The Crucible of Treatment
“Wait. You’re not thinking of bringing just anyone, are you? We don’t need some administrator with a dean’s title or a technician who’s only good with a scalpel. What we need is a true scholar with an open mind—one who understands the interplay between soul and body, the subtle interference between mana and the nervous system. Do you know anyone like that?”
His question was sharp. He wasn’t merely looking for medical skill; he wanted a partner who could grasp his theories of mana engineering and work alongside him.
A troubled look crossed Rician’s face. Where in the world would they find such an unprecedented individual? But I smiled calmly, as if to dismiss his doubts.
“Don’t worry, Jerome. The most suitable person in the entire empire is already sitting on the committee I created.”
The Imperial Salvatin Committee had become a central institution shaping the empire’s healthcare policies. The man overseeing its academic division was none other than Master Elio, Dean of the Royal Medical Academy and the living legend of imperial medicine.
When he arrived at Jerome’s laboratory, an invisible spark flew between the two masters.
“Hmm. So you’re the famous Jerome. The eccentric who bound irregular mana flows into mathematical formulas.”
“And you are the protagonist of the legend who rewrote the empire’s medical history. It is an honor to meet you, Master Elio.”
The two elderly men studied each other. One was an engineer who dissected the laws of the world through machinery and magic; the other, a physician who explored the microcosm of the human body. Both were giants at the pinnacle of their fields, and each had long known of the other’s existence.
“Here. These are the preliminary data analyzing the princess’s condition.”
Jerome showed Elio the documents he had compiled. Covered in intricate diagrams and equations, they resembled circuit schematics more than medical charts—as if the human body had been observed through an engineering lens.
“What exactly was measured here?”
With Jerome’s assistance, Elio read through the papers in an instant. As time passed, his expression filled with awe.
“Remarkable… The rate of soul energy loss is exactly proportional to the speed of neural degeneration. I’ve never seen this phenomenon described in any medical text. Your hypothesis… was correct, Jerome.”
“It’s not a hypothesis. It’s proof. Now use your medical knowledge to support that proof. With your diagnostic magic, you should be able to detect the minute flows of bio-mana that my machines cannot.”
From that day forward, the two geniuses joined forces toward a single goal. When Jerome’s mana-engineering equipment combined with Elio’s diagnostic magic, the secrets of my body began to peel away layer by layer. Jerome’s soul analyzer converted my soul’s flow into data, and Elio used that data to pinpoint the exact locations where soul energy was leaking.
At last, after a month of precise diagnosis, they reached their conclusion.
“We found them,” Jerome declared, driving three red pins into a large map of the human neural network. “There are three leak points in total: the core nerve bundle connecting the brainstem and spinal cord, and the autonomic nervous system around the heart. Though minute, your life force is escaping through these sites every moment.”
Elio continued where he left off.
“We must now move to the stabilization phase. We need a drug that suppresses neural degeneration at these three points and minimizes soul energy consumption. Jerome, based on the theory you designed, I’ve formulated the necessary compounds.”
The drug blueprint he presented was as complex as any schematic. I asked Master Elio, standing beside me, to interpret it.
“At the very least, dozens of rare medicinal herbs, byproducts and extracts from mana creatures, and other materials will be required. The preparations alone are immense.”
“Director, don’t worry. I’ll prepare everything!”
Rician clenched his fists beside me, steeling his resolve.
“Thank you, Rician. I’m counting on you.”
But the real problem wasn’t the materials. After Rician procured them and the compounds were extracted, Jerome reported a new issue.
“These drugs… each one is extremely unstable.”
Jerome frowned at the blueprint.
“There is no fixed mixing ratio. The proportions must be adjusted in real time according to the princess’s daily condition and the slightest changes in her readings. An error of even 0.1 could turn the medicine into poison. This isn’t simple compounding. It’s the domain of alchemy—brewing a living drug to match a living patient’s body.”
Elio nodded with a deep sigh.
“Indeed. I can diagnose what the patient needs, but I lack the hands to brew something this delicate and dangerous. This is not my field. What we require… is a master of pharmacy. Someone who understands the nature of every ingredient, who can handle mana as if it were fire or water, and who can find perfect balance through nothing but the finest senses. A true artisan.”
A heavy silence fell over the laboratory. The empire’s greatest engineer and physician had gathered, yet they stood powerless before a new wall. Where in the world could such a person be found?
Rician whispered to me anxiously.
“My lady… must we find yet another genius?”
“Don’t worry. We happen to have exactly one such capable talent right in our own household.”
*
“Chief Researcher Kailus! The Director is looking for you!”
In the Orpheo Pharmaceuticals laboratory, Kailus looked up irritably at the voice calling him. These days he was filled with discontent. His daily routine had become unbearably dull. After developing Salvatin, he had become the company’s hero—yet at the same time, he had turned into surplus manpower with nothing left to do. Vita’s system was already complete and no longer needed his touch, while Salvatin was produced according to fixed procedures under the committee’s supervision. His creativity and genius were rusting away on a dusty shelf.
Damn it. Maybe I should start researching elixirs again…
While he was lost in such idle thoughts, the secretary urged him urgently.
“You must go to Astra Academy right away! The Director is calling for you. Master Jerome’s laboratory!”
“Master Jerome?”
Kailus boarded the carriage. When he finally arrived and opened the door to Jerome’s lab, he doubted his own eyes. There, waiting for him, were the empire’s two legends—Master Jerome and Master Elio.
“What is going on? Why are you both here? Director, what is this about?”
When Rician stepped forward to explain the situation, Kailus exclaimed in shock.
“I had no idea such a thing had happened! So the Director’s chronic illness was an incurable disease, and you’re in the middle of treating it. I’ll help in any way I can.”
Jerome looked him over and spoke.
“So you’re Kailus of Orpheo Pharmaceuticals. Can you make this drug? I have a feeling you can.”
Kailus buried his face in the blueprint. His eyes began to shine with madness. Unstable mana catalysts, medicinal herbs with conflicting properties, the extreme difficulty of making real-time micro-adjustments to match a patient’s constantly changing body…
“I can do it.”
His voice trembled with excitement.
“No—I must. How could I possibly refuse?”
He clutched the blueprint and turned to look at me in my wheelchair. I quietly exhaled in relief as I watched the final piece of my survival fall into place. Jerome, Elio, and Kailus. Soul, body, and medicine. The trinity required for treatment was complete.
*
Jerome’s laboratory. A place alive with rare magical materials airlifted from across the continent and cutting-edge mana-engineering equipment. The corridors bustled with the empire’s finest minds.
“Record everything thoroughly. This research alone will let you graduate from the academy.”
Jerome was the type of professor who mercilessly squeezed his graduate students.
“We’re spending this much research funding to save just one person. We might as well wring every last drop of value out of it!”
Thanks to that, the research progressed steadily.
The day of the decisive battle arrived.
“Princess, even if we pour all these materials and knowledge into creating a perfect treatment, it may still be for nothing,” Jerome warned. “What use is forging the finest sword if the one who wields it cannot endure? This process will forcibly refine your soul and body. It is no different from disassembling your very existence and reassembling it. The pain… will surpass anything you can imagine. Whether we succeed or fail now depends entirely on your will.”
“I see.”
“I’ll ask you one last time.”
His piercing gaze locked onto me.
“Can you endure it?”
“Of course.”
My resolve was firm. If I couldn’t endure it, I wouldn’t have begun in the first place. At my answer, Jerome abruptly turned his head and muttered.
“Hmph. Plenty of people only talk big.”
I lay down on the cold mana-engineering device placed at the center of the laboratory.
“Beginning phase one of the treatment.”
With Master Elio’s quiet declaration, the first drug Kailus had prepared was injected into my veins.
“Kgh…!”
The moment the cold liquid pierced my heart, an agony that felt as though every nerve in my body was screaming slammed into my brain. It was no ordinary pain. It felt as if each joint was being ground down, every single muscle fiber torn apart—an agony rooted in the most primal depths of the flesh. Cold sweat poured like rain, and my teeth chattered so violently I thought my jaw would break.
“My lady!”
Rician’s scream reached me.
But that was only the beginning. When Jerome flipped the device’s switch, a new torment that directly shook my soul descended. All sound in the world vanished, leaving only the noise of my existence wearing away, echoing in my ears.
Perhaps because the pain dominated my body, forgotten memories began to surface. Memories of my previous life. Memories of this life. They mixed chaotically, throbbing painfully through my brain.
…This must be from the time I was a corporate raider.