Shannon puffed out her cheeks, miffed. “Honestly, why won’t you believe me? You’re a stubborn one.”
“No, I’m not. I doubt you’ll find anyone who would readily believe a person who said they were immortal. Even my superstitious grandma would’ve laughed at you.” Fed up, Glim turned to head to his laboratory, but Shannon followed him down the stairs and startled him by grabbing his arm. “Whoa! What’re you doing?”
“It’ll be so much better for you if you believe me. Follow me.”
“No! I told you, immortality is impossible, no matter what magic you use. I need to test to see if you’ve been infected— Hey, wait, what are you doing?!” His eyes widened.
Shannon had grabbed a knife from the desk and brought it close to her arm. “Watch this.”
“W-Wait! Why are you going so far?! You don’t have—”
“Whoop!”
“AAHHH!”
Shannon forcefully brought the knife to her arm. It swooshed through the air and bit into her skin, and then blood seeped from the line she had cut.
“Argh, I’m no good with blood! What are you doing?! We have to stop the bleeding!” Glim cried. With wide, panicked eyes, he rushed to retrieve some bandages and a first aid kit. “Come on, give me your arm! The wound, i-it... Huh?”
His forehead wrinkled as he frowned. Before his eyes, the blood flow slowed to a halt and the wound closed and sealed itself. He blinked in surprise, and for a moment, he was speechless.
“You’re...healing?” he said finally. The gaping wound she had carved in her arm was disappearing, as if time were running backward. His mouth hung open; this was impossible. “Immortality... No, this is healing magic, right?”
“No healing magic is as convenient as this,” Shannon explained. “I’m immortal; a wound like this is nothing.”
“No way...” Glim pinched his cheeks hard. “I’m not dreaming...”
“Do you get it now?”
Still flabbergasted, Glim took Shannon’s arm and traced the spot where the wound had been. Once he had confirmed that her skin showed no traces of a scar, he rubbed his chin, seeming deeply impacted by what he had just seen. “It’s healed. What happened, really?”
Shannon’s only response was a confident nod.
“You’re immortal?” Glim breathed. “I couldn’t just believe it without evidence, but...” He had seen the gash heal with his own eyes. No matter how much he wanted to deny it, it had happened. He scratched his cheek. “You’re immortal, huh. I have to believe it—I saw it.”
“Yup. That’s why I told you I’d be fine.”
He paused, then said, “I get it. I’m prepared now too. Please continue helping me. You were right: The only way to do the clinical trial now is to do it fast.”
“Of course! I do also have another goal, but I really want to help Lily.”
“Jeez, you’re a strange mage.”
“Well, now that we’re on the same page, let’s get started with that latest mixture!” Shannon took a vial in hand and tilted it a little. It was small, but it held a mouthful of transparent green liquid.
“Wait, maybe it’s better you don’t drink it after all,” Glim said.
“What, you think I’ll die from this?” Shannon said dismissively.
“Don’t say such a terrible thing! I don’t want to become a murderer!”
“It’ll be fine. If you save Lily at the cost of me dying, everything will even out.”
“Your worldview is far too pragmatic. Are all mages this unfeeling?”
“Aw, c’mon, I’m kidding. You’re so sensitive. I’m immortal! Anyway, bottoms up!” Without even a hint of fear—on the contrary, she was excited—she downed the concoction in one loud gulp.
Glim shrieked. “You didn’t even hesitate! Are y-you okay? I wasn’t ready!” Panicked, he moved closer to her.
“Mm... It’s bitter,” she replied.
“I don’t care about the taste! How do you feel?!”
“Hm.” She paused. “I’m not particularly—”
Abruptly, Shannon grabbed her throat, and her eyes widened in pain. She hopped back and forth quickly from foot to foot. The tendons in her arms bulged. Her whole body was having an adverse reaction.
“Aahhh! AAAHHH!!!” Glim screamed. “This was a bad idea! So bad! Shannon, I’m so sorry! You aren’t immortal after all! What do I do?!” He clutched at his head and plopped down onto the ground. It was all over for him.
But then...
“Pah! My insides were all messed up for a second there.”
“Huh?” Glim slowly raised his head to find Shannon standing there, calm and composed. Her apparent agony had vanished, and she glanced at the empty vial, looking fit as a fiddle. “Y-You’re all right?”
She hummed in thought. “Well, there wasn’t really any change. The poison is still too strong; it’d kill Lily if she took the medicine as it is.”
“You really are immortal... Ah, I have to write this down!” Flustered, he jotted down some notes about her condition, even taking her pulse and recording minute details. “It’s early, but you’ve definitely contracted saluena. The fact that you haven’t been cured means the medicine isn’t effective. But still, it’s amazing to be able to gather all this information so quickly! If we can keep this up, we’ll be able to make the perfect cure!” His eyes glittered with excitement, and his pen raced single-mindedly across the page. “There’s hope for us yet! We can do it! I have an immortal mage by my side! Okay, okay! Let’s keep going!”
Now that he’d accepted the situation, Glim was far more daring. They continued the clinical trials with vial after vial of medication. Each time Shannon downed a mixture, Glim checked her vitals; if there was no change to her saluena symptoms, they carried on, testing new materials and different compound ratios in their search for the optimal solution.
Never in the history of humanity had there been such a frightful clinical trial. Shannon “died” ten separate times.
With glittering eyes, Glim persisted. There was little unicorn horn remaining, but he had an idea which direction his work should take. Before, he had excluded certain ingredients and ratios as options for fear of their effect on the human body; now, he tested each of those ideas in turn.
“Urp... H-Hey, Mr. Glim...” Shannon put a hand over her mouth, desperately trying to keep something from spilling out.
Glim paused and stared at her, wide-eyed. He had a new compound in each hand. “Wh-What is it? Your illness hasn’t gotten worse, has—”
“N-No, I’m just...”
“Just?”
“I’m full.” Shannon’s face was pale, and she touched her stomach delicately, teetering on her feet.
“Oh! I’m sorry. No matter how many times you die, your stomach keeps filling up, huh? I didn’t realize.” He briskly rubbed his head, looking embarrassed and apologetic. “Let’s take a break. I didn’t realize that I was getting carried away.”
“No worries,” Shannon said. “I get what it’s like to be impatient when you’re so close to your goal. I digest faster than most people, so I’ll just rest for a minute.”