Side Story.21

Three or four young merfolk were instantly ensnared by the shining white net, unable to move at all.

[Th-this is…….]

The moment they tried to resist, they were struck by terror, unable to move, feeling the overwhelming power radiating from the net that bound them.

“Are you curious about the reason? I’ll explain. The story I told you is my own.”

Krshunie calmly spoke as he slowly dragged the net, binding the merfolk, toward the shore.

“The mermaid who loved me was named Krshunia. She gave me everything she had, and in the end, even gave me her heart and body to hold in my hands.”

[Krshunia…….! The one who killed her was you!]

The merfolk shouted, filled with resentment and anger.

Yet, not a single trace of guilt or pain appeared on Krshunie’s face.

“You say I killed her, but that’s nonsense. Krshunia died by her own hand. Besides, once I used the mana contained in her heart and body, I couldn’t stop.”

Krshunie looked down at the terrified merfolk and smiled brightly.

“I never imagined a mermaid’s organs would hold such abundant magical power. It was beyond my imagination. But now, Krshunia’s body is almost gone. Unfortunately.”

Krshunie took out a small pouch from his clothes.

He scattered the white powder inside toward the merfolk trapped in the net, and all the young merfolk fell into a deep sleep.

“That’s why I need a new mermaid’s body. To fulfill my wish.”

Muttering words to no one, he dragged the net and disappeared into the depths of darkness.

* * *

The beast extermination war seemed to be going smoothly on the surface, but if one looked closely, it was not so.

“Why is it that only Lord Luar can use magic?”

“Ordinary people like us would never be granted such great power. Don’t stir up trouble—keep your mouth shut.”

“……Still, even if we can’t use such great magic as Lord Luar, if we could at least use simple healing magic…….”

The leaders who started the war to exterminate the beasts were all heroes with extraordinary abilities, but the soldiers who followed them—dozens of times more in number—were nothing but ordinary humans.

“We know well that Lord Luar works hard for us. ……But he never grants mercy, like healing magic, to lowly people like us!”

A soldier, his eye wrapped in a bloodstained bandage, shouted trembling with anger.

“Lord Luar only pays attention to Sir Adelstein, Grand Duke Aeterna, Sir Western, and other high-ranking people. It’s the same when he uses attack magic. We’ve been hurt by the aftermath more than once!”

“You…….”

“And yet, Lord Luar has never cast healing magic for us. ……And we lowly people, how could we possibly go and beg Sir Adelstein for help?”

Sadly, all the soldier’s words were true.

Hyperion Luar could not be called evil, but because he was born with so much, he could never shed his innate arrogance.

Except for the few people he loved and cherished, Hyperion Luar—the great transcendent—was utterly indifferent and cold to others. This was his dark side.

“We just survive in misery like this…… and someday, we’ll die.”

The soldier bowed his head in despair.

“If you say that, what does that make me?”

Just then, someone approached with light steps and knelt on one knee, whispering.

“I worked hard to make medicine to heal your wounds.”

“Sir Kr-Krshunie!”

The soldier jumped up in surprise.

Moving his injured body in a rush, he let out a small groan, and Krshunie, wearing his characteristic gentle smile, stood up and handed him a small paper-wrapped medicine.

“It’s medicine to increase your self-healing ability. Take it right after meals.”

“Ah…… Thank you. You always care so much about the pain of lowly people like us…….”

The soldier couldn’t hide his tears as he carefully accepted the medicine from Krshunie.

Watching his expression closely, Krshunie smiled and spoke.

“Don’t mention it. I can’t even join the battle, so all I can do is stay safely in the rear and make small medicines. I always feel sorry for that.”

“……What are you saying? All the soldiers in the barracks, including myself, respect you more than the brave Grand Duke Aeterna or the great Lord Luar, because you always empathize with our pain and work hard to help us!”

There was blind loyalty in the soldier’s eyes as he spoke fervently.

Krshunie, noticing this, smiled with satisfaction and took out another medicine from his pocket.

“In fact…… I’ve always wondered. Why is it that the highest order allows magic only to Hyperion Luar? Why is such great power granted only to him?”

He opened a small pouch, revealing a pale blue pill in his fine fingers.

“I do respect Lord Luar greatly, but honestly, he’s not such a great person, humanly speaking.”

It was the result of extracting and condensing mana from a mermaid’s organs.

“So after long research and consideration, I finally managed to create this.”

“What do you mean……?”

“A medicine that allows ordinary humans like you to freely use ‘magic’ like Lord Luar.”

The soldier’s face froze in shock.

The squad leader beside him was also stunned.

Krshunie watched their agitation and the desire rising deep within them, his smile growing darker.

“I’ll distribute it to the soldiers gradually. Would you like to be the first to try it?”

* * *

The barracks were noisy.

“……?”

Half a month had passed with no clear solution, and Maia, her face gaunt, looked around the bustling tent, feeling puzzled by the excitement.

“Princess Seiya.”

“……Ah, Sierna.”

Sierna Western, whom Maia hadn’t seen in a long time, found her and greeted her.

Maia smiled faintly and, after a moment’s thought, asked,

“……Is something going on? The atmosphere seems a bit.”

“Ah, it’s because of Krshunie’s medicine.”

……What?

Maia’s smile froze at Sierna’s straightforward answer.

“You must not have heard, since it wasn’t news meant for you, Princess. Actually, it’s been noisy for almost a month. Krshunie Polaris made a medicine that lets ordinary humans—not Lord Luar—use ‘magic’, and distributed it in the barracks.”

“……What?!”

Maia finally snapped out of her shock and cried out.

What kind of madness is that?

“A medicine that lets people other than Hyperion use magic……? Is that even possible? There’s no way Krshunie could make such a thing…….”

“No, Princess. It seems to be true.”

Maia’s expression froze again.

Sierna pointed somewhere, as if to show her.

Maia was stunned.

“It’s wind!”

“How silly, you’re just making the fire stronger!”

A couple of soldiers were sparring, conjuring wind and flames from their fingertips.

It wasn’t an illusion. It was real…….

“Unbelievable.”

All Maia could do was mutter those words.

“To be honest, I can hardly believe it either. If Lord Luar made it, maybe, but for Krshunie, who isn’t even a mage, to create such a miracle—it’s absurd.”

Sierna shrugged.

Maia, her shock fading, grew anxious and asked urgently,

“How widespread is the medicine in the barracks? Sierna, you haven’t taken it, have you……?”

She asked, hoping dearly for a ‘no’.

She didn’t want the founder of Western to have taken Krshunie Polaris’s mysterious medicine.

“I haven’t.”

The answer came immediately.

Maia sighed with relief, seeing Sierna’s confident, unshadowed face.

“Power not achieved by one’s own strength is meaningless. But I am worried, since almost all the soldiers seem to have taken it.”

“I see…….”

“But don’t worry too much. Most of Sir Adelstein’s close associates haven’t taken it…… Oh. That one did.”

Sierna’s face stiffened rapidly, her last words almost bitten off.

“Who……?”

Maia asked, seized by fear.

Sierna, her expression clearly darkened, looked down and answered.

“Aeterna.”

“!”

An unexpected name appeared.

Maia was struck by shock, greater than ever before.

“I didn’t think he would, but he did. I tried to smack him, but he blocked it with magic, so I failed.”

The noise around her seemed to fade. Her ears rang.

“Why…….”

Aeterna was strong enough without magic.

He could match Adelstein in swordsmanship, and his physical abilities were outstanding.

He didn’t need magic at all, so why?

“Maria.”

“I greet Lord Luar.”

At that moment, the voice she had missed so dearly sounded at her side.

Maia turned. Hyperion had approached, his face grim as he looked at her.

“You should go. Adelstein is looking for you.”

“Yes, I’ll go. Princess.”

“……Alright.”

Sierna left the tent.

Amidst the commotion, Maia looked at Hyperion, each staring at the other, and carefully spoke.

“The medicine Krshunie made…….”

“I know.”

Before she could finish, a sharp reply came.

……He’s really upset.

Maia watched Hyperion’s mood.

He kept a cold gaze on the soldiers, who laughed and played with their newly acquired magic.

“What did he use to create such a trick?”

Hyperion muttered quietly.

Unless one was born with a chosen constitution, it was impossible to be granted magic.

No wonder magic was called a demon that harmed humans.

Mana filled this world, but ordinary people who didn’t understand how the world worked could not wield it recklessly.

“I can’t make ordinary humans have the same constitution as me.”

“Hyperion.”

“What is that medicine made of……. It’s so unsettling.”

She hadn’t even resolved whether to risk everything and return to the future or stay here, and now this strange event had happened.

Maia and Hyperion, each lost in their own worries, sighed deeply.