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“Damn it, that fake teacher… just you wait!”
“She’s technically a legitimate teacher, Plerion. Let’s just drop it already!”
“Shut up! This is all your fault to begin with, Konis!”
“T-That’s not fair…”

Hiding in an alley away from the magecraft workshop, Plerion stomped his feet in frustration and lashed out at Konis.

From Konis’ perspective, the accusation was completely unreasonable. Yet, having lost the backing of the Umravolf family, he couldn’t bring himself to argue back too strongly against Plerion.

“Konis, we’re finding another workshop! We’re going to track down a craftsman who can super-mega-hyper-reinforce my staff into an unstoppable force!!”
“Y-Yes…”

It seemed they still had no intention of giving up. With exaggerated determination, they strutted off in search of the next workshop to fall victim to their relentless demands.

What reckless arrogance. Surely, spending even a single extra second on training would be more beneficial than wasting time like this.

How naïve. It’s exactly because they don’t understand that simple truth that adults like me are going to grind them down and discard them.

“—Ahem, excuse me, young man.”
“Hm? Who the hell are you?”
“Just a humble merchant. If you’d like, I could provide you with something to fulfill your dearest wish.”
“My wish?”
“Oh yes, yes. You despise someone, don’t you? So much that you’d kill them if you could. If you’re willing to sacrifice just a sliver of yourself, I can—guhbaaargh!”

A ridiculous sound escaped my mouth, one I could hardly believe was from me, and my vision flipped upside down.

My back slammed into a pile of assorted junk stacked in the alley, and it was only when blood dripped from my nose and the delayed throb of pain spread through me that I realized I’d been punched through the air.

“A…gaghh….! W-Who—?!”
“I-I’m Momose Kaguya! I’m sorry, you were so fishy I punched you before I spoke!!”

――――――――…………
――――……
――…

“…No abnormalities?”
“Indeed. I checked every corner, but there’s nothing out of the ordinary. Here, take a look at the report.”

Arnitta flipped through the medical report and opened it toward me, revealing the results.

The recorded values were all well within the range of a normal human— aside from the grip strength and other figures influenced by the “Gift of the Gods.”

“As for muscle strength… there are too many irregularities to draw any conclusions. If I had to say, the only notable point is that the amount of magic power in the bloodstream is higher than average, considering the low magic retention capacity.”
“Is having more magic in the blood a bad thing?”
“It increases the risk of magic crystallization syndrome. Excess magic power circulates through the body via the bloodstream, after all.”
“I can’t imagine Momo having enough excess magic to spill into her blood with her pathetic retention capacity…”

After all, her magic power was so meager that even lighting a flame the size of a candle would drain her dry. Even a newborn baby could probably store more magic than she did. If there was another cause, the only thing that came to mind was the dragon gem.

“…I want your honest opinion. Do you think other risks will arise beyond magic crystallization syndrome?”
“It’s possible. The fact that her blood magic concentration is rising is abnormal in itself. If it’s due to absorbing the dragon gem, I doubt this will be the end of it.”
“Considering she actually breathed dragon fire, there’s a chance she might turn into a real dragon in the end.”

I hated that I was the one who voiced that thought— it was a future I really didn’t want to consider. Just imagining her loud, overly kind personality remaining intact after turning into a dragon made me feel like I’d die from sheer stress.

“I would’ve liked to examine her internals too, but our magitech tools can’t handle that… How long will you be in town?”
“I still have work to do, so I’ll be staying for a little while longer, but I plan to leave within a month.”
“I see. If I can manage it, I’ll contact you. I might be able to pull some strings.”
“I appreciate it, but are you sure? Helping someone from the Magecraft District like this?”

“Gahaha! Don’t worry about it. I don’t get along with the Mintark lot, but I’m not senile enough to take it out on unrelated customers.”
“I appreciate it, but why are the three districts so at odds with each other…?”
“Are you sure you want to know? If I start telling you about the feud over Chiyo, it’ll take five hours.”
“Let’s save that for another time. But seriously, Momo’s taking forever. Hurry up and get back already!”

I quickly diverted the conversation from the man who looked all too ready to talk for hours, glancing away toward the wall clock. It had been over thirty minutes since Momo had gone after Plerion and Konis— way too long, even for her.

“…Sorry, but I should get going. Can I take this report with me?”
“Of course, take it. If you’re interested in magitech, feel free to come back anytime—”
“—Masterrr!! Emergency! We’ve got a patient! SOS!!!”

Speak of the devil. The workshop door burst open with a deafening crash, and Momo literally came flying in. On her back, she carried Plerion and Konis, their faces pale and bodies limp.

“Hey, quiet down, Momo—wait, what happened?”
“Some suspicious person tried to do something terrible to these two! I don’t know what they did, but it’s bad!”
“Got it. That was a good call. Sorry, but I’ll need to borrow some space.”
“Of course! Hold on, I’ll bring in my medical team!”

I laid Plerion and Konis on the workshop’s spacious floor and touched their necks.

Their pulses were rapid, their breathing shallow and labored. But more than anything, I could feel it— an unnatural, distorted magic power mixed within them, completely foreign to their own.

“…You were right to bring them here. There’s nothing you could’ve done on your own.”
“M-Master! What happened to them?!”
“They’ve been cursed— and it’s a powerful one. If we don’t track down the caster, their lives are in serious danger.”

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