Infinite Power
"Ten thousand?"
The voice echoed in my mind. DORECA had been charged with the number ten thousand.
Right, Saint Night said something about a hundred charge, didn't she?
No effort on my part—yet a hundred times the magic power had flooded in.
This... what is this?
『The initial magic charge has been completed.』
"A-ah, yes."
『As expected, charging occurs when you claim a slave.』
Irya didn’t respond to my confusion. Just gave a flat, bureaucratic explanation.
Wait—didn’t do anything, really. If anything, just shook hands.
I tried to ask, but Irya ignored me and pressed on.
『Please... restore this world.』
Instantly, my body and Risha’s were wrapped in light.
The world blazed white—too bright to open my eyes.
『Please...』
Irya’s voice faded into the distance.
After a moment, the light dimmed.
I blinked open my eyes. Not atop clouds. Not a sky. Just a wasteland.
Nothing. Endless wasteland.
Risha was glancing around nervously beside me.
"Already thrown out, huh. Kinda like what happened with Saint Night, same pattern..."
I looked around. Saint Night and her slave weren't here.
No footprints. Nothing. Probably flung somewhere else.
"Master."
Risha spoke up, pointing with her finger in the opposite direction, eyes locked on me.
I followed her finger. There, a house-like thing stood.
A cone-shaped hut made of grass. Like a Jōmon period pit-house.
Nothing else around. Just that one house.
"Looks like a house."
"Yes."
"So someone’s living there? Wanna check it out?"
"Yes."
Risha and I walked side by side toward the house.
As a slave, she kept a step behind me.
We reached the front. I called out.
"Sorry to bother—anyone home?"
Who... is that?
A reply reached her ears. Faint. Almost nothing.
“Huh... huh... sorry, can’t get up right now…”
Risha and I exchanged glances, then stepped inside.
In the empty room, a man lay sprawled.
The man pushed himself up on his elbows and looked at us.
"Human...? And an Eternal Slave too. Haven't seen one of those in ages..."
The man said that, then coughed again.
A cough—sharp, ragged, like it hurt just to watch.
"Something wrong with her?"
Ah, a little while ago—cough! Cough!
"Have you seen a doctor?"
"Physician?"
The man lets out a weak smile.
Such things… do they even exist in a world on the brink of dying?
—Mmm…
The man shrugged, a smile flickering on his face—empty, resigned, like he’d given up on things.
It’s painful to watch.
“Cough! Cough-cough!”
The man coughed again—worse than before—and collapsed backward, unconscious.
Looks pretty sick, if you ask me.
Wish I could help, but I’m no doctor.
Risha timidly spoke up, addressing me.
“Um… Master… couldn’t you just make medicine for him?”
“Medicine?”
“Yes, Master, you can create things…”
“Ah… that thing.”
I remembered DORECA then.
Pulled it out, stared at it closely.
Right—this was supposed to let you make stuff, wasn’t it?
“Menu open.”
Recalling Illya’s words, I muttered something that sounded like a spell.
Before me, words spread out.
A window, like a computer screen, lined with text.
--------------------------
Akitō
Type: Normal Card
Magic Power: 10,000
Items Created: 0
Servants: 1
--------------------------
Something that looked like stats was laid out.
Below it, a row of proper nouns stood in neat order.
Among them, I found one labeled “Universal Remedy ×300.”
“Is this the universal remedy…? Guess I’ll try it.”
I touched it, just to test.
My fingertip flared with light.
“Now, touch the ground,” Risha said.
I did as told.
The spot I touched glowed, then spread—forming a magic circle.
From the circle, a beam of light shot out in the same color, pointing toward the day after tomorrow.
My mana dropped by 300—now at 9,700.
“Place the required materials there, and the tool will be complete.”
“What materials… ah, it’s written here.”
There it was, in the opened menu. A popup appeared from the universal remedy I’d just touched—“Abnoi Grass ×5” displayed clearly.
“Use five of these Abnoi Grass, right? ……Ah, wait—this arrow’s probably pointing toward where the ingredients are.”
“Yes.”
“Alright, then let’s go get them.”
We stepped out of the house and walked in the direction the arrow pointed.
After about a hundred meters, we spotted something glowing on the ground.
A rare patch of grass growing in the wasteland. The grass was glowing.
Same color as the magic circle.
“This it?”
“Probably.”
“Then let’s take it. Five of them, right?”
We pulled up several long blades, enough to make five, and returned to the man’s house.
Inside, we placed the Abnoi Grass into the glowing magic circle.
The circle flared—*paa*—and enveloped the grass in light.
Immediately after, the grass transformed into a small glass bottle. A clear vial filled with liquid.
“This is the universal remedy? ……Well, let’s try it.”
We pried open the unconscious man’s mouth and poured the remedy in.
After a moment, the man stirred awake.
“Ah, sorry… I must’ve passed out again.”
“That’s fine, but how do you feel?”
“How do I feel? Hmm…”
The man looked at his hands, squeezed them.
“This… is healed?!”
He stood up, waving his limbs around.
“It’s healed! Feels like the agony I had just a dream now!”
“Good to hear.”
“Just what the hell happened here?”
“We gave you a potion.”
“A potion? You a doctor?”
“No—just someone who can make things with magic.”
I said that, feeling a tiny bit more confident.
The man stared, stunned.
“Magic… make things?”
“Yeah.”
“…I don’t get it, but thanks anyway!”
“Yeah.”
“My name’s Madway. Yours?”
“Akito.”
“Ah. Thanks, Akito! Really, thanks!”
Madway clapped me hard on the shoulder, overwhelmed with gratitude.
Gratitude.
I turned toward Risha, standing behind me.
Thank you, Risha.
“Huh?”
“Thanks to your advice.”
“B-But… I only did what’s normal for a slave.”
“Still… thank you. I’m glad you’re here.”
“My lord…”
Risha blushed, smiling shyly.
——Magic power charged: 3000.
After Risha smiled, a voice echoed in my mind again. This time, the charge had risen to 12,700.
The number aside, it was the same kind of shift as the first charge.
Could it be… that the charge came from her smile?