Chapter 358
Chapter 358
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 358
Chapter Title: The Shocking Cure
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I lost my words and let out a chuckle before taking a step back.
“Hahaha….”
[Why are you laughing?]
“It’s just so serious that I can’t help but ask. Let’s clear this up first. If you’re going to handle this in such a medical fashion… what if something goes wrong with my ears after leaving it to you? Like my skin getting blasted off or something.”
Of course, given everything he’d said so far, he’d never intentionally blow off my skin, but accidents could still happen.
[I’m not cutting into you. If that were the plan, I would’ve taken you to another doctor or your mother.]
“Then why are you insisting on treating me yourself? Are you confident in this?”
[I’m the only one who can do it right now.]
Leo’s gaze was resolute. He lowered his eyes briefly, as if pondering, then spoke. His words appeared at the tip of the floating quill.
[If things get worse, I’m prepared to call Elias.]
“…….”
Fine.
Then I’d brace myself to burn 2 points on another retry. Sorry, but.
I kicked off my shoes and flopped onto the bed any which way. 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 normal once the mana throughout your body has been fully replaced with fresh mana. The mana in your ear tissues was destroyed by the bishop’s spell. Fortunately, since you blocked the spell early, the tissues themselves weren’t ruined, so it can recover in a month.]
“You’re my doctor right now, so saying ‘the doctor said it’ll happen’ just makes me anxious. Sound confident.”
[I can’t. I’m not certain.]
I’m going insane….
I’d trust Leo’s usual behavior. Lying there like I was about to undergo surgery, staring up at the ceiling light, my heart pounded. Ironically, I’d had major surgery before, but my heart hadn’t raced like this then. Back then, I was bleeding out, so my pulse was fading, but even if my blood volume had been fine, I was sure my heart was pounding harder now. It made sense that the surgeon’s credentials would affect how fast your heart raced. Right on cue, Leo casually lit a fire.
[Take off your earrings and remove all metal.]
‘Giving instructions after I’m already lying down? That’s amateur hour.’
But out of courtesy, and for my own mental health—knowing it was amateurish was one thing, but hearing him admit it would hit twice as hard—I kept my mouth shut.
I sat up again, removed my pendant and watch, and handed them to Leo. I noticed the plant on the wall slithering down to the floor.
‘…Why’s it coming down? No matter how you look at it, plants shouldn’t move like that.’
As I stared at the endlessly creepy vines, Leo tapped my shoulder and pointed to the notebook.
[Alright, let me explain again. In short, the mana stored in all the structures of your ear isn’t functioning, so we have to wait the month it takes for most mana in the body to cycle out.]
Leo’s hand lightly covered one of my ears.
[So let’s test it. My beloved, may your soul prosper just as I pray that you prosper in all things and be strong.]
Crunch—
“…!”
An intense wave of healing mana flooded in, strong enough to make my vision blur. I pressed my head and grimaced. In my unfocused sight, the quill’s writing appeared.
[How’s that? Any sound, even faintly, for a moment?]
Whether sound had come even briefly. I was still in that terrifying void I hadn’t adjusted to yet, less than a day in.
All day, I’d felt the impulse to grab whoever was beside me, anyone, just because my hearing wasn’t working. A strange, uncomfortable urge I wouldn’t have felt before—I’d suppressed it all day and was still doing so.
Maybe his words sparked a sliver of hope, or perhaps I held off answering in case I’d hear the wind. But I remained in merciless silence. Completely, utterly quiet. I spoke into the void, as always, unsure if my pronunciation was slurred or tangled.
Leo nodded with a troubled expression.
[Hmm, as expected…. Forcing new mana into your ear’s mana doesn’t work. Even if fresh mana flows outside the cells, it can’t extract the stored mana or replace it cell by cell. So we need a new approach. I don’t know what you’re imagining, but it’s not complicated.]
“So what is it?”
Leo opened his mouth, staring down at me. The quill started to move, then stopped repeatedly, as if he couldn’t decide.
[I’m going to zap you from now on.]
“…….”
I smiled and rose from my seat. Leo grabbed my shoulder and pushed me back onto the bed. Feeling my vocal cords tremble harder, I shouted,
“Zap?! Zap a person? With what?”
[Listen. We need to replace all the mana in your ears and connected organs with fresh mana. Mana is circulating in your body right now, so why aren’t your ears working? We have to extract those destroyed clumps. The only way is to blast them all out and inject new mana. And conveniently, you’re the one person who can stably accept new mana better than anyone.]
“…….”
Simple and clear. Probably the right answer. In essence, Leo would 1. channel attack magic—not healing—into my head to destroy the sensory mana, then 2. immediately inject new mana to fill the void.
‘…Now I get it.’
That explained why he hadn’t told anyone else and insisted on performing the procedure himself. I could guess the reason from the second point. Just speculating made my mouth go dry.
But the immediate issue was the first part. Doubt crept in again, cold sweat trickling. I swallowed hard and muttered,
“Leo, I never imagined dying by a friend zapping my head….”
[I won’t just zap your head. It might spread and affect other areas.]
“So you’re zapping me from head to toe? How bold.”
[If you don’t want to—]
The quill began writing those words. Wait, he wasn’t calling it off. I snatched the quill mid-sentence to stop it. Startled by my action, Leo froze. Only then did I realize I’d treated the quill like his actual mouth, not swatting his hand or covering his lips.
“…No.”
I had no time to adapt to losing a sense in this mess. And even if that weren’t the issue, I….
I didn’t want to bury my face in an old notebook or snatch the quill to block words that had just spilled out seconds ago. Training to adapt to the loss would prevent such slips, let me read lips flawlessly, wear a genuine smile instead of a forced one to reassure others and myself. But I couldn’t endure the wait. If possible right now, I wanted to talk face-to-face with my friends again.
No, more honestly.
I wanted to hear their words straight from their own voices.
“We’ve come this far; I can’t back out without trying. Do it. I’m ready.”
I took a deep breath and said. Leo stuck a syringe into a vial and brought it to my arm.
[It’s a painkiller.]
Transparent potion entered my arm. Wonder how a guy who only learned basic basics of medical magic as a kid knew how to inject. Had he practiced?
Leo snapped his fingers, and the plants on the floor shot up toward the ceiling. Why plants again? As bewilderment hit, Leo—who’d been looking down at me—froze. Then he pressed one hand to his eye and slumped his shoulders.
[I can’t….]
The quill stopped mid-notebook. His unmoving lips confirmed he couldn’t continue.
[I can’t do it.]
“…….”
This guy?
I let out a hollow laugh and bolted up.
“You’re kidding? I psych myself up, and now you can’t?”
[I need time to adjust too. Asking me to hurt you…. It’s insane.]
“Didn’t you hurt me plenty before? I’ve been to the afterlife a hundred times because of you.”
Leo rubbed his jaw with a faintly pained expression. Then he beckoned me.
[Get up.]
‘Now get up? This screams amateur….’
I clicked my tongue skeptically and stood.
Leo moved to the empty space beside the bed—masquerading as an operating table—near the farthest wall. The moment he put distance between us, I knew what he was planning. Instead of a casting stance, he traced a holy cross. Mana flared in a cross shape. I reached for my wand holster instantly….
“…!”
Nothing there. By the time I turned, a plant vine had already snatched it.
Boom—
No sound, but it was clear. My head hit the floor, mana crushing my chest. Amid the purple mana clash, a boot slammed down. Pinned underfoot—right on my lungs—I struggled to push his mana away while gasping. Vines from the floor wrapped my neck and arms. I saw Leo smiling, muttering something.
‘This madman.’
He’d whined about not being able to attack outside training, but now in training, this brutality was fine? He’d always been like this, but after his earlier attitude, the whiplash hit hard. Student rights, my ass…. Leo snapped his fingers, kindly dragging the notebook and quill over and shoving them toward me. It bore the words he’d muttered.
[This is how we’ll start.]
“This is….”
[Give it your all.]
Leo snatched the notebook himself and thrust it at me, lips moving. The eerie words forming made me laugh bitterly. Give my all in this grass field stacked against me? Intentionally or not, the earlier training was basically hearing recovery exercise.
Breathless. His sharply honed aggressive mana whipped my head. Plant bits annoyingly hindered movement. “Give it your all” here didn’t mean dodge perfectly or counter to take him down. It meant take the beating but make it hurt less.
“…….”
[Breathe.]
“Wait. Wait… just hold on.”
Probably what was written. What I would’ve said too. Or maybe not. Too much mana in my head; no thoughts came. Ears, throat burning. Back of eyes hot. Mana reflux rising. Each wave ended with the plant in my hand snapping weakly. New vines covered it instantly. Body mana depleting. It pooled in attacked areas, only to scatter under Leo’s next strike. Gone. Couldn’t use mental magic to crush a friend here, even if mana alone might win—his unique ability blocked it. One thought remained: the mana I could claim as mine, refined and pure….
Its source stood before me. Through hazy vision, I closed my eyes.
Boom—
A quake-like vibration slammed in; I opened them. Inside, two manas clashed, shredding nearby mana too. I clenched my teeth to stifle a scream.
[You’re not going all out. Still, this drained you plenty.]
This much?
This surpassed normal training. One-sided onslaught felt more like battling a rampaging foe or Phleroma in real combat. Drained more energy than those. Physical pain aside, I needed mental fortitude, or else….
Clear mana pressed down, rising. I fought to hold my whitening mind. Better than facing Ainsidel. Stay sharp. Nothing like that….
[Now for real.]
“…!”
I jerked reflexively. Unmatched mana volume crashed into my head. Back of skull gone. Vision flashed white. Mouth instinctively opened, I think. Blood scent overwhelmed. Bitter mana hit my tongue; I clamped shut. Blood trickled from sealed lips. He ripped my jaw. Inhumane. Even after times like this, drinking blood—friend’s blood—no way. That thought held my teeth till they nearly cracked.
[Not my blood.]
Leo snapped, showing a blood bag.
Boom—!
Core-searing agony ripped my mouth open. No way. Even if you bought blood, infused your mana, how could I trust? Then a hand crushed my head.
“Gah…!”
[Drink now. You know it has to fill right after crushing.]
Scant blood dripped in. Mana madly flowed to the worst-damaged spot. Seeing me swallow, Leo rose with a soul-drained face. I couldn’t think either. No thoughts, no sensations.
“…….”
Then Leo’s eyes widened; he lifted his head, withdrew mana, and stood. Someone’s here. The floating notebook read that.
I panted silently. Total disaster. Non-doctor tried hard, but silence persisted. Feeling the quiet, I slowly closed my eyes. Mana clumps’ paths clear to me. He rounded the hall to the door; faint outside air pushed in from afar. Sensing my greedy core sucking even skin-contact external mana, I opened my eyes. Notebook had his words.
[Excellency Hoenzollern. And… uh, Ulrike?]
“…….”
Of all people, not strangers. Breathing took effort; familiar faces tensed me up. Leo must’ve greeted; someone spoke, but nothing wrote. Only mana-infused speaker’s words appear? I stared at the blank notebook. Faint voices, ant-like, drifted from bent hall beyond.
“Since no one knew where Lucas Ascanien was staying, I came. Messengers got blocked at the crown prince’s palace.”
‘…Not Leo, me? No.’
Reflexively, limp fingers twitched. Looking for me now? Escape to hospital? No, covered in blood….
“…….”
Wait.
“…!”
I clutched my ear and shot up.
Boom—
“…Is someone inside? Then right now….”
Overestimated stamina; vision tilted. Far-off, notebook tumbled; Leo’s words wrote. But eyes off it, I knew what he said.
“No, no one’s here. Something fell, I think.”
Eeeee, tinnitus-like, then silence snapped back. Cold quiet lingered.
Didn’t matter.
Mouth agape, I replayed the voice in my ear earlier.
Leo’s hypothesis worked for me.