Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Experiments (7)
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"Record start."
Mere, whom I met again after a week, began the experiment with the same emotionless, mechanical demeanor as always.
The table in the operating room didn't have any of those eerie tools like last time, so I could breathe a sigh of relief for the moment.
"According to Bark's report, aside from that weird smile when you woke up, you behaved stably and calmly."
She stared at me intently as she said it.
'What is she getting at?'
"The experiments showed the same. You endured the pain far better and more calmly than your father, who's over a hundred years old. Long-ear hybrids might have something unique in their mental faculties rather than their bodies. Bark, record that along with examples."
'That's just because I'm not some simple twenty-year-old—my mind is much older.'
If I said that, I'd only end up as the subject of even more varied experiments, and telling anyone else would just bring more danger. They'd either treat me like a lunatic or worse.
"Tell me what you thought about during the past week."
"...I was scared of the experiments and thought I wanted to cooperate well to get rewards."
There was nothing else to say. Pretending to be tough might make Mere's handling even rougher.
Mere asked about other things too—how my body felt, any magic achievements—and I answered honestly.
"Normally, beginner spells take all day at best, or a few days at worst, to learn one. But you mastered four while doing chores in just four days."
She said that, then gave orders to Bark again.
"Bark, add this to the hypothesis about mental uniqueness from earlier."
'That's not some mental uniqueness—it's because I...'
The physical exam followed. When she mentioned checking my pupils, I hoped she might treat my right eye, but she indifferently pried open my left eyelid and examined it closely.
"No pupil dilation, no shaking. Eyelids aren't trembling either. So either your words about fearing the experiments are a lie, or you're unnaturally calm despite it."
Now, whenever Mere looked at me, Bark quickly jotted it down in his notebook.
There was no way I wasn't afraid of the experiments, but my calm appearance was closer to resignation. To this inescapable situation.
Next came vision and hearing tests. The vision test was just identifying letters from afar, and the hearing test involved speaking into a magic tool held to the ear.
From the muscle strength experiment onward, things started pushing my body to its limits.
"Pull the iron chain to lift the weight on the other side. Until I tell you to stop."
In one corner of the operating room was a pulley-like device with an iron chain and a large weight attached. She told me to pull it.
"Hngh—"
I pulled the chain with all my strength, slowly lifting the weight.
The chain dug into my hands like it was grinding against my bones.
How long had it been since the weight reached the top of the pulley? At the point where I couldn't hold on any longer, I let go.
Thud—
"Who told you to let go?"
I looked up laboriously, and Mere swung her hand.
Slap
Slap
Thwack!
The last one was the sound of her foot kicking my chest.
"Ugh, uh... Hah—hah, I'm sorry."
It wasn't her full strength, but as I'd felt in the previous experiment, Mere's power was surprisingly strong for a mage.
My cheeks burned and stung, and my chest felt crushed, making it hard to breathe for a moment.
My lip had split too; I could taste blood. I'd thought today would be easier, but here we were.
After several more attempts, I managed to hold the weight up for about 15 seconds, and only then did Mere stop the violence.
"People only show their true strength when cornered. That's average compared to other races. Bark, add that muscle strength shows no difference from other races except tall-ears."
'Is she really insane? She beat me because I seemed weaker than other races, forcing me to do more.'
"Now, next is..."
The experiments continued, and it wasn't until two hours had passed that they finally ended.
"Prompt to Magic Cast—Healing Hand."
⟨ Holy Magic ⟩
Mere's holy magic healed the scratches and swollen wounds all over my body. Last time, I'd been asleep under anesthesia, so this was the first time I'd seen holy magic with my own eyes.
Instead of blue light, a pure white glow—characteristic of holy magic—gently enveloped my body and seeped in.
'But why use a dagger? A greatsword? For casting spells?'
The indigo mana that shone from the dagger, not her hand, had turned white upon casting and come to me.
"Prompt to Magic Cast—Cleansing Field."
⟨ Holy Magic ⟩
The magic cast from the dagger again.
This one seemed intermediate; two small circles appeared around the magic circuit. Then the white light formed a circle enclosing me, Mere, and Bark, seeping into our bodies.
'Feels refreshingly cool. Like disinfection.'
As I felt the magic's effect, my eyes followed the fascinating dagger. Noticing my gaze, Mere spoke up.
"Most use staves as mana catalysts, but I'm different. Because I can fight as a warrior too."
I didn't know what a 'mana catalyst' was, but it seemed mages usually used staves. Mere could fight as a warrior despite being a mage, so she used a dagger? That explained why her strength felt so immense.
For some reason, her tone and expression carried a pride different from usual. Unusual for her.
"See you next week. Get out."
"I'll see you next week."
She wasn't fixing my eye today either. I just bowed my head and left.
After that, my life as an experimental subject manservant repeated.
I adapted to one-eyed life—bumping into things and stumbling—and mainly handled cleaning the trading room, bedding, laundry, and such. The experiments repeated weekly.
At some point, the experiments shifted to monthly cycles, repeating the same tests to record changes. Mere's ways of hitting me grew more varied, but I got used to them.
Mornings began with expending all mana on spellcasting practice; nights with recovered mana for more training. Time passed in those days.
Some nights, nightmares of experiments woke me drenched in sweat.
And so, early summer at age twenty-one.
Like when I'd learned all beginner spells, I felt my mana capacity increase again, with smoother circulation.
"Prompt to Magic Cast—Cooling."
⟨ Blue Magic ⟩
When I cast the spell, the magic circuit and light cluster glowed not pale blue, but deep and vivid blue.
'...!'
Thus, I had reached the intermediate mana realm.
"Record start."
This was the first experiment after reaching intermediate mana realm.
"Mana grade rose to intermediate in just one year. Learn the spells, and you'll be an intermediate blue mage. Another mental uniqueness... Bark, did you find someone to teach the magic I mentioned before?"
Bark, who had been jotting in his notebook at Mere's words, looked up hurriedly.
"Found a few in Aria Kingdom, but they refused the deal. There's a candidate in Mercia Kingdom; negotiations are underway."
"Aria Kingdom folk are all about regulations and no flexibility. Mercia should be soon. Perfect timing since the maggot hit intermediate—bring them as soon as possible."
"Yes, understood."
The next experiment was measuring height.
"Age 20, 89 kran. Age 21, 89 kran. No peculiarities in height changes for long-ear hybrids."
'Kran' was a unit about thumbnail length, roughly 2 cm.
As a child, units like length and weight confused me since they differed from my previous life, but now they instantly converted in my mind to what I understood.
"Probably stops growing at 178 cm."
Just like that.
"Next, vision test."
Mere said that, then held her dagger forward, gathering mana and focusing.
'What's she doing all of a sudden?'
About a minute passed, and intense indigo mana gathered in the dagger, forming four circles for the magic circuit.
Four circles—probably supreme-grade magic.
"Prompt to Magic Cast—Regeneration."
⟨ Holy Magic ⟩
White light poured onto me. It was so bright it felt like my eyes would go blind.
But far from blind, my right eye opened involuntarily...? I immediately removed the eyepatch.
'Ahh, finally—finally...!'
After nearly a year living with one eye, my vision was restored at last. Even in this give-and-take situation, it was a moment of such gratitude and emotion.
Until now, I'd had to believe Mere's words, but I experienced with my own body that supreme-grade holy mages could truly regenerate lost body parts.
"Starting the exam right away."
It was incredibly moving, but what was the intent behind restoring my eye at this sudden timing?
The following experiments revealed it was purely for the test.
"Eyes not focusing together, poor judgment of height and distance, better vision with one eye than both. Overall, long-term vision loss and post-treatment initial adaptation show no difference from other races."
'Is this crazy woman seriously doing this for some experiment? What meaning does it even have?'
Thinking of Mere always brought curses to mind.
Maybe she was just tormenting me mentally to break me and control me as she pleased?
No, she could already control me however she wanted.
Trying to figure it out was like trying to understand a psychopath.
I was just relieved to finish all experiments without issue and leave the lab with my eyesight restored.