Chapter : 10
“…Excess mana?”
“Yes. As I mentioned earlier, the pain and paralysis you’re experiencing are caused by an overabundance of mana in your body. However, once this illness is cured, that immense reserve of mana could greatly improve your swordsmanship compared to before.”
Adele quietly slid the vial toward Heon.
“So you need to take this medicine consistently. Of course, it won’t cure you overnight. It’ll take quite a long time for your body’s balance to recover.”
“And how do you intend to prove that it works?”
“I already told you. If you keep taking it, you’ll get better.”
“…?”
“You’ll understand once you try it.”
Faced with her baseless confidence, Heon was left speechless.
She wants me to drink this? She expects me to test it on my own body?
How am I supposed to trust that it’s even safe? She’s already suspicious enough as it is.
Yet, despite those thoughts, his hand had already begun reaching toward the vial.
…What am I doing?
The next moment, he forced himself back to his senses. Turning his head away, he shoved the medicine back toward her.
Damn it. I haven’t sunk that low yet.
The bottle rolled across the table before falling to the floor with a sharp clink.
“If you’re trying to sell fake medicine, find some desperate addict instead.”
His voice was cold, bordering on contempt.
Even so, Adele merely nodded as if she’d expected exactly this reaction.
“I figured you wouldn’t believe me right away. Well, it can’t be helped. Good thing I used a sturdy bottle.”
Looking rather pleased that the vial hadn’t broken, she picked it up and placed it back on the table.
Then she pulled a small slip of paper from her pocket and held it out to him.
“What is this?”
“My home address.”
Narrowing her eyes slightly, Adele continued.
“As your illness progresses, you’ll experience pain far beyond anything you’ve felt so far. Pain so severe you won’t even be able to endure it.”
“Are you trying to curse me?”
Ignoring his piercing glare, Adele calmly placed a hand against her own chest.
“Right here.”
Her fingertip rested on the exact spot just above the solar plexus.
“Once the pain starts there, you’ll suddenly find it difficult to breathe. You may not even be able to make a sound, no matter how hard you try to speak. It’ll last anywhere from a few minutes to around ten.”
Heon’s expression stiffened.
He had never experienced symptoms like that before.
…No.
There was no reason for him to believe a single word she said.
“That’s ridiculous…”
“So when that happens, use the medicine.”
She gestured toward the bottle on the table before placing the note beside it.
“And if you change your mind then, come find me at the address written here.”
Apparently deciding any further explanation would be a waste of time, she stood up without even saying goodbye.
“Until next time.”
The hem of her worn robe fluttered behind her as she disappeared from the drawing room.
“Hah.”
How exactly did she expect there to be a next time?
Shaking his head with a hollow laugh, Heon muttered,
“Where did a scammer like that even come from…?”
She was arrogant, and everything that came out of her mouth sounded absurd.
Yet, strangely enough, he couldn’t throw away the medicine or the note she’d left behind.
No…
He simply couldn’t.
For some inexplicable reason, the spot above his solar plexus—the very place she’d pointed to—tingled faintly.
A Few Days Later
See? Nothing happened.
Heon let out a quiet chuckle as he turned another page.
Stacks of books about mana covered his desk.
Ever since that day, he’d looked at the note and the medicine Adele had left behind more than once.
Eventually, he found himself ridiculous and shoved both deep into a drawer.
That didn’t mean he’d forgotten about them.
Though he pretended not to care, her words had continued to bother him, so he’d decided to investigate the medicine himself.
He gave his servants a single order.
“Bring me every book you can find on mana.”
He wanted to know whether there had ever been anyone who suffered because they couldn’t expel excess mana from their body.
The books occasionally mentioned mana depletion.
But nowhere did they mention excessive mana or any sort of mana-absorbing medicine.
Gradually, Adele’s warning began to seem more and more like complete nonsense.
“What? Pain worse than anything I’ve experienced? Suddenly unable to breathe?”
“Hah. As if I’d suddenly stop breathing…”
Snorting, Heon tossed the book aside.
Still…
She certainly knew how to sell her story.
For a moment, she’d almost convinced him.
Feeling annoyed that he’d wasted so much time reading useless books, he slowly rose from his chair.
“What a pointless…”
He clicked his tongue.
Then—
Without warning—
His breath caught.
Heon clutched his chest and tried to call for a servant.
But although his lips moved, not a single sound came out of his throat.
Damn it…! Damn it! Damn it!
His heart pounded violently.
His mind went completely blank.
His sturdy body staggered before collapsing helplessly onto the floor.
“Ghk…! Cough!”
Between his collarbone and his solar plexus—
The exact place Adele had pointed to—
A crushing pressure tightened around it as though an enormous block of iron had been placed on his chest.
At the same time, the words of the woman he’d mocked for cursing him flashed through his mind.
“Once the pain starts there, you’ll suddenly find it difficult to breathe. You may not even be able to make a sound. It’ll last anywhere from a few minutes to around ten.”
It was exactly the same.
He really couldn’t breathe.
Heon couldn’t believe it.
…What is this?
That strange woman’s words…
They had been true.
At this rate…
He might actually die.
Then… if that’s the case…
Just before losing consciousness, Heon gathered every last ounce of strength and crawled toward his desk.
With trembling hands, he yanked open the drawer.
He threw out everything inside as his fingers desperately searched.
Damn it.
Damn it all!
The potion.
The very potion the woman had called a cure.
“Hngh…!”
At last, Heon found it.
There was no longer any time to doubt.
His shaking hands tore off the cap, and he immediately swallowed the contents.
Gulp.
Gulp.
The liquid slid effortlessly down the throat that moments ago had refused to let him breathe.
As though it had been created solely for this moment.
Then…
A short while later—
“Hah…! Haa…!”
The muscles in his chest, which had been rigid as stone, slowly began to relax.
The breathing that had moments ago seemed impossible returned to normal.
He clenched and unclenched the hand that had gone numb from paralysis, and warmth spread through his body almost instantly.
Never in his life had he experienced such agony.
Nor had he ever experienced that agony disappearing so completely in an instant.
Still sitting on the floor, Heon continued gasping for air.
Then he looked down at the empty vial in his hand.
Not a single drop remained.
“…It was real.”
Only then did Heon have no choice but to admit it.
He now had a reason—
A very good reason—
To find that woman.
I scratched my ear absentmindedly while putting on my dress.
…Why is my ear so itchy today?
“Adele, are you finished changing?”
“Oh my goodness, it looks absolutely stunning on you! Shall I pull back the curtain?”
Outside the fitting room, Adolf urged me to hurry, while the tailor fussed excitedly beside me.
Maybe it’s because I’ve got two noisy magpies chirping on either side of me.
Not thinking much of it, I nodded.
“Yes, please open it.”
Today was the day I was getting a dress tailored.
On the day I’d gone to see Heon and made my proposal—or rather, my proposal disguised as a threat—Adolf contacted me again after his empty pockets had been thoroughly exposed.
He said he knew some investors he wanted to introduce me to and invited me to accompany him to a count’s banquet.
Hmm.
Getting Heon’s investment was still my top priority…
But any successful entrepreneur knows you prepare Plans A through Z in case your first plan fails.
Besides, I’d be saving the cost of buying a dress.
Adolf had proudly declared that, as a gift to celebrate my leaving the Magic Tower, he could at least afford to buy me one dress.
No matter how broke he was, he insisted he could manage that much.
