Kenja no Mago
Volume 9 - The Astounding Invasion of the Devils
100 – Noticing a Terrible Mistake
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"Miss Ekaterina has been stabbed!? What on the world happened!?" - Uncle Dis sent me an urgent message that Miss Ekaterina had been stabbed.
"I don't know the exact details. I'm sure the stab wound itself is being treated with healing magic, but…" - Uncle Dis pauses.
"What? What is wrong?"
"The blade was apparently poisoned."
"Poison?!"
"Yeah. It seems that no matter how many times healing magic is cast on her, she just gets weaker and weaker. That's why I've come to ask Shin for help."
Damn it! What a problem! The Healing magicians of Ys can't cure poison!?
"Okay! I'll be on my way, but keep me posted!"
"Mhm. I'm counting on you. If Katie is harmed, things will get messy. We must avoid that at all costs."
Just a few minutes ago, we were talking about how the operation would end with Miss Ekaterina's declaration, but I didn't expect this to happen. I don't know who did this or why, but if her Eminence the Pope, who has followers all over the world, is killed, we will not be able to enjoy peace even if the demon's disturbances have subsided. That is something that must be avoided at all costs. If I knew this was going to happen, I would have given her that necklace! I regretted for forgetting to give it to her last time.
"Grandpa!"
"Um. I heard, let's head to Ys!"
"Please do come with me! Okay, Aug, I'm off!"
"Shin! Save her Eminence the Pope at all costs!"
"I know!"
We head towards Ys by walking through the gate that grandpa opens. We exited the gate into a luxurious private room. After exiting the gate, grandpa opens the room door without hesitation.
"Wah! Who are you? How dare you come out from her Eminence the Pope's room!?"
Ah, so this is Miss Ekaterina's private room? A man, who seemed to be a guarding knight, rushes to the front of the door and gazed at grandpa who comes out of Miss Ekaterina's room. Well, I'm sure he is surprised that someone suddenly bursts out of the Pope's room.
"I'm Merlin Wolford! This is my grandson, Shin! I come to treat Ekaterina at the request of Earlshide's King, Diseum! Now show me the way now!"
"The Wiseman?! Such a blatant lie…"
"Shut up!! Blah blah blah stop saying rubbish things and show me where the hell I need to go!"
Whoa! Grandpa is seriously offended. Densely packed magic power swirls around grandpa. The guard knight's legs tremble at the sight of this.
"Stop stalling! If we can't make it in time and Ekaterina dies… I will tear you to pieces!"
"Hee! But we can't take a stranger with us…"
I've never seen such a scary side of grandpa in my life. I'm quite annoyed with the knight who is still unwilling to show us the way. But I can understand the knight position. It is a request from Uncle Dis, but I don't have anything to prove it. I told him to keep me informed, but he didn't indicate where to open the gate or anything.
What do we do now? If we don't treat her as soon as possible, it might be too late. As I was trying to figure out how to get out of this situation, a priest, dressed in a gorgeous garments, comes running in. Ah, that's it!
"Hey! Is Sir Shin is still here… Oh! Sir Shin!"
"Long time no see, Mr. Makina"
"What? Archbishop Makina! Then you really are the Wiseman and the Herald!"
Archbishop Makina, who knows my face, because he had participated the trilateral talks (during the demon extermination campaign), came to pick us up.
"You really did come right away!"
"Of course! Lead us to Her Eminence the Pope at once!"
"Yes! This way!"
Grandpa and I followed after Archbishop Makina, who is running ahead of us. At that time, the knight follows us, with a pitifully pale face.
"I didn't think it was really the Wiseman and the Herald… What have I done…?"
He's following us whilst mumbling, but now is not the time to be dealing with the knight.
"Mr. Makina, what is the condition of Her Eminence?"
"Huff, puff, eh? Ah, the stab wound is quite deep, and she's lost a lot of blood! Huff, puff, even, even if we heal the wound…"
Unable to speak any more under his heavy breathing, or perhaps afraid to continue his words due to the desperate situation, Mr. Makina stops talking at this point. I can't say anything else either, so I just follow Mr. Makina.
And we arrive at the audience room. The Pope of the God of Creation country, who is also the head of state, greets the emissaries of other countries in the audience room.
"The audience room, that means the culprit is…"
"Hah! Hah! Eh, yeah… from outside the country… an emissary from Dahm"
After all, it was someone from outside the country? Mr. Makina, who is completely out of breath, summons the last of his strength and opens the door of the audience room.
"Sir Shin! Her Eminence the Pope, by all means! Please save her in any way possible!"
"Yes! Get out of the way, please! I'll take over the treatment!"
Encouraged by Mr. Makina, who slumps down after using the last ounce of his strength in opening the door, I start running toward the crowd in the audience room.
"Oh! The Herald! The Herald has come!"
"Herald! Her Eminence, Save Her Eminence the Pope!"
It seems that everyone recognizes that I was here because Mr. Makina shouted my name out loud earlier. One person after another calls out to me, but I don't have time to reply to them. The crowd opens up and the scene that emerges is… Ekaterina, who is collapsed in a pool of blood, is being desperately treated by a healing magician, and…
"Fwah!! It's not my fault! It's the Pope's fault for recognizing that little boy as the Herald!"
The man that who was thought to be the culprit, has been seized by a knight, and is making odd statements.
"Shut up! You traitor!"
"As an emissary from a nation that follows our religion, how dare you to commit such a barbaric act!"
I'm annoyed with seized criminal, but I'm also irritated by the knight. How can you act so high and mighty after allowing a murderous act to happen so easily? For now, I'll put that on the back burner. Right now, we must focus all of our efforts on treating Miss Ekaterina!
"Just like that, keep using your healing magic, Mr. Healing magician! I'll tend to her now!"
Sitting face-to-face with the healing magician who continues to cast healing magic, I examine Miss Ekaterina, who has lost a lot of blood. I imagine circling magical power throughout Ekaterina's body, perceiving every single cell!
During that examination, across the stabbed wound on the abdomen, I was able to found out that had she sustained several internal wounds and some organs are still damaged, wounds that the healing magician's magic haven't been able to treat. Furthermore, the poison is circulating all around her entire body, she can die at any time now.
"!!"
Recognizing this, I activate my healing magic without even having time to speak up. First, the internal organs that were damaged by the stab, I will use cultured cells from the same organ to heal them. Next, the purification of the poison! Since the poison has already spread throughout the body, I imagine cleansing the poison circulating though the veins. The image of my magic purifying the poison, travelling in tandem with the poison throughout the veins, reach every location from the heart to the extremities of her body.
The reason why I am able to treat the damaged organs in the abdomen and purify the poison through her blood vessels, and make it in time, is because of the person next to me is using healing magic along the way. With that person's help, I can at least maintain her vitals stable, even if she isn't completely healed yet.
In conjunction with the healing magician that continues to cast healing magic, I also continue to cast purification magic. Let it be just in time! Don't die on me! You are grandmother's apprentice, my grandfather's student, and the one who told me to call you my mother!? Don't let this measly poison kill you. I continue to cast magic to purify the poison with such desperate wishful thinking. How long has it been since I started?
"Oh… ooh…"
Someone speaks up. What is it? I have all my attention focused on purging the poison that I can't see my surroundings. What's happening!? My mind is spinning at that time.
"!?"
Someone strokes my head. I follow that hand to its owner…
"Ah, ah…"
The owner was…
"Shin… sweetie… you came…?"
I opened my eyes and see Miss Ekaterina stroking me with trembling hands.
"Miss Ekaterina! Good! I'm really… glad… "
I made it just in time! It was really close, but I saved Miss Ekaterina's life! As I'm pondering over this, tears overflow from my eyes. Then Ekaterina wipes my tears away with her trembling hands.
"Oh dear… Sweetie Shin… is a crybaby, isn't he?"
I know it must be hard for her, but that voice is full of compassion and of concern for me like a mother's. That makes me want to cry even more…
"WHAAHHH!" - You! You scared me!
"It's a miracle! The herald has performed a miracle!"
"Oh! Her eminence the Pope! I'm so glad! I'm glad you are safe!"
Did all the people that are watching over us happen to cheer in unison? ? I'm caught by surprise, and get yanked back to reality by the clamor. That calms me down a bit, and I call out to the exhausted Ekaterina, even though I barely saved her life, she still needs rest.
"Her Eminence the Pope is quite worn out. She needs to go back to her room and rest…"
It was at that moment.
"I… this me… thismethismethisme! Because of you Shin Wolford! Because of you! It's your fault!"
The apprehended man suddenly shouts out loudly. This is! Can this magical power be!?
"Tsk!? I don't like this situation! Behead that man!"
When grandpa saw the man's magical power swelling, he exclaims out an order to decapitate that man. In response to grandpa's words, a knight, as if to avenge the stigma of letting the criminal's deadly blade reach the Pope, , immediately pulls out his sword as he rushes down from the top platform. The sword not only cut the man's neck, but continues until it sinks into the floor. It was impossible for the man's head to remain connected to his neck and torso when a sword strikes with such force.
After, everyone stares at the man's body in amazement, all eyes naturally turn to grandpa who had given the order. Then grandpa elaborates his reason to everyone as they are staring at him while being stupefied.
"…That was a close call… He was about to become a devil!"
That's right. The magic power that mas was emitting from him. That was very similar to the magic power Kurt emitted before he turned into a devil. If we'd left him continue, he would probably have become into a devil.
"Well now Demonization!?
"That is scary…"
"We were saved by the Wiseman…"
"Sir Shin saved Her Majesty the Pope, and Merlin defeated a devil yet again. No, it's a family of heroes."
No… it was the knight who did it… atmosphere becomes excited and lively, so I'm not able to contribute any of my opinion…
"Forget about this for now, we need to get Ekaterina to her room as soon as possible! She must rest from now on, you know her rest is essential!"
Maybe because he had escaped from various crises, grandpa give a declaration to those around him who were in a somewhat of a pleasant mood. Today is a day I get to see this unexpected side of the old man's multiple times. It's hard to imagine it from the usual good-natured grandpa.
"Huh! Hey! We need a stretcher urgently…"
"Oh, that's fine. I'll take her."
"What? Eh, no, for the Herald to do such a thing…"
"Isn't this easier than carrying her in a stretcher?" - While saying that, I cast a levitation spell on Miss Ekaterina.
"Oh… My goodness…"
"I'll just take her up to her room. Excuse me for asking this, but can you please prepare a liquid meal? I'll have Her Eminence eat it."
We need the bone marrow to increase the blood production to replenish the lost blood. In order to do that, she needs nourishment.
"Ha, yes! I'll get it for you right away!"
One of the knights, which until a moment before had been stunned because of the floating Miss Ekaterina thanks to my levitation magic, separates from the crowd and hastily runs outside from the audience room.
"Then, Her Eminence, we are going."
"Huh… yes… please…"
It seems to be painful because of the lost blood, but she manages to smile and responds. With this, she'll be fine once she replenishes all her missing blood. As I am thinking about that while my head is in its calmness after getting out of this life threatening crisis, , the healing magician who assisted in treating miss Ekaterina converses with me.
"Herald, you are amazing… I couldn't save the life of Her Eminence the Pope alone…"
He expresses about his failures with a lot of depression. I convey a few words to the healing magician to ease his mind.
"What are you talking about? It's definitely thanks to you that the life of Her Eminence the Pope was saved?"
"Eh?"
"The poison that was afflicting Her Eminence the Pope was spread all over her body. She was in a state in which she could die at any time."
"Oh, I didn't know she was in such dire situation…"
When I recount the event for him that it was really a close call for miss Ekaterina, the healing magician starts to tremble and becomes weakened.
"But Her Eminence is alive, undoubtedly because you continued to cast healing magic."
"Oh no, that's not… such a thing is…"
"That's right. Without you, I couldn't have saved the life of Her Eminence. I really appreciate it."
That is an undeniable fact. He kept casting healing magic all the while I was trying to purify the poison. Without that, I probably wouldn't have made it in time. I want him to have confidence in that.
"I don't know how to use healing magic, I can only heal simple injuries, but if Shin says so, it must be correct. It was thanks to you, and let me also be the one to thank you as well." – Grandpa continues.
"Hey! Raise your head Wiseman, please! To do such thing to me…"
"After responding to grandpa's praise, the healing magician words ceases because Miss Ekaterina holds his hand.
"If it wasn't for your… healing magic… I wouldn't have lived… Thank you…" - Miss Ekaterina smiled after saying that.
"It's… it's… too good to be true… too good to be true…"
After being thanked by the beloved Pope, the healing magician keeps repeating that it is too good to be true in saving her life while his tears stream down his face. When we arrived at Miss Ekaterina's private room, the room where we first warped into, grandpa pays the guarding knight a visit.
"Ekaterina hasn't completely recovered yet. I'll take some time to treat her, so can you just leave it to us from here on out?"
"Yea, Yes. Understood. Herald, I understand, and for Her Eminence the Pope, I look forward in working with you."
"Yes, I understand"
Before I can enter the room after responding to the guarding knight.
"Hick, Wiseman! Herald!
Outside near the room, a knight comes running, looks at grandpa and… he dives straight down on his knees. I've never seen sliding-down-on-your-knees apology or anything like that before.
"I'm sorry about earlier! I'll accept any punishment however you wish! I'm so sorry!" - He apologizes during his prostration.
Oh, he feels responsible because he stopped the person who came to save Miss. Ekaterina. Certainly I was frustrated at that time because I was upset, but this knight's actions were not wrong. What should I do?
"Hey Grandpa. Did he do something to us to apologize for?"
"Did he? I only saw a knight who was faithful to his duties."
"Eh? Huh?" - The knight's eyes stare at grandpa and me as he had fallen in love.
"I'm sorry about earlier. I was upset that this child was in danger."
"No, that…"
"It's our side that's at fault. Can you forgive us?"
"Ha! What! No one can blame the one who saved Her Eminence the Pope! Excuse me this time! And thank you very much for saving Her Eminence the Pope!"
"Okay, now we have to start Ekaterina treatment. Excuse me."
"Yes!"
Grandpa replies to him and we enter into Miss Ekaterina's private room. We pass through another door in the room and find her bedroom, where we have Miss Ekaterina take her rest. When I attempt to check on Miss Ekaterina's conditions, she is… giggling about something.
"Miss Ekaterina? What happened?
"Huh, uhufuh. Teacher… you've fooled me nicely…"
It's hard on her body, but her amusement appears to be unavoidable. She's laughing the whole time.
"Hm. What do you mean?"
"You lost your temper because of me… didn't you teacher? I can't say for sure, but Master… will get mad at you for this…?"
It was obvious to Miss Ekaterina that grandpa had snapped at the knight. While I cast the image of making blood platelets from her bone marrow, I inquire Miss Ekaterina, who is laying in her bed.
"How did you know that grandfather had snapped?"
"That knight earlier, he stopped teacher and you when you appeared, didn't he? It's a situation I'm sure my old teacher would have lost his temper"
It seems that the blood volume is returning, albeit a little at a time. She's starting to talk a lot better.
"Is that so? To be honest, I've never seen grandpa like that before, so I was quite surprised."
"Oh, really? Teacher, you're being a good grandfather in front of sweetie Shin, aren't you?"
Miss Ekaterina resumes to giggle again. Ah, now there is a blue streak on grandpa's temple…
"It seems you're feeling well enough, so that's enough as treatment. Come on, Shin, we're going home."
"Eh? Oh, it's a joke, it's a joke. Don't get mad at me teacher… Oh, oh?"
She is probably trying to stop grandpa from getting up and leaving. Miss Ekaterina attempts to raise her upper body from the bed, but she can't maintain her posture with her arms and plops back down on the bed.
"Looks like there's no problem at all… Now, why don't you get some sleep?"
"You're not leaving, are you…?"
"Yeah, I'll be with you for little longer."
"Hehe, thank you, teacher…"
It's more akin to father and daughter than a teacher and student. … No, if it is true, I'd say it's similar to a father and daughter-in-law…
My healing magic and the peace of mind that comes from having grandpa around. Miss Ekaterina, Ekaterina recovers considerably after eating the liquid food prepared. She is now able to sit upright on the bed.
"But it's still a great healing spell. The stab wound has already healed. Instead of feeling weak and painful, I'm feel very hungry…"
Miss Ekaterina muttered as she enjoys her third refill.
"I'm treating Miss Ekaterina's wound by culturing normal cells into the needed cells. You have to regenerate the blood you've lost, and for that you have eat much more."
"…Cell? Culturing?"
Oh, I just talked about the principle of healing magic. They can't understand me even if I talk about it.
"Teacher, I don't understand what sweetie Shin is saying…"
"Don't worry. I don't know what he's talking about either."
"What, you too teacher?"
"What's going on in this child's head…? To be frank, I can only say he's a genius."
"… Isn't he a bit too spoiled by you?"
"Ahahahaha!"
Being spoiled! That's true. – I thought.
"That's not the case. After all, Melinda has the same opinion."
"If master also… then he really is…"
"Wait a minute! Why do you think I'm an idiot and Melinda is more convincing than me?"
"What? I can't even imagine master spoiling her grandson or…"
"Muh…"
Don't be so blunt, as if she'd seen it all. That's how much she knows about grandfather and grandmother.
"So what makes you think sweetie Shin is a genius?"
"I've shown it to you. This magic known as 'gate'."
"Yes. I was surprised at that. But I was more surprised at the long-distance communication"
"That magic was developed by Shin."
"Eh? Eehhhh!? Cough! Cough!"
"Oh! Miss Ekaterina! Try to calm down!"
She is quite surprised, she choked profusely after shouting out loud. After a while, Miss Ekaterina coughing fit finally subsides enough to reply to grandpa.
"I am shocked… I thought it was your teacher who developed it… I was interested in the fact that it was developed by teacher but…"
To begin with, very few people outside of Earlshide know the existence of 'gate' magic. – I ponder to myself.
"So with all this… I come to understand that the communication device was Shin's invention…"
"Yes, I taught him magic, and Melinda taught him how to make magic tools. But he had elevated them to this level. What else would you call this but genius?"
"That's true…"
Mmmm, I'm so embarrassed, can they not see I'm also in the room? After applying healing magic for a while, Miss Ekaterina's physical condition improves completely. That's a relief.
"By the way, Katie. How did this happen? What was the guarding knight doing?"
Grandpa starts inquiring about this incident, probably because Miss Ekaterina was feeling better. That is bothering me too. It is even possible to attack a head of state while being guarded? Or were the guards really that dumb?
"About that… I was completely caught off guard… and only…"
"Carelessness?"
"Eh. Didn't the Dahm's commander went against the marching orders? Thanks to that, the devils almost escaped…"
"Yes. If it wasn't for grandpa, I don't know what would have happened to Earlshide by now…"
If Grandpa and Grandma hadn't prevented it from attacking with such a razor thin margin during that event, Earlshide would have be a battlefield by now. When you think about it, Dahm's commander did something ridiculous.
"Because the messenger of Dahm said that they wanted to apologize for that event, we took the offer obediently. The knight and I didn't doubt the friendly relationships between us and Dahm, since it is the country where the headquarters of the God of Creation religion was originally established…"
Oh, I see. I know I'm being a softie, but I've heard that Dahm is treated as a friendly nation in Ys. Since Ys is a higher-ranking country, I think they were looking down at the messenger of the subordinate country that caused the trouble. She said she was caught unexpectedly.
"It's… a shameful story."
"… I can't retort to that…"
Now Miss Ekaterina looks more like a woeful student who is pissed off at, than Her Highness the Pope. She's pissed off grandpa and is currently sulking at her mistake. Still, I'm curious about the last words that the Dahm's emissary was shouting about.
It seems he didn't like the fact that I was being called a Herald … I heard that it was the same case with the Dahm's commander; I wonder if that's the norm in Dahm? I didn't name myself that, but if there is such denial floating around, it is going to make a dent in my reputation…
"No, that shouldn't be the case. Didn't I tell you that it was decided at the summit to recognize sweetie Shin as a herald? Of course, the King of Dahm was also present. He also agreed in return"
"Then, what did that messenger say?"
"It's…"
When I question, Miss Ekaterina falls silent. That messenger's words bothered me, but there's another thing that vexed me even more.
"Besides, didn't he…almost turned into a devil? Is it that big of a deal to have so much resentment?"
"Surely… I don't think it should be enough resentment to turn you into a devil."
"Previously Kurt… a person who turned into a devil at the Academy of Magic, also turned into a devil rather easily. But at that time…"
With that much thoughts poured out, something clicks in my head.
"You don't mean to tell me that… he was used for another Schtrom's experiment?
"… Right, that boy Kurt. He was used for human experimentation by the devil's leader."
"If there was a devil behind this incident too…"
And what was Schtrom doing in Royal Capital? He'd been experimenting with demonizing living things. If that is the case, then the question that was mentioned up by Aug the other day. Isn't the answer here that with the advent of the devils, a greater number of disaster level demons began to appear, demons that we didn't see before? Schtrom succeeded in demonizing living creatures. Isn't the next thing he's aiming for, the evolution of demons?
So maybe the experiments were the never seen disaster class, the wolf that lacked cunning during the campaign, or a disaster class of deer that we've never seen before, or a rhinoceros that wasn't supposed to turn into a demon, but converted regardless. That means that Schtrom's experiments aren't over yet, right?
"Grandpa… we may have made a terrible mistake…"
"A mistake?"
"Schtrom may not been consented to wage war but he may not have stopped his experimentation on demonizing."
"That's…"
Grandpa couldn't deny that fact either. He is struck silent. I decided to communicate this hypothesis on to Aug right away. I'm guessing the future responses will surely change, depending on whether or not Aug is aware of such hypothesis.
"Miss Ekaterina, are you feeling alright now?"
"Yeah. Thank you. I'm feeling much better."
"I think you have lose some body weight, so eat well and exercise. That should get you back to normal."
"Really? Even though the number on the scale had decreased…"
"You can't be healthy without a certain amount of body weight. If it's okay with you, can you gain back your original weight?"
"I understand, but what's about the hypothesis you just talked about?"
"Yes. I need to go home and discuss this with Aug, or we'll be in big trouble…"
I am just about to discuss with Aug when I hear the ringtone of my wireless communication device going off.
"What? What's that noise?"
"Oh, I'm sorry." - The sudden ringing startles Miss Ekaterina, so I apologized and then answered the call.
"Hello? Who is it? Oh, Aug"
"What? Mhm, it truly is wireless!"
Oh, I didn't mention to Miss Ekaterina that it's wireless. She is surprised behind me, but its good timing because I just had to talk to Aug.
"You called just with perfect timing, I need to converse with you about…"
"Never mind about that, we will talk about it later! I need you to come to the rescue now!"
"What? Rescue?"
After hearing that, a loud explosion could be heard from the other end of the communicator.
"Hey! What's happening?!"
"A devil! A devil has appeared
"A devil?"
"Why is it now… and…"
"What do you mean by 'rescue'? If it is a devil you've subdue a lot of them before!"
"It's different than before! These devils…"
After this, Aug told me something shocking.
"They are incomparable stronger than all the devils up until now!