My Replacement Fiancée, the Saint’s “Failure” of a Sister, Is Acting Strange – Chapter 14

Chapter 14: The Shape of a Dream – 4

ㅤLily pushed against my chest after only about ten minutes.”I’m sorry,”she said in a small voice, holding her hand over my damp shoulder. I felt a breeze near my face, and my clothes seemed to dry instantly. It’s convenient to be able to use magic so freely, I thought. I wish I could use magic to heal her red eyes too.
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ㅤ”Thank you.”
ㅤ”No, thank you.”
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ㅤLily said,”I’m so pathetic,”and laughed sheepishly.
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ㅤ”Not at all. Um……Could you tell me more about Oswald’s condition and what happened?”
ㅤ”Yes. The magical beast that attacked me while I was deploying holy magic seemed to have accumulated a considerable amount of miasma. Oswald, who protected me, received a large wound on his face……and it seems the miasma entered through it. The accompanying magicians immediately closed the wound with healing magic, but the miasma remained inside his body.”
ㅤ”You couldn’t remove it even with your holy magic?”
ㅤ”No. I had depleted my magical power after purifying the land, but……I don’t think I could have done it even if I had been at full strength. The closed wound made it even harder for the miasma to escape, or rather……”
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ㅤLily frowns as she explains. If even Lily, the Saint, says it’s difficult, then no one else can do it.
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ㅤ”Probably due to the miasma inside his body, the scar also remained. It’s very rare for a scar to remain after receiving healing magic from a Court Magician.”
ㅤ”Even though the wound itself is closed, he’s bedridden because of the scar?”
ㅤ”Magical power is like physical strength or life force. The more magical power one possesses, the more one relies on it to live. Oswald used up all of his magical power activating special-grade magic.”
ㅤ”Is it different from ordinary magical exhaustion?”
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ㅤMagical exhaustion is a common occurrence. Children who are new to magic might exceed their capacity, or there’s training that involves deliberately depleting magical power to increase the upper limit of one’s capacity. I haven’t experienced it myself, but I hear that magical exhaustion feels like the fatigue after sprinting a long distance at full speed. In any case, magical power recovers naturally, so is Oswald different?
ㅤ
ㅤ”It’s the same thing……What’s generally called magical exhaustion doesn’t actually mean completely depleting magical power. It’s life-threatening, so instinctively, people always retain a little bit of magical power.”
ㅤ”Oswald is unable to even stand because he completely depleted his magical power.”
ㅤ”Yes. And probably……The miasma inside his body is hindering the recovery of his magical power. Even during the three days it took us to return to the royal capital, there was no sign of his magical power recovering.”
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ㅤI see.
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ㅤ”This might be a naive thought, but what about casting healing magic and holy magic simultaneously?”
ㅤ”……We tried that. But perhaps our power wasn’t enough, and it didn’t work.”
ㅤ”What about having multiple people cast it at once?”
ㅤ”Magical power has compatibility issues, so the more people involved, the more they repel each other, and the weaker the effect becomes. This is especially true for healing magic……If we carelessly do it with a large number of people, it could harm Oswald’s body.”
ㅤ”I see……”
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ㅤAs expected, they’ve already tried everything I could think of. Lily, as if sensing my contemplation, continues speaking.
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ㅤ”Um, but everyone in the Magic Division is cooperating……So we’ll definitely find a way to heal him. We’re currently deciphering old documents and such. We think there might have been cases like Oswald’s in the past, when the damage from magical beasts was worse than it is now.”
ㅤ”I see. Then I’ll help too.”
ㅤ”Huh?”
ㅤ”I can’t hold a candle to you guys when it comes to magic, but I can at least grant you permission to access the royal family’s collection of literature. As an amateur, I might be able to come up with some outlandish ideas……I’ll try to participate in the research as much as possible.”
ㅤ”B-But, Your Highness is so busy……Um, I would appreciate the permission to access the literature, but……”
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ㅤI take Lily’s hand, which is fidgeting in panic. She seems to have frozen in surprise.
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ㅤ”Please call me by my name.”
ㅤ”……A-Arnold, Your Highness.”
ㅤ”Yes…….Oswald is a valuable asset to the royal family. I want him to recover and return to work. I want to do everything I can to help, so……You and I are comrades. Please don’t hesitate to ask for anything.”
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ㅤAfter a slight pause, Lily murmured,”Thank you.”And then,”I look forward to working with you.”
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ㅤ”Yes. So first, you need to rest well.”
ㅤ”Huh?”
ㅤ”Lack of sleep will affect your magic, right? If I come up with a groundbreaking solution, it might not work if you’re not in top condition. So eat properly and get enough sleep.”
ㅤ”That’s……true. Hehe, yes, I will.”
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ㅤWhen I spoke with exaggerated confidence, as if I knew for sure that I would find a solution, she gave me a small smile. I felt a slight sense of relief at seeing that expression, which wasn’t a tearful smile or a troubled one.
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ㅤWould Lily be disillusioned if I told her that I was doing it for her? If I told her that I just wanted to ease her burden?
ㅤI’m worried about Oswald. But if I told her that I wanted him to get better for Lily’s sake, not for his own sake or the royal family’s sake, would she be appalled?