The Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health – Chapter 244

Author: Asternkm

Rena, who had followed Arellin when she went to the imperial palace with the Crown Prince, had already left the palace grounds long before Arellin disappeared.

“Rena, there’s something I need you to do.”

Arellin had smiled brightly as she made a request that Rena could never refuse, so Rena had left on her own. Only later, after learning what had happened inside the palace, did a chill run down her spine.

So the young lady had everything planned.

She had followed along because seeing Arellin so meekly being led away by Pession had triggered a vague sense of danger—but still.

“As expected, His Highness the Crown Prince can’t win against our young lady.”

Even when they were children, it had been the same. On the surface, it always looked like Arellin was the one being pushed around—but when it really mattered, it was always Pession who gave in.

That was probably why everyone in the childcare group had liked seeing the two of them together so much.

Even though His Highness’s once-bright smile can no longer be found.

Rena had watched the two of them since childhood, and because of that, she firmly believed that Pession would never be able to beat Arellin.

The real problem was their young lady herself…

“Oh dear. When she was little, I worried because she was too mature. Now I’m scared because I never know when she’ll cause trouble.”

The errand Arellin had given Rena was this: go find Mehen and keep him occupied.

“What brings you here, Rena?”

“The young lady sent me.”

“Arell…?”

Perhaps because she’d spent so many years assisting him, Rena naturally helped Mehen organize documents as she suddenly asked,

“What was the thing that disappointed you most about His Grace the Grand Duke, Mehen?”

Mehen glanced at her at the unexpected question before answering,

“When he shut himself away in the northern castle and left me in charge of childcare while barely answering messages.”

“Ah.”

“Did Arell ask you to?”

Rena gave an awkward smile.

“So, what is our princess curious about this time?”

Mehen set down the documents and looked at her. Rena replied with a light smile.

“She asked me to ask whether you still want to leave Halbern—but I already know the answer. You don’t, do you?”

“…That’s right. It’s already far too late to leave.”

Mehen gave a bitter smile. From the day he made that reckless promise to Arellin, he had become a ghost bound to Halbern.

“But why would Arellin even be curious about that?”

“She said it’s important for finding His Grace the Grand Duke.”

“…?”

“What did she say exactly… ‘I’m the one who’ll save Dad, but the one who returns is you, Mehen.’”

Mehen’s expression twisted into something indescribable.

“And she told me to make sure you don’t leave.”

Mehen stared at her as if she were speaking nonsense, then pressed a hand to his forehead.

“Arell…”

What on earth are you talking about?

****

The Southern Mage Tower in Gairen was smaller than the one in the capital.

“This is the usual size.”

“Ohh.”

“There’s a reason the capital’s tower is called the ‘Central Mage Tower.’”

“Oho. Genius?”

“Ahem.”

As Jemello smugly showed off common knowledge everyone already knew—and I clapped along—other members of the investigation team cast us cold looks.

In any case, the Southern Mage Tower, located at the very center of Gairen, welcomed us with almost suspicious enthusiasm.

“Finally—finally, reinforcements from the outside!”

“Oh, we’re saved!”

It was the complete opposite of the cityscape we’d seen on the way here.

“Why are they so happy?”

“Yeah. We’re not even reinforcements.”

“Shh. Let’s just pretend we are.”

Telling the truth felt cruel when the Southern Mage Tower mages were staring at us like saviors, their appearances uniformly dire.

Deep dark circles, gaunt, skull-like faces, robes wrinkled beyond saving, and the cluttered interior of the tower.

“What the hell happened here?”

Jemello, having finally gathered himself upon entering the tower, stepped forward to ask. Summarizing the mages’ explanation, it went like this:

“An abnormal phenomenon suddenly occurred near the ruins, and the tower automatically deployed its built-in barrier magic?”

But there was a problem—Southern Mage Tower didn’t have much in the way of mana stone reserves.

“Since we can immediately purchase mana stones from the ruins, we never stockpiled them… and then this happened.”

To maintain a barrier of this scale, ordinary mana stones wouldn’t suffice. Their reserves had been depleted in just a week, and now the mages were taking turns in groups of thirty to supply mana directly.

“So that’s why they all looked like beggars.”

Exhausted beyond belief, most of the Southern Mage Tower mages were already asleep.

“At first, we rotated daily shifts, but it kept getting harder to maintain, and now…”

Seeing the mage break into tears, the mages of the investigation team exchanged troubled looks.

“Do we have any mana stones?”

“We only brought some for investigation artifacts—about ten.”

“I’ve only got three emergency ones myself.”

Compared to the absurd amount of mana stones required to maintain the barrier, their supplies were nothing more than a drop in the bucket.

“Ah…”

Just as the Southern Mage Tower mage’s face, which had been bright with hope, began to sink back into despair—

“It’s fine. I’m here.”

Jemello, somehow already holding his mage staff, slammed it heavily against the floor.

At the same time, silvery mana spread outward across the tower floor.

The mana flowing from the ground climbed up the walls of the tower, reached the highest level, and shot straight into the sky.

Wooooong—

The overwhelming surge of mana shook not only the tower, but even the ground of the city itself.

Yet more than the sudden quake, people stared wide-eyed at the five lights that appeared in the fog-covered sky.

“S-stars… those are stars…”

“Stars…!”

Stars manifesting in the daytime sky.

The immense presence was impossible to ignore—mages who had been unconscious jolted awake in shock, their bodies trembling.

*****

The Southern Mage Tower looked as though a storm had swept through it.

Mages who had collapsed after being drained by the barrier felt Jemello’s mana, opened their eyes all at once, and immediately surrounded him.

“For a moment I thought some celebrity had shown up…”

They soon dispersed, exhausted as they were, but the sight of mages surrounding Jemello with eyes full of reverence left a strong impression on me.

So this is how incredible a star-ranked mage is.

“He’s amazing, isn’t he?”

“We see him fairly often since we’re at the Central Mage Tower.”

“But at branch towers or other mage towers, it’s hard to see one even once in a hundred years.”

That rare?

“A star-ranked mage is the dream of every mage.”

The investigation team mages who stayed behind to clean up told me about the efforts—and even the extremes—ordinary mages went to in hopes of being chosen by the stars.

“One mage I knew went deep into the mountains and prayed every single day, but still wasn’t chosen.”

“There was another who thought doing over a thousand good deeds might work—he spent his life volunteering and passed away like that.”

“Even the person who first developed magitech never received the stars’ choice.”

They all sighed, saying that only those with true talent could ever be chosen by the stars.

Listening to them left me with a complicated feeling.

“They say it’s not the stars that choose the mage—the mage has to find the stars first.”

“…What?”

The mages, who had been listing bizarre stories of failure, turned to look at me.

“That’s what my master said. It’s not that the stars choose first—it’s that the mage chooses the stars.”

She’d said the stars, too, were desperately searching for a mage who could fulfill their wishes.

Well, from a planet’s perspective, it made sense. Compared to their view, beings like us clinging to a continent would be far too small to notice.

Of course, that didn’t answer every question.

“Then why did they bless me?”

When I asked that—having suddenly received the blessing of all the stars—my master had only looked at me in silence.

Her expression clearly said she knew the answer, but couldn’t tell me.

I’ll ask about that later too.

I finally got healthy and just wanted to live my life, but things kept piling up.

“S-so that means… we choose…?”

“It’s not the stars that choose…?”

Leaving the confused mages behind, I went over to Jemello.

The same Jemello who had effortlessly done what even all the Southern Mage Tower mages working together could barely manage now looked at me with a pitiful expression.

“I can’t move anymore. I can’t leave the tower. Do it for me.”

You’re dumping work on me now?!

I shot him a glare at the unexpected request, and Jemello immediately begged.

“Please. The fate of the city is in your hands.”

“I don’t need that kind of fate.”

“Please!”

“How did I even end up like this…”

“You were going to look for your dad anyway, right? Do the investigation while you’re at it.”

“…Fine. I’ll help.”

I should’ve known—of course I’d get dragged into this.

“Oh, did you ask the other mages? They said they don’t know either?”

“Yes. I asked earlier, but no one said they’d seen anyone who looks like me.”