Chapter Sixty-One: What One Is Capable of Doing

Three days had passed since the rescue of Lyon’s mother. During that time, Ruby and Mayuna had returned to the little cabin to visit Akua. The lonely mermaid clung to Ruby, showering him with affection for quite a while. Before leaving, Ruby once again received a bounty of pearls, which made him realize that things couldn’t continue like this forever. Yet he could not think of a solution for now, so he left her with plenty of books and food.

“Nana, where’s Ruby?”

Tinasia once again arrived at Mayuna’s residence, scanning the room in search of the person who was always tinkering with small things, but her search ended in failure.

“He’s been called away by Lyon...” Mayuna lay sprawled on the sofa, listlessly fiddling with her companion, replying with little energy. She couldn’t help but think that Lyon was truly restless—rather than staying with his recovering mother, he kept coming to find Ruby, which meant her time with Ruby was much diminished. With Dragon gone, there was nothing left for her to play with. She was nearly tempted to engineer an accident so he’d be bedridden for a few days.

“Where are they?”

“The Grand Library.”

“He really does love reading. Then I’ll go find them.”

“Wait, I’ll go with you.”

In the Grand Library, Ruby sat engrossed in the History of the Continent. The information here was indeed abundant—he was reading about how, roughly one thousand years ago, the Demon King Satan led his demon army to invade the Holy Continent.

“Wait, Demon King Satan?”

Ruby was perplexed. The Demon King Satan, enemy of the God of Light, had no clear record of his death, but had vanished from the annals of history, while the God of Light continued to shine upon the world. Wasn’t the victor obvious? Yet here, another Satan had appeared.

“Don’t understand? This isn’t the Satan who opposed the God of Light, but the second Demon King. According to the customs of the Demon Realm, any Demon King can be called Satan.”

Lyon, as gentle as a lion, remained close by Ruby’s side. His mother was indeed important, but at this stage he could do nothing more for her. Seeing her gradually recover, Lyon decided to help Ruby instead. As Ruby needed someone to unlock the library books for him, Lyon became his professional commentator.

“So that’s how it is. Defeated by the Sword Saint, shattered the void and fled... What’s this?”

Ruby nodded. The inheritance of the Demon King’s name made sense. Reading further, he was puzzled again—wasn’t this a world of magicians? How did a Sword Saint appear?

“The Sword Saint is actually what we now call a Saint of Magic, but since he came from the Blackstone Empire, he excelled in physical combat, primarily using swords supplemented by magic. It’s said that during that great war, even the celestial realm intervened. The Sword Saint was chosen by the angels.”

“Afterward, the Demon King Satan left a prophecy before departing: ‘Soon, another Demon King inheriting the name of Satan will invade the Holy Continent, reclaim what belongs to him.’ Reclaim what?”

Ruby was at a loss for words, continuing to read, but found that the Demon King’s words were recorded with a deliberate gap, as if intentionally left incomplete.

“No one knows. The Demon King spoke in the demon language, and translating it to this extent was already a feat.”

“That’s really interesting.”

Ruby put away the papers, intending to read another book. As for whether the Demon King’s prophecy had been fulfilled, there seemed to be no record to this day. Perhaps his ‘soon’ was only soon from his perspective; these thousand years had been remarkably peaceful for the Holy Continent.

Behind Ruby, a tall young woman was creeping up, careful not to make a sound. Even Tinasia, foolish princess though she might be, knew not to speak loudly in the library. She did her best to keep her armor from clanking, so as not to disturb others.

“Tinasia, if you’ve come to talk about that matter again, you can go back.”

Ruby spoke without turning around, as if he had eyes in the back of his head. His words stuffed everything Tinasia wanted to say right back into her mouth, leaving her exasperated.

“I just don’t understand why you won’t share your medical knowledge with others. If you don’t want to teach, fine—but why won’t you help those suffering from illness?”

Tinasia puffed her cheeks in imitation of Mayuna, but soon realized that acting spoiled didn’t suit her and gave up. After Ruby performed the incomprehensible kidney transplant in the other world, His Majesty the Emperor prepared to shower him with rewards, hoping he would teach his miraculous medical skills to those willing to learn.

But Ruby refused. The conversation ended unpleasantly. With Mayuna protecting him, the emperor wouldn’t press Ruby further, only lamenting that talented people always had strange tempers.

“First, those techniques require specific equipment to be realized. To teach others, I’d have to make the equipment first. That’s not something that can be accomplished in a year or two—unless everyone has a Dragon.”

Ruby had no intention of using his technology to alter the development of this other world, nor of becoming a healer to all. Otherwise, he would have left Dris long ago to spread the wonders of science. Even if his knowledge ended up in the grave, he felt that was perfectly acceptable.

“Second, there are countless patients in the world. Even if I worked day and night without rest, I couldn’t cure them all.”

“But with great power comes great responsibility. You worked so hard to save strangers...”

Tinasia couldn’t understand. She always thought Ruby was a warm-hearted person, willing to help even those he’d never met, but now she realized she might have been mistaken. Today, Ruby seemed unusually cold.

“That’s because I saw them. I did say I wouldn’t let anyone die before my eyes, but only if I see them. I won’t go out of my way to seek such people. Doing so would only burden my life.”

Ruby’s experiences made it difficult for him to turn a blind eye to the dying, but that wasn’t reason enough to shackle himself. It was simply the mindset of ‘unable to bear witnessing death.’ In the past, he lacked the ability and could only watch those around him disappear one by one. Now that he had the power, he no longer wanted to see anyone die in front of him—but those he didn’t see, what concern were they of his?

“Then you could set a limit—one patient a day, or one every two days...”

Tinasia wouldn’t give up. The princess, devoted to her people, wanted to drag Ruby into her cause, but he remained stubbornly unmoved.

“You overestimate what I can do. Even I cannot cure every illness. When a patient with an incurable disease comes to me, hoping for a miracle, and I am powerless, do you know what kind of despair will appear on their faces? I cannot bear that responsibility.”

“I...”

Tinasia was inherently unsuited for politics; the fact that she never gained a voice showed as much. Ruby’s words left her unable to retort.

“Enough. You’ll never win an argument with him, and I don’t support him doing such things anyway. He already spends so little time with me—do you want me to never see him again?”

Mayuna tapped the green-haired princess on the head, urging her to give up. She had no desire for Ruby to be busy all day and return home only at night—she’d starve waiting for him. As for the sick, the Lady of Magic believed that people were destined to die. As Ruby said, even if he worked day and night, he couldn’t save everyone. Better to let things be.

“Mr. Ruby, I’ll take my leave...”

Lyon, feeling uneasy under Mayuna’s gaze, sensed that her remark about Ruby’s time was intentional. Facing the Lady of Magic’s stare, the Golden Sword Lion could only retreat, saying his farewell to Ruby before leaving.

“Mr. Ruby, what kind of person are you really?”

On his way back, Lyon couldn’t help but mutter to himself. He had been listening throughout; Ruby and Mayuna’s words were somewhat harsh, but after all his experiences as leader of the magic corps, he could understand. He simply felt fortunate to have returned to the capital just in time to meet Ruby.

“Aren’t you coming home with me?”

Mayuna glared at Ruby, asking. Life without Ruby felt lacking, as if something essential was missing. Even billiards, once so entertaining, had lost its charm. She urgently wanted to be with Ruby—even just talking would be enough.

“I’ll stay a while longer. There are things I haven’t figured out yet.”

“Be sure to come home before dinner.”

“As expected, the entire library holds no trace.”

After Mayuna left, Ruby wandered the vast library once more, asking the librarian about certain details, but no matter how he searched, he couldn’t find the rusty sword Mayuna had mentioned. Libraries and swords were fundamentally incompatible—so where had the sword that nearly claimed Mayuna’s life come from?