Published: August 10, 2026
"Lord Ferdinand!"
I could see Ferdinand lying face down, looking weakened as mana was continuously being drained from him by the active magic circle. I had to move him off the magic circle and stop the mana replenishment. I rushed over, set down the medicine box, then used physical enhancement to flip Ferdinand over from his stomach onto his back, slid my hands under his sides, and dragged him to the wall where there was no magic circle.
"Maybe it was lucky that I grew this much... There's a limit to how much physical enhancement can do with a child's body."
I thanked arnvax, the god of nurturing, and asked, "Please let me get a little bigger," before checking his breathing. His breathing seemed normal for now, so I put him into the recovery position on his side and picked up the medicine box.
"Um, if someone is unconscious, first comes Yureve..."
Just as Justox had explained, I used the device like a feeding tip meant for giving medicine to someone unconscious and poured Yureve into him. As you can tell from the fact that I spent two years soaking in it and dissolving a clump of mana, if he had been hit with a poison that would instantly turn him into a mana stone, Yureve would be the most effective.
I had been given medicine while unconscious many times myself, but this was my first time doing it to someone else. Nervous, I poured Yureve into his mouth.
...If the clump has only just formed, it should dissolve easily. Come on, Yureve.
With that thought, I layered Flutlene and Lungshmeil's healing over it as well, hoping it would help relieve the poison state and aid his recovery just a little.
"Next is the antidote."
Just as had been done to me with Ferdinand, I stuffed a cloth soaked with antidote into his mouth. If the numbness in his tongue eased even a little, breathing would become easier and it would be easier for him to take medicine.
...Oh. Did his mouth move a little?
As I watched closely, I saw a faint movement. I pulled the cloth out once, soaked it with antidote again, and put it back in his mouth to check his condition. His mouth moved slightly, and I felt like his breathing became a little shallower.
When I pulled the cloth out again, this time I used something like a dropper to slowly drip the extremely bitter healing medicine into his mouth. It would leave his mouth filled with a terrible taste when he woke up, but this would rapidly restore both his mana and stamina. Just as I thought, "There, that should do it," Ferdinand suddenly began coughing violently.
...W-what?! Did I mess up somewhere?!
I had experienced many times what it was like to wake up with an incredibly horrible taste in my mouth, but I had never been forced to drink medicine while unconscious and then choked and writhed around. It seemed my method had been wrong.
"S-s-sorry! This wasn't how it was supposed to go!"
As I leaned over him, rubbing his back while peering at Ferdinand as he coughed in pain, he suddenly grabbed my arm.
"Eh?"
Before I could even wonder if he had regained consciousness, my arm was yanked with such speed that our positions were instantly reversed. While I blinked in confusion at not understanding what had happened, Ferdinand, who should have still been unconscious until just now, had pinned me down, grabbed both of my wrists, and pressed his weight down on me. The chain of the manacles binding Ferdinand's wrists dug into my neck.
"Who are you?"
Between painful breaths, his cautious voice and the sharp, narrowed gaze he gave me as if looking at a stranger he could not understand made it clear that Ferdinand did not recognize me as rosemine. With the chain making it hard to breathe, I desperately shouted my name.
"I'm rosemine!"
...I got bigger all of a sudden, but please understand! And stop putting strength into your hands a little! The chain hurts!
"...Rose...mine?"
After a brief silence, Ferdinand, who had been staring down at me from up close, made the chain rattle as he lifted one hand a little.
"...Impossible. rosemine is this size."
"What do you mean, impossible!? She's never been that tiny, like a stuffed toy, not once since we met—gehk!?"