We decide to wait in sickbay.

　Soon, we hear the door open.
　It's Ray who walks in.
　He walks straight to his mother and stares at her face.

''Mother.........''

　No reply. Sheila continues to sleep.

'The magic sword tournament we won. Tomorrow is the final.

　He reports to Sheila, who doesn't say a word, nonchalantly.

''Can you wait until tomorrow?　I'll help you....

　There is no usual smile on Ray's face.
　He looks at his mother's face sadly.

'What's happening tomorrow?'

　Ray turned around in the direction of the voice.
　The faint fog that drifted in the air turned into the figure of Misa.

　In a tone of agreement, Ray says.

'I thought it started raining weirdly all of a sudden. I didn't expect it to come here, though.

'Because I couldn't for the life of me believe that Mr. Ray had become an imperialist of his own volition.

　Ray gives a hard-to-read smile of thought.

'I'm a liar,'

"....a liar doesn't call a liar a liar...

　At Misa's words, but without losing his expression, Ray said, "Are you alone?

'Are you alone?'

Yes,

　It's a lie, of course. I'm hiding my appearance with the fusca of mass.
　If you don't make a bad move, you won't be noticed.

"Then I'm sorry, but could you please not tell Anos?

''........Is it okay to say that? You mean someone is threatening you not to tell Anos-sama, right?

Do you think so?

I'm sure Anos-sama will be able to help.

It won't help me or my mother when he finds out, though.

　I knew I was being threatened.

What do you mean?

'As you can see, my mother is sick. It's called the Spiritual Disease, and perhaps because it only affects half-spiritual and half-demonic people, ordinary doctors can't cure her.

　Misa turns her gaze to Sheila.

''Well what kind of disease is it?''

''I've heard that your magic power has weakened and your roots have become diluted, and over time you'll disappear like this.

What's the treatment?

　Ray shook his head.

'I wouldn't have joined the Imperialists if they had taught me that.

Can you really get better in this hospital?

Ever since she contracted the genie disease, my mother's magic power has been decreasing day by day. But after she was admitted to this magic clinic, there was a lull in her magical power. They say it can be cured. Even if it was a lie, I had no choice but to believe in it.

　If there's a way to keep the lull going, then you've identified the cause of the disease.
　If we can figure that out, I guess we can cure her.

''In exchange for getting my mother cured, I have a few things I have to do. One of them is to fight Anos in the magic sword tournament. The magic sword of the contract is now embedded in my body, so if I do the wrong thing, I will die. If I die, they'll have no reason to keep my mother alive.

　The magic sword of the contract? ＜It's a magical tool with even more force than the Zekt.
　If you break the contract, what awaits you is certain death that will extinguish even the source.

Telling Anos about this will mean we made a mistake in our contract.

Shouldn't you not have told me about this...?

I trust you won't tell anyone.

What...?

It's a lie.

　In an instant, Ray approached Misa.
　Misa tried to melt into the fog and disappear, but Ray slashed through all of its magic techniques with the magic sword Inytio.

　＜The effect of the
　Ray looked around.

''........It really seems like I'm alone......''

　＜I'm sure he used the magic of Fusca to make sure no one else was hiding.
　I'm not sure if it's anyone, but rather me.

　It's true that Fusca's spell on me has disappeared, but since I've made myself invisible with my Reimagining and hid my magic with my Secret Magic Power, I won't be found if I keep my breath.

　The reason why I asked Misa to use the magic of is to make her believe that there is nothing more to hide as long as it is eliminated.

'Well then...'

　Grabbing both of Missa's arms and folding them together, Ray took out a jaggedly shaped dagger from his pocket.
　He swung it down at Misa without hesitation.

　Without a second thought, Misa closed her eyes, but the dagger wasn't stuck in her body.
　It was her shadow that Ray stabbed into it.

'I'm sorry. You'll have to stay here until after the finals tomorrow.''

　Misa tries to blend in with the fog, but she seems to be unable to successfully manipulate the magic of the
''........What is this dagger.......?''

It's called the shadow stitching dagger. If a shadow is sewn into the dagger, it can only move within the range of the shadow. You can't even use magic that would cause you to lose an entity.

　I knew it would come to that.
　I guess part of the contract is to keep the people who know about the situation from talking.

　Is it better that it wasn't a contract that says "kill"?
　Well, if you bind them too much with a contract, they will have to be killed even though they don't have to be.
　In some cases, it just makes things worse.

"This room is equipped with an anti-magic device that disrupts magical communication. ＜You won't be able to use your leaks to summon help.

When I'm gone, I'm sure all those suspicious Unificationists will come to my aid.

'I suppose. But we won't be ready for the final tomorrow. That's good enough for me.

　Misa stared and asked.

'What are you going to do?'

'I'm sorry. I can't tell you.

　To put it another way, the magic sword of the contract bared its fangs, right?

Who did that to Mr. Ray?

It's Demon Emperor Elio. As far as I know.

　Erio is a puppet. Probably the person who planned this is the unidentified demon tribe running this magic clinic.
　From the situation, it seems that that guy is definitely related to Avos Dilhevia.

　Ray walked to the corner of the room and brought a chair and placed it behind Misa.
　He smiles thinly when Misa looks at him suspiciously. He would say, "Sit down.

　Mass quietly sits down in the chair.

'You got me into this,'

　Hearing Ray's words, Mass laughed back.

'No, sir.'

　Ray looks back at Mass as if to ask what he means.

'Ray-san got involved. In a fight between the Unificationists and the Imperialists. So I'm sorry.

　Ray rolls his eyes, wondering if that was a line he hadn't expected to hear.

'I didn't expect to get an apology from you for going to all this trouble.

That's because Mr. Ray is a softie.

'No, you don't. I'm a liar.

　Jokingly, he smiles briskly, as usual.

''And if it wasn't for the Unificationists and the Imperialists fighting, my mother would be long dead by now.

　That may be so.
　The reason Sheila's condition has remained in a lull is probably because of the demon clan that controls this magic clinic.

　If it weren't for the disputes between the Unification Faction and the Imperialist Faction, that is to say, if it weren't for Avos Dilhevia, they wouldn't have been able to use Rey to cure Sheila's spirit disease.

''Can I ask you something?''

I'm afraid I can't tell you what you want to know.

No, it's about your mother.

My mother?

　He seemed surprised.

'I suppose it doesn't hurt to ask.

So I can tell you, right?

　Misa smirked.
　Ray chuckled as if he'd been pushed aside.

'You're a strange one to ask that at a time like this.

You're not your own mother, are you?

Yeah. I come from a family of Jessies originally.

From that famous family of magic?

I see. In the Jesta family, there is a secret magic that is passed down from generation to generation. The children born into the Jesta family have been able to use their magic from the start, but for some reason I wasn't able to pass it on. But for some reason I wasn't able to pass on the magic.

　Inheriting magic is a form of root magic. It's a type of magic that is inherited, a part of one's source is shared with one's children. However, there are rare cases where the inheritance of that magic does not go well.
　Most likely, the child's root source is influenced by a stronger root magic.
　For example, the magic of .

"After I ruined the magic passed down from my ancestors, they said I was a failure and threw me away.

When did you say you were abandoned?

'I think I was five or so. I honestly didn't know what to do and I was at my wits' end. The Jestas were in power in my home town, and no one wanted to help me. I guess they just expected me to die in my sleep. I wandered the streets for a few days with little to eat, and I was so hungry that I finally couldn't move. I was so hungry, I could barely move, and then someone reached out to me.

That's your mother, Mrs. Ray, isn't it?

　Ray nodded.

'They took me home, gave me a hot meal and a bed to sleep in. He gave me a hot meal and a bed, and then let me stay in the house. But that was the reason for my mother's anger with the Jesuits. She threatened to quit her job if I didn't support her. But she didn't throw me out. We moved to a town where the Jespers couldn't reach me.

You're a very kind person, Mr. Ray's mother.

　When Mass uttered that, Ray smiled happily.

'I asked you why you helped me when I was growing up.

What did he say?

My mother was abandoned by her father. My mother's father was a member of the royal family. Her mother is a genie. You know exactly why he left her, don't you?

　Misa nodded with a sad face.
　As a member of the royalist faction, if it was known that she had a child of mixed blood, she wouldn't be able to justify it.
　He would have to abandon his own child in order to protect himself.

That's why he said he couldn't leave me alone after he abandoned me.

　'I see,' said Misa softly.

My mother raised me as if I were her own child. But my mother was born with a weak body. I don't know the cause of this, and my magic power is diminishing and my roots are becoming more and more diluted. In the end, she developed a spirit disease and hasn't regained consciousness for a year.

　The magic power is decreasing more and more, right?
　In that case, there is often an abnormality at the root, or the path of magic power inside the body is out of whack, but in Sheila's case, it was normal.

''After visiting various magic clinics, I finally arrived here.

　Just when you think you've managed to get the treatment to keep you in a lull, you're offered a deal.
　In terms of timing, you met him when you went out with Misha, that time?

'....I can't allow....

　Misa muttered. I could see her indignation.



　Ray smiled in annoyance.
　Then he said.

'Thank you for being angry with me.'

　Ray turned on his heel and headed for the door.

'I'm sorry,'

　He said that over his back and left the hospital room.