Eva's ragged coughing cut me off.
"W-w-waaah! Axel-kun, what do we do?!"
"Right... Negi, you're a graduate of a magic academy, aren't you?"
"Eh? Yeah."
"Can't you use some kind of recovery magic?"
Negi shook his head weakly. "My healing spells only work on external trauma... basically just scratches and bruises. They don't do anything for a fever."
"I see." Magic was a matter of affinity; clearly, Negi's talent didn't lie in restoration.
"What about you, Axel-kun?"
"Same boat. As of right now, I'm limited to fire magic and that Shadow Manipulation I showed you the other day."
"Right. Man, what should we...?"
"Thirsty... my throat..." Eva murmured in her sleep, her timing almost too perfect.
"U-Um, right! Water!" Negi held a pitcher to her lips, but she unconsciously turned her head away. "She won't drink it! Maybe tea? Or... a Coke?"
I reached out and physically stopped him from trying to pour soda down a vampire's throat. "Pretty sure Coke isn't on the doctor's list, Negi."
"Then what should I give her?!"
"Usually, you'd go with lukewarm water or an electrolyte drink, but as you know, Eva is a vampire. You can put two and two together, right?"
"Wait... blood?!"
"Bingo. Just think of it as a blood donation and let her have a taste."
"Why just me? What about you, Axel-kun?" Negi asked, clearly terrified of the prospect of being a juice box.
"I'd love to help, but apparently my blood is packed with so much mana it acts like a high-grade stimulant or a literal poison. When she was at full strength, Eva could barely handle a few drops before jumping back. Giving my blood to her while she's this weak would probably kill her."
"You've... given her your blood before?" Negi whispered, his voice small. He looked at Eva, took a deep breath, and slowly extended his finger toward her lips. "J-Just a little, okay? Only a little!"
Eva began to rhythmically lap at Negi's finger. For the next hour, we played the role of caretakers. When she complained of the heat, I drew the curtains. When she broke into a sweat and started to shiver, Negi handled the task of changing her clothes into something dry.
"I... I'm exhausted..." Negi slumped into a chair.
"Tell me about it." I never realized how draining looking after a patient could be.
Our efforts weren't in vain, though. Eva was now breathing steadily, deep in a peaceful slumber. But as we watched her, a name slipped from her lips.
"Mmm... Thousand Master... wait... stop..."
"Thousand Master?" Negi's expression shifted, becoming intensely serious as he stared at her. "...Axel-kun. Peeking into a girl's dreams is a bad thing, isn't it?"
I could tell his father's title had piqued his interest. "I mean, technically? But you and Eva are rivals, right? Think of it as intelligence gathering."
"Do you really think so?"
"Yeah."
"...Then, sorry to ask, but could you come with me?" Negi asked, raising his staff. "Into Evangeline-san's dream."
"Wait, what—?"
"Ras Tel Ma Skill Magister! Queen Mab, Fairy of Dreams, open the gate and lead us within!"
As the incantation ended, the room dissolved. Suddenly, I was standing on a white sandy beach. And I was buck-naked.
"Hey, Negi! Why am I naked?!"
"Ah, sorry! It's just how this spell works!"
Whoever designed this magic was a total pervert, I thought, shielding myself as best I could. Looking around, I spotted two figures near the water's edge: a tall woman with long blonde hair and a man in a wizard's robe.
Seeing the hooded man gave me a sour feeling in my gut—he reminded me too much of the mages I'd 'absorbed' back in my own world. I shifted my gaze to the blonde woman and froze when I saw what she was holding.
"Wait... is that Chachazero?"
It was. The doll in the woman's arms was unmistakably the killing doll. Which meant...
"That woman is Evangeline?"
"Is that what she used to look like?" Negi stared, wide-eyed. "She's completely different..."
The two figures across the beach began to speak, oblivious to the two spectral voyeurs.
"I've finally cornered you, Thousand Master!" the tall Eva shouted. "To think you'd flee all the way to this island nation in the Far East. Today, I finally make your flesh and blood mine!"
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