Hellish Training Begins – The Plague Kingdom's Summons
With this body? First off, I called back the ones I'd kicked out for being a nuisance. Arios. Hames. Viol. When I explained the situation to the three of them, each reacted differently.
"Are you out of your mind?"
Arios questioned my sanity, just like everyone else always did.
"Training instead of healing with that body? That's just insane!"
"What can I do? This is the only way."
"I'll find another method."
Arios was dead set against it, vowing to do anything to fix me up.
"Seres, what do you think?"
Hames quietly asked for my own thoughts first.
"What matters is your will. Do you want to train with that body?"
"Yeah."
I mean, this was the only option, but honestly, it piqued my interest. Finish the training, and not only would my body heal—it'd get way stronger. How could I not be excited? I'd finally landed in a fantasy world; I wanted to wield mana and join the ranks of superhumans like them. Sure, the women here filled the "male lead" roles, but there were limits. I didn't want to spend my days as a frail invalid, getting tossed around and babied by girls.
"I wanna get stronger too."
"I see. In that case, I'll support you."
With Hames backing me up, Arios shot her a fierce glare.
"You did the same thing back with Countess Huferion. Are you trying to push Seres too hard again?!"
"I already told you. What matters is Seres's will. Not yours."
"I'm stopping him because I'm worried about him!"
Arios was extra aggressive today. She'd gone after Viol earlier, and now she was glaring daggers at Hames. I appreciated the concern, but this wasn't what I wanted. I tried to intervene, but Viol beat me to it.
"If you don't get it, shut up, idiot."
"Who's calling who an idiot?!"
"You. I don't want to make Seres do hard things either. But the problem is, she's the one who came up with the method."
Viol pointed reluctantly at Sibylius.
"As far as I know, there's no better mage than her. If she says there's no other way, then there isn't."
"…."
Arios fell silent. As someone from this empire, she had no choice but to acknowledge it. When a grand mage who's lived for centuries says there's no alternative, that's the truth.
"Don't worry."
I reassured Arios, who was staring at me wordlessly.
"You know how amazing my healing is. With this power, I won't die."
"How can you be so sure? And even if you don't die, it'll hurt!"
Arios looked at me—still bedridden—with teary eyes.
"Lying here unable to move a muscle... what kind of training do you even think you can do...?"
I raised my arm toward her crying face. Forcing my trembling limb to move, I took her hand.
"It's been a while since we met, huh."
"Seres?"
"Didn't want it, but we ended up getting close."
At first, I'd lumped this Arios in with the original story's Arios. That's why I'd been hostile. But living together showed me otherwise. The core might be the same, but she was a different person. She could change based on my actions, however I shaped things.
"I don't love you, but I do think of you as a friend. I'd like to keep it that way."
"Does that mean you want to stay just friends with me forever?"
"No, not like that. I just don't want you turning into the worst version of yourself that you're worried about."
"What do you mean?"
Predictably, Arios looked confused—she couldn't possibly understand.
I shook my head at her.
"You don't need to get it now. You wouldn't anyway. But there's one thing I want you to understand right this second."
"What?"
"That the you I see as a friend... believes in me."
Her face twisted at my words. Her mouth opened like she was about to yell, then she bit her lip hard. She said nothing more and dropped her opposition.
"So how do we do this training?"
Leaving Arios be for a moment, I asked Sibylius for specifics.
"Do I just put your mana into my body?"
"Simple. Just overload your body continuously, like when you overdid it earlier."
"So, basically exercise. Simpler than I thought."
"No. It's not simple at all."
Sibylius said grimly.
"Your body keeps breaking down and healing in cycles. It's better now because you've been inactive."
She warned that intense movements would bring excruciating pain.
"I'll say this upfront: I can't block all the pain."
"Got it."
It was my burden anyway.
"Should I get up and start doing something?"
"You're unbelievably reckless. Haven't you grasped that your weird healing method left you like this?"
Sibylius clicked her tongue at me, then turned to Viol.
"I need some items. Can you prepare them?"
"Anything for Seres."
Viol didn't hesitate for a second, continuing in a resolute tone that was honestly impressive.
"But if you fail to heal him, you die by my hand."
"Wow, scary. Whatever— just get some exercise equipment."
"Servants?"
"These two will do."
Viol frowned at her gesture toward the other two.
"You need those two as well?"
"Who'd be more helpful for harsh training than a Sword Master and High Priestess? At least more than you."
"…I'll contact the Graviuss Duke family and the temple to borrow them for a while."
Viol headed to the imperial palace. Soon after, not just the exercise gear but medical supplies and essentials arrived at Sibylius's place.
"Mm, let's start with this."
Sibylius surveyed the items and picked up crutches instead of the equipment.
"Before exercising, practice walking alone with these first."
"You think I can't even handle that?"
Grousing, I tried using the crutches, but it wasn't easy. Gripping them in both hands, I wobbled after just a few steps.
"Seres!!"
Arios rushed over and caught me as I nearly fell.
"You always struggled with aids because your arms were weak! Now it's worse. Training in this state is impossible!"
So much for her silence earlier—she unleashed a torrent of words.
"Sibylius, you're a grand mage. Is this really the only way?"
"Unfortunately, it's all I can think of right now. So we do it."
"…You're so cold about it."
"What's the problem? I'm getting paid handsomely to heal him, and he consented. I'm just providing the optimal method at present."
"The pain's the problem!"
"That's for him to bear. Not my concern."
"You evil half-demon…."
I grabbed Arios as she lunged, pissed at Sibylius's cool, arms-crossed demeanor.
"She's right. What you're doing just makes it harder for me."
"But!"
"If you really want to help, stay by my side and correct any wrong moves."
She reluctantly agreed to my firm request.
"No, move more smoothly. You're wasting too much strength!"
She stuck right by me, critiquing and fixing every step.
"It might not help much, but I'll infuse holy power."
Hames unnecessarily but kindly used her holy power whenever she had time. We spent days just on walking. When we finally moved to real exercise, the difficulty ramped up.
"…Damn."
Even lifting a small dumbbell with my arms took forever. They shook like I was hoisting a sack of rice.
"No, not like that. More naturally. Apply force, but not too much."
Arios offered cryptic advice beside me as I struggled with the tiny weight.
"How was today?"
Even during this grueling routine, Viol visited daily, bringing food like when I'd been locked in isolation before.
"Don't you have emperor stuff to do?"
"Already done. Just eat without worrying."
After workouts, I'd eat what Viol brought. We lived like this for a while until Sibylius spoke up.
"Good results. A few more months, and you'll be fully healed."
"Months?"
"Problem? You're not going anywhere."
Fair enough. Time was plentiful; a few months was fine.
…I'd let my guard down thinking that. I'd forgotten this world's quirks for a moment.
About a month later. Much improved, I was waiting for Viol with her usual lunchbox when she stormed in with a foul mood.
"Those crazy bastards!"
We all jumped at her cursing. She always looked happy at this hour when coming to see me.
"What happened?"
Pressing her, it turned out to involve me.
"You know the neighboring country? Arsen, the little kingdom. They want to borrow you for a bit."
"Me?"
"Plague broke out, total chaos. They heard rumors about you and sent an envoy begging you to visit."
Arsen? Plague? Wait, that rang a bell.
"Don't worry. I'm not crazy enough to send you there…."
"Ayran!"
"…Who?"
Viol blinked at my blurted name, but I couldn't explain. I must've been sicker than I thought. I'd forgotten one of the original story's key events!
It was supposed to happen much later, but my rising fame sped it up? In Arsen Kingdom, a vicious plague stumped even the priests. They begged Seres for help in the original too.
'Am I nuts enough to send you there?'
Viol refusing without even asking Seres was canon. The real issue came after. Desperate without Seres, Ayran appeared. Lacking divine power like Seres but wielding astonishing holy power, he cured the plague. The people hailed him as saint over Seres….
'That woman's a fake! I'm the real saint!'
For some grudge against Seres, he'd frame him as the impostor! Using merits and connections from healing Arsen's plague, plus jealous Hames, grudges from those Seres didn't heal, and more—it all converged to brand Seres the fake saint.
That guy. Wait, girl now? Whatever. With Ayran plotting against me—Seres—I'd planned to counter by stealing his fame. Preemptively block him. I'd intended to head to Arsen at the right time to heal it myself….
"…With this body?"
I'd improved a lot, but traveling abroad in a body that still couldn't move properly?