Chapter of Bottled Love: Self-inspection

“Oh, they’re back.”

“That we are, Fairy Lady!”

“So, how did it go?”

“Mhm…”

As we returned to the main room, the Elder immediately inquired about the situation, which caused the High Priest to pause.

“I very well understand the need for secrecy now. Alas, I fear this is beyond my capabilities. Either way, since I cannot very well speak about my patient’s situation, you best ask her yourself.”

“That is true...”

The Elder frowned a little, but didn’t inquire any further.

“Now then, who should I examine next?”

Looking over the group, the high Priest seemingly tried to find the next patient. And the only two left were Sele and Rina. The former was completely oblivious to the situation as she was dozing off in her chair. The latter, however, had nervousness written straight in her face. Seeing that she wasn’t quite ready to speak up, the Elder interjected once more.

“There are two more. Rina over here and Sele, who is dozing off.”

“Mhm… I see. Then, Miss Rina, would you like to go first?”

“Eh? Uhh… I… guess?”

“… Do you want someone to come along?”

“Uhm…”

Rina’s eyes instantly darted over to Karen and then to Lily and back to Karen.

“Lily, could you go with her?” asked Karen.

“Huh? Is it fine for me to?”

“Yes.”

“Well, if you are fine with me… Rina?”

“Yes! That’s fine!”

Nervousness replaced by delight… Even Karen was a little surprised.

“Very well. Then, let’s go, shall we?”

The High Priest immediately turned around and held open the door for Rina and Lily.

“Then, we’ll go. Rina, come.”

“Yes!”

And the two disappeared into the room where Karen and I had just been.

“Mm. Then, we’ll return shortly. Ah, Miss Yumi, feel free to make use of that tool during your stay here but I would appreciate it if you could return it before you leave.”

“Ah, yes, of course.”

“Thank you.”

The High Priest regarded us with a nod and then entered the room, closing the door behind him. After staring at the closed door for a few seconds, Karen and I sat down on the chairs we had occupied earlier. While we did, the Elder turned her attention to us, asking about the examination.

“So, Yumi, Karen? How was it?”

“Nn… Well… It was… ?”

“Revealing?”

The Elder tilted her head at my impression. Similarly, Ria, who had silently listened, appeared confused as well.

“Well, maybe not revealing… How do I say it…”

It was a bit hard to put into words… I was at a loss.

“I guess… It gave me some closure? He confirmed most of what we already knew or suspected…”

“He confirmed it…”

“Nn.”

I gave the two a quick rundown of what the High Priest had told me.

“So, you really have no bones and are missing most organs… Then, your body really is kept alive by the crystal.”

“That seems to be the case… But the High Priest said that’s outside his expertise.”

Not like that was surprising. He was basically a doctor for humanoids. And I… was decidedly not a normal humanoid.

“Yumi, maybe we should pay that professor another visit?” suggested Karen.

“Nn, we could… But that would depend on how long we’ll stay here in the capital, I think.”

Korwen had made it clear that we wouldn’t be here for long anymore. Although I doubted we’d move on the very next day, it was still possible that we’d have no time to visit the Academy.

“We’ll have to ask the Captain.”

He might give us the time to visit the Academy. He was interested in clearing this up as well, after all. At least, I believed so.

“Yumi…”

“Nn? Ria?”

“The tool… What is.. .that?”

“This?”

I lifted my hand with the bracelet. I just thought about it, but it was right in front of my other bracelet… Somehow, this irked me.

“Yes…”

“He said it’s a tool to help with mana control… He suggested that I use it and try to examine myself. It’s what he used to prevent his mana from being absorbed…”

“Hoo…”

Ria eyed the tool curiously.

“You didn’t know of this tool?”

“I did… but it… can only… be used for… weak spells… like the… examination… magic… Stronger magic… breaks its… threshold… That’s why… we don’t have… one...”

“Ohh…”

A tool that was mostly useless to them, then? Well, it was useful for the High Priest.

“But… examining… yourself… is a… good idea… you should… try… as long as… we are… here…”

“Nn… I guess so.”

I’d have to return it when we leave, after all…

“Did he… say anything… else… important?”

“Nn? Ah… No.”

“Mm…”

Ria nodded with an absentminded look.

“Then, what about Karen? That old man examined you as well, right?”

“Yes, he did.”

Having finished my part in this, the two now turned to Karen and asked her about her examination. Since attention strayed from me… Well, I could try to practise now. Ria was right that it sounded like a good idea. And since I had to return it soon…

With that in mind, I closed my eyes and gathered some mana…

“Nn…”

There wasn’t anything to see. At all. I just had some mana gathered and that was all I could feel. How did this examination magic even work? He had used mana to send it through my body, exploring every nook and cranny. And somehow, that had allowed him to see what was going on in my body. But when I wanted to try that myself… Well, it was far easier said than done.

Yeah, no chance… Even if I don’t have any trouble gathering the mana inside my body thanks to the tool, there’s no point if I don’t learn anything from it.

I let out a sigh and opened my eyes again, staring at my own hand where I had gathered the mana before. It looked like an ordinary, albeit small, hand. Despite that, there were no bones inside this hand. It was as soft and as squishy as everything else.

But it’s not like I can see it… Mm… Back when Ria taught me about this… Well, I was just looking at the mana directly, wasn’t I?

That hadn’t even required gathering much mana. Actually, I had just tried to feel for the mana… I could hardly call that magic. At least, not like the kind the High Priest had used.

Okay, then, let’s try to take a look just by sensing mana…

And… this proved to be pretty difficult as well… Too difficult… Sure, I could vaguely sense my mana inside my body. But when I tried to take a closer look, it turned out to be next to impossible. Because the mana was moving. Where? Towards my crystal… And since it was constantly moving, there wasn’t really much I could do…

If only I could actually stop it…

Alas, it was like an untamed river, flowing mercilessly towards its destination. Then again, you could tame a river with a dam…

A dam… If it’s only for a short moment, maybe I could manage that?

If I could block the passage, at least temporarily, I might be able to examine it. Sure, my mana crystal wouldn’t care much about what I wanted, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t just stop the mana itself.

Okay, let’s do this! Let’s try it on my arm first.

I gathered mana inside my body and had it move towards my shoulder, filling the path towards my arm. And just like a dam, it actually stopped the flow of mana from my arm. Albeit, at the cost of an incredibly uncomfortable feeling in my arm, akin to it falling asleep. Was this maybe like constricting the blood flow? Except, that one wasn’t a one-way street. As puzzled as I was, I couldn’t quite explain the sensation.

It’s… only like it fell asleep, it’s not like I can’t move my arm or anything actually happens… But I should probably hurry up.

Having decided so, I focused my mana senses on the arm. The mana was, as expected, stagnating. Exactly what I wanted.

Let’s see… Now I should be able to sense something, right?

The answer? Yes, but no. Yes, I could take a better look. No, I didn’t see anything of significance. I could see a little more but it was still just… a bunch of mana. And this state was increasingly uncomfortable. As such, I had little choice but to stop with the dam and let the mana flow again. Once the mana flowed again, my arm slowly felt better as well.

Guess I really need to practise before I can make sense out of it...  How unfortunate…

But I did find out something. It was more than a little troublesome, but I could halt the mana flow. Controlling the flowing mana directly might work as well, but considering I would have to do this for my whole body… No way I could muster up that concentration.

Nn, but maybe I can figure something out with this.

Like, maybe I could create this dam-like mana around my mana crystal? However, I had no idea what might happen if I suddenly restricted the entire flow to the mana crystal. I should clue in Ria before I would try to attempt anything like that. Even I learnt from past mistakes. Then again, I probably should have clued her in about what I did just now… Korwen did prohibit me from making experiments on my own for now… Well, as long as she didn’t know.

Not to mention, I really don’t want to experience that feeling as if my limbs fell asleep. How come it feels like that anyway? It can’t be because of a lack of mana… The mana was constantly flowing away, after all.

No clue… Maybe it was the opposite? That it had too much mana and my body wasn’t used to that? It did feel worse the longer it went on but…

That’d be quite something… I’m literally only alive because of mana but having too much mana makes me feel uncomfortable. The irony.

Although, that was just a guess, so far. And maybe I could get used to it.

Anyway, it doesn’t feel like I’ll make much more progress. The tool made it pretty easy to keep the mana in place to act as a dam but unfortunately, I have no idea what to do about everything else.

Releasing another sigh, I decided to stop for now. Once I opened my eyes, I was greeted with the sight of Karen, the Elder and Ria still discussing the examination from earlier. However, once they saw me looking at them, they paused. After a moment, Karen asked me about what I was doing.

“Yumi. Did you use that tool the High Priest lent you?”

“Nn. I did. Didn’t learn anything, though.”

“Oh…”

Well, there wasn’t much I could do about it right now. Maybe if I practised it more. At the very least, it seemed like something that might prove useful in the future, so it was likely good to practise it.

“Honestly, I just don’t really understand how this examination is supposed to work… I can sense mana but that’s different from what the High Priest did.”

“He used mana to look, right?”

“Nn…”

Karen tilted her head, probably also wondering how it even worked.

“Ria. Do you know about it?”

“No… I don’t…”

“... Huh?”

My eyes went wide from surprise. That was… That was really unexpected.

“Since I… cannot do it… either… I only… know little… about it… I am… sorry…”

“No, it’s fine! Rather, thank you for always teaching us.”

I flew in a bit of a panic when she suddenly apologised. Even when I told her it was fine, she still seemed a little disgruntled.

“Mm… It seems we might ask the old man about it later.”

“Nn.”

He might be able to give us some pointers at least.

At that moment, the door opened and the High Priest stood there, right as we thought about it.

“Milady Mortas. Might I be so presumptuous to ask you to join us for a moment?”

“... Mm? You need… me?”

“Yes… That is correct.”

“Mm… Then… I’ll come…”

With that, Ria stood up and joined the High Priest in the small examination room. After a nod towards us, the High Priest closed the door again.

“There she goes…” I muttered with a small voice.

“Yumi… You think it’s about Rina?”

“I guess...”

Karen looked at me, worry in her eyes. Maybe it would have been better if she had gone along with them but alas… I’d love to comfort her but I had to admit, I was feeling a little worried too. Rina was usually really energetic but if you thought about it, her situation was very… unique. Maybe even more so than mine. At least, there were precedents of my case… Not like we had managed to learn much about them yet. But as for Rina?

“Fret not. The old man is capable and if it was something life-threatening and beyond his ability, we would know already.”

“Miss Elder…”

True to her words, the Elder seemed perfectly calm. A complete contrast to Karen who was looking more and more worried, as she stared at the closed door.

“No matter how much you stare at the door, time will not pass by any faster.”

“Uhh…”

“Haa…”

The Elder couldn’t help but shake her head exasperatedly as she watched Karen worrying. Seeing as there was no use in trying to hold a conversation with Karen so focused on the door, she instead turned to Sele, who was still sleeping serenely.

“One is worried to no ends, the other is peacefully sleeping without the slightest care. There’s never a dull moment with you girls.”

“I think being worried is pretty reasonable right now.”

I could agree that sleeping in this situation was rather weird, though.

“I suppose it is. But as I have said, the girl is the picture of health. Miss Ria confirmed it and even if she isn’t as capable in this particular field compared to that old man, she is still pretty skillful.”

“Even if you say that…”

“The emotions don’t necessarily agree?”

“... Nn.”

Understanding it in your head was different from believing it from the bottom of one’s heart. Emotions were sometimes annoyingly hard to deceive with logic.

“That is understandable, I assume. Unfortunately, we can do naught but wait.”

“... Nn.”

Which was exactly the problem. And honestly, I needed something to distract myself with as well. Looking at karen worrying only made me feel anxious as well.

“Hey, Miss Elder.”

“What is it?”

“I’ve been wondering for a while already…. But the High Priest and you seem to know each other from before, right?”

“... I was wondering when that question would come up. Yes, I have known him for a few centuries, since he was a child.”

So she knew him from that long ago? Wait…

“Centuries?!”

“Yes, indeed. Centuries. I am not calling him old man without reason.”

“But… centuries…”

That was a lot older… than I had expected… First I found out that Korwen was old enough to be my grandfather and now the High Priest had lived even longer.

“How old do people even get… Centuries…”

“Mm, I suppose people from your home don’t get that old?”

“Well… people above seventy were usually considered rather old already… and not many would reach a hundred.”

“I see. No wonder you find this puzzling then.”

Her eyes still exuded some confusion even as she said that, though.

“With that said… Even humans, one of the shorter lived races, can easily reach a hundred years, given that their life was not claimed by accident or disease. And beastkin races can grow even older. Some races like the High Priest’s can live for several centuries.”

“That’s… pretty amazing.”

“They’re nothing compared to the demonkin who have virtually no lifespan.”

That didn’t make it any less amazing to me, though… How was that even possible? In my old world, advances in medicine and science allowed people to grow older but of course there was a limit to it. Then, how come people here lived that much longer? From what I saw, they did understand a surprising amount about medicine and the like… but I had my doubts that that alone was enough.

In that case… is it the existence of mana?

Mana didn’t exist in my old world, or in very low quantities. Maybe it was related to what that monster Yumias had told me about… Now I wish I had listened a little better.

“Yumi?”

“... Nn?”

“You fell quiet. Is everything all right?”

“... Ah, yes. Sorry. I just wondered about something.”

“Hmm…”

The Elder stared at me for a few seconds, but didn’t pursue the matter. Much to my delight, an unexpected voice chimed in.

“Uhm, Miss Elder?”

“... Karen? What is it?”

“What race is the High Priest? He’s a beastkin, right? But I don’t know any beastkin like him…”

“Ahhh… Well, it’s no big secret according to him so it should be fine to tell you. He’s a deerkin.”

“A… deerkin?”

“Yes. They’re among the rarest beastkin tribes at all. The horns aren’t from his mask but his own.”

“Eh, seriously?”

Those horns were actually real?!

“Surprised?”

“You could say that…”

“Then, are the other priests here also deerkin?” asked Karen.

“The one who led us here, at the very least, is not. I am not sure on the particulars but he told me that his tribe has managed the faith in the Great Spirits for a long time and that it is customary now to wear their masks and horns as a sign of priesthood.”

A sign of priesthood, huh…

“The deerkin always had a strong faith in the Great Spirits, even long before the High Priest’s time. Just, it was exactly this very faith that drove them nearly to their extinction as they followed the Great Spirits into war… And now, the once numerous tribe has been diminished to but a few survivors. It’s a sad tale.”

The Elder shook her head, her eyes downcast.

“But let’s talk about that some other time. You wanted to know about our relationship, did you not?”

“... Nn.”

They knew each other well. And it was clear from his behaviour that he… favoured the Elder quite a bit.

”Let’s see… You could say we are friends from long ago. When he was small, he got lost in the forest and stumbled upon our home. Hehehe, I will never forget those eyes as wide as the moon in the night’s sky.”

The Elder giggled, reminiscing in the memory.

“After we safely returned him to the edge of the forest, we thought nothing more of it. Then, just a few days later, he was once more in our home. From then on, without fail, every few days he’d stumble into our forest and we returned him. A weird child, that’s what we thought.”

I’d think it weird too when he came back every time just so that you would return him.

“Little did I know that it would go on for years and decades, as he grew up into a man. He came without fail and we returned him, even if we already knew well that he had memorised the path long ago. He wouldn’t leave on his own.”

“Quite persistent.”

“Persistent indeed!”

“But, why did he come back…”

“Mm… I think, that’s a tale you should ask him yourself. It wouldn’t be fair of me to reveal that.”

She grinned as she denied me an answer. Not like I couldn’t guess the rough reason from his behaviour.

“So, Miss Elder… Did you and Mr High Priest…”

“You’re quite frank today, aren’t you, Karen? But like before, that is something you should ask him, not me. I do not mind talking about it but I know little of what he thinks of it.”

“I see…”

But… that meant that there was something… the Elder and the High Priest? That’s… quite a surprise, if that’s really the case.

“What is this about me, dear Fairy Lady?”

“Oh, are you back?”

“We are, indeed.”

We must have missed the door opening, since the High Priest had already entered the room, Rina, Lily and Ria behind him.

“So, what was this about me, dear Fairy Lady?”

“Aren’t you a curious one.”

“Haha! Of course I am!”

“Seriously… They asked about our relationship and I told them they should ask you about it.”

“Our…”

The High Priest froze when he heard her answer.

“I… I see… Well… That is…”

He cleared his throat, trying to get a grip on himself again. Apparently, this was a bit of a sore topic.

“Mhm, our relationship… It is less than what I wish but more than I could have hoped for.”

“... What?”

“That is all.”

And with that, the topic was cut short, unexpectedly. In the corner of my eyes, I could see the Elder stifling a laugh. The High Priest had to clear his throat again to gain back the attention.

“More importantly. There’s one more girl I was supposed to examine, right?”

“Ah, yes… Sele, hey, Sele. Wake up… Sele...”

Karen was trying to shake Sele and wake her up. To no avail. Yes. To no avail. Sele was sleeping.

“Sis, we screwed up.”

“Huh?”

“Sele is sleeping.”

“Yes, I can see that.”

“... Then remember that she doesn’t usually wake up so easily.”

“... Ah.”

Right. There were generally only two options to wake her up… And one of them was an absolute no go.

“Mm, she is not waking you say?”

“Nn… Well, waking her up is a little…”

“In that case, I can examine her while she is asleep. It shouldn’t detract much from the examination but I’d need someone to come along…”

The High Priest sounded a little troubled. He did try to respect our privacy so having the patient sleeping was… less than optimal.

“Mm… Then... I’ll go…”

Ria walked up to Sele and lifted her up in her arms. This seemed to elicit a reaction at least, as Sele squirmed a little and then grabbed onto Ria’s clothes. She didn’t wake up, though.

“I did… her health… checkups… so… I should… be fine… right?”

“Well, I suppose that is agreeable. Knowing her health history would help me as well. Very well.”

The High Priest nodded and the two of them disappeared into the examination room, likely for the last time today.

And the moment they vanished, everyone’s attention immediately snapped onto Rina and Lily.

“Rina… Uhm...” Karen stammered.

“Mh? Is something wrong, Big Sis?”

“Well… How did… the examination go?”

“Ahh… He says I’m all healthy!”

Rina stroke a pose, asserting her health with a vigorous voice.

“Is, is that so…”

And Karen let out a sigh in relief.

“Rina, that’s not all he said…”

“But that’s the important part, right?”

“Well, that’s not wrong. But I do think you should explain it to her more clearly…”

“Boo, you do that, Lily.”

“Ehhh?”

Rina planted her butt on the chair and stretched out on the table. Maybe she was a little more exhausted than she let on.

“Well… If you are fine with me telling them.”

Lily sat down next to Rina, scratching her head with a troubled expression.

“Lily? Is there a problem after all?”

“No, Karen, there isn’t any real problem.”

“I see… But then...”

“Well, I’ll try to sum it up as much as I can.”

Lily took a deep breath before continuing.

“First, she’s perfectly healthy. She just lacks exercise. A lot of it.”

“I see…”

Lack of exercise was… about as much as we expected. She was just as lacking in the stamina department as I was.

“Second… The mana crystal inside Rina’s body has become already a part of her and there’s little to no chance of ever removing it.”

“...”

“It shouldn’t hinder her in any way, however. In fact, as long as her body can tap on the mana, it would become more resilient to disease and wounds. It’s likely part of the reason why she had no troubles so far. Physically.”

It was helping her out then? That was a relief…

“But why did he call Miss Ria in?”

“... Because she knew about what Yumi did to that mana crystal. I don’t know how much he knows so I told him to ask Ria…”

Then, she did that because of me?

“... Thank you, Lily.”

“... You’re welcome.”

Ah, she averted her gaze. Sometimes, she could really be quite precious. As long as she wasn’t messing around, but since Rina had come to be around her, she hadn’t messed around with us that much anymore. Now I felt a little nostalgic, even though it had been only for a short time.

“A, Anyway. He said that whatever you did was likely a good thing. And… Uhh…”

Lily glanced towards Rina a few times. She seemed to want to say something but not in Rina’s presence? Well… After a few seconds of hesitation, she decided to drop it.

“Well… At the very least, she shouldn’t have troubles, yeah. Although, she should take care that the mana crystal won’t run out of mana. Since it absorbs mana on its own that shouldn’t be an issue in normal situations. But… At the very least, he can’t guarantee there won’t be problems if that were to happen.”

“I see…”

Karen frowned as she threw a glance at Rina.

“But that’s the only thing. She’s healthy. Right, Rina?”

“Mm! I am! So, Big Sis, Lil’ Sis! Don’t worry, okay?”

“Huh?”

“Nn?”

“It’s written all over your faces.”

Eh, seriously? I brought up my hands and touched my face, trying to ascertain what kind of expression I was making. Obviously, that wasn’t something I could get a feel off with just my hands. As for Karen, well, I knew she was worried. It was written on her face. Rina was right about that.

“Was it that obvious?” I asked.

“Mhm! It was.”

“...”

“But, thank you for worrying, Lil’ Sis. I’m fine and healthy!”

She flashed me a toothy grin, all the while still stretching out on the table.

“... That’s good to hear. Right, Sis?”

“Yes, it is.”

Guess we actually had worried Rina with our behaviour… That was a little opposite from what we intended. Karen and I exchanged a wry smile, both of us understanding that.

“Mm! Lily is, by the way, also the very picture of health!”

“Huh?”

“Eh?”

“Wha— Rina!”

Did… Lily also get examined?

“Well… You see… He asked and since he offered… It, it’s better to know early if there’s some problem, right?”

“That’s true… Mm, it seems we’re all healthy. That’s a good thing.”

Now, we only needed to wait for Sele to come back as well.