Like blowing out a candle flame, Terry’s life, which had been flickering precariously, suddenly burned steadily without the slightest waver.

Her pale complexion and lips instantly regained their color, and Terry’s chest rose and fell once deeply.

Her fading eyes gradually became clearer, but soon her face contorted as if something had gone wrong.

“Terry…?”

Thinking something had gone wrong, I watched as Terry suddenly sat up and covered her mouth.

“Ugh.”

“…?”

“Ptui, ptui, ptui! My goodness, how can something taste so horrible…! It’s worse than deadly poison! Blech.”

After leaning over the side of the bed, dry heaving and retching, Terry felt her abdomen and finally managed to sit up.

“Oh, it doesn’t hurt anymore.”

She messily tore at the pressure bandage Sir Penadel had wrapped around her for hemostasis.

After touching the slightly reddish, bumpy skin that looked like new flesh had formed, Terry mumbled in a dumbfounded voice.

“Um… I think I’m all better now, Master. So can I continue what I was saying?”

“Si-Sis!”

“Te-Terry! Uwaaaaaah.”

At that moment, Vivian, who seemed to have been holding back remarkably well, rushed to Terry, threw her arms around her neck, and began crying like a child.

Jerry, who was already half crying, also hugged Terry tightly and sobbed loudly.

“I really thought my sister was going to die… sniff I…!”

“I-I, waah, th-thank goodness, sob, I learned m-magic, sniff, for the first time, waaah!”

Vivian was gasping for breath and shedding so many tears that she couldn’t continue speaking.

But I felt as if I had heard what Vivian couldn’t say.

Perhaps now, at last, Vivian had come to accept herself.

Only after seeing with her own eyes that the potion she created had saved Terry’s life.

In the end, two people who should have died in “Hirome” had saved each other’s lives.

***

Unlike in the game, Terry couldn’t immediately get up and about.

Worried that there might be some side effects not shown in the game, I asked Vivian about how The Elixir of Life worked, and immediately regretted it.

“It’s like a shape memory effect. It uses the body from 24 hours ago as a template to repair damaged flesh. If Terry had taken the potion after 24 hours had passed, it wouldn’t have healed her wounds. Because even 24 hours ago, her body was already damaged.”

What on earth is she talking about?

Feeling that depressing sense of self-reproach at being the world’s greatest fool that I’d felt before, I tried my best to interpret Vivian’s words.

“You mean it literally turns back time by exactly one day?”

At my words, Vivian’s face turned white.

What… Did I ask such a stupid question?

Feeling embarrassed, I tried to avoid Vivian’s gaze, but she hurriedly shook her head and said.

“N-no! It’s different from time regression! That’s a prime example of forbidden magic.”

Then, after pushing up her glasses, she enthusiastically explained the mechanism of The Elixir of Life again.

To me, there seemed to be no difference between the forbidden magic of time regression and Vivian’s potion.

“So in short, it used a lot of calories to repair the damaged body, and because of the temporary state of starvation, that person who nearly died is now stuffing food into her mouth like someone possessed.”

“Yes!”

Behind Vivian, who was nodding her head enthusiastically in response, I could see Terry randomly shoving food into her mouth.

Leo was diligently carrying food to Terry’s bed like a squirrel carrying acorns, but he couldn’t keep up with the speed at which Terry was devouring the food.

“Ratchet, come here.”

Leo immediately scurried over to me.

I wiped the sweat from Leo’s forehead and carefully chose my words.

Although I hadn’t explained the situation in detail, Leo seemed to have sensed that Terry had been in great danger.

“Ratchet, a lot of things are going to happen around me for a while.”

“Yes.”

Leo nodded with a serious face.

“I’ll probably be away from the mansion for a few days. There might come mornings when I can’t hug you, and nights when we can’t exchange our evening greetings. But…”

“But you’ll definitely come back, right?”

Leo spoke before I could finish.

The child’s cheeks instantly turned bright red, and he glanced around furtively.

After confirming that no one was paying attention to him, Leo put his hands on his hips and lifted his chin in a stiff, theatrical motion, speaking with exaggerated pride.

“I-I am Belinda’s pr-precious Ratchet, after all. Um… that is, the Ratchet who will become a Super King Ratchet.”

“…That’s right.”

“So I’m not worried at all. I’ll be fine, Lady Belinda.”

Suddenly, my nose stung with emotion.

When did my little Ratchet, who used to think he needed to prove his usefulness while watching the adults, grow up to become a Super King Ratchet trying to ease my worries in such an adorable way?

Encouraged by the child’s words rather than the other way around, I immediately put my plan into action from that day.

The engagement annulment document delivered by Sir Penadel.

Eleanor’s letter that Terry had risked her life to bring.

Sybel’s confession to me that he had poisoned my uncle, though there was no evidence.

The puzzle pieces that had been scattered finally found their places and completed a single picture.

I wrote several letters that would become part of my plan.

Judging that Terry was followed by Sybel’s aide because the carrier pigeon information had been leaked to him, I decided to use Kao instead of carrier pigeons.

By synchronizing with Kao and peeking through his vision, I would be able to know for certain if the letters safely reached their recipients.

“Kao.”

As I lightly called his name, the edge of my shadow stretched long in the sunset, sharpened to a point, and Kao emerged from within it.

Just as Kao perched on my shoulder, I heard the sound of door hinges twisting.

“Who is it?”

I quickly turned my head, but there was no answer from beyond the slightly open door.

I hastily pulled the door open, but there wasn’t a single human shadow outside.

“Must have been my imagination.”

I deliberately muttered that while tickling Kao’s chin as he sat on my shoulder.

***

The Grand Temple in the royal capital, while not comparable in scale and majesty to that of the Holy Empire, the religious headquarters, was certainly a match in splendor.

The Holy Empire paid special attention to the Grand Temple of the Genos Kingdom diocese in order not to be looked down upon by the Gray Tower.

Originally, towers of magic and temples never coexisted within the same country.

However, since the Genos Kingdom was a dangerous area containing the barrier forest that blocked monster invasions, the Magic Republic and the Holy Empire, by mutual consent, each kept one foot in the kingdom and always monitored the situation in the north.

But the current Grand High Priest, who oversaw all temples in the Genos Kingdom, was a greedy man who listened more to the whispers of gold than to the peace of humanity.

Thanks to this, Sybel had to spend quite a lot of gold coins to reach the deepest part of the Grand Temple, which was no different from a forbidden palace.

Nevertheless, he was rather pleased with this fact.

It meant that the more corrupt and depraved someone was, the more likely they were to share his intentions.

Only after completely emptying one of the two pouches of gold coins he had brought when leaving the mansion was Sybel able to meet the Grand High Priest he had so eagerly awaited.

“May the divine look upon you with favor.”

As Sybel bowed his head, the High Priest touched his forehead with his fingertips and bestowed a blessing.

Then, drinking the tea offered by the High Priest with a concerned expression, Sybel carefully opened the conversation.

“I have been sleepless for three days and nights with a concern that I am most embarrassed to speak of, and so I have come to see you, Grand High Priest.”

“Please speak freely. Is it not human to gain enlightenment through suffering and agony? If through our meeting today, I can ease the burden on your heart, that too would be the will of the divine.”

Indeed, the High Priest’s attitude and tone were quite benevolent, proving he had not attained the highest position for nothing.

Sybel observed the High Priest, who appeared as a kindly old man, then spoke gravely.

“My younger sister has awakened an ability, and it is of a kind that I dare not forgive.”

“A kind that cannot be forgiven, you say…?”

“It is the ability to control monsters, absolute evil. Grand High Priest, as a devout believer, I could not remain silent upon learning this fact. Using monsters as her limbs—how is this any different from the wicked black mages?”

“Oh my, such an outrageous ability…”

The High Priest lamented, but he did not say what Sybel wanted to hear.

Sybel did not rush but gently curled up the corners of his mouth.

“Therefore, if I could purify my sister’s impurity, preserve the honor of our family, and also alleviate my guilt…”

Then, deliberately drawing out his words, he took out a small pouch he had brought and placed it on the table.

Though pretending otherwise, the High Priest’s gaze immediately went to the pouch, betraying his impatience.

Sybel gently untied the string sealing the mouth of the pouch and continued speaking.

“I will offer gold to the divine.”

“Pl-platinum coins, so many…”

“This is just a small portion. There is no better way to prove my devotion than offering donations to the temple that serves the divine.”

“Ahem.”

Only then, seemingly realizing his attitude had been too obvious, the High Priest tore his eyes away from the pouch of platinum coins with difficulty and spoke in a rather serious tone.

“So, Marquis, you are claiming that an evil ability user who controls monsters is no different from a black mage?”

“Yes, which is why, with a heart shedding tears of blood, I intend to report my sister as a black mage.”

“Report as a black mage… Hmm, it doesn’t seem impossible. Your sister being a black mage—you must have suffered greatly.”

As the High Priest reached for the pouch of platinum coins while pretending to comfort him.

Tap. Sybel gently grabbed the pouch of platinum coins first.

“Then, will you make me a promise?”