◯◯◯
After that, Lord Felix started accompanying me on longer rides. I actually managed to win some of our races—perhaps I did have a knack for horseback riding after all.
We rode through the areas in the Leeuwenhoek territory that Lord Felix and Sir Kain had declared were free of monsters.
One of these days, I’d like to learn how to fight as well.
Almost all of my previous owners had had combat prowess. It was possible that I had a sense for it too, as I had inherited their mana and knowledge!
Despite these thoughts, I ended up spending the next little while living in peace.
One day, some time after Lord Felix had left on an extermination mission, I heard a commotion coming from the estate’s main manor.
Kicking up this much fuss for Lord Felix’s return isn’t normal, right...?
I peered toward the manor and noticed that an injured person was being brought in. Upon closer inspection, it hit me that it was Sir Kain dragging a limp, unconscious body—Lord Felix’s body.
Startled, I immediately rushed up to them.
“Sir Kain! What happened?” I asked.
“Lu...”
The forlorn look on Sir Kain’s face spoke of the magnitude of this incident, his typical air of lightheartedness completely gone.
“Did he get hurt while fighting monsters?” I asked.
“I don’t know... I really don’t know. There were more of them than usual, but Felix was still defeating them without issue. It’s just that when one of the monsters was about to land a hit on another knight, Felix saved him by using magic to cut it down, which he doesn’t normally do. After a while, his behavior started becoming increasingly strange, until he eventually fainted.”
As I listened to Sir Kain’s recollection, I examined Lord Felix with my own eyes. From what I could tell, he didn’t appear to have sustained any serious injuries. However, his complexion was a ghastly shade of white, his body exuding some sort of stagnant mana.
As Lucille, it was my first time seeing these symptoms, but I had encountered something similar in my past life.
“This resembles mana exhaustion,” I said. “Normally, rest would suffice to recover his mana, but it looks like both his mana and life force are being actively drained. At any rate, if we don’t compensate for the mana he’s losing, he might die.”
Sir Kain’s face scrunched up as if he were a child on the verge of tears.
“But Felix has high mana capacity,” he said. “An ordinary person might not be able to provide enough. And with his curse, if you try to transfer mana to him, it’ll all get sucked away! Even if you attempt to stop before you’re done in, the curse won’t release you. It’ll keep draining you till you’re totally dry.”
Argh! Why, me?! Why did you never ask what Lord Felix’s curse was?!
Because I didn’t think something like this would happen!
Hmm. It was obvious the curse was to blame for this situation, even if I still didn’t know its exact workings.
Come to think of it, when Lord Felix fixed Maouldoth’s seal, he had asked me to imbue his sword with mana instead of doing it himself. I hadn’t thought much of it at the time—I’d been too excited about our collaborative effort—but could it be that he’d known it was too dangerous for him to manipulate mana himself?
Yet he’d gone ahead with it today regardless, to save that knight?
This isn’t the time to be thinking about that. If I don’t do something soon, it’s only going to get more precarious for Lord Felix. As long as he survives, we can figure out the details later!
“Sir Kain, please bring Lord Felix to his room and lay him down,” I said. “I’ll give him my mana!”
“You can’t! He’ll wring all the mana out of you and turn you into a mummy!”
It couldn’t be understated just how much mana my doting owners had shared with me in my Lilybell days. I mean, right off the bat, Master Alys had extended my lifespan so that I could live with her forever. The faces of my past owners flashed through my mind—my beloved, quirky, and incredibly powerful owners that I was very proud of.
What I was trying to say was that I possessed a tremendous amount of mana. And I remembered how radiant my owners—especially Master Alys, Saint Clarissa, and Efren—had looked whenever they rejoiced in being able to save people in need. Honestly, there’d been times I’d thought, “I wish I could be as cool as them!”
Is this my chance?
I smiled at Sir Kain. Well, it was a bit closer to a smirk, but he probably wouldn’t notice in his current panicked state, so it was fine.
“Heh heh! Sir Kain, who do you think I am? I’m the evil woman with dark powers who got kicked out by the prince for putting a curse on his lover! Well, it was a false accusation, but still.”
Plus, after regaining Lilybell’s memories, I was capable of using a lot more than just dark magic.
“Forget mana exhaustion mummification—I’ll stuff Lord Felix so full of mana that he’ll have to go on a diet to trim the fat once he’s better!”
“Lu...” he said, stunned.
I didn’t know if it was actually possible to make someone physically grow larger by stuffing them with mana. I’d never done it before, after all.
But look how much he’s made everyone worry about him! He can make up for it by being my test subject.
“All right,” Sir Kain said. “Thanks...but seriously, don’t push yourself. I’ll stay next to you and try to pull you away if it gets dangerous.” He had regained some of his composure, though he still seemed concerned.
I was so intent on the situation at hand, I hadn’t even noticed the gathering of a familiar group of cats around me until I heard them cheering me on with their meows.
“Thank you for the support, everyone!” I said. “Now I’m even more motivated! Here I go!”
“Meooow!”
Come to think of it, wouldn’t this be my first time entering the manor? After all, when I first arrived at Leeuwenhoek, I’d been brought directly to the detached house, so I’d never been inside the main building.
I probably should’ve realized that sooner, I thought as I headed inside, cats in tow.