Published: August 3, 2025
If Dirk truly is a self-eater with immense mana, then until we can borrow a magic tool that absorbs mana, there’s a risk of danger. I want at least one method to avoid any hazards.
“Lutz, please. Go to the forest and get some Tau Fruit. If we place it where the ground beneath the workshop has soil, it should keep for a while, right?”
I called Lutz, who was in the workshop, up to the second floor of my room and whispered this request near the door so Darmel, who was standing nearby, couldn’t overhear. It’s better if the nobles don’t find out about the Tau Fruit.
When I glanced at Dirk, Lutz seemed to understand the situation just from that and nodded quietly, then immediately ran off toward the forest. With this, we should be able to avoid a situation where Dirk suddenly loses control of his mana and dies.
“Myne-sama, you have permission for a meeting.”
Fran returned with a tired look. Since I had made another urgent request just a day after yesterday’s, the high priest and Arnaud seemed displeased, but it couldn’t be helped—it really was an urgent matter.
Whether Dirk is a self-eater, how much mana he has, and how to handle him—I had a lot to discuss with the high priest.
“If I’m taking Dirk to the high priest’s room, would it be better not to leave him with Wilma today? Fran, could you take Dirk?”
I planned to bring Dirk, the subject of the matter, to the high priest’s room, but Delia embraced Dirk protectively, and Fran slowly shook her head.
“Myne-sama, we cannot take an unbaptized orphan out of the orphanage.”
Since my room doubles as the orphanage director’s office, it can be considered part of the orphanage, but apparently, I can’t take Dirk to the high priest’s room. I had forgotten this since Dirk has been in the forest, but now that I think about it, unbaptized children are supposed to be confined to the orphanage so they don’t come under the eyes of the azure priests.
“…I thought it would be better to bring Dirk when discussing with the high priest, but it can’t be helped.”
As usual, I headed to the high priest’s room with Fran and Darmel.
When the high priest saw me enter, he looked somewhat troubled.
“Myne, what is it this time?”
“I believe this is a very important matter. Is it okay to discuss it here?”
I lowered my voice a bit and glanced cautiously around the room. The high priest raised his eyebrows slightly and handed over an eavesdropping prevention magic tool.
“Is this matter so important that you’re worried about prying eyes?”
“…Yes. About the infant from yesterday, Dirk—I believe he is a self-eater.”
“What?”
I explained what I had observed about Dirk this morning. The high priest frowned deeply and sighed heavily.
“It depends on the amount of mana… but if symptoms appear even in an infant, it’s certain that his mana quantity is considerable.”
“So he’s definitely a self-eater?”
“Indeed.”
The high priest nodded solemnly, tapping his temple lightly with his fingertips as he looked at me.
“Depending on the amount of mana, it might be best to make him contract with a noble as soon as possible.”
“A contract…”
“Otherwise, he cannot survive.”
His words made me grip the eavesdropping prevention magic tool tightly.
To contract with a noble means to be given magic tools necessary for survival but to become enslaved to the noble, who extracts mana from you and keeps you in captivity for life. Thinking about my infant brother Dirk’s future made my body tremble.
“High priest, is it impossible to make him an azure priest who provides mana like me or to make him a noble’s adopted son?”
“It costs money to raise that infant as an azure priest. Who is going to pay that amount?”
Having become a blue shrine maiden apprentice, I know all too well how expensive this life is. Even running the Myne workshop, I nearly slipped into the red before the winter retreat. Clothes, shoes, and personal items are all pricey.
“You earned the necessary expenses yourself, but can you expect the same from an orphan infant?”