Chapter XLI - Lunch (part 2)

"Hmm, I see."

I looked at his long light blue hair tied on the back for today, where normally he just let them sway open like mine. I never once did anything for my hair, like tying it on the back. It's probably because I will never acknowledge that I have this beautiful long hair, ever. It actually hurt me when I realized I used to be a male.

Once more I looked at the drink with sadness. The others somehow saw me with this look, and their worry came back.

"D-Don't mind it, Rize. You will be healthy very soon!"

Valey is the first to speak. She obviously also felt bad I'm in this situation. But there's nothing she can do about it. I simply smiled at them.

"Oh. Don't worry, I've gotten used to this. It's just something else."

They all looked confused.

"Was there something else that bothers you more than this?"

Barett asked. To him, my situation is already bad enough. How can it get worse than this, he thought. But it was already bad in the beginning.

"Honestly, yes. I'm very bored at my place."

I answered a bit too honestly, and everyone realized that I might've felt so left out.

Then, they began discussing a team night out. Not just for girls, but the whole team. I wasn't exactly excited to be wasting my money that is most certainly not increasing, but I guess getting company shouldn't be that bad.

After the awkward talk, we all decided to finish this dinner and head back to our homes. They all have just come back from a mission, so they must be quite tired.

I went straight back to my inn, but I got called by the lady at the front desk of the inn.

"Y-You are... Rize, right??"

The innkeeper asked me as soon as I entered the lobby, and I don't think I ever gave her my name.

"Yes?"

"Y-You have... A letter."

She pulled a piece of paper from under her desk and handed them to me. I took the letter from her hand and kept it.

"Thank you. Who sent this?"

"T-The queen herself..."

... Seriously!? Ughh...

Without realizing, my hand was already on my face, facepalming while my mouth let out a really deep sigh.

That queen is really something. She loves going out of the way and doing something like this. Though, I did only restrict her for two days. And it has been more than a week, so she must think it's fine to be moving her healthy body everywhere. 

But as a queen, should she really be doing this? The royals are referred to as the most important people in the kingdom, so how can she...

Whatever. I just have to read this letter.

I thanked the lady and headed up to my room. After entering the room, I closed the door and immediately locked it. Then, I jumped to the bed and opened the letter.

'Dear Rize,

Sorry for taking so long in sending you a letter. I wanted to make sure that this method can actually help you.

However... I wish to apologize. Even after looking around for so long, I still wasn't sure that what I've found can really help you. I've been to everywhere, the libraries, or even the other kingdoms. Because after searching for the cure... I have found out more about your sickness.

I'm sorry to say, but as you already know, there has not been a single cure for Alfeid. I have sent men over to other kingdoms to look for it, and yet they have found nothing. 

The best research that was done by the magicians at Xyphon was only methods to keep the sickness at bay and help your magic soul stay intact. I'm sure you are already aware of the method which requires you to be healed every day. That method was very efficient in keeping the magic soul intact, but it can't fix your regeneration issue.

Which is why... I asked someone very knowledgeable about magic to look for a solution regarding that. And after a lot of research, this is what they replied to me with.

Theoretically, If you can heal yourself everyday & use this method on top of it, it should act as if your magic soul was never damaged. Of course... this method has its limitations, sadly. Nothing is perfect, but I hope this will be enough to help you.

Here is the method to get your regeneration back to normal, as the Greatest Magician has informed me: -'

I suddenly stood up while reading the list aloud. Every single hair on my body stood stiffly, and I could feel excitement flowing through my veins once more.

'The Greatest Magician.'

Who would've thought... that helping the queen would end up connecting me to the legendary mage who was once a White ranked adventurer.

This... will become very useful.

"First, get a magic energy potion. Second, find a plant called 'the Angel Leaf'. Third, perform healing magic everyday on your magic soul."

What is that plant? Angel leaf?

I read the methods aloud, but I could only become confused. Fortunately, there's more explanation to it.

'The Angel Leaf is the plant you can find in the wild. It can increase the rate of a person's magic energy regeneration. What you need to do is mix the Angel Leaf into the magic energy potion, and drink it.

With this, your magic energy regeneration will be increased as if it never had any problems. Or at least, that's how I hope it will be.

You can do this everyday or just on special occasions; your choice.

If you don't want this method, I still have some other suggestions. Though, I can't say that they will be more useful. 

There is a storage magic ring inside the envelope filled with books about the various methods and concepts to suppress the sickness. Maybe you can check them out if you like, and perhaps you can find things that no one has found just yet.'

The queen said through the letter, and I was feeling very thankful that there are even more than just one method. It looks like she didn't spend those two weeks for nothing, and I'm so happy that she obtained so many things.

Oh. There's more words from her.

"I'm sorry, but this is as far as I can go. I would have done more if I can, but as we both know, there has not been any cure for this. 

My sincere apology and hope that you will find a way to get better.

Best of regards,

Queen Alyssa."

Her handwriting... is so beautiful. Just like her appearance and personality.

In that case, I shouldn't let her efforts go to waste.

I looked for the magic ring inside the envelope. The ring was a low level ring, capable of storing less amount of items than the other levels of space rings. 

I put the ring on my right hand, specifically on my ring finger. I looked inside and summoned all the books that were placed in there.

There are six books in total, all related to my sickness and how I can suppress my issue. I studied their titles one by one, and I became more and more surprised the more I read.

These are... all these books...

They can useful.

"There has not been any cure, huh? I guess it's the first time for everything."

I mumbled confidently as I started reading the first book immediately, even though it's already night time. As a result, I didn't sleep, and this might be the first time I didn't sleep in a while.

However, I am eager to get better. The motivation cannot be stronger at this moment, and other people are also counting on it.

The books are actually closely related to my sickness. Though some of them weren't exactly made to cure my specific problem, they contributed to some of the holes that the other books cannot solve.

For example, the book about physical enhancement mentioned that strengthening one's body can also help in obtaining magic energy and magic points. Just like how I was training with Jrake back then.

This covers the part in the book about the magical environment, where raw magic energy was actually obtained from outside the body and processed inside the body. The process can actually go faster with a strong body.

This just means that I have to get my muscles going. I looked at my bicep muscle on my upper arm. It's still small and soft, and I will need to pump this guy up. I could also use a six pack, but that's a long term goal.

I kept on reading and reading, and due to the serious focus I put in, I didn't realize time flows. 

By the time I closed the final book, it's already morning. I fell asleep without realizing after the first bell, and woke up a little bit after the second bell.

By the time I woke up, my room was already full of papers and books. I didn't realize last night since I was too tired. It looks as if my room has already turned into a mad scientist's office. I mean, I really am a mad scientist.

I cleared up all the papers and books and piled them up on the table. After cleaning myself, I went out for a meal. Only to order it on the go and go back to my room to continue reading.

I will not stop until I find a proper answer. And after researching for so long, I can feel it. I am close, I am very close to the answer.

After searching for a whole day, it finally arrives. The realization, the solution. The answer that will solve this unhealable and incurable sickness once and for all.

However, it requires me to ask for everyone's help.

Specifically, the team.

Let's hope they're not busy tomorrow.