Enthus 7

A sudden sensation of being drained of energy passed through me.

Curious, I opened my eyes to check.

There was nothing unusual on the desk. Maybe it was just my imagination... I must be really exhausted. Perhaps I should take a break after all.

As I thought this, I picked up the deteriorated light crystals scattered on the desk.

I placed this one, whose color had changed only halfway, into the shelf. It was a replacement for the light crystal previously used in the magic lamp, which had become unusable.

Huh, only half? Why only half?

...That can't be right.

The only gemstone I have is completely degraded.

When did I ever get one that's only half-degraded?

Besides, when a gemstone deteriorates, the color fades evenly across the entire surface. I've never heard of one changing like half of it was repainted like that.

Puzzled, I scan the area again.

Then, I noticed a gemstone that had slightly changed color in the same manner.

Doubting my eyes, I examined the partially discolored, degraded light gem under a microscope.

It was activated.

That was strange. This had never happened before. I had a few degraded gems on hand, but this particular degraded light gem seemed to have formed by chance.

Though the gem with only half of it activated had extremely weak output, it was still usable.

On the contrary, the other half had changed color—touching the second light gem, it seemed as though its color had been sucked out. It crumbled easily, breaking apart like dry soil. It had completely deteriorated.

Why is this happening? I can't make sense of it.

Doubting my own eyes, I pulled out a sample of the magic stone I'd collected from Rinah. This material was so sturdy that it had taken effort to destroy even after being removed from the body.

Even though I couldn’t understand the phenomenon, my intuition was screaming at me.

Could I eliminate it by degrading the magic stone attached to my body?

Let me try reproducing it once more.

Recall—what was I trying to do just now? Close my eyes. Take a deep breath.

I was lifting something then. I lifted the magic stone, which had considerable weight, as if pulling it upward.

...Pulling... The key to the magic stone is visualization. I thought that if I could somehow visualize it more precisely, I might be able to replicate this phenomenon.

Next, I'll use the degraded water magic stone.

Attach the brand-new fire magic stone to the deteriorated, crumbling water magic stone. Then, imagine transferring the activation of the magic stone from the water magic stone side... visualizing the movement of the magic stone's microscopic particles... going deeper, toward the more essential aspects. Picture the magical essence as tiny glowing orbs, and imagine them slowly moving, one by one.

The result... was that the colors had completely switched. The activated water stone, no longer submerged in water, was gradually deteriorating. It felt strangely heavier, somehow.

The gemstone sample taken from Rinah-san was crumbling apart, just as expected.

Previously, it had been tightly fused to the body, so firmly attached that forcibly removing it would have broken bones from the shock—but now, it crumbled into smaller pieces with just a gentle squeeze.

It feels as though I'm passing on this color—almost like I'm actually transferring mana.

Still, if I could remove these stones attached to my body, as I did just now, I should be able to avoid the health issues caused by the stones growing larger.

I could even go out and about freely, no longer restricted by the stones. I don't know how well it would work, but I might even prevent the stones from draining my physical strength.

Rina's joints in her legs had already turned into stone, and the condition had spread to her neck, putting her breathing at risk. Her face had also begun to petrify, making it difficult for her to close her left eye.

Though her daily life was severely restricted, as long as she continued avoiding further petrification, she should be able to prolong her life.

Time is running out.

There's nothing else I can do. I have to find a more efficient way to deactivate the magic stones. Using something meant for people on a real-life test is far too risky. Still, there's no choice—this is what must be done.

As Linna had said.

I don't have much time left. This is probably true. The terminal patient I saw in Akau Village was in a similar condition.

When night fell, Alex heard a loud noise of something falling from the next room. This was the second time. What was Taro doing? Curious, he went to check.

"Was there a loud noise? Are you okay? What are you doing?"

It was me, lying flat on my back. My eyes were open and I was breathing steadily. But I looked like I hadn't slept well—dark circles were clearly visible under my eyes.

I collapsed from continuously channeling mana into the magical stone. I'd used up every magical stone I'd been given as a sample, all derived from the mysterious illness.

Thanks to that, I gained a bit more understanding about the relationship between magically petrified ailments and deteriorated magical stones.

By making a deteriorated magical stone come into contact with one generated by the illness, and consciously transferring mana into the deteriorated stone, something became clear.

The degraded magical stone was being degraded by the illness-induced stone, while simultaneously becoming activated itself. The type of degraded stone didn't matter.

Above all, there was a possibility of destroying the magical stone attached to the body.

It had been said right from the start of the research that breaking the magical stone would stop the progression of the illness. However, attempting to destroy it caused the patient extreme pain, and despite trying to heal the magical stone, progress had stalled with no effect.

Perhaps I can destroy just the magical stones without causing pain. As soon as morning came, I quickly gathered abandoned magical stones from throughout the town. With Alek's help, I collected a considerable number. I stuffed only the degraded magical stones into my bag.

I should have tested this more thoroughly before using it on people. It's far too dangerous to experiment on humans on a whim.

But there's no time to spare—this fact is undeniable. This isn't Japan. Do what I can.

Going to the noble's mansion carrying a large amount of deteriorated magical stones is suspicious.

After nightfall, I headed toward the mansion with a large quantity of degraded magical stones.

I knew there were times and places in the mansion where security would be weaker. I had at least disguised myself.

I entered the mansion and immediately headed toward the tower where Linna was.