“W-what are you doing, Jiro-kun!?”
The moment I heard Suella had collapsed, my body moved. It was a reflex, acting before I could think. But as I tried to run, Keiri-san grabbed the hem of my suit and stopped me.
“?! Where’s Suella?!”
Then, Keiri-san’s words struck me with realization. I couldn’t possibly agree with her, and despite a part of my mind urging me to stay calm, an intuition of some sort suppressed that thought. Only the impulse to rush to Suella’s side burned within me.
“The treatment room! You probably won’t know where it is! I’ll guide you, so follow me!”
“…”
I had to get there as quickly as possible, so I took a step forward, following Keiri-san’s lead. However, a moment of common sense as a working adult glued me to the spot. Had I handed over my work? Had I given instructions? Thoughts like these, as a cog in society, and the sense of responsibility that I was a manager, weighed down my feet. Keiri-san looked at my face as if to ask, “What’s wrong?” My mind was in a mess, unable to figure out how to prioritize my work in this sudden situation. I couldn’t think in an ordered manner, and the emotion of needing to move quickly clashed with my common sense as a working adult, making me lose my composure.
“What are you doing, Senpai!”
“Kaidou?”
I wouldn’t be so indecisive during a battle, but why was I weighing my position against Suella? My frustrating thoughts were blown away by my kouhai’s voice.
“Leave this to me, su! It’s alright, su! Today, I’m the unlucky man, Kaidou Tadashi! If it’s your urgent matter, Senpai, I’ll shrug off any misfortune!”
He thumped his chest, assuring me it was alright. I felt spurred on by his words and his beaming smile.
“Thanks! I’ll leave the rest to you!”
With that, the scales in my mind quickly tipped, choosing the foolish act of abandoning work as a working adult. In this competitive society of the Demon Lord’s Army, there would undoubtedly be those who would mock my actions and choices. Perhaps there were many who would secretly rejoice that I prioritized one woman over my work. But if I chose work here, I would undoubtedly regret it. It was a relief to have a kouhai who understood such a fact.
“Follow me!”
“Yes!”
I followed Keiri-san, who had seen the outcome of that exchange and was now running. After leaving the office, we didn’t take the elevator but ran down the stairs. For people like us, running down the stairs was far faster than waiting for the elevator. Along the way, we sometimes ran above, sometimes beside, and sometimes along the walls, avoiding the Demon Lord’s Army employees who were confident in their stamina or didn’t wait for the elevator, and continued our descent. Their gazes, wondering what was happening, were completely ignored. At that moment, every second counted, and I just chased after Keiri-san’s back.
She led me down a path I usually didn’t take, and we entered an area.
“This is the area for critical patients. It’s an area where testers can be treated perfectly when they become gravely ill, but we can use it too. Suella is further ahead.”
The pure white walls reminded me of a hospital. I probably remembered the explanation of this place, but her safety was more important to me.
“What happened to Suella?”
“I don’t know. According to Himik-san, she suddenly collapsed and lost consciousness. Apparently, her complexion worsened, and she was transported while Himik kept casting Healing Magic, but I don’t know the details.”
I was grateful that Himik was there, but I knew nothing about Suella. Despite understanding that I could do nothing, I couldn’t accept it. I was anxious. I’m often told that men should remain composed, and while I admire those who can, I wonder why they can.
“Any predictions?”
Hoping to allay even a little of my anxiety, I asked Keiri-san, but my tone naturally became rough and simplistic.
“From what I’ve heard roughly, there are no external injuries. I think it’s an internal condition, like an illness.”
She didn’t show any displeasure at my increasingly irritable tone. While leading me, she organized the information and conveyed it to me.
“Suella has been going to the infirmary regularly lately. Any illnesses should have been found during those check-ups. Since she’s not pregnant and hasn’t been outside the world, I don’t think it’s an unknown infectious disease.”
The probability wasn’t zero in all cases. However, Suella had been careful about her health management to approach that number. That’s why I had been watching her progress with peace of mind. Yet, something that happened just then stirred up my anxiety.
“Ngh!”
I wanted to curse “dammit,” but this was a hospital. Somehow, reason suppressed that impulse.
“From that situation, predicting what might have happened is beyond my scope as a non-specialist. Let’s wait for the professionals to examine her and see the results.”
Keiri-san, who had been leading, seemed to understand my frustration and gently patted my shoulder, telling me to calm down.
“…Yes.”
“She seems to be okay. Also, we’ve arrived at our destination.”
After taking a deep breath, my expression didn’t become cheerful, but I think I became a little calmer. I had to convince myself of that, or the anxiety would crush me. Understanding this, I suppressed my emotions as much as possible. Although tossed around by emotions of a different genre than the anxiety in battle, the place Keiri-san brought me to was in front of a door that looked like an operating room.
“Naturally, it hasn’t finished yet.”
The door was firmly shut and showed no signs of opening. I had rushed here since receiving the call, holding onto a faint hope that she might have recovered in that short time. I had hoped to be greeted by her smiling and telling me everything was okay, like before. However, all that greeted me was a silently closed door. The door had a large sign: “No entry except for authorized personnel.”
“I heard Himik-san was with her, but she’s not here. This should be the right place, though.”
The door appeared like an impregnable castle gate, repelling everything, and I could only stand there dumbfounded. However, Keiri-san, beside me, was looking around as if searching for the missing person.
“Himik?”
Hearing the name of a woman she knew, and realizing she had been with Suella just before, I also looked around, but couldn’t spot her distinctive figure.
“Yeah, I don’t think she went straight into the treatment room, so she should be around here.”
I heard that Keiri-san and Suella had been friends for a long time. I also remembered that Suella called her her best friend. Was her restless looking around due to anxiety? It made me feel a little relieved to think that she, who was putting on a brave face and calmly conveying the situation, was feeling the same as me. Just then, I heard the sound of small footsteps from a distance, and from the intervals between the sounds, I could tell someone was running towards us.
“Memoria.”
“I heard Suella collapsed, is she alright?!”
As soon as our eyes met, she ran towards me and clung to my chest, pressing close. From her, who usually showed little emotional fluctuation, her face was displaying an abnormal and clear emotion. Anxiety. Her expression was colored with just that one word. I was glad she had rushed here, even abandoning her store, but I noticed that the hand gripping my clothes was trembling.
“I don’t know. Keiri-san just told me a little while ago.”
“I-I see.”
It was frustrating that I had no words to offer her. Memoria, who accepted my words, had tears welling up in the corners of her eyes, as if her eyes were tinged with anxiety. She looked up at me, then lowered her gaze, trying to calm herself. As a result, she gently stepped back from me, but her right hand still held onto the hem of my clothes, not letting go. I didn’t point it out, allowing her to do as she pleased. In fact, I wanted her to stay that way. It was because Memoria coming to my side and sharing my anxiety gave me a bit of mental peace.
“…”
“…”
“…”
What followed this change in the situation was silence. We couldn’t offer each other encouragement, and could only stand silently in front of the door, the three of us. There was no time to look at the built-in clock, nor the leisure to make conversation to distract ourselves. How much time had passed? To avoid being a hindrance, we moved to the wall and stood side-by-side, with nothing to do but wait quietly.
“!”
As we waited quietly, a sound echoed in the space. It was the sound of the door opening, evidence that someone had come out. With the fastest reaction I could muster, I looked to see who had come out.
“Evia, Himik.”
“You’re both here.”
“Master.”
Evia, in a suit, and Himik, in a cooking uniform. Evia came out first, followed by Himik, who had a weary expression, and then they noticed us.
“Suella!”
“Calm down, I’ll explain.”
I instinctively rushed forward to question her, but Evia’s sharp gaze stopped me.
“The immediate problem has been resolved. She should be fine for now.”
As I stopped in my tracks and took a deep breath, Evia also let out a sigh, her expression softening to one of fatigue, and she conveyed the results. However, it didn’t bring us relief.
“For now, you mean?”
“Yes, the situation is still uncertain.”
It wasn’t that she had passed the crisis, but that her life had been saved. In that sense, Evia conveyed the words to me. I felt Memoria’s grip tighten, pulling on my hem, and heard Keiri-san stifle a breath as she hugged her arms.
“This time, I can only be grateful for Jiro’s good deed. If, by any chance, he hadn’t picked up this Fallen Angel, this report would be different. Comfort him later; she kept casting Healing Magic until the treatment room was prepared. If not for that…”
Evia’s considerate attempt to lighten the mood had no effect, as Himik, who would normally puff out her chest for praise, hung her head powerlessly.
“…Evia, what exactly happened to Suella?”
“…Magic Deprivation Syndrome. To put it simply, that’s all there is to it.”
Himik’s silent attitude made the atmosphere in the room even heavier, and it was clear that Suella’s condition was not good. I made up my mind and asked what had happened to Suella. Evia closed her eyes for a moment, and after a few seconds passed, she spoke the name of the illness.
“What! This is inside Evia-sama’s dungeon, there’s no way there could be a lack of magic energy!”
Then, Keiri-san objected to the diagnosis. Magic Deprivation Syndrome. In other words, the magic power absorbed into the body was insufficient, making it difficult to maintain life. It was a symptom mainly seen in members of the Demon Lord’s Army who went outside the company, but it was almost impossible for it to occur within this company.
“…Baby Drain, is it?”
“That’s right.”
As I was thinking the same thing, Memoria quietly uttered the words. Evia affirmed them.
“Baby Drain?”
To me, who had never heard of it, I didn’t understand what it meant.
“Baby Drain. It’s the phenomenon of a fetus absorbing magic power from the pregnant woman. This begins when the fetus has grown to a certain extent and its magic aptitude is determined. It’s necessary for the child to live and grow.”
“? Then why did Suella collapse?”
After looking at me to see if I understood that, Keiri-san explained Baby Drain to me. However, the content was a very normal process for them. It was equivalent to a child receiving nourishment through the umbilical cord. Why did it lead to a result where Suella collapsed?
“Normally, there are no particular problems. However, exceptions always exist. If the father has a higher magic aptitude than the mother, a child with higher magic aptitude than the mother may be born.”
Suella’s magic aptitude was six. Compared to before the change, when I had an aptitude of eight, it was low. By that theory, six plus eight divided by two would be seven, so it was entirely possible for the child’s aptitude to exceed Suella’s, even as an average value. Evia’s explanation followed Keiri-san’s, and there was nothing strange about it. What did that mean, and how did it connect to this incident? I thought about it. Magic aptitude is, in a sense, a vessel for how much magic power can be stored. And for the members of the Demon Lord’s Army, regardless of their species, magic power is closely related. Did that relate to Magic Deprivation Syndrome?
“…Is the amount of magic the child desires exceeding the mother’s magic power?”
“That’s right. However, Suella’s magic power is among the superior in the Demon Lord’s Army. Even with Jiro’s initial aptitude of eight, it should only cause mild anemia. Even with nine, it would be difficult, but with support, it wouldn’t lead to symptoms like this.”
“Then why… No way…”
When I responded with that prediction, it hit the mark. However, listening to Evia’s explanation, there was a guarantee that up to a certain line, it would be fine. But the result didn’t stop there. Pondering this doubt, the answer naturally emerged. My mother’s magic aptitude was ten. If, by some atavistic genetic effect, that was passed on to the child, the aptitude difference between her and the child in her womb would be four. Are there beings called Heroes or Demon Lords with a magic aptitude of ten?
“…If it were just ‘no way,’ there would still be a way to treat it.”
However, Evia said my prediction was wrong. In fact, she said that would have been better. Furthermore, was there something beyond that?
“Ngh! Twins! Don’t tell me Suella’s children are twins?!”
At that moment, Keiri-san realized and asked Evia in a voice close to a shout.
“Yes. According to the examination, Dark Elves, who are naturally infertile, and to have multiple births is even rarer. It’s not something that can be dismissed as just rare. It’s the children of twins with high magic aptitude.”
Hearing that fact, the moment I recognized and grasped it, the world seemed to spin. Evia’s words slowly echoed in my mind, and I grasped their meaning.
“That means…”
“Yes.”
A high magic aptitude fetus that would cause life-threatening burdens for one person, and if there were two, the burden would simply be doubled. Now, Suella was trying to compensate for two babies’ magic power and the magic power needed for her own life maintenance. The calculation was that she effectively needed three people’s worth of magic power.
“Our children are putting a strain on Suella?”
“If you put it kindly, yes.”
The desire to deny it prevented me from uttering a single word. While my mind was a mess with emotions of not wanting to admit it, not wanting to believe it, I leaned my hands against the wall. Himik, deeply depressed, and Memoria, stunned into silence, and…
“I understand you don’t want to admit it, but…”
Evia, with an expression that seemed to suppress her own sorrow and pain, sternly told me.
“Be prepared to make a decision.”
With those words, I leaned my back against the wall and slid down to sit on the floor.
A word for today:
In an emergency, the presence or absence of those who support you is crucial in both public and private life.
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*The first volume of the book is published by Hayakawa Bunko JA. It was released on October 18, 2018. The e-book version was also released on October 31 of the same year. The second volume was released on December 19. The third volume was released on February 20, 2019.
The content has been revised and expanded from the version posted on Shosetsuka ni Naro, with an unpublished interlude included. Please also check out the new releases!
A comic adaptation is being serialized in Kodansha’s “Young Magazine The Third.” We hope you enjoy that as well.
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