The name of the man sleeping in the bed was Riyan.
Someone who could see Rhone. She came to this town at Riyan's request. She met the lord. The two of them were doing research on fairies. Rhone also helped him with his research. In order to make Rhone his own, the lord imprisoned Riyan, took away her mana, and made her his own. That continued even now. If Riyan continued to be taken away of his mana, he would die. This room was pouring mana into him. Because of that mana, they were depriving the residents of their mana. They were giving power to knights to fight back against the residents and defeat monsters.
Rhone told me everything.
"Sister..." (Prim)
"I feel sorry for Rhone." (Noa)
In other words, it seemed that the lord was jealous of him being able to see the fairy Rhone and went to great lengths to be able to see Rhone himself.
I was stunned and couldn't say anything.
However, if the other person had something that you want, there were people who would shun you, hate you, and take it away from you.
"Then, the magic circle in this room is for supplying mana." (Yuna)
There were magic circles and magic stones inlaid on the floor, centered around the place where Riyan was lying.
"But how can he make it stronger?" (Yuna)
"We don't know how it works. Through our research, we found out that it can be done." (Rhone)
From what I had heard from Noa and Cliff, fairies were like something out of a dream, and it was considered good luck to meet one. Because of their existence, not much was known about fairies.
Perhaps no one who could see fairies ever attempted to study fairies.
"Also, how do you keep Riyan-san’s mana flowing to the lord?" ()
I felt like it would be possible if they were close to each other based on the image. Even in the manga, they sometimes handed over their mana by saying things like, "Use my mana!" But even that could be done by being close to them and touching them.
When I taught Fina and Noa how to use magic, I held their hands and let the mana flow through them.
However, as long as I listened to Rhone's story, mana continued to flow from Riyan to the lord even at this moment.
"Look at his body." ()
Although I was reluctant to look at a sleeping man's body, I did as I was told.
He was so thin that it was a wonder he was still alive.
"Noa, you don’t have to force yourself to look." (Yuna)
I said this to Noa, who was looking at him with me.
"No, it’s fine." (Noa)
Noa answered emphatically.
Fina was good, and Noa was also strong.
"So, you can tell by looking at this guy?" ()
"Anywhere is fine, just roll up his clothes." (Rhone)
A 15-year-old maiden was a little reluctant to turn up the clothes of a sleeping man, but she did as Rhone asked and lightly turned up the clothes.
"This is…"
Both Noa and I lost our voices.
There were magic circles drawn all over his arms, legs, and body.
"The magic circle drawn on his body is flowing mana to that man who is far away." ()
I looked around in this room and saw the man's body.
"In other words, this room is the room where mana is put into Riyan, and the magic circle pattern drawn on Riyan is meant to channel mana to the lord..." ()
"If I carry Riyan-san from here…" (Noa)
Noa seemed to have noticed too.
Quick thinking.
"He will no longer be able to receive the supply of mana, and only his mana will be taken away." ()
It would be easiest if I could cut off the mana flowing through the lord by taking him out of this room.
"Eh, what do you mean?" (Prim)
Prim seemed to be the only one who didn't understand.
"We can't take him out of here. If we do, he might die. And if we leave him like this, Rhone can't leave here." (Prim)
That's why Rhone did the lord's bidding and was treated like a pet.
I felt angry.
"However, with my small body, I couldn't take him out while he was sleeping and run away." (Rhone)
"...Sister" (Prim)
Prim looked at Rhone, who had a sad expression on her face.
"That's it. This strange pattern is probably not good." ()
Prim descended on the sleeping man's stomach and began rubbing it with her small hands. But the magic circle didn't disappear.
"Prim..." (Rhone)
I also tried rubbing the magic circle drawn on his arm with a bear puppet, but it still wouldn't go away.
You can't do it with detergent, right?
There was no permanent marker in this world, and I didn't think it was a tattoo either.
"What did you draw this with?" (Yuna)
If we figure that out, we might be able to eliminate it.
If we could erase it, we could take him out of this room.
"I think it was probably drawn with mana." (Noa)
Noa said while staring at the magic circle drawn on the man.
"Was it drawn with magic?" (Yuna)
"Yes. There are many ways to draw magic circles. For example, you can dig a groove in the ground and get the effect for a long time." (Noa)
Ah, the desert pyramids. Also, I wonder if Mumloot's carpet will be like that too.
"If it's temporary, I might draw it with a regular pen. But I think the magic circle drawn on this person's body was drawn with magical power." (Noa)
With that, Noa created light magic and some kind of pattern appeared on the ground. She put light magic on it.
"What's this?" ()
"It's an even magic circle. To put it simply, it makes the mana shine thinly and for a long time. Let's say that the magical power that makes ordinary light magic glow for one minute is 10. The amount of mana is only 1, and it lasts ten times longer than that. You can make the light continue to shine. However, the brightness of the light will also become proportionally weaker." (Noa)
"Noa is amazing. I can't believe she knows that." ()
"Yes. I've been studying magic lately." (Noa)
Noa looked happy to be praised.
"So, if it's drawn with magic, it won't disappear?" (Yuna)
"Until the magic power is gone, I don’t think it will go away just by rubbing it." (Noa)
"Then, do you want to use magic to destroy the magic circle?" (Yuna)
"If it's drawn on the ground, we might be able to destroy it..." (Noa)
Noa looked at Riyan who was sleeping.
We couldn't try it on people.
"You can't do that! If you do that, Riyan will die." (Rhone)
As Rhone said, I couldn't use attack magic to erase the magic circle drawn on him.
Maybe it was okay if only for a little while, but I had no choice but to use it at the end, when there was nothing I could do about it. I would use recovery magic later...
"So, I think Riyan-san’s magic circle will not disappear as long as the magic continues." (Noa)
The source of the mana depicted in this magic circle was his own.
And he remained asleep. That mana still flowed through the lord. His magic came from this room.
If he moved from here, the supply of mana to the lord would be cut off, but the mana would still flow to the lord. If that happened, his mana would only decrease unilaterally, and he would continue to lose his mana to the lord.
If that happened, he would...
First, I had to cut off the connection between him and the lord.
"If I move him far away, will the flow of mana to the lord stop?" (Yuna)
"Come to think of it, they're doing some research on how long it would be okay for two people to be apart." (Rhone)
Rhone said that.
"Is that so? How far away is it okay?" (Yuna)
"If I remember correctly, that man was happy that he could see me even when Riyan went out on the town." (Rhone)
About that much?
"So, where are you going outside of town or even further away?" (Rhone)
If it was Crimonia.
"I don't know about that. I don't think the two of you have investigated that far either." (Yuna)
Well, it's weirder if they know.
How far did the transceiver signal reach? It was probably like hearing that.
That depended on the performance of the transceiver. You wouldn't know unless you looked at the manual or asked someone to tell you.
"Then let's try it." (Yuna)
If you don't know, just try it. That's how people grow.
"What are you planning on doing?" (Rhone)
"Let's transport him to a faraway place and see if the mana connection with the lord is severed." (Yuna)
I wanted to avoid destroying the magic circle in this room and doing something irreversible.
"If I carry it far away, that man will notice me. Besides, I don't know how far I have to go before the connection is broken..." (Rhone)
"Sister, Yuna can do things like a fairy mirror." (Prim)
"Well." ()
I brought out bear transfer gate and connected it to Crimonia.
Then, I lifted him up, placed him on Kumayuru's back, and traveled to Crimonia through bear transfer gate. Noa, Prim, and Rhone also followed.
"Where is this?" (Rhone)
Rhone was curiously looking around the room where the bear transfer gate was.
"I hope you think of it as a very remote place." (Yuna)
Actually, I didn't know the distance because I didn't know the positional relationship, but if Rosa and the others were right, it should be quite far from Crimonia.
After confirming that everyone had moved to Crimonia's bear house, I closed the bear transfer gate. Now, if the connection with the lord disappeared, half of the mission would be accomplished.
I brought him from Kumayuru's back and put him on a cot.
"How is it?" ()
"Maybe it was a success?" ()
That was what I thought, but it didn't go that well.
"Ugh" (Riyan)
"Riyan!" (Rhone)
The man began to suffer.
The connection was not broken.
I opened the bear's transfer gate, returned to the previous room, and placed the man on the bed.
Perhaps his mana had returned to normal, and the man began to calm down.
I couldn't move him from here.
I had to ask the lord how to erase the magic circle.
As I was thinking about what to do, Kumayuru and Kumakyu let out a cry "Kuu~n" and looked towards the stairs where we had come.
I used my detection skill.
There was a person's reaction from the direction of the stairs.
Someone was coming.
Author's Note
I always have a hard time making final adjustments.
The reason is that it is written somehow.
I'm just thinking vaguely in the back of my head, like why she can't move Riyan, why mana is being transferred, and why magic power is flowing to a lord who is far away, so I don't think about the details, so I have a hard time at the end.
It's not just this time, but every time I have a hard time making sense at the end of the story.
This is an author who doesn't learn from the past.
* Thank you to everyone who reports typos.
Please note that some kanji have been revised to match the book, so some may not have been revised.