Mana Sleep
"Aslan, please... Fix Lady Laura for me..."
"..."
Tears the size of chicken droppings streamed down her face as Irene clung to my forearm and refused to let go. That pitiful sight left me wondering for a moment whether this was truly the Irene I knew.
Silvia was equally thrown; her sword slipped free with a soft rasp as she stood frozen in place.
Even when her mind shattered in the reverse world, she never got like this...
Back then Irene had simply broken—vacant and blank. She hadn't bawled and sniveled like this. Yet now, as if she had forgotten the very concept of shame, she was sobbing so hard her eye makeup ran completely.
This was someone who could turn my arm into ground meat the instant she felt like it. Somehow she had begun to look like a frail, delicate woman instead.
I'm no specialist doctor for Evil Gods. There's no way I can fix this...
I barely understood Evil God avatars. I had no idea why this one was suffering, nor how to cure it. Still, the words "I can't" refused to leave my mouth.
Irene already knew I lacked that kind of power. She had come anyway—because she had nowhere else to lean, no one else she could pour this out to. She knew it was almost certainly hopeless. Even so, she was staking that last thread of hope on me.
Knowing that, I couldn't simply push her away.
"Just hand it over for now."
"Huh? Wha—?"
"Give it here. I at least need to look if I'm going to try diagnosing anything."
"A-ah. Okay..."
pays her respects to your mercy for even caring about a weak Evil God.
Irene's eyes went round with undisguised shock. Then, moving with stiff, awkward care, she passed Laura's avatar into my hands. Clearly she had never expected me to actually accept it.
"H-how are you going to diagnose it...?"
"How should I know? We try whatever we can."
"A-ah... okay..."
Of course I had no intention of feeding her vague false hope. I would simply do my best. The outcome itself was anything but guaranteed.
Only then did Irene swallow a thick sniffle, stop crying, and stick close to my side.
I know nothing about Evil God avatars—but Kali isn't me.
I wasn't entirely without a fallback. Kali stood behind me. When it came to avatars of Evil Gods, she had to be the expert. One look and she would tell me exactly what was wrong.
I hurried us into the laboratory and set Laura's avatar down on a brightly lit table.
"Hmm..."
The moment I let go, Laura's avatar went completely limp. Every other time I had seen her she had floated a little above the ground, levitating as she moved. Now she couldn't rise at all; she simply sprawled on the surface. Eyes shut. Almost no reaction even when I poked her. Only the occasional thin whimper escaped.
All right. What was the problem?
Kali's turn to work.
expresses her dismay, demanding to know what on earth is wrong with this one.
"..."
If you don't know, who else is supposed to?
I was left speechless for a beat, utterly at a loss.
excuses herself, insisting that because her true body is so overwhelmingly powerful she has never needed to use an avatar, and therefore this is simply not her field of expertise.
I hadn't said a single word yet, but she had already flinched and launched into a slick string of excuses. Disgusting.
I had benefited from Kali often enough that I wouldn't have been deeply disappointed if she couldn't help this time. Her filthy excuses, however, managed to create that disappointment all on their own.
We're completely in the dark now...
Beside me, Irene watched with both hands tightly clasped, her eyes overflowing with quiet expectation. Backing out after coming this far would look far too half-hearted. So, if only to do something, I began turning Laura's avatar over in my hands, examining her from every angle.
The texture is surprisingly jelly-like. Smooth and squishy, yet when you squeeze, the density feels substantial.
How to put it... It was like handling a pencil-case-sized slime. I had no idea what an actual slime felt like, of course. Smooth and soft enough that a light squeeze or tug made it dent and stretch easily—yet elastic enough that it refused to compress or elongate past a certain point.
The more I handled her, the more addictive the sensation became, so I decided to keep it moderate.
She likes me, huh.
The moment I tried to pull my hand away after a little more petting, Laura hooked her tiny arms around my fingers and refused to let go. She still seemed unconscious, yet some part of her was drawn to me on instinct. Truly, being beloved by Evil Gods was no empty title.
Wait a second. This texture...
It's a lot like Heul-heul-ie?
In that instant a shock hit me as if I had been cracked across the back of the skull.
Heul-heul-ie was originally a purely spiritual being with no physical body. The body she had gained through Yulia's spirit arts was essentially a kind of avatar. So maybe Heul-heul-ie would know something?
"KYAAAAK! How dare you force my busy self to move! If today's snacks aren't delicious, you'd better be ready!!!"
I summoned Heul-heul-ie at once. The children trailed after her, peeking curiously around the laboratory. Peek, peek, peek. At first they stuck their heads in from the doorway in a three-tier stack; only when I waved that it was fine did they finally come scampering inside.
"What are you all doing out there? You can come in."
"Oh, it's okay then!"
"We heard an Evil God was sick, so we thought we shouldn't just barge in... yo."
I might have been trying to fix an Evil God's avatar, but this wasn't an actual hospital, so it hardly mattered.
"Nngh! Nnghhh!"
"Up we go."
Yuri scooped Heul-heul-ie up from under the table in one smooth motion. The spirit waddled over to Laura's avatar and peered at her for a long time with a grave expression.
"This one is the gracious benefactor who saved me when I had fallen over and was in distress... I shall cure her without fail!!!"
"Any idea what's wrong, Heul-heul?"
"Hmmmm. If I eat one slice of apple pie first, I might figure it out..."
"Kids. Drag Heul-heul out of here."
"KYAAAAK! Fine, I'll do it properly! Take your hands off me!"
The moment I decided she was useless and moved to haul her away, Heul-heul-ie flailed in panic and once again stared intently at Laura's avatar.
"She is alive, yet she seems to have no energy... Ah! I have it!"
"What is it, Heul-heul? What? Yeah?"
"She is clearly hungry!"
"..."
I stood frozen for a moment at Heul-heul-ie's supremely confident declaration. Then, surprisingly, it started to sound almost plausible. Heul-heul-ie alone put away an absurd amount of food every day. Maybe, just maybe...
"Sniff. This is the chocolate I was saving for later..."
Wiping her tears, Charlotte pulled a small piece of chocolate from her pocket. I took it and held it to Laura's mouth. Come on, there's no way this is it—
"She ate it?!"
"...!?"
Just as I was half-doubting, Laura's mouth stretched wide and swallowed the chocolate whole. From inside came soft chewing sounds—crunch, crackle.
Was that the fix? Would she regain her strength and wake up?
Irene's eyes sparkled with hope—right up until:
"...Urrp."
"...?"
Laura's avatar let out one tiny burp, then flopped limp again with zero further reaction. Heul-heul-ie turned away, looking thoroughly awkward.
"Or not..."
"Ah! Maybe she's just asleep? Her expression looks way too peaceful for someone who's actually sick..."
"Asleep?"
"KYAAAAK! Now I understand! I fall into deep sleep like this myself from time to time! When mana builds up excessively inside the body, the process of breaking it down plunges one into a long slumber! Humans call it mana sleep!"
"Mana sleep...!"
I did remember reading about it in one of Yulia's books on spirits. But would a spirit's biology apply the same way to an Evil God?
I was doubtful, yet I set Laura's avatar back onto my palm all the same. If excess mana accumulated in the body was the cause of mana sleep, all I had to do was disperse every last bit of it.
Skill: Black Magic.
The skill activated, and black haze rippled across my palm. Irene panicked and grabbed my forearm, but I ignored her and continued the casting. A considerable volume of mana hissed away from Laura's avatar like steam—and then:
"...?"
"Lady Laura! Are you all right?"
"...!!"
"Waaaaah! Lady Laaauura...!"
Blink, blink. Laura opened her eyes, looked around, then bobbed gently up into the air. She was so full of energy it was hard to believe she had been sprawled out asleep moments earlier. Irene burst into fresh tears and crushed the avatar in a hug.
So it really hadn't been anything serious.
I was letting out a breath of relief at how smoothly things had gone when the entire laboratory suddenly turned ice-cold and every hair on my body stood on end.
"Aslan..."
"...!?"
"Today's events... I-if you breathe a word of this outside... You understand...?"
trembles all over at the murderous killing intent.
Irene slowly turned her head and looked up at me. Her tear-streaked face was now flushed a lethal shade of red with pure mortification, and her trembling pupils pinned me in place.
Ah. Big sis is mad.