre thing he couldn't understand.
Agnes burst into laughter and said,
"I'm wet, want to check?"
"Get lost."
Deltain's face turned red.
"You lewd bitch."
"I like it when you disparage me like that."
"If you're going to seduce, do it creatively. Isn't seducing with your body cliché? And I have no interest in a vulgar woman who only knows how to seduce with her body."
"For someone who says that, you react best when we talk about this. It's true that the ones who pretend not to be are the most lewd."
"I've decided. I'm going to imprison the 7th Princess and sew your mouth shut."
"You'll regret it. If I don't have a mouth, I can't suck you off."
A vein, visible even with squinted eyes, bulged on Deltain's forehead.
"I really want to punch you in the philtrum just once."
"You're really obsessed with the philtrum."
"Forget it. What am I even going to say to you."
Deltain, who was taking a deep breath as if trying to suppress his anger, stood up.
"Are you leaving?"
"Surgery is tomorrow. Starve tonight."
"Surgery?"
"Yeah, it's a device to transplant into your body."
"Where?"
"Near the heart."
"Isn't that dangerous?"
"Absolutely not."
"Then okay."
Agnes, who was about to finish speaking, paused.
She made a 'hmm' sound as if connecting her thoughts, then added,
"You'll be the first man to see inside my chest."
"Aside from that, I'll be the first to open anyone's chest in the Empire. Because this goddamn neighborhood doesn't have surgery."
Clear annoyance was visible on Deltain's face.
"...Truly a filthy primitive neighborhood."
It was a statement Agnes couldn't understand. And Deltain didn't want her to understand.
He just left the room with a grumbling attitude.
*
<Attempting a Masterpiece.>
The interface was still displaying the same screen.
Standing in the middle of the laboratory, Deltain cleared it away and looked at the magi-engineering product that had taken on some shape.
'I've roughly made the shape...'
The item created was a heterogeneous form that had never existed in this Empire before.
It was obvious.
Because this was one of the tools Deltain used back when he was on Earth.
<Completion: 95%>
<Remaining Imprint Additions: 1>
The object was in the form of a long tube with a pump and a round disc inserted in the middle. The size was exactly that of a human heart.
It was exactly the size of Agnes's heart.
'Ventricular Assist Device.'
A collection of technologies at the pinnacle of modern Earth medicine.
If the person who fell here hadn't been Deltain, it was a miracle that one wouldn't have even dared to think of making.
Of course, it wasn't an ordinary Ventricular Assist Device.
Although the basis of the device was taken from Earth, its operating principle relied entirely on 'magic.' The miracle in the realm of mystery simplified all the cumbersome parts that had to be compromised when using machines.
'There is no part of the device that will be exposed on the skin. This will be strictly attached to the heart.'
Every part of the machine that fit in his palm was densely packed with imprints engraved with Mana Herb powder.
Now, if he engraved just one more imprint, the device would be complete.
Deltain was contemplating the last imprint to engrave.
'I'd like to make an artificial heart if I could...'
If he did that, he didn't know what kind of reaction Extrias would cause. Since it was a curse attached to Agnes's heart as a concept rather than a shape, he had to keep in mind the possibility that the Demon Flower, having lost its rooted place, could metastasize to another location.
That wouldn't do. Deltain was not an adventurous human willing to throw away all the countermeasures he had researched so far.
'Even if it weren't for the Demon Flower, it was originally a weak heart. The symptoms are similar to heart failure. This much is enough to sufficiently help with movement.'
Of course, a normal person's level is impossible. If she tried to run, she'd keel over and stop breathing, but he could just warn her about that in advance.
'...Still, it would be good to make one safety device.'
Snap-.
As Deltain snapped his fingers, mana began to take shape.
It was in the form of a very thin and sharp needle.
Deltain moved it and began to engrave an imprint in the center of the device, which was still empty.
'The last imprint is time magic.'
The moment the heart exceeds its limit, just once, it consumes all imprints to revert the heart to the state before it stopped.
After agonizing over it all day today, Deltain engraved such magic onto the device.
<The last imprint is being engraved.>
Deltain's concentration did not break.
Only the sound of the device's surface being ground echoed in the laboratory.
The night deepened, but Deltain's rest did not come.
The banquet is in four days.
After finishing the surgery tomorrow and taking enough rest, he would head there with Agnes.
As always, Deltain was drawing a perfect blueprint.
Thus, morning came.
<Magi-tool is completed.>
<Judging final grade.>
<Grade: Transcendence.>
<Deltain Hebron's 8th masterpiece: Heart Supporter is born.>
·
·
·
<The Hall watches you.>
*
The Duchy that morning was busy.
Imbued within that busyness was a clear form of tension, anxiety, and a sliver of hope.
There was one reason.
It was the day Deltain Hebron would attempt a treatment method that had never existed before.
Even Duke Levadein, who was always busy with state affairs and would have been heading to the Imperial Palace at this time, was guarding the mansion for today.
"Agnes, are you alright? If you are afraid even now, tell me. I will tell the Count well, so..."
"It's okay."
Agnes's bedroom.
Agnes, who had been skipping meals since last night to prepare for the surgery, said to Duke Levadein, who was trembling with more fear than her.
"Deltain makes mistakes, but he doesn't fail."
"What does that..."
"And for this, a mistake is a failure. Deltain will definitely succeed."
It was a conviction without the slightest wavering.
Duke Levadein felt himself becoming even more anxious at that conviction.
It wasn't that he didn't trust Deltain.
Given the achievements he had made and the appearance he had shown so far, he would surely succeed.
What came to mind now was the anxiety of a father that he couldn't help despite that.
After all, a surgery to cut open a person's chest and insert equipment into it—wasn't that a truly bizarre treatment method?
Duke Levadein's fingertips were trembling.
He soon bowed his head and muttered.
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"To have born you so weak... that..."
While the Duke was stammering, a maid knocked on the door.
-Count Hebron has arrived.
"I'm going now, Father."
As Agnes smiled brightly, Duke Levadein nodded.
He rose from his seat and walked down the hallway. And he faced Deltain.
Deltain was carrying a box the size of a human torso, for what purpose he did not know.
Deltain's appearance was just like that.
He looked exhausted, as if he were about to die soon.
"...Have you arrived?"
"Ah, yes."
Deltain realized the Duke had approached only after the Duke spoke.
At that, the Duke felt anxiety.
It was because he thought the state of Deltain, who would perform the surgery, was not good.
"You look very tired. If it's not a surgery that must be done right now, perhaps you should rest a little..."
"No."
Deltain shook his head.
"It must be done now. Right now, this state is the best."
And he began to move his feet.
Deltain said as he passed the Duke.
"Prepare some shoes. Fancy ones with heels."
His voice contained nothing but an arrogant level of conviction.
*
"You're here."
Agnes smiled as she welcomed Deltain.
Deltain replied roughly by nodding his head.
"Are you ready?"
"Only you need to be ready. Ah, Dad was very anxious. I think he thought you might fail."
"I understand. It's not the first time I've seen that reaction."
"Huh?"
"There's such a thing."
Have I accumulated too much fatigue?
Deltain felt a sense of alarm at himself for saying things he didn't need to.
'It would be better to talk less.'
It was the optimal level of concentration for surgery. He didn't want to break this state by considering unnecessary slips of the tongue.
As Deltain shut his mouth with that thought, Agnes asked.
"Say, if you fail this time, do I become your first failure?"
That question was full of playfulness.
Also, it was full of provocation.
It was a conversation that had always happened.
However, this time, Deltain's reaction was different.
A dazed mind. That was the problem.
As he had done in the distant past, he was so preoccupied with the surgery that he added words he didn't need to.
"...There was a bastard who said the same thing as you."
"Huh?"
"There was a bastard who always picked fights, saying that if I acted that arrogantly, I would eventually topple over once. I understand. He must have been jealous. Even though we started together, only I got that far ahead. Because I was an unreasonably record-breaking person."
Deltain unraveled the box and continued.
"...Anyway, what I want to say is that. That bastard eventually took back what he said."
In his head, the process of this surgery, which he had repeated several times already, was being magically reconstructed.
"17, that's the number of times I've attempted this and succeeded."
Only at the end did Deltain's head turn toward Agnes.
"100% success rate."