Attempt

"...could… could you give me a minute…? I need to use the bathroom…"

"...eh…? Oh. O-of course. Go ahead and use mine."

Taking the elderly woman by surprise, Melinda asked in a quiet voice, making Lady Seth flinch and blink repeatedly before pointing her toward the door on her left.

"Thank you."

The gold-haired girl nodded at her, standing up and then walking in and locking herself in the bathroom.

"..."

For a moment, nothing of notice happened, with Lady Seth breathing in and out to compose herself.

"Lady Seth? Can we start a duel real quick?"

"...pardon…?"

But then, completely out of nowhere, the gold-haired girl behind the bathroom door called out, baffling the elderly woman.

"Please?"

"...sweetie, could you please tell me what are you planning to do first…?"

Melinda asked in a pitiful voice, causing the troubled Lady Seth to ask back in an attempt to clarify the situation.

"I'll explain in detail as soon as you accept the duel."

"..."

Even while seemingly giving some ground to the elderly woman, the pitiful-sounding girl didn't budge, making Lady Seth bite her lips with concern.

"Alright. Let's do it your way, but don't start ANYTHING until you've explained to me what you're planning to do."

"...let's start then…"

After a few moments of hesitation, the elderly woman gave in and agreed, adding a rule that was seemingly accepted.

The two of them properly started a duel according to all of the system rules.

And then…

*SQUELCH* *SPLASH*

"Ghhh…!"

"SWEETIE!? Melinda! What happened?! What did you do!?"

A nauseating fleshy sound passed through the bathroom door, followed by a yelp of pain, causing Lady Seth to cry out in shock.

The next moment, she was by the door, rattling the door handle and knocking on them, but her efforts were completely futile.

"YOU PROMISED YOU WOULD EXPLAIN FIRST!"

The elderly woman shouted in desperation, watching the HP bar of her start draining, crouching down and attempting to break the clock with her bare hands.

"N-no, I didn't… I only said that we should start…"

"!!!"

The girl inside whimpered weakly as if in agony, causing the elderly woman to freeze up with all blood draining from her horrified face as the all-too-familiar metallic smell passed through the door.

*SQUELCH*

"YOUNG LADY MELINDA! DON'T…! Don't do anything stupid, I beg you!"

When an even more nauseating sound than before reached Lady Seth's ears, the elderly woman cried out, dropping to her knees and pressing her forehead against the door.

"Please…! I couldn't save our little Kyani…! I can't let something happen to her daughter…! I…! Eh…?"

The elderly woman sobbed, but then she flinched and let out a baffled voice, noticing that her opponent lost barely any HP.

"Blessed… heal…"

*UMPH*

"!?!?"

The weakened girl inside the bathroom chanted the incarnation, and rays of brilliant golden light burst forth from the cracks in the door, causing Lady Seth to crawl back with a flabbergasted expression.

"Blessed heal. Blessed Heal. Purify."

*UMPH* *UMPH*

Then, the girl in the bathroom used the spell two more times, topping off her HP bar while the elderly woman was exposed to the light show outside.

Then, as if nothing of note had happened, the worn-out-looking but otherwise unharmed girl unlocked and opened the door, stepping out and gracing the elderly woman, who was plopped on the floor, with a grumpy expression.

"That was for keeping something so important a secret from me. Also, please check again."

She declared, reaching out and offering a helping hand to the fallen healer.

"...you… you're quite the spiteful one, aren't you…?"

Lady Seth gulped down her saliva before breathing out and taking Melinda's hand.

"You have no idea..."

The gold-haired girl scoffed, helping the elderly woman up.

"Tell me what you did, or I will not use any more spells."

As they both returned to their previous spots, Seth declared sternly, staring at Melinda with a newfound strictness.

"Since my reproductive system wasn't working, I gutted myself and gave myself a new set."

"..."

Melinda shrugged her shoulders and declared so casually that for a good few seconds, the meaning of her words didn't register in Seth's brain.

"...you… youwhat…?"

Finally, the elderly woman's face that barely regained colors turned ghastly pale once more as she asked in horror.

"You can check the old one, I haven't got rid of it although I did crush it. Don't worry. It's all still within the bathtub."

"!!!"

Melinda shrugged her shoulders and motioned at the bathroom door with her chin, causing Lady Seth to stare at it, too, fearfully.

"Wait! No! Sweetie! Blessed Heal isn't enough to restore organs! You have to use several very specific spells for everything to connect and…!"

"Mine can."

Lady Seth jumped to her feet and gasped, realizing the weight of the situation, only for Melinda to cut her off with an indifferent face.

"..."

"My Blessed Heal, the gold one, can restore organs, nerves, blood vessels, muscles, bones and so on. Only for the injuries suffered during an encounter, of course. Outside of combat it has very little effect.. I tested that on a few monsters, and it's fair to assume members of intelligent races would be the same. Please check whether my method worked or not."

While the elderly woman remained completely still in stunned silence, Melinda pointed out as if it wasn't anything unusual and requested.

"...oh… In that case…"

Lady Seth flinched, shaking off the shock, and nodded hesitantly, slowly reaching out her hand and then casting the spell.

"..."

"...the organs are back, but nothing changed…?"

As she opened her mouth only to close it a moment later, Melinda's expression turned gloomy, and she asked quietly, almost like a whimper.

"It's either that your spell recreated your reproductive organs in the exact state they were before extraction or…"

Lady Seth breathed in and said, looking at Melinda with a troubled expression.

"Or it's not about the actual organs but instead something that's permanently inscribed in my status."

"...exactly…"

The gold-haired girl finished the bad news for her, and the upset older woman nodded her head.

Melinda then thanked Lady Seth for the help and went back to her room, leaving the main building of the Jade Academy and turning towards the girl's dormitory.

"...now I understand why Alenas feared me so much… it's all elvenkin fault..."

The gold-haired girl stopped and muttered to herself, first looking up at the clear sky and then turning her head to the side.

"...lock-on…"

She then whispered coldly, and her left eye flared up with a burning-red cross of a skill….