CH 30

Chapter 30: Damage to Magic Circuits

When Anastasia wakes up, the sun is already high in the sky.

She had clearly slept for nearly a full day.

Her joints ache slightly, but her magic power is fully restored. Anastasia gets to her feet and stretches.

“…Huh? There’s a bathroom…?”

Entering the room, she immediately fell asleep, not noticing that there was a bathroom in the back of the room.

Hot water must be purchased and prepared, but Anastasia can obtain it through magic spells.

After cleaning herself in the bathroom and putting on some fresh spare clothes, she felt right at home.

Relieved and feeling very hungry, Anastasia goes out into the hallway to get some food.

Brandt had just entered the corridor.

He’d obviously taken a bath and looked refreshed, but there was still a tired look on his face.

“Good morning, Anastasia-san; did you just get up too? —Let’s eat together if you’re going to eat now.”

“All right, let’s go.”

They eat in the dining area.

Even though Brandt only ordered light meals like porridge, he seemed to struggle to eat.

It’s unlikely he’s out of magic power, so it could be internal injuries, damage to his magic circuits, or both.

“Brandt-senpai… If you don’t mind, could you show me the current state of your magic circuits?”

Anastasia asked hesitantly.

Displaying the state of the magic circuits is akin to handing over a lethal weapon while completely unarmed. You wouldn’t show it to someone unless you trusted them.

Brandt, on the other hand, almost certainly damaged his magical circuits, and Anastasia might be able to repair it.

Anastasia couldn’t leave it alone, even though she knew he might refuse.

“Will you look at it for me? —Thank you. Please.”

Brandt simply nodded.

The response was immediate and without hesitation.

Anastasia was a bit taken aback, but after they finished their meal, they went to Brandt’s room together.

“The magic circuits are supposed to be near the heart, right?”

Brandt said as he entered the room and removed the top half of his clothes.

Anastasia is shocked and stops moving when he shows her his slim but muscular and well-toned body.

It is certainly appropriate to look close to the heart, and it is appropriate to remove your clothes in order to make direct contact with the skin.

But Anastasia’s gaze wanders, hoping that he won’t do something shocking when she isn’t expecting it.

“P-Please…I’ll examine it from the back, so take a seat…”

She was unlikely to thoroughly examine him if she faced him directly.

Anastasia urged him on, and Brandt sat in the chair as instructed.

“Now, please excuse me…”

After she calmed down, Anastasia touched Brandt on the back and let her magic flow through him so she could look inside him.

—The damage was worse than I had anticipated.

She gasped.

About 80% of the magic circuits were broken, and most of the damage was serious and hard to fix on its own.

“T-This… Isn’t moving a little painful…?”

Anastasia couldn’t help but ask.

In her past life, Anastasia also suffered damage to her magic circuits. So she knows the pain well.

Brandt, on the other hand, was acting normally, despite appearing to be in trouble from time to time.

That’s why she didn’t notice how bad things were.

“Yes… I can’t hide it any longer…”

Brandt responds with a troubled tone.

Anastasia is taken aback when she realizes he has been acting as if nothing is wrong in order not to worry her.

Come to think of it, he broke the anti-magic spell blockage when he had no magic power left.

Even in perfect condition, an ordinary magician would not have been able to get even a single crack into it. And a normal magic spell could not break through the magic spell blockage created by that demon.

Using such advanced magic when one no longer has magic power would be suicide. If he had done it incorrectly, he would have died from the exhaustion of his magic power.

“… This is the kind of damage that could have killed you.”

“Yeah… I was so desperate at the time that I… had to get Anastasia-san out of there somehow…”

Brandt responds in hushed tones, like a scolded child.

Before the battle with the demon, Brandt had promised to buy time in some way, and he kept his word.

The winners and losers would have switched places if Brandt hadn’t broken the anti-magic spell blockage.

However, the cost of doing so is that approximately 80% of his magic circuits are damaged.

Over time, the magic circuits in the damaged areas will become completely blocked, causing the pain to subside but the magic power to cease.

If left unchecked, Brandt’s magic spells as a magician will deteriorate significantly.

“If things continue like this, as a magician… but still…”

Even though Brandt only has 20% of his magic circuits left, it looks like he still has enough power to stay at the top of the Magic Academy.

Anastasia is taken aback by the extent of the damage, but also by his original strength.

Anastasia then realizes that Brandt may be carrying a demon’s blood, the Demon Lord’s, and she is convinced by a tingle in her heart.

But for the time being, she dismisses that thought.

—Instead, we should concentrate on healing the magic circuits.

“Please relax as I heal your magic circuits.”

Anastasia takes great care to channel the healing magic spell into Brandt’s magical circuits gradually.

The response was greater than she had expected. Even parts that were thought to be incapable of healing responded to Anastasia’s magic, and the damage was reduced.

Since healing magic spells activate natural healing power, they don’t respond to parts that have lost their function.

However, either because the treatment began so early or because Brandt’s natural healing abilities were exceptional, the badly damaged parts healed.

“…”

Brandt groans slightly.

It’s unsettling to have someone else’s magic flow through your magic circuits, like having it stirred up inside your body.

Anastasia takes it back in moderation because the strain is too much if it lasts too long.

Internal wounds are also looked into, but they aren’t very important and can be easily fixed with magic spells.

“…You should be able to recover naturally. If we do this a few more times, I believe you’ll be completely healed, so if you don’t mind, we can do it again tomorrow…”

“Great… The discomfort is almost gone… I didn’t think I’d ever get better… I thought I’d never recover… Thank you very much… I don’t know how to thank you…”

Brandt mumbled as he looked at his hands in amazement.

His shoulders were slightly trembling.

Anastasia understands all too well the sense of loss caused by the damage to your magic circuits. When she awoke and realized she could use magic spells again in this life, she was filled with a joy that shook her to her core.

Brandt must have had similar feelings.

“Brandt-senpai…”

To free Anastasia from the demon, Brandt was willing to give up his magic circuits and even his life.

Fortunately, even after the demon was expelled, Brandt did not complain or whine.

On the contrary, he was trying to act tough and hold back his pain so that Anastasia wouldn’t worry about him.

No one had ever paid such close attention to Anastasia before, and she didn’t know what to do.

“…Do not use magic spells until your magic circuits have been completely healed; it may aggravate the situation.”

Anastasia can’t think of an answer, so she runs away from the warning about the magic circuits.

For the time being, Anastasia is doing her best to heal the magic circuits.

Using magic spells while your magic circuits are damaged is excruciatingly painful and impedes recovery.

Even if you don’t tell them, they will usually withdraw their magical spells because using them hurts them.

But after some thought, Anastasia realized something.

“Brandt, Senpai… I believe you bathed; what did you do with the hot water?”

“Huh… no, it was… magic spell…”

When asked in a tense tone, Brandt panicked.

Anastasia wants to hold her head.

It’s not a difficult magic spell to compose hot water, but with such damaged magic circuits, it must have been excruciating.

Anastasia couldn’t help but wonder how it would feel to take a bath while in excruciating pain throughout your entire body.

“… I didn’t want to meet Anastasia-san dirty. I didn’t want her to hate me…”

Hearing Brandt’s muffled voice, Anastasia is stunned.

He’s saying something incomprehensible.

This time, Anastasia holds her head as she realizes the meaning.