◈ Episode 402. Equivalent Exchange (1)

Magic Tower.

A private room of the Healing School.

Bellier’s smile replaced the warmth of the sun.

But lately, the private room had been eerily quiet.

Perhaps it was the firmly closed door to the office.

Klee, the Adept Mage, sighed.

‘You’re pushing yourself too hard, Ms. Bellier.’

What’s on the Adept of Healing Magic’s mind?

It’s not the research for the next regular conference.

Nor is it entering the Arcana continent.

It was the safety of Senior Mage Bellier.

For months now.

She hadn’t stopped researching, trying to find a way to purify the fallen dragons who had swallowed the evil fruit of the World Tree.

seug.

Klee’s gaze fell on her work on the desk.

She turns to the papers that contain the 『How to Cultivate Medicinal Herbs』.

Thanks to Chief Lee’s generous help.

We have made great progress in our research.

We’ve even discovered important information about the transformation of grown medicinal herbs into elixirs.

That’s why Klee had volunteered to help Bellier with her research.

The seed of the World Tree.

Originally, it was supposed to be a rare fruit of the Tree of the Good and Evil.

She wondered if its properties were similar to those of elixir herbs, and if so, if her research could be of any use.

“Huh.”

But it wasn’t easy.

“……I was hoping to help.”

“Klee, don’t you think you should take a break?”

“Huh?”

“It’s a study that even Senior Bellier hasn’t been able to come up with easy answers to, and it’s no wonder adept mages like us can’t find answers right away.”

Concerned glances.

Her skin crawled under their stares.

The adepts were right.

Bellier Yusia.

She, too, was one of the shining talents of the current generation of mages. The quality research she poured out at each conference was recognized as a major advance in healing magic.

Compared to her, Klee, herself.

“…….”

Klee was merely an adept mage who hadn’t even completed a single study. A disparity in talent. Add to that the disparity in experience as a senior and an adept, and…….

‘No wonder I can’t be of much help.’

Maybe she was doing something pointless.

But Klee knew.

Time doesn’t wait.

“No, I’ll keep trying.”

Even in her moment of discouragement.

The Dragon swallowed the evil fruit.

That it was tainting them with evil.

Furthermore.

Shhh.

A gaze toward Senior’s office.

“You’re not giving up, are you, Senior?”

Despite the lack of success.

Bellier’s heart was not broken.

So Klee couldn’t give up either.

She did.

Soon, alone in the spare room, Klee calmly scribbled down the concept of cultivation on a piece of parchment. It was only an incomplete study, but it contained information that she’d gotten from no one else but Chief Lee Hoyeol.

──────

Medicinal herbs require vast amounts of life force to grow. If they absorb enough life force and nutrients, they will be transformed into elixirs. If you think of the seeds and fruits of the World Tree as the relationship between an elixir and a medicinal herb, you can imagine the relationship between the two…….

──────

Mmmm.

“Whoa.”

Klee paced in the doorway of Bellier’s office, parchment in hand. She wondered if it would be more of a distraction than a help.

Take a peek.

‘This is the best I can do.’

Finally, Klee gently slipped the parchment through the crack in the door.

It had been a long time since she’d left the Healing School’s private office.

She heard the news that had been spreading through the Magic Tower.

“What? Is that true?!”

When Klee asked, Jibril, the adept of the Magic Tower, nodded.

“Do you think I’m lying, Klee, I swear it’s true? The capital of the Empire, Antonium, is on lockdown! The adventurers who have returned to Magic Tower through the portal have gone white……!”

This was bad news.

The chatter fell on deaf ears.

With a heavy heart, Klee returned to the Healing School’s spare room.

She retrieved the parchment she’d left behind.

‘……I’m sure you’re upset about the news even if you weren’t.’

Shaking her head.

She wasn’t sure.

That her research could help.

She didn’t want her to waste time on unnecessary information.

Klee had just walked into Bellier’s office.

“……uh?”

klik.

The door to Bellier’s office was open.

The parchment she’d stuck in the doorway was nowhere to be found.

Bellier turned to the adept mage who guarded the private room.

“What about Ms. Bellier?”

“Didn’t you see her? Just when I was away…….”

“Why? What happened?”

“Senior Bellier has been granted permission to enter the Arcana Continent, and she says she’ll be accompanied by Senior Matisse Dean Karl and Senior Bensch William……. Aha!”

The adept mage said something important.

“Klee, she asked me to tell them it’s all thanks to you.”

“……Because of me? What, no way?”

“That’s right! She must have gotten a clue from your research, because she hasn’t had a smile on her face in a long time. You can see it in the brightness of her room.”

“……Is that true?”

Klee was stunned by the words.

It was clear why she’d been pacing in front of the office until the last minute.

There was no intrinsic solution in sight.

Or, if she did, it was a lucky coincidence.

“A vast enough life force to sprout an intact sprout from the seed of an already corrupted World Tree is not something that can be easily obtained. It’s not the same as a normal herb……….

As she pondered, Klee’s pupils twitched.

“……!”

On the desk in the open office.

Bellier’s spellbook came into view.

This was because the title amplified the ominous feeling.

『The Art of Healing Magic / Author: Leras Till.』

*

Leras Till.

An extreme healing mage.

She had once said, during a lecture on healing magic, that she was not like most healers, let alone herself.

-“That’s a question, isn’t it? Her personality and radical ideas seem at odds with healing magic. Naturally, I’m not a fan of Leras Till’s work, especially since she was, at the end of the day, an almost too typical mage of the Magic Tower.”

Healing magic at its finest.

Leras Till died to prove her research. Leras Till’s death was no different than that of a mage who burned to death in the sunlight of truth.

But the prejudice was different.

‘I don’t know about Klee, but I never thought I’d see the day when I could thank you.’

Bellier swallowed hard.

Suddenly, a growl tickled her ears.

Nam Taemin had activated [Frenzy] and leapt up to Bellier’s height while still levitating. Bellier was stunned. Adventurer, after all. He’s growing fast.

“To the rear……. Damage.”

The aftermath of the frenzy.

It was an improvement over the days when he could barely speak to people, let alone respect them, but his words were still short. But Bellier didn’t care.

Instead.

She learned it according to Chief Lee’s teachings.

She recalled the common sense of adventurers.

“Rear, is that it? I’ve heard that adventurers have a common sense: those with the most defense and health are in the front, and those who can support them are in the back……. That’s right, tanks, dealers, and healers. Am I right?”

Hisagi and Leonie nodded at Bellier’s question.

Bellier, however, shook her head.

Though the thoughtfulness was indeed appreciated.

“But do you know?”

“What do you mean?”

“That the Magic Tower are called beyond common sense on the Arcana continent.”

It was Frostnax with murderous intent.

He would not tolerate even the slightest conversation.

A flesh-tearing cold wind poured from its wings.

In this moment, in the player’s common sense, Bellier was in a dangerous position.

But.

pas

Bellier’s green hair fluttered, and soon she was radiating warmth throughout the area. It wasn’t a warmth that was just words, but a warmth that actually touched the skin, or rather, a system message.

[Warmth keeps the body at its best].

“……!!!”

It wasn’t just that.

Ssshhhh.

The warmth of Bellier’s body completely offset the chill of Frostnax. Namtaemin and Leonie’s faces lit up. With a buff like this, they would be able to move their bodies without feeling the cold.

Ta-da.

Instead of nodding in gratitude, they ran off.

Frostnax, it stretched its claws toward the Quernberg Machine Tower.

The entire tower is made of silver.

Normally, it should have done a lot of damage to the corrupted evil dragon.

Hisagi’s eyes narrowed.

‘What a coincidence.’

kkigigigig─!

The creaking of cogs scratched at Hisagi’s eardrums.

The cogs were frosted with the cold of Frostnax.

The movement of the Quernberg Machine Tower was not as it should be.

His gaze turned to Bellier.

‘And it’s not something to just be happy about.’

He was recognizable because he was a magic spearman.

Bellier must have spent quite a bit of magic just a few moments ago when she took the cold winds of Frostnax. She had just received a true dragon blow.

Hisagi gritted his teeth.

‘……She, the senior member of the Magic Tower, trusts us?’

Would they be good enough to fight Frostnax with the [Warmth] buff? Hisagi wasn’t sure, but Bellier’s judgment could not be overlooked.

tas.

He stomped his foot after the two of them.

Krrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt!

Frostnax, who had just knocked down one of Quernberg’s Machine Towers.

Bellier watched the Holy War Alliance troops charge at the roaring creature.

She couldn’t help but chuckle.

“So that’s why they ended up in such a mess?”

The battle with Eunaxus.

It was Bellier who had personally healed the trio of Nam Taemin, Hisagi, Leonie.

She could tell.

Even if they were free from the bitter cold, they wouldn’t last more than a few minutes.

“I’m keeping the lessons of the First Dragon Magic War in mind.”

When the dragon stepped into the Crystal Hall of the Magic Tower?

She was actually relieved.

She thought she’d never have to exchange magic with those ridiculous creatures again in her life. But life has a way of doing that to you. Of course, she didn’t want to complain.

“It shouldn’t be that way, should it, Marcelo?”

If only everything had gone the way it was supposed to.

You wouldn’t be here, suffering from the curse of terminal illness… …….

and no longer a man of this world.

So Bellier intended to do her part.

A way to purify the dragons who had swallowed the evil fruit and fallen.

She found inspiration in Klee’s letters.

Herbs, and elixirs.

If you recall the relationship…….

Vast life force. Yes, if it was so vast that it could sprout even the corrupted and rotten Evil Fruit, then perhaps it could sprout the World Tree and curb the corruption of dragons.

“It’s theoretically possible, Klee.”

Bellier laughed.

“It’s amazing that I even had help from Chief Lee.”

The problem, Klee had added, was that such a vast source of life force was unavailable. But Bellier knew. Or, more precisely, she remembered, after rummaging through her books.

Leras Till.

The pinnacle of healing magic.

Leras Till’s signature on the Magic Tower reads.

『Leras Till manifested the ultimate in healing magic. She transformed her body, her mind, and her entire being into life force, manifesting the ultimate in true healing magic…….』.

Whether or not it was truly close to the truth was anyone’s guess, but considering what truth meant in the Magic Tower, its power had been proven.

“Well, let’s get started.”

Bellier was about to manifest such extremes.

“Bellier Yusia, the final healing spell.”

Why was she pouring her magic into the beginning?

Simple.

It was an extreme form of healing magic that required the sacrifice of body and spirit instead of magic.

There was no point in wasting energy on the body.

Bellier’s healing magic enveloped the retreating Holy War Alliance.

Sssshhhh.

“It’s the future, you guys.”

Even if they were ridiculously weak right now, the adventurers had a chance. Of course, it was unlikely that they would ever grow to be as powerful as Chief Lee.

“Shouldn’t we be at least as strong as our chief?”

Therefore, Bellier wanted them to gain experience.

She was going to help them as best she could.

That is, until she had any magic left.

Until she could manifest the full extent of her healing magic.

But as they say.

Things don’t always work out the way you think.

Suddenly, she’d used up all the magic she had.

“Hugh.”

Glup─

She swallowed the blood that had been regurgitating in her throat.

She heard a voice.

“I ask you, Senior Mage Bellier Yusia.”

“……!”

“The principle of purifying evil fruits and the entire process.”

“…… Chief Lee?”

.

.

.

Wait a minute.

……what?

Extreme healing magic that requires you to risk your life to manifest?!

[Last Adventurer: You cannot die on the Arcana Continent. If you do, you will immediately return to reality and will be unable to access the Arcana Continent for a period of time. – Cooldown: 24 hours]

No, if that’s the case, tell me!