Chapter 17: Health (2)

It was her last hope and her last desperate attempt.

That was Selena’s state of mind when she arrived at her personal laboratory.

Her laboratory had practically everything that could be found even in a laboratory of the magic tower.

It could be said that it was the result of all her desperate attempts to cure her body.

Her health had deteriorated rapidly and it was difficult for her to go out or come in, but today was different.

“Mary. You only have to do what I tell you. Understood?”

“Yes! I will do my best!”

“It’s nothing difficult… Cough! Cough! Kugh!”

A sudden cough escaped Selena, and she quickly covered her mouth with a handkerchief.

Startled, Mary hurried toward her, but Selena raised her hand to stop her.

“Huff…”

When she finally calmed down, Selena moved the handkerchief away from her mouth.

When she looked at it, she saw that black, dead blood had pooled in it like a puddle.

Before, the handkerchief would barely get damp, but the fact that a puddle had now formed meant—

‘If not today, then tomorrow.’

She did not have much time left.

Selena tightly clenched the handkerchief.

The accumulated blood slowly began to soak it.

Then she looked at Mary, who was watching her worriedly, and nodded.

With her body in that state, Mary would have to be her hands and feet.

“We don’t have time, so let’s start immediately. First bring that extractor.”

“Yes!”

“Then connect the extractor to the charger…”

Selena began giving instructions to Mary.

At first Mary moved clumsily, probably because of the rush, but she did not make mistakes.

Although she was not as brilliant as Selena, she also had quite a sharp mind.

In fact, considering that she was of commoner origin, it was impressive.

‘Maybe I should consider sending her to the academy.’

Soon after, Mary finished preparing everything exactly as Selena had instructed.

The only thing left was to extract the essence of the adult mandrake.

After extracting it, it would only be necessary to adjust it with several medicinal herbs so the human body could endure it.

“The next thing is… Kugh! Kugh! Khh!”

“M-miss!”

Just when they were reaching the final stage, Selena began coughing violently.

She could not even bring the handkerchief to her mouth, and black blood burst out in streams.

“Kh… khh… q-quick… e-extract… it…!”

“B-but…”

“Q-quick… do it…! Cough!”

“Y-yes!”

Difficulty breathing caused by coughing and hemoptysis.

Selena endured as best she could while continuing to give orders.

They had come too far to give up now.

She forced her vision, which was gradually starting to darken.

“M-miss! T-there is a problem!”

“What…? Cough! What problem?”

“T-that…!”

To make matters worse, a problem had appeared with the mandrake.

Selena, trying to control her ragged breathing, looked toward it.

Just as Mary said, the mandrake that until recently had been unconscious began to twist.

That meant it was waking up after having fainted.

It was quite a serious problem.

‘In such a hurry I didn’t bring the pot…!’

Mandrakes must be extracted while they are unconscious to avoid accidents.

If one tried to extract their essence while they were conscious, their scream could destroy the extractor.

That is why normally silence magic was used or they were planted in a pot to keep them calm.

But right now Selena was physically too wrecked to use magic.

And in the rush she had not been able to bring a pot either.

It was a critical moment.

Fortunately, only one of them had regained consciousness.

Selena thought about what to do and suddenly a brilliant idea occurred to her.

‘Didn’t he say that if you hit them they stay quiet?’

It was the method that Grills had taught her.

He had said that he punched a mandrake and it immediately went quiet.

It was quite a savage method and not scientifically proven, but the situation was urgent.

“Mary! Cough! Hit it until it stays still!”

“What? Hit it?”

“Yes! Hit it! If you can’t, grab the stem and smash it against the floor. Cough! Cough!”

The difficulty breathing had eased a little, but every time she spoke, blood came out of her mouth.

Mary looked back and forth between Selena and the adult mandrake with a confused expression.

She seemed to debate what to do first, but decided to obey Selena’s order.

Crack!

“Hm?”

At the moment Mary grabbed the stem of the adult mandrake.

The mandrake, with little hairs on its chin like a beard, slowly opened its eyes.

Thump! Thump! Bam!

“Kuegh?! Kuek! Kuek!”

And it had no choice but to close them again.

Mary had grabbed the stem and began smashing it from side to side.

In the process it screamed, but not enough to cause chaos.

“T-that’s enough!”

“Then now… Cough! First let’s do the extraction!”

“Yes!”

Following Selena’s instructions, Mary began extracting the essence of the mandrake.

When the extraction started, the mandrakes inserted into the extractor began to shrink little by little.

Drip… drip…

A golden liquid slowly fell, one drop after another, into the glass flask connected to the extractor.

Seeing that liquid, Selena began to feel hope.

As she looked at the essence shining with a pure glow, it even gave her the feeling that she was already recovering her health.

“Cough! Cough!”

“Miss, here is the handkerchief…”

“No. I’m fine now.”

Of course, that feeling was nothing more than an illusion.

After coughing, Selena looked at her clothes.

Now even her clothes were soaked with dark blood.

Every time she coughed, it seemed as if she were spilling an entire bowl of blood.

Drip… drip…

Time passed and almost all of the essence of the adult mandrake was extracted.

The mandrake had shrunk until it was the size of a baby’s palm.

Its intense red color had also turned completely white.

All of its vital essence had been extracted.

“I think it’s almost ready. What do I do now?”

“What remains is… Cough! Cough! Hah…!”

Selena’s eyes widened.

The coughing she could still endure.

The real problem was the difficulty breathing that came afterward.

She tried to control her breathing in every possible way, but it didn’t work.

Her vision began to darken, and a pain as if her brain were shutting down overwhelmed her.

‘N-no way…’

Even Mary’s desperate cries sounded like a distant echo as her consciousness faded.

Selena gathered her last strength and stretched out her hand.

Toward the essence they had just extracted.

She signaled for it to be given to her.

Drinking the essence without refining it was practically suicide.

But with her life hanging by a thread, Selena was not in a position to choose.

Glup. Glup. Glup.

Mary, understanding Selena’s gesture, poured the essence directly into her mouth.

Selena felt the burning energy of the essence going down her throat.

Could that heat cure her?

It was a hope that reignited like a spark.

She could not give up.

‘I-I have to… circulate the mana…’

Even while her consciousness was fading, she forced the circulation of mana.

But the mana circuits, already completely obstructed, did not respond.

Even though she was filled with frustration and resentment, Selena did not give up.

The survival instinct that still remained in her drove her forward.

And just before completely losing consciousness, what she felt was—

Thump!

The vivid beating of her heart.

***

“Miss! Miss Selena! React! Miss!”

Mary shook Selena’s shoulders, who had fallen to the floor, trying to check if she was still conscious.

Originally she had been sitting in her wheelchair, but after losing consciousness she collapsed.

If Mary had not been there, she would have hit the ground headfirst and been seriously injured.

Even so, she showed no signs of waking up, so Mary could not help but panic.

‘F-first I must call someone!’

Standing around doing nothing would solve nothing.

Just in case, Mary turned Selena’s head to one side.

If she vomited blood again like before, it could flow back and enter her airways.

Then she stood up to leave the laboratory and ask for help.

At that moment—

Crack.

A strange sound reached Mary’s ears.

Mary stopped abruptly.

It did not come from the laboratory instruments, but from Selena.

With uneasy eyes, Mary looked at her again.

Crack. Crack.

“Eh… eh?”

Mary was completely bewildered.

Something strange was happening before her eyes.

Selena’s skin was white like snow.

But it was a sickly white.

It was because her mana circuits were blocked, which had even stopped her blood circulation.

But that skin began to peel off little by little, and underneath a new skin appeared.

It was no longer that pale sickly white, but a clear tone that shone softly like skin that had not received much sun.

The most notable thing was that veins began to become visible under the skin.

It was proof that Selena’s mana circuits, which had previously been completely blocked, were beginning to circulate.

Crack. Crack.

Not only her skin.

Selena’s bones and muscles also visibly changed.

Her body, which had not even been able to exercise because of her illness of nine blocked meridians.

But now the internal energy, the mana, had begun to harmonize.

A powerful mana was reconstructing the proper vessel to contain it.

In the language of the central continent it was called—

Transformation of the body and bones.

A phenomenon that normally only occurs when one possesses an enormous amount of mana and deep enlightenment.

But Selena had suffered her entire life with the nine blocked meridians.

The mana in her body had always been sufficient; it simply had never been able to harmonize.

And her talent had compensated for the necessary enlightenment.

Crack. Crack.

The sickly appearance disappeared completely, and the curves proper to a woman began to stand out.

Her white hair also fell out and grew back repeatedly until it stabilized at its original length.

A white hair shining like moonlight further enhanced her beauty.

The last was her face.

It had already been beautiful from the beginning, but after the transformation it became much more radiant.

Although many things changed, Selena’s state could be summarized in a single sentence.

She had obtained a much healthier body than before.

“Umm…”

When the transformation finally ended, Selena regained consciousness.

Mary, who was stunned, reacted immediately when she heard her faint groan.

“Miss! Miss! Are you conscious?”

“…Mary?”

“Yes! It’s me, Mary!”

“What… happened…? Huh?”

Selena sat up without thinking and opened her eyes in surprise.

Since she was lying down, the first thing she could see was her own body.

And the first thing that caught her attention was her chest.

When she lowered her gaze, it was inevitable that she would notice it.

‘Were my breasts this big?’

Selena tilted her head while touching her chest.

Before she had had a miserable body.

A body that she herself considered to have no feminine charm.

But now she could feel the soft volume of flesh in her field of vision and between her hands.

In size, it was something many people would envy.

‘It’s not only my chest. My arms too…’

With a hypnotized expression, Selena observed her arms.

They were no longer those skeletal arms from before, but arms with flesh like those of a normal person.

Even her skin was no longer pale, but a healthy white.

A tone where even the color of blood under the skin could be perceived.

“…”

“Miss? Do you want to say something…?”

Bang!

Just as Mary spoke carefully—

Selena suddenly stood up.

Mary was startled, but soon became even more shocked when she saw her standing on her own.

“Miss! You must not push yourself so much!”

Tap tap.

Mary could not finish her sentence.

Selena, standing on her own legs, suddenly began to run.

Not walk.

Run.

She had not even taken steps first.

She started directly running.

And barefoot as well.

Mary felt as if her heart stopped.

“Miss! Where are you going? Miss!”

Even though she heard Mary’s desperate shouts behind her, Selena did not stop.

She only ran.

Ran and ran.

Sometimes the surprised cries of the mansion’s servants could be heard.

But Selena paid no attention.

She only ran.

‘I can run! I can run!’

She did not stop running.

Sometimes she stumbled a little, but she did not stop.

When was the last time she had run like this?

She could not even remember.

Perhaps she had never run before.

Even walking had been difficult for her.

And now she could run without problem.

With the feeling of having gained the entire world, Selena ran out of the mansion.

Her expression remained rigid as always, but the corners of her lips were clearly lifted.

“S-Selena?! You… you!”

“Daughter! Where are you going?”

Just at that moment, her parents were returning and were completely stunned when they saw her.

It was normal.

Their daughter, who could not get out of bed, was now running like a wild horse.

And with clothes covered in dried blood.

In simple terms, she looked like a madwoman.

“Haa!”

Without caring, Selena caught her breath in the mansion’s courtyard.

Despite having run so much, she did not feel tired.

She only clearly heard the beating of her heart.

‘I’m not even coughing.’

The cough that had accompanied her her entire life had disappeared.

She felt no abnormality in her body.

That even made her feel strange.

‘The mana circulation is also perfect.’

Not only perfect.

It was incredibly fast.

Before, she felt as if everything was blocked.

Now it wasn’t.

Mana flowed harmoniously throughout her entire body.

‘Nothing hurts.’

A miracle had occurred.

What else could it be called?

Selena raised her gaze toward the clear sky and closed her eyes.

‘Thank you, Mr. Grills.’

The person who had given her a new life.

A benefactor who had done a good deed without even knowing her.

What kind of person would he be?

She was increasingly curious to know.

Her facial muscles relaxed and a happy smile appeared naturally.

“Selena!”

“Daughter! Are you alright?”

“Miss!”

While Selena enjoyed her new life, her parents and Mary shouted behind her.

Selena opened her eyes and turned around.

Her family, whom she loved the most, looked at her with concern.

“Yes. Now I’m fine—Kagh!”

Splash!

Selena suddenly bent forward.

At the same time, something came out of her mouth.

It was black, dead blood.

And it was not little.

She vomited more than two bowls.

“Kek! Kek!”

Plop. Plop.

Not only blood came out.

Black clumps also fell.

They were impurities that had not been expelled during the transformation.

Due to the terrible previous condition of her body, they had accumulated in the form of masses.

“Ah…”

“W-wife! Get yourself together!”

“….”

For her family, who understood nothing, the scene was terrifying.

Selena’s mother fainted.

Her father barely managed to hold her.

Even Mary, the only one remaining, turned pale.

“Cough. Cough. Ugh.”

Selena slightly frowned.

The rotten blood and impurities coming out of her mouth had a horrible smell.

She wanted to make a face, but she still could not move her face well.

‘I need to bathe.’

Now she could do it herself, without Mary’s help.

That thought filled her with anticipation.

But first she had to clear up her family’s misunderstanding.

Selena approached her completely confused family and spoke in a low voice.

With blood still on her face and her usual expressionless face, the result was quite terrifying.

“Mother. Don’t worry. Now I’m healthy—Puagh!”

Selena vomiting black blood with an expressionless face.

At that grotesque scene, her family screamed in terror again.

“Ahhh…”

“Get yourself together! You can’t collapse too!”

There was still a long way ahead.

Meanwhile, in the gallery…

Title: Grills, thanks.

DwarfPassingBy

(photo of liquor made with adult mandrake)

It seems I’ll be able to drink homemade liquor after a long time.

ㄴWildGrills) Hey, you crazy damn dwarf. Are you going to turn that into liquor?

ㄴDwarfPassingBy) Any problem?

ㄴWildGrills) I told you that thing is damn expensive. And you turn it into liquor?

ㄴDwarfPassingBy) It’s my decision. Does it bother you?

ㄴWildGrills) From now on sharpen your knives with gold, you damn idiot.

ㄴHahaha

ㄴLol

ㄴHe says sharpen knives with gold hahaha

ㄴOf course he’s that pissed hahaha

ㄴBut homemade liquor is irresistible hahaha

Today was also a peaceful day.