◈19. The Miracle Elixir
As I shouted for Luciana and Bliss to capture the succubus, she continued to fly away at full speed, putting more distance between us with every second.
As I watched at her retreating figure, I couldn’t help but worry,
‘Do they even have long-range skills that can hit her from this far?’
My concern was short-lived.
Bliss retrieved something from his inventory that looked downright menacing—a weapon resembling a chain blade.
‘A chain… with a blade attached?’
It was a heavy-looking chain with a guillotine-like, slanted blade affixed to one end, resembling a guillotine.
Gripping the chain, Bliss gave it a few effortless swings before glancing at me.
“What do I do after I catch her?”
“…Just capture her. Don’t kill her.”
Hearing my reply, Bliss gave a brief nod before hurling the massive chain blade in the succubus’s direction with all his might.
‘Is this some kind of item? But can a chain like that really extend far enough to reach that far…?’
No matter how forcefully it was thrown, the heavy chain and blade seemed unlikely to span the distance to the fleeing succubus.
Then again, a part of me was suspicious that Bliss might still hold a grudge from our last argument and intentionally let the succubus escape.
Despite my doubts, it turned out I was worried for nothing.
‘Skill…’
The moment he threw the chain blade, Bliss activated a skill—[Aid of the Departed], an S-rank skill.
As soon as he used it, wandering spirits began gathering around him.
These restless souls merged with the chain blade, imbuing it with their ghostly presence.
Whoosh—
An eerie chill emanated from the chain, coursing through its length.
What would normally have been a heavy weapon that fell short instead extended endlessly, empowered by the spirits.
Realizing something had been hurled toward her, the succubus attempted to change direction mid-air.
But it was a futile effort.
The spirits inhabiting the chain blade adjusted its trajectory in real time, twisting and turning as if alive.
The weapon pursued her relentlessly, coiling around her mid-flight and binding her tightly.
The succubus struggled, but the chain had wrapped her so thoroughly she couldn’t move.
“Kyaaaah!!”
The succubus let out a blood-curdling scream unique to demons as she plummeted to the ground, bound tightly by the chain.
Hearing her wail, I let out a heavy breath and slowly collapsed.
“…It’s… over… Make sure… to keep her secured…”
With those parting words, I entrusted the aftermath to Luciana and Bliss.
The relief that followed made the consciousness I had been holding onto with sheer willpower finally snap, and I drifted into darkness.
To be honest, until the moment I passed out, I had completely forgotten about the count.
I’d left him tied up in a remote area with the intention of handing him over to the authorities later, but he’d completely slipped my mind in the chaos that followed.
Though he was technically an awakened human, he was only F-rank without any notable skills.
On top of that, I’d tied him up tightly with ropes, so there was no way he could have freed himself or escaped.
But… What if, in that helpless state, he’d been found by wild animals or bandits and killed?
In that case, I might’ve been the one in trouble, accused of murdering a noble.
So, the moment I regained consciousness—
“Ahhh! The count!! I forgot…!!”
—I bolted upright in bed, shouting.
I might have rushed out of the bedroom immediately if it hadn’t been for Rubin, who was watching over me.
“Calm down, Nike. The count has already been taken into custody and is under investigation for charges of kidnapping and fraud.”
Still groggy from just waking up, I blinked as Rubin calmly explained the situation to me.
“He’s trying hard to prove that he was under the influence of a mind-control skill. If he can establish that, they’ll acknowledge his diminished mental capacity, and his sentence for the seer kidnapping will be reduced.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah. But the fact remains that he tried to cover up his kidnapping scheme by exploiting your memory loss and attempted to extort compensation afterward. So, the fraud charge will stick.”
“What about the video footage from that day? The evidence video… Did we submit it properly? You edited out all the parts where I used my fists, right?”
“Of course!”
As if offended by the implication of the doubt, Rubin wagged his tail in protest, seeming to say, ‘Do you take me for a fool?’
“All the damage you caused to the count’s estate, as well as the so-called ‘assault,’ has been ruled as not guilty. It was all done to rescue the seers.”
“Phew… That’s a relief. At least I can breathe a little easier now.”
“The church folks have also been informed that you’re not at fault. The gossiping about you has died down considerably.”
“Thanks. But Rubin… you seem to have adjusted to the church rather quickly?”
Gossip dying down behind my back—Rubin not only seemed to have a grasp of my reputation within the church, but also appeared mindful of my standing.
It was remarkable how well he had adapted, considering he’d only been at the cathedral for a day or two.
Curious about how he knew so much so soon, I asked, but his response was completely unexpected.
“A week is more than enough to get a handle on things.”
“…A week? Wait a second, if you’ve been here for a week—”
“That’s right. You… You’ve been unconscious for an entire week since that day.”
His voice carried an icy edge.
By then, Rubin’s triangular eyes had narrowed sharply, and he was glaring at me with an intense expression.
“Do you have any idea how I felt during that week…? You even said you’d always live at least a day longer than me, and yet you went and treated your body like this… You should let me bite you at least once!”
With his four tiny legs, Rubin jumped energetically into the air and then playfully bit my finger.
Of course, he bit me gently, so all I felt was the soft, warm touch of his animal-like muzzle.
I let Rubin continue nibbling on my finger as my thoughts wandered.
‘A week… My fractured bones had almost healed entirely, but it seemed the real damage came from exhausting my divine energy to its limits.’
I had recklessly pushed my sturdy S-rank body too far, assuming it could handle anything.
I realized I’d need to be more careful from now on.
No matter how resilient I was, overextending my divine energy would inevitably take a toll on my physical body.
As much as I wanted to stay in bed a little longer—
“…What about the seers?”
I needed to check the most important ones.
Rubin released my finger from his tiny jaws and replied,
“The church is keeping them for now.”
Then, lowering his voice conspiratorially, he added,
“Officially, it’s been announced that the seers ‘escaped from the count’s custody on their own’ and then disappeared. You told me to keep them detained, so I did, but the church doesn’t really have any grounds to hold them indefinitely.”
“…I should go see them.”
“Now’s not a good time. Those demons didn’t pass out like you did, but they’re barely better than wild beasts right now.”
“Beasts…?”
“They can’t speak properly and attack anyone who approaches. They must’ve burned through their magic to the absolute limit, leaving them unable to maintain their sanity.”
“Ah…”
I understood what Rubin meant.
Whether demons, spirits, or humans, pushing one’s power to the extreme often resulted in a loss of reason. Hardcore players of <CRW> (Call of The Ruined Worlds) community referred to this state as a “last-minute frenzy.”
It seemed the seers had fallen into that exact condition.
‘Damn, going to see them now won’t accomplish much if they can’t even talk. Do I have to wait until they recover? Still, I should at least check on their condition.’
Determined to see for myself, I climbed out from under the blankets.
But the moment I placed one foot on the floor—
Thud!
A blade slammed into the ground mere inches from my foot.
An attack?
Out of nowhere?
Turning toward the direction the weapon had flown from—the doorway—I sought the lunatic who dared throw a blade at a patient.
“Bliss…?”
It was him.
The blade looked oddly familiar, and upon closer inspection, I recognized it as the weapon Bliss had used to capture the succubus.
I was at a loss.
A high priest sneaking in without a sound and hurling a weapon at the recently recovered pope?
The absurdity of it all made my head spin.
And then Bliss smiled serenely, adding insult to injury as he spoke.
“Your Holiness, it would be most troubling if you left the bed. You must rest and recover.”
“Rest…”
I echoed, narrowing my eyes.
“It seems you need to relearn the Imperial tongue from the very basics. To my knowledge, ‘rest’ doesn’t involve tossing a deadly weapon at someone without warning.”
I reached into my inventory and pulled out my trusty mace, shouting at the top of my lungs,
“Guards! Get this lunatic out of here immediately! Guards!!”
The pope’s quarters were always under guard.
No matter how strong Nikellus was, he wasn’t invincible while asleep, and leaving the pope unguarded would be unthinkable.
I expected the guards to storm in any second and haul Bliss out.
But—
“The guards won’t come, Your Holiness.”
I never expected to hear a reply, much less from Luciana, of all people, who suddenly spoke up in response to my calls for the guards.
From the window, no less.
“Luciana?! When did you get here? No, wait… are you coming in through the window right now?”
The sight of her—a woman who held decorum and propriety above all else—perched on the windowsill after sneaking in through the window gave me such a sense of cognitive dissonance that I was momentarily speechless.
In contrast to my shock, she remained as composed and stern as ever, replying with the utmost seriousness.
“Yes. I’ve been standing guard outside the window for a while now, in case Your Holiness attempted to escape through it.”
“…Could you explain that in a way my brain can actually process?”
“Thanks to your recent exploits, the Church has managed to alleviate much of its financial troubles. However, the truth remains that you’ve placed yourself in excessive danger far too often in the process.”
Before I could respond, Bliss approached.
With a slight bow, he added to Luciana’s words.
“For that reason, it was decided during our last meeting that Your Holiness’s security must be significantly strengthened.”
Bliss’s bow brought his face down to my level, where his insufferable smirk was on full display.
It took everything I had not to headbutt him right then and there.
Unfortunately, Luciana—already standing behind me—had restrained me, keeping me from acting on impulse.
In that same firm tone, she continued,
“We’ve come to understand something important: even a moment’s distraction can lead Your Holiness straight into danger.”
Bliss chimed in again, his words dripping with mock courtesy.
“For that reason, we ask for your understanding as your movements outside may be… somewhat restricted for the time being.”
Restricted?
‘Somewhat’ restricted?
This was the same lunatic who hurled a blade at me for merely trying to get out of bed!
And now he dared describe it as ‘somewhat’ restricted?
He needed to retake Imperial Language 101.
I glanced at Luciana, silently pleading for her to talk some sense into him.
Instead, she sealed my fate with an unsettlingly calm remark.
“If it were up to me, I’d prefer to keep Your Holiness tied to the bed until you make a full recovery. But I imagine that would be rather uncomfortable, wouldn’t it?”
At that, all hope of salvation from her vanished into thin air.
To be honest, when they first mentioned restricting my freedom, I didn’t take it seriously.
I just thought to myself,
‘They wouldn’t actually imprison me, would they? They’re probably just warning me to stay put as a joke.’
I was wrong.
Bliss, Luciana, and the other high priests were entirely serious.
They actually confined me to the room.
Their justification?
The words of a Church healer who, after diagnosing me with some diagnostic skill, made this grim pronouncement:
“To put it in rather extreme terms, Your Holiness is currently akin to a doll made of straw. A slight breeze could scatter you into dust.”
The healer wasn’t wrong, but their dramatic metaphor gave the others all the excuse they needed to take drastic action.
The divine energy within a person wasn’t just a power—it was practically synonymous with their life force.
Having used it to its very limit, it wasn’t surprising that my body’s durability had plummeted.
Now that the Sixth Main Oracle had been successfully completed, it made sense to quietly rest while confined to this room.
But there was one glaring issue.
I was on the verge of going insane from the frustration of being cooped up.
The high priests, who were supposed to be busy with their own duties, took turns guarding me in three-hour shifts.
They stayed parked in my room, ostensibly to watch over me, but it felt more like a coordinated effort to suppress me.
I couldn’t help but wonder:
‘Are these so-called high priests really so free that they can spend their time like this?’
Despite their lofty titles, these so-called high priests had seemingly cleared their schedules just to ensure I remained imprisoned.
And after enduring this relentless 24-hour surveillance for an entire day, my mind was filled with only one thought: the desperate longing for freedom.
‘How can I get them to leave me alone?’
First, I tried thinking of a fundamental solution to the problem.
The reason they treated me like a fragile glass doll was because, in truth, my body was as weak as one right now.
If my physical condition improved, they’d stop hovering over me, and I’d regain the freedom I once had.
But my current state was so poor that even ordinary potions didn’t have much effect.
Without some miraculous elixir, immediate recovery seemed impossible.
‘…A miraculous elixir?’
The moment the phrase crossed my mind; a particular thought struck me.
There was a potion known as the ‘Elixir’, hailed as a miraculous cure-all ailment.
While typical healing potions merely closed wounds, the Elixir was said to revive even those on death’s doorstep.
With just a sip, a dying patient could rise from their sickbed as if nothing had happened.
Unfortunately, the recipe for the Elixir had been lost long ago, leaving it as nothing more than a legend.
‘Wait, this might be…’
An idea sparked in my mind, and without hesitation, I opened my inventory.
