Lucy POV
I look at the weak figure of the little girl lying on her bed one more time and take a deep breath.
"Phew."
I exhausted most of my mana in my previous attempt, but I have recovered a little by now. I take Alice's hand and guide a bit of mana into her, locating her soul again.
Okay, the game described this as another simple process. I just need to connect to the curse with my mana and then willingly invite it into my own body.
After that, the curse will be transferred onto my own soul and the rest should be taken care of by my cheat affinity…probably.
Well, there's no point in hesitating. Let's do this.
I follow the instructions I remember from the game and right away I feel a wave of coldness creep along my flow of mana, getting closer and closer to my heart.
It is slightly uncomfortable, but still bearable.
Once confirm that Alice's soul is completely free, I retract my mana and take a step back.
"...! Lucy, are you okay?"
And I stumble a bit, but then a comfortable embrace catches me right away.
But at the moment I'm too focused on my body's condition.
It's hard to describe what I'm feeling, but it's like there's a sudden force pushing down on my entire being, trying to make me collapse.
But the joke's on the curse, this is Lucy's body we're talking about. Even if it's a bit early, don't underestimate this body's potential!
So after taking a moment to collect myself, I forcefully release a wave of mana from my soul, completely obliterating the curse.
"Phew. See? I told you so- whoa!"
"...! Lucy!"
"Ah, sorry. I just got a bit dizzy, but I'm fine."
I truthfully answer Hina with a smile, reassuring her about the outcome.
"...It's true. There's no sign of the curse on Alice."
"What about Lucy? Is she okay too?"
"I said I'm-"
"Be quiet."
"..."
After checking on her little sister, Hugh comes up to me and also examines my soul, both Hina and him disregarding my dismissing words.
"She's okay too. She really did destroy the curse, I can't believe it!"
"Is she really okay? How sure are you?"
"While as a fire mage, I can't really use any support magic, I still learned a lot about curses and how to check the soul of others for any signs of them. Though it is true that I'm on more of an amateur level."
"Then who would know for sure?"
"Um, Miss Julia is the best healer I know of."
"Lucy's light magic teacher? Then we're heading back to the academy."
"Huh? I said I'm fine though…"
I try to protest, but Hina instantly looks at me with a really cold gaze, forcing my voice into a mumble by the end.
I guess she'll only calm down after she's completely sure about my condition. Even though I really did destroy the curse.
"Okay, I'll have a carriage ready right away. I… I need to stay and take care of a few things first, but I'll go back to the academy as fast as I can. I'll be there by tomorrow at the latest." Hugh says, visibly excited by this unexpected turn of events.
Hm, I kind of wanted to spend some time with Alice though…
Wait a minute, if we go back and Miss Julia is the one who examines me… Won't she also learn about everything I did here from Hina?
…I'll need to find an excuse to be alone with Miss Julia so I can be the one who explains the circumstances and maybe accidentally leave out a few details.
…
…
The following morning, the seconds slowly tick by in oppressive silence within the infirmary.
"..."
"...!"
I briefly glance up at Miss Julia, and seeing her icy-cold gaze directed straight at me sends a shiver down my spine, making me instantly lower my head again.
She's been staring at me like that for nearly half an hour now and my legs are also starting to hurt from kneeling all that time. Ugh, it would be better if she just yelled at me or scolded me. Anything other than this oppressive silent treatment.
This is the worst. I successfully evaded Hina by convincing her to sleep first when we got back yesterday and then I came here early in the morning before she could find me.
Who would have thought that Hugh already sent a letter back for Miss Julia, detailing everything that happened yesterday, so when I got here my fate was already sealed.
Knock knock.
"Excuse me. Is Lucy here? I couldn't find… Um, is everything okay here?"
The deafening silence suddenly gets broken by someone knocking on the door and entering. Seeing Hina now fills me with both relief and dread. With her here maybe I don't need to endure this punishment for much longer, but Miss Julia might also explain everything to her, which could make things even worse…
"Just a reckless student getting punished, don't mind her. You came to inquire about her condition, right?"
"Hm, is she really okay now?"
Hina asks, concern evident in her voice.
"Well, one thing I can give her credit for is that she did actually destroy the curse on Miss Alice."
"Right, I did do it so-"
"..."
I try to speak up, but the moment I open my mouth, the coldness in Miss Julia's gaze intensifies, causing my voice to stop mid-sentence.
"However, there is one aspect she didn't tell you about, or rather deliberately left out. She even tried to do the same thing with me when she came here this morning. Too bad for her, Hugh already told me everything that happened through his letter."
"She left something out…?"
Ugh, here it comes. Hugh, you traitor…
"The curse transfer technique doesn't quite work the way she described it. Honestly, I don't even know where she learned about it, it's such a rarely used method that it's almost completely vanished from people's minds. Even most light magic users don't know about it anymore. But that part doesn't matter. Here's how it actually works. The basics of her explanation were correct, the light magic user can take the curse upon themselves and by bringing it straight into their soul, the curse can get purified by the pure mana contained within it. Or if the purification is not successful, the curse will be on the light magic user. Except for the crucial part that this one left out."
Miss Julia gives another sharp glance at me, making me flinch. Then she continues:
"Bringing a curse into your soul means staking all of your mana against the strength of the curse. Either the curse is destroyed before you run out of mana, or all of your mana is consumed and the curse takes hold of your soul. So you do bear the curse, but with no mana remaining within your soul, you have no defense against it at all. While mana deficiency is already very dangerous, running out of mana with a curse on your soul would mean certain death. That's why this technique was rarely used and got forgotten. In short, curse transfers end with either the curse breaking or the death of the light magic user."
"Wh-what? Is that true? Lucy could have died?!"
"Hm."
Hearing Miss Julia's explanation Hina's voice rises and her intense gaze lands on me. Unlike Miss Julia's, all I can feel from her stare is pure concern, making me feel even more guilty and uncomfortable.
"L-Lucy…"
"..."
Hearing her shaky voice, I slowly glance up at her and sure enough her expression is a mix of disbelief and worry. Noticing her eyes slightly glisten, I realize just how much Miss Julia's words shook her. I quickly try to explain myself.
"...! I, I'm sorry for lying. But I knew that I could do it with absolute certainty, so that wouldn't have happened! S-so please don't cry…"
"Wh-why would you… Ah, Miss Julia! Is the curse completely gone now? Lucy's life is no longer in danger, right?"
"There is no trace of the curse that was on Miss Alice."
"Then-"
"But there was something else that I found after thoroughly searching Lucy's soul."
"Huh?"
What? Was there something else? There weren't any problems with Lucy's soul in the story, though. Ah! Unless…
"There seems to be some sort of very advanced magical array or something similar hidden on her soul. Honestly, I've never seen anything like it before and if I wasn't so carefully examining her I would have never noticed it. But I have made sure it bears no connections to any curses and it's probably not anything malicious, or at least it doesn't seem to be affecting her life."
"A magical array? How is that possible? Where did it come from? Was it due to the transfer? Is she really going to be okay?"
Hina quickly shoots off a barrage of questions directed at Miss Julia.
"I can't be certain, since its complexity exceeds everything I've seen before. But it doesn't seem to affect Lucy's soul or body currently and it's not connected to the curse either so it's unlikely that it was caused by the transfer. It has probably been on her soul for a while now though. As for its purpose, I believe it's some sort of seal or a container of sorts, holding something within it."
"Why would anyone do something like that? L-Lucy, do you know anything?"
"...Huh? Me? It's the first time I'm hearing about it too…"
Hina's voice suddenly pulls me out of my thoughts, and I answer honestly. Though… Could this really be a coincidence?
"I don't believe any currently living mage could have done something like this. I've never heard of any techniques that can even slightly affect the soul of another person, let alone craftsmanship like that of this seal, that exceeds the relics of Old Meridia. If I had to guess its purpose, since the seal is on her soul, it probably sealed off a part of Lucy's soul or maybe just a part of her mana. Since she's been okay so far, it shouldn't pose any danger to her, so neither of you should worry too much. I wasn't sure if I should tell you all of this, but I believe it's better to let you know. I will also contact everyone I know to find out as much as I can and I'll find a way to undo the seal or at least find answers. In the meantime you can keep going as usual."
Sealing off a part of Lucy's soul… My arrival in this world…
"Hm! I'll help too. Whatever you need, I'll give you access to my family's connections too."
Miss Julia and Hina both seem determined to get to the bottom of this for my… Lucy's sake, but the way Miss Julia described it sounds a little familiar.
There was a Lucy in this world who lived for sixteen years with this body, but then I woke up in her stead one day.
I always wondered where she went, or what happened to her and I thought she was just gone. But that seal… could it have been caused by my arrival?
I took over her body, and the Lucy of this world got sealed away within my soul? Or I took over both her soul and body and just pushed her consciousness into that seal?
Whatever the case, the truth is that I stole her life away, so if the seal was undone… could I give it back to her?
If the original Lucy was back, the plot could return to how it was supposed to go. Although I've made many changes, I believe Lucy would be able to fix everything I messed up and deliver a happy ending to this world.
Though I still feel bad for stealing months of her life from her and then also leaving her with a mess to clean up… Ah, maybe I could quickly try to fix what I can before Miss Julia manages to find a solution for the seal. That could be my way of making it up to her and maybe I could even warn her of some potential future plot points too.
Ah, but there's also Hina. If Lucy doesn't receive my memories when she returns, would Hina's role return to being the villainess too?
No, no, I can't have that. I'll need to make sure Lucy knows Hina is a really good person and that she should be good friends with her too. I'll leave a lot of notes for Lucy telling her everything about Hina so she can just take my place…
She can…
If she returns and I leave, wouldn't that mean I'll never see Hina again…?
No, no! I can't think like that! I already died once, I'll just leave as I should have and give Lucy her life back. I'll also make sure she has strong connections to all the characters and leave notes to her so she can take care of this world properly.
That's the best outcome for everyone.
I just want the best for everyone…