Volume 6 Chapter 2
Volume 6 Chapter 2: What Can Be Seen
The path of light brought us to a room where bookshelves covered every wall.
At the center stood a large bed, and next to it, a big white reclining chair—one with a footrest where you could stretch your legs.
Decorated mainly in pale green and white tones, the room had a calm and gentle atmosphere.
「So this is your room, Lorie.」
「Yes, it’s right behind the throne room. Come, make yourselves comfortable on any of the sofas.」
She gestured toward the sofas surrounding the big chair. Then, still riding the glowing path, Lorie moved to the chair and—
「Phew.」
—lightly flopped onto it, turning herself halfway around as she sat.
Once we were all seated on the surrounding sofas, she confirmed our arrival and said,
「Everyone’s here. Now, [Dismiss Construct].」
She tapped the glowing path with her staff, and within seconds, it vanished.
「There we go. Now then, let me explain.」
She placed her staff beside the chair, took a deep breath, and began speaking.
「Right. About your illness… or rather, everything Parum wanted to tell us. Can you fill us in?」
「Of course… but I think it’ll be easier if I show you instead of just explaining.」
Saying that, Lorie slipped off her shoes and lifted the hem of her dress to reveal her legs.
Her long, slender legs came into view—but they weren’t normal.
「That’s…」
From the tips of her toes up to her knees, both legs had turned into something like clear crystal.
They shimmered like transparent gemstones.
The transformation connected directly to the flesh of her thighs, and some parts above the knees had already begun crystallizing as well.
「…Those aren’t prosthetics, right?」
I asked, just to be sure. Lorie nodded.
「This is the crystallization of the legs. It’s the illness—or perhaps curse—that I’m currently afflicted with. These are still my actual flesh. If you chip them, there will be blood.」
As she tapped her crystalline knees lightly with her fingers, the sound was sharp and hard.
Judging by the sound, there wasn’t a shred of flexibility left.
Looking closely, her knees barely bent.
「…So this is why you’ve always avoided walking properly.」
She widened her eyes a little at that.
「Oh… so you noticed I couldn’t walk.」
「Of course. Ever since we met, I’ve never once seen you walk normally.」
Even before today, she’d only taken a few steps with a staff, relying heavily on it. And even now, she’d used a moving pathway to get here.
So I’d already guessed something was off.
「I’ve never seen symptoms like this before, my friend」
「Me neither,」
I agreed with Daisy.
Sure, you see people burned or frozen by magic from time to time, but a disease or curse that causes someone to crystallize? I’d never heard of that.
The closest comparison might be petrification—but even that felt fundamentally different.
「When did this start?」
「During the last great war. One of the demon army’s leaders—or rather, a majin—did this to me when they invaded the Spirit Realm. We drove them off in the end, so this is the last aftermath of sorts, I guess..」
A majin’s doing, huh… I narrowed my eyes.
They’re often involved in twisted forms of magic or curses—twisted enough that something this bizarre wouldn’t be out of the question.
「I see. So we know how it started. It’s been a while since then. Have you tried treating it?」
Parum, who sat next to Lorie, answered.
「Yes. Botan-san of the Medical Guild provided us with medicine to suppress the curse. It worked to some extent. And… we do know of a treatment.」
Lorie continued,
「Our city keeps records passed down for generations. In them, I found someone else who had the same condition—and the treatment used.」
She glanced toward the bookshelf behind her chair.
「It says: 『At the [Spring of the Spirit God], one can purify the body and expel the curse.』」
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Daisy, who had been listening, processed that information and raised a question.
「So… even though you knew the cure, you couldn’t do it?」
Lorie nodded slightly.
「Yes. There’s a cure. But the Spring of the Spirit God is far away, and the road to it is… difficult. With my legs like this, reaching it would it would be challenging.」
「So the plan was to first restore the ability to walk with the help of the Medical Guild. According to Botan-san-san’s diagnosis, 『At the present state, the curse can be weakened enough to regain basic mobility』」
Daisy nodded. That made sense. If she couldn’t move, she couldn’t travel.
And getting to a distant location would be almost impossible like that.
「So, you at least had a plan in place,」
「Yes… until Ouroboros’ attack sealed off the Spirit Path and cut off access to the Medical Guild.」
Parum looked down at Lorie’s legs with concern.
「In the past few months, the condition has worsened drastically. It used to only affect the feet—but now, it’s spread this far. Even the medicine Axel-san delivered last time can no longer hold it back.」
「So that medicine I was asked to bring was for Lorie?」
Parum confirmed the guess.
「Yes. But now, the curse has progressed to a point where even medicine can’t suppress it.」
Hearing those words, Daisy muttered, seemingly in thought.
There are many progressive curses in this world. As an alchemist, she had encountered some before.
So she asked,
「Parum, if the curse keeps spreading, is it possible that it will crystallize the princess’s whole body?」
Parum took a deep breath and nodded.
「According to Botan-san’s theory, yes. That’s what’s expected.」
Parum had a grave look on her face.
Lorie, however, remained relatively calm.
「Well, it’ll take over a decade to reach that point, apparently. Botan-san said I won’t die any time soon.」
She gave her staff a light wave over the table in front of her. A tea set appeared.
She waved it again, making the teapot pour tea into the cups as she continued casually.
「That’s why I told Parum not to panic. We had bigger problems to deal with—like Ouroboros.」
「But Princess… Now that Ouroboros has been defeated, it’s time to begin treatment. And for that one-of-a-kind method, Axel-sama will be a tremendous help.」
「Well, yeah. That’s true…」
Lorie looked at us as Parum made her plea, and I responded with a small nod.
「So, based on what I’ve heard… you’re asking me to transport Lorie to the Spring of the Spirit God?」
Parum nodded firmly.
「Yes. That is exactly our request. Will you help us…?」
Her voice was strained with worry.
But I replied without much hesitation.
「Of course. I’m happy to help. You’ve all taken care of us here in the Spirit City. It’s time I returned the favor.」
「I’m with my buddy on this one. Count me in.」
Lorie was the first to react.
「Are you sure? Even before hearing all the details?」
「Well, no matter how many details I hear, all I’ll do is figure out what I can or can’t do. What matters is—I’ve already decided I want to help you. That won’t change.」
Lorie blinked, then smiled softly.
「I’m grateful for that.」
Parum looked delighted and said with a spark in her eyes,
「Thank you so much! Then… shall we move on to the finer details, Princess?」
「Calm down, Parum. It’ll be a long story, so let’s start with tea and talk it through.」
Lorie smiled wryly, pouring tea from the pot she’d just summoned.
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