What Is This?
Aria noticed the change in Yohan’s body almost immediately.
‘Why is his mana…?’
She frowned.
Yohan had never possessed much mana to begin with. So having little mana wasn’t strange in itself.
…If things were as they should be.
If things were normal.
At the very least, Yohan should have had enough mana to continue his research at a reasonable pace.
…But.
Right now, Yohan looked different.
‘…This is.’
…This was practically the same as having almost no mana left at all.
At this level, his body would already be failing… No, it would be on the verge of death…
…Wait a moment.
Now that she thought about it.
Aria finally let her eyes roam over Yohan’s body in detail. Faint bruises, as if something had pressed down on his neck, peeked out whenever his collar shifted. It looked exactly like someone had strangled him.
‘What on earth happened?’
…From the current situation, it had been confirmed that Yohan had come to Edelbein and purchased this cabin. So up until that point, there probably hadn’t been any major issues.
It would have been difficult to buy a house in that condition, after all.
…Which meant the problem had occurred after that.
…Or had it? Maybe he had bought the house because he was in this state…
The sound of the cabin door closing snapped Aria back to her senses.
“…Oh no.”
She had been so startled by Yohan’s condition that she had missed her chance to speak to him again.
“Ah, maybe it’s pointless anyway.”
…Since he hadn’t reacted even when she called his name, it was probably safe to assume he couldn’t hear at all. She would still need to check, though.
“…Sigh.”
Aria let out a long breath.
…For now, she needed to find out why Yohan had ended up like this. She would have to watch him closely.
Aria headed toward the cabin.
After finishing his rest, Yohan tidied up the things he had bought in Edelbein.
…Though there wasn’t much to tidy, really.
‘If I just stuff them everywhere, it’ll only take more time to find them later.’
Every time he needed something, he would have to ask for Zeno’s help. Since he couldn’t see, there was no other choice. But that meant wasting a lot of time just to retrieve a single item.
…In that case.
Yohan decided it would be better to simply scatter the items where his hands could easily reach them.
Through conversation with Zeno, he spread the ingredients out widely across the table.
[That’s a good method.]
‘Right? It saves time too.’
If he spread everything out on the table, he could just reach out and grab what he needed when the time came. It was far faster and simpler than rummaging through containers.
Yohan smiled.
Now then…
Thud.
‘Hm?’
At that moment, a very small sound came from nearby.
Yohan turned his head toward the sudden noise.
‘Lord Zeno, did something fall?’
[An object on the table lost its balance and fell over. It didn’t hit the floor, so there’s no need to worry.]
‘Ah, I see. That’s a relief.’
Yohan brushed his hands together and sat down on the chair.
[Now that I think about it, it seems you aren’t completely unable to hear sounds?]
[Yes. Only my right ear is like that. Ah, of course, it’s not enough to understand conversation. If I don’t concentrate, I often miss it entirely.]
[I see. Then it isn’t of much help?]
[No, it would be best to assume that.]
[Understood. So what will you do now?]
Yohan rummaged inside his collar and pulled out his notebook.
It was the one he hadn’t been able to use in Edelbein.
He carefully tore a sheet from it with a soft rip.
‘It’s difficult to have conversations outside like this, isn’t it? I thought I’d write down the things I need to say in advance.’
What Yohan had realized in Edelbein was that, in his current state, it was difficult to write in the notebook and converse at the same time.
‘…It takes too long, too.’
Writing letter by letter in the notebook meant painstakingly making sure none of the characters overlapped, which took an enormous amount of time. Even pretending to write on the ground seemed to frustrate the other person.
‘…Like they say, if you have no teeth, use your gums. I need to make a method.’
If you have no teeth, use your gums.
That was Yohan’s thought.
[You plan to write down frequently used phrases.]
[Yes. Of course, it might make some actions repetitive. But it’s better than having nothing at all.]
There would be limitations to his actions. He would have to prioritize the phrases he had written down.
But.
…At least it would be better than today.
‘This is definitely preferable.’
He never wanted to go through an experience like today again.
‘I’ll write slowly, so could you check it for me?’
[Of course.]
Yohan lowered his head and, with Zeno’s help, slowly began writing out the characters.
Some time passed, and Yohan lifted his head.
‘Is this alright?’
[This should be sufficient.]
‘That’s a relief.’
Yohan had written a total of five phrases.
「Please give me this.」
「How much is it?」
「That should be enough.」
「Please put it in.」
「Thank you.」
Some might think it was too few, but from Yohan’s perspective, these were the phrases he had used most often while walking around Edelbein. They were absolutely necessary for the future as well.
‘…Whew, that took a while.’
He couldn’t see the time, but Yohan felt that writing all the characters had taken him quite a long time.
[The sun has already set. How about eating and then sleeping?]
[Should I? I suppose I should eat something before I rest.]
…He wasn’t particularly hungry, but if he was going to take medicine, it was better to have something in his stomach. Yohan slowly made his way to the table.
[Just reach a little further to the right.]
Following Zeno’s guidance, Yohan slowly chose his food, filled his stomach lightly, and then headed for the bed.
‘The medicine…’
Yohan groped around with his hand.
[It’s right in front of you.]
Grab.
…Ah, here it is.
‘…Now that I think about it, is there still water in the cup?’
Yohan slowly picked up the cup and lifted it. He could feel its weight.
[There’s plenty of water. You can just take it.]
[Ah, I see. Thank you.]
Yohan slowly brought the cup to his lips and swallowed the medicine.
It would have been difficult without Zeno.
…Whew.
Yohan let out a breath of relief and lay down on the bed. Exhaustion washed over him.
‘I’ll sleep now.’
[Yes. Sleep well.]
Yohan tossed and turned a little before falling asleep.
Aria secretly slipped into Yohan’s cabin.
Incidentally, getting inside had been easy.
…All she had to do was flick her magic and—whish—it was done.
It really was a simple task.
‘…More importantly, it seems he isn’t completely deaf.’
Aria tilted her head.
She had accidentally stepped on something. When the object made a sound, Yohan had turned his head toward it.
…Of course, he hadn’t seemed to understand what the sound was, and he hadn’t reacted to the intentional noise she made afterward. Still, it appeared he hadn’t lost his hearing entirely.
…Though it wasn’t at a level where she could feel relieved.
…Sigh. And.
‘It looks like he can’t see properly either.’
Even though his eyes were open, his pupils didn’t move naturally. It made sense, since he had to grope around to find things.
…Hmm.
Aria crossed her arms.
Yohan had just fallen asleep. Now was the perfect opportunity to examine his condition in detail. She approached the sleeping Yohan.
Her foot stepped on some clothes, but it didn’t matter.
“Since I can make noise now without issue.”
Right after her earlier experiment, Aria had cast a spell on herself so that no sound would come from her.
It was a spell that would make anyone else’s eyes widen in shock, but to her, it was nothing special.
“I should block touch as well.”
Aria cast another spell toward Yohan.
She needed to touch his body to examine his mana condition in detail.
She set her staff aside, gazed at Yohan for a moment, then leaned down and moved her hand. At this distance, even if she touched him, he wouldn’t notice.
Then Aria’s hand made contact with Yohan’s body.
She moved her mana slightly and examined his condition in detail.
“It’s a wonder he’s still alive… Yes.”
Aria couldn’t continue speaking.
His condition was more serious than she had thought. Broken bones were in the process of mending, and there were bruises all over. His neck was exactly as Rania Delmar had described.
“How did he even manage to walk? With injuries like this, he should have been writhing in pain.”
Was he simply used to enduring pain?
Or.
Had his senses been completely destroyed?
…She couldn’t tell.
“…Sigh.”
Aria exhaled. For now, treatment seemed more urgent than anything else.
She moved her staff and cast a short spell.
“If he suddenly gets better, he’ll find it strange. I’ll have to do it gradually.”
The bruises left on Yohan’s body faded slightly. The bruise on his neck that she had seen earlier also lightened a little.
…This should be fine.
He seemed to be taking the medicine provided by the academy diligently, so this much should be alright.
Aria, who had been staring at the medicine for a moment, turned her head back toward Yohan’s body.
“As for his mana…”
…Tsk.
Aria clicked her tongue.
It wasn’t that there was no way to fix it. It was just something she was reluctant to do right now.
“I’ll have to wait until his body is fully healed before doing that.”
…If she didn’t, the moment he moved even the slightest bit of mana, he would die.
She had to do it eventually.
Aria straightened up and stretched her back.
She had confirmed what she needed to. Since she had also provided treatment, it was time to find out why he had ended up in this state.
“For now, let’s start by looking around here.”
Aria began opening the doors of the cabin.
And.
What she discovered a short while later was—
“What is this?”
The small Giant’s corpse that Yohan had hidden in the cabin’s storage shed.