127. Elixir

At this point, it's worth seriously considering.

Is my body just the perfect size for hugging while sleeping?

Or is it because I'm soft and squishy?

If it's not that, then does it just smell good?

I don't know.

The fact that I'm even worrying about this is a pain in the ass.

Last night. Just like with Stella, Eurasia held me tight and slept.

We chatted about this and that, nothing important, and Eurasia fell asleep first. Then I went over everything that had happened during the day and sorted out my thoughts.

While I was doing that, Eurasia grabbed me tight. Not only that, she lifted one leg and wrapped it around my body too.

Could I have gotten out? I could have, but to do that I would've had to move violently.

Eurasia is overwhelmingly stronger than me, so without wrapping myself in Mana, I couldn't get out quietly.

But moving violently... Eurasia was sleeping so soundly that I felt bad waking her up.

So I just slept like that.

Thanks to that, I'm incredibly tired today.

And in that state... early in the morning, I called Stella and Pina out to train.

After that, three girls chattering away... well, two exactly, but for some reason Pina felt noisy too.

Anyway, I ate breakfast listening to the three of them chatter, went back to my room, showered, and we gathered again.

The place we gathered was my personal training hall.

"Ready?"

At my question, Eurasia's eyes shone with anticipation, Stella let out a trembling breath, and Pina hugged her own tail.

Why are they reacting like this?

Because today is the day we take the Elixirs.

I'd told them that if they took it wrong, their bodies might burst and they could die, so the two of them except Eurasia were trembling in fear.

How long do they want to live that they're being so cautious? I chuckled to myself, set down my pouch, and took out two Elixirs for each person.

"You're not eating all of them today. Two per person. You have to take the rest next month. If you get greedy and eat them all now, your bodies really will burst and you'll die."

Stella and Pina swallowed startled breaths.

Eurasia showed no particular reaction and just made her eyes shine even brighter.

I looked around at the three of them and said.

"So, who wants to go first?"

"Me!"

I didn't even need to ask. Naturally, Eurasia raised her hand first.

"As your big sister, I'll set an example!"

"Example, my ass."

"Ehehe."

Eurasia must have found her own words funny too, because she laughed softly and sat in front of me, crossing her legs into a lotus position.

"You remember when you took an Elixir before, right? Just like then, swallow the Elixir, relax, and accept my Mana."

"Yes!"

The reason Eurasia isn't trembling is simple.

Back when she was in the knight order in the Eustetia Duchy, she'd taken fairly high-grade Elixirs several times.

Each time, I'd helped her absorb them like this.

"Although, this Elixir won't need to be chewed thoroughly like those ones. Even if you chew it just once, it'll pop and seep into your body."

"Whoa... isn't that the kind of thing you only hear about with Elixirs... or things like that, where they seep in like that?"

"Who knows."

It's different. An Elixir doesn't even need to be chewed once.

That stuff is, well... how do I put it. It feels alive and moving.

Like when you hold it in your mouth, it finds its own way and absorbs into your body? Anyway, it's unpleasant.

"Here, eat this first."

I handed Eurasia a round pill.

"Ooh... what's this one called?"

"Name?"

...What was it. Dragon Horn Pill, or Dragon Blood Pill.

Given the ivory color, it might be Dragon Horn Pill.

My memory's fuzzy.

Anyway, I know it's something related to dragons.

"...What does the name matter? You just need to know that you eat it and get stronger."

"S-still, shouldn't I know the name before I eat it...?"

"What, you don't trust me?"

"That's not it!"

"Then just eat it."

"O-okay..."

"Put it in your mouth."

"Yes."

It's not bad for the body.

It's not the kind of Elixir you need to take based on your constitution.

Anyone can eat it and benefit.

Of course, it doesn't help those who've reached a certain Realm. But for Eurasia, it's an Elixir that will help enormously.

Eurasia, pouting slightly, peeled off the Elixir's shell. The shell isn't an ordinary shell either. It's made from thinly sliced dragon scales.

But that doesn't make it precious.

It already used up all its power protecting the Elixir, so now it's no different from ordinary paper.

I didn't bother telling them that.

There was no need to.

"Huh...?"

The shell that fell from the Elixir turned to dust and vanished.

"Was this magically treated... or something?"

"Mm... no. There wasn't any magic on it."

Stella answered Eurasia's question.

I just shrugged and placed my hand near Eurasia's heart.

From behind, on her back. I placed my hand at the spot closest to her heart. Doing it from the front... Eurasia's chest would get in the way, and, well... yeah.

"You're doing it from behind again today?"

Eurasia asked with a peculiar smile.

"Can't you do it from the front?"

"W-what?! ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Front?!"

"Shut up and eat."

"Okaaay."

With a coy smile, Eurasia popped the Elixir into her mouth. Then, with a pop, foreign Mana burst from Eurasia's body.

"Focus."

Eurasia didn't answer and began accepting the Mana I was sending.

*****

"Ah... my lady..."

I looked at Eurasia, half-unconscious, cooling her sweat-soaked nape.

"Ugh... yeah."

"I-I feel like I'm going to die... my body feels weird..."

"Heh... yeah. You've got good reason to."

Normally I'd tell her not to be dramatic, but I couldn't bring myself to say that. She really had almost died.

I don't know about other Elixirs, but with a high-grade Elixir like the one Eurasia just took, absorbing even 60% is usually considered excellent.

But Eurasia absorbed 90%.

And she did that with both of the ones she just took.

How on earth is that possible? I don't know.

No matter how much I helped, that's impossible for an ordinary human.

Me, Luna, Paulo, Arisa, Kaloso.

Even the five of us never achieved that kind of efficiency.

Is a true genius just different...?

No, can you even call something like this the work of a genius?

No matter how much I've seen and felt, this is the first time I've encountered something like this, so I'm a bit dazed.

"Still, you didn't die, so that's a relief."

"...Huh? What do you mean by that?"

"You really almost died."

Eurasia's face went pale.

"...S-so what I felt wasn't me being dramatic? It was real?"

"Yeah. You held up well."

I praised Eurasia sincerely.

At that, Stella and Pina's trembling grew worse. Not only that, Stella jumped up from her seat.

"...I just remembered I have something urgent to do."

"Ee... eek..."

Watching Stella, I thought seriously.

If Eurasia could do that, couldn't Stella absorb at that level too?

Even if Eurasia endured it, Stella might not be able to. Then what happens?

"Stella, your body might actually burst."

"...H-huh? Why do you always have to say things like..."

"I'm not joking. I mean it."

Thud—maybe her legs gave out, because Stella ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠collapsed back into her seat.

"You okay?"

"...Even if I'm not... I have to do it."

"You were just trying to run away."

"I thought you'd stop me..."

"Why would I stop someone who's leaving?"

"What...? You said before that even if I got kidnapped, you'd come find me."

Eurasia's eyes went wide.

"My lady said something like that?"

"Yeah. I said she owes me a lot of money, so I'd go to collect."

At my words, Stella pouted.

"...You make it sound like you'd ditch me the moment I didn't owe you money."

"Shut up and sit in front of me."

"...Hmph."

With a sulky "Hmph!", Stella knelt in front of me.

"I can't focus in that lotus position... or whatever Eurasia did."

"Doesn't matter. Sit however's most comfortable for you."

"Mm... then I'll stay like this."

"You, let's start with this."

"Mine's not a pill like the one Eurasia took, it's a Potion... or something? What's this called?"

"Bicheonjeongsu."

Stella furrowed her brow.

"The name's hard."

"You don't need to know what it means. Just know that if you drink it, it draws out the impurities and turbid energy from your body."

Bicheonjeongsu. It means regaining a clarity and purity like flying through the sky.

The explanation sounds grand, but the effect is simple.

It's an Elixir that extracts every impurity from the body.

Eurasia doesn't need something like this.

She's trained her Mana since she was very young, and when I checked, there was strangely no buildup of impurities in her body.

And Pina. Pina obviously doesn't need it either.

Pina's body is connected to spirits, so impurities can't even build up in her.

Me? Obviously I don't have any either.

But Stella is different.

Even if she learned magic from House Verheigen as a child, after that she continued her studies on her own.

On top of that, she didn't move her body much, and she practically lived in Ge Vihenum, so she must have a lot of impurities.

"Still, I should know the name so I can brag about it somewhere later."

"If you brag to people about having drunk this, they'll cut you open and fight over whatever's left in your stomach."

"Gulp... i-is it really that precious?"

"It's really that precious."

It's probably the only bottle of this Elixir left in the world now.

Well... if you searched more, you might find some, but who knows.

The elves who could ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠make Bicheonjeongsu, as far as I know, were wiped out. So it's highly likely there are none left.

I turned my gaze away from Stella, who was thoroughly terrified.

"Eurasia... can't move, I see. Pina. Go over there and fill a bucket with water, and bring some towels—big ones. Three... no, five."

The moment she heard me, Pina got up, and Stella tilted her head.

"Why do you need those?"

"Well, obviously... hmm."

I started to explain, then shut my mouth.

The reason I need wet towels. It's simple.

Because all the impurities in her body are going to come out... they're for wiping it off.

Do I need to tell her? If I tell her for no reason, she'll worry needlessly and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠might make a mistake.

"Just to wipe off some sweat."

"Are you sure?"

"Shut up and drink. Don't drink it all at once—split it into five times. And while you're drinking, don't resist my Mana. Just accept it."

"This is suspicious... but fine."

Stella nodded reluctantly, opened the Bicheonjeongsu, and took one sip, then another.

She began drinking slowly, in portions.

When she reached the third sip, I sent my Mana into Stella's body.

At first there was instinctive resistance, but it didn't last long. Impurities began flowing out of Stella's body.

And so, one hour later.

When the impurity-removal process was finished.

"Hic, huuu... hwaaaaah... I don't know, I... I want to die. I'm going to, hic... I'm going to die! I can't live like this! Hic... what is all this... what is all of it... it's so humiliating... waaaaaah!"

Stella, having shown us the impurities that had flowed out of her body, cried very, very sorrowfully.