Lina is Ill (3)

Lina cried on my chest for a while. Perhaps it was because she had suppressed her emotions for a long time, but her tears did not stop until fifteen minutes later.

When she stopped crying, Lina wiped her tears off and hid half of her face behind her quilt.

"… Sorry, your clothes are soaked in tears."

I chuckled. "Don't worry about it. I'm used to dealing with crybabies."

"Hey! I'm not a crybaby! I-It was just, just, just… I can't think of a good excuse…"

I could not help but laugh seeing her expression.

Lina's expression turned red from embarrassment. Soon, she was hitting my chest repeatedly.

"Damn cousin! How long are you going to laugh!?"

"Sorry, sorry. My bad… Okay, let's talk about your condition… How did this happen?"

Lina sighed and fell silent for a moment. "… I don't know… Actually, I only realized that something was wrong two days ago… I suddenly fainted without reason. My mother panicked and called a doctor and he was the one that told us about my condition.

"According to him, I caught a kind of disease caused by aggressive mana. The mana is not bad in itself, but it was completely incompatible with my mana pool so my mana pool tried to fight it out of my body.

"Unfortunately, the foreign mana was very resilient. After it survived the attack of the mana in my body, it counterattacked by consuming it and replacing it.

"Due to it, there was an imbalance in my body's mana. The situation quickly got out of control when the new mana replaced half of the mana in my body, and my body started to feel unwell.

"To be honest, I had been feeling headaches since some days ago, but they were very faint so I did not pay them attention. That was a mistake. The doctor said that if I would have noticed the situation two or three earlier, he could have cured me easily. But now that the foreign mana is occupying most of my mana pool, he has his hands tied. The other doctors that checked me have the same opinion.

"After that, some doctors told us that a priest could help us. The divine spells of Church of Order are very good at purifying foreign objects, so they are the perfect counter to the mana affecting me."

I nodded in understanding. Most of her words were the same as my observations.

However, I noticed a few extra things.

As Lina said, the problem was a result of a foreign something replacing her mana, but it was not foreign mana, instead, it was something different.

It was a law.

To be more exact, it was a fragment of the energy laws belonging to fire; [Combustion].

That in itself is not a problem. Quite the opposite, actually. Normally, having a fragment of the laws in one's body is something good.

The problem is that Lina is too weak, and the fragment of fire laws in her body is a very aggressive one.

Lina is just on the third layer of mana. The combustion laws are too strong for her, so it causes more harm than good.

And here lies the issue.

I can feel that Lina doesn't have the slightest knowledge of laws. Furthermore, her main spells are not related to fire. In other words, it's impossible for her to accidentally acquire a fragment of the fire laws.

Okay, not impossible, but the possibility is around 1/1.000.000.000. Moreover, the possibility of that law being harmful to her is even lower.

In conclusion, I was 99.999999% sure it was caused by someone.

And when I checked fate, I confirmed my suspicions.

As someone who has lived for hundreds of lifetimes, I know how normal it is that your enemies attack your family.

Due to that, I have put a layer of protection in each one of my close relatives. It's nothing great, but it's enough to deflect a fatal blow or detect if they are in danger.

However, it protects them against attacks only. That protection is useless against normal illnesses or slight injuries. It's there only to stop a fatal attack and give me time to react.

Hell, it would have activated if Lina was poisoned instead. However, the people that caused this just used the method my protection is most powerless against.

A coincidence produced by the church desire to force me to make a deal with them, but a coincidence nonetheless.

I sighed. Let's think about that later.

For now, Lina is first.

"Little Lina, I have to confess you something."

"Mm?"

"In truth, I'm very powerful. You can say I'm one of the strongest people in the world."

"… Huh?"

… Lina, your face of 'are you crazy' hurts me.

"Anyway, the important thing is that I have a way to help you." I sighed and said.

Lina was startled, but in the next second, her face brightened.

"Really?"

I nodded. "Yes, but I must tell you something first."

"What is it?" Lina asked in anticipation.

I thought for a moment before deciding to tell her part of the truth.

"… In fact, I fear your situation was caused intentionally, and it was my fault. Whatever did this to you wants to threaten me."

Lina's eyes opened wide. "... A-Are you serious?"

I nodded with a sigh.

"Sorry, little princess. I caused you harm."

Lina fell silent for a brief instant, but then, she smiled. "… Cousin, it's not your fault, you don't need to feel guilty. Besides, we are family. Even if it was your fault, there is no way I'll hate you for this."

I smiled and ruffled Lina's hair.

"Thanks, little princess. Now, let me tell you how can I help you. There are two methods I can use.

"The first method is rather simple. I'll use my mana to encircle and extract the foreign mana completely. This method will heal you completely, but your cultivation will fall to the second layer. Of course, your cultivation will recover after one month or two."

Lina nodded. "And the second method?"

"… This one is more complicated. As in the last method, my mana will encircle and trap the foreign mana, but instead of extracting it, I'll leave it inside your body and allow it to leak a little bit each time until your body gets used to it… The advantage of this method is that you will become stronger. If you persevere, you probably can become an apex powerhouse."

"Advantage? There is a disadvantage?"

"Of course, my clever princess. The disadvantages of this method are that it will be painful and that it will take a long time. Around one year."

"Painful? How painful?"

"It's tolerable, just a slight pain in your muscles and bones, but the pain will never disappear, so eventually you will be unable to bear with it. Actually, I can find a way to reduce the pain, but it will make this method less effective."

"… And how strong will I become?"

"Well, if you are lucky you will be one of the strongest people in this world twenty years later.

Lina fell silent. However, her silence did not last much.

"The second method." She said decisively.

I raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

"… Cousin, you told me that this happened because someone wanted to use me to threaten you, right? I… I don't like it… If I become stronger, this will not happen again, right?"

I smiled and ruffled her hair. "Yeah, this will not happen again."

And even if it happens, you will have the strength to resolve it, just like me.

"Then I chose the second method."

I nodded. "Okay, I'll start then."

Without more words, I put my hand on Lina's belly.

The process was very simple. I sent my mana inside Lina's body and used it to catch the fragment of laws and the contaminated mana. Then, I sealed it in her mana core with a spell.

Finally, I opened a small eye in the seal to release a tiny little bit of the laws each time.

With this, Lina's body will slowly get used to the laws until she understands them and can wield them.

When the process ended, Lina's smiled.

"… It feels warm."

Then, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

I sighed with a smile and combed her hair caringly. "Sleep well, little princess."

Then, I stood up and left the room.

In the way, I transmitted my voice through space to my fiancée.

"Clara? Don't be surprised, it's me, Claus. No, it's not your imagination. Can you do something for me?"

...

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