Chương 54: Emily's problem
Still with Emily in his arms, Sian was about to get up from the chair when he noticed the downcast look on her face.
"What happened, my little princess, why are you so sad?" Sian ran his hand through her hair.
Without giving an answer, Emily just curled up even more in Sian's arms.
"I think she might have been like this since yesterday. As she ended up falling asleep quickly, I thought she was just tired, but it seems that wasn't the case..." Ophilia looked apprehensive as she approached.
"She's usually talkative and likes to ask a lot, so there's definitely something wrong with her." Sian turned to Illianna. "Do you know anything?"
"I'm not sure, but I think it's because of what happened last night at the orphanage."
"What happened?"
"She told her friends she was going to learn magic, but they said it wouldn't be possible because she has no mana and you were just fooling her. She kept insisting and in the end, well, you know how children are, they crush anyone's dreams without mercy or consideration."
"I wanted to be like the princesses in Auntie Anna's stories..." Emily murmured in a trembling voice. "I also wanted to be powerful like Daddy and make people treat me like a princess..."
Getting a sideways glance from Sian, who seemed to say, 'What kind of stories are you telling her?', Illianna looked away as she tucked some of her golden locks behind her ear.
Deciding to ignore Illianna for the moment, Sian sat Emily down at the table. "Let Daddy tell you a secret." Receiving Emily's attention, Sian continued. "When I was a kid, Daddy was weak, very weak."
"Really?" She murmured in an almost inaudible voice.
"Uh-huh." He nodded. "I had the same problem as you, you can ask Auntie Fran."
She looked at Francionia, who flashed a gentle smile. "He's telling the truth, he was like you. He always wanted to be strong."
"Then, how did Daddy get strong?" Sparks of hope appeared in Emily's eyes.
"I got help from my teacher." Sian put his finger on her small nose and smiled. "And the same way she helped me, I will help my little princess."
Emily's nearly opaque eyes quickly regained their vivid brown color. "Really?"
"Yup, you can leave it with Daddy."
"I thought you'd always been strong." Illianna murmured. "Some theories even say that you were already born with a strong constitution or a good divine skill."
"I wish it had been that easy, but it wasn't..." Sian's expression turned bitter. "Before I left the orphanage, I didn't have the strength even to wring a chicken's neck."
Suddenly, Francionia's laughter sounded, which caused her to receive the stares of the local.
"Sorry, it's just that I just remembered that a similar scene occurred, and I couldn't help myself."
"A scene of him trying to kill a chicken?" Illianna asked.
"That day, we were in charge of collecting the eggs from the chickens, but it had one that was bold, so he ended up getting into a fight with it..." As if remembering something comical, she couldn't hold back and burst into laughter.
"I was winning..." Sian muttered awkwardly.
Between laughs, Francionia said. "But that only lasted until the rooster got in the middle of the fight and put you out to run yelling."
Probably imagining the scene, a small laugh escaped Ophilia's lips.
"I know it's not a convincing excuse, but it was two against one..." Sian said with a gloomy face.
"Don't worry, even great men have their tough days." Illianna placed her hand on Sian's shoulder.
Although she wasn't laughing like the others, her eyes clearly expressed the opposite. Sian was sure that she would still laugh a lot at this in the future.
"If you compare the Sian of now with the one before, it seems like they are totally different people..." Francionia put her hands together on her chest and looked at him nostalgically. "But I'm glad I could meet you again."
"Well, a lot has happened..."
Receiving Emily's confirmation, Sian walked away to join Illianna, leaving the others sitting at the table under the shade of the tree. Arriving in an area he deemed appropriate, he began using earth magic to make the place flat.
"Can you really do that?" Illianna asked in a low voice. "Her problem isn't just that she's low on mana, she has Magic debility syndrome."
"What's that?"
"How do you say you're going to help and you don't even know what she has?"
"I know the problem she has, but the name by which I know it is Curse of lack of mana."
"It's all the same." Illianna said. "From what I understand, this disease has been a huge problem for nobles, as it would be a shame if their successors were born without being able to use magic."
"What's your point?"
"What I mean is that even after several years of research, there is still no cure for this disease."
"Well, it exists now, Ayze created one. The process was very painful, but she was able to help me." Sian felt chills throughout his body as he remembered the suffering he had gone through. "But well, ever since I found Emily, I had been perfecting the formation Ayze created, so I could solve her problem quickly and painlessly."
"If she's the one who created it, then it must be possible." Looking convinced, Illianna nodded. "Considering that she is more antisocial and violent than you, it is normal that no one knows about the existence of this cure."
"Even if they knew, she wouldn't help." As if remembering something, he said. "Just in case you haven't been paying attention in class, I'll repeat it. All living beings have mana in their bodies, not only that, all of them can also generate mana in their bodies. In Emily's case, her body couldn't retain that generated magic. It probably happened right after she was born."
"But I've heard that when mana measuring devices are used on people in a similar situation, they can't detect anything."
"Of course they won't detect any magic, the measuring devices can only measure the magic stored in the mana receptacle, and if it is empty, then the result will be that the subject has no mana."
"I never thought I could learn so much from you in just one day..." Illianna made a bitter expression. "If I understand correctly, Emily has mana, but she can't keep it in her body, right?"
Ignoring the first part of her words, Sian replied. "That's right."
"But why did that happen?"
"Normally, the magic receptacle, put simply, is like a vessel that stores mana. The stored amount can increase if you use magic regularly. Sometimes, even without doing anything, that vessel can grow."
Finishing making a perfect circle on the ground about 10 meters in diameter, Sian said to Illianna. "Make this place a little more solid."
Doing as Sian asked, Illianna used her skill.
"If it is as you say, then I suppose there are cases where the mana flowing into the vessel is too much for it to handle and then it ends up cracking, which allows all the mana to escape, is that it?"
"Exactly, and because the body is continuously producing mana, that also means that it is continuously leaking mana. Because of this, even if the vessel tries to repair itself, it won't be possible because of this continuous outflow."
"But taking a person under normal conditions as an example, what happens when the mana receptacle fills?"
"Taking the vessel again as an example, if you pour water continuously on it, some time it will fill and the water will pour out by the bottleneck. Even if you use all the water contained in it, a while later, it will be full again. The receptacle is the same, when it fills up, it will let the mana leak out naturally without being harmed."
"That sounds a little complicated."
"Well, although it sounds complicated, it's a relatively simple problem to solve." Sian lightly tapped his foot on the ground. "It's already rigid enough."
Slipping his hand into his magic bag that was attached to the side of his waist, he pulled out some papers and a glass jar. "Use this here and help me make the drawing within the area we're in."
Receiving the glass with the luminescent purple liquid, Illianna examined it. "What's this?"
"It's a mixture made of magic stones and some other monster ingredients."
"What's that for?"
"It's a magic conductor, it's very effective for high-level formations."
"Wasn't the conductor supposed to be transparent blue?" Illianna knitted her eyebrows together.
"It's a special blend made by me, it's more efficient than normal."
"It seems Ayzeret really spared no effort in teaching you." Picking up the papers, Illianna looked carefully. "There are a lot of enchantments and magic circuits, it looks like the construction schedule will be delayed a bit more."
"I intended to do this at night, since after I execute the formation, Emily will be drowsy, but since she seems anxious, I decided to do it now."
"I never expected you to be the doting father type..."
***
About an hour later, a magic formation containing several strange symbols was almost prepared.
Looking at the 5 bright blue magic stones about 10 centimeters in diameter that Sian was placing on the ground, Illianna swallowed dryly.
"The creatures from which these high-level stones originated should be pretty strong..."
"Nah." Sian gestured his hand casually in denial. "It was just some weakling monsters that attacked me while I was walking in the forest."
After a brief moment of silence, Illianna asked an unexpected question. "As the person who killed my father, how would you rate his strength?"
"Weak? Too weak? It's hard to say, since he hardly could react." Sian said with an indifferent expression. "But why are you asking that out of the blue?"
"You may not know, but my father was the strongest person in the kingdom, that's why he did as he pleased without punishment." Illianna murmured. "He had a magic stone of the same grade as these 5, and kept it as the family treasure, always making sure to show it to the guests. He was always explaining about how he had a life and death struggle to get that single rock, and yet, the way you talk makes it sound like you picked up a single rock in the middle of the road... It seems the world really isn't fair."
"You're not the best person to talk about injustice with your cheating skills." Sian retorted. "If it was me alone, it would have taken me about six or seven hours. But well, I won't complain. I guess I should thank the Zenobia Goddess again for sending me you."
"Just finish this quickly, we still have a lot to do."
"Of course, of course, Miss Hasty." Sian quickly positioned the 5 magic stones, making the formation ready for use.
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