Bonus chapter thanks to @Timmy_00 and @Alex from Ko-fi!
“Elodie! Wake up! Elodie!”
I shook and tapped Elodie, but there was no sign of her waking up.
Her breath was steady and her face peaceful, as if she would wake up any moment, but she kept her eyes tightly shut, unresponsive.
‘It’s like she’s trapped in sleep.’
I examined Elodie’s appearance.
It was definitely the first time I had seen her like this. Players couldn’t see her childhood form.
But somehow, it didn’t feel unfamiliar. Perhaps it was because the girl’s features resembled Elodie’s.
Meibe my body instinctively remembers Elodie.
‘Huh?’
As I observed Elodie, I noticed something strange.
Her fingertips seemed to have shrunk ever so slightly.
It might be my imagination, but her body seemed smaller than before. It was a very subtle difference, though.
‘Is she still in the process of getting younger?’
If she continues to get younger, I can’t just stand by and watch. There’s no telling when it will stop.
Is this what it means to disappear from the world?
But what should I do? Elodie shows no sign of waking up. If she were awake, I could get her advice on how to resolve this situation.
There’s no telling when she’ll wake up, and judging by her state, this isn’t ordinary sleep. Simply trying to wake her up won’t work.
‘I have no choice.’
I used the ‘Analyze’ skill on Elodie.
[Elodie de Inies Rishae]
– A child loved by the five gods.
– Second-year student at Constel.
– Currently in self-induced ‘Eternal Slumber’.
– To awaken her from her sleep—
The analysis stopped there. Is even all the Mana I have now insufficient?
I was about to weaving a Dragon Heart to replenish my Mana when I stopped.
…Until now, when I used Dragon Heart for analysis, either no more Mana was needed, or the analysis itself was more important.
But what if even after consuming Dragon Heart, I couldn’t get a proper analysis, or even if I did, my remaining Mana would be depleted?
‘I can’t recklessly use Mana in a situation where I don’t know how to respond in the future.’
After finishing my thought, I shouted.
“Mei!!”
My voice, lightly imbued with Aura, echoed throughout the basement and reached outside.
Soon, I heard light footsteps, and a face peeked out from the door leading down to the basement from the upper floor.
“Did you call?”
…Of course, Mei looks like Frondier right now, so that kind of behavior is a bit…
“Come here and observe this child.”
Mei tilted her head at my words and then came down to the basement.
“Who?”
“Here, this child, her name is Elodie.”
Mei narrowed her eyes and glared in Elodie’s direction, but…
“…I don’t see anything.”
“Ah.”
Right. Only I can see Elodie right now. She’s under the influence of Osprey’s magic.
It can’t be helped. There’s another way, at least for Mei.
“…I have a power called ‘Sixth Sense’.”
“Sixth Sense?”
“It’s the power to sense everything supernatural. Mana, spirits, gods, whatever it is.”
Mei is mimicking me right now.
If perfect imitation is possible, she should be able to master ‘Sixth Sense’ as well. Even without Helheim’s Mana, it’s almost the same as Mana, so the method should be the same.
“Hmm…”
Mei narrowed her eyes and looked at me.
I was using all my Sixth Sense to see Elodie, so if she observed me carefully, she would be able to confirm that my Sixth Sense was active.
“…Is it like this?”
Mei, as if she had realized something, hardened her expression and drew up Mana.
I silently watched Mei. I couldn’t tell if she was going in the right direction, but it seemed like my intervention wouldn’t lead to a good result right now.
And after a brief moment,
“──Found her.”
Mei’s gaze soon focused precisely on where Elodie was.
“This is difficult.”
“…Yeah.”
She dismissed what I had achieved by gaining Helheim’s Mana and almost dying with a single word, “difficult.”
“Okay. Now that you’ve confirmed it, observe Elodie and tell me if you find anything. I’m trying to find a way to wake her up from her sleep.”
“Okay.”
I felt a bit nervous as I watched Mei respond calmly.
…To be honest, showing Elodie to Mei was a huge risk. It meant teaching her the immense talent, magical skills, and knowledge that Elodie possessed.
But I decided to trust Mei. Learning and imitation were her strengths, her identity. It wasn’t my place to decide what she would choose to do with the power she gained.
“…Magic.”
The words Mei finally uttered were very short.
“She cast a spell. On herself.”
The analysis said the same thing. She had entered ‘Eternal Slumber’.
I asked,
“Why would Elodie do such a thing?”
“I don’t know. But this magic is dangerous. She might never wake up.”
Just the name gave off an ominous feeling.
As soon as I heard the words ‘Eternal Slumber’, ‘Avici Hell’ came to mind.
In other words, Elodie was driven to the edge to use such dangerous magic.
“She probably can’t undo the magic herself.”
That is, it’s a magic that assumes external intervention.
Elodie came down to the cabin basement and cast this spell. Believing that someone would undo her magic.
…No, that’s not it.
It wasn’t just anyone, Elodie entrusted this to Frondier.
I’m the only one who would come to this place.
“Then what should we do?”
“You have to sleep.”
“What?”
“This magic forces you to sleep. You keep dreaming. We have to escape together in that dream.”
“…Can we escape?”
“If the person who cast the spell wanted to wake up, we can escape.”
Then we can get out.
Elodie wouldn’t have wanted to sleep here forever.
“If I sleep here now, can I enter Elodie’s dream?”
“No. You have to use the same magic.”
“…The same magic.”
Mei raised her hand.
“I can cast it for you.”
“…….”
But Mei, who had been acting calmly until then, suddenly hesitated.
I thought she would cast the spell right away.
“Mei?”
“…Yes. Sorry. I’ll cast it.”
However, Mei soon closed her eyes for a moment, opened them, and light emanated from the hand she extended towards me.
──It didn’t take long for me to fall asleep.
No feeling of losing strength, my body collapsing, or laying my head on the floor.
At some point, without even realizing it, I fell asleep.