Chapter 269
Chapter 269
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 269
Chapter Title: Chain Lifespan Extensions
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Alchemy Guild Master Arte Lopelman trembled with a sense of awe and convenience akin to someone using a computer for the first time.
"This does mental calculations?"
"Yep."
"Wow, what about this one then?"
"Right here."
Just input the problem, and answers poured out endlessly.
"What about this problem...?"
"That one's beyond me since I don't know alchemy."
"I'd need to read this book, but how long would that take?"
"One minute, as long as it's not too tough?"
For the arcane mixtures and secrets of alchemy too, after feeding in the basics and training it, the responses came back clean and precise.
My friend Heart had summoned a walking good-luck charm. I'd occasionally borrowed her insight and wisdom, but this guy was on another level. The user experience was just too flawless.
They said he'd been nerfed due to some circumstances, so I couldn't even imagine how insanely fast his computation speed must have been originally.
Opportunities like this had to be seized.
Arte decided to outsource all the problems she'd been agonizing over. With this, alchemy's history would leap forward by a decade.
She felt a twinge of fear, mingled with感動. Time was marching on here!
After hammering away for half a day, Arte wore a deeply satisfied expression as she promised the mad mage some potions. She pulled out a massive cauldron and began combining ingredients.
The crucial calculations were all handled by the human computer, the mad mage, so Arte just had to handle the physical work.
That left room for chit-chat.
As Arte tossed in some screamweed to the cauldron, she asked,
"Heart's your... split self, right? Originally one, now two."
"Yes. That's what you heard at Daisy-kun's briefing."
"Planning to take her back then?"
"That's why I'm here. But... it's a bit different from what I expected."
The mad mage looked slightly troubled. He'd already considered the possibility of the separated fragment developing self-awareness, but facing it for real was another matter...
"She seemed to be living happily. Not some act to escape the situation—she'd genuinely opened her heart to you all."
"Hearing it straight from her mouth makes me glad. Aside from the ice-in-coffee thing, she's someone I'd love to be friends with."
"Not knowing the taste of iced Americano..."
"The spirit of coffee beans will curse you guys."
With Heart's matter settled briefly,
Arte wrapped it up.
"It'd be rude to butt in on a mage reclaiming his familiar. It's your call, and I know I shouldn't pressure you into any choice."
If the mad mage didn't absorb Heart, he'd lose a percentage of his computational power—a real tangible loss. Like ripping out his own rib to make someone else.
"......"
"But she's my friend. She's someone the Grand Duke's house desperately needs, and it'll be lonely without her. That's all I'll say on it."
Attacking his conscience so squarely. The mad mage gave a wry smile.
Bubble bubble.
Arte stirred the bubbling magical solution with a long ladle and tossed in 2.3 medicinal frogs. The mad mage, meanwhile, picked up a centipede with tweezers on the side, ready to add it.
His expression cleared, as if he'd reached some decision about Heart. Arte silently prayed it was the choice to let her live.
After a brief silence,
The mad mage, drawing from the hundreds of papers he'd studied for deep learning, brought up something that had stuck with him.
"I saw it in the data earlier. Capital Knight Commander Kim Lulu... You made her, right?"
"Kim? Was that the name...? Anyway, if it's the Capital Knight Commander, yes. The imperial family requested a human they could collar and control."
"The design needs regular maintenance. Did you make her unstable and short-lived on purpose as a collar substitute?"
"Coincidence, closer to a technical limitation. Once I made her, she turned out unstable with a short lifespan. So I thought, perfect—claim it's a collar. That's how it went. You know her? Your face looks grim."
The mad mage nodded. Kim Lulu—at first kidnapped into the session just to mess with her, but she'd shown such magical girl vibes that affection was inevitable.
The short life of the created clone knight commander, and the mourning, screaming magical girl. Just imagining it hurt the heart.
Then he had to stop it.
"After this, let's make seven more potions."
"...Got a lot of people to give them to?"
"Need to give to Yuna Yuri, Irid, Selbia, Kim Lulu, and it'd be nice to snag one for old man Alexon too—no, make like twenty and hand them out to everyone around..."
"Specter sourcing the ingredients? I'll do five max, handle the rest yourself."
Thus began the merciless production of lifespan extension potions for a terror campaign.
Half a day later.
Once the beautifully packaged vials were sealed, the mad mage stretched his sore muscles. Mission accomplished in the North.
"Good work."
"Yeah, you too."
He exchanged crisp farewells with Arte and moved to leave the room. She was Heart's friend, not his, so this businesslike vibe felt just right.
As he stepped over the threshold for one last stride, idle curiosity snagged his ankle.
Asking for trade secrets from another mage or craftsman was impolite. He'd already devoured Arte's research data and alchemy knowledge raw, but he'd paid for that with computations, so it was fine.
But demanding more was bad manners.
Still...
Pacing back and forth over the threshold in agony for a while, the mad mage finally gave in to an urge that leaped past manners entirely. As if someone had pushed him.
"Kim Lulu reached sublimation. How'd you do that?"
"Ah, been tap-dancing for ten minutes waiting for you to ask...?"
Honestly, who wouldn't be curious?
If she could mass-produce Kim Lulu-level humans via clones, Arte Lopelman would be the next space emperor of the new empire by now.
How the hell did she achieve sublimation instead of mere apotheosis?
The mad mage had been bitter about failing to bloom apotheosis so far. He couldn't hold back, thinking there might be a hint in Kim Lulu's birth.
Arte pondered briefly, then answered straightforwardly. The mad mage was known as Second Prince Irid's close aide, so it was safe to tell.
"The imperial family approved Dragon Heart use. Her birth involved a dragon's heart."
"...Dragon Heart!"
"Your reaction's milder than I thought... I don't know the principle either. Just used mana from the Dragon Heart, and that alone produced this result... Still baffles me."
Arte closed her eyes, reminiscing.
The imperial palace of the empire, tasked by the elderly emperor to create a guardian knight. In the palace's deepest depths, a pitch-black heart floated in the air.
A bio-artifact exuding immense mana just by existing: the Dragon Heart.
All materials were ready. The Dragon Heart granted Arte a flash of inspiration, and like one possessed, she performed alchemy.
When she came to, it was done. She'd skipped three days straight to face the result.
The starving hunger where her stomach clung to her back, and the exhaustion where her fingers barely moved—it hit right after. She'd been absorbed without food or drink for three days.
Even now, looking back,
"...It felt like a dream."
After farming lifespan extension potions, I confronted Heart alone on the mansion's second-floor balcony. She leaned her arms on the railing, gazing at the northern snowscape.
The more I looked, the weirder it felt. Should I see her as parallel-world me? Or was she just another of my creations?
Eh, not important.
I tapped the ground with my heel to announce myself. Heart turned with a carefree smile. I knew that expression was fake.
Heart grinned brightly and said,
"Alright, farewells done. Eat me now."
"Why the hell would I eat you, you idiot."
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
This jerk never synced with me till the end.
Heart floated a question mark over her head like she'd heard something unbelievable, then composed herself and said,
"...But don't I have to go back?"
"Why so cold and curt between the same person? Losing a few percent won't kill me. Might even tank efficiency more if I absorb you while feeling iffy about it."
"You still have 'that' in your head, and black mages gunning for you. Splitting power in this situation—you know it's risky..."
That's knowing one thing and missing two.
Having Heart here or not makes a bigger difference than expected. Fully-formed meat-shield Daisy-kun would help in a pinch, but the mansion folks are another story.
With Heart buttering up everyone inside and out, I'd turn not just Daisy-kun, but the entire Northern Grand Duke's house into allies.
Heart balked at my argument.
"Do I look like an idiot? Recovering your lost compute power outweighs whatever gains from that."
"This jerk, even if I say I'll let you live independently..."
"Can't let others suffer losses just for me to live."
Stubborn for no reason.
I crossed my arms and laid out my true feelings.
"Hey, our motto's happy endings. Can't even cover for one split self and call that legit?"
I didn't dream of making everyone in the world happy. But at least, I wanted all my friends to live happily.
And I was willing to act on it.
Plus, weighing it all, aren't I her closest friend? This wasn't sacrificing for others—it was a little gift to myself.
Though Heart-absorption tragedy does sound tasty...
"Worst case, if compute power dips critically later, I'll come reclaim you. No mercy then, so say tearful goodbyes to your new pals."
"......"
Heart let out a hollow chuckle. She giggled for a good while, then suddenly said,
"...Yeah, you're the main body. You qualify."
"Outta nowhere?"
"Split into trillions of shards, yet claiming a separate main body? I even wondered if I was the main one. But... it's clear. You're the main body."
This punk, seeing the mood shift to letting her live, now throwing lip service?
As I eyed her suspiciously, she burst out laughing. No clue why. Hormonal female influence?
"Thanks."
"Gross. Real men do bro fists."
"The guy who bawls at Yuna's harsh words calling himself a tough guy..."
"That's spitting up while lying down."
Thud.
I ended the greeting with a fist bump to Heart.
By the way, fragment Heart seemed oblivious to her "end" prep. When I explained at the mansion.
Announcing my reclaim intent, I clearly saw Daisy-kun's eyes waver. Emotions froze over instantly, but it was the poignant look of a Vtuber facing graduation.
Even the all-embracing Northern Grand Duke, gender and inner self be damned, wavers at "graduation"...
I could empathize deeply, so for manly camaraderie, I had to leave Heart. Live happily with your fave, Daisy-kun.
Nothing more for the North. I gave Daisy-kun a casual goodbye, fed the Bennett sister her potion in advance, packed up, and headed to the Academy.
Last sight leaving the North: some Grand Duchess bawling, and Heart awkwardly consoling her after last night's touching farewell.
In the carriage, I told the group,
"Let's swing by the capital."
"Huh?"
"Extended Bennett sister's lifespan, but her vitality's still weak. Grab some herbs, souvenirs, and..."
Give Kim Lulu a potion.
In a dessert shop in the imperial capital Crown Hall.
Capital Knight Commander Kim Lulu, having downed three cups of black tea, suddenly shot up and declared loudly,
"Daesu, bathroom!"
"Don't report every time! Lower your voice! And phrase it more ladylike..."
"Ehh, what's wrong with saying I'm going to the bathroom? Be right back! And Hayang, this scone's mine—don't steal it!"
"You could say 'going to pick flowers' or something nice!"
Kim Lulu flashed an innocent smile, bolted out with exaggerated motions like fleeing Odaesu, and didn't forget to warn the recently picked-up white girl (named Hayang for her color).
A peaceful slice of everyday routine, as always.
But truthfully, Kim Lulu was a bit desperate.
The surging nausea, the fishy blood scent at her nose tip. Stomach flipping, world spinning. Pain was familiar, but this was foul.
She barely kept her face from grimacing.
The girl who dashed out didn't reach the bathroom—instead, a distant alley. Kim Lulu staggered, clutching the wall.
"Wheeeek—."
She spewed a basin of dark red blood.
A foul stench spread from the tainted blood. A clear omen of approaching death.
Kim Lulu stared at the puddle with sunken eyes, then drew up mana. Azure mana coated her hand. And—
Zzzzt—!
The near-solid mana erased the blood cleanly, leaving only a faint scorch.
She knew.
Sublimation was a grand realm. Even that brute grandpa reached it past fifty, not for a simple girl.
Kim Lulu knew the world always demanded a price. Hers was lifespan. Regular checkups, adjustments, injections—she'd stretched it every way...
Now at the limit.
Kim Lulu muttered with a pout.
"Dang, Daesu'll be sad..."
Facing death, the girl's first worry wasn't her remaining life, but the grief of those left behind.
Odaesu was softer-hearted than he seemed. If she died, he might sob for three days straight. It made her glad, yet scared.
She wished he'd keep thinking of her. But not crying. So she'd hidden it till now. Time flowed mercilessly.
"......"
Time to prepare farewells.
Kim Lulu resolved to part with Roderus.