After finishing the analysis of the wastewater, I immediately reported to the guard corps. The guard corps dispatched a standby combat unit to the problematic block D-7 at once. However, I was not dispatched with them.
I asked the guard captain.
"Can I not go?"
"No. You cannot."
The guard captain's reply was concise and firm.
"What is the reason?"
"According to Imperial law, recipients of the First-Class Medal of Honor are treated as officers, and officers are top-priority protection targets. We cannot send you, Sir Upperhills, into a deathtrap."
"So we're doing this by the book, is that it?"
"Yes."
He had a face that looked like it wouldn't bleed even if you stabbed it. I looked the guard captain straight in the eye and began to speak.
"Sergeant Marcus, Gillian and Sergeant Dyke, magic support Staff Sergeant Elara..."
The guard captain's eyes widened. Of course he was surprised. I was reeling off the names of the dispatched personnel, which he hadn't told me.
Each time I recited one of the members' names, the guard captain's shoulders flinched slightly. The guard captain muttered.
"How did you..."
It wasn't actually that surprising. When I first came up to the guard captain's office, I had taken a look at the 'This Week's Standby Combat Unit' roster beforehand. I continued speaking.
"Some of them are the ones who helped me with my sample analysis. I don't want to remember them only as names on a memorial stone."
The guard captain's eyes trembled.
"I am a mage who can take on an orc alone, and I am the person who knows more about this case than anyone else in the Empire. If I don't go, who will?"
Silence fell.
The guard captain was speechless for a long moment. Soon, his mouth opened.
"... I suppose I'll have to report to my superiors that I lost track of you, Researcher."
"You'll have to write a formal apology. Are you okay with that?"
"I think it's a small price to pay for hiring a hero."
The capital's underground, block D-7. There were traces of orcs having been raised there in large numbers... and the fallen members of the advance team. My breath hitched at the bloody scene. The delicate stomach of a modern man tried to retch, but...
P = F/A Fab = -Fba I increased the stress on the muscles at the bottom of my gullet, and applied an equal, opposite force with my diaphragm and abdomen. Now I wouldn't throw up. I don't usually cast magic directly on my body, because a single mistake can lead to big trouble.
But this was an exceptional situation. I checked the condition of the fallen.
"Thankfully, they're not dead..."
But they were injured. Stomach, arms, legs, neck... each had a hole punctured in them, from which blood was flowing. The blood that flowed out collected in a drum in a corner of the room.
What are they planning to do, drawing out all this blood?
"Were they planning to use it as blood packs for later..."
I didn't know their intention, but I immediately began to dispel the magic. 'So it's a method that infuses mana into the bloodstream and then draws it out.' It had changed the nature of the red blood cells, which were supposed to carry oxygen, into carriers of mana.
In essence, a spell that extorts another's mana using blood as a medium. An inefficient and inhumane method. First, I dispelled the blood flow manipulation spell.
With the magic dispelled, it was time to stop the bleeding. The principle was similar to when I stopped myself from vomiting. Q = Av Find the blood vessel from which blood is gushing. o = F/A Block it by increasing the stress at the end connected to the wound.
After that, perform cauterization. It means to burn with fire.
Tsssss.
The smell of burning flesh rose from the wounds. If I had studied medicine instead of physics, I might have been able to use a more refined method. The pain of the cauterization brought one of the squad members to his senses.
"Gasp!"
His jaw trembled, and he grabbed my arm tightly.
"It hurts, but bear with it. I'm treating you."
"It's... it's my fault...!"
"What?"
What is he talking about all of a sudden?
"I couldn't endure the torture and spilled everything. I'm too ashamed to live... Just kill me instead."
Looking at him now, I saw that not a single one of his fingernails or toenails was intact.
"... First, tell me what you told them."
"I told them that a squad member went to the back door to rescue the captured children."
He continued.
"If I just hadn't said that, I could have saved the people and then died..."
"Who says you're dying? Sergeant Dyke, you will live."
"... How do you know my name."
"Tell me the location of the children and the other squad member."
"That way... it's that way."
"Thank you. Rest now."
I laid Sergeant Dyke down on the ground. Just as I did for Dyke, I cast the hemostasis spell on all the other squad members. All that was left was Sergeant Marcus.
I set out to find him. Sergeant Marcus was found in the deepest part of D-7. But he wasn't alone. There were children hiding in every corner of the base, trembling...
"An orc...?"
There was something that was a bit too large to be an orc. And next to that giant orc stood a suspicious man who looked like a mage. That must be the culprit.
He muttered.
"And judgment that resembles a human's. A perfect living weapon. Soon, the capital will be at my feet..."
Before his monologue could even finish, my Memorizer pendant activated.
Crack-!
The iron ball that left my hand burst the monster's head. At the same time, I devised the 'iron ball projectile' spell myself. p=m*v R = (v_2 *sin(20))/g F= 1/2*p*w*r*V*A*I Spell construction complete.
Fire. Crack-! Crunch~!
As the consecutive attacks shattered both its arms, the orc's body collapsed limply. I said to him.
"What a nauseating sight. I feel like I could vomit any second."
"You... you son of a bitch. How dare you do that to my Red Ear!"
"You even gave the orc a name?"
"It's not a simple orc! It's Red Ear!"
At his gesture, the scattered blood and flesh of the orc gathered back to its ruptured wounds. ... How did he do that?
"I'll show you why 'Red Ear' is called Red Ear."
In an instant, the orc's head and both its arms were restored.
"Hehehe. Don't underestimate an orc's regenerative power."
This damn fantasy world. I can't even begin to guess the principle behind an orc's rapid regeneration. It feels like a crucial piece of information is missing, just like when I saw the Dean's shadow movement.
I said to him.
"Even so, it shouldn't be able to recover its brain."
"That is a painful loss, but... I just have to control it myself! Kneel before the Blood Mage, Malakai!"
Malakai climbed onto the nape of Red Ear's neck and connected his own mana directly to it.
"Go!"
At Malakai's command, Red Ear charged. Instead of finishing it off, I kept my distance and engaged in battle. The reason I didn't kill Malakai right away is simple.
It was to save Sergeant Marcus. Marcus's condition was not good. Even if I stopped the bleeding, he would die from blood loss.
'In that case, the only answer is a blood transfusion... but the antigen-antibody reaction is an obstacle.' I'm talking about how blood coagulates between different blood types. I carefully observed Red Ear's movements.
Because Red Ear's blood was 'blood in which the antigen-antibody reaction had been removed'. 'I might not get the principle of regeneration, but I think I can copy something like the antigen-antibody reaction...'
Thwack! Thwack-thwack!
Iron balls shot from all directions kept Red Ear's movements in check.
Thwack!
Red Ear's extremities burst.
"Stop dodging like a coward and fight me head-on!"
Would you, if you were me?
Malakai screamed.
"Dammit!"
'Blood controlled by Malakai' seeped back into the orc's ruptured extremities.
I dodged Red Ear's attacks and persistently observed the moment of regeneration. 'There is no magic that defies the second law of thermodynamics.' Everything is not creation, but transformation.
If that's the case, if I can just figure out the transformation formula, a reverse calculation should also be possible... 'Damn it, I don't understand.' I was a physicist, not a biologist.
I didn't have a perfect understanding of the principle behind the antigen-antibody reaction at the molecular level. But I couldn't give up. If I can't understand the principle, I just have to copy the phenomenon itself.
I engraved into my mind the 'result' itself—which mana waves and flows neutralized the antigen-antibody reaction. In terms of a magic circle, it would be sixth-circle. As an incantation, I felt I could compress it down to about fifteen words.
This is enough. I have no more business with Malakai. If it's reviving because of its blood, I just need to take all of its blood away. ∂u/∂t + u·∇u = -∇w + ν∇²u + g The Navier-Stokes equations.
In order to manipulate fluids, a foundation of complex equations, on a different level from any magic I had used so far, was necessary. Now, control the system. The movement of blood is described by a dreadful nonlinear partial differential equation, intertwining viscosity, pressure gradients, and its own inertia.
Just calculating the approximate values drained my mana rapidly. Spell construction complete.
Begin calculation. Pshooo!
The blood flowing through Red Ear's body defied its command and shot up into the air. Unlike with ordinary magic, even at this moment my brain was performing additional calculations.
"Wh-what! How can you handle blood better than I can?!"
"Because I solved the nonlinear partial differential equation, and you didn't." My opponent was manipulating blood relying solely on his affinity for that type of magic.
There was no way he could beat me, who was meticulously calculating it step by step, the proper way.
"Nonlinear...? What in the world does that mean!"
"If you don't know, you die!"
A fountain of blood erupted from Red Ear's body, and it gradually shriveled.
"No!! My masterpiece! You can't, you bastard!"
As if he had no other magic to boast of besides blood manipulation, Malakai charged at me with his bare hands.
How foolish.
They all seem to think they can win if they just get close to a mage. V = IR I paralyzed the man's body with electricity.
"Gah!"
Malakai's body rolled across the stone floor. Shiver, shiver, shiver. As if something had gone wrong with his nerves, Malakai's body trembled.
It's a relief he isn't dead. He's a scoundrel I wouldn't mind killing, but I have to keep him alive to find out who's behind this. I approached the fallen Marcus.
"Sergeant Marcus?"
No response.
His condition is serious; it seems he needs a blood transfusion immediately. I've figured out the magic to remove the antigen-antibody reaction. But there isn't enough blood.
My blood alone won't be enough to save Marcus. I could go and get blood from where the other squad members fell, but that would be too late. At this point, I have no choice but to recruit other blood donors.
I spoke to the children hiding in the corners of the underground base.
"Hey kids."
"Would you be willing to share some of your blood?"
But the terrified children hiding did not readily step forward. I would be the same. Because plenty of kids must have died after going through something similar.
Just then, a little girl walked out from the darkness.
"Use my blood."
She was a scrawny kid, not even half my height.
"Uh... sorry, but it doesn't look like you have any blood to spare?"
"I've lasted the longest here, and I'm probably the healthiest."
"That can't be right..."
The amount of blood you can draw is proportional to your physique. But the child's gaze was unwavering. Does she have something to rely on?
I examined the child's body with a detection spell. What is this? The hematopoietic stem cells inside her bone marrow... were producing red blood cells with several times the efficiency, using mana.
Like a hyper-efficient biological factory. 'They say that if your mana capacity is very high, your natural healing ability is also high... I didn't know it also affected hematopoietic ability.'
With this level of ability, it seemed okay to do a transfusion. I said to the child.
"... Alright. Let's do it."
I placed my arm, the child's arm, and Marcus's arm side by side and prepared the blood transfusion spell. I didn't know the principle, but I mimicked Malakai's mana pattern.
"Hemoglobin, agglutinogen, flow. N-acetylgalactosamine. Exclude..."
The incantation also included my own original elements. I added a bit of my shallow chemistry knowledge to improve its stability. Just then, the child's body flinched.
It seemed she saw an overlap between my actions and Malakai's magic.
"You don't have to do it if you don't want to."
I could inject about half of my blood first, and then go get blood from where the other squad members are. It would be a huge problem if I collapsed, but a man will die if I don't do it, so I'll just have to grit my teeth and endure...
A person can't just live doing only what they want to do. Especially in a situation like this. At my words, the child hesitated for a moment, then shook her head as if she had made up her mind.
"No. I'll do it. That man... he fought for us."
The child rolled up her own sleeve with her small hand. As my blood and the child's blood flowed into Marcus's body, color slowly returned to his pale face.
"Whew, what a relief."
I breathed a sigh of relief and said to the child.
"Thank you. What's your name?"
"It's Anna. Anna Upperhills."
Perhaps because she had relaxed, Anna plopped down next to Marcus.
"We have the same last name. I'm an Upperhills too. My name is Isaac."
Flash.
Anna's eyes shot open.
"Are you an orphan too?"
"Yeah."
My answer seemed to lower her guard a little. 'Is this the time to try and recruit her?' To have so much mana that she can stimulate her own hematopoietic stem cells.
Perhaps she could reach a level comparable to Valerius? I can't let a talent like this slip away. I'll make sure she gets to the Academy, one way or another.
"... Why are you looking at me like that?"
"It's nothing." ...
Wouldn't it be good to make that child my assistant later on? She'd be a good subordinate... no, assistant. Is this how my professor felt when he recommended I go to the graduate program?
I chuckled and said.
"By any chance, are you interested in a high-paying, low-effort job?"
"... That's what I followed that got me into this mess, you know?"
Anna retorted, looking dumbfounded.
"They say blood is thicker than water. We're both Upperhills, so have some faith."
"... You have a point. Besides, you saved me and this man, so I should pay the price."
"Price?"
I had no intention of demanding payment. With more than enough money, I had zero intention of paying her a stingy hourly wage. Anna looked me straight in the eye and said.
"Then I'll trust you one last time in my life, brother Isaac."
'One last time in my life' wasn't something you'd expect to hear from a child.
That's some heavy passion.