Reincarnated Aristocrat Chapter 262: Light At The End Of The Tunnel

Support the translator on lazytranslations.com

　–I will live.

　–I will definitely survive.

　With the strength of my will, I tried to return to my body.

　I can’t seem to make any progress.

　However, gradually the distance between my body decreases.

“Guuuuuh…!!” (Ars)

　Every time I moved, I felt pain.

　I realized this when my father hit me earlier, but it seems that even a soul can feel pain.

　–I don’t want to go any further.

　–I want to feel better.

　Negative feelings naturally well up from the depths of my heart.

　I forced those feelings down, even if it meant stomping them down.

　I thought of the faces of my vassals, those of Claus and Ren, and my wife, Lithia.

　What a foolish thought it would be okay if I died like this.

　–I can’t die like this. I can’t die.

　—-I will survive, I will live!!

　I eliminated all thoughts and continued to think only of living.

　I continued to endure the intense pain that assailed me with a desperate desire to survive.

　Slowly but surely, I felt myself approaching my own body.

　—Live, live, live, live, live!!

　I continued to think about it enthusiastically.

　And then I reached my body.

　The moment I touched it, a pure white light filled my field of vision.

　The pain I had felt just now completely disappeared.

　Immediately after, I felt as if my soul was being pulled into my body. I guessed that my soul was returning to my body.

　Of course, I did not resist.

　It was as if my soul was entering my body, starting from the toes.

　My soul gradually enters my body, moving to the waist, abdomen, and chest.

　Finally, my soul returned to my head.

　I succeeded in completely returning my soul to my body.

　I clench my hands and open my eyes.

　Making sure my body is moving.

　I tried to raise my torso.

　Even though his soul had returned, the poison had not disappeared.

　To be honest, my body was in quite a terrible condition. I remembered that my soul had escaped from my body because of this pain.

　However, the pain of returning my soul to my body was one level stronger than the pain I was feeling now, so I did not feel the pain that made me want to run away.

　–Thank you, Father. I was able to return safely.

　I stared at the corner of the ceiling and muttered to myself.

　When I looked down, Mireille was looking at me with a blank look on her face.

　She looked genuinely surprised.

　I don’t see this kind of expression on her face very often, so it was refreshing to see.

“Good morning.” (Ars)

“…Oh, good morning.” (Mireille)

　When I greeted her, Mireille returned the greeting awkwardly.

“Let me just say one thing.” (Ars)

“Wh-what?” (Mireille)

“I’m not going to die.” (Ars)

“Were you, by any chance, listening to me just now?” (Mireille)

　Mireille asked with a surprised look on her face, and I nodded.

“ No, you looked like you were dying just now. But now you have strength in your eyes. You still don’t look so good, though.” (Mireille)

　Mireille smiled widely,

“You’re a really interesting guy after all.” (Mireille)

　That’s what she said.

　After regaining consciousness, I did not feel hungry, but I managed to force myself to eat. The pain in my body eased a little as I took the medicine the doctor had made for me.

　If things had gone badly, I might have died yesterday, so I was able to extend my life somehow.

　Of course, if no antidote could be found at this point, I would have to die.

　In my poisoned state, I cannot move properly, so all I can do is wait and trust that his vassals will do something about it.

　Even so, I was confident that they would do something about it.

“Ars!!” (Lithia)

　Lithia burst into the room.

　And then she hugged me.

　Her embrace was a little tight that it hurt.

　Lithia’s body was trembling, and tears were overflowing from her eyes.

“Ars… don’t die… please don’t die… don’t leave me behind…” (Lithia)

　Lithia’s voice was trembling.

　It seems I’ve caused her a lot of worry.

　I know Lithia was a strong woman, but she was still a teenage girl.

　She probably also has the same weaknesses that come with age.

“It’s okay. I’m not going to die.” (Ars)

“……really?” (Lithia)

“Yes. Well, I can’t do anything, but my vassals will sort it out somehow. They’re all excellent vassals, you know.” (Ars)

“…” (Lithia)

　As I said that, Lithia’s trembling gradually subsided.

“That’s right… these are all vassals found with your power, Ars. I have to believe them.” (Lithia)

　Although his voice sounded anxious, it seemed to have given her some comfort. Before I knew it, Lithia had stopped trembling.

“You are as in love as ever, aren’t you? ” (Mireille)

　Mireille, who was still in the room, muttered this quietly.

“M-Ms. Mireille!? Why are you here!?” (Lithia)

“Why? I was taking care of him.” (Mireille)

“Oh, that’s a lie. You are not the type to take care of someone like this.” (Ars)

“Yes, it’s true, Lad.” (Mireille)

“Yeah.” (Ars)

　I nodded.

　Mireille’s words were not a lie.

　After that, Mireille helped take care of me without going back.

　It was a rather surprising behavior. Was it just a whim, or was she unexpectedly kind?

“If you were to die now, I’d be in trouble too. I’ll at least look after you. I don’t have any medical knowledge, so I can’t help you with making antidotes or anything like that, though.” (Mireille)

　There also seemed to be some calculated thoughts behind it.

　Well, that would be more reassuring since I would know the reason. If a woman like Mireille is kind to me without knowing why, I’d be scared of what she might do to me later.

“Is that so? You’re not planning on doing anything strange, are you?” (Lithia)

“What kind of strange thing do you mean? You seem suspicious.” (Mireille)

“That’s only natural, considering how you normally behave.” (Lithia)

　Lithia said sternly.

　As for Mireille, he seemed to be a little offended.

“Hello~” (Verge)

　Someone entered the room with a cheerful voice. It was Verge who came in.

　He was carrying a large backpack.

　I wondered what he had brought with him.

“Oh, Lady Mireille-sama and Mistress Lithia, you look beautiful today too. And Lord Ars, have you improved a bit? Let’s blow away the poison and get well!” (Verge)

　He was still the same chatty guy.

　Although he can sometimes be a bit noisy, it is comforting when I’m sick and feeling mentally distressed.

“Yes, yes. So, what brings you here?” (Mireille)

　Mireille asked, brushing off the visible flattery from Verge.

“Oh, yes. I have been entrusted with a job by Sir Ritsu, and I have done it, but Sir Ritsu has collapsed, and I was wondering who I should report it to. I heard that Lady Mireille was in Lord Ars’s room, so I came to report to you.” (Verge)

“To me?” (Mireille)

“Yes. With Sir Ritsu sama unable to move and Lord Ars bedridden due to illness, there’s no doubt that Lady Mireille is the one we can rely on the most. I thought it would be rude to go to Ars-sama’s room, but I thought it would be better to report as soon as possible, so I went here.” (Verge)

“…I see. You’re quite the interesting man.” (Mireille)

　Mireille had a look on her face that didn’t seem entirely opposed.

　This woman is surprisingly easy to fool.

“So, what kind of work did you get from Ritsu? Is there anything good in that backpack of yours?” (Mireille)

“Umm, I was ordered by Sir Ritsu to buy a large number of books containing information about poisons and antidotes, so I brought some books that caught my eye and medicines that seem likely to be effective.” (Verge)

　He takes out various things from his backpack.

“This is a legendary elixir that works against all poisons… and this is a medicine that increases resistance to poison… what’s this? …uh, it’s a medicine that reduces pain against poisons to zero.” (Verge)

　Verge takes out medicine one by one.

　They seemed fishy. I wondered if he was tricked.

　Actually, the last drug isn’t an antidote. It’s a euthanasia drug.

“I’ve tried a lot of different medicines, so I don’t know if they’ll work now.” (Verge)

　Mireille also looks at the medicines suspiciously.

“That’s true… it would be bad if we try it carelessly and make it worse.” (Lithia)

　Lithia doesn’t seem very keen on it either.

“Um… well, I suppose that’s true… if we’re going to use it, someone might have to test it for poison… Oh, that’s right! And this. It was quite expensive, but I bought it because I thought it might be useful.” (Verge)

　Verge took something out of his backpack.

　It was a slightly glowing purple liquid.

　It doesn’t look like a medicine at all. It looks like a poison.

“What is that? Is it medicine?”

“This is poison ether! You can use it to cast poison magic. I thought that maybe Sir Ars’ poison could be poison magic, so I bought it. Apparently, poison magic stones can only be mined in Cansheep, and are a valuable commodity in Messiaen Province, so they are rarely available on the market, but I was lucky enough to find a small amount for sale.” (Verge)

　Poison magic?

　At first, when Natasha was hiding her status, her aptitude as a Magic Soldier was C, but when her disguise vanished and her true status was revealed, her aptitude as a Magic Soldier was A.

　Magic Soldier aptitude A is rare.

　With a B, you are at a level where you can become a magician.

　This means that she has a great sense of magic.

　I have only seen S in Charlotte. If you go that far, you may only be able to count on two hands in the Somerforce Empire.

　In any case, an A in Magic Soldier aptitude means that there’s a good chance that she’s quite skilled at using magic.

　She may also be able to control poison magic.

“Verge. It seems you haven’t studied poison magic enough yet.” (Mireille)

　Mireille said this in an admonishing tone.

“It is true that poison magic can produce poison, but it cannot produce a poison powerful enough to kill a person. You can create poisons that stop movement until the poison’s effect wears off, or that make the poisoned person physically ill and temporarily lower their abilities. It is sometimes used in warfare because obstructing the opponent’s actions gives you an advantage in battle, but it is not often used for assassination.” (Mireille)

　Is that so.

　I didn’t know because I hadn’t looked into it in detail. It’s rarely used in Messiaen battles either.

　From what I’ve heard, it seems to be a debuffing magic. Even if they can’t be killed by poison, it’s not weak.

“I see… N-No, but Sir Ritsu asked me to buy it for him if I found it…” (Verge)

　Verge gave an excuse.

“Ritsu…? That’s strange. I think he knows a lot about magic, but…” (Mireille)

　Mireille thinks for a moment.

“Hm… this is just my amateur opinion, but isn’t it possible that there is a little-known poison spell that can kill a person, and that the assassin knew about it and used it?” (Lithia)

　Lithia asked.

　Mireille doesn’t reply right away but thinks hard.

“…I know quite a bit about magic, but it’s not strange that a spell that isn’t well known to the public exists. In order to use it, you need a special catalyst engine other than the normal one. Normal catalyst engines can only use magic that is well known.” (Mireille)

“I see… so it’s not impossible.” (Lithia)

“However, the total amount of poison ether is not that large, so it should be difficult to develop. Developing new magic is difficult enough to begin with. The possibility doesn’t seem so high, but… Ritsu, did you think that any small possibility should be tried?” (Mireille)

　According to Mireille, the possibility of it being poison magic was low, but it was not zero.

　Natasha should have also had an A in Weaponry aptitude.

　It was entirely possible that she had made it herself.

　Even Femme, who should be knowledgeable about poisons, didn’t seem to have any idea what kind of poison had been used, so I thought it was quite possible that some kind of poison magic unknown to anyone had been used.

“If poison magic was used, how can we counteract it?” (Ars)

“Well, some poison magic does act as an antidote. Well, when I say antidote, I mean that the effect is to detoxify the poison from the poison magic. It has no effect on ordinary poisons. Even if the boy’s poison is from poison magic, I can’t say for sure that it is effective. To detoxify it, we may have to create a special catalyst engine for detoxification.” (Mireille)

　If we were to start making a detoxification catalyst engine now, we’d be in trouble.

　No matter what, I don’t think my body can last that long.

“For now, why don’t we try using a normal catalyst machine to see if the detoxification will work? Maybe it will work!” (Lithia)

　Lithia suggested.

　It’s certainly something we should try.

“Indeed, we should give it a try. The detoxifying effect increases the more skilled the person is in using magic, so… I think Charlotte should use it.” (Mireille)

“I’ll call them!” (Verge)

Verge said, running out of the room to call Charlotte.

Support the translator on lazytranslations.com