chapter 157
Side story 3. Operation to fix your constitution (3)
1.
“Stop for a moment, stop.”
“hmm?”
“Why would you just try to put a spoonful of food on the rice I’ve already prepared?”
A war of nerves broke out between Arwen and Sylphia over the sleeping Ludrick. Naturally, after hours of meticulous effort and intense concentration, Sylphia had completed the first procedure, and Arwen, who was stepping forward to finish it, could not have looked kindly upon it.
Arwen, on the other hand, had something to say too.
“If I leave it to you, you’ll be in big trouble. Don’t be stubborn and just step aside. Even if your clan’s lord comes, you’ll yield to him. What’s the point?”
Sylphia, whose expression was clearly annoyed, and Arwen, who, in contrast, responded indifferently.
Arwen added, rolling up her sleeves.
“I’d rather do it myself than leave it to you and have it go wrong.”
Who would dare to say such a thing to a dragon, who was even called the master of magic? However, Arwen was in a position where she could confidently say such a thing to a dragon.
No matter what anyone says, isn’t Arwen the true king?
Although there was an ill-fated relationship in the past where Arwen’s servant horse was blown away by Sylphia’s thoughtless magic, in terms of age alone, Arwen was more comparable to the Lord of the Red Clan to which she belonged than Sylphia.
It is not possible to clearly determine superiority because they did not fight to the death, but there was a slight gap between Sylphia, one of the many dragons, and Arwen, the true ancestor, otherwise known as the Elder Vampire, the root from which all vampires trace their roots.
“But this is not ethical! I prepared the food, so how is this any different from waiting for someone to give you the rice and just putting your spoon on it?”
“That’s the wrong way to put it. If I had known from the beginning, would I have left it to you? I would have just done it myself.”
“Are you saying that my skills are not good enough right now?”
“You got it.”
Sylphia, who had been sulking, glared at Arwen and spoke, but Arwen responded as if she had just realized that.
Silphia, who was overcome with emotion at the sight, sat up abruptly, forgetting that she was receiving treatment.
“Well, let’s see who’s longer and who’s shorter here right now?”
“Isn’t there anything you can’t do?”
Arwen also changed emotionally little by little.
Rather, if it had been a normal situation, the two of them would not have fought and gotten their feelings hurt just by looking at Ludrick’s face, but now, ironically, the fight was showing signs of escalating into a bigger one because of Ludrick.
If by any chance Sylphia’s procedure goes wrong, Ludrick’s life will be saved, but it will be difficult to regenerate his completely damaged magical circuits. If that happens, Ludrick will be forever isolated from the mystery of magic. Of course, a magician with damaged circuits cannot handle magical powers.
So Arwen thought that she should take charge of the rest of the process. When it comes to Sylphia and Arwen, it is foolish to judge who is better at magic. There is no clear indicator to directly conclude who is better.
However, if we only look at the perfection of magic, wouldn’t Arwen herself be better since she has a bit more experience? So even if Sylphia has overcome one dangerous crisis, it would be better for her to do the remaining process.
Arwen also had that kind of thinking and didn’t back down an inch.
To put it simply, both of them did it out of love for Ludrick.
“……I was sleeping well, why is it so noisy?”
Thanks to the commotion, Ludrick, who had been fast asleep, opened his eyes. He looked at the clock on the bedside table almost out of habit and checked the time. It had been about three or four hours since they started. Ludrick asked, seeing Sylphia right next to him and Arwen standing with her arms crossed outside the bed.
“Is it all over?”
“It’s not over yet. Do you want to be conscious and try to use your magic power once? It probably won’t work.”
“……Really. Something feels strange.”
As soon as he heard Sylphia’s words, Ludrick tried to generate magic power, but since the circuit itself was already cleanly destroyed, he couldn’t move the magic power no matter how hard he tried. He had just woken up, so it was hard to believe that it was a mistake made in his sleep, but the sensation he was experiencing right now was unfamiliar to Ludrick.
Although it is impossible to explain the magical part in a physical way, the quickest analogy is to think of it as the magical circuit that was causing the problem being completely cut out with a scalpel.
The strange feeling that Ludrick felt, as if his body was not his own, was also a feeling that his body had not been able to adapt to the magical circuits that had already disappeared.
Although he had been prepared, when this situation actually arose, Ludrick couldn’t help but feel a little nervous.
“……There’s nothing wrong with this, right?”
A question asked carefully.
If it was a previous life where he had never used magic at all, then it would be different, but now, from the moment he first started learning magic on his own, until now, he has always had the mystery of magic by his side. Even ordinary magicians would often become frustrated and ruined if they were unable to use magic due to illness or if they used magic beyond their limits, but a great magician like Ludrick had achieved a level of mystery that was dozens of times greater than ordinary magicians.
Because the feeling of deprivation that would be felt when one is in a situation where one cannot use magic is something that cannot be expressed in words.
“It’s not a bad step yet. Rather, I’ve cleanly destroyed only the magic circuits without causing any negative effects to the body. Now, if I just regenerate the circuits that were once broken, everything will be fine.”
Arwen, who had been glaring at Sylphia with her arms crossed, answered instead, not forgetting to add a few words instead.
“So wouldn’t it be better to stop being so stubborn and just leave it to me? They say stubbornness that doesn’t know its place is called stubbornness.”
“……No, well, that’s what I mean. Just like you said, I just chose the right circuit and broke it, so why don’t you trust me and insist on doing it yourself?”
“Isn’t building something perfectly as difficult as destroying it perfectly? Fortunately, you were lucky and finished it perfectly this time, but that doesn’t mean it will be the same when you start building it again.”
“So what, are you saying I’m some kind of quack doctor now? This time I just got lucky and no accidents happened?”
“If you understand it right away, your comprehension skills are not bad, but why are you being so stubborn for no reason…….”
“Eeeeek! This crazy b*tch is really going to let me see!”
When Sylphia finally couldn’t hold it in anymore and exploded, Arwen frowned and responded.
“It’s ugly.”
“What, what, what? Is it ugly?”
“okay.”
Arwen, who always had a reserved tone and was always around Ludrick, unlike Sylphia who completely exploded at the subsequent verbal abuse, maintained her dignity as she criticized Sylphia point by point.
“Why don’t you stop being so stubborn and just quietly submit? Lizard woman, aren’t you thinking that way too? In a situation like this where it’s right to eliminate even one uncertain variable, when you think about it calmly, I’d say that it’s statistically better to leave it to me rather than you.”
“No, really, how much longer have you lived than me? How many years earlier have you used magic than me? Why are you campaigning like that? When I grit my teeth and work hard, you just fold your arms and watch. What? You don’t like me, so come out? Are you crazy?”
“So you’re saying that I was reckless? If you had told me in advance what your plan was, I would have taken care of it from the beginning.”
Their conversation was parallel from the beginning.
Silphia asks why he keeps nagging her as if he is not good enough when she is doing well, and Arwen says she would rather do it herself than watch her.
It was an argument that would not have happened if neither of them had Ludrick in mind, but thanks to that, the conversation continued on parallel lines.
And Ludrick, who had been stuck in the middle and silently listening to the two’s argument, muttered.
“……I shouldn’t have done that.”
It was a difficult situation.
Originally, if none of the five wives had a connection to Ludrick, they would not have mixed like water and oil. Even if you look at Sylphia and Arwen, who are growling right in front of you, aren’t they entangled in a bad relationship as servant horses?
If we had met each other without Ludrick, it was obvious that we would have been bickering like we are now, or we would have passed each other by without even knowing each other.
What that meant was that this situation was started by Ludrick, and that Ludrick had a responsibility to somehow sort it out.
‘The seeds of discord must be removed in advance.’
I had no intention of being stuck in between like the dull male protagonists in the novels and animations I had seen so many times in my past life, and just smiling awkwardly like, ‘This is difficult, haha…’ After all, in my past life, I had seen male protagonists who had become sandwiches and thought to myself, ‘Well, he’s not that retarded.’
Just as Alexander the Great cut the Gordian Knot with one stroke of his sword instead of untying it, Rudrick immediately proposed a very fiery and direct solution.
“Then let’s just do it together.”
“huh?”
“yes?”
The two who had been arguing with each other just a moment ago looked back at Rudrick at the same time, but Rudrick responded indifferently with an expression as if to say, “What do you want me to do?”
“Don’t keep bickering like that. Just do it together. You can both hold hands and do it together. Why do you keep fighting?”
A highly difficult task that involves completely destroying a person’s magical circuits and then rebuilding them.
At Ludrick’s words that Sylphia and Arwen should work together on a magical task that requires extreme care and concentration, something they would not have been able to attempt if they were not a dragon and a true ancestor respectively.
“……I changed my mind. Just finish it, you lizard woman.”
“……No, I’ll just step aside this time. I think it’s right for you to do it.”
Both Arwen and Sylphia quickly raised the white flag and surrendered.
Even while verbally trying to dissuade each other and make concessions, the two of them were keeping an eye on Rudrick to see if he was angry, which was a typical picture of a wife being held captive by her husband.
Whenever they would growl at each other and fight, Ludrick sighed at the sight of them slowly retreating and looking around as soon as they finished talking.
“……Ugh. This is all just my karma.”
Actually, it was Ludrick’s karma that was right.