“Yesterday, Rock went to the northern mountains to catch some mountain deer, and came back with these children.”


  The village chief, Giebeck, explained the details to Jin.

  There were a couple of beds in front of Jin and the others, and a boy and a girl were sleeping there.

  The girl had clear white skin and long silver hair. The boy had dark skin and short dark brown hair.

  They both seemed to be around 14 or 15 years old.

  “They have yet to wake up, but Sally said it’s due to fatigue and hunger.”


  “…Sally?”


  “Ah, err… I mean, Dr. Sally said.”


  After realizing he had called her simply “Sally” and not “Dr. Sally” like everybody else in the village, Giebeck’s face had turned a little red with embarrassment.

  Jin had a hunch about the meaning of Giebeck’s sudden nervousness, but frankly enough, he found no pleasure in seeing a middle-aged man such as him making such an expression. So Jin decided to change the topic.

  “Do we know their names?”


  “Hmm, I can’t say we do. All we know is that we’ve never seen clothes like the ones these two are wearing.”


  Even though he said that, it was impossible to tell that at a glance, since the two children were completely tucked up in blankets.

  Sally, who seemed to have been preparing medicine in the back, came back to the room. Then, he turned to Jin with a serious face.

  “Jin, I want to hear your opinion. …What are they?”


  Judging by her choice of words, Jin perceived that Sally had a slight hunch that those two children could not be ordinary human beings.

  “I… can’t say for sure. But one thing is certain, and that is that they came from a far away place.”


  Jin tried to be as vague as possible in his reply.

  “Hmm, far away, you say? Judging from the place where they were found and the heavy clothes they were wearing, they couldn’t have come from anywhere but the north.”


  Sally looked towards the wall. There were two heavy fur cloaks hanging from it.

  “That’s Snow Tiger fur, right?”


  Reiko muttered just those few words.

  “Snow Tiger?”


  Jin, Sally, and Giebeck all stared at Reiko at the same time.

  “Yes. It’s a magical beast that lives in the forest way to the north of here. On my 11th transfer back when I was searching for Father, I came across such beasts and named them ‘Snow Tigers’ due to their appearance.”


  The white coat of fur with black horizontal stripes certainly looked like that of a tiger. It was very similar to the fur of the white tigers that could be found on modern Earth.

  “Master, both Dr. Sally and myself agree that they seem hungry for magical power.”


  Sally’s assistant, Nurse Gamma, also arrived. She had a feeding cup in her hand.

  “Well, that’s right. But I don’t understand why they don’t seem to have recovered at all after an entire day… Oh, it’s completely different from the ‘Magical Exhaustion Fever’ I heard before. It’s like their magical power has completely vanished and won’t recover.”


  According to Sally, if it was a case of Magical Exhaustion Fever, they wouldn’t be able to take things so leisurely due to its contagion risk.

  “That’s why I was formulating a drug that restores Mana in the body.”


  That seemed to be what was in the feeding cup that Nurse Gamma was holding.

  “Ah, just in case, there’s no monster blood or any other animal products in it.”


  Since she had been once persecuted for it, Sally was making daily efforts to avoid using animal products when concocting medicine.

  “This is a refined version of the Pelshika Juice you gave me.”


  Sally seemed to have arrived at that idea through her own efforts. However, she might have received some help from Nurse Gamma.

  Solids such as dietary fiber would have had to be removed, and then she would have had to increase the concentration of Mana through centrifugation. Of course, the one to do the actual work would have had to be Gamma.

  (Reiko, get ready to use your ‘Paralyze’ spell at a moment’s notice. Then summon the Land Units here.)

  (Understood.)

  (Also, have the Land Units prepare their own ‘Paralyze’ spells as well.)

  (Yes, Father.)

  (‘Barrier’)

  Through Reiko, Jin issued instructions to be prepared in case of something unexpected happening.

  Then, for his last insurance measure…


  (‘Transinfo Lv8 - Mild’)

  Using “Transinfo” on the children, Jin copied their knowledge. That way, he could analyze it later, even if the children were to try to hide anything from him.

  Sally was using a feeding cup to try to get the girl to drink the medicine, while Nurse Gamma was doing the same to the boy.

  The liquid that had the effect of recovering Mana was given to the two children little by little.

  About 1 minute later…


  “…”


  The girl’s eyelids started to tremble, and she finally opened her eyes.

  Then, she became stiff the moment she noticed Nurse Gamma staring at her.

  “…Eek!”


  “Ah, it’s okay. Don’t worry.”


  The girl turned to the voice she heard, and found Sally’s smiling face.

  “H… Hu…”


  The girl’s complexion became even more pale than usual.

  “Oh, don’t overdo it. Take another sip.”


  Sally offered her the cup, which still had more than half of its contents left. The startled girl held the medicine in her mouth.

  ＊　　　＊　　　＊


  “…Um… T-Thank you… very much…”


  After calming herself down, the girl thanked Sally.

  “Don’t mention it. How are you feeling? Are you hungry?”


  “Ah, yes…”


  Upon hearing that, Sally went to the kitchen. It was almost as if she was in her own house.

  “It seems the boy has regained consciousness.”


  Gamma’s words urged Jin to look towards the boy, who seemed to have finally opened his eyes. The boy slowly moved his head, looking around the room.

  “Young lady! Oh, I’m glad…”


  The boy started coughing, probably because he started to speak too loudly all of a sudden. Gamma helped him lay on his side and rubbed his back.

  “Ah, Lucas, I’m fine. These hu… people, are nice.”


  The girl then turned around towards everybody else and respectfully bowed her head.

  “Thank you very much for helping us. My name is Shion.”


  A second look at the girl that had introduced herself as Shion revealed that her silver hair was waist-long, and her skin as white as paper. She also had impressive-looking eyes, as blue as the winter sky.

  On the other hand, the boy named Lucas had short dark-brown hair, dark skin, and black eyes. They contrasted so much with one another that they were like light and shadow.

  “Well, you shouldn’t force yourself to speak too much. First, eat this.”


  Sally had brought a pot of stew from the kitchen. It wasn’t too hot or too cold.

  “T-Thank you very much.”


  “Thank you very much.”


  Lucas and Shion thanked her and began to devour the stew. They seemed to have been very hungry.

  “That stew isn’t going anywhere, you know? Besides, there’s plenty more of it in the kitchen.”


  Smiling bitterly, Sally couldn’t hide her delight about how energetic her patients seemed to be.

  Since the children had been advised not to speak too much for now, Jin and the others left the room.

  “So, Doctor, do you think maybe I could have a word with them tomorrow?”


  “Hmm. Well, they should be better by tomorrow.”


  “Understood. I’ll come back tomorrow then.”


  Jin decided to return home for the day.

  ＊　　　＊　　　＊


  “Laojun, please put Kaina Village in an ongoing state of high alert. But also keep it in absolute secrecy.”


  “Understood. There is a high possibility that those two are demons. Measures against Gravity Magic, Enslavement Magic, and the like will be put in place. Also, I’ll prepare means to neutralize them, or even kill them, if necessary. We will not allow any harm to come to the people of Kaina Village.”


  “Thank you.”


  Laojun armed 20 Army Golems -Land Units 1 to 20- with countermeasures to Gravity Magic, Plasma Swords, Paralyzers, and so on, and sent them to Kaina Village.

  Also, five Falcons were set on standby over the skies of Kaina Village.

  Jin stayed at his house next to Martha’s house and left Covert Units to stand close watch over the surrounding area. Reiko never left Jin’s side.

  Then, after the day went by without any incidents, night came, and then the morning of August 5th began.