Chapter 168 - A Friend at the Temple and One's Reach
They traveled by carriage to the temple northeast of the royal capital, near the royal castle.
The temple was a large building whose shape somewhat resembled the churches of her previous life. Its white, crystal-like exterior walls sparkled beautifully during the day, but on this rainy night, they merely reflected the dark sky.
Dahlia had assumed Irma would be in the infirmary next to the temple, but Marcella asked the coachman to stop beside the main temple building instead. There was an entrance there, smaller than the one at the front.
She hadn't passed through here since Carlo's funeral. Dahlia tensed slightly.
Beside her, Volf was also frowning, his expression unmistakable.
After walking a short distance past the gray walls and along the dark-gray corridor, they greeted a priest sitting in a chair.
The priest seemed to know Marcella already. Casting him a sympathetic glance, he bowed to the three of them and allowed them to pass.
Farther down the corridor, they spotted a white door set back in a small recess.
"Irma is in this room. Dahlia, I'm sorry, but..."
"I understand what you're trying to say, Marcella-san. But please, let me talk to Irma properly, too."
Before he could finish, Dahlia made her plea.
Marcella said nothing, simply nodding.
"Marcella and I will be in the waiting room. Go straight down this hall, then turn right at the end."
"Alright. Um... please."
"Of course."
It was difficult for her to come right out and ask him to keep an eye on Marcella, but Volf seemed to understand what she meant.
Dahlia took one deep breath, then slowly opened the door.
"Irma..."
"I'm having this baby."
Dahlia greeted her tentatively, but Irma immediately gave her a clear answer.
Irma was in a bed in the middle of the room.
With a blanket draped over her back, she was struggling to keep herself upright. A large basin sat in front of her.
She had undoubtedly lost a great deal of weight. Her face was as pale as white wax, and even her lips had lost their color.
Her tea-colored hair, usually so glossy and beautiful, had faded until it looked like that of an old woman.
"Oh, Irma, honestly. I haven't even said anything yet."
"Marcella asked you to talk me out of it, didn't he? Well, I'm not giving up. I'm absolutely having this baby."
"...I thought you'd say that."
She had expected as much.
Knowing her friend, Dahlia had been certain that would be her answer.
What she hadn't expected was how painfully hoarse and strained Irma's voice would sound.
"Irma, do you know how much mana you have now?"
"It was two to begin with, but since this little one came along, it's eight. Amazing, isn't it?"
After finishing her sentence with a hand on her belly, Irma suddenly doubled over and vomited into the basin. It seemed there was nothing left for her to bring up but water mixed with blood.
The hand struggling to hold the basin steady had fingertips that looked as though they had been coated in pale brown crystal. The child's excessively powerful mana was probably triggering earth magic.
Dahlia hurriedly poured water from the pitcher on the bedside table into a glass and held it to Irma's lips. After managing to rinse her mouth, Irma continued to breathe in shallow, rapid breaths.
"Thank you. Don't worry, Dahlia. I just have to take it easy for a few more months."
Irma gave her a feeble smile, one that seemed utterly unlike her.
Dahlia couldn't bring herself to ask whether Irma would really survive those few months.
"You're busy too, aren't you, Dahlia? Is everything alright at work?"
"I'm fine. I'm not that busy. Ivano-san is keeping everything running smoothly at the trading company, too. In fact, I even had to ban him from working overtime."
She wished Irma would stop worrying about her, especially at a time like this. Just as that thought crossed her mind, she noticed Irma's sunken eyes fixed intently on her.
"Hey, Dahlia... are you really not lovers with Volf-san?"
"No, we're not. We're friends. Why are you suddenly asking me that?"
Irma was probably changing the subject completely in an attempt to stop Dahlia from trying to persuade her.
Wanting to make it easier for Irma to speak as softly as possible, Dahlia moved closer.
"Dahlia, there's something I want to ask of you."
"What is it? If it's something I can do, of course."
"You're the only one I can ask..."
Irma's reddish-brown eyes wavered, and her slender fingers clutched Dahlia's arm with unexpected strength. Dahlia was stunned by how cold and hard those fingers felt.
"Dahlia, if something happens to me, please take this child with Marcella..."
"Don't joke about that, Irma!!"
The words burst from Dahlia's mouth in a voice close to a scream.
"You're going to get better, Irma, and you'll live happily ever after with Marcella and your baby! That's what's going to happen!"
"...I hope it works out that way."
Faced with the resignation in her friend's eyes, Dahlia wanted to scream from the depths of her soul.
This wasn't funny.
Why should she have to raise Irma's child in her place?
Irma was the only one who belonged at Marcella's side, just as Marcella was the only one who belonged at Irma's.
Suppressing the scream rising in her throat, Dahlia bit down hard on her nails.
Think. Back at the academy, hadn't there been a student who had been born with Magic Overload but had survived?
There had to have been some kind of spell, magical tool, potion, or medicinal remedy that saved him.
Fortunately, she had connections among the nobility and some financial resources to spare. All she had to do was find a way to save the mother as well.
"Irma, you don't have to give up. Marriages between people with different levels of mana are common among the nobility, so I'll ask around and find out what can be done. It's not as though I visit the royal castle for nothing, you know."
"But I don't want to cause you trouble, Dahlia..."
"And Volf is here, too. I'm sure we'll be alright."
"But it would trouble Volf-san, too."
"Volf is Marcella's and your friend, too, isn't he? You've decided to become a mother, Irma, haven't you? Then please, let your friends help you, even if it's just a little..."
Dahlia pleaded with the woman before her, her voice almost begging.
"Oh, Dahlia, you're about to cry."
"Yes. I really am going to cry."
Irma had spoken teasingly, but Dahlia answered plainly, without trying to hide her feelings.
"If even you, 'Big Sister Irma,' leave me behind, I'll definitely cry my eyes out."
"Dahlia..."
Her mother had never been there to begin with.
The maid she had been close to had returned to her own family when Dahlia entered the academy.
The friend with whom she had finally learned to laugh and smile had left the academy because of family circumstances.
Her kind father had died suddenly while away from home.
And the fiancé who was supposed to walk through life with her had broken off their engagement before they could marry.
Irma, who had been close to her since childhood, was more than a friend to Dahlia. She was like an older sister.
She didn't care if she was being selfish or unreasonable.
She couldn't bear to lose anyone else.
"...Alright. I'll accept your help. Just do what you can. Lend me your strength, Dahlia. And please, ask Volf-san for help, too."
"Leave it to me, Irma!"
"But don't push yourself too hard."
"What are you talking about? That's where you're supposed to tell me to do my best!"
"...You're right. Please, do your best, Dahlia."
"You do your best, too, Irma."
With a trembling hand, Irma somehow managed to lift it and press her palm against Dahlia's.
Pretending not to notice that Irma's fingertips were beginning to crystallize, Dahlia clenched her back teeth and forced herself to smile.
・・・・・・・
・・・・・・・
"Marcella, I'm going out for a moment."
"Alright. I'm sorry about today, dragging you into this so suddenly when the two of you were supposed to be spending time together..."
"Don't worry about it. We're friends, aren't we?"
Volf left the sparsely occupied waiting room and headed back down the corridor the way they had come.
He had been in this part of the temple before, and on several occasions, he had come to check on members of the Monster Subjugation Corps.
Following the corridor he remembered, he made his way to the counter where temple staff sold potions.
"Thank you for your continued service. My name is Volfred Scalfarotto, and I'm a member of the Monster Subjugation Corps."
He removed his fairy-crystal glasses and greeted the staff politely.
"Oh, yes! Welcome!"
The woman at the counter sprang to her feet as though she were about to jump out of her skin. Her eyes were glued to Volf.
"I'd like one high potion and two regular potions, please. I'm sorry to trouble you, but would it be possible to transfer the high potion into a regular potion bottle? I don't want to make my friend feel uncomfortable when I give it to them as a get-well gift..."
"Of course! Right away!"
The woman hurriedly disappeared into the adjoining room. Several people nearby glanced over, but no one objected.
Normally, they wouldn't transfer a potion into a different bottle. This was to prevent people from passing off regular potions as high potions and selling them as such.
But this time, he was doing the opposite, and he had explained that the potion was a gift for a sick friend. Since the request had also come from Volf, a member of the Monster Subjugation Corps, they seemed willing to make an exception. He was relieved that there had been no argument.
High potions were more potent than regular potions. However, they were expensive, costing fifteen large silver coins apiece.
If he handed over a high potion in its original bottle, both Marcella and Irma would probably feel uncomfortable accepting it.
If they thought it was an ordinary potion, they might feel less reluctant to drink it. And if he deliberately gave it to them with the cap already open, they'd have little choice but to take it.
Even if the patient vomited afterward, the potion could still have some restorative effect once it had entered the body.
From experience, he knew that drinking a high potion could prolong the life of even someone close to death, if only for a little while.
Within the Order of Knights, the practice was even referred to as "prolonging the life of the dead." Nevertheless, if it could improve her chance of survival, he wanted to try it.
After collecting the high potion and the regular potions, Volf hurried back to the waiting room.
"Marcella, this is for Irma. A get-well gift. The cap is already open, so have her drink it whenever she can."
"I owe you one, Volf."
His friend bowed deeply, yet somehow seemed distant.
"If you don't mind, could you tell me what the priest said?"
"...They said we either had to give up the baby or keep casting healing magic on her. Even then, Irma's chances aren't good... They told me the baby might survive if we could keep it in the womb as long as possible."
It was a choice that demanded they save one and give up on the other.
As the two silently bit their lips, a familiar set of footsteps approached.
"Dahlia-chan, um... what did Irma say?"
"She's decided to have the baby. I'm going to support her, too."
"But if she does that, Irma will—!"
At the anguish in Marcella's voice, Dahlia struggled to keep her words flowing.
"Marcella, I think there must be a way to save both Irma and the baby. Marriages between people with different levels of mana must be fairly common among the nobility. I'll ask my teacher whether there’s a magical tool that could help."
"Marcella, I'm a nobleman myself, after all, so I'll ask my family, too. If they can't help, I'll ask around in the Corps. Our captain is a Marquis, so there must be some way. In the meantime, we can give her potions and keep casting healing magic on her."
"But healing magic alone costs five large silver coins a day. There's no way we can keep that up..."
To Dahlia, five large silver coins amounted to roughly fifty thousand yen a day. Depending on Irma's condition, potions could cost another five large silver coins on top of that. For ordinary commoners, the expense would be far too much.
But she had enough money in her personal account, and the trading company had funds to spare as well. Surely, they could manage it.
If necessary, she didn't care how much overtime she had to work or how many people she had to humble herself before.
"I'll pay. I've got some savings."
"No, but..."
As Marcella struggled to find a way to refuse Volf's offer, Dahlia added her own.
"Marcella, borrow the money from Volf and me. I have the trading company behind me, too, so the two of us can manage it. You're a guarantor for the Rossetti Company, aren't you? At least let us do this much for you. Besides, I know you'd pay us back, even if it took you your whole life."
"Yes, I will. I promise...!"
"Then stay with Irma for now. Volf and I will go ask around."
After speaking briefly with Marcella, whose expression had finally softened a little, they left the temple.
The rain had already stopped.
The eastern sky was tinged with a faint red glow. Even with her coat on, the air felt a little chilly.
"Once morning comes, I'll send a messenger to Ozwald-sensei and visit him as soon as I can get an appointment."
"I'll ask my elder brother. I suspect there may be a magical tool or a spell that a mage can use. If he doesn't know anything, I'll consult our captain. You can use the carriage, Dahlia. I'll head home first, then travel on horseback. It'll be faster that way."
"Thank you, Volf."
"Words of gratitude can wait until we can all smile together again, and Marcella and Irma-san will be the ones to say those words to us. As soon as I find anything out, I'll send a messenger to the tower or to Ozwald. You just need to let the carriage driver know."
"Alright."
She had assured Marcella and Irma that they would find a way.
She was worried, of course, but she couldn't afford to lose her composure now.
Even lowering her head a little threatened to drag her thoughts into a dark place.
"Dahlia."
Volf suddenly called her name and lightly touched her arm.
"It's alright. I'm sure things will work out. We have a little more reach than most people, after all."
"...Yeah."
She gave a small nod, steadied her breathing, and smiled at Volf.
He smiled back at her.
Volf was a member of a count's family and a knight in the Chivalric Order’s Monster Subjugation Corps.
Dahlia was an adviser to the Monster Subjugation Corps, the head of a trading company, and a magical toolmaker.
They surely had a better chance of saving Irma than they would have had they been ordinary commoners.
They would reach as far as they could and do everything in their power to save their friend.
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