Entrance 2

I head straight for the back gate of the mansion.

When I reach the door, the guard merely meets my gaze and opens it without a word. So they let someone as suspicious as me into the mansion, huh? I see now that even nobles aren't all on the same page.

Speaking of which, William mentioned that the lord had two wives. There must be factions within the noble family.

The mansion was extremely large, featuring two distinctive towers. Constructed primarily of stone, it had a solemn, imposing design that seemed almost surreal when combined with the snow. Yet, smoke rose regularly from various points, hinting at the daily life within.

Inside the mansion, people moved about in all directions.

Following Anne, we arrived at the base of one of the two towers.

The tower is quite tall, so we'll have to climb the stairs for a while. Just thinking about ascending to this height every day makes it seem exhausting just from the movement alone.

Why do they live up here, so high up?

By the time we reach the middle floor, we can hear voices.

"Still creepy, isn't it? The demon's curse." "I don't want to be infected, so I don't want to get close. I just left food and stuff right in front of the door."

When we appeared from the floor below, the maids who had been standing and talking jumped in surprise and quickly fled the spot.

"Is it really alright to do something like that to our own master?"

"As long as they continue doing their work, it's still better than nothing. To those who don't understand, we're just terrifying. If we don't distract ourselves in places where the young mistress can't hear, fear and resentment only grow. We've learned that much ourselves."

I’ve ended up getting deeply involved in a problem that’s even more entrenched than I thought.

As I ask various questions, we eventually reach the top floor. Anne knocks on the door of the room.

“Miss Lina, I’ve brought the guest you were expecting.”

“You may come in.”

We enter the room. It’s a simple, unadorned space with nothing particularly notable. That’s why the woman sitting on the bed stands out in an eerie way.

Her hair was silver, long and straight. Her skin was astonishingly pale, likely due to illness. She was undeniably beautiful.

Yet her beauty was utterly overshadowed by something far more striking. Clearly, magical crystals were embedded all over her face, neck, and limbs. The crystals growing from her legs, arms, and shoulders had become so large they restricted her movement.

Nice to meet you, I'm Lina Rolling. I've heard a lot about you from my brother. You're an adventurer, aren't you? He mentioned you're an incredibly powerful mage—seemed to enjoy telling me about you quite a bit."

I replied while removing my disguise.

"I'm not that strong, but luckily—or maybe unluckily—I've had all sorts of experiences, and those have proven useful. My brother has real talent as a mage; he'll probably surpass me in no time."

"That's wonderful to hear. I'm glad to hear that. She seemed so happy practicing magic outside, and your words mean a lot."

Like William, I've received requests from the guild and met nobles before, but they usually come off as arrogant. Yet this girl is easy to talk to, without any of that pretension.

When the conversation turns to her younger brother, her face instantly lights up with joy. But otherwise, her voice drops noticeably, as if she's grown somber.

"You'll be able to enjoy the outside world again too, with William by your side."

"Is that so? The magic stone in my body grows larger each year. I can feel my legs losing strength bit by bit. The stone expands in response. They say it's a demon's curse. Apparently, it serves as a mark that draws a demon's attention. Mother said she had the same symptoms."

Speaking as if resigning himself to look outside, he said, "If only demons existed, I could find a way to fix this, but unfortunately, we haven't found any demons yet."

He said that.

"I once saw a similar illness in another region. When I told William about it, he asked me to take on your case."

But upon hearing his words, her expression did not brighten.

She must have heard similar words and undergone treatment before. It's only natural to become skeptical of treatment.

"Hmm... If it's that child's request, I suppose there's nothing I can do. I'll take care of it."

Observation begins.

I started with a medical interview. The stones began appearing on her body about five years ago, spreading across her entire body. Since then, they've gradually increased each year, and now there are magical stones scattered all over her body.

There's no pain—just a complete loss of strength throughout the body.

The feeling of strength draining away without any reason must be terrifying. Research from Akau Village has shown that forcibly breaking them causes intense pain.

It's as if the magical stones have merged with her body.

However, the timeline doesn't quite match up with what William told me. I thought it might be due to the recent start of water spirit stone production, but why is the onset of symptoms out of sync? When I asked about it, William said he had been hiding it because he was worried it would upset me.

So, it wasn't the case that she entered a polluted river while injured, nor was it during a period when the monsters had increased.

However, the appearance of magical stones on the body likely indicates that magical particles have entered the body.

It remains unclear whether the type of magical stone plays a role.

This town was known for its abundant production of fire magic stones, so it's possible the fire magic stones are having an effect. I asked for permission to take samples of certain magic stones and blood, and though I was clearly met with a reluctant expression and seemed to cause great discomfort, it was painful to see. Even though it was for investigation purposes, it was quite distressing.

After leaving the lord's residence, I returned to the room where I was staying.

I immediately began the investigation. As expected, activated gemstones were found in the blood. However, unlike in the case of Akau Village, the proportion of activated gemstone particles was low this time—most were degraded gemstones.

This was something discovered during the investigation in Akau Village: gemstones that have degraded are present in the blood of people in this world. It is also known that these gemstones do not affect the body and are simply expelled.

Therefore, having magical stones within the body is not an issue.

The real problem is when the stones become activated, and people whose bodies have turned magical have a higher concentration of these stones in their blood than normal.

Next, let's examine the magical stones that grew on the body.

The fragments of magical stones found outside the body resemble those circulating in the blood.

Indeed, it seems these stones emerge on the body's surface after becoming activated within the bloodstream.

Could this magic stone have some kind of effect? Let me try channeling magical energy through it.

No effect at all. Just like the research I obtained from Akau Village.

The girl named Lina's magical petrification differs in cause and duration of illness, but the symptoms are identical to those in the case of Akau Village.

Generally speaking, there's no way someone living up on a tower like that would ever need to use a magic stone. There shouldn't be any place inside the body for a magic stone to go, but then again, the conditions for it entering the body still aren't fully understood.

It's not good to jump to conclusions.

Before I knew it, dinner time had arrived. Alek was already at the dining hall.